Thursday, January 31, 2008

A visit to Lion Head Studios? Yes please!


Tomorrow, as part of my course in magazine journalism I’m heading down to Guildford to Lion Head Studios. I’ve been asked to write a profile on somebody within the public eye. After much thought and careful consideration I decided to shoot for the stars and give Peter Molyneux a bell and see if he was available.

I never really thought he would get back to me, in fact I was already racking my brains over who to ask instead. But to my surprise I actually had an email from his PA asking when I would be able to come down.

I’m pretty excited to meet him. I’ve enjoyed his games for as long as I can remember and I’m fascinated about finding out about his work and personality.

I’m so excited that I’m going to explain to you one of the more exciting areas in Molyneuxs up and coming blockbuster Fable 2.

As you may know music has played an invaluable part in games to date, particularly Fable. For the next instalment the music is set to take on a whole new level. As expected you’ll begin your adventure nothing more than child and you’ll grow into a young adventurer. You’ll do battle with all sorts of creatures and people. As you fight the music will react to your actions and your fighting techniques. Pull off a sweet blow and you’ll hear the music flair up in recognition of your actions.

But that’s not only what will happen. As your character levels up, so do his moves and equally the music will enhance too. More complicated moves learnt will result in more instruments being used in your ‘game’ orchestra. By the time you reach the end of the game your character should be so levelled up that he’ll have a fully blown orchestra playing whenever he fights creating a music sound-scape that will be entirely unique.

Lets hope Molyneux isn’t pulling our legs.

Check out Fable 2 here!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Saturday, January 19, 2008

A bunch of coloured men!

Getting ready for our respective jobs the other morning, I lay in bed and watched while my girlfriend busied herself in front of the mirror. She has taken to listening to Chris Moyles. Giggling whilst trying to do her hair my girlfriend found it most amusing when Moyles told the story of his relationship between his Xbox 360 and girlfriend. Recognising the similarities between our own relationship, she chortled when Moyles exclaimed when forced to put his 360 on pause. His girlfriend distracting him. This got me very interested in the other aspects of my game playing habits and how it affected us as a couple, I couldn’t help but quiz her further.
I asked her if she minded me playing games? She sighed and said she didn’t, as long as she didn’t have to watch. Apparently there is nothing more boring than watching me play video-games. Personally I have always found watching someone play fairly interesting, but as my girlfriend pointed out, this is because I am already interested in them. ‘So, which games are the worst to watch, from your perspective?’ ‘Halo, that’s pretty dull. You just do the same thing over and over. It’s just a bunch of coloured men running around.’ Simplistic view aside, that’s an accurate description, particularly if you were to look at the game with fresh eyes. Even with today’s HD pin sharp graphics, its still not quite the same as watching a Hollywood film. Oh well, bring on the ‘next generation’!