At E3 last year MS showed off a technical demo of its Project Milo- what many believed was a new precedent in interactive entertainment. In the demonstration, a woman plays with, talks to and interacts with a virtual little boy who returns all of her sentiments.
Shortly thereafter this demo was dismissed as smoke and mirrors and then later it was revealed that work on the project would cease. This disappointed some people who dreamed of playing with their own virtual adolescent. Today MS reveals that Milo, in and of itself, was never even a product to begin with.
Kinect designer Alex Kipman disclosed this in a recent interview, saying:
"Milo was a sandbox. In this world of creating experiences I used voice, gestures, identity together. Milo was the sandbox which allowed us to define how to do these experiences, and what you saw was a transformational experience where you got a level of emotional connection unlike anything you had seen before. Now, where has Milo gone? It was never really a product, I will tell you that the technology developed in that sandbox, and by the way we continue to develop technologies in that sandbox, has migrated pretty closely to what you see in a game called Kinectimals."
On that note, everyone who wanted Milo should be picking up a copy of Kinectimals. Kinect for the Xbox 360 launched today so check out our launch guide for everything you need to know if you're thinking about buying and this article to see who else is buying one.