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Fable: Heroes (XBLA) At Microsoft Showcase

T

TheOddOne

Member
Microsoft promises biggest year yet for Xbox 360
"2011 was our biggest year -- the biggest year in Xbox history. So we're feeling fantastic. We want to continue to build on that momentum," says Steve Beinner, Microsoft's director of global marketing first party games.

"Without a doubt, I can tell you that 2012 can be a bigger year, and will be a bigger year, than 2011," he says.

The Xbox 360 accounted for "nearly 40 percent of annual 2011 new physical retail sales across all categories," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier this past December.

Beinner spoke to Gamasutra at Microsoft's Spring Showcase 2012 event in San Francisco, where the company showcased titles such as Halo 4, Fable: Heroes for Xbox Live Arcade, and third party titles such as EA/BioWare's Mass Effect 3.

"Platform all up, we want to be the home of interactive entertainment... Content you can play with your friends and it's easy to access," Beinner says.

While Beinner wouldn't be specific about how much longer the Xbox 360 will be a driving force for the company, he did say that there's "a lot of life left in the Xbox 360" and he teased that new IP for the platform will be revealed later in the year.

"It's early in 2012 and we're just peeling the curtain back, but stay tuned," he says.

He offered no comment on a potential price drop for the system.

"We look forward to continuing to build on the momentum we have and continue the strategies we have," said Beinner.

These strategies include continued support of its Kinect motion controller, which has an install base of 18 million units -- both as the primary controller for exclusive games, and in concert with controller-based games.

The peripheral is something Microsoft is "committed to and very proud of," says Beinner. When it comes to marrying it with traditional controls, he says, "the opportunities for us are big in 2012."

The company is also "committed" to improving the Xbox Live service, he says. "You see us doing things on the Live service to keep the development community engaged -- doing things to update the service, to continue to serve up new and unique content."

He sees Xbox Live Arcade moving into a role where franchises can be extended, such as the recently-released Alan Wake: American Nightmare and the upcoming Fable: Heroes.

"Giving them the right tools to continue to be innovative and creative, rather than saying, 'Hey these are the kinds of games we are looking for'," says Beinner, is how Microsoft views its relationship with developers. This strategy extends to Xbox Live Arcade, packaged games, and Kinect, he says.

"There's no one specific kind of developer the studio's saying 'Hey, we want to work with just this'," Beinner says. Microsoft Studios is "very committed to innovation on the box."

Speaking of Microsoft Studios' overall strategy, he says, "We're very proud of our IP and we have some of the biggest IP in the industry."

"It's all about quality; it's never been a game of quantity versus quality."

"First party's role is to really be pioneers," he says -- to "really be a showcase for what the platform's capabilities are."

"That's the way we look at it," he says: "showcases for what the platform's capable of."

And he's not really worried about franchise fatigue for Halo, either, with this year's release of Halo 4, which follows the Anniversary edition of Halo 1 from last fall and Halo: Reach before that.

"I really love the Xbox lineup that we're bringing," says Beinner. "I think gamers want great games."

Gamers, he says, thus won't get tired of high quality content like Halo 4. "It's in the game -- it's a matter of delivering a blockbuster game, which the team is doing."
Click to expand...
 
L

Loudninja

Member
ThaneKrios said:
I'm tired of this franchise, they need do make something new.
Click to expand...
Eh?
While Beinner wouldn't be specific about how much longer the Xbox 360 will be a driving force for the company, he did say that there's "a lot of life left in the Xbox 360" and he teased that new IP for the platform will be revealed later in the year.
Click to expand...

edit:misread your post sorry.
 
iceatcs

iceatcs

Junior Member
They're pushing XBLA really hard. Esp they said it is where franchises can be extended.

I got funny feel that DD only in next box or no more second hand rumour will be true.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Truth be told, DD episodic sequels/full expansions for $15-20 (as seen in GTAIV, Half Life 2, Alan Wake, Dead Rising) rub me a lot less than annual $60 sequels.
 
H

Huff

Banned
Nirolak said:
Known:
-Fable: The Journey
-Fable: Heroes

Unknown:
-Their MMO
-Their other next-gen game

The two unknown ones may or may not be Fable related.
Click to expand...

I just figured Fable 4 is in their minds somewhere even if not technically "in development" yet
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
Sho_Nuff82 said:
Truth be told, DD episodic sequels/full expansions for $15-20 (as seen in GTAIV, Half Life 2, Alan Wake, Dead Rising) rub me a lot less than annual $60 sequels.
Click to expand...

Not me, I prefer full games. Not yearly though and certainly not more Fable. I'm pretty much done with that franchise.
 
S

Slime

Banned
Kind of over Fable at this point, but I like that it's an XBLA game.

Speaking of which, this crazy amount of XBLA support lately makes me wonder if a set-top box with XBLA support might really be in the cards. But it's probably just a sign of a really well-supported platform.
 
T

The SpartanLion

Neo Member
Well, maybe Fable Heroes is just The Journey renamed and tourned out into a XBLA game, we can never know, any further information wasn't given...
 
B

bede-x

Member
I love the Fable games and will probably take anything as long as it doesn't involve Kinect, but truth be told it's about time that they slow down with releases and give the franchise some breathing room. One Fable every generation would be enough, but then that's the way I feel about every game that must have sequels. Unfourtunately, people with business sense feel differently.

But if they must have two(or three?) Fable games in development at the same time, it would be cool if one of them was 2D.

I'm allowed to dream, right?
 
C

Conor 419

Banned
Any chance that this could actually be the MMO?

It's not unrealistic, I obviously don't picture a WoW style MMO but more simply a Fable game with more MMO elements.
 
H

Horseticuffs

Full werewolf off the buckle
With a title like "Fable: Heroes" and being a DD title, I'm wondering if it is the same genre as the regular Fable games. Maybe it would be like an isometric, multiplayer dungeon crawler in the universe or something.

Has there been ANY details yet besides title?
 
N

nasos_333

Member
Conor 419 said:
Any chance that this could actually be the MMO?

It's not unrealistic, I obviously don't picture a WoW style MMO but more simply a Fable game with more MMO elements.
Click to expand...

Was there ever a MMO mentioned or implied ?

I dont recall any such news or rumor
 
P

Petrichor

Member
Horseticuffs said:
With a title like "Fable: Heroes" and being a DD title, I'm wondering if it is the same genre as the regular Fable games. Maybe it would be like an isometric, multiplayer dungeon crawler in the universe or something.

Has there been ANY details yet besides title?
Click to expand...

For some reason this is exactly what I pictured when I heard it mentioned. Hope it's true.
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Do people actually like Fable? Who is buying these awful games? After Fable 2 and 3 I just don't understand what would get people to pay money for another one.
 
S

S1kkZ

Member
Ushojax said:
Do people actually like Fable? Who is buying these awful games? After Fable 2 and 3 I just don't understand what would get people to pay money for another one.
Click to expand...

they are not for everyone but they are not awful. and a lot of people seem to like them, judging by the sales numbers.
 
G

Garcia el Gringo

Member
I really hope Fable: Heroes is something spectacular. Lionhead making a proper XBLA game could be pretty cool.

Milo didn't look like something that I would have played, but at least it seemed to finally be getting Lionhead out of the Fable rut this generation. RIP Milo. I hope they're working on some new IP or at least seriously reinventing Fable (and not exclusively in a Kinect sense).

Ushojax said:
Do people actually like Fable? Who is buying these awful games? After Fable 2 and 3 I just don't understand what would get people to pay money for another one.
Click to expand...

Fable II was nothing to sneeze at.
 
D

Derrick01

Banned
Ushojax said:
Do people actually like Fable? Who is buying these awful games? After Fable 2 and 3 I just don't understand what would get people to pay money for another one.
Click to expand...

2 was pretty solid for a very casual RPG. It's the only one I've enjoyed even a little bit though, 3 was just embarrassing.
 
M

Masakari666

Banned
Could Heroes be the new name for The Journey?

Otherwise, they will have 2 Fable spinoffs in the same year, in or around the same quarter (late Q3 / Q4 2012). Which seems odd.

And after creating the new IP Crimson Alliance, would they really create another isometric hack and slash, just with different branding?
 
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