The Microsoft Keynote featured a number of guest appearances, but none were funnier than Peter Molynuex and his demonstration of Fable 2 for the Xbox 360.  Whether it was intentional or not, Peter left a distinct impression on the crowd as he demoed two new features of his team’s new game.

 

After the keynote, we had an opportunity to sit down with Peter and get a closer look at some of the features in Fable 2. 

 

The first feature Peter unveiled focused on money, undoubtedly everyone’s favorite topic in action RPG’s (meaning it’s the only way for some of us will ever be rich).

 

In Fable 2, money is granted from quests and jobs like any other game.  But a unique way of making money in games has always existed in mini-games.  It was at this point that Molyneux showed us a pub game set in Fable 2 called Keystone – a game which is a cross between roulette and craps.

 

Of course, no one gets excited about playing mini-games anymore (especially after owning a Wii), but to dismiss Keystone so quickly would be a huge mistake.  Afterall Keystone is an Xbox Live Arcade Game that is going to be released a few weeks prior to the Fable 2’s ship date.  Any money that players win in Keystone will be transferred to their Fable 2 character, and can be used as normal currency in the game.

 

“This is a dream of mine, imagine games communicating together,” said Molynuex.  “Imagine two games talking (and) that’s exactly what’s happened here, I won money on an Xbox Live Arcade game and transferred it over (to Fable 2).”

 

Besides announcing a way that players can start their fortunes early in Fable 2, Molyneux took a moment to show off some of the new combat features, and co-op gameplay new to sequel. 

 

His female avatar, who Peter insisted was very pregnant at one point, had a babies and a family.  Molynuex admitted to suppressing his creative urges and didn’t include a labor mini-game.

 

After killing groups of orcs using in-game dynamic co-op – which grants players to invite a friend into their world, Molynuex showed how.

 

 If anything, this harkened back to one of the better features in the original Fable, a character’s life is impacted by their reputation.  The same is true in Fable 2