Fable finally has a release date...

[The NightWalker]

They anounced all the games I mentioned coming out next year.
So they should just be on the box1. (except fable which we all know is coming out in the fall.)

I just hope Kotor2 is as good as the first. I loved being evil. betraying and killing your friends at the end.. It was sweet. Then playing again as a saint, oh the goodness of it all.

 

[John Crichton]

I wouldn't expect a sequel - the Xbox 2 is just around the corner.

If by around the corner you mean at the earliest, Christmas 2005 then yeah it's right around the corner.

No one will release any kind of major new console without first hyping it at E3 first. So, it's abscense kills the chance of it coming out this year. Additionally, any company would be foolish to not release their new system in the fall, close to the Christmas season. 18 months at the earliest is a pretty long wait for a system that has no solid specs. I'd be surprised to see anything from anyone but Sony in 2005.

Uh, sorry about the OT.

Anywho - KoTOR2 is going to be damn cool, you can just tell. They're not messing with the original formula and are basically just adding things to a new story.

Fable has been developed for a while, yes - but I see that as a good thing. They have had a chance to master the Xbox hardware and really fine-tune the game.

 

[Welverin]

God, there are a lot of cynical bastards around here.

A game losing features during development is normal, a game being in development for years is not unusual either, neither are delays (would you rather have a good game late or a bad game on time?).

Finally none of that is a reason in itself to believe anything will be wrong with Fable, particularly the long development time. Of Blizzard’s last five games how many of them were late, of those how many of them sucked? Who remembers or even cares that any of them were late?

p.s. John, what's with the new avatar? Who is it? Where's it from?

 

[drothgery]

God, there are a lot of cynical bastards around here.

A game losing features during development is normal, a game being in development for years is not unusual either, neither are delays (would you rather have a good game late or a bad game on time?).

A game being in development for two years, or even three is normal. A game in development for more than four years is not, especially for a console game (with five to six year breaks between console generations, you just can't take that long to make a console game).

Losing features in development is normal. Losing features to the degree Fable has is not.

Finally none of that is a reason in itself to believe anything will be wrong with Fable, particularly the long development time. Of Blizzard’s last five games how many of them were late, of those how many of them sucked? Who remembers or even cares that any of them were late?

Blizzard's the exception to the rule that Very Late Game = crappy game (if it comes out at all), and a lot of other maxims of game development. They're certainly not a good company to generalize from.

 

[Welverin]

A game being in development for two years, or even three is normal. A game in development for more than four years is not, especially for a console game (with five to six year breaks between console generations, you just can't take that long to make a console game).

Two years is standard for any game built from the ground up. Three is rather common. Four is rather long, but hardly anything to get suspicious about. Fable however is a very ambitious game and is in a genre that requires a fair amount of work, so four years is hardly unreasonable. It's not Madden 2005 after all, even KotOR2 will have been in development for 1.5-2 years by the time it's released and it's reusing the engine and a lot of content from the first game.

Losing features in development is normal. Losing features to the degree Fable has is not.

Every game this ambitious loses major features, Peter just made the mistake of spouting off about it before any real work started so it sounds worse than it would have it he had kept his mouth shut until they had a better idea of what would be possible.

Blizzard's the exception to the rule that Very Late Game = crappy game (if it comes out at all), and a lot of other maxims of game development. They're certainly not a good company to generalize from.

They're not an exception, people just don't remember the case where a game turned out good, they focus on the negative ones and forget the good ones. So there's no need to generalize from Blizzard, because they're far from unique.

 

[John Crichton]

Welverin has it pretty much right the way I see it. Molyneux has been developing games for years and is one of the top men in the field. He made a statement that should have been probably kept behind closed doors. Game delays mean nothing to me. I'd rather a company take an extra year on a game to make sure it is right rather than release it now with bugs or other problems.

Fable's loss of features isn't that drastic. We lost a few options but not the core of what made us all notice the game to begin with. If people want to be jaded before even playing the game, that is fine with me. You just won't see me doing it. If it sucks, it sucks. If it's great, it's great and I (along with millions of others) have a wonderful time playing it. No big deal.

If you are that worried that the game will stink, wait until you can demo it, read some reviews and get some feedback from others you trust. No need to harp on conjecture...

p.s. John, what's with the new avatar? Who is it? Where's it from?

It's Brick Tamland from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

 

[trancejeremy]

If by around the corner you mean at the earliest, Christmas 2005 then yeah it's right around the corner.

Yes, I did mean that, actually. Christmas 2005 is apparently when the Xbox 2 will be released, according to various news stories. A year or so is about around the corner, in terms of console life.

Which like I said, makes it unlikely there will be a sequel to Fable. As it would almost certainly come out after the Xbox 2. Which wouldn't make sense, as games for 'dead' systems don't sell all that well.

 

[trancejeremy]

If you are that worried that the game will stink, wait until you can demo it, read some reviews and get some feedback from others you trust. No need to harp on conjecture...

You must not remember his last game - Black & White. It was similarly hyped. And delayed. When it finally came out, it got rave reviews in the press. The trouble is, it was not a very good game.

 

[John Crichton]

You must not remember his last game - Black & White. It was similarly hyped. And delayed. When it finally came out, it got rave reviews in the press. The trouble is, it was not a very good game.

I do remember Black & White. I didn't love it but it was a good game. Not as quality as his past games, but still fun. You and others may not have liked it but I thought it was worthy of praise. I played it a ton, got my $40 worth and was happy with it.

That's what demos are for. And if you are worried about a purchase, just do your homework first. That goes for any game, IMO.

 

[John Crichton]

Yes, I did mean that, actually. Christmas 2005 is apparently when the Xbox 2 will be released, according to various news stories. A year or so is about around the corner, in terms of console life.

Which like I said, makes it unlikely there will be a sequel to Fable. As it would almost certainly come out after the Xbox 2. Which wouldn't make sense, as games for 'dead' systems don't sell all that well.

You must have missed the . I was just ribbin' ya. Anyone who follows the gaming news knows that Microsoft is shooting for Xbox Next to come out late next year.

I wouldn't say that's around the corner, especially because consoles are usually only around for 4-5 years. 1.5 of those years is a about a third. Around the corner, to me, means about 6 months. For example, Fable's release date is right around the corner. Again, it's probably just me and not worth arguing over.

People in the industry probably consider 18 months "around the corner" because they have to. But to most gamers 18 months is an eternity.