First Thoughts: Milo and Kate

This is the second part of my “First Thoughts” that I started a little over a week ago on Project Natal. Here I want to look at Milo and Kate, Lionhead Studios current key development for the project in which the user interacts with a virtual boy or girl as if you were really viewing each other via webcam (Think the Fable II dog evolved times 100).

Right now this project is obviously in the VERY early developments as what was shown at E3 2009 is the majority of what we know so far. By turning your head left or right you can change the angle of the camera, zoom in or out by standing closer or backing away from the TV, hopes of having actual conversations with voice recognition as well as other unique interactions like helping Milo or Kate build their own tree houses. Pretty cool stuff.

But now the question has to be asked, what is the limit of Milo’s (I’ll reference Milo now for either him or Kate) learning ability? We will assume that it won’t have the programming to learn on an endless plane giving us a real life look at 2001: a Space Odyssey in households across the planet, but that doesn’t mean its learning climax won’t be creepily high with the ability to expand via DLC.

Now I’ve never been the one to believe that technology will one day rule the planet and there’s no stopping it. I don’t think that Microsoft is the new SkyNet and I don’t think Milo will become HAL. I’ve always felt that while we as human have come dependent on technology, technology is more so dependent on us and the main difference between humans and technology is our ability of logic, reasoning and rationalization. ScrewAttack.com had a very well-written video spoof on Milo the other day that really brought these ideas to life (almost too much so). If you haven’t seen it, you might want to check it out here (language warning). I don’t think Milo will be programmed with all of these abilities, but in order to please the masses I thought I’d at least touch on the subject because as much as I hate to admit it, there is a 0.01% chance that this is an actual possibilities.

Consider the masses pleased.

Another thing I wanted to look at was whether or not Milo will be an Xbox build of the Tamogachi, or will it be something new altogether. The way I see it, that’s all it seems like to me, a Tamogachi on the TV; a virtual “friend” who I can interact with while I’m bored or mess with as I go to sleep, not a game. In the eyes of chief developer Peter Molyneux, he sees it as an actual game and according to him, a game must have a beginning and an end (which is weird because I still haven’t met anyone who beat World of Warcraft). So if Milo & Kate is an actual game with an objective, what is it? Do we raise our virtual kid from birth and see them through college graduation and pay their tuition with Microsoft points (if you’re a stranger to sarcasm, this is what it sounds like in text)?

I do not get the game aspect of this. To me, this seems more like a hobby than anything else—another promising attempt to bridge the gap between the Xbox 360 and casual gamers. I honestly do not feel that there should be a game aspect of it whatsoever in terms of an overall objective with an ending. If this project needs an objective, how about it’s to keep Milo a happy kid? If this were really a “game,” it would be something I might invite my friends over to play, but that’s not the case.

I don’t mind the development of this project, it’s a very interesting step forward for technology and software development, but let’s not make it into something it’s not.