Terrifying robot watch update: in the video above, a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) robot called "Pet-Proto" is locked in a corridor and presented with two obstacles. The first is a step it must climb onto. The second is a gap it must inch across.

When I think of "DARPA," and "video games," my mind leaps to Metal Gear Solid. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), run by the U.S. Department of Defense, has shown up for many years in our games as a shadowy source of implausible technology and machinations.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which some may recognize as a founding father of the Internet, is developing antisubmarine warfare drones and has released a video game hoping to crowdsource some of the tactical AI behind them.