Molyneux: Industry Was "Not Ready" for Milo and Kate

[Greg Tito]

Molyneux: Industry Was "Not Ready" for Milo and Kate

Before he quit Microsoft and Lionhead, Peter Molyneux admitted the world wasn't ready for Project Milo's "emotional connection."

The story of Milo is a sad one. First revealed back in 2009 as a concept for Microsoft's new technology then called Project Natal, Milo used voice recognition and artificial intelligence to tell a story that connected the player to a ten year old boy and a dog named Kate. Milo and Kate was conspicuously absent from Microsoft's E32010 presentation, and reports claimed Project Milo was killed by Microsoft. Fable: The Journey [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/105000-Microsoft-Sends-More-Mixed-Signals-About-Milo], but its auteur still felt affection for the idea. Molyneux admitted earlier this month before he made his surprising resignation that the game industry just wasn't equipped for what Milo and Kate would have been.

"I just don't think that this industry was ready for something as emotionally connecting as something like Milo," Molyneux said. "The real problem with Milo was - and this is a problem we had lots of meetings over - where it would be on the shelves next to all the computer games. It was just the wrong thing."

Molyneux explained just what he was trying to achieve with Milo and sounds nothing short of amazing. "What we were trying to achieve with Milo was just this key thing, which is: the most powerful story I could possibly tell is a story that reminds you of your own childhood. We've all had times in our childhood - we've all had common experiences when we felt down, and we felt up, or we celebrated doing something for the first time, and I loved that thought," he said. "There was a lot of technology that was in Milo that is now in The Journey, but it's just not this delightful celebration of youth.

"It was the wrong concept for what this industry currently is," said Molyneux. "Maybe this industry one day won't be like that, but at this particular time, having a game that celebrates the joy of inspiring something and you feel this connection, this bond; it was the wrong time for that."

Now, this being Peter Molyneux, you have to be realistic about his expectations of what Milo would have been. Perhaps Microsoft's reluctance to get behind Milo as a full game was tied to their own expectations of what Lionhead and Molyneux could deliver.

Whether or not that's true, I hope Molyneux continues chasing his dream at 22 Cans. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116189-Peter-Molyneux-Leaves-Lionhead]

Source: VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2012/03/19/sleight-of-hand-peter-molyneuxs-final-journey/]

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[StriderShinryu]

I do think he has a point. Had Milo been completed, I doubt it would have sold at all. It's just the sort of experience that needs a big budget but would feel much more at home as an indie level title with an indie level price point. The technology itself, however, was very impressive and I do hope more games take that sort of thing on in the future. I'm no particular fan of Kinect, and I still feel that motion control is halfway between a gimmick and a joke, but coming off ME3 I can't help but think highly of an RPG where I could actually converse with my party members "for real."

 

[Freechoice]

"I just don't think that this industry was ready for something as emotionally connecting as something like Milo

Ah, Peter and his promises.

Some things never change.

 

[viranimus]

Hooray for Pete claiming "You people just dont get it"

Honestly. I think its prolly a good thing Milo and Kate was canned.

Because honestly I was REALLY excited about it... as a child torture simulator of which if any of the thousands and thousands of suicidally tortured Sims has shown us, would be an inevitability. So yeah, honestly, prolly a good thing to not put that in the hands of the general population.

 

[Hungry Donner]

I think the skepticism at the end of the article is more than fair. I don't mind that Molyneux aims high, and at this point we know to take his enthusiasm with a heap of salt, but I can't shake the feeling that the product wasn't on course to meet his expectations. And this sounds like the sort of thing which, done half-way, would have flopped entirely.

This being said, even if it did succeed I imagine it would have had trouble selling. There is no clear market, and the kinect requirement was already restricting its availability. Then again bundled with the Kinect it could have been a break-out hit and really helped sell the hardware.

I wonder if this contributed to Molyneux leaving. I could see someone like Molyneux feeling stifled by MS's buisness-minded approach.

 

[Baresark]

Haha, yeah, the problem is the industry and not your games. Keep going Pete.

 

[VonKlaw]

I don't think the industry was ready for how terribad the Fable games have become, but that didn't stop you, eh Peter?

 

[Scrustle]

No Peter, it was just fucking creepy. I guess you could say that the industry wasn't ready in that we are still stuck in the uncanny valley, but if that's so then why not go the other route and make it something that's not trying to be realistic? But either way, pretending that a character in a game is an actual sentient being that you can converse with is disturbing and silly.

 

[BrotherRool]

Peter Molyneux, never change, the world would be lessened

 

[Electric Alpaca]

What an excellent way to annoy even more people, completely patronise them.

How else is the industry meant to "get ready" for such items without having them in the first place.

The film watching public wasn't "ready" for The Exorcist but that turned out pretty well.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

So much hate for Peter in this community. Yes he never delivers what he promises, but that's just because he can never keep his mouth shut. If Fable wasn't hyped like it was, then it might have been received a bit better.

Anyway, Milo would have been a little weird, but I wouldn't say no to trying it.

 

[Toasty Virus]

I still stand by my point that given enough resources, Peter could make the best game mankind has ever seen.

 

[antipunt]

1. The Sims series shows that people are apparently ready for this 'emotional connection'

2. The 'emotional connections' I've gotten from the Fable series is hilariously close to nil, despite it trying so hard

 

[McMullen]

Anytime some dev or studio exec says that the world or the industry or the market or the public wasn't ready for their idea, they really shoot themselves in the foot. How do they not see that what those phrases mean to most people (well, I hope most people hear them this way anyway) is "Warning! The Speaker is in denial and unable or unwilling to practice introspection about their failures! Treat contents of following sentences as bullshit unless given compelling reasons to do otherwise!"

 

[Seventh Actuality]

Just tell a goddamned story, dude. Make an actual videogame with good mechanics, give it a story about the themes you want to talk about, add a few interactive twists and sell it alongside the games with "emotional connections" that are out now and doing just fine.

 

[MercurySteam]

Ha. The AMD fanboys said the same thing when Bulldozer flopped. Is this the new excuse for people who just don't want to admit when something just isn't going to succeed?

 

[XDravond]

"Audience not ready" does mostly equal low sales witch in turn equals no income for investor.
And they said no, wonder why...

And something that most probable would help Peter Molyneux's games would be a person managing to get him to shut up. He promises way to much compared to what he delivers, many of "his" games aren't bad they just don't deliver on all Molyneux's promises of "revolution" etc...

Molyneux has had some decent ideas through the years but no one to guide him the right way. Milo could have worked but I doubt that would had been thanks to Molyneux.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Call me a cynic but I choose not to believe that Milo would have been an incredibly emotionally connecting experience, given that it's being spruiked by a man whose previous games imply that grownups connect with each other on an emotional level by holding hands and farting.