Looks like Fable II keeps hitting bumps in the road and this news hits right after the anouncment that the day one multiplayer option had been patched but it looks like the fans who have forked out the extra cash for the CE copy will be getting less bang for there buck then they first tought.
Kotaku reports the following: So the Fable II Collectors Edition box set has been trimmed a little, losing the five printed fate cards, the Hobbe figure, and..oh yes, the box. Still, we still get a bonus DVD with developer diaries and the full game soundtrack, right? Perhaps not. Frequent Kotaku contributor and all-around nice lady Lesley Smith passes on this email from UK retailer Game regarding even further cuts to the decreasingly collectible edition.
We have recently contacted you regarding a marketwide problem with the Fable II Collectors Edition. We have since been informed by Microsoft that there has been a further complication.
They have advised us that the developer diary and soundtrack are no longer going to be available on the bonus DVD.
Let's just hope that they don't decide to cut the actual game from the CE before the title ships next month.
Looks like good news for all the fable fans out there that wanted the co-op feature on the first day, i like to play all the way through a game before i do any online play but i know most of you hit the online play first and it sounds like you will be good to go with this game.
Speaking to VG247 yesterday: Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux said that it was his “ambition” to include online co-op in Fable II in a first day patch, and that everything was “going well” to achieve the goal.
“It is a very usual thing with anything to do with co-op and it relies upon the Live service,” he said. “It gives us a tiny bit more time to polish it and make sure it’s working right. Anything to do with Live is much more complex than single-player, so out ambition is to get it out on day one release patch.
“Now, I can’t absolutely confirm that at the moment. It’s all going well. It’s looking like it should be spot on for that. It is down to a few minor little things, and we’re pretty close.”
Molyneux added: “This is purely me as a guessing man - remember, I haven’t been in the office for quite some time - but it’s all looking good to be a day one patch.”
The developer said the situation with the feature was preferable to having the game slip.
“I’d much rather have done that than to have delayed the product, obviously,” he said, saying patching in this way was a throwback to older PC development.
“This is kind of like a heritage from the PC days, of course, when you did always used to patch with a day one patch, and because you’ve got Live now you can do these things,” he said.
And yep, we did ask him some of your questions. We’ll put up his answers this week.
While it looks like a sure thing that Fable II will deliver on all it promises it would also seem it wont deliver all of them at the same time as you will see in this report from gamerscoreblog.com, i have a feeling this will do very little to detour the hoards of fans that plan to grab this title on the launch day.
GamerScoreBlog.com reports the following: I know you're all eagerly awaiting Fable II's release on October 21, as am I. Hell, I used the image for my personal Gamercard on here a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't because I was "asked" to.
We just got word that while we will be able to play the single player and local co-op on day one, they are still making tweaks to the online co-op. Don't worry, it is definitely still coming. Seriously, as a gamer I'm glad they're taking the time to make it right instead of just rushing it out the door. Lionhead and Microsoft Game Studios are looking to get the update out within the first week of launch in North America, so again, don't think this is going to be a decade long wait. I suggest you do what I'm going to do - go play some more pub games and get a ton of gold to buy cool stuff as you start the single player or local co-op game.
Having said that, as you are playing through the game, you will still be able to see your friends as glowing orbs as well as chat and trade with them.
As soon as I get information for other regions and the date that the update is expected, I'll let you know.
PS - Lionhead sends a huge thank you to all of the Fable fans, and asks for your patience and understanding. This is their most ambitious game to date and can't wait to get you playing their vision as soon as they possibly can.
With the recent price drops and the huge line of killer games on its way for the holiday season xbox 360 is making its way to the front of the pack and gaining attention in lots of places it was over looked, this all started when japan took notice of Tails Of Vesperia and now its Europe's turn.
GamesIndustry.biz reports: The Xbox 360 has sold six million units in Europe following a reduction in price for all three SKUs in the region.
"We’re very excited that more consumers in Europe are joining the ever-growing Xbox 360 community," commented Chris Lewis, VP of Microsoft's Xbox business in Europe.
"We’re now the best-value next-gen console on the market with an entry-level ERP of GBP 129.99, and consumers have clearly responded to that offering.
"We’re supporting this momentum by putting launch-level investment into a European advertising campaign, launching this week, which shows how Xbox 360 is changing the way consumers experience entertainment," he added.
Last Friday, Microsoft reduced the price of the Xbox 360 across Europe. The Arcade unit now retails for GBP 129.99, the Premium machine for GBP 169.99 and the Elite model for GBP 229.99.
As well as titles such as Fable 2 and Lips, Microsoft is also due to launch a new look online interface for the Xbox 360 later this year.
This was all started as a rumor that was posted by ShackNews but it ended with pure fact and Microsoft has even started to drop some of the employees that are not working on Halo Wars, as soon as Halo Wars is complete Ensemble Studios will close there doors.
Here is the post that started it all from ShackNews: "Shacknews has learned via multiple independent reports that developer Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires) will shut down operation following the release of its upcoming title Halo Wars.
According to sources, Those attached to Halo Wars have been offered incentives to stay on the project until completion.
Halo Wars, an RTS based on the Halo franchise, was announced in September of 2006. The Xbox 360 title is currently slated for release sometime in the first half of 2009.
Ensemble Studios was founded in 1995. The Microsoft-owned company is best known for the Age of Empires series of RTS games."
With that said Microsoft responded to the rumor with this E-mail that was sent around to all employees of the company: “Today, we shared with our employees at Ensemble that we have plans to close the studio after Halo Wars RTM. Such a decision is never easy. Like any business, we’re accountable for making tradeoffs and the right level of investments that will drive profit and future growth. However, as we reviewed our first-party portfolio and where we need to invest and divest our resources to achieve our long-term strategies, it became clear to us that closing the studio and redeploying those resources to other more scalable ventures is the right thing for our business at this time.
“Unfortunately, our decision to close Ensemble will adversely impact many of the studio’s team members. Following the closure, the Ensemble leadership team will form a new entity and have agreed to partner with Microsoft to develop future products and provide support for Halo Wars post launch. While the new company will be hiring a portion of the Ensemble employees, its size and resources prevent it from offering positions to the entire Ensemble team. We hope to integrate much of this creative talent into MGS or the broader IEB team, where we have relevant openings.
“Ensemble Studios has produced many notable games over the years – including the Ages franchise – that have helped MGS become a leader in interactive entertainment. And now, Halo Wars is already proving to be a hit by people who have seen and played early versions of the game. The Ensemble team is committed to continuing its development, testing and support of Halo Wars through to the completion of halo wars. We’re also working closely with the studio’s leaders to ensure a smooth launch of the game in early 2009 and continuing support thereafter. We will support the studio in every way possible as they work to deliver this highly anticipated game.
“This action notwithstanding, I want to emphasize that the overall investment Microsoft is making in video game development is not diminished, and we will continue to bring in talent to work on titles and franchises where we’ll see the most ROI. Our priority is to continue to nurture the creative freedom that allows us to successfully drive our business strategy forward. Meanwhile, we’re launching some outstanding games over the next few months. We’ve just launched Too Human and Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, and soon we’ll see many other games hit retail store shelves, including Scene It! 2, Fable 2, Gears of War 2, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Lips and, of course, Halo Wars.
“I want to thank you for your hard work and focus as we head into the next few months and make this a blowout year for first-party games. Please be supportive and respectful of our Ensemble colleagues as they go through this tough time.
Wondering how to transfer money into Fable 2 from the Xbox Live Arcade "Fable 2 Pub Games" due out tomorrow? Good news then, because Lionhead's been in touch to tell Eurogamer how it works.
When you begin one of the pub games, you pick a gambler to represent you across all of the challenges. We'll call ours "Bertie". You can stick with one of these or swap between multiple personalities, and we're told Lynch, Daphne, Maya, Mongo and Poe will be some of the faces on offer.
When you buy Fable 2 in October, create a hero - we'll call ours "Clert" - and then find a Gamesmaster either in a tavern or wandering wistfully down a road. Start playing whichever game variation the Gamesmaster offers, and you will be given the option to merge your hero ("Clert") with your gambler ("Bertie").
Once merged, "BertieClert" will gain access to all the Live Arcade gambling funds you previously accrued. But be warned, "BertieClert" cannot be undone, just like a chemical reaction.
Now, if you decide to go back to the Live Arcade pub games, you will play as "BertieClert", your hero from Fable II, who gambles directly using in-game gold. Clever.
The Live Arcade pub games also let you merge several gamblers together, which can be combined with any of your heroes from Fable 2.
Fable 2 is due out exclusively for Xbox 360 on October 24th
Fable 2 Pub Games is due out exclusively for Xbox 360 tomorrow, August 13th 2008
Its getting near time for Fable II to hit the stores and we got the peek at the special edition box art and content of the box set, we even have a bit of info about the xbox live Pub Games that will be sold on Xbox LIVE Marketplace or come with the SE box set.
The Fable II Pub Games will be released In August (yes, next month), over the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. How do you obtain these quirky little add-ons for the epic RPG? Pre-orders, of course! If you plunk down cash at "participating" retailers, you will be given a code to download the games - for free - when they become available."But, I hate pre-orders!!!." Not to worry, there are other ways. Those that do not want to venture into the real world and deal with the local game store clerks can still get access to the games before Fable II releases, you'll just have to pay 800 Microsoft Space Bucks for them. Simple, no?
In addition, Microsoft also announced that there will indeed be two versions of Fable II when the game ships this Fall: The standard edition ($59.99), and a Collector's Edition. Shelling out $79.99 for the latter will net you a bonus DVD about the making of the game, a collectible Hobbe figurine, additional in-game content and an Xbox LIVE subscription trial card. On both versions, had you not pre-ordered, you will receive the three Pub Games on the disc. So, you'll get the Arcade titles no matter what, there's just two ways that you can play them ahead of time. Who's excited now? Fable II will be on hand next week at E3, and we're sure to get an *cough* October *cough* release date announcement.
With Microsoft getting ready to start this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo on Monday, July 14 2008, all Xbox 360 gamers will be on the look out for the full list of upcoming games from E3. The guys over at IGN have put up their own wish-lists. Read on and follow the link for the full story.
The team at IGN want these 10 games to be featured prominently. So if you're reading MS, this one's for you.
The long awaited FABLE 2 is drawing near and now we got a trailer to go with it, the video is real dark but in no way hinders the fact that this game looks like it just might be one of the coolest games coming out for the Xbox 360 and i for one cant wait.
Today was the first day of Microsoft Gamer's Day 2008 and 360-Hq has a giant update on it
Following up on our previous MGD Article After the first day of Microsoft Gamer's Day 2008 it appears a lot has turned out true and if I had to take a guess more will be announced tomorrow and the next day for the Microsoft event.
To start things off and to make it easier I will go down the list of what has been announced, describe it, and there will be links at the bottom of the article.
Gears of War 2
A very minor update and really more info about what has been shown. Cliff Bleszinski demonstrates the Gameplay Trailer again. Not much new info about it except to still expect in November 2008 and the battles will be on a much larger and more intense than ever scale. Although there haven't been many details there have been quite a few new screenshots, below is a sample. At the bottom of the Article there will be links to all the Gears of War 2 Screenshots.
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
Officially announced and a lot of details released. First of all the game is set to release September 2008 and is bigger and even better than the original. First of all I will describe what to me seems to be the newest and most innovative feature, The Vision Camera Card Scanning. Dubbed as the Piñata Vision, it involves the use of the Xbox Live Vision Camera and you put piñata card with its unique barcode up to the camera and the game will automatically add that piñata/item to the game. It seems gimmicky but the games premise is sending piñata's to parties all over the world to save them from evil, so it seems like it could work well. Here is Rare's official description of it
Plug in an Xbox LIVE® Vision camera and interact with the game through the use of printed cards featuring a unique barcode. Flash a piñata card up to the Vision camera, and the content will drop directly into the game.
Seems like an innovative idea for Xbox and could end up selling a lot of consoles. But wait don't think thats all to set this Piñata game apart from it predecessor, there is co-op! now you can simply plug in a second controller and friends or family instantly have access to a second set of tools the same as the first player, now you can work together to make the best Viva Piñata garden! Hopefully more details will be released tomorrow and you can be sure to get the info from 360-hq!
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Formerly known as Banjo Kazooie 3 or Banjo Threeie, it has now been announced the new Banjo Kazooie game will innovate on the way you play a platformer by making vehicles that you customize the main component. It seems like it could really help the failing Platformer genre and breathe new life into the two console generations old "Banjo Kazooie." Also new to this title will be multiplayer both locally and through xbox live. Expect co-operative and competitive multiplayer modes. Here is the first real trailer with gameplay footage! Expect to see the full version of the game this Holiday Season 2008 (October - December)
Fable 2
Set to reinvent the popular series and bring many wanted features to the table. This game is set 500 years ahead of the original Fable so you can expect to see a lot of new innovations including weapons such as guns. That’s not all expect to see a host of co-op and xbox live options when the game releases this Holiday 2008 Season.
Here is the official description of what’s new
You'll have even more choices to continuously shape who your characters become in a world 10 times the size of the iconic Xbox game. Fable 2 introduces a host of exciting new features, including a first-of-its-kind Xbox LIVE Arcade experience, and a genre-stretching multiplayer experience, allowing you to easily play Fable 2 with friends and family side-by-side from the comfort of a living room couch.
There were not so many details released today but more of a media update so be sure to check out the screenshots at the bottom, also here is the official video!
Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode One
The Announcement of next week's arcade title comes as bit of a surprise, as it is based on the popular Web comic. Expect a full RPG like experience with customizable characters on the Xbox Live Arcade this May 21 2008. Set at retail of 1600 MS points ($20 USD) this should be one really long and good game! Expect to see the same sort of content you see in the Web Comics with the same art and comedy style. I don't think too many details will be released about this title so be sure to check out the screenshots at the bottom!
Too Human
With the much anticipated and much delayed RPG there must be some good news eventaully right? Right! The game will release August 19 2008 in North America! Also the game will feature online only xbox live co-op play so you can play with friends online! Words can't describe how much this game has been anticipated and delayed but it looks like it is really coming. Check out the new Screenshots and we even have a wallpaper for you and your pc!
Ninja Gaiden 2
The highly acclaimed Ninja Games sequel only got a very minor update with no new media but still some news. The games release date has been bumped up three days to June 3rd 2008! Also there has been some light shed about downloadable content.
With the release of Gamerpics and Themes, available on Xbox LIVE beginning today. The Gamerpics packs include five new images each, at 100 points per pack, and the Themes, which focus on heroes and bosses, are 150 points per pack ...
Additional Ninja Gaiden II download content will be available on May 20, with subsequent releases throughout the summer.
I think this might be a typo on Microsoft's part seeing how May 20th will have already passed by the games release. I think they mean June 20 with more releases throughout the summer of 2008. If it is not a typo expect to see the new content in spring/summer of 2009!
Well that wraps up today’s 360-hq coverage of the 2008 Microsoft Gamer's Day Conference going on in San Francisco, USA. Expect to see more tomorrow after the second day of the conference. Until then enjoy the new information and be sure to check out the Screenshots! Also feel free to comment about any of this in our forums and let us know what you’re excited for and what you think about these new games!
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