Peter Molyneux is one of the video game industry's true pioneers. He forged his reputation with groundbreaking titles such as Populous and Powermonger, and, later in his career, would oversee titles such as Theme Park, Magic Carpet, Dungeon Keeper, Fable and Black & White.
In more recent times, his standing has arguably dipped following misfires such as Curiosity: What's Inside The Cube and Godus, but he still has enough cachet to attract attention – and his most recent venture, Masters of Albion, has reunited him with several former co-workers.
Part of Molyneux's fall from grace is attributed to overpromising on key projects, one of the most infamous being Milo, the Kinect 'killer app' that was ultimately cancelled.
Speaking to EDGE magazine, Molyneux explains that the initial concept for Milo was based around the powerful Project Natal prototype, which would be scaled back for the final Kinect hardware.
This cost-cutting was "cataclysmic" for Milo, which had been conceptualised as a real showcase of the original "breathtaking" tech that powered Natal's early (and expensive) iterations:
"Imagine you were playing a game with a controller that only worked one in five times. It didn't matter what the game was – it would be shit. And the same is true of Milo. We could have pursued it, and I could have fought that management battle, but it was pointless, really. The whole game was designed around the device."
He adds that the project still feels like unfinished business – and, with modern tech, it could actually live up to its lofty promise:
"I'd love to have finished that game – it was an amazing experience, really emotional. I think the Kinect hardware was ahead of its time, really. If you did it now, with the current technology, and with large language models behind the voice recognition, it could be wonderful."
You can read the full interview with Molyneux in the latest EDGE, issue #416.