Fable 2's tale is almost ready to be told and IGN has put together a video introducing a few of the NPCs players will find in the game.

The site also speaks with Dene Carter, creative director for Fable 2, who says that the characters introduced in this video don't affect the main storyline, but interacting with them will function as "morality signposts." We're still just excited about having a dog.

Don your Victorian regalia, our fanciful readers, and you may earn your place in the annals of gaming history by appearing in Lionhead's much anticipated RPG, Fable 2. Just throw on that ratty old frock coat and strike your most Quixotic pose in front of a camera being operated by a tight-lipped, non-judgmental friend. Save the resulting blackmail image as a Ye Olde JPEG, send it in to Lionhead's art department, and you could serve as a model for one of the many paintings strewn across the interiors of Albion's exotic homes.

It's a neat way to get your mug in what will no doubt be one of this year's blockbuster titles -- though you've only got until next Wednesday to submit your best Pimpernel-esque portrait. We trust you can carve out some time between the big quail hunt and the late night ether frolic to read the rules and regulations before you commit your extravagant visage to film.

Still need insipiration? Look no further than the above image of Joystiq's own Justin McElroy. If there's a man who better embodies the unflappable spirit of a colonial gentleman, we have yet to meet him.

Interested in seeing what you'll be playing on your Xbox 360 in the coming months? X3F has compiled the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios Yearbook for you, a list of this year's exclusive graduating class with a detailed account of each title's current status and the stories surrounding them.

The 2008 Microsoft Game Studios Yearbook chronicles the graduates, like the soon-to-be released Ninja Gaiden II, and the titles that didn't make it to grad, like Alan Wake. Yep, he had to be held back for a semester or two. Or maybe three, we just don't know yet.

Ladies and gentlemen, allow us to introduce the 2008 Microsoft Game Studios graduating class ...

If a picture's worth a thousand words, we'll spare you the copious blabber and lead your eyeballs right to the trailhead (just hop past the break to get started!). Be warned though, the path through Microsoft's Xbox 360 Spring Showcase is a long one (but thankfully smooth and well lit). Be sure to sit a few feet from the screen, rest your eyes between galleries and drink lots of water! Enjoy.

There's nothing that really makes these new Fable 2 screenshots and concept art from Microsoft's Gamers' Day stand out from others than we've seen, but that doesn't mean they're not a delectable eye treat. We've got 16 new ones and a box shot just below.

Sadly, we didn't get what we were really hoping for from the event: A release date more concrete than the nebulous "Holiday 2008" it's currently saddled with. Ah well, there's always E3.

There's not much to see of each of the games in Microsoft Gamer's Day 08 video recently posted to the company's Gamerscore Blog, but the clips of Gears of War 2, Too Human, Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts and Fable 2 will hopefully be enough to keep you sated until today's media onslaught.

Keep your browser here today for tons more 360 news featuring not only these games, but (we'd imagine) a few others.

Fable 2 is "content complete" with a measly 5,000 bugs to squash before it's completely complete, reports NeoGAF poster "Vinterbird" (aka Mikkel Vinther of Xboxlife.dk). The Danish site published a preview of Lionhead's second try today, based on a visit to the studio's headquarters in Guilford, UK last week. Vinther kindly translated the good parts, highlighting these new details in his post on NeoGAF:

• Mini-map has been replaced with a "bread crumb trail;" a dynamic golden line on the ground that directs you to a destination (read: medieval GPS)
• Magic system is divided into focused, single-foe attacks and ranged attacks; attacks can be built up into five levels using various spell combinations
  
• Speaking of spells, there'll be just eight (but remember, they can be combined)
• Every house in the game is up for sale; each house will unlock a sidequest, item or skill
• Rough estimation: 20-30 times larger than the first Fable [Microsoft says: "a world 10 times the size of the iconic Xbox game"]
• The gameworld features seasons and dynamic weather
• Cutscenes are interactive; the d-pad can be used to issue certain gestures that will steer conversations
• Sex minigame was canned; instead, screen goes dark and moaning ensues (sex can still be unprotected though! Babies, yes; STDs, unconfirmed)
• Female character was almost canned; almost.
• And finally: Three more Fable sequels are being planned. (Lionhead is currently wrapping up Fable 2 and focusing on an announced project.)

Read - NeoGAF post
Read - Xboxlife.dk preview (translation)

We know that Fable 2 is being released "later" but every time we see one of these video diaries from Lionhead, we feel like an eight-year old in the back of the station wagon. "Is it later yet? ... What about now?" This fifth video diary, which deals with magic and multiplayer, doesn't make the waiting any easier.

Something else that strikes us about the video: Doesn't everyone at Lionhead seem really nice? We just want to move into a back office somewhere and live, perhaps paying our way with beta testing and the occasional foot massa -- err, coffee run. Yeah, that's the ticket. A coffee run.

Though his vision usually outstrips his games' technical prowess, super developer Peter Molyneux is still responsible for some the most unique gaming experiences ever put to code. He's let us soar through the air on an enchanted rug, mow down civilians in a near-future dystopia, and has even let us play god once or twice.

Unfortunately, after having the distinct 'pleasure' of being absorbed by larger studios on two separate occasions, many of his most memorable creations have since been left to the pages of history. Even so, while Molyneux is currently courting players with his canine-friendly Fable 2, he recently told Shacknews that he's open to revisiting his earlier games, particularly Syndicate.

"I really would love to redo a version of Syndicate," he commented, adding that while he has not been given the go ahead to knock the dust off his past achievements, "one day, I'm sure that opportunity is going to come up and I'd love to do it." Of course, he's said this all before, but we continue to hold out hope. In a world filled with one mundane first-person shooter after the next, we could really use another Magic Carpet.

When we start thinking about video games talking to each other, we start getting nervous. The last thing bitter, hateful video game bloggers want is for the Petz 17: Locustz and Sims 2: Kitchen Appliances of the world to become sentient, read the things we wrote about them and kill us in our sleep. But Fable 2's Peter Molyneux is just fine with the idea. In fact, he's encouraging it with three XBLA games that will "speak to" Fable 2 upon its release.

He hinted at it last month at GDC, but Molyneux detailed the idea on Major Nelson's podcast. Basically, Microsoft's Carbonated Games (of Uno fame) will release "Mage Dice," "Wizard's Tower" and "Keystone" on to XBLA and the money you win from those games will go directly into your account when you boot up Fable 2. It's a neat idea with a lot of possibilities and as long as the games don't start talking to Puppy Luv 8: Dalmationz, we're all for it.

Update: X3F has contacted Lionhead for further clarification. It has yet to be determined whether or not the games will be released separately or as one XBLA download. Regardless, the games will all be included and playable within the Fable 2 gameworld.

[Via CVG]

Mad scientist extraordinaire Peter Molyneux has made a great discovery! In an interview with GamersGlobal, the Fable 2 designer talked about an AI-focused experiment codenamed Dmitri. The experiment became a game six months ago after "a discovery was made." Said Molyneux, "I think that discovery is so significant... This discovery has lead us to start a game and that game will be on the front cover of Nature magazines and Science magazines." That's assuming the AI project doesn't develop self-awareness and kill us all.

As for a release date, Molyneux said it would come out when "trees still [have] leaves, but with a brownish tint." Though our first thought is September, we've gone ahead and sent to Microsoft a picture of the official Joystiq elm tree spray-painted with the proper color in the hopes of an early review copy.

The Game Developers Conference has come and gone. Five very hectic days and over 250 posts later, we've still not caught up on sleep (and probably won't until the week before E3). As much as we'd like you to read every single post, one by one, and adding polite comments to each and every one of them, we're pragmatists.

Join us in the next few pages for a primer on all things GDC 2008. Comments can be found on the last page (Update: comments have been turned on for every page, so go crazy!) as well as a very special image for some of our readers who feel a strong infinity with writer Ludwig Kietzmann. Read on as we recap last week.

"It's something about you Americans and nipples, there's something you hate! If this was Germany, I'd be romping around naked right now."

-Peter Molyneux at his GDC lecture

Want to know why Peter Molyneux's replacing your mini-map with a breadcrumb trail? Whether or not his character has unprotected sex? If same-sex marriage is still on the table? Journey on, dear reader, journey on.

"I'm just going to put the gum on the side of the monitor here. I'll remember to get it."

With that humble beginning, Peter Molyneux took the stage to reveal some features of his RPG adventure, Fable 2.

In a soon to be published interview with X3F, Fable 2 creator Peter Molyneux revealed some new details concerning Fable 2 co-op and how players will earn money in the game. First and foremost, Molyneux noted that there are no gold drops in Fable 2. In other words, monsters don't drop large bags of cash when they die (which is somewhat more realistic really). Instead, Fable 2 will have players earn money the old fashioned way: working for it. There are a range of jobs available to players such as being a blacksmith, assassin or woodsman. There is also one other job which specifically concerns cooperative play: henchman. Co-op players will become the henchman when they visit the worlds of other players. How exactly a player earns money as a henchman wasn't discussed. It raises some interesting questions such as whether or not the main player will actually have to pay henchmen, for example. Finally, when asked about whether or not male characters will be able to impregnate their female co-op partners, Molyneux noted "it's certainly an interesting idea," adding, "no promises." We hope the feature makes it into the game, because we're dying to have CliffyB's digital baby.