Joystiq

Milo & Kate engine footage shows off mega meshes, derelict backyards

David Hinkle — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST

Before Milo captured the hearts and minds of a people (and was taken out back and shot like he had rabies), lead programmer at Lionhead Studios, Ben Sugden, worked on a world in which the boy could live. During his GDC panel, Sugden took attendees on a tour of Milo's world -- the video past the break shows that Milo's digs were quite pleasing to the eye, if a little unkempt.

Continue reading Milo & Kate engine footage shows off mega meshes, derelict backyards

Milo & Kate engine footage shows off mega meshes, derelict backyards originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Milo's 'drama director' discusses emotion-capture

Griffin McElroy — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:20:00 EST

Milo and Kate -- Lionhead Studios' industry-wowing Kinect demo, first revealed at E3 2009 -- has been in limbo following last September's comment from Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer, who wasn't "convinced" the product would make it to market. We're still waiting with bated breath for news of some kind of playable implementation, but in the meantime, Milo's so-called "drama director," John Dower, has released a video diary featuring the real Milo (well, the mocap actor) and a behind-the-scenes look at creating the emotion within this would-be virtual boy.

Check out the video (which contains a fair share of gameplay footage) after the jump. We warn you, though: It's just as intriguing and exciting as the first time you saw "Project Milo," which might send you into uncontrollable spells of worry that a finished product will never materialize. As always, we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Continue reading Milo's 'drama director' discusses emotion-capture

Milo's 'drama director' discusses emotion-capture originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fable franchise expected to incorporate Milo's technology

Christopher Grant — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:35:00 EST

It seems like just a couple months ago that Peter Molyneux was on stage at the prestiguous TED conference sharing "Project Milo" with the attendees, and now rumors suggest the virtual boy-shaped tamagotchi has been put down and carved up. We spoke with Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer in Tokyo last week and asked him about the commercial prospects of the always commercially vague Milo project.

"If I had to bet, which I guess I do, I think you will see the innovation that that team put forward come to market, absolutely," Spencer told Joystiq. "Will it be under the idea and framework of 'Milo,' I'm not as convinced of that."

Continue reading Fable franchise expected to incorporate Milo's technology

Fable franchise expected to incorporate Milo's technology originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Project Milo 'canceled,' tech moved to Fable project

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:37:00 EST

Milo may have wandered off from the safety of the pond and into the jaws of a balverine. A Eurogamer source tells the site that Lionhead's Kinect-powered Project Milo was canceled yesterday, with 19 contractors let go. Surviving staffers on the boy simulator team will allegedly use the tech on a "Fable themed Kinect game."

Lionhead told Joystiq today that it "cannot comment on rumors or speculation." In late June, the studio dismissed prior cancellation rumors by showing a photo of the team hard at work. That didn't happen this time. Studio head Peter Molyneux had mentioned in recent months that Milo had become a "very, very big tech demo." Perhaps it was time to finally focus on a commercial product and bury the boy alive. (Wow, that's terrifying imagery.)

Rumor: Project Milo 'canceled,' tech moved to Fable project originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Molyneux's Milo demo from TED conference now available

Ben Gilbert — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:20:00 EST

Lionhead Studio creative lead Peter Molyneux gave a TED talk last month featuring a whole mess of information about his team's "very big tech demo," Milo & Kate. Milo squashed snails and discovered the garden of his freshly minted New England property -- it was nothing short of moving.

Now, through the magic of the internet, Molyneux's TED presentation is available for all to see (just after the break). Learn why snails are replaced with butterflies when you're playing with Kate and how that whole "hive mind" thing works -- no two Milos or Kates are the same, Molyneux claims. Also, you won't want to miss what happens just beyond the 10-minute mark. Check it out.

Continue reading Molyneux's Milo demo from TED conference now available

Molyneux's Milo demo from TED conference now available originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Molyneux: Milo currently a 'very, very big tech demo'

JC Fletcher — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Peter Molyneux echoed statements made by Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg about Milo and Kate's status as a game in an interview with the Game Hunters. Molyneux said that "I don't think of it as a released product at the moment. I still think this is a very, very big tech demo. I don't think of it as something that would be a boxed product on the shelf."

He did say that players would actually get a chance to interact with something based on Milo, despite one major hurdle. "There's a lot of huge mountains to climb before that happens," Molyneux said. "The reason for that is it is enormously contentious for us to do a game, a story, an experience, about a boy. You are immediately appealing to all the dark thoughts of humanity." (We totally weren't going there!) Molyneux sees this taboo as a challenge, citing Up, a film "about an old man and a Boy Scout" as a successful transcending of this taboo that we didn't really think about in the first place.

The fact that Molyneux is in such a drawing-board stage gives us a clue as to why we can't expect to see it this holiday season.

Molyneux: Milo currently a 'very, very big tech demo' originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Milo, meet TED: Molyneux demonstrates Milo at conference

JC Fletcher — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:50:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Peter Molyneux brought out the big guns to impress the crowd at the TEDGlobal conference: a child stomping on a snail. Okay, maybe it's more impressive when you learn that the child was Milo from Milo & Kate, Molyneux's Kinect-based AI game, and the decision to squash the mollusk was split between demonstrator Dmitri and Milo himself.

According to Wired UK's writeup of the talk, Milo encountered snails on a walk, and asked the demonstrator if he should step on it. When Dmitri encouraged him, Milo ended the poor e-creature's e-life. Live tweets from @TEDNews note that Milo hesitated before doing so. The demo continued with Milo going home to eat dinner, getting in an argument, and soliciting some words of encouragement from the player.

All of this is significant not because we hate snails, but because this is the first demonstration we've seen of Milo since E3 2009. Molyneux ended the demonstration with the shocking truth that all the world's Milos are going to form a Borg-like hive mind, with the AI data "in the cloud" (as Wired puts it), continually learning from individual interactions. He also revealed a more concrete, game-like narrative for Milo, in which players experience a "tutorial" during which Milo's family moves, with the game opening up afterward to allow you and Milo to explore the new surroundings.

[Image Credit: James Duncan Davidson / TED Conference]

Milo, meet TED: Molyneux demonstrates Milo at conference originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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'Project Milo' team about 50 strong; 'product' not coming this holiday

James Ransom-Wiley — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:15:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

Pictured here we see the "Project Milo Team" hard at work, according to a TweetPhoto posted by Lionhead Studios' Sam Van Tilburgh today. Van Tilburgh's proof comes in response to comments made by Aaron Greenberg about the status of Lionhead's Milo & Kate project in a video clip (see 0:41 mark) posted on the Australia-based ABC "Good Game" site. "Obviously, that's a tech demo -- and technology -- that continues to exist, but right now it's not a game that we're planning to bring to market," Greenberg said of Milo in the brief clip.

While Van Tilburgh could not openly comment to Joystiq on the assumption (based on Greenberg's statement) that Milo could remain a non-retail tech demo, he did clarify, "There's about 50 people on the 'Project Milo Team'" (which would seem an unlikely number of staff and apparent resources to devote to a mere demo).

Van Tilburgh deferred to Greenberg, who tweeted this official statement today: "Project Milo absolutely continues in development at Lionhead Studios, it is just not a product we plan to bring to market this holiday." While carefully worded, Greenberg's statement suggests that Milo, in some shape or form, is likely to be integrated into a retail product in the future.

Just last week, Lionhead head Peter Molyneux teased that there was "a very interesting reason" why the updated Milo & Kate demo was not shown to media outlets during E3. Could it be that Molyneux is saving the big reveal for his scheduled TED talk? Probably not -- but the "game changing" designer will be lecturing about his "astonishing virtual friend" on Tuesday, July 13. Hopefully, he'll start to Kinect some of the dots.

'Project Milo' team about 50 strong; 'product' not coming this holiday originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 29 Jun 2010 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Molyneux: 'Milo & Kate' fully playable, 'ten times more amazing' than before

Mike Schramm — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

While we did get to see (and be impressed by) Fable 3 at E3 last week, there was no sign of Peter Molyneux's other big project, the demo now known as Milo & Kate for the hardware now known as Kinect. Molyneux tells CVG that it is now fully playable, and "ten times more amazing" than it was when we saw it at last year's E3. The game was shown off to celebrities, presumably at the closed-doors hands-on session held during the bizarre Cirque du Soleil event last week.

So why didn't we get to see it? "There's a very interesting reason why," says Molyneux, "but I can't tell you why." Really, Peter? Didn't we mature past this random, vague hype? Fable 2 was great, and Fable 3 looks good, so we'll be patient. But the reason why Microsoft didn't show off what sounds like one of its most enticing Kinect titles had better be "interesting" indeed.

Molyneux: 'Milo & Kate' fully playable, 'ten times more amazing' than before originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Molyneux says Natal focus testing is 'almost impossible'

Mike Schramm — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:26:00 EST

Peter Molyneux says that the biggest problem with Project Natal isn't the difficulty in programming for a new technology, but the potential users themselves. Speaking with the Times Online, Molyneux says that the Natal tech is "so different and new that trying to get a focus group to look at it and respond is almost impossible." Perhaps it's not just that people aren't responding to the likes of Milo, it's that they don't realize he will respond to them.

Molyneux clarifies that his team is still working on the to-be-announced project, which we saw "glimpses" of at E3, and that they've increased "emotional engagement" since then. "The only way I see you at the moment is through your thumbs," he says. But Natal lets a virtual character see everything from body movement to facial expression, and that, says Molyneux, allows his team to "design experiences that truly resonate with you as an individual, rather than with a mass of people." While its an intriguing concept, such an open-ended design makes for a lot of pressure on the developer to ensure accessible to all kinds of individuals. Good thing there's plenty of time to pencil in more focus groups before Natal's holiday launch.

[Via TVGB]

Molyneux says Natal focus testing is 'almost impossible' originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 24 Mar 2010 11:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fabled interview: Peter Molyneux at X10

Xav de Matos — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:55:00 EST

It doesn't take much for Fable III designer Peter Molyneux to get going on and on about his latest project. We even managed to squeeze in a few questions for the Lionhead boss, who was on hand at yesterday's X10 media event to unveil his studio's next grand fable.

Of course, it just wouldn't be polite to kick off a conversation with Molyneux without first checking in on the little one.

Joystiq: So, how's Milo?

Continue reading Fabled interview: Peter Molyneux at X10

Fabled interview: Peter Molyneux at X10 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Feb 2010 11:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Popular Science explains the making of Project Natal

Mike Schramm — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360

Vaunted science magazine Popular Science got to check out Project Natal at CES, and has posted its own take on the project over on its site. While most of the coverage we've seen of Microsoft's motion controller has been from the gaming press, Pop Sci comes at it from a software engineering perspective. Essentially, Microsoft is trying to build a sophisticated AI that can look at video of what you're doing in front of a camera, and translate that to information the game can use.

To accomplish that, the coders behind Natal took lots and lots of reference pictures and videos, and they're still "teaching" the software what it looks like when you try to hit a soccer ball or wave at Milo. It's fascinating stuff -- thirty "guesses" per second at your body's location and movement based on what the computer "knows" about what bodies look like and how they move, and lots of calculations based on that data. Hopefully by the time it's supposed to release later this year, Natal will have figured out what it looks like when we melee with a battle rifle.

[Thanks, Wonderflex!]

Popular Science explains the making of Project Natal originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Job listing points to unannounced Lionhead project

Richard Mitchell — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:45:00 EST

Most would think that Lionhead is already plenty busy with both Fable III and Milo & Kate, both of which will support Project Natal. Apparently that's not busy enough for Peter Molyneux & Co., as Lionhead has posted a job listing for a network programmer who will take part "developing and maintaining the network code of an unannounced title." The listing gives no clues as to what the game might be, though it does ask that potential candidates be familiar with both the Xbox 360 and PC. With any luck, maybe we'll see the mystery project alongside next month's Fable III reveal. We're not counting on it though.

What the game is -- if it's even a full game -- is anyone's guess. A new Populous, perhaps? A Fable application similar to Halo Waypoint? Our best guess: Peter Molyneux's Hype.

[Via VG247]

Job listing points to unannounced Lionhead project originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Molyneux: Milo will boast collective object recognition, accept half-eaten fruit

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:20:00 EST

From a four-by-four pixel face, to a loyal pooch, to an inquisitive youth -- that's the path Peter Molyneux has taken in his quest to find life within technology. "Right, can we dare to create a character which anybody interacting with that character would truly believe was alive?" the renowned designer recently asked attendees of the annual BAFTA Video Game Lecture (transcribed by The Guardian).

Harnessing the motion-sensitive camera in Microsoft's Project Natal, Molyneux hopes to breathe that life into a young boy -- or girl! -- named Milo (or Millie!). While he admits that much of it is "smoke and mirrors and tricks," he provided some interesting insight into the technology put to use behind the scenes. It seems Milo won't just recognize you (his imaginary, otherworldly friend), but everyday objects as well. "Firstly the process of scanning is really lovely, you just reach your arm up, you can also scan in three dimensional objects, for example if you are eating an apple you can give that apple to Milo and he will carry on eating the apple," the Lionhead lead explained. But will Milo scan candy held aloft by strangers?

"Or the other thing that is amazing about this technology and this is the online portion of inspiration, we are collecting continuing to collect and improve his object recognition skills." If his plans come to fruition, Molyneux envisions "all the Milos that will be released" feeding their observations into a centralized recognition of "everything in the world."

To Skynet alarmists: Have you seen this boy?

Molyneux: Milo will boast collective object recognition, accept half-eaten fruit originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Project Natal: How Dimitri met Milo

Ludwig Kietzmann — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:20:00 EST

In a March 2008 interview with GamersGlobal, renowned designer Peter Molyneux divulged few details on "Dimitri," an "experimental thing" which he claimed was given life by a mysterious discovery. "And then it moved from that experiment to a moment in time that happened six months ago when a discovery was made, and this discovery has been so exciting that it has lead to Lionhead focusing on it and sculpting a game around that," he said at the time. "I think that discovery is so significant ... This discovery has lead us to start a game and that game will be on the front cover of Nature magazines and Science magazines."

According to Microsoft Game Studios head Phil Spencer, the discovery was actually "the right platform for an ambitious software idea" -- namely Project Natal, Microsoft's forthcoming motion control system for the Xbox 360. "Peter [Molyneux] and I saw the first [Natal] prototype about 2 years ago," Spencer recently told Develop. "He focused on what people want to do in this environment, and that's where a project of Lionhead's, called Dimitri, become Milo - the team's previous idea took on a whole new lease of life with Natal."

Now that we've become acquainted with "Dimitri" in his new, boyish form, we can lay the old codeword to rest and attempt to discern the reality within Molyneux's enthusiastic words. Though we're undecided on Milo's future as a Popular Mechanics cover model, we're fairly confident he'll wind up on Game Informer sooner or later. Shall we file this under Molyknew or Molyno?

Project Natal: How Dimitri met Milo originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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IGN shows us Milo's future

Alexander Sliwinski — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:45:00 EST

Concept and execution are two totally different worlds. Although the concept and initial presentation of Lionhead Studios' Milo blew everyone away at E3 2009, what does fate have in store for the little digital boy's longterm execution? IGN attempts to answer that question in a little sketch they put together. We all know Milo will lose his innocence once he's in the hands of normal people, but just how bad will it become? Check out the video after the break.

Continue reading IGN shows us Milo's future

IGN shows us Milo's future originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 03 Jul 2009 23:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2009 highlights: The Xbox roundup

James Ransom-Wiley — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:45:00 EST

E3 was brütal! If you blinked, for a split/second, you missed something. Even if you were trine to keep up, it was a blur -- staying a.wake like that, you only pushed yourself to the brink of your own dark void. That's where Joystiq comes in; to crackdown on the madness; to reach out ... with conviction -- phew! Crysis averted.

We've scoured the dark corners and survived the inferno to piece together this roundup of all things Xbox at E3. Why? Just 'cause we love you. So, draw nier and shift your eyes past the break.

Continue reading E3 2009 highlights: The Xbox roundup

E3 2009 highlights: The Xbox roundup originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Taking a walk with Milo, Molyneux's Project Natal 'game'

Christopher Grant — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:00:00 EST

Tonight, I got an incredibly brief chance to test out Microsoft's Project Natal camera technology with Peter Molyneux's "Milo," along with three other E3 judges. In the brief time allotted to the group, we experienced many of the same moments shown during Microsoft's keynote earlier in the day: introducing ourselves to Milo, being recognized by Milo, taking a brief walk to the pier, donning a pair of goggles, and running our fingers through the water. Before any of us would interact with Milo, Lionhead's Claire - seen above in a still from the E3 Milo video - had a brief, but natural, exchange with Milo. It began with Milo recognizing her face and addressing her by name.

Once Claire's portion was over, we took Milo out for a spin. For my part, I walked with Milo over to the pier, grabbed the goggles that he threw at me, performatively snatching at the air, having already seen the video during the earlier keynote presentation. To put them "on" I had to make loops with my thumbs and pointer fingers and wrap them around my eyes. A guide on the bottom of the screen instructed me to make them just so. Goggles on, I leaned over the pier and splashed a reflection of myself in the water. I could drag a finger around or make a larger splash with my hand. I could even ripple the water by "lowering" my head towards the screen. And that was about it for my section (see above: brief!). But the most impressive thing I saw happened next.

Continue reading Taking a walk with Milo, Molyneux's Project Natal 'game'

Taking a walk with Milo, Molyneux's Project Natal 'game' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peter Molyneux shows 'Milo' for Project Natal

Randy Nelson — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:27:00 EST

Lionhead founder and famed game designer Peter Molyneux took the stage at Microsoft's E3 press conference to demonstrate "Milo," a virtual boy who interacts with players via the Project Natal motion camera. After introducing the project, Molyneux presented a video of a Lionhead staffer speaking with Milo, who reacted to what she said -- and even wrote on a piece of paper held up to the screen ... like a real person.

Following the video, Molyneux addressed what was likely a considerable amount of doubt as to the simulation's validity saying that it will be demo'd in real time behind closed doors during E3. He said that Lionhead has been tinkering with Project Natal for several months, and that he feels "what developers do with Natal will change the landscape of games." We'll ask Milo what he thinks of that later in the week.

Peter Molyneux shows 'Milo' for Project Natal originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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