Few video game industry icons are as well-known as Peter Molyneux. He’s the mind behind the entire “God game” genre for the most part, having released the very first Populous all the way back in 1989 for the Amiga. Since then he has gone on to work on other God game titles such as Black & White, as well as the popular roleplaying game (RPG) series, Fable. His innovative and ambitious ideas sound like a perfect fit for designing VR games, but it doesn’t seem like he is ready to take that plunge just yet.
In a recent interview with Glixel, Molyneux went on record with some updated thoughts on where VR is headed:
“I love virtual reality. I worry about it being oversold to consumers before we as an industry are ready. It’s something that desperately needs a couple of titles to define it. If I had a VR demo about two people having a conversation, I think that would be fascinating.”
That quick reference at the end there about conversations was made no doubt with his canceled Kinect program, Project Milo, in which users could realistically interact with a virtual boy. As A.I. and interaction technology continues to advance, the prospect of reviving Project Milo for VR or AR would be incredibly exciting. “Milo was an incredible piece of technology,” Molyneux elaborates in the same interview. “You could draw something on a piece of paper, and then Milo would look at it, recognize it, and show it back to you. It was magical. He could recognize numbers, and letters, and shapes.”
In the past, Molyneux has been critical of VR technology, stating he was more excited by the likes of Microsoft’s HoloLens than the headset prototypes he saw two years ago due to the exhaustive nature of most good VR applications.
As VR continues to grow and mature, many of the issues he had at first — like poor tracking and the absence of hands — are starting to disappear. Perhaps we could one day see Molyneux make a brand new, made-for-VR, God game? That would be a welcomed addition to the industry, especially since indie projects like Tethered have already shown that genre feels right at home inside VR devices.
Let us know what you think down in the comments below!
