Peter Molyneux Interview, Part One

GamesIndustry.biz has published the first portion of an interview they did with Lionhead Studios’ Peter Molyneux at the Games Convention Asia Conference. The questions pretty much all pertain to Fable II and how the game applies to the Asian market:

Q: Do you think that Fable 2 can stimulate Xbox 360 hardware sales in Japan?

Peter Molyneux: Well, I think it ticks some of the boxes which should fascinate people. When we sat down and thought about Fable 2 we didn’t just think about doing a sequel to Fable – the first thing is that we didn’t try and make it something that it’s not.

So it’s a very English game – it’s got English humour in it, and I don’t think Fable could have been created anywhere else. That is unique.

Secondly it’s got some technology in there that I think the Asian market will find fascinating. It sounds a trivial thing, but it is a positive thing – this dog, which is AI-driven and is very attentive to you. I think that’s something which people will find fascinating.

And thirdly it’s got some fantastic co-op technology – the ability to have your own world, which says something about you, and bring people into your world and show it off. Again, that seems to appeal to the Japanese market, and that’s all wrapped up in a great story.

So if I were to ask myself if Fable had a chance, I’d tick those boxes and say that it has. Whether it’s got enough of that special sauce which the Asian people really love, that remains to be seen.

But I’m going to go over there and explain that these are the things which I find fascinating, and I think that revolution is a strong word, but there are innovations which make people approach games in a slightly different way. If they take that up, it’ll be fantastic.

It is always one or two games which define a platform – it’s the same for the Wii, and the PlayStation 2. I think the PlayStation 3 is still waiting for that definition title that represents the platform – and I think that’s what hardware manufacturers need to do, find that defining title.

Nintendo did a brilliant job of doing that at launch with games like Wii Sports and Wii Play – maybe Fable 2 is a defining title. But you are talking to the proud father of this game, so you can’t ask me to be tremendously objective.

Fascinating and fantastic.