LOS ANGELES -- Motion control was the theme of this year's E3. Both Microsoft and Sony
showed their latest wares -- Kinect and PlayStation Move,
respectively -- hoping to cut a slice off the Wii marketshare.
One person
who was instrumental in showing off Kinect (then codenamed "Project Natal") when it
was announced last year was Peter Molyneux, the creative director of European
studios for Microsoft Game Studios. He demoed Milo and Kate, a title
which promised interactivity with a young boy. Yet at this E3, Molyneux only talked
about his new game Fable
3. Milo and Kate were curiously absent.
I got a chance to speak with Molyneux who explained why we didn't see the
game that made a big splash at last year's E3. He also told me what he thinks of
the competition, saying, "It would be very easy for (Microsoft) to have created
something like the Wii, but instead they did go that extra mile," referring to
Kinect.
Read on for the rest of the interview and more of what Molyneux
thinks of the Wii and the PS Move.
UGO: Last year, Project Natal
was introduced, and you showed Milo and Kate. And this year, Kinect had
its big E3 showing, so it's odd we didn't see more of Milo and Kate this
year. Can you tell us why?
Molyneux: We are developing it, and it
is probably the most interesting and fascinating thing I've ever done in my
life. I'm actually giving a talk about that soon, and we will be going into more
detail there. I think it was one of those things where we said, "Should we show
it at E3? Should we show it?" I think that we made the right decision to not
show it, but it very much is a project that we hold dear to our hearts, and
we're as excited as we can be.
UGO: Are you involved with any of
the other Kinect projects that Microsoft is working on?
Molyneux: Only in as much that I look at them and say nice things about them while they
are in development. I've got this creative director role. I went and saw
Kinectimals, which is kind of hard to say, and the sports titles; I made a few
suggestions which they pretty much ignored, but quite rightfully
so.
UGO: I did notice there was a little bit of lag when I played
it. And in some games, there were visual cues that told me to jump a little bit
before I intuitively would jump, like the hurdles in Kinect Sports or the
obstacle course in Kinectimals. Is that something that is still being
worked on?
Molyneux: I think there is still a little bit of time
left to do some tweaking and polishing. I think, like any games in development,
there are always framerate issues until you've got it in the can. I know which
ones you're talking about, that may be the issue for some of them. I know when
you look at Fable 3 downstairs (at the event), it's not at a perfect 30 frames
per second at the moment. It's very, very hard for teams to go through E3.
Because you really have to kind to say, "Look, I'm only two months away from
finishing this game. Can we delay the whole E3?" You've got to take what you've
got, and you've got to show it. That means you've got to take a lot of risks
with it.
UGO: Was that the reason we didn't see Milo and Kate at this E3?
Molyneux: That wasn't the reason, no. I think when
you see Milo and Kate, you'll realize what the reason was. Gosh, you're great;
you're really tough. You really are. (laughs)
UGO: With Kinect, do
you see the future of gaming having any controls at all?
Molyneux: I think Kinect is one aspect of gaming. In a way, if Kinect was a bicycle, it's
like you say, "Do you see everyone in the world riding bicycles and not driving
cars?" No, I think Kinect gives us opportunities to entertain people in
different ways. It doesn't functionally replace the controller. I think there
are games that are controller games and that are designed for controller games,
for sure. I think it does change the way that we think about video games and the
audience that we're doing games for. I don't think it is the only answer for the
future of games.
UGO: What do you think of the competition, like
the PlayStation Move?
Molyneux: I find it hard in my mind to
differentiate between the Sony Move and the Wii. They seem very similar in their
scope. I know Sony and Nintendo would argue that they are different, but they
kind of seem the same. They enable certain sorts of experiences, and they are
analogous to Kinect. And this is not me talking as a Microsoft employee, this is
me talking as a designer, but I have to take my hat off to Microsoft. Because
they really did go one step beyond what they needed to do. It would be very easy
for them to have created something like the Wii, but instead they did go that
extra mile and they said, "No, we're going to make that huge step." I think the
real benefits are going to be shown in the next wave of titles that come
out.
Read more from my Peter Molyneux interview:
Peter
Molyneux Talks Fable 3 DLC, Kinect Use and... Taking Valium
Peter Molyneux: Black & White With Kinect Could Be 'Super Cool'
