"This is a very unique experience for me because I have never been to E3 before and not had some fantastic demo to show you all," he said. "So this is sort of a scary opportunity since I'm not just talking about a game on a screen. I can't really talk to you about features about Fable 2 but I can talk to you about some of the things that were influencing it, some of thoughts that are going on in Fable 2. I definitely can't show you anything, I can announce that we're working on another title at Lionhead but I can't tell you anything about it, other than it will be the greatest game of all time. [laughs]

Audience: "Will it make our beds and tuck us in at night?"

"It will not only make the bed," said Molyneux. "It'll make you not want to get out of bed. It will also make you breakfast."

Obviously that's big news. We love breakfast.

Even though we got absolutely no follow up information, it's a big deal for Lionhead to be working on a new project in addition to Fable 2. Could it be an entirely new intellectual property? Could it be a sequel? Could it simply be a PC version of Fable 2 set to release at the same time? Well, we don't know, but we'll certainly be there when it's announced.

On the topic of Fable 2, Peter Molyneux stressed morality and emotion's role in shaping the Fable 2 experience. "I want you to care," he said, "and I can't tell you how we're going to do that." The latter part of this response was repeated countless times over the course of the interview.

When asked about why he made the move to Microsoft, Molyneux was quick to answer. "It's a pretty easy one, actually," he said. "I think being an independent developer is a really trying thing to do." He went on to briefly describe how being independent was limiting the development time for some of his past games. "Today I've got more time to spend on the games that I love doing so much," he said.

Molyneux continued on the topic of Fable 2's development progression. "We have been thinking about Fable 2 and actually been working on Fable 2 for almost a couple years now. I learned my lesson in terms of the press not to blow my mouth off every time I think of an idea." He went on to describe how a lot of the technology powering Fable 2 is original, but there's also some middleware in use. He did not make further specifications. "With the kind of stage we're at at the moment, without giving you any clues about how much more we've got to go, is that I can move around the world, I can interact, and I can do some unique control."

Despite the fact characters can move around in Fable 2's world, "It's definitely not ready to demo yet," Molyneux said.

Regarding possible PC versions, Molyneux said he'd rather focus on one version first, then think about other possibilities. "I'd rather get one single format absolutely nailed, and then think about other formats." What exactly he meant was unclear, but he did say the Xbox 360's Xbox Live feature is a, "super important step." He praised the ease of interaction between friends list contacts. "As a designer, I'm going to rely on that friends list," he said. "It's changed the way I think about games. I'm no longer just thinking about you, I'm thinking about you and your friends. That makes a big, big, big difference in the way I approach designing a game." He added that might not specifically apply to Fable.

Peter Molyneux gave us an idea of where his focus was with game creation. "Making people feel like they are truly emotionally engaged. That is far, far more important than any feature I can suggest," he said. "Far more important than technology. Far more important than storyline...It's not just 'wow, my gun can fire 500 bullets rather than 400 bullets,'… it's 'wow, I've just shot someone, and that person relied on me or cared about me in this game,' and making you feel like you really have shot someone. That's what I think is more important. That's what I think as a designer I should be thinking about."

When asked if Fable 2 would include any compatibility with the newly announced Live Anywhere technology that encompasses PCs, mobile phones, and the Xbox 360, Molyneux didn't deny anything. "It's a great idea. It's a really good idea." Unfortunately, like pretty much every other question asked, nothing was confirmed. Molneux himself acknowledged his dodgy answers. "I've been very clever. I haven't answered a single question really, I've just danced around the houses," he said.

Army of Two--PS3, Xbox 360 (2007)
Battlefield 2142--PC (fall 2006)
Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars--PC (2007)
Crysis--PC (winter 2006)
Def Jam: Fight for NY: The Takeover--PSP
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II--Xbox 360 (summer 2006)
Madden NFL 07--Xbox 360, PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC, PSP, DS, GBA (August 2006)
NASCAR 07--PSP
NBA Live 07--PS3, Xbox 360
NCAA Football 07--Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2, PSP (summer 2006)
Spore--PC (TBD)
Superman Returns: The Videogame--PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox, GameCube, DS (Q4 2006)

 

Much more is coming, but these are some of the bigger headlines.