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VideoGamer.com: Generally when people talk about Fable 2 online the conversations are fairly positive, but other games don't fair so well. Recently Denis Dyack and Too Human have come under a lot of fire from fans on internet forums. What's your take on that?
PM: Well, you know, there are ebbs and flows about games. The first thing to say is that I took it really seriously at the end of Fable 1. I kind of apologised at the end of Fable 1 about actually saying things that didn't end up in the game. I've tried to be really really careful about what I show and I think everything I've talked about in Fable 2 you can now play in there, so that was really important. But what I realise over time is that talking about a game before it's released is a dangerous game. You can just say a few things wrong and then it's like an avalanche. I feel sorry for Denis Dyack because you know, I think a few things were said wrong, there was that really unfortunate showing at E3 a few years ago. Everyone got on the bandwagon of saying things about Too Human. Now I've played it and, you know, it's a good game. It doesn't deserve a lot of that harsh criticism. But as soon as something starts it's very hard to turn the tide and pull it back again. Unless you've got something in your back pocket to say "Ahaa, but what about this?" then it's really really tough.
AdvertisementVideoGamer.com: Do you think there's a difference in how developers look at feedback? Do some people take offence at that kind of thing?
PM: You know, the point about it is, I don't make games for publishers. I make games for people who play those games. And if those people turn round and say "You stupid idiot. What the hell are you doing?" but using stronger words than that, then I'd just be a fool to ignore them. Part of me, when I talk to the press and people like you, the kid comes out inside me, and sometimes I get so excited. People think I'm putting it on but I get so excited and so passionate. If I started talking about the story now, this emotion builds up inside me. If I don't listen to what people say, I won't have this luxury, I won't have this amazing, incredible benefit of just talking about things that I'm doing and this amazing feeling.
VideoGamer.com: Do you think the general opinion of gamers that you're very frank and open in interviews helps improve their opinions of your games?
PM: Yeah, I hope so. I'll be honest with you. My toughest audience is the people I work with. They're really really tough. There are people that will come up to me and say "You F'ing TW@!, what the hell are you doing?". So I've got these people to actually censor what I'm saying after I've said it. I've got some rules that I try to stick to. One is, if I'm not excited about something, I just don't talk about it. If there's a feature in a game that I don't think is worth pushing up there I just don't talk about it, because I think in a way it just wouldn't work. I'm only this enthusiastic because I really am. This is not me acting, I'm a crap actor. I can't act. This is my natural self. My second rule is that I think it's totally wrong to ever say really bad things about other people. I think over the years, and I have been doing this so many years now, that there are journalists that were not born when I started talking to the press, so it's a very very long time.
VideoGamer.com: The demand on your time must be immense?
PM: It is frustrating. I want to do an hour long interview because I'm like a kid at Christmas. I've got to unwrap all my toys and show them off and say "look at this!". Today, in like 15 minutes it's insanely impossible.
VideoGamer.com: If you could have one message to your fans, not just Fable fans, but fans of your work in general, what would it be? Is Fable 2 your masterpiece? The result of all your work in the past?
PM: You know what, that kind of question is asked a lot. What's my favourite game? What's my best game? I think that because we've worried so much about what you'll feel like when you play Fable 2, I think it probably is going to turn out to be, certainly the best game Lionhead has done, and probably the best game of Bullfrog before. I always say those two companies. I can't just say myself because you've got to remember that for a lot of the stuff you will play, I am just purely the front man. There are insanely talented people that are just making me look good every single game that I do. It's funny. I was talking to Russell Shore, he's someone I've worked with on pretty much every game I've ever done except the first two, and he said "You know what Peter, this is the best we've ever done".
VideoGamer.com: Excellent. Thanks very much for your time.
Fable 2 is due for release exclusively on Xbox 360 this October.
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Wido wrote at 14:34 on 23 July 2008
Excellent interview, with the duration part on page 1. I totally agree with what he is saying and, pretty much Fable 2 will be a game that people will be playing for a long time.
Karlius wrote at 15:30 on 23 July 2008
I can't wait a fab interview one of the best I have read for a long time!
rocknerd wrote at 01:25 on 25 July 2008
peter is a classy guy. i have so much respect for him and admiration for the work he does and the work of all the nameless folks that help bring these games to fruition.
cheers.
ben wrote at 06:42 on 29 July 2008
OMG, i pre-ordered Fable 2 at least a month or two ago...it has been years...
On a serious note, i have the deepest confidence that Peter will bring me, and all of his fans, more than he could have ever promised in this soon to be Zelda-Slaughtering
game. (and i love Zelda)
xboxlive wrote at 07:53 on 29 July 2008
i will have to play the frist fable till i chould play this one.