Game over, man! – Reversing Video Games to Create an Unbeatable AI Player

Super Smash Bros: Melee." - Furrowed brows, pain in your thumbs, trash talk your Mom would blush to hear. That sweet rush of power you once knew as you beat all the kids on your block will be but a distant memory as SmashBot challenges you to a duel for your pride — live on stage. SmashBot is the Artificial Intelligence I created that plays the cult classic video game Smash Bros optimally. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, remorse, or fear. This final boss won't stop until all your lives are gone.

What started as a fun coding project in response to a simple dare grew into an obsession that encompassed the wombo-combo of hacking disciplines including binary reverse engineering, AI research, and programming. When not used to create a killer doomsday machine, these same skills translate to hacking Internet of Things (IoT) devices, developing shellcode, and more. Forget about Internet ending zero-day releases and new exploit kits. Come on down and get wrecked at a beloved old video game. Line up and take your turn trying to beat the AI yourself, live on the projectors for everyone to see. When you lose though, don't run home and go crying to yo Momma.

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