You remember back when Xbox announced Project Natal a year or so ago? Unless you’re a nerd, probably not, but they showed something that I’m sure most of you have seen – the creepy, AI genius that is Milo. You saw him messing about with Kate and making her do his virtual homework, remember? If not, there’s plenty of copies out there (and some that are quite similar).
There were loads of people saying it’s faked and I was somewhat inclined to agree with them. That’s not because I thought it was too good to be real, it’s that I didn’t want to start playing a game that got depressed if I didn’t come and play every day. Neopets were bad enough.
But after reports of Milo being quietly swept under the carpet and never to be released, Peter Molyneux – the guy that seems to front this creeper project – did a talk at TED (a sort of conference for nerds, if you will) and showed off a more up to date version of Milo, which just got that little bit more creepy.
I know it says it’s 14:25, but the video’s really just over 10 minutes. If even that is too long for you to stomach, I’ll tell you what happens, but you’re really missing out.
First thing you thought when you saw the original video with Kate was probably "Hang on, he’s English. There’s nowhere in England that looks as clean as that." and you’re right. When you first meet Milo, he’s recently moved from London to, quite ironically, New England. He has no friends and he’s feeling at a bit of a loose end. Your job is to be that friend that makes sure he fits in with his new surroundings.
Every Milo would be different, depending what you do and say. You even have the option to tell Milo to squash a snail if you want him to. All these options give you some points in some sort of potential-measuring system. Seems like you get the most points for teaching him to skim stones. Typical, I’m absolutely rubbish at skimming stones. Sorry, Milo. You’re probably going to turn out to be a hobo.
He’ll recognise your voice too. None of that "I think you said ‘Plaza General Information’. Is this correct?" rubbish nowadays. It’s made in such a way that Milo can tell what you’re saying from not only the words you say but the tone you say it. The more people that *ahem* use Milo, the smarter he’ll get. So I dare say by launch he’ll clearly recognise your screams for him to "go off and die" if the Internet is anything to go by.
The only thing I think is a shame is that it’s not going to be a launch title when Kinect goes on sale November 10th here in the UK (across the pond November 5th) and they’re having a bit of trouble flogging the idea to release it to Microsoft. I mean, they love Milo, but they just don’t see it as a releasable game. It’s great for the casual gamer and has so much more longevity than, say, jumping over stuff. Go ahead and release it, Microsoft. You’ll have one person who’ll buy it.
No Comments on "Milo – Whatever you do, stay in my Xbox…"