So the Fable II Collectors Edition box set has been trimmed a little, losing the five printed fate cards, the Hobbe figure, and..oh yes, the box. Still, we still get a bonus DVD with developer diaries and the full game soundtrack, right? Perhaps not. Frequent Kotaku contributor and all-around nice lady Lesley Smith passes on this email from UK retailer Game regarding even further cuts to the decreasingly collectible edition.

We have recently contacted you regarding a marketwide problem with the Fable II Collectors Edition. We have since been informed by Microsoft that there has been a further complication.

They have advised us that the developer diary and soundtrack are no longer going to be available on the bonus DVD.

Let's just hope that they don't decide to cut the actual game from the CE before the title ships next month. Hit the jump for the full email.

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Yes. It's this again. And yes. It's him again. But hey, if you can spare five minutes for another Peter Molyneux soundbyte and another "oh no PC gaming is rubbish" opinion, read on! Speaking with Videogamer, the Lionhead boss - who, while at Bullfrog, did his best work on the PC - has said the market is "in tatters":

If you look at the gamer market on PC, I'll be quite honest with you, it's in tatters. There aren't that many releases on PC. There are some high points like Crysis and what Blizzard is doing, but other than that you are restricted to The Sims and World of Warcraft, they seem to be dominating the PC side.

You mean it's in tatters if you're not EA or Blizzard, Peter.

PC gamer market in 'tatters', says Molyneux [Videogamer] [Image]

You know, some trailers we get are just a pleasure to watch and that goes for this new Fable 2 developer diary. A few members of the audio department over at Lionhead explain some of the music and sound choices that were made for the game. So if you've had a rough day at work or are just stressed out, sit back, relax and enjoy this one.

The Fable II Collector's Edition will be missing some stuff. The swish box, some cards, and a neat little Hobbe figure. The box and the figure, sadly, there's nothing that can be done for them. They're gone. But the cards, they live on, Lionhead telling us that they'll be made available as downloadable pdf files so you can print them off. They won't look as good as they would have coming from a professional printer, but then, poor quality versions are normally better than no version at all.

For Fable II, Lionhead Studios wanted a more mature look. In fact, in the game's original mission statement, the developer put forth it wanted Fable II to be like Fable done by Ridley Scott. Lionhead technical art director Ian Lovett explains:

The idea behind that is that Microsoft understand Ridley Scott, they understand that this means that we wanted to mature the franchise a little bit. Not losing its charm, but basically trying to grow it up ever so slightly.

Hope Lionhead meant the Blade Runner, Alien, Gladiator Ridley Scott and not the White Squall, Hannibal, 1492 Ridley Scott. Those movies sucked.

Fable 2 art guys wanted "Fable, but done by Ridley Scott" [Eurogamer] [Pic]

Lionhead Studios is owned by Microsoft. Peter Molyneux works for Lionhead, so thus, he bleeds neon green. But does that mean Molyneux doesn't want to make a PS3 game? Let's hear what fable Molyneux has to spin:

I um and ah because, OK, it's a quite sophisticated piece of tech. These days I don't get involved so much with shaders and the actual 3D design any more, the actual programming. It looks very complex. The 360 and the PS3 technically seem neck and neck. Sometimes I look at a title on the 360 it looks fantastic, sometimes I look at a title on PS3 and it looks fantastic. I can't see a difference.

What I would say, and this is not just me being the good company man, I'd say the thing I love about the 360 more than anything is nothing to do with the hardware, it's all to do with LIVE. LIVE is still underexploited for a game mechanic. Some of the stuff in Fable II we're doing with co-op is only possible because of the way that LIVE is structured. I love playing around with that stuff as a designer. Whereas PS3 doesn't seem to be quite so mature on that side. They haven't got quite the same infrastructure and service but, you know, yeah, I'd love to get games on every platform.

Oh ho ho. Wonder if Microsoft would love to get Molyneux's games on every platform, too.

Molyneux: 'Fable 2 co-op only possible because of LIVE' [Videogamer]

"Sorry". That's what Microsoft and Lionhead are no doubt mouthing wordlessly, awkwardly, as they let us know that Fable II's online co-op feature - one of the game's bigger selling points - won't quite be ready for the game's launch in October. Instead, it'll be released as part of an update, which they're hoping to get out "within the first week of launch in North America", so hey, while it's a bummer, it's not a BUMMER.

Fable II - Almost There [Gamerscore]

Back in August, Lionhead told us Fable II was "days, if not hours" from being finished. Uh...more like weeks. Only now is it done, studio boss Peter Molyneux confirming the game was officially wound up at 7pm on Sunday night. Good news, that, since most of us are fans of the original. Game's still on track for an October 21 release.

Molyneux: 'Fable II has gone gold!' [VideoGamer]

Maybe I haven't been paying close enough attention, but when I think of Fable II, I think of bright lit hills, cobblestone paths and cheery townsfolk of hobbit proportions. I don't think of glowing-eyed, pig-tailed specter girls and creepy goblins at twilight. Thanks, new screens from the Xbox 360 exclusive. You've forced me to take another look at Fable II.

Fable II Gallery

Uh-oh. If Lionhead don't sort this out sharpish then Albion could end up suffering through its own version of the kind of economic meltdown that has lead to Zimbabwe printing a run of billion dollar notes.

The novel idea of letting players earn gold in the Fable II Pub Games on XBLA — gold that can be brought into the game to give your character a good start in life — might turn out to be a problem, now that someone has realised there is a way to game the system into paying big.

The Fortune's Tower card game can be tricked into big payouts, it seems. Find out how after the jump and get saving for extra dog biscuits now before this gets patched.

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