@ariete: It's called English accent. While we're on the subject, I'd like Gandalf to greet people with a "G'day, mate!"

Ashurahori

Love easter eggs and such like in games, so fingers crossed this is in Fable

TeldurUK

Will it only be in the collector's edition?

kojirodensetsu

@ariete: What less English (West-Country) more awful Calafornian accents? yeah that'd make the game sooo much better......

Jambolia

Is this what the devs have been doing for the past few months? What a waste of time and or money.

Pezdispenser

Judging from the lighting, it looks fake to me, you can see the shadows of the buildings tilting to the right, but theres a light coming from the doorway in the background, that can easily be photoshopped, but I dunno, I'm indifferent as to if its real or not!

ray89

lol,I love the Medieval lattice in his visor

Winterbringer

Christ people, It's real and I can't see why no one gets it...its a parody, a piss take, just a little tongue in cheek, obviously English humour is beyond a lot of people unless it's blindingly obvious.

Jambolia

I hope Master Chief doesn't talk/sing with that awful accent the characters had in Fable 1. Actually, I hope ALL the NPCs will sound more normal and less like Molyneux.

ariete

Wow, as serious as Molyneux takes himself and his work, this would be another bad omen for me. And by golly, do I wish Fable 2 rocks.

Valshar

Looks both real and awful.

SG_Mahonay

Very interesting, I always thought of Master Chief as a Maraca player myself...

Helioz

master chief has been sucked into Molyneux's fantasy that Fable II will match the hype the same way Halo 3 did (sarcasm)

shaunomacx

@chuffhoncho: Its Fablo-ous!

thejakeman: visit my site!

Ok, that's... different.

Salen

Definitely legitimate, I'm excited. :D lol

Fadakar

I'm just going to go with Bull on this one so if I'm right, I'll shove it in everybody elses faces, and if I'm wrong, it'll be quietly forgotten.

Arsenicberyllium

Probably a "Halo'ed up" Hero character making good use of costume parts.

Humpski

Fable 1 had a red prostitute wig. I don't think a Halo 3ish helm is too outlandish.

Moonshadow101

Fablo 4: Finish the Fake Renaissance Faire Fight

chuffhoncho

Medieval Halo is one of many things on my "want list". It's just below Steampunk Halo.

RRRansom

I would guess it's just an Easter Egg that got out early.

liquid_kore

Halo 4, now we know it will be a prequel ^^

FryDay

It looks real. Personally I hope it's just an example of a robust character creator, because while I'd never make Master Chief in my Fable II-- Halo is totally not my bag, and I think he's a very, very bland character-- I'd love to be able to create something as far from the normal 'fantasy' type as possible. Go Team Molyneux!

wild homes is being recast!

awkward....

chaos_isnt_here

I wonder if he'd have rechargeable health/shields.

formina

I think it might be photoshop because if you look hard enough you can see that his feet are floating of the ground. But I wouldn't be surprised if this was real.

lenandude

This close to E3, it's anyone's guess whether it's real or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it were though.

chuffhoncho

Looks pretty real for an easter egg. I think it fits the world nicely.

Heliophage

Looks real to me.

DefHamster

outstanding. hola~!

MushroomBoy1022

Betrayal!

bnorman

I think it's real. And just like our very own Jambolia said, it's definitely a joke. I don't think that Master Mariachi will be in the actual game.

It would be cool if he did though.

ariete

I didn't know the Chief was a spoony bard.

KeroseneClimax

It looks pretty authentic to me, although something about his left hand (the one "strumming" the "strings") kinda bothers me. I'm going to call creative use of in-game features on this, but I won't rule out damn good photoshopping either.

C22DBlueKnightOne

@Jambolia: Yeah, like totally. Hang ten, duder?

peAr nectAr

@Ashurahori: It wasn't just an English accent, it was a heavily exaggerated British southern accent.

Winterbringer

This must be the "additional content" from the Limited Edition!!!

lol

aspasticninja

@chozo_hybrid: I'm pretty sure Fable 2 doesn't need any gimmicks to sell well. Fable (for xbox) sold 2.6 million copies despite being a new franchise.

[vgchartz.com]

ariete

@Arsenicberyllium: oh don't worry, I'll remember you

Ahsayuni

i know this may sound biased but (im not a halo fan)but cant companies making xbox games think of another character/gimmick to sell a game apart from (im a massive starwars fan)having the master chief or starwars characters? i man DOA 4 had i spartan an such an soul caliburs gettin yoda an darth as well as the new apprentice...all im saying is a lil originality could be nice

chozo_hybrid

Looks real to me. I hope there's a fair amount of humor like this in the game.

Strangelove

@Valshar: Yeah.... all the farting and silly stuff you could do in Fable was Molyneaux taking himself so serisouly......

robinandtami

@ariete: i know, ive been waiting for the game too and its going to sell, but i guess im just a bit sick of games like halo that get idolised by everything, when there are so many other good games that could get references now and then. sorry, i could have worded that last post better XD

chozo_hybrid

@xyzface: Well their is a tiny dark spot at his feet,and the sun is shining towards the amera so the shadow would be somwhere below the border of the piture,so that really doesnt prove that its PS magic

Tom Clancy's Samuraidino

i can see no shadow of the character and you can see all of his bottom left foot and a shadow shud be emitting from there somewhere

xyzface

The only thing I don't like is the shadow underneath the Chief himself-- it just looks maybe a little wee bit too soft. Else wise, at least to me, all looks good.

ademu

I normally pay $60 to have Master Chief over for some Covie blasting.

This picture leaves me wanting to pay him $5 to leave me alone and play music for folks at another table.

GorbyGipper

Aside from the helmet. nothing particularly looks MC'ish to me. Looks like a bunch of in-game assets tinted green.

SnakeCL

So that was the planet in the background at the end of Halo 3!

HALO-32

How is the light from that doorway overlapping the front of Master Chief's hand when the light source is actually behind him? And if a direct beam of light is shooting thru that doorway, why is it not casting on the ground leading out of the doorway? And anyway the sun be can't be low enough to cast such horizontal light because then the shadows from the walls would consume the whole courtyard. The shadows and the magical light beam suggest conflicting positions for the sun...

That faulty light beam could be either a poorly thought-out in-game effect or a poorly thought-out photoshop effect. I dont think the latter necessarily proves shennaningans, tho--they could just be trying to touch-up the screenshot.

Inconclusive.

B-Minus

I', actually more excited about being able to play the lute than dressing as master chief. Not that I don't find the humor in it.

Guild_Navigator

All he needs is a Sombrero...
Hola~!

TheLAG

Sure, it's possible it could be photoshopped, but the creator would have to be well versed in some sort of 3D program, and have the intention of making him in a Fable-character-style. I see only two likely options:

1. This is real and it was made as a joke (or maybe as said to help get some more buzz going on the game) by a Lionhead artist

2. Someone got their hands on either Fable 1 or Fable 2 3D models and did some creative editing of their own.

Nessman

or another option:
[www.xbox360fanboy.com]

Nessman

It doesn't really look like Master Chief, though. I'd guess that it's custom models or customization (probably customization, as models would be more like the chief himself)

Pi-face

That is too funny! Hope it is some Easter egg.

ThatsMrOffDutyNinja

This would definitely be great as an Easter egg. Like you find him in some town behind a store sitting down with his acoustic. You can pay him money to play the Halo theme. That would be sweet.

n42

if this is in the colelctor's edition im sorry but i have to get it then.

maraxusofk

Kicking ass, taking names and playing lute since 1852.

GogolGants

Haha that's cool. I bet its just part of the character customization.

omfg_its_dally

Now if only this guitar could shoot fire..

aleams22

So thats where MC ended up at the end of Halo 3!

Is this bungies upcoming "new project" Halo Fable....cant help thinking it wont be very hard....battle rifle vs pointy sticks..

juscallmeweasel

Might I note that that is NOT Master Chief -- he is wearing leather boots with buckles, gloves, and what looks to also be a hard leather armor. His helmet is also not Master Chief's helmet.

I'd guess either a real screen of a character made intentionally to look like Master Chief using in-game items, or a minimally photoshopped picture (i.e., they merely photoshopped in the visor).

MasaMuneCyrus

no its obviously a screen shot for a medieval themed halo 4

laufingman

I think this is most likely real. Sort of like when nobody believed Assassin's Creed costume would show up on Metal Gear Solid 4. Cool for Halo & Fable fans (I am not a fan of either game and I have played them both to boredom).

gencid

I will delight in stabbing him repeatedly when the game comes out.

CyberSkull

I don't think its real.. MC look alike doesn't seem to have a shadow... and everything else has a shadow.. or maybe its just me?

--Core--

It looks completely photoshopped like they just pasted him in the background and sprayed a bit of light to give it depth. The lighting is off, the shadow is off. No ambient occlusion.

everybest