Milo is Back, But is he Better Than Ever?

Fable creator Peter Molyneux’s creepy boy simulation, Milo, has had a tumultuous existence since debuting at E3 2009. The virtual Pinocchio was a no-show at this year’s E3, and a barrage of contradictory news reports followed his absence. First, Molyneux told gamers that Milo still exists, and that he’s now “ten times more amazing you’d expect.” Days later, though, Xbox’s director of product management said that Milo was merely a tech demo for Microsoft’s Kinect, and not something they’re “planning to bring to market.” He followed up that statement with some serious backpedaling.

Now, finally, Milo has made his triumphant re-debut on the stage of TEDGlobal 2010, a conference in the UK devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Molyneux took the stage with his VBFF (Virtual Best Friend Forever), and unlike at E3 2009, he and an audience member demonstrated some of Milo’s capabilities in real time.

Kotaku put together a report based on the TEDNews Twitter account’s messages during the conference, something we wish we had thought of. Molyneux kicked things off as only he could, by hyping up his own presentation as it was happening. “This talk is going to be a little bit insane,” he apparently told the audience, going a step beyond his usual hyperbolizing.

Molyneux and his volunteer partner then helped Milo skip rocks, clean his room and kill a snail. Sounds pretty crazy, man. “I love these revolutions and I love the future that Milo brings,” Molyneux concluded. That’s one thing he may be right about- interacting with virtual characters is surely an exciting prospect. I just don’t want to help an annoying 12-year-old British kid with his chores.

Is Milo really any more robust or impressive than before, or is he simply the same old boy with a few new tricks? Let’s reserve judgment until we can see the video for ourselves later this week on the TED Blog, where Kotaku claims footage is destined to show up.

Molyneux’s presentation was followed by a performance by Annie Lennox, who apparently elicited a “huge standing ovation.” Maybe if I had any idea who the hell Annie Lennox is I could judge whether that has any bearing on the story. Oh, well.