Will there or will there not be a Fable II port for the PC? That remains to be the question as Lionhead Studios' Peter Molyneux continues to keep mum about this.

Ever wondered just when the greats of PC gaming (Dungeon Keeper, Syndicate, Magic Carpet) will be making their presence known in this generation? The answer is a bit hazy, but it's very possible, as none other than Peter Molyneux himself is chomping at the bit to remake them. Check out all the details and see what it means to you after the jump.

When you talk about the PC gaming market, two of the most popular titles off the top of people's heads would probably be Blizzard's World of Warcraft and EA's The Sims franchise. Lionhead Studios boss Peter Molyneux explains that these two games are the cause behind the "tragic" state of PC gaming today. To find out more about what Molyneux had to say, check out the full article.

Peter Molyneux, one of the most established video game designer still around today, has recently revealed that they are working on a new franchise capable of revolutionizing the whole game AI.

To make his point more clear, he referred to the 2001 PC title Black & White which was considered special at its time. Know more about this after the jump!

Prominent figures of the gaming industry such as Ken Levine, Peter Molyneux, and well-known director Steven Spielberg are gearing up to make waves at the Game Developers Conference 2008 scheduled in February at Moscone Center in San Fransisco. There will be sessions discussing topics such as storytelling in Bioshock (Xbox 360, PC), three spankin' new features added to EA LA's Fable 2, and the upcoming puzzle-video game Boom Blox for the Wii.

 

Julian Eggebrecht, Factor 5 president and lead director, has been announced as the opening keynote speaker for the GC Developers Conference (GCDC) 2007 in Leipzig (also known as the Leipzig Games Convention). Details of his speech have yet to be revealed, but we can expect it to be interesting at the very least. Factor 5 is currently working on the PS3-exclusive game Lair.

Peter Molyneux, Lionhead Studios' president, will also be giving a keynote focusing on the company's classic games. The GCDC 2007 will be held from August 20 to 22 in Leipzig, Germany. Other GCDC 2007 international speakers will include:

• Jason Manley (Massive Black)
• Christopher Schmitz, (10Tacle Studios)
• Jennifer MacLean (Comcast Interactive Media)
• Dr. Michael Wimmer (The University of Vienna)
• Alexander Fernández (Streamline Studios)
• Cindy Armstrong (Webzen)
• Amir Taaki (Crystalspace)
• Jeff Strain (ArenaNet)
• Vlad Ihora (Telia Sonora)
• Barbara Lippe (Avaloop IT Solutions)
• Pamela Kato (The GamerX)
• Uwe Nikl (Level 3)
• Matt Firor (Ultra Mega Games)
• Konstantin Ewald (Osborne Clarke)

Enterprising Games Week is an event set to take place on June 27 and 28 in London and is set to focus on how companies can use AI, virtual worlds, Web 2.0 functions and video games to create learning and brand extension experiences. DevelopMag reports that what makes this event noteworthy is that they're set to feature a keynote from Lionhead studio boss Peter Molyneux.

The event is also set to feature Nader Nanjiani of Cisco, and both Peter Molyneux and Nanjiani will be speaking during the serious games portion of the event.

The event is made possible by the folks of Apply group and the serious games association, Anglish. Martine Parry founding director of ANGILS and production director of Apply Group comments: "With two conferences and two masterclasses across two days, focused on the key issues, coupled with the quality of our speakers, Enterprising Games Week is the right one-stop forum to learn about what can be achieved whilst networking for business."

For the second time around, the Develop Conference & Expo 2007 will make a landing at the Hilton Brighton Metropole to draw in around 1,100 attendees from 22 territories. Starting July 24, the two day conference will tackle issues relevant to the game development community across seven different tracks, as stated from the official press release.

Underneath the design, production, coding, business, art, audio and world vision tracks, four "C"s will define each track's themes: Community, Connectivity, Creativity, and Control. Taking off from the 2007 Game Developers Conference's touch on online and social trends of the industry, the Develop Conference will be investigating into user-created content, inter-format networking, varied and user-created game conceptualization and the use of "new wave devices." Conference advisory board chair Owain Bennallack explained the conference's focus, saying:

We think developers are now ready to hear a lot more about how the lessons of Web 2.0 can make their games better and more successful, and the Develop conference in Brighton is the only place to do so, as well as picking up plenty more traditional hints and tips about programming, art, audio, and production.

At July 26, the Expo segment of the event will commence, with different flavors of access passes for the Conference and Expo. Develop will be offering 20% discount to early bird registrants, who log into the official web site and purchase access passes by July 1, 2007. And get this folks: Expo passes are absolutely free of charge.

Expect 40 of Europe's most innovative companies from "every sector of games development" to make an appearance, including speakers Vfx's Peter Chaing, Lionhead's Peter Molyneux, Instinct Technology's Mike Gamble, Sony CE Europe's Kate Ellwood and Blitz Studios' Steve Williams.

I was bored last night. Not able to stand the monotony, I decided to go through my game shelf just to see if there was something that I could pop into my PlayStation 2 and enjoy. I eventually picked up and dusted off my copy of Clover Studio's Viewtiful Joe 2.

I decided to play through the first stage mostly as Sylvia. While I was blasting through the stage with her pink guns of unrelenting joy and joyfulness, I suddenly got hit by a wave of nostalgia. I needed a 2D platforming high.

Why go with 2D you ask? Well, it's because if there's anything that Castlevania on the DS and Viewtiful Joe by Clover proves, it is that there's still room for well-done 2D platforming games in this hyper defined, 1080p, next-gen world.

Dammit, I want to play Commander Keen again.

This isn't really news. This is a long rant-ish post, and to save you the pain of having to read through a dinosaur's gaming woes, you're only going to have to read the rest of the post after click on that "Full Article" link below. Zerglings, cyberpunk hippies with mini-guns, and space-travelling pre-teens await after the Jump!

You remember that Microsoft bought Lionhead Studios, right? Well, Peter Molyneux (the boss of Lionhead Studios) has things to say about Microsoft's XNA Game Studios Express platform for game developers. As you know, Chris Satchell talked all about the YouTube concept, and we already looked at what Dave Mitchell had to say about PS3 Linux and XNA.

Molyneux said in a speech, "You're lucky bastards, because the web is a fantastic place to get your ideas out there. If XNA really is going to be the YouTube of game design then that will be a brilliant, brilliant thing."

He also said some things about game design. "If you want to get into the games industry there is nothing better than a demo," he said.

"You have to have a great excitement for what you do. You cannot do this without finding it almost orgasmically exciting."

Well, we tend to agree. XNA Game Studio Express, as you might know, is a free download meant for homebrew developers and hobbyists (professionals will have to wait for XNA Game Studio Professional - it should be out sometime in 2007). Because of the "starter kit" nature of XNA, it's easier to make games for Windows and for Xbox 360. Remember, developers can make Windows games free using the XNA Framework for coding their games, and to run games on Xbox 360, developers only need to pay a US$ 99 fee to join the XNA "Creators Club."

So it's not just developers who are lucky bastards. We all are lucky bastards, because XNA means more Windows and Xbox 360 games for us.