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Fable 2 Follow Up a "Significant Scientific Achievement"?

In a bold statement, game developer Peter Molyneux is claiming that his new Fable 2 follow up is a "significant scientific achievement". His unbridled excitement stems from years of work on AI, simulation, and character interaction. "Fortunately for fans of Molyneux-style hyperbole, the man is back with wide-eyed, reins-off enthusiasm of his own future work. [...] In Molyneux's own words, 'I think it's such a significant scientific achievement that it will be on the cover of Wired.'"

87 comments

  1. There, fixed it for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
    In an exaggerated statement, game developer Peter Molyneux is boasting that his new Fable 2 follow up is a "minor software engineering footnote". His unbridled excitement stems from years of work on computer game applied AI, simulation, and fantasy character interaction.

    There, fixed it for you.

    'I think it's such a significant scientific achievement that it will be on the cover of Wired.' Yes, Wired.

    Someone just said that major scientific achievements make the cover of Wired. Not Nature, not Science, not Physical Review Letters. Wired.

    *cough* *cough*

    No offense Mr Molyneux but it would probably be better to get your major scientific achievement on the cover of UFO Magazine. More "major scientific achievements" have died after making the cover of Wired than almost any other hipster magazine. At least with UFO Magazine you will still have some believers in 10 years.
    1. Re:There, fixed it for you by ceoyoyo · · Score: 2, Funny

      There's no way I'm going to read the article, but I suspect the quote in the summary is bang on. I have no trouble believing that Fable 2's scientific significance is very much compatible with being on the cover of Wired. Or PC Gamer, for that matter.

    2. Re:There, fixed it for you by Digestromath · · Score: 1
      If the man was really a scientist, he would promise a cure for cancer. What you would get is a pushed back release and a pill that sells on media hype alone.

      Of course you would fork over $80 for it, and it would be a enjoyable experience. But at the end of the day, your cancer would be unquenched, and you would hate him for getting your hopes up. You hate him so much, you call him the Uwe Boll of video games.

    3. Re:There, fixed it for you by steveo777 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Whoa now. Don't go that far. At least Molyneux has a few good games under his belt (Populous, Dungeon Keeper, and Fable). And, so what, most of his games have a pretty central theme (generally you can always be a bad guy). Uwe Boll? He's got nothing. I'm sure there is a 'middle ground' insult? May we not call him "Michael Bay"? Functional movies that are never really good or bad. Sure, some of them sell like hot-cakes, but in actuality, no one really knows why...

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    4. Re:There, fixed it for you by sjwt · · Score: 1

      I had herd so much about the AI in Fable, but realy once you hit that magic evil mark all everone dose is run screaming, did they realy think that everyone who met Saddam or Hitler just ran away screaming?

      --
      You have 5 Moderator Points!
      Which Helpless Linux zealot/MS basher do you want to mod down today?
    5. Re:There, fixed it for you by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Game AI seems to have that problem. Civilization has always annoyed me in that as soon as you become the dominant power everyone converts to fundamentalism, tries to extort money out of you, then declares war on you. Then there's nothing left to do but nuke them into the stone age, then drive tanks over what's left.

    6. Re:There, fixed it for you by yoyhed · · Score: 1

      Heh.. that's pretty much what I was thinking. Remember when the original Fable was supposed to be a game where every choice made a difference? If you planted a seed when young, there'd be a tree there later in the game when you were older? If you got cut as a kid, there'd be a scar? It was going to be interactive and open-ended, and span the life of the main character?

      And then remember when we got an 8-hour, incredibly linear walk-along-the-path-so-you-can-get-to-the-next-town-where-there-are-maybe-10-inconsequential-NPCs snorefest that Fable was? We'll see, Mr. Molyneux. We'll see..

      --
      WHO NEEDS SHIFT WHEN YOU HAVE CAPSLOCK/ DAMN1
  2. sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Why does anyone bother to report Molyneux's hype? I'm sure he's done some interesting work, but a "significant scientific achievement"? How absurd. It'll be yet another Molyneux game, ie some innovative concepts that ultimately fail as an engaging game.

    I'll take Sid Meier or a dozen other designers that can actually deliver over pie-in-the-sky Molyneux any day.

    1. Re:sigh by vertinox · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why does anyone bother to report Molyneux's hype?

      Well because some of us have extreme nostalgia for Populous, Powermonger, and of course the holy grail called 'Syndicate'.

      Way back in the early 90s, back when I first got Syndicate to run on my 486 with 4mb of ram with the right boot disk configuration I was floored and once I figured out how to get it to play with sound I was really into the whole game for several hundred (if not thousand) hours of my life.

      Sadly, I never played Dungeon Master for some odd reason (maybe I was too much into Quake at the time) by the mid to late 90's.

      Anyways... Flash forward 10 or 15 years and those games are forgotten and Black and White elicited yawns from many people. I personally played it for a few hours and then sort of just threw my people against the mountain side or into the ocean with my creature and moved on to other games.

      I personally never played Fable and some people call it the greatest game they have ever played and others just shrugged at it saying it was an ok game but nothing revolutionary.

      To be fair, the best comparison of Molyneux is George Lucas who as we all know made 3 amazing movies and then made some mediocre sequels. Really... I think it all went down hill once Bullfrog got axed or whatever happened to that company.

      So maybe... Just maybe he'll pull off another Populous or Syndicate and thats what most people are hoping for, but I'm not holding my breathe. I'm still bitter about Episode I and Syndicate 2.

      --
      "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
      -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
    2. Re:sigh by ShadowsHawk · · Score: 1

      Populous and Dungeon Keeper were fantastic, but I wish I had played Syndicate back in the day. Black & White was such a disappointment that I never bothered to try Fable.

    3. Re:sigh by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      Dungeon Keeper II is probably one of the best PC games ever made. Seriously.
      You can get it here if interested.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
    4. Re:sigh by Miltazar · · Score: 1

      So Molyneux is the George Lucas of video games? So what does that make Fable? Jar Jar Binks?

      --
      "Hold! What you are doing to us is wrong! Why do you do this thing?"
    5. Re:sigh by rhartness · · Score: 1

      To be fair, the best comparison of Molyneux is George Lucas who as we all know made 3 amazing movies and then made some mediocre sequels.
      Correction, 6 great movies. I assume you are referring to STAR WARS. The Indiana Jones trilogy was pretty awesome as well. Everything after the last IJ has been the ruin of the Lucas reputation.
    6. Re:sigh by Gorath99 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Don't forget Magic Carpet. That game was bloody amazing!

      Imagine this: it's just a year after the original Doom was released with its (for the time) amazing 2.5D game engine. Now this other game comes along that has dynamically lighted, fully morphable terrain. It has dynamic music that changes when the player enters a fight, reflections in the water, distance fog, transparency, a particle system, mouse controls, 8 player multiplayer, support for VR headsets, and, get this, it even had a red-green Stereogram mode! (Think those 3D images that you look at with red-green glasses.)

      And the spells, my god. The things you could do with those. You had spells that would cause the ground to rise up at any place of your choosing and form a castle that would act as your base, you could cause tornadoes to appear, or meteors to crash down and leave a huge crater. You still don't see effects like that in most games, and Magic Carpet did it all in 1994!

      To this day it's still by far the most amazing game I've ever played.

    7. Re:sigh by rtechie · · Score: 1

      Mod the parent up please. Syndicate was fscking awesome. Probably my all-time favorite game. Syndicate Wars was a fairly lackluster follow-up.

      Fable was pretty good, one of the best RPGs of it's era. But it was overshadowed by KOTOR.

  3. Fable was nothing special by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    If it was anything like the first fable, he's blowing his own horn. Fable was nothing special. It was one big long cliche, but it was well executed for what it was.

    Fable reminded me of a platformer action game with RPG elements, the action gameplay was remeniscent fo Maximo.

    The truth is much of what was in the original fable was half-baked and in the PC version, the lost chapters, not being able to reconfigure and remap your keys was frustrating.

    1. Re:Fable was nothing special by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I wish I could blow my own horn, but I'm not that limber. And my horn isn't that big.

    2. Re:Fable was nothing special by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude! Get your mind out of my gutter!

    3. Re:Fable was nothing special by LeeBarnes · · Score: 1

      You're thinking of him blowing his self?

      O_o

      --
      "Before humanity, the stars shone throughout the heavens. After humanity [has gone], the stars will continue to shine"
    4. Re:Fable was nothing special by Annymouse+Cowherd · · Score: 1

      That anon must've been a resident of 4chan or totse >_>

  4. I'll still play it by Uncle+Focker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It won't be what he's boasting but I'll play it and probably enjoy it. If they can deliver even half of what they claim, then I'll be satisfied.

    1. Re:I'll still play it by PotatoFarmer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Half? If the original Fable is any indication with regard to planned vs. included features, prepared to be unsatisfied.

    2. Re:I'll still play it by ShakaUVM · · Score: 1

      You didn't learn your lesson from Black and White, did you?

      All the "revolutionary" God AI did in that game was crap on villagers, eat them, and dance with them. In that order.

  5. I'm confused. by Spudtrooper · · Score: 2, Interesting

    So is he talking about Fable 2 (the follow-up to Fable) being the achievement, or the eventual follow-up to Fable 2?

    1. Re:I'm confused. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      No, he is talking about the scientific achievement of getting funding for Fable 2, or F'ed 2 as I like to call it, after the P.O.S. that was Fable came out on the ex bawkz.

    2. Re:I'm confused. by Serzen · · Score: 3, Informative

      The kotaku article links to a Wired article which states that the follow up to Fable 2--a game he "can't talk about right now"--is the achievement in question. For those interested enough, the interview also has a couple of interesting lines about the bug-testing in Fable 2 (trying to get the AI tuned) and also the morality system (shades of grey, not just black and white--no pun intended).

  6. hahaha by deathtopaulw · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Am I the only one who loves Peter Molyneux and his crazy claims about his upcoming works?
    It's funny every time, also it's fun to let the imagination run wild a bit... the problem is in the fans taking it to heart so strongly.

  7. Significance? by JustinOpinion · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think it's such a significant scientific achievement that it will be on the cover of Wired. Not to be a jerk, but truly "significant scientific achievements" end up on the cover of Science Magazine or Nature Magazine, not Wired.

    Getting on the cover of Wired is more of a significant marketing achievement.

    More seriously, if this is actually a scientific advance, then it would be published in peer-reviewed journals, scrutinized by the community, and (if worthy) built upon by others. It isn't really science if you keep the secrets of your techniques locked up, and don't allow others to see/understand what you're doing. And it's certainly not a "significant achievement" if all you're doing is using the same techniques that are well-established in the field. Grandiose claims of novelty need correspondingly rigorous evidence.
    1. Re:Significance? by WDot · · Score: 3, Informative

      Peter Molyneux is infamous for promising gamers the moon. Fable 2 will likely be fun, but take everything P. Molyneux here says with a grain of salt. He said similarly boastful things with Fable... and pretty much every other game he's ever had a hand in.

    2. Re:Significance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Agreed. Wired is in no position to measure "science". It would have been if they had a publication in some well known peer-reviewed journal or even a good conference paper.

      PS: Science or Nature, to me, at least are more of "science for the masses" type publications, rather than places where new science is first published.

    3. Re:Significance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't know about Science because my field doesn't publish much there, but publishing your results in Nature is considered very prestigious, even better than Physical Review Letters.

    4. Re:Significance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It isn't really science if you keep the secrets of your techniques locked up, and don't allow others to see/understand what you're doing.

      Yes, while we're at it, let's dismiss the innovation behind Spore's technology with this logic as well. And the Euphoria engine, obvious pseudoscience amirite.

    5. Re:Significance? by Nasajin · · Score: 1

      Not to be a jerk, but truly "significant scientific achievements" end up on the cover of Science Magazine or Nature Magazine, not Wired.
      Or in a peer-reviewed journal, if it's actually an achievement as opposed to a curiosity.
    6. Re:Significance? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not to be a jerk, but truly "significant scientific achievements" end up on the cover of Science Magazine or Nature Magazine, not Wired. You're right, real scientific achievements make the cover of Science or Nature, but the cool scientific achievements, as small as they may be, make the cover of Wired magazine.
    7. Re:Significance? by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 1

      To be fair, he's delivered, and strongly, many more times than he's not. Populous, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper... ...although the "scientific achievement" bit is a little weird.

      --
      "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
    8. Re:Significance? by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 1

      Uhm...sorry to break this to you, but you're wrong. Nature is a very well-respected publication for biological sciences; it's where Watson and Crick first published their work on DNA.

      --
      "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
    9. Re:Significance? by BlastOff · · Score: 1

      But you're arguing semantics here. When Molyneux says it's a "significant scientific advancement" he's only talking about the way it has advanced video games. An advance in video games, however great, is small potatoes in the world of science. Also, we have to take into account Mr. Molyneux's propensity for hyperbole. Any advance he talks about is going to be half of what he envisions it to be. If Molyneux says it will grace the cover of Wired than it will probably be a big advance in the world of gadgets and games. If it comes true. I think it's pretty obvious Mr. Molyneux didn't mean it would be such a scientific advancement that it would affect the world.

  8. Wow, the cover of Wired! by hobb0001 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I tell you, there's no greater reward for scientific achievement than to be put on the cover of Wired.

    ...and in related news, Mozart still laments having never made the cover of Rolling Stone.

    1. Re:Wow, the cover of Wired! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why do you think he wrote Requiem? He told Beethoven to send in his story, but apparently he didn't hear him.

      (Ok, before anyone says a word, I know that Mozart died around 1791, while Beethoven lost his hearing around 1796. But after two years of listening to my music major roommate, I need this small joke. This is what I've worked myself up for since fall '06)

  9. Achievement of what? by electricbern · · Score: 1

    Fable 2 will achieve the never-seen-before unsurmountable level of unmet expectations no matter how good it is.

    --
    alias possession='chmod 666 satan && ls /dev > il && tail daemon.log'
    1. Re:Achievement of what? by ShadowMarth · · Score: 1

      I think Killzone 2 beat it there. That old Killzone 2 E3 trailer that Sony tried to con people into thinking was real footage still has no game behind it. The rumor is they're waiting until they can actually make it look a fraction as good as the trailer.

  10. Re:I predict... by Daimanta · · Score: 2, Insightful

    and I predict that this post will be a significant scientific achievement in the field of karma hitchhiking.

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
  11. Promises, promises by Zerth · · Score: 3, Informative

    While I liked Black & White, Mr. Molyneux has been a windbag since Bullfrog. Always hype, hype, hype, disappointment with him. Most of his recent games would be decent to fairly good if only he would shut the hell up before release.

    Wish he'd make another Dungeon Keeper.

    1. Re:Promises, promises by meregistered · · Score: 1

      I entirely agree... I saw Black & White but was not excited enough about it to buy it. Or spend my time on it.
      I still yearn to play Dungeon Keeper on occasion.
      I think it's funny that he decided that he had made a mistake with it. To paraphrase 'The problem with Dungeon Keeper was that I put too many controls in the user interface...' interesting that I had never thought that or heard that from other players of the game...

    2. Re:Promises, promises by nuzak · · Score: 1

      > I still yearn to play Dungeon Keeper on occasion.

      Me too, but the damn game simply doesn't run on XP. You can increase the time it takes til it crashes from nearly instantaneous to getting in maybe 10 minutes of play if you use only software rendering and turn off QSound. Which really takes away a good chunk of what made it so good. And just to add insult to injury, the funny movies between dungeons don't even play.

      Black and White was *really* good for the first few levels, and then it completely falls apart. I never bothered with BW2

      Still, who can forget the sailors: "Eye-del-eye-del-eeeeeee, Eye-del-eye-del-eeeeeee ... we simply can't leave til we get some more wood."

      "Sheep have many uses!"

      --
      Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
    3. Re:Promises, promises by Dachannien · · Score: 1

      Black & White almost had scientific merit for its AI system, but from a gameplay perspective, it was laden with problems. Two stood out the most. One, the campaign became boring and extremely repetitive, involving casting the same spells dozens or hundreds of times to meet the scenario objectives, all without the help of your creature. And two, the method of training your creature was an extremely non-intuitive "reward/punish your pet before it acts, rather than after" that was woefully lacking in feedback for the player.

    4. Re:Promises, promises by Frogbert · · Score: 1

      I hear he is working on a colibaration

    5. Re:Promises, promises by ultranova · · Score: 1

      Black and White was *really* good for the first few levels, and then it completely falls apart.

      Black and White had a good idea, but pretty shitty execution. It wasn't good even for the first few levels, it was simply new.

      Still, who can forget the sailors: "Eye-del-eye-del-eeeeeee, Eye-del-eye-del-eeeeeee ... we simply can't leave til we get some more wood."

      While they were surrounded by forest on all sides except the sea. That, I believe, was the moment where the game came closest to the authentic godhood experience ;).

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    6. Re:Promises, promises by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 1

      For what it's worth, Dungeon Keeper II still plays on XP just fine. You can't alt-tab, though, which sucks.

      --
      "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
    7. Re:Promises, promises by Jaysyn · · Score: 1

      Not sure about Dungeon Keeper, but Dungeon Keeper 2 plays fine on my XP gaming rig.

      --
      There is a war going on for your mind.
  12. I want to follow him around. by Zaphod-AVA · · Score: 4, Funny

    I want to follow him around and periodically shout "Try to get your combat multiplier *even higher*! Until the cops drag me away.

    1. Re:I want to follow him around. by Gideon+Fubar · · Score: 1

      you made me laugh so hard, coffee came out my nose.

      I think we should get him on a Takeshi's Castle style game show and make him chase chickens. While heckling him in bad faux British accents.

      --
      http://www.xkcd.com/354/
    2. Re:I want to follow him around. by HiVizDiver · · Score: 1

      OMG, I *HATED* that part! I don't think I ever did get it, because they couldn't spawn fast enough to keep up with the amount of damage I was dealing, or something like that.

    3. Re:I want to follow him around. by Quiet_Desperation · · Score: 1

      "Ah! There is an important quest card for you at the Guild!"

      Yeah, thanks, mind if I rescue my mom from the evil prison first???

      I beat the shit out of that old guy every chance I got. And he was invulnerable, which meant I could just hammer away on him until I got it out of my system. I sent lightning bolts right up his ass whenever I visited the Guild.

    4. Re:I want to follow him around. by Das+Modell · · Score: 1, Troll

      It's okay to say "that was funny" or just "LOL." You don't have to make shit up about you spilling coffee from your nose or ruining your keyboard or whatever. It's getting a little old by now.

    5. Re:I want to follow him around. by steveo777 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, the easy way to do that? IIRC you simply equip the stick that you start the game with and go to town on things. Or just the weakest weapon you can find.

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    6. Re:I want to follow him around. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I remember the combat multiplier. There was a little bug that when you showed your trophy outside the town ~8 people are generated, and when you show it again another ~8 are generated without the old ones going away. I once got a combat multiplier of 180 or so by showing my trophy a dozen times and force pushing everyone. Maybe I should have felt some guilt for slaughtering 100 people in about 30 seconds, but generating tens of thousands of experience points in that short a time sorta absolved it for me.

    7. Re:I want to follow him around. by Das+Modell · · Score: 1

      No, I was not actually trolling. I actually do believe, sincerely, that the "OLOLLOO WTB NEW KEYBOARD" meme is getting really, really old.

    8. Re:I want to follow him around. by Gideon+Fubar · · Score: 1

      And i was thinking that maybe there's a world of difference between a cheerful anecdote and "OMGLOOKATMEIM12!!+1".

      Also, exaggeration is a meme older than either you or I, so even if i had been exaggerating I'm not sure your complaint would be applicable.

      PS: it wasn't a lot of coffee, just bad timing on my part.
      PPS: my keyboard is still intact and functional. Thankyou for your concern.

      --
      http://www.xkcd.com/354/
  13. Same Old Moly!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know if it's going to be a scientific achievement, but if it's a Molyneux game, it will probably suck. But it's going to have REALLY nice graphics!

    1. Re:Same Old Moly!! by Moraelin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't know if it's going to be a scientific achievement, but if it's a Molyneux game, it will probably suck. But it's going to have REALLY nice graphics!


      Actually, Fable was a very nice, if too short, game. Still, it was great fun.

      That said, the guy does brag way too much, and there is a chance that this kind of self-hype will sink any game, no matter how good. For example a lot of B&W's flaws would have been easier to swallow, if it hadn't been for the hype promising the moon and the stars and everything that the game didn't actually have as released.
      --
      A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
    2. Re:Same Old Moly!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      There were a lot of aspects of Fable which were quite, quite bad.

      Like the "AND THEN, THE HERO WENT AND DID WHAT YOU JUST DID, ALL ACCORDING TO PROPHECY, WHICH YOU ARE HEARING NOW, AFTER YOU ALREADY DID WHAT YOU JUST DID!!!!" narration, and the uber-boring combo system which rewarded brainlessly knocking down tons of enemies with weak abilities just to milk the system.

      But... the game was probably one of the prettiest games out. It's actually a lot like Dungeon Siege- a mind-numbingly boring, yet breath takingly beautiful, game.

  14. Gadzooks by ludomancer · · Score: 2, Funny

    "In a bold statement, game developer Peter Molyneux..."

    I honestly didn't make it past that part.

    1. Re:Gadzooks by Gideon+Fubar · · Score: 2, Funny

      I see you've played this game before.

      One day his rhetoric will take on a life of its own and become the President of the World.

      --
      http://www.xkcd.com/354/
    2. Re:Gadzooks by ludomancer · · Score: 1

      Definitely, but it's not just the overuse of it in our everyday world; this guy in particular can't be taken seriously if he's breathing.

    3. Re:Gadzooks by steveo777 · · Score: 1

      I seriously thought we were voting for the Worst Dressed Sentient Being in the Known Universe. Sorry about that.

      --
      This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
  15. Science isn't engineering. by EWAdams · · Score: 1
    I love what Peter has done for us over the years, but he needs to learn the difference between science and engineering. Whatever this will be, it won't be a scientific achievement.

    Also, as game AI is mostly smoke and mirrors, it probably won't be a major engineering achievement either.

    A major entertainment achievement, possibly.

    --
    I piss off bigots.
    1. Re:Science isn't engineering. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A major entertainment achievement, possibly.

      Even that would still be a "bold" statement, coming from Molyneux.

  16. riiiight by EvilGoodGuy · · Score: 1

    I made the mistake of listening to the crap he spewed for the original installment of Fable. The released game was pretty enjoyable, but it was not the same game that he was talking about. So I don't know if he ever actually plays the games he leads or spits out ideas and expects them to be implemented. But I refuse to read about anything he's making until it's already released. And I'll stick to reviews by anyone but Molyneux.

    1. Re:riiiight by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

      I think some of the developers under him said he has a tendency to think up new features during interviews and then talk about them as if they were already implemented.

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  17. DK3 got started, then canned. by EWAdams · · Score: 1
    EA lost money for the first time EVER and clobbered all its PC projects.

    Read more here: http://pcgtw.retro-net.de/index.php?id=games:keeper3

    --
    I piss off bigots.
  18. So if the pattern holds true... by analog_line · · Score: 2, Informative

    1. Molyneux hypes the hell out of $game_X
    2. Delivered product turns out to be nothing like the hype.
    3. Expansion released to attempt to mollify angry fans.
    4. Pick up $game_X plus expansion for 1/5th-1/10th of its original retail value a couple years later, and at that price it turns out to be not that bad at all.

    1. Re:So if the pattern holds true... by JK_the_Slacker · · Score: 1

      5. ???
      6. Profit!

      There, I fixed it for you.

      --
      I'm waiting for a "-1 somepeoplejustshouldn'tgetmodprivileges" meta-moderation.
  19. I enjoyed Fable, quite a bit. by HiVizDiver · · Score: 1

    But there was NOTHING groundbreaking about the game. Your character ages. That was ultimately the big excitement.

    "CAN I HEAR IT FOR CHARACTER AGING!!!"

    *cue cricket noise*

    So basically, if the game is fun, great. But Molyneaux's bullshit seriously needs to be checked.

  20. Deja Vu by xplenumx · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I seem to remember Mr. Molyneux promising the world four years ago as well.

    A message from Peter Molyneux.
    There is something I have to say. And I have to say it because I love making games. When a game is in development, myself and the development teams I work with constantly encourage each other to think of the best features and the most ground-breaking design possible.

    However, what happens is that we strive to include absolutely everything we've ever dreamt of and, in my enthusiasm, I talk about it to anyone who'll listen, mainly in press interviews. When I tell people about what we're planning, I'm telling the truth, and people, of course, expect to see all the features I've mentioned. And when some of the most ambitious ideas get altered, redesigned or even dropped, people rightly want to know what happened to them.

    If I have mentioned any feature in the past which, for whatever reason, didn't make it as I described into Fable, I apologise. Every feature I have ever talked about WAS in development, but not all made it. Often the reason is that the feature did not make sense. For example, three years ago I talked about trees growing as time past. The team did code this but it took so much processor time (15%) that the feature was not worth leaving in. That 15 % was much better spent on effects and combat. So nothing I said was groundless hype, but people expecting specific features which couldn't be included were of course disappointed. If that's you, I apologise. All I can say is that Fable is the best game we could possibly make, and that people really seem to love it.

    I have come to realise that I should not talk about features too early so I am considering not talking about games as early as I do. This will mean that the Lionhead games will not be known about as early as they are, but I think this is the more industry standard.

    Our job as the Lionhead family of studios is to be as ambitious as we possibly can. But although we jump up and down in glee about the fabulous concepts and features we're working on, I will not mention them to the outside world until we've implemented and tested them, and they are a reality.

    Thank you for reading.

    Peter.

    Source: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/10/01/1651219

    I'll believe it when I see it. I wish you the best of luck Mr. Molyneux.

    1. Re:Deja Vu by VinylPusher · · Score: 0

      When will people learn that Monsieur Molyneux has a head full of ideas but no real talent in applying them? Anyone *with any talent* thinking up "let's make the trees actually grow" realises immediately how futile, irrelevant and costly (in resources) such a feature would be.

      He's like a kid with an active imagination. Don't write him off completely though, occasionally he will come up with something quite excellent.

      I think it was called Populous.

  21. Re:I predict... by A+beautiful+mind · · Score: 1

    The theory doesn't match the evidence within any reasonable parameters.

    [theory rejected stamp]

    --
    It takes a man to suffer ignorance and smile
    Be yourself no matter what they say
  22. Also in the news by benhattman · · Score: 1
    In a bold statement, actor Harrison Ford is claiming that his new Indiana Jones 4 follow up is a "significant archeological achievement". His unbridled excitement stems from years of "work".

    "Fortunately for fans, the man is back with wide-eyed, reins-off enthusiasm of his own future work. [...] In Ford's own words, 'I think it's such a significant scientific achievement that it will be on the cover of Entertainment Weekly.'"
  23. Improved Time Warp.. by malkavian · · Score: 1

    Fable 1 introduce the concept of the hero falling into a time vortex where you can start the game in a 'normal' family, but end up a hundred years older than your mother, and almost have to chase the final anti-hero round in a zimmer frame..
    I wonder what Fable 2 is going to be, some further delving into the theory of Imaginary Time where a new breakthrough in theory is implemented into the game as a demonstration?

  24. Fable Review Says it Best by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    This review for the original Fable covers some of the hyperbole Mr. Molyneux went into for the first game:

    Fable: The Lost Chapters (Fullyramblomatic review)

  25. So how many Gamer Points by DoChEx · · Score: 1

    So how many Gamer Points will this "Significant Scientific" Achievement get me?

  26. It IS a significant scientific achievement by Malevolent+Tester · · Score: 1

    Lionhead have managed to disprove the old adage that you can't fool people twice.

    --
    If you haven't made a developer cry, you've wasted a day.
  27. Peasants... by FishAdmin · · Score: 3, Funny

    I just hope the peasants don't all sound like rejects from "My Fair Lady" this time. I hated that the only woman you could marry that DIDN'T have an obnoxious accent was the Mayor. Not easy when you're trying to do the "all good" type run-through. "Oh! You really ARE an 'ero!" *shudder* And yet, all the prostitutes sounded educated. Hmm...

    --
    Last night I played a blank tape at full volume. The mime next door went nuts.
  28. Good games, but overly boastful designer. by thezig2 · · Score: 1

    Molyneux does make good games, but he's also got a very big mouth. Fable was good, but I would've definitely felt cheated if I had bothered to follow the game and bought into the hype. So, I will simply ignore Fable 2 until it comes out and be pleasantly surprised.

  29. Read all about it! by crivens · · Score: 1

    EXTRA! EXTRA! DNA test confirms Derek Smart and Peter Molyneux are related! EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!