Peter Molyneux Plans Only One More Game

[Your Gaffer]

So, he doesnt know what the game will be about story-wise, how it will play or even what kind of game it will be, but he has a name picked already and thinks it will be the best game he has ever made?

Maybe he should stop making games then, as he is doing it wrong.

I would hazard a guess that he probably knows just a little bit more about how to make a video game than you do.

 

[Something Amyss]

I don't agree. He promises the stars, certainly, but it serves the purpose of pushing the conceptual bar for the entire industry.

Except for the part where they don't really push at all. In fact, they're the ones usually trampled by the rampaging intrusion of reality. You're applauding someone for trying to beat up the ocean: an ultimately futile gesture that accomplishes nothing. Molyneux has done a wonderful job at masturbation over the years, but that's the overall end result.

 

[Icehearted]

He won' be missed. Another nut like Kutaragi, Peter Molyneux is a big example of one of gaming's biggest problems. Remember how Fable 2 was "finished and done and dusted" only to have a day one patch announced shortly after he'd said that? He's toxic to the industry, he's a windbag, and he's totally untrustworthy. If this were ANY other business he would have been sued into the next ice age and perhaps charged with fraud. Brings me back to my point; the industry's full of deceptive acts on the part of all it's players, from devs to publishers, even "journalists". it's an ugly ugly industry overrun with cancer, and as far as I am concerned this tumor is overdue for removal.

I've no doubt that like many of his projects this will be a colossal disappointment (if any expectations exist) he'll shit on after it's out for a month or so, then god willing he will crawl back to whatever cesspool spawned him.

Good riddance, Pete.

 

[C117]

Only one more game, eh? How about a Fable game where you can romance the main characters? You know, the ones who are actually kind of developed, personality-wise?

Certainly, you could make it so romancing any main character requires a special questline to be completed, but I think most of us would be on board with that, as long as it meant we could marry actual characters, instead of cardboard cutouts that spout complete nonsense in slightly iffy british.

 

[FEichinger]

I just love how a single person can divide the gaming community so much without even doing anything. This is hilarious. =D

 

[Epic Fail 1977]

He doesn't know what gameplay, mechanics, setting or story it will have but he's sure it'll be his defining game? /facepalm
This man is pure ego.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

What a fuckin' drama queen. He always tries to make a big deal out of everything he says, and then he fails to deliver.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

This may seem somewhat irrelevant, but hear me out...

That tie is HIDEOUS.

LOOK AT IT!

It is an abomination to ties everywhere.

 

[1337mokro]

Maybe he'll finally make the game he promised to make for nearly 4 Fable's.

Fifth time's the charm right?

 

[Zen Bard]

I've worked with Pete over the years, and it's not necessarily the studio's fault, but rather a combination of things.

Here's what happens: he comes up with a grand and intriguing idea that is (quite often) vast in scope. This is broken down into individual gameplay elements that people start prototyping. Quite often, these elements are pretty novel and haven't always been done before, or done in the way he envisions it, so this means it's going to take a LOT of iteration to see whether it'll pan out or not.

All good so far, but then his obsessive personality kicks in, and he'll have a stick up his ass about one particular part of one particular gameplay element and will then constantly revise and change what it is, and that has the knock-on effect of the original idea never having had time to actually be iterated on to a point where it becomes clear whether the fundamental idea is good or bad. Pete just keeps changing it and changing it, and obviously the prototype team can't get the code written at the same speed as his brain works, so concepts never get fully prototyped.

And then, stage 3 of Hurricane Pete, is he'll show up one morning after having had another epiphany during the night, and will scrap that entire gameplay element in favor of a new one he's dreamed up.

This then goes on until the publisher forces him to actually release a game, which ends up being full of interesting ideas that never got the development time they needed to be any good: a bunch of half-baked failed promises.

But it isn't from lack of talent or effort from either Pete or the dev team. His style of working is now counter-productive for much of the time.

This explains (and confirms) so much! I've always thought Mr. Molyneux focused too much on unique and novel features but lost sight of how they would integrate into the gaming experience.

Thanks for the post!

 

[Paradoxrifts]

Video Game Developer Tycoon. That's your last game, Peter.

 

[Vhite]

Finally, everything he made after first Fable was terribly underwhelming, even that could be considered bad in some ways. While I enjoyed Dugeon Keeper and Black and White, their creator has passed away for me long ago.

 

[Divinegon]

I've worked with Pete over the years, and it's not necessarily the studio's fault, but rather a combination of things.

Here's what happens: he comes up with a grand and intriguing idea that is (quite often) vast in scope. This is broken down into individual gameplay elements that people start prototyping. Quite often, these elements are pretty novel and haven't always been done before, or done in the way he envisions it, so this means it's going to take a LOT of iteration to see whether it'll pan out or not.

All good so far, but then his obsessive personality kicks in, and he'll have a stick up his ass about one particular part of one particular gameplay element and will then constantly revise and change what it is, and that has the knock-on effect of the original idea never having had time to actually be iterated on to a point where it becomes clear whether the fundamental idea is good or bad. Pete just keeps changing it and changing it, and obviously the prototype team can't get the code written at the same speed as his brain works, so concepts never get fully prototyped.

And then, stage 3 of Hurricane Pete, is he'll show up one morning after having had another epiphany during the night, and will scrap that entire gameplay element in favor of a new one he's dreamed up.

This then goes on until the publisher forces him to actually release a game, which ends up being full of interesting ideas that never got the development time they needed to be any good: a bunch of half-baked failed promises.

But it isn't from lack of talent or effort from either Pete or the dev team. His style of working is now counter-productive for much of the time.

This explains (and confirms) so much! I've always thought Mr. Molyneux focused too much on unique and novel features but lost sight of how they would integrate into the gaming experience.

Thanks for the post!

So Peter is actually a Game Industry version of Steve Jobs only without the massive amounts of money and ownership of everything to do things the way he wants no matter what? Now that makes total sense.

I'm hoping this will be Dungeon Keeper 2 + Black and White + Fable combined in a fantastical game.

 

[Zen Bard]

I've worked with Pete over the years, and it's not necessarily the studio's fault, but rather a combination of things.

Here's what happens: he comes up with a grand and intriguing idea that is (quite often) vast in scope. This is broken down into individual gameplay elements that people start prototyping. Quite often, these elements are pretty novel and haven't always been done before, or done in the way he envisions it, so this means it's going to take a LOT of iteration to see whether it'll pan out or not.

All good so far, but then his obsessive personality kicks in, and he'll have a stick up his ass about one particular part of one particular gameplay element and will then constantly revise and change what it is, and that has the knock-on effect of the original idea never having had time to actually be iterated on to a point where it becomes clear whether the fundamental idea is good or bad. Pete just keeps changing it and changing it, and obviously the prototype team can't get the code written at the same speed as his brain works, so concepts never get fully prototyped.

And then, stage 3 of Hurricane Pete, is he'll show up one morning after having had another epiphany during the night, and will scrap that entire gameplay element in favor of a new one he's dreamed up.

This then goes on until the publisher forces him to actually release a game, which ends up being full of interesting ideas that never got the development time they needed to be any good: a bunch of half-baked failed promises.

But it isn't from lack of talent or effort from either Pete or the dev team. His style of working is now counter-productive for much of the time.

This explains (and confirms) so much! I've always thought Mr. Molyneux focused too much on unique and novel features but lost sight of how they would integrate into the gaming experience.

Thanks for the post!

So Peter is actually a Game Industry version of Steve Jobs only without the massive amounts of money and ownership of everything to do things the way he wants no matter what? Now that makes total sense.

I'm hoping this will be Dungeon Keeper 2 + Black and White + Fable combined in a fantastical game.

Not sure that's neccesasrily accurate. Jobs at least had an uncanny ability to leverage technology in ways that resonated with the consumer.

F'r instance...IBM had PCs long before Apple. But Jobs knew how to make them accessible to the masses. And come on? Storing music on hand-held hard drive and setting up a managed internet subscription service to download it? Genius!

Ironically, I think this is what Molyneux lacks; a fundamental relatability to the gamer and what the community wants.

"Yeah that's great that I can hold a characters hand in 'Fable III', but so? How does that enhance my gaming experience?"

 

[verdant monkai]

I saw Pete M at the gadget show live one time.. it was awkward.

I will most likely play this as he is one of my more favoured developers. I liked Fable a lot, Fable 2 being one of my favourite games, I doubt anything he does now will be anywhere near as definitive as the fable series. But it would be great if he could whip up something memorable.

I have a feeling though if this game is as successful as would hope, he will come crawling back and make some sequels.

 

[FEichinger]

Ironically, I think this is what Molyneux lacks; a fundamental relatability to the gamer and what the community wants.

"Yeah that's great that I can hold a characters hand in 'Fable III', but so? How does that enhance my gaming experience?"

And I think that's the very thing he's trying to work on with the experiments now. Both listening and watching.
We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

 

[Cobalt Lion]

Please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck, please don't suck...

You may be setting your hopes a little high. Isn't this the same guy who tried to make a game centered around taking a pickax to a large cube?

 

[Zen Bard]

Ironically, I think this is what Molyneux lacks; a fundamental relatability to the gamer and what the community wants.

"Yeah that's great that I can hold a characters hand in 'Fable III', but so? How does that enhance my gaming experience?"

And I think that's the very thing he's trying to work on with the experiments now. Both listening and watching.
We'll have to wait and see, I guess.

Agreed. I shall remain cautiously optimistic but...still cynical.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Alrighty. I haven't played any of his games before but I do want to hear about how this pans out.

I think I'll pass on that Curiosity thing.

 

[darthzew]

Judging by how his games have been going, I'm betting we're going to see Fable 4: Modern Warfare.