Josh-Atkins
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Fable 3 preview: It's the economy, stupid
If you played Fable 2 anything like the way I played Fable 2, you ended the game a very, very, very rich player. Why work a virtual job pouring cold beers when you could buy a piece of virtual property, turn off your Xbox, pour yourself an actual cold one (or 10), and when you come to in the morning, you're dehydrated and groggy -- oh, and you've been earning rent money in-game, too? That feature -- the ability to earn rental income while away from the game -- went a long way towards making Fable 2's Albion feel like a living world; one that went on regardless of whether or not your hero was there to see it. That feature won't be returning for Fable 3. "It was a Fable 2 feature," Lionhead lead designer Josh Atkins tells Joystiq. "With every feature, we spend a lot of time reevaluating new things that make sense for the emotions we want to impact and get from players in Fable 3." %Gallery-105085%
Fable 3 designer gets married and ... wait a minute!
Last Friday's New York Times "Wedding/Celebrations" section announced the nuptials of Ms. Amy Gilbert (who is studying for her Ph.D. in molecular medicine in London) and Joshua Atkins, the "lead game designer for Fable III." Would this be be first tandem wedding and game announcement? Although Fable III doesn't officially exist, Atkins has been with Lionhead since Fable and is listed as a part of the design team at Microsoft Game Studios in the Fable II manual.This isn't the first time Fable III has been unofficially mentioned: British talk show host Jonathan Ross tweeted in March that he was approached to do voice work for the game. Of course, we've contacted Microsoft for confirmation of Fable III's development. We absolutely can't wait until the company pulls "we don't comment on rumor and speculation" on this one.PS: From all of us at Joystiq: Congratulations to the happy couple!Update: Microsoft's official statement: "We have nothing to announce regarding future Lionhead Studios projects."[Via Kotaku]
