Interview Molyneux shop talks with ShackNews

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Lionhead Studios

<a href="http://www.shacknews.com/">ShackNews</a> has <b>Peter Molyneux</b> talking about his games in <a href="http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=813">this interview</a>. He talks about old games he'd like to make, the overly talked about <i>PC vs. Console</i> thing, him shooting his mouth off in interviews, and playing with nuts:
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<blockquote><b>Shack: I've heard that there will be an acorn in Fable 2 that will play a central role?
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Peter Molyneux:</b> I got into a lot of trouble with that, an acorn in Fable 1 growing into an oak tree. What we've done, and I'm not going to give you the exact story thread, there is a whole thread about something called the Golden Acorn and how it's got to grow into an oak tree.
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There is a whole thread of the story absolutely about that. I don't want anyone to say, after Fable 2, that we don't have acorns. We definitely have acorns. Acorns are central to the game of [Fable 2]. If you don't get your acorn, you can't finish the game. That's how ingrained it is into the world. </blockquote>
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Pardon me. I'm just a bit too stunned by this to even come up with something really witty to jab at it.
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PS. Would anyone trust this guy to remake <b>Syndicate</b> at this point? Not me.
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[RK47]

He's nuts. Acorns are nuts, aren't they?

 

[caliban]

Hrmm. In polish "acorn" also means "glans", which leads me to believe Molyneux's new game will be about a dickhead.

Author surrogate?

 

[Jeff Graw]

If he says "acorn" one more time....

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I know I've always wanted an acorn game. It's just been that thing that's been missing from all my other games. Do they have acorns? No, no they don't. Not a single one. Not a single acorn exists in any of the games I've ever played and quite frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of it. Oblivion? No acrons. Oh sure it had that soil erosion but it didn't have acorns. Fallout? Once again, no acorns. Finally though, someone out there with vision, someone out there with a dream, someone out there with the will and determination to make it happen, that someone is finally going to bring acorns into a game. I for one, am looking forward to watching my acorn grow into a large tree. Hopefully it occurs slowly, over a long period of time. Realism in acorn growth is really what's needed in Fable 2 to make it the game of the year or in fact, the decade. Nay, a classic. A classic that finally gets acorns done right. I thank you, Peter Molyneux, for having the bold desire and understanding of gamers to finally bring acorns into the gaming world.

 

[Top Hat]

On an only-very-slightly related note, I wish that the Acorn had more games. Anyone else enjoy hiding games in picture files?

 

[Mefi]

The man is obviously a furry - a squirrel furry to be precise.

He's also lost all credibility in the games industry - but that's to do with him not actually delivering 1 millionth of what he promises lately and not do with his furry proclivities.

 

[Chefe]

hello world

 

[Rhett Butler]

I wonder if Molyneux has realised that he has no credibility left, and is trying to act as nuts as possible in the hope people will buy his game just to see what the fuck he has created. If so, clever guy, that's exactly what I plan on doing.

 

[RK47]

He's a Malkavian. You get used to it.

 

[cardtrick]

I know I've always wanted an acorn game. It's just been that thing that's been missing from all my other games. Do they have acorns? No, no they don't. Not a single one. Not a single acorn exists in any of the games I've ever played and quite frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of it.

You've never played BG2?

 

[MisterStone]

Am I missing something here, or is PN mocking all the people who pointed out that he's a lying over-hyping shitheel for all his bullshit about and undelivered promises in Fable I?

 

[DarkUnderlord]

You've never played BG2?

Thankfully, no.

 

[Andhaira]

I know I've always wanted an acorn game. It's just been that thing that's been missing from all my other games. Do they have acorns? No, no they don't. Not a single one. Not a single acorn exists in any of the games I've ever played and quite frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of it. Oblivion? No acrons. Oh sure it had that soil erosion but it didn't have acorns. Fallout? Once again, no acorns. Finally though, someone out there with vision, someone out there with a dream, someone out there with the will and determination to make it happen, that someone is finally going to bring acorns into a game.

You've never played fallout, wizardry 8, lands of lore, ultima 6, ultima 7, ultima 7-2, ultima 8, wizards and warriors and thunderscape?

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

While playing a game I've always thought "Hey, this fantasy action role playing game should really have the process of growing an acorn into a tree central to the main storyline." Now I can think "Hey, this fantasy action role playing game is great since the process of growing an acorn into a tree is central to the main storyline."

Thank you, Molyneux.

That was pretty much what I was thinking when I read it. That and, "How lame a plot device is growing an oak tree?" I really can't see what growing an oak tree would have to do with any decent story where you're so forced to do is that the story won't play out otherwise. Even the idea that the oak tree is magical, so magical that the bad guy can't be wiped out by any other means, is just rubbish. There's no way you can present something like that in any way that isn't just inanely stupid.

 

[Mefi]

Am I missing something here, or is PN mocking all the people who pointed out that he's a lying over-hyping shitheel for all his bullshit about and undelivered promises in Fable I?

No, my sarcasm filter remains determinedly silent whenever Pete starts talking. That's what he says, that's how he says it, and that's what he means. Until it's time to eat humble pie after another game flops...

 

[hotdognights]

There's a very good example of that, where we thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool in Fable 2 if you could wear disguises? If you could disguise yourself so you could go into a town and you could commit a crime and then you could be chased out by all the guards, and then you could put this disguise on and come back in town and creep around and hear what people have to say. Wouldn't that be cool?"

We realized that if we were centering the game around disguises, that would be cool. But it being a hidden feature that people have to discover for themselves? Balancing that against the idea that to do disguises you would have to have three less costumes in the game, we chose to have three more costumes.

He picked playing fucking Barbie over a gameplay element.

 

[Tree138]

Eschalon: Book I has a quest where you need to find a particular acorn. Not just any acorn, but a special one.

 

[Archaeon]

And in BG2 you're stuck with an acorn from the beggining of the game for 2 chapters or so )

 

[kingcomrade]

acrons

Robot nuts?

 

[wesleyclark]

While playing a game I've always thought "Hey, this fantasy action role playing game should really have the process of growing an acorn into a tree central to the main storyline." Now I can think "Hey, this fantasy action role playing game is great since the process of growing an acorn into a tree is central to the main storyline."

Thank you, Molyneux.

That was pretty much what I was thinking when I read it. That and, "How lame a plot device is growing an oak tree?" I really can't see what growing an oak tree would have to do with any decent story where you're so forced to do is that the story won't play out otherwise. Even the idea that the oak tree is magical, so magical that the bad guy can't be wiped out by any other means, is just rubbish. There's no way you can present something like that in any way that isn't just inanely stupid.

I had to smile at this, because that was basically the plot behind one of the early Shannara books. The one with the demons.

 

[Data4]

So, was he really talking about an actual acorn, or did he get lost in a metaphor of *something* starting off small, and blossoming into something big by endgame?

Ah, fuck it. The guy's insane.

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

I had to smile at this, because that was basically the plot behind one of the early Shannara books. The one with the demons.

Did the books suck? It would certainly suck for a CRPG when you thinking about it. So, you plant this acorn. It starts growing in to the magical tree of destiny... So, in 30 years, you'll be done guarding the damned tree because it would be stupid leaving such an important tree all by itself when it's the only thing that can save the universe. Would you trust anyone else but you to guard the sacred tree? Hmmm? Silly!

 

[Andhaira]

I think the whole tree thing is inspired from the Garden of Eden...

 

[Section8]

The little silver bonsai in Ultima Underworld was pretty cool.