Molyneux's World

A great prophet emerged yesterday from his Palace of Creation and deemed the populace worthy of more of his divine revelations. With tender voice and many sweeping hand gestures, he gently ushered in a wave of new truths for the riveted audience that lie in wait.

Yes, one Mr. Peter Molyneux has again emerged with more of his words of self-aggrandizement, attempting to stun the gaming community with the powerful force of his sheer arrogance. 

This is a man who has uttered language in the past such that it is rather surprising that he has not yet been crowned King of All Game Creators. How can someone who so clearly brings so much unadulterated innovation into an industry desperately calling out for his divine touch not be hoisted onto the highest podium available for all to worship?

The answer, it seems, lies in the fact that The Great Molyneux seems to have what might be described as a tenuous grasp on that thing which we call reality.

One can listen to the tone of his voice as he speaks and one can analyze the phrases he uses to describe his great creations and one senses that they are like glass - fragile and easily shattered if not handled with the greatest of care. The reality of his greatness is naught but an illusion, built upon a foundation of clouds and dreams which is not safe for any sane man to trod upon.

His latest creation brings to us the joy of touch. With naught but a couple of analog plastic buttons, this auteur plans to usher in a world where we can touch the virtual characters we interact with. A simple squeeze might represent a gentle hug. A violent squish would be a slap across a poor, undeserving digital face. A held grip of a trigger would have us holding hands with our virtual loved ones as we walk gently down the street of his wonderland and bask in the magnificence of the sheer emotion of it all.

The sense of touch, brought to you by a plastic button on your Xbox controller. Imagine that.

Actually, refrain from imagining. Diving too far into the reality of Molyneux’s worlds is what continually seems to bring their downfall. When trapped within their creator’s mind, the ideas he puts forth have a certain degree of abstract appeal. One must certainly admire his desire to change the gaming landscape; to bring something new to his creations that has not been seen before. 

Sadly his hopes and dreams always seem to come crumbling down when you actually experience his creations for your deeply humble self. Once you are inside The Land of Molyneux, his grand ideas seem to dissolve before your very eyes into thin veneers and fancy marketing speak. 

This is not to speak fully ill of the final products that his team manages to produce from his vague, idealistic ramblings. They might well turn out to be perfectly enjoyable efforts, especially true of his more recent work.

It is simply an interesting phenomenon that the greatest weakness of Molyneux’s creations continues to be Molyneux himself. The sharp divide between the fiction he peddles and the reality that results continually proves to be his undoing. 

Let us hope that this latest effort will break this deplorable cycle, though I must confess that I do not consider this likely.