Molyneux: Milo killed because industry isn't 'ready' for such emotions

The reason Lionhead's virtual boy simulator Milo and Kate ended up scrapped, Peter Molyneux has said, is because, "I just don't think that this industry is ready for something as emotionally connecting as something like Milo."

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Perhaps the most interesting use for the Xbox 360's Kinect controller was Lionhead Studios' virtual child simulator Milo and Kate, though a lot of questions lingered over it. We first met the young lad Milo in 2009, carefree and innocent as he chatted with the player, but the project slipped out of sight and was eventually shelved. This, Peter Molyneux has said, is because the industry simply isn't ready for a such game built around forming an emotional bond.

"The problem with Milo wasn't the ambition," Molyneux told VG247 at the Game Developers Conference earlier this month. "It wasn't the ambition or the technology; it was none of that. I just don't think that this industry is ready for something as emotionally connecting as something like Milo."

Lionhead's virtual boy Milo was introduced to the world at E3 2009, alongside Kinect, but there was never a clear view of when we would get to play with him ourselves. Come June 2010, Xbox product director Aaron Greenberg said, "Project Milo absolutely continues in development at Lionhead Studios, it is just not a product we plan to bring to market this holiday." In September 2010, word came that Milo had been killed, though some of his tech would live on in what became Fable: Journey.

"The real problem with Milo, and this is a problem we had lots of meetings over, was where it would be on the shelves next to all the computer games? It was just the wrong thing. It was the wrong concept for what this industry currently is," Molyneux explained. "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."

During GDC, after this interview, Molyneux announced his departure from Lionhead Studios and Microsoft, joining mysterious startup 22 Cans. Maybe, one day, he'll bring us Milo's offspring.

Here, for old times' sake, is when Peter introduced Milo to the world in 2009:

From The Chatty
  • reply
    March 14, 2012 2:00 PM

    Alice O'Connor posted a new article, Molyneux: Milo killed because industry isn't 'ready' for such emotions.

    The reason Lionhead's virtual boy simulator Milo and Kate ended up scrapped, Peter Molyneux has said, is because, "I just don't think that this industry is ready for something as emotionally connecting as something like Milo."

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      March 14, 2012 2:06 PM

      Anytime I see this guy, all I can think about is how much of a asshole he comes off to be.

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      March 14, 2012 2:09 PM

      He's right. I'm not emotionally prepared for the disappointment it would have been compared to whatever insane promises he'd make 2 years before release.

      This guy really is my least favorite developer. It's got nothing to do with his end product. It's the heaps and heaps of bullshit that he shovels before release. He used to blame the miserable state of the current hardware generation for his failures to realize his grand vision. Now he's blaming us. We can't handle the awesomeness and complex human feelings that his virtual kid would have conjured in us.

      It's our own fault, really. We're not worthy.

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      March 14, 2012 2:10 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 2:11 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 2:15 PM

      Would Milo and Kate make us their bitch?

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      March 14, 2012 2:27 PM

      I don't agree, but he may be onto something. After all the first thing I try to do when I pick up a Wiimote or get in front of a Kinect is to jerk off or hump something.

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        March 14, 2012 3:16 PM

        Here's why it's bullshit: If it were as amazing and ground-breaking as he claims, Lionhead could release it as an indie title via digital distribution channels. Even if the industry consumers aren't ready to have it sitting on a shelf next to Halo 7 and Final Fantasy 24927, it could still be shown off and make some money. It might even push things in a direction where that type of experience is more desirable.

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          March 14, 2012 7:57 PM

          Lionhead were purchased by Microsoft in 2006, anything Lionhead now make including "Milo and Kate" is the Property Of Microsoft so could never be released by Lionhead as an indie Release

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          March 14, 2012 8:24 PM

          [deleted]

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            March 14, 2012 8:31 PM

            He says development is continuing. If you're going to keep spending money on it regardless, get it to a usable state, sell it inexpensively as an experimental software toy, and at least make some money as you continue development.

            Or just admit that it has been scrapped because it didn't work and/or there's no way to make money on it and stop trying to tell people "the world isn't ready".

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      March 14, 2012 2:27 PM

      Oy vey!

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      March 14, 2012 2:28 PM

      so he went from "my next game will change the industry!" and failing, a couple times, to "the industry isn't ready for my vapourware industry-changer!"

      his next game will flop or fail to launch and his press release will just be "(╯°□°)╯︵ ʎɹʇsnpuı)"

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      March 14, 2012 2:32 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 2:36 PM

      my guess is that someone who's worked with him is rolling their eyes right now wishing they could tell us how bad the 'game' was shaping up and how mismanaged everything ended up.

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      March 14, 2012 2:37 PM

      he's such a hack

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      March 14, 2012 2:39 PM

      His more modern games are great in concept, but suck a slick turd in reality. Black & White and Fable are novelties to me as much as I loved Populus. Populus still rules.

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        March 14, 2012 4:26 PM

        i would play the shit out of a modern Populus.

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        March 16, 2012 2:07 PM

        I really liked Fable (TLC) on the Xbox. To me it felt like a Fighting Fantasy game. Some of the spells were awesome (e.g. turn into a huge angry demon) and I liked the childish adult humour. Fable 2 was diminishing returns but I finished it and enjoyed it for what it was.

        Fable 3 was fuuccking awful.

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      March 14, 2012 2:42 PM

      Anyone posted about the Peter Molydeux Twitter parody?
      http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/165815/Molydeux_Twitter_parody_inspires_new_indie_game_jam.php

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      March 14, 2012 2:46 PM

      Molyneux is the L'il Derek Smart of emo gaming.

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      March 14, 2012 3:02 PM

      When did Lionhead get the rights to make a Virtual Boy simulator?

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      March 14, 2012 3:43 PM

      This is so much horse manure, and I'll tell you why. We form emotional attachments to characters in games all the time. People weep for the dead, and cheer when victory is at hand. We get so caught up in a character and their story that we want to see what happens next - which is why people were justifiably perturbed when face import for ME3 was broken. People didn't want to see the game with anyone but their Shepard.

      The real problem with Milo is really no different than the problem with a Tamagotchi or Furby. Nothing truly happens. Ever. Yes, Milo was more advanced, but there was no real advancement. There was no real life. I mean, yeah, you can teach the kid to squish snails, but you couldn't send him to school to learn, and then tell you what he learned during the day. You didn't get to see him grow up. You didn't really get to see him do anything except learn to talk a little better and perform a few actions that were within the bounds of the the sandbox he was placed.

      Can people get emotionally attached to something like that? Hell yes! But people cried when a tamagotchi "died" too. People were upset when a furby's battery ran down and it started speaking in that super creepy slowmo fashion. Then they tossed the things in the trash and never thought once about them again. I think this would have been destined for the same thing. People would get bored with this revolutionary new toy and either set it on a shelf never to play it again, or just try to trade it in at Gamestop.

      When it's all said and done, people will only ever think of programs like that as a novelty toy. If they truly want meaningful interaction with a child, here's what they do: They make a kid! Maybe Molyneux should realize that he's trying to create something for a market that won't ever exist.

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      March 14, 2012 4:00 PM

      What a load of bullshit. Anyone who knows Molyneux knows the real reason is because he can't deliever what he promises.

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      March 14, 2012 4:10 PM

      He couldn't figure out how to make Milo fart in peoples faces 'just right' so chucked the idea. Fable players will know what I mean.

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      March 14, 2012 4:21 PM

      [deleted]

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      March 14, 2012 4:42 PM

      I enjoy consitency in my designers. To that end, I'm pleased to see Peter Molyneux hasn't lost his ability to speak complete and utter bullshit to the press. It seems like only yesterday when he was gushing about Black and White before the release and I went 'you know - this guy is on to something.'

      Then I actually played the title and realized I had fallen for the pitch, not the product.

      When Fable came out - I avoided it because of him and his press releases. And when 'The Lost Chapters' was really, really cheap - I tried it... and it failed to live up to every ounce of hype that he pumped into it before the release.

      Peter (...can I call you Peter?), nobody shoves shit like you do. You aught to get an award. Though you may be competing with Derek Smart or John Romero if you wanted to shoot for the 'Lifetime Achievement of Spewing Bullshit' award.

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      March 14, 2012 4:49 PM

      SIR PETER

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      March 14, 2012 4:58 PM

      [deleted]

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        March 20, 2012 11:16 PM

        hahaha, very nice sir. I daresay the imagery, emotion, and connection I felt through those three little sentences is far and above whatever garbage chore of a game Milo would've been.

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      March 14, 2012 5:00 PM

      HUMANS, THEY ONLY LACK THE LIGHT TO SHOW THE WAY...FOR THIS REASON ABOVE ALL....YOUR CAPACITY FOR TROLLING THE GAMING PUBLIC AT LARGE WITH CLAIMS AS PROFOUND AS THEY ARE HOPELESSLY IMPOSSIBLE TO DELIVER UPON, I HAVE SENT THEM YOU, MY ONLY SON.

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      March 14, 2012 5:17 PM

      It's too bad his great ideas never seem to translate into anything fun. The first map in Black and White was great, that's about it.

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      March 14, 2012 5:28 PM

      No, it was scrapped because they couldn't make it work.

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      March 14, 2012 5:58 PM

      Hahaha yeah right

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      March 14, 2012 8:28 PM

      He's a gigantic douche bag. And I don't like any of his games.

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        March 14, 2012 10:02 PM

        have you played all of them?

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        March 15, 2012 4:48 AM

        Most of his games are my favourite games of all time. Namely Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital, Syndicate and Black and White.

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          March 15, 2012 9:17 AM

          Oh man B&W? Really? That game was just straight up disappointment.

          I did enjoy Genewars but not sure if he worked on that game.

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        March 15, 2012 5:18 AM

        Populous huge success enabled his megalomania.

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      March 14, 2012 8:42 PM

      The Milo engine is actually freaking awesome. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyqryrN-I0

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        March 15, 2012 4:17 AM

        Yes! There are also some articles floating around about their system for collaborative editing the world.

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      March 14, 2012 9:24 PM

      Peter was born too soon.

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      March 15, 2012 3:37 AM

      le bull le shit

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      March 15, 2012 3:42 AM

      [deleted]

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      March 15, 2012 4:15 AM

      I really hate this guy.

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        March 15, 2012 5:21 AM

        How can you hate him? He's brilliant. I don't understand how anyone can not be entertained by the stuff he says.

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      March 15, 2012 5:17 AM

      aka "Microsoft canned it because they realized no one would pay money for this and I'm trying to save face"

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      March 15, 2012 7:44 AM

      I was ready for it. I'm still ready for it. Sometimes you have to try to predict and give people what they want BEFORE THEY KNOW THEY WANT IT. Read Steve Jobs and Apple. Peter, you didn't FIGHT enough for it.

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      March 15, 2012 7:45 AM

      The emotion: Disappointment

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      March 15, 2012 7:48 AM

      [deleted]

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      March 15, 2012 7:59 AM

      Is Populous really good? I feel like I've played a really long string of Molyneux games and never liked any of them. What is this guy so respected for?

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        March 16, 2012 2:04 PM

        Populous is really good. There have been a lot of god games and big sims released since, but Populous was the first. Even without the nostalgia hind-sight it was really good.

        You can try it online for free at http://popre.net

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