As impressive and immersive as Lionhead's demo for Milo was at Microsoft's E3 press conference, I think I'd rather play with this Pluff prototype that Diana Hughes has on display at IndieCade. I've seen photos of the strange game passed around for the past couple of days, and was immediately interested in its cuteness, but I wasn't able to track down its name or a video demonstration of it until this morning.

Petting and hugging the Pluff controller will make the creature displayed in the corresponding Flash game happier. You can also abuse him to make him sad, but then he won't perform or learn any tricks, like standing on its head or playing hide-and-seek. According to Hughes, the prototype is designed to "increase the sophistication of e‐textile applications and methods" while combining on-screen content and a physical interface to "create an emotionally engaging experience for the user".

You can watch more video of Pluff and read details about the game's initial design at Hughes' site.

[Via Los Angeles Times]