Um, I'm pretty sure you can preorder Fable 2, get the Code for the free download of these mini-games, and then cancel your preorder at a later date.

dj_fantastica

"preordering the game from participating retailers gets you the mini-games for free..."

Okay then it's a deal.

Barbara

I personally can't WAIT to purchase "roll over" and "play dead"...Although I'm sure all the playtime in the world of these 'mini games' wont get me the really insane dog tricks. For instance, "ingest human" or "slobber to death" or even the mystical, life-ending dog spell "minor scratch."

ThisCharmingMan

@karasu is my homeboy: heres an idea, dont buy it!

theres ways to get it free, its you who chooses not to do it that way, and you still complain.

cry some more will you?

kommanderk

@Gouki4u: You want to miss out on a Flow style 2D game, a Civilisation style conquer-'em-all and a huge galatic RTS?

@Communist_Gamer: Best is very subjective. I still see Morrowind as the holder of best Western RPG (haven't played Oblivion yet though). I also loved Fable to bits. But Peter Molyneux is the single barrier to yearly re-runs of games? That's pure hyperbole, Molyneux style.

Krondonian

For people excited about the game and fans of the first, this is awesome news. Apparently for others, it's an outrage. SHOCKING.

chuffhoncho

@Devster: That's a good question; I doubt it since Fable is still one of Microsoft Game Stuidos' flagships, but it does make one wonder.

Norellicus

@karasu is my homeboy: Why not?

If you don't like pre-ordering (I don't- never have), then just don't get the mini-games. No-one is forcing you to buy them.

You could argue that you're then missing out because you don't wish to pre-order, but then that's kinda the point. They want people to pre-order so give incentives. I see this as better- if you decide not to pre-order usually, you won't get the poster/collectible stuff. This way everyone wins.

Therefore, if you were going to pre-order it, you get free stuff. If you weren't, you're not penalized as you get the same stuff as everyone else in the box.

Krondonian

"Affecting" as opposed to "Effecting" in the article?

Lazz

If these get low metacritic ratings and low sales, will they get delisted?

Devster

@karasu is my homeboy: RIF, preorder get you these for free OR you can buy both separate and get the finacial ass rape.

SAKY

@karasu is my homeboy:

I think this is an innovate to market a game Karusu:

1) No one is FORCING you buy the game. Maybe someone just really likes the mini-games and just want to play them not Fable 2. In reality you have NO IDEA how the mini-games play. Maybe they're worth the 800 pts.

2) Pre-orders are a way of the business, learn to LIVE WITH IT. If you don't care about getting the extra cash in game, then you're more than welcomed to pick up the game at any place you want. As you said it yourself, you're personally not interested in picking up the game early for the opportunity to get earn some gold in advance. On the other the hand some people are.

The deal is the get people interested and pre-order the game. I see nothing wrong with this and it's a unique way to reward pre-order customers.

exkon

@Quark:

Fable 1 wasn't what it said it was. The best non-JRPG RPG (because I can't be arsed to argue that its better than FF7) on a console ever? It still holds that title to this day my dear friend.

And without him gaming would be a whole lot different and the landscape would be just yearly reruns of the same games.

Communist_Gamer

@fuchikoma:The fact that Sony never, ever released the PocketStation over here is a fucking CRIME.

Foxstar Sixtail

I bought the Spore Creature Creator to get it out of my system. By the time Spore arrives I'll no longer care about the game, and thus have saved myself some money. Not gonna happen in this case.

I do hope, however, the minigames are at least as entertaining as dice poker was in The Witcher. For some reason I really enjoyed playing that.

Gouki4u

While the idea makes me uneasy, from a market standpoint, it's very, very, very smart. More developers need to do stuff like this and just -wait- till it hits the next wave of MMORPGS where you can pay $20 bucks for a 'training arena' and when the game goes live, be able to start out as a level 20-30 character. I know that betas already do this, but if this isn't wide spread in the next two years, i'll be stunned.

@ThatsMrOffDutyNinja:Dude, he's not saything anything that bad. Peter's got a three game history now of promising big and not showing up on launch day with the goos.

As I may have a job again, I'll very likely take the dive and preorder.

Foxstar Sixtail

It's awesome that publishers have found a whole new way to take people's money without those inconvenient reviews cutting into the hype.

randomnine

@ThatsMrOffDutyNinja: Why?, it is the truth. If you really enjoyed Fable, then you must have enjoyed the "single player" aspect of AoC.

Then again, I couldn't stick with KOTRO, as such genre of games is a waste without another human being on the other side of the PC. NPC-a-thon is not a cup of tea in my book.

PsycheE

Dude. Pre-order all the way.

That was going to be a 'duh' anyway.

sir_carrot

These pre-game games remind me of Chocobo World for the PocketStation in FFVIII. Not that it was one, but it was a little fragment of game that could earn you progress in a full game.

fuchikoma

@stargateheaven: well, free with pre-order is a great deal! much cooler than a free poster with some best buy pre-orders. i wish more games would start implementing this type of thing, especially games with RPG/purchasing elements. hell, the mini-games might even be a fun stand alone break...

watertower

@Quark: I sees a Ban Hammer luring over your head....

ThatsMrOffDutyNinja

Which retailers are these? Gamestop am i assuming? I hate giving that place any of my money. I may have to just pay MS those 800 points. C'mon Fable 2!!

ThatsMrOffDutyNinja

What?

You fully approve of this concept? Spend $10 to play three small pieces of a game early on, then buy the complete game that includes those peices of the game at a full price?

I'm not going to spend $75+ (tax, bundled points) on Fable 2. Not even if it means I can earn some extra ecash for when I play...I'll earn the ecash while I play. It's a part of playing and I'm not impressed with this scheme.

The preorder gig is annoying for a number of reasons, the primary one being that you're forced to go to that store for your purchase. I'd rather go to whichever store I end up near on that day then have to drive out of my way to pick up a game.

If this was free, that's another story. $10? (1)No thanks and (2)shocked at the Kotaku seal of approval.

karasu is my homeboy

So who are these "participating retailers"? Cause I will totally pre-order to get this for free.

WPack911

@stargateheaven: well, i think that most people who would be interested in having these game are those that are going to buy fable 2. so the real point in this is to motivate people to preorder from certain retailers (read gamestop) and get these perks for free.

3inst3in

Preorder a game from a guy with a history of overhyped crap and get this for free!

Quark

800!! what! how MINI are these games?

stargateheaven

They should honestly release these for free as minigames that don't give you achievements but only reward you with money you will be able to spend in Fable 2, that means the only people interested would be people buying Fable 2, and people may just buy Fable 2 for the fact that they have money on that game.

As people have stated earlier if people really wanted these minigames they could just do it and cancel the preorder, 800 points is a bit much imo.

flukielukie

@Foxstar Sixtail: Fable was a decent game it wasn't the coming of the new messiah but it was still a good game. When has anyone not over hyped a game? Looking at a lot of his comments he seems fairly negative and that is putting it nicely.

ThatsMrOffDutyNinja

I want Fable 2, I like Fable, let me guess, I'm a dumbass now, huh?

Though... anyone who actually buys the games rather then just get the preorder done and the games for free... well, you are what they call a bad consumer, sir.

Jayl3w

Hmm, I might've considered it if they had put in the Coin Golf game.

@Communist_Gamer: Fable 1? Even better than Oblivion? Uh, ha.

Jest

@unicronband: I finished Morrowind GOTY Edition on Xbox long before I ever got the PC version. Great game though, on both systems. I'd expect Oblivion to be just as good on consoles as Morrowind was. I only bought the PC version for the mods and the awesome box it came in.

If Fable 2 can be modded (easily) if it comes to PC I might have to buy it twice also. However I haven't heard of a strong mod community, or any community of Fable modders...so I doubt it.

Krondonian

This is slightly cooler and much more useful than the Making of Mass Effect DVD I got with my preorder that I've never had any desire to watch. I plan on buying this anyway, damn the reviews and Molyneux shit-talking. I thought Fable 1 was sweet, if overhyped. Even if Fable 2 can up the ante with just a shinier coat of paint, I'll be content. If my local game store (not Game Stop or EB) has this pre-order offer, I'll bite.

@Krondonian: I too might agree to Morrowind being the WRPG to end 'em all. I thought Oblivion was quite amazing too. Of course that makes me an idiot, at least according to all the dick-in-their-butts PC gamers who scoff at Bethesda for having the temerity to release an Elder Scrolls game to the unwashed console-owning masses.

unicronband

@mikeko10: agreed with @communist_gamer points

3inst3in

@Communist_Gamer: Best is very subjective. IMO, BioWare and Bethesda have both done 2 console RPGs better than Fable 1 (KOTOR, Mass Effect, Morrowind, and Oblivion).

As for the Fable 2 minigames, I think I'll pass. I'm still not sure if Fable 2 is a buy or a gamefly rental.

mikeko10

wow, they vastly overestimate how much people who plan on getting fable 2 want to play pub games.

Dimipapa

Is it possible to cancel your pre-order?

Cause I'm thinking you pre-order the game ( a down payment of like, 5 bucks?) Go home, download the pub games that you get for free now, and then head back to the store and cancel your pre-order. You still have to put that money down on the pre-order, but if it's less than the 800 points (don't know the conversion off the top of my head) then you can save some money.

not that i'm SUGGESTING anyone do this, I'm just thinking out loud

PathRifter

I'm in as long as I don't have to preorder from EB/Gamestop.

lionkitten

I enjoyed Fable (on the PC), so am likely to pick up this sequel.

But where in the UK can we pre-order and get free-mini games?

Bursar

i'm looking forward to fable 2. i will most likely pre-order anyway so it works out good.

Justmarbz

I wonder how many people actually read the whole article.

"The Fable II standard addition is also available for pre-order at a suggested retail price of $59.99. Keystone, Spinnerbox, and Fortune's Tower are included in the game as part of the full retail copy of Fable II ([b]oth limited collector's and standard editions)."

So this means that by pre-ordering the game, you get to play the 3 mini games early, or if you don't like Fable, but like the casual style mini games, you can just buy those seperately. Anyone who owns the game will be able toplay them on the actual game disc.

peacefuloutrage

Just in case anyone cares, these minigames were designed by James Ernest, who has a lot of experience in the industry making interesting, enjoyable games. For quite a while, his company Cheapass Games was producing games that generally had interesting plot hooks and game mechanics, but were also inexpensive because they assumed that you could play with dice and counters that you already own. (Their motto is, "We make the rules.") If you like traditional board- and card games, it would be worth checking them out.

Personally, I have never played Fable, but I will be picking up these games with the expectation that they will be enjoyable all on their own. And if they confer benefits to the final game, all the better!

abates17

Won't this just break the game if they allow you to buy weapons and armour before you should even have enough money to get them if played "normally"? And if they block out the ability to buy higher tier items early on, what's the point of getting the money? I see nothing but disappointment coming from the transferrable early gold, either in making the game too easy with strong early weapons or making the gold pointless by not allowing you to spend it on anything useful.

KirbyMorph

@All_You_Oblivion/Morrowind_Fanboys: Seriously both games were great endeavours but ended up with just about everything being about as stale as possible. They were missing one of the most crucial things in video games and that's character. I'm sure you will defend it even though most of it was twitchy and lifeless but in the end you know it could have been better, you know it could have been fun instead of stagnant. Bad animation and bad combat do not a good game make. Fable on the other hand was animated extremely well and fun to play and to prove my point just about everyone that's finished it was left with the feeling of wanting more. Yes it was too short but you wouldn't argue that point unless you liked what you were playing.

hollowfreak

If you don't get the stand-alone Arcade games, either via pre-order or flat out buying them, will buying Fable 2 let you play them as Arcade games outside of the main game or only as a part of (while playing) Fable itself.
As in, by buying Fable 2, do you get download codes or whatever for the Arcade games or do you just play them within Fable as your character.
I can't seem to find that, anyone know?

Numerous

800MS points!?! Wow they should at least throw in a free download of Fable 1 for that price. Pre-ordering sounds like the way to go. I wonder if you will be able to gamble over live with friends.

gr8asianman

@karasu is my homeboy: I agree on this.

The pre-order shouldn't even be labeled as "free". All it is, is early access with a PR spin and then charging the uninformed.

everybest

@hollowfreak: That's just your opinion, remember.

In Morrowind, there's a world. You can do whatever you want. I spent many an hour walking around, taking in the sites of the landscape, learning about the lore Bethesda created through conversations and books. The freedom was absolute, and the graphics looked stunning for buildings and other stuff, I thought.

Fable looked gorgeous, was wonderfully animated, yet far too small. I know that on the hardware they couldn't do much more, but each area was small, and made up of mainly just paths. There wasn't the freedom I wanted.

I loved them both lots, but aside from both being good WRPG's, they have very little in common. I wouldn't like to make any comparison, but I feel Morrowind just clinches it due to the flaws of Fable such as the game economy and linearity which hurt it in my opinion.

Krondonian

These should be free no matter what. Greedy bastards.

Placentasaurus

@KirbyMorph: peter said that he wanted you to do what ever you want in the game. godl is really hard to come by in hte real game, cuaseit doesnt drop, you only earn it from work.

since every building is possible to own in the game, i dotn think having the small amount of cash you win in this game to be too much of a problem.

also youd probably have to spend a bunhc of time raking up cash in the mini games, so would it really matter what game you earnd it in since it takes ahwile?

kommanderk

@Quark: Your comment is overhyped thus making it null & void.

Nexus6

Why didn't they just have the preorder option and skip the bad karma that comes with the $10 option? It's not like they money they'll make from that is going to make a difference in their bank balance, is it?

Lingonmirakel

the*, on* :(

Lingonmirakel