Peter Molyneux, the legendary video game creator behind such games as the Fable series has announced that he will leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios. He will finish his current project, the Kinect enabled Fable: The Journey as revealed at last year’s E3.

“It is with mixed emotions that I made the decision to leave Microsoft and Lionhead Studios, the company that I co-founded in 1997, at the conclusion of development ofFable: The Journey.,” Molyneux said in a statement issued to Kotaku this morning. ”I remain extremely passionate and proud of the people, products and experiences that we created,” Molyneux said, “from Black & White toFable to our pioneering work with Milo and Katefor the Kinect platform. However, I felt the time was right to pursue a new independent venture. I’d like to thank the team at Lionhead, as well as our partners at Microsoft Studios for their support, dedication and incredible work over the years.”

Molyneux has since revealed that his new independent project will be called “22 Cans.”

LOS ANGELES — See that picture? That’s Peter Molyneux, creator of Fable hanging out with Gears of War head Cliff Bleszinski backstage rehearsing for Microsoft’s E3 presentation this coming Monday. We know that Cliffy is there to talk up Gears 3, but Molyneux doesn’t have anything confirmed for the show…yet anyways.

Internet sleuth superannuation has discovered a few new website domains, all registered to Microsoft that seem to point to a few new reveals, including one for a brand new and presumably Kinect powered Fable title. The other domains point to reveals for the highly rumored Kinect Fun Labs, Dance Central 2 and Kinect Sports 2. The list:

• Dancecentral2.org
• Kinectsportsseason2.org
• Fablethejourney.org
• Kinectfunlabs.org

We’ve seen domain names pop up and never turn out before (We’re getting a ton of rumored domain names for Project Cafe), so anything can happen, but this one seems pretty legit. We’ll know for sure tomorrow morning as Microsoft kicks off E3 2011 at 9:30 AM. Don’t forget to check out our liveblog!

Remember that weird android kid that Fable creator Peter Molyneux showed off with the debuting Project Natal? The one that only wants to be human…and to take over the world? Yeah, you’ll probably never see it again.

According to Eurogamer (who credits an anonymous source), work on Molyneux’s life simulator has officially been halted and 19workers contracted for the title have been let go. The source goes on to say that the studio will now work exclusively on the Fable series and that the tech from Milo will be incorporated into an upcoming, yet unannounced Kinect enabled Fable title.

Milo’s fate has been uncertain for some time now, as it was announced, then unannounced that Milo was a merely a tech demo. Lionhead hasn’t commented on the rumors, but we’ll update when they do.

Famed Fable creator Peter Molyneux recently revealed some brief details for Fable III’s downloadable  option. While the game will still receive a standard retail offering to come out in late 2011, Xbox LIVE users will have a chance to start downloading it in pieces a few weeks after the official release.

According to Peter, “Soon after the retail launch we’re doing episodic. We break it down in chapters. We give away the first chapter entirely free, the first hour. When you reach a certain point in the game it says ‘thank you for playing the pilot of Fable 3, do you want to spend an extra 2-5 or whatever dollars to buy the next episode, or buy the whole lot?’ Press ‘yes’ and you will immediately continue playing.”

This scenario looks like it should be a real win for players, as you’re not forced to drop the full $60 up front. Now you can try before you buy. If you feel like the game is dragging, you can simply stop paying for it and move on to something else. Fable III will likely be a must-buy, however, so…

Source: Kotaku

When Sony announced the PlayStation Move earlier this week at the 2010 Game Developers Conference, no one was very surprised or overly excited, Lionhead boss and Fable series designer Peter Molyneux included. He even likened the present motion control era to an arms race of sorts.

“We’re not really surprised, are we?” said Molyneux. “I mean, at E3 last year we saw they were having a wand, and that’s kind of what I expected. It looks like they’ve taken a step forward but it’s not as big a step as something like Natal, I don’t think. This is purely me talking personally, but I think maybe it’s slightly more a device for the core than it is for the casual market, because I think it’s quite precise.

PlayStation Move

“As a designer it’s another one of those things I’d love to get my hands on and to play around with. As a consumer, everyone’s talking about motion control now — I mean, I’m starting to get confused. It’s kind of like the arms race, with the Wii MotionPlus and now the Sony Move and now I’m getting kind of confused.”

Right now I’m truly skeptical of Sony’s “Move.” I mean, I bought a Wii to play those types of games. If Sony incorporates Move to big-name titles, like the rumored Killzone 3, and I’m forced to buy this dongle, I won’t be too pleased. Just my thoughts though. What do you think?

Source: Destructoid

According to Twitter, Peter Molyneux, the Lionhead Studios boss, famous for the Fable series of titles, fell through the ice this morning near the Surrey development park where he works in  Guildford, England.

What it definitely didn't look like.

This is what Lionhead’s Twitter-updater had to say about the incident, in 140 characters or less of course.

“Peter Molyneux just broke through pond ice in the Surrey Research Park. Both his shoes and the man himself were saved… Be careful on ice!”

So maybe he was never in danger, but if this was anything more than an “oops my feet got wet” incident, we very well might see some sort replication of the incident in Fable III, for the lolz, if nothing else.

Source: Lionhead Twitter

Peter Molyneux is a legendary hype master.‚  ‚ When he explains a new piece of content or a game entirely you really must apply critical thinking skills and say “well maybe that is as cool as he says, I’m not sure.”‚  Granted, the man created Fable, a game for all ages, but many of the features of both Fable and Fable 2 did not exist in all the grandeur he would have us believe in.

Fable 2 was an incredible success as was the first batch of DLC, “Knothole Island,” but what does Molyneux think about moving forward?

Speaking with Kotaku Molyneux came right out and said it:

“The next DLC comes out in the spring,” he said. “We’re in the spring now so don’t think months, think more like weeks. It’s called See the Future.”

“The first (DLC) was done very close to Fable II and the team was tired and we sort of pushed ourselves to get something out early for the fans,” he said. “This time we’ve taken a little bit more time on it, it’s a little bit more story driven. It answers some of the questions, if you’re a real fan of Fable, it answers some of those questions. It’s going to test you a little bit emotionally as well. But I think the real unique thing here is it starts to tease and hint at what it starting to happen in the world of Albion and what is happening in the future.”

And as for the rumor (certain truth) regarding Fable 3 Molyneux skirted the issue saying:

“If we were to take the franchise even further, going on from Fable II, I’m not announcing anything, but if you play See the Future you’re going to be getting a flaavor at what’s going to be happening, my ideal is what I would want to happen is something big.”

via Kotaku.

Recently, I had the chance to write the Boston Globe’s 2008 video game and video game accessories gift guides.

Building off that, here is my list of the top 10 video games of 2008.

11. The Honorable Mentions:

Mega Man IX — Platformer

(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) Ladies, want to buy your 20-something man a gift that will make him giggle like an eighth grader? Spend 10 bucks on Mega Man 9, a new take on the hyper-challenging classic video game that requires quick reflexes to battle a horde of evil robots and their sinister master.

AND — Final Fantasy IV for DS, Call of Duty: World at War, de Blob for Wii

10. The Witcher Enhanced Edition — RPG

(PC) This Atari title’s beautiful visuals and compelling supernatural story will remind you why you love to play computer games. The Enhanced Edition builds in an already good game, making it a great game.

9. N+ — Platformer

(DS, PSP) Atari had a hell of a year. N+ is a sickly addictive, graphically simple platformer where you do what good platforming good guys do — jump around and collect gold.

8. Resistance 2 — Action

(PlayStation 3) This might be the best multiplayer game on the list, with as many as 60 players getting together online and shooting the bejesus out of anything that moves. There is also a gripping alternate history storyline.

Resistance 2 also boasts the best trailer.

7. Dead Space — Action

(PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC) Electronic Arts stepped way out of its comfort zone of sports games and The Sims to put together a haunting sci-fi action game that will suck you in until you’re completely addicted.

Bottom line: EA’s balls dropped this year, and they put out some sick games that are better than 18 or the last 19 Maddens.

6. Guitar Hero: World Tour — Music

(PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii) This is comparable to the first Rock Band, with players jamming on drums, guitars, and a microphone. There’s one important difference, though: With Guitar Hero: World Tour, you can compose your own songs.

Activision finally made a music game that’s as good as Rock Band, a year later. The jury is still out on the studio mode. I’m just waiting for them to put out a Rammstein track pack so I can relive high school.

5. LittleBigPlanet — Platformer

(PlayStation 3, PSP) Users create downloadable content for this game, in which you guide players called Sackboys through a variety of levels and tasks.

Xbox 360 may be killing PS3 in sales again, but PlayStation has the most best games.

4. Fable II — RPG

(Xbox 360) This cerebral game starts with a magic box that grants wishes to your character – who begins as a poverty-stricken orphan and grows up to be whoever you want him to be – good or evil, even straight or gay.

Ok, here’s where I swallow hard, because we’re at #3 and it’s an Xbox exclusive. Fable II is also one of our highest rated games.

3. Rock Band 2 — Music

(PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Wii) It looks, feels, and plays a lot like the original Rock Band, the four-player phenomenon with guitar, bass, drum, and microphone. But Rock Band 2 has more than 80 new songs and plenty more available to purchase, plus an 18-song AC/DC concert you can buy or download.

2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots — Action

(PlayStation 3) The only argument I might find here is that it’s not #1, which GameSpot may insist on. They gave it a perfect 10/10.

1. Fallout 3 — Action/RPG

As my review said, not only is Fallout 3 the best game o f the year, but it’s one of the best games ever made. Blast’s Best Game of E3 is also Blast’s Best Game of 2008. Fallout 3 is the best game of 2008, and may not be beat for a long time.

Aftermath

Missing Wii-only games? Yeah. We are. And it’s not just because I said Wii would fail back in 2006. You can make the case for Mario Kart, and you can argue Brawl into the mix, but 2008 was a disaster for the Wii. Nintendo also did a belly flop at E3, and we were there to see it. Funny thing is that 2007 was huge for Wii, 2008 was a write-off, and 2009 might be another huge year if the Motion Plus takes off, and I do like the Motion Plus.

Moral dilemmas are in no short supply throughout Fable II.

The starting quest, involving bird crap landing on your hero’s head, sets you up for the rest of the game with a series of moral choices and dilemmas. Do you find the five prison warrants, or do you hand them to some criminal to rid of? Do you give the bottle of booze to an alcoholic, or do you hand it to his wife to stop his drinking? As a gamer, you probably don’t care, but what if you were told that, in the future, these choices may come back to haunt you?

Your completely customizable hero can be a guy or a gal, but either way, your sister is going to be with you in the beginning. Eventually, you buy a magic song box which has the power to grant wishes. You and your sister are orphan children that live in complete poverty, so you have quite the long wish list. Your sister wishes that you lived in the castle in Bowerstone, hoping that this will lead to a better life for both of you. But the box disappears and you are left to return, bewildered, to your life of poverty. You are then rudely awakened and informed that Lord Lucian, who is reeling from his family’s recent death, has requested to meet you at the castle.

As you enter his chambers, you see the lord distracted and milling over some paper work. Although he is initially warm and inviting, his manner quickly turns angry and he proceeds to shoot both you and your sister. Your sister dies immediately, but a voice tells you that death is not your destiny, and this sets the tone for the game.

Flash forward 10 years later, and you are stronger and wiser, knowing that you must find Lucian and destroy him. You already know you must save the world, however, the true beauty of Fable II is that it doesn’t hold your hand and instruct you on how to do so. Your choices matter. Are you going to sacrifice your own happiness for everyone else, or will you horde all of the riches for yourself? Every choice you make is going to have a consequence, whether it be for your benefit or for another’s.

Fable II’s combat system is truly one of its strongest points. At first I was skeptical about the idea of one button combat, but I’m now a huge fan of the fact that it allows you more options with regard to aim and technique. Seemingly minuscule decisions that wouldn’t be given a second thought in many other games will affect everything from the game’s story and play, to your character’s skills and demeanor. The system reward syour timing — in fact, you can get to the point where you can hit faster and harder just by stringing your attacks fluently