Peter Molyneux, Fable, & Playing God

A lengthy article on CNet’s news.com details Lionhead Studios’ Peter Molyneux, the soon-to-be-released Fable, and what’s next for the ambitious game developer. An excerpt to follow:

As complex as “Fable” is, Molyneux acknowledged that his ambition partly exceeded his execution. “I talk about game ideas very, very early, and that gets me into an enormous amount of trouble,” he said, adding that he often neglects to add, “These are ambitions. They’re not realities.” Gone from the finished product are branching story paths, and the ability to have children or to play as a woman. An advance review on the major gaming Web site ign.com cited “a lot of highly touted ideas that have gone missing” before praising “Fable” as “one of the most enjoyable games you can find on Xbox.”

With the world of “Fable” realized more or less to his satisfaction, Molyneux will turn to other worlds to simulate. In the next six months, Lionhead is scheduled to release a sequel to “Black and White,” a simulation of prehistoric cave life called “B.C.,” and a simulation of perhaps the most exotic world yet, Hollywood, in a game called “The Movies.”