E3: Fable: The Journey Demo Was a “Horrendous Mistake,” Says Molyneux

Peter Molyneux says the E3 demo for Fable: The Journey was a “horrendous mistake” and not at all representative of the actual game.

The E3 demo of the Kinect-based Fable: The Journey was apparently pretty underwhelming. Our own Susan Arendt said it would be “utterly forgettable” if it didn’t have the Fable name attached to it. That reaction may or may not be particularly relevant to the final product, however, since the demo doesn’t sound like it has much to do with the game anyway. For one thing, it was on rails and the real game, Molyneux insisted, is not.

“I made a horrendous mistake… taking out the navigation allowing players to move,” he admitted in a follow-up video. “I’ll just state on record now that Fable: The Journey is definitely not on rails.”

To reinforce the point, Molyneux collected a number of journalists over the course of the show and had them sign a wall, attesting to his statement.

Which is all very well and good, but what would possess Molyneux, or anyone, to do something like that in the first place? What’s the point of making a demo for your game that isn’t actually a demo for your game? If you don’t want people playing what you’re cooking, whip up a sexy cinematic and turn that loose instead. Seriously, Peter, Populous, Syndicate and Magic Carpet were great, but all this bait-and-switch nonsense over the past 15 years or so is starting to wear a little thin.

via: OXM