Lionhead leader Peter Molyneux today announced both Fable III (360) and an episodic version of Fable II during the Microsoft press conference at GamesCom.

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Fable III will be set in a Napoleonic-styled period of Albion, and will allow players to take on a King-like role in influencing the world, according to Eurogamer.

"I think there's something fundamentally wrong with RPGs like Fable," said Molyneux. "It's a mechanic that's been there since the eighties. I'm going to take that foundation stone and throw it away... Read more

Lionhead Studios founder Peter Molyneux has been appointed European creative director for Microsoft Game Studios, reports gamesindustry.biz.

The role entails creative guidance, aid and oversight at Microsoft's European games studios, including Rare and Lionhead itself.

"What you're not going to see is ten Peter Molyneux games," explained Molyneux. "The value of this role is for someone like myself going in and making those little tiny lights of an idea shine as brightly as possible."

"I'm definitely not going to go in and say 'this is a dumb idea' and 'this is a good idea'. I'm more about making sure they really are doing the experiences they're passionate about. Because passion is really central."

Molyneux will remain studio head at Lionhead in addition to his new responsibilities.

Showcasing the capabilities of the new Xbox 360 Project Natal camera controller, which includes voice and motion-recognition functionality, Fable 2 developer Lionhead Studios showed a video demonstrating a virtual child called Milo.

Able to recognize facial expressions and vocal emotions, Milo chatted with real-life demonstrator Claire. Milo also threw her a pair of goggles (which she automatically grabbed for and then "put on"). Later, Milo grabbed a piece of paper that Claire held in front of the camera for a mere instant.

Another aspect saw Claire splashing around virtual water in real-time.

Studio founder Peter Molyneux boasted that these were concepts even science fiction writers haven't been able to dream up, and that the technology is here, now.

That software will be shown behind closed doors this week.

Industry legend Peter Molyneux took to the stage at the Game Developers Conference on Friday to talk on the risks and rewards of experimenting in video game design.

The man behind countless classics at Bullfrog and Lionhead Studios--including Dungeon Keeper, Populous, Syndicate and Fable 2--explained how Lionhead turned its love of dreaming and experimentation from a vulnerability to a great strength.

Black & White: a chimera born of mad science
Molyneux began by describing the development of Black & White as "utter chaos."

Many ideas from this chaos were turned into game features--"that incorporated such things as the creature--okay, that was a plus. But also..."... Read more

Following up on the dry confirmation that more content is coming, Lionhead head Peter Molyneux has dropped a few new details as to what's in store for Fable II (X360).

The next downloadable add-on, "See the Future," should hit in the coming weeks, he told Kotaku. "It's a little bit more story driven [than the first DLC]," Molyneux explained. "It answers some of the questions, if you're a real fan of Fable...it starts to tease and hint at what it starting to happen in the world of Albion and what is happening... Read more

Lionhead Studios is apparently (and unsurprisingly) working on another entry in its open-world action-RPG series, according to British media personality Jonathan Ross.

"Got asked to do voice in Fable 3 tonight," reads a Twitter from Ross, who attended the BAFTA video game awards earlier in the evening. Later on, he added that British comedian and former game journalist Charlie Brooker would lend his voice to Fable 3.

Once the morning came around, however, Ross realized he said something he shouldn't have. Subsequent Twitters show the broadcaster planning to apologize to Lionhead Studios founder Peter Molyneux. When asked if the apology was due to the Fable 3 mention, Ross wrote "yes. No. there is no Fable 3. I don't know. help me."

The last entry in the series, Fable 2, hit Xbox 360 in late 2008 to rave reviews. One piece of game-expanding downloadable content has been released since then. Of course, it's always possible that Ross may have confused an upcoming DLC pack with Fable 3.

Phil Spencer, head of Microsoft Game Studios, wants to allay fears surrounding the fates of subsidiary studios Rare and Lionhead after the publisher closed Ensemble Studios, Shadowrun developer FASA, and UNO maker Carbonated Games.

Speaking to GamesIndustry, Spencer remarked that "the work that those studios are doing [is] incredibly important to [Microsoft]." He offered additional praise for Rare, perhaps in response to recent criticism of the studio. "What studio on the planet signs up for two launch games? That's just crazy," he commented.

As for Lionhead, its Xbox 360 exclusive Fable 2 just went gold, potentially leaving the studio's future in the air. "The next Lionhead game is definitely [a Microsoft Game Studios] game," Spencer promised.