Fable 2 sold 3.5 million copies, Lionhead 'needs' 5 million for Fable 3

And this, my friends, is why "next gen graphics" make games worse. They cost many times more, so they have to sell many times more, and to do that they have to cater to the lowest common denominator. Either that or they just strip the game of, well, game. Like FFXIII (remember that interview where they said they couldn't have made a more expansive FF with a full game world in any sort of reasonable timeframe, because of the graphics? Of course you don't).

"Industry drive towards simplicity" is an industry drive towards empty, vapid, one-dimensional excuses for games. With pretty cutscenes.

How many games actually hit the 5 million mark?

I don't care what Peter says, Fable is already playing with the big boys. 3.5 million units is nothing to sneeze at.

Sales -1 I guess.

You can't really get much from just reading bullet points. You need context.

Fckin' ridiculous that you deleted my comment just because I criticized Fable 2 for being extremely short and dumbed down.

OT: What do I have to do to get my pic to actually show up? I've upload a new one five times in the last 2 hours. I've tried bmp, jpeg, and png. Getting frustrated.

Hm... I hope he's not implying the cancellation of the series if it doesn't reach 5 million copies... He is talking about "series dying."

Heres an idea Lionhead. Release it on Steam, get at least 20% more sales

I understood the Fable games -- just didn't really like them. I agree with other posters that they felt very micro management with no real purpose and in the end I just didn't really care about anything or anyone in the game. I bought an Xbox for the first Fable so yes i was looking forward to the game and I just didn't get into it - at all. Fable 2 - same.

I'll buy Fable 3. :)

Peter needs to stop making wild promises of amazing gameplay in his interviews that don't materialize in the game!

Fable 2 = FAIL

Holy crap, just let it die, I hate Peter Molyneux

also they should have realized a long time ago that they need to "drive to simplicity" when developing for the xbox

i think peter needs to stop worrying about more sales and focus on retaining sales, im definitely going to buy fable 3, not because the fable franchise is fantastic franchise but because it is always provides a good time.

He should be more worried about how he talks up his games, i know he is passionate but he alienates far more people by talking about all these features which just cant feasibly make it into the game at the end of the day. I think were seeing it now with fable 3, peter really hasnt talked about the game and its suppose to come out this year, i microsoft pulls a big marketing campaign at some point otherwise its launch may not be well known to the non hardcore that visit gaming sites constantly.

Fable 2 was a great I loved everything about it!!

I like how bulletpoint #2 basically says "The RPG genre is limited by nerds."

So true.

Something tells me they meant "More Compelling" and not "Compulsive". Sure gaming can be a compulsive habit, but then you're grouped in with compulsive gambling, Compulsion (WoT) and all sorts of other nasty associations.

Peter Molyneux just really ticks me off sometimes. I can't hang onto every word he says now because otherwise I'll have my expectations set far too high. The features in Fable are usually gimmicky as hell. So please, forgive us gamers for not understanding the "depth" of your features - my wife still looks like every other damn woman in town!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - give my family a distinct personality, then we'll talk. I don't think what Peter Molyneux wants is capable of being done in this generation of games.

Sorry Fable lovers, I love the franchise too, but Fable II just did not live up to the standard Molyneux had led me to believe it had achieved. Though I will say I have only myself to blame for getting my hopes up as far as I did.

Too bad fable 2 had a boring and uninteresting story. I couldn't care less about all the other bells and whistles they tossed in.

undrssthemachine and Evadrion, I agree with much of what you're saying. Many of the traditional elements of classic RPGs are more of an annoyance than a "fun" part of the game. As you both say, it's the story and the chance to embody the main character in that story that really constitutes the role-playing experience. That being said, there is a difference between embodying a character in a good RPG (say Fallout 3 - which in itself was a bit of a hybrid) and playing a character in an action-adventure game (say God of War). Both have strong stories, both have you play a role, but ... I don't know ... maybe something like God of War is like watching a movie and playing an RPG is more like reading a really long novel. I like both, but I'll miss the really long novel when it's no longer economically feasible to make one.

... maybe I'm just depressed about Final Fantasy XIII. (I'm in the denial stage.) :-)

Aren't they kinda far in development on Fable 3 to make these types of statements?