Although a discussion of the more traditional computer game industry is beyond the scope of our discussion here, some brief comments are in order. While it is true that sparkling graphics and kinetic (frenetic?) action sequences have been the mainstay of the most popular games, recently it is becoming clear that autonomous agents, and more deeply interesting characters, will play an increased role in this area (e.g., a recent check of the Internet PC game charts showed five interactive fiction games in the ``Top 40'', c.f., http://www.worldcharts.com).
As a brief example of this paradigm, consider Ultima Online (http://www.owo.com/), an interactive multi-user, network server-based adventure game (commonly known as an MPOG -- Multi-Player Online Game). Ultima supports supports something upwards of ten thousand players and an equal number of NPCs (non-player characters). NPCs are embodied in monsters, animals, and characters-with-professions (see figure 5). They maintain histories with individual players in the game, and they are cognizant of alliances, professions, and past deeds of players who come in contact with them. For example, a ``blacksmith'' NPC may show professional courtesy toward a ``blacksmith'' human player, and a good healer may resurrect an honorable player to life from a ghost state while refusing to do so for a dishonorable one.
Such an environment is not only a fertile ground for the development of complex characters and personalities, it also presents data collection opportunities for the testing of lifelike characters that dwarf more typical academic applications (but c.f., [Foner1997]).