Axed Fable III Kinect content detailed

By Fred Dutton Published 13 October, 2010

Lionhead ditched food fights, statue making.

Abandoned Kinect-enabled mini-games for Fable III saw you throwing tomatoes at passers-by and carving statues.

A Microsoft representative told Kotaku that developer Lionhead had tried a number of ideas for Kinect, including fruit throwing and statue sculpting, but neither will make their way into the finished game.

Lionhead had initially promised that Fable III would include some Kinect elements but creator Peter Molyneux recently confirmed that would not be the case, at least not at launch.

Apparently "whatever was initially planned to be built into the game just wasn't up to snuff."

Of course, that does the leave the door open for DLC at a later date.

Fable III launches on Xbox 360 on 29th October. The PC version needs a little more work.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (23) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • Bearskopff #1 2 years ago

    With only a week between the retail release of this and Falllout, I've got a fairly big decision to make.

    In regards to the article though, I think it's a shame the Kinect content has been removed. The mini-games probably wouldn't have held my interest but some sort of mad-magic-casting-hattery would have been cool. Saying that, I'm sure once I've dance-cast the same spell a dozen times, I'll be regretting that thought.

  • weejok #2 2 years ago

    "whatever was initially planned to be built into the game just wasn't up to snuff."

    You mean what was promised of Kinect wasn't up to snuff so we couldn't be arsed doing anything with it? ;)

  • Shikasama #3 2 years ago

    Bear - Do what I'm doing and get one of them. By the time you are finished with one the other should be cheaper.

    I'm ashamed my first thought when I read about the scultping was 'cool!'

  • GamesProgrammer Verified Games Team Programmer, Eutechnyx Ltd. #4 2 years ago

    One of Microsoft's best designers has now canned two Kinect products, guessing we could be waiting a while for a descent wave of software.

  • Bearskopff #5 2 years ago

    @Shikasama - See, despite it not making any financial sense (and I'm really not "well off";) I really dislike trading in games. Heck, I still own The Golden Compass, GI Joe, and...actually, I won't list them. It gets (even more) embarrassing XD. In fairness though, you didn't directly mention trading so I must ask the question...are you a fellow game hoarder? :o

  • CaptainQuint #6 2 years ago

    Can't wait for the multiple article Molyneux quote fest tomorrow.

    Molyneux: "We were going to let players re-enact the potters wheel sequence from Ghost."

    Etc...

  • TheNinkyNonk #7 2 years ago

    I'd like to smear some chocolate on Milo using Kinect

  • Death-Jester #8 2 years ago

    "I'm ashamed my first thought when I read about the scultping was 'cool!'"

    I doubt it was any good. Probably 'wave vaguely in the right direction and a pre-determined lump of stone will fall off the big block'
    Followed inevitably by the frantic spazzy arm-waving as you try and find the right angle to get that last niggling little piece chipped off.

    Although if you could kinect-sculpt your own statues it might have been fun to see the virtually-endless stream of giant cock statues :)

  • Wheatley #9 2 years ago

    Just as well. We still haven't bought curtains for our new house, and I'm not sure my elderly neighbours would understand a grown man having an invisible food fight.

  • 3william56 #10 2 years ago

    The sculpting demo on Move looked really impressive, so if they got it right, it could have been fun.

    If...

  • InternetRed #11 2 years ago

    I do love the fable games, but I wonder if this is either the usual Fable Hype that never appears, or if we'll see both mini-games released as DLC, as they do an Oblivion Horse Armour on us.

    I wonder though if he'll make the next Fable fully Kinect-able. Imagine having to walk or run on the spot to move, wave your arms to swim, swing to fight, flick to cast, aim to shoot... wait that sounds like hell! I play games to relax. Although I suppose you slap some kind of pedometer onto it, and you've got "Fable Fitness".

  • Britesparc Verified Creative, ITV #12 2 years ago

    I think we might see Kinect DLC for Fable, but I also think we're likely to see a Kinect Fable spin-off; perhaps a management style king-based game where you're controlling your kingdom?

    To be honest, despite being very excited by Kinect, those Fable mini-games don't sound too hot TBH.

  • CrunchinJelly #13 2 years ago

    They missed the obvious kicking chickens mini game...

  • I\'mListening #14 2 years ago

    Considering all the hype that PM served up over kinect and its possibilities I would have expected a lot more than the possibility of mini games in any of his games so I for one am glad they will not be appearing in my brand spanking new copy of Fable III

  • Shinetop #15 2 years ago

    I know that it's still cool to hate Kinect so I'll probably be negged into the -30's for this, but that statue making thing actually sounded like a fun little gimmick. I would have loved to become a tirant and fill the kingdom with statues of me kicking or flipping off my subjects.
    Edited by Shinetop at 14/10/10 @ 09:45

  • Shinetop #16 2 years ago

    I doubt it was any good. Probably 'wave vaguely in the right direction and a pre-determined lump of stone will fall off the big block'

    I love this reasoning. "It was probably shit because this thing that I made up to be intentionally shitty sounds like shit. QED."
    Edited by Shinetop at 14/10/10 @ 09:44

  • arcam #17 2 years ago

    ^ To be fair, Peter Molyneux said it wasn't good enough. It probably was kinda shitty.

  • Moribundman #18 2 years ago

    Hmmmmmmm. Possible DLC?

    The logic of this being core gamers largely don't want Kinect, but a slew of non-gamers will buy the Kinect/box bundle.

    Fable III is a kind of crossover franchise - one of the 360s AAA exclusives that appeals to core gamers but is also relatively accessible for casual gamers.

    Core gamers will buy Fable, and extra content that only works with Kinect might put some weight behind deciding to buy Kinect to play the extra content/get achievements.

    If they put these in the game from the start, aside from being an element that they couldn't use in the PC version, Xbox gamers who didn't have Kinect would cry foul and say they were being cheated out of part of a game they bought.

    If Microsoft are trying to pimp WP7 on the basis it can tie in with your gamerscore, I wouldn't be remotely surprised if they offered and encouraged exclusive Kinect DLC (free or otherwise) to drag in the points whores...

  • Mkwone #19 2 years ago

    Personally i think the sculture minigame isn't you doing a hamer motion to knock bits off but rather you doing your own poses instead of the pre-determined ones.

    If it was that it'd be pretty neat.

  • layleeloo #20 2 years ago

    Good!!!!!

  • darleysam #21 2 years ago

    MORE LIES!

    Except not because they've said that it didn't make it into the final game.

  • ronuds #22 2 years ago

    Peter Molyneux killed my family and all that!!!

    :D

  • epiazk #23 2 years ago

    Kinect has potential, doubt all you want.