Jun 05 2009
Peter Molyneux’s Promotion
This post was incited by Gamasutra.com’s “Molyneux Becomes Creative Director Of MGS Europe” by Chris Remo.
I will admit that I am sometimes slow on the uptake when it comes to industry news and the like–I am not in the video game industry and lately have been preoccupied with renovating a house. Fortunately, I am only a day late in learning about Peter Molyneux’s promotion to Creative Director for Microsoft Game Studios in Europe, netting him responsibility over first and third party projects out of Europe. The only reason I am concerned about this new position of his is that Molyneux has been a name that has haunted and thrilled gamers for years.
Molyneux has a reputation as both dreamer and deluded designer, snake oil salesman and visionary. He is a man of big ideas that usually do not fully translate into reality. Recall Project Ego’s promise of a world that grew over time with a hero that already players unprecedented control over his development from his personality to appearance. The resulting game was the first Fable which while a phenomenal game hardly lived up to the hype fanned into an inferno by Molyneux himself. He promises the stars then gives us piles of stones, yet those piles are made of gems.
Molyneux’s Milo demonstration of Project Natal at E3 set a new level of ambition even by his lofty standards. While I wonder if he still would have been named Creative Director if Milo botched, it is no surprise that Microsoft would want a dreamer to lead the European front of Microsoft Game Studios after Molyneux worked his magic on the crowds at E3. Perhaps the grass will actually grow in the next game he gives the “OK.”
If you would like to check out the Milo demonstration of Project Natal at E3, please check out kotaku.com’s “Molyneux’s Milo Brings a Virtual Child to the XBox 360” by Brian Crecente. Video of Milo provided by GameTrailers.com.
