Rumor: Work Halted on Project Milo

Logan Westbrook

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Feb 21, 2008
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Rumor: Work Halted on Project Milo



Sources suggest that Peter Molyneux's virtual boy might have been mothballed.

According to a source close to Lionhead, the ambitious Project Milo, which supposedly allowed players to interact with an AI driven virtual boy via Kinect, has been cancelled and 19 contractors have been let go. The source suggests that the remaining members of the Milo team have been put to work on a Fable themed Kinect game that will use some of the Milo technology.

So far, Microsoft and Lionhead have declined to comment on the rumor, although it's not exactly a secret that there has been some internal confusion at Microsoft over what Milo actually was. At E3, Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg commented [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/101744-Microsoft-Milo-Just-a-Tech-Demo-UPDATED] that Milo was just a tech demo and didn't represent a commercial product. He later clarified that statement, saying that it was a commercial product, just not one Microsoft intended to bring to market this year.

Molyneux also demonstrated [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/102061-Milo-Comes-Out-to-Play-at-TED-Talk] Milo at his recent TED talk in Oxford, UK, describing the game as a mixture of psychological tricks and cloud-based artificial intelligence. He added that there weren't any current plans to release Milo. Molyneux has said in the past however, that he sometimes has difficulty in convincing people that his ideas will work before they're fully realized. If the rumors turn out to be true, it would seem likely that this is one of those situations.

Source: Eurogamer [http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2010-09-23-rumour-project-milo-cancelled]



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afaceforradio

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Honestly, I'm not surprised. I've never been a fan of Kinect the way it stands at the moment (I think it's a great idea, but the games I've seen thus far haven't made me want one at all).

Also... why would any adult who doesn't want to be nicknamed Paedo want to 'interact with an AI boy'. I mean, I wouldn't. It's creepy.
 

Catalyst6

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Apr 21, 2010
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Considering what sadists gamers tend to be when given a AI to toy with (an example being, of course, the Sims) this may be for the best. Especially since it's a little boy.
 

Just_A_Glitch

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Good. Fuck that guy. Milo scared the crap out of me.

It was only a matter of time before he became too self-aware.
 

therandombear

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Just_A_Glitch said:
Good. Fuck that guy. Milo scared the crap out of me.

It was only a matter of time before he became too self-aware.
No worries, we could just call on Commander Sheppard if it went rogue.

If this is true, we need to comfort Peter, he just lost his best friend :(
 

Outlaw Torn

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Does it really matter if work has been halted when there are no plans to actually do anything with it? It's like declaring the end of the world because the FFVII PS3 tech demo has had it's development cycle stalled due to it not being a game. If they actually decide to release their tech demo as a game then it's only the kiddy fiddlers who are going to buy it, I don't think even casual gamers would PAY to talk to a programme through an expensive webcam. But then again, there are idiots who have their money stolen by Scamga.
 

rees263

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Jun 4, 2009
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Logan Westbrook said:
Sources suggest that Peter Molyneux's virtual boy might have been mothballed.
It's not surprising, look what happened the last time a video game company tried to make a Virtual Boy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_boy].
 

Jared

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Jul 14, 2009
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Dosnt surprise me. They keep saying he was only a project to show it off anywaty, and not a long term thing
 

Gamegodtre

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Ldude893 said:
Congratulations, you just disappointed pedophile gamers everywhere.
lol
my thoughts about a game using this technology in japan for a dating sim now are dashed
 

yoyo13rom

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Pete! What have you done this time?!
Child murder Pete! It's just bad marketing!
Don't worry Pete, I'll still love you.
 

hansari

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What a ridiculously appropriate image for this article...

The boy is so sad...I just wanna rotate my hand 45degrees and start waving horizontally in front of an overpriced camerapiece. Hang in there milo
 

Georgie_Leech

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rees263 said:
Logan Westbrook said:
Sources suggest that Peter Molyneux's virtual boy might have been mothballed.
It's not surprising, look what happened the last time a video game company tried to make a Virtual Boy [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_boy].
Completely different things. Nintendo's Virtual Boy was called that because their other hand-held console was called a Game Boy. Molyneux's creation, on the other hand, was an AI persona/program that you were suppossed to interact with to... who knows why.
 

JoJo

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afaceforradio said:
Honestly, I'm not surprised. I've never been a fan of Kinect the way it stands at the moment (I think it's a great idea, but the games I've seen thus far haven't made me want one at all).

Also... why would any adult who doesn't want to be nicknamed Paedo want to 'interact with an AI boy'. I mean, I wouldn't. It's creepy.
Because maybe some adults happen to like children. How is looking after a virtual child anymore creepy than looking after a virtual dog or cat?
 

Dexiro

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Oh so Milo was just a scripted demo to make the Kinect look a thousand times more awesome than it could ever be? Nice marketing strategy.