A couple days back, folks who pre-ordered Fable 3 may have received their redemption codes for the Villager Maker, only to discover it didn't work. Well, today the system appears to be working, with some significant hiccups. We were able to get through the process, but we won't be able to confirm if it worked until Fable 3 launches next week on October 26.
To design your villager, you'll have to log into Xbox.com and redeem the code (which expires Nov. 23) you received from a participating retailer. We had issues getting the system to work at all with Firefox, but it did respond to Safari -- what we're saying is, try a different browser if you're having problems. Also, we couldn't generate the face of any character who wasn't of the Caucasian persuasion, but their body did acknowledge other skin tones. Once again, we have no idea if the whole system actually works, but at least the website and redemption system is currently working.
#clips
In addition to this trailer packed with in-game cinematics, Fable III sent word today that all new copies will have a one-use code redeemable for free goodies in-game. More »
If you pick up a new copy of Fable 3 next week, you'll find a free, one-time-use Xbox Live redemption code bundled inside. What does the code unlock, you ask? One flask of Raise Dead potion, another of Slow Time potion, the Scot Male/Female Hero Outfit, the Highlander Tattoo Set and the Red Setter skin for your virtual pooch.
The items haven't been priced otherwise on Xbox Live Marketplace, but we have to imagine they'll be part of Fable 3's in-game store. If shopping isn't your thing, perhaps you'll be more interested in the new action-packed trailer we've included after the break. You don't even need a code to access it.
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With the holiday gaming onslaught upon us in its full, glorious horror, Best Buy is offering minor relief with its "buy 2, get the 3rd game free" promotion on select titles next week. The ad notes that the sale is available on any of the games advertised in the flyer (pictured, click to enlarge).
For a list of Midnight Openings for next week's mega-hyped game release, Shaun White Skateboarding, head on over to Best Buy's site. Oh, yeah, there's also some game called Fable 3 launching next week. No pressure.
Three: it's just a nice, round number. You have a beginning, middle and end. Good things are also said to come in threes, but according to Lionhead's Peter Molyneux, Fable 3 doesn't necessarily close the book on Albion and the franchise. During an Inside Xbox segment at Eurogamer Expo (transcribed by GamerZines), Molyneux said he hates "limiting" the studio to a trilogy. "Forget about the word 'trilogy.' I'm not going to tell you what happens at the end of Fable 3 but I don't think you'll feel in any way that you've reached the end of a trilogy."
It's by no means confirmation the series will extend past the third entry, sure, but if Fable 2 is any indication, we'll likely feel the same way at the end of Fable 3 as we did two years ago: wanting more regardless.
Developer Jo Remi, who is currently working on Owlboy at D-pad studio, is putting together a little fan-made deconstruction of Fable. His personal deadline for the project is the latest sequel's launch date of October 26.
The Fableous "demake" is coupled with some "improvements" to the franchise's economy and fishing system, the latter of which you can see an example of after the break. His plan is to bring missed features ("Real-time Vegetation Growth, Weapon Pickups"), along with the Fable staples of moral choices and body morphing into the mix. Well, he's got another week to put it all together. Remi should have more to show of the game later this week.
#deals
Fable II is supposed to go for $20 if you download it on the Xbox 360. But, less than two weeks before the release of Fable III, it it now free on the Xbox Live Marketplace. More »
If you played Fable 2 anything like the way I played Fable 2, you ended the game a very, very, very rich player. Why work a virtual job pouring cold beers when you could buy a piece of virtual property, turn off your Xbox, pour yourself an actual cold one (or 10), and when you come to in the morning, you're dehydrated and groggy -- oh, and you've been earning rent money in-game, too?
That feature -- the ability to earn rental income while away from the game -- went a long way towards making Fable 2's Albion feel like a living world; one that went on regardless of whether or not your hero was there to see it. That feature won't be returning for Fable 3. "It was a Fable 2 feature," Lionhead lead designer Josh Atkins tells Joystiq. "With every feature, we spend a lot of time reevaluating new things that make sense for the emotions we want to impact and get from players in Fable 3."
You know, we thought we'd seen everything presented in slow motion, thanks to Hollywood, but it turns out we've missed out on one thing up until now: the slow-motion handshake. Thanks for making our life complete, Fable 3 launch trailer!
#clips
Slated for release later this month, action role-playing game Fable III raises the stakes. The game is about more than being good or bad. It's about causing a revolution. More »
Bastion of video game music, Sumthing Else Music Works, has announced plans to release the Fable 3 soundtrack later this month.
The soundtrack, created by series composer Russell Shaw and performed by the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, will be released alongside Fable 3 on October 26. Interested kings-to-be can pre-order the soundtrack from Amazon for $16.
The soundtrack will also be available via Sumthing Digital, iTunes and other digital music retailers.
Fable 3 Kingmaker won't be helping North American "smartphone" owners stuff their in-game coffers before Fable 3's October 26 launch. A Microsoft representative told Joystiq today, "Kingmaker is a Europe only digital marketing promotion. No U.S. integration."
That's a pity, especially since the Foursquare-style app looks like it would've been good for getting the Albion-American faithful out of the house. Oh well, with pre-order they can still participate in creating their own NPC.
A full list of smartphones capable of playing Kingmaker still isn't available, but a safe bet is integration with Windows Mobile 7. Check out the Kingmaker trailer after the break and imagine all that gold you won't be making by walking around.
#lionheadstudios
Fable fans will be able to amass a fortune in the kingdom of Albion well before the next Xbox 360 entry launches next month. And they'll do it on their smartphones with the soon-to-be-released Fable III Kingmaker. More »
The Fable franchise has always prided itself on its clever, engrossing writing -- but even if the entirety of Fable 3's dialogue was written by baby rhesus monkeys, we're pretty sure the game's voice cast could make it sound incredible. The actors therein include seasoned VO veterans like Stephen Root and Zoe Wanamaker, as well as relative newcomers Simon Pegg and Sir Ben Kingsley, who totally has an Oscar.
Check out these master thespians' thoughts on Lionhead's upcoming action-RPG in the developer diary posted after the jump. Make sure you stick around for Root's inspiring advice at the end of the clip. Don't forget: Just be yourselves, friends.
Back in August, Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux teased that, while there wouldn't be a Pub Games-like companion game for Fable 3 on XBLA, something similar was in the works -- seemingly for mobile phones -- that we'd see in October. Well, that something would definitely appear to be Fable 3 Kingmaker, a "smartphone" game due on October 1. The title was revealed by the UK's Xbox World magazine and detailed by CVG.
"The battleground is your town, and your only weapon is your smartphone," according to Xbox World, which, when combined with statements like "plant virtual flags for the Royals or the Rebels" and "claim power-ups in locations throughout the United Kingdom" suggests that this will be a foursquare-style app based on checking in at different locations in the real world. "For every flag you plant, and every power up you claim, you shall earn gold coins, which you shall then be able to transfer into the Fable III game on your Xbox 360," the description reads.
Of course, this information is UK-centric, so we're checking with Microsoft's US PR to clarify release plans for North America. There's also the matter of what exactly a "smartphone" constitutes in this case, i.e., can we expect versions of the title for iOS, Android, etc.? An official site for Kingmaker has been launched, which, for now, simply contains some artwork and the October 1 date.
#clips
Simon Pegg, Ben Kingsley, John Cleese, and Michael Fassbender headline an all-star cast of men and women with British accents in this voice acting installment of the Lionhead video diaries. More »
The creative minds behind games like Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Fable III, and Brink convene in November at the Bradford Animation Festival in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to discuss the future of gaming, and everybody's invited! More »
#clips
Perhaps calls out is too harsh a phrase. Really Lucas Molyneux just asks, almost begs, Valve's Gabe Newell for more details on the perpetually not-finished Half-Life 3. More »
#kinect
Fable developer Lionhead Studios' ambitious Milo project for Xbox 360's Kinect add-on may have finally been put to bed. Sources claiming to have knowledge of the tech demo's development tell Kotaku that Project Milo has been effectively shut down. More »
Fable 2's interior design aesthetic was pretty much always "country drab," with the occasional mansion to customize with "nouveau riche gauche." Fable 3 is adding loads of new choices for the aspiring virtual decorator. See Lionhead's crib creation tour right after the break.
If you choose to throw your cautious attitude towards avoiding Fable 3 spoilers to the wind by checking out the list of Achievements posted after the jump, you'll find a mix of accomplishments both old and new. Some reward gameplay mechanics that have been present in all iterations of the franchise, such as digging and ... um, cross-dressing. Others require you to perform fresh, innovative tasks, like freaking down with one of your Xbox Live friends.
The Achievement hunters among you are going to be in for some awkward, awkward conversations when Fable 3 launches October 26.
#lionheadstudios
When two tribes go to war, delicious cake is all you can score. With Fable III due out next month, the developers at Lionhead Studios turn their attentions from making kings to baking things in an all-out Cake War. More »
We know Fable 2 didn't quite get co-op right. To hear Peter Molyneux talk about it, it was a "poorly implemented feature." And that's where Fable 3 comes in. The threequel promises to fix three specific shortcomings of Fable 2's co-op experience: bringing your hero into another player's game; returning to your game with the gold and items you earned; and (yes!) detaching the camera.
First, the henchman problem. Since the concept of co-op was introduced into Fable 2 later in development, the game's quests were never designed to accommodate two heroes with all of their possible abilities and characteristics. Instead, when joining another player's game, your carefully curated hero would be replaced with a generic henchman. Hardly the kind of experience that drew players to Fable in the first place. In Fable 3, you take your hero - weapons and all - with you into a friend's game.
#petermolyneux
Fable I and Fable II are both coming-of-age stories. While Fable II does certainly have domesticate elements, Fable III is about settling into adulthood and becoming a king. King is the top. What does that leave for the future? More »
"I think we're taking a poorly implemented feature in Fable 2 and really making it shine in Fable 3." Peter Molyneux's enthusiasm, equally infamous and infectious, doesn't necessarily extend into the past. The creative director of Microsoft Game Studios Europe guided us through Fable 3's improved co-op design during a Friday morning TGS session, eagerly contrasting new features with some earnest recollection of the previous game's shortcomings.
"Well, to be honest, the problem we had -- it was a bizarre problem -- is that every time you do something different, and this will sound horribly mechanical but it comes down to this at all times ... When you create a different version, then that needs a complete test pass," Molyneux explained. "So we had in Fable 2, because co-op came in quite late, couch co-op and we had [Xbox] Live co-op. We hadn't really planned for the fact that we were going to have to do a test pass. An entire test pass for the single player; an entire test pass for the couch co-op; an entire test pass for the Live co-op."
Intent on adding online co-op to Fable 2 within a limited time frame, Lionhead Studios essentially went for a prudent two-for-one deal: take the working couch co-op online. "We could save a whole test pass if we made Live and couch co-op almost identical in Fable 2, and we were kind of running low on time so we had to do that," said Molyneux. Since the game essentially believed it was running on one screen, both players had to relinquish control of the camera -- and one had to settle for playing as a generic impostor in place of a true hero.
In Fable 3, you're allowed to take your hero into someone else's game, along with your upgradeable weapons, abilities and fluffy, canine companions. You can marry your co-op partner, divorce them, go into a business partnership and even play Pat-a-Cake with them. And -- finally -- both players have a fully controllable camera. This is how the best internet romances start.
