Molyneux On Emotions: Heavy Rain Is The Future...But I Can't Play It

At SXSW, Fable 3 designer Peter Molyneux and Wired Magazine's Frank Rose sat down for a panel titled "The Emotion Engine: Can a Video Game Speak to the Heart?" Though the topic was explored as relates to games in general to some degree, much of the panel ended up being about Fable III and how Molyneux hopes that specific game will speak to our hearts. And in his opinion, it will do a much better job of speaking to our emotions than films can.

"Film feels like the old school," Molyneux stated early into the panel, adding that "in three or four years," he believes that the majority of games will engage in gamers in choices in their worlds in a way that films never can. Molyneux noted that film characters are often stereotypes -- the love interest, the hero, the bad guy -- but that video games give us the chance to create our own characters that are more realistic and unique.

Molyneux also talked about giving gamers control over the plot's development and resolution, specifically referring to a difficult choice that players had to make at the end of Fable II. Lionhead wants to experiment more with those kind of big moral choices in Fable III, and Molyneux promised that there will be a big decision within the first 10 minutes of the game. He also warned that these kind of choices "can be too serious or too dark."

An example of making the choices in a game too dark? Molyneux pointed to Heavy Rain. Though he opened by calling the game "absolutely brilliant" and "a first glimpse into the future of video games," Molyneux went on to say that he couldn't play it for longer than 20 minutes. "It's too dark," he said. "I felt emotionally beaten up."

After showing a brief demo of Fable III, Molyneux dropped some details on the upcoming project. Since the dog was a big success in Fable II, he will be back in Fable III, although this time the team is trying to make him a more realistic pet. That means sometimes he's going to disobey you. In this case, that means the dog has an obsession with rabbits and will run off to chase them, a decision inspired by the dog from Up.

Star power is a big driving force for Fable III. In addition to the previously announced John Cleese and Stephen Fry, Molyneux promised "three other huge actors" to be revealed before the game's release.

Molyneux also played up the new "touch" mechanic that allows you to grab the hand of characters in the game. He showed the in-game character grabbing his daughter and also a beggar. When the character's wife asked for a kiss, Molyneux noted, "The touch mechanic can be used in more intimate situations, but it's probably best that I don't talk about them here. "

Speaking briefly on Microsoft's upcoming Natal motion sensing technology, Molyneux said, "It would be crazy not to implement Natal with Fable III." He clarified that Natal is not needed to play Fable III, but that there are areas in the game that will be "enhanced" through Natal use. Though he didn't go into specifics, Molyneux called the Natal implementation "cute."

Molyneux also briefly discussed DLC additions. Apparently, there will be shops in the game that are linked to the Internet and repopulated over time. You'll be able to check them for new items available for download and purchase them without going out to the Xbox dashboard. Another example he gave was a ferry that will appear in the game world from time to time. If you buy a ticket for the ferry, it will download the DLC for a new island area.

Closing off the panel, Molyneux wrapped back around to the main subject, reiterating the timeline for the development of the video game medium that he mentioned at the beginning:

"We're like explorers just beginning to explore this new continent. In three to five years, we'll realize what enormous gold mines of uniqueness we're uncovering."