The Long Hard Wait

[Professor S]

With the upcoming release of Fable (formerly Project Ego) I went back and looked at an article I wrote well over a year ago for FunXbox about my anticipation for the game. Its funny to look back on it now, see the differences and relive the hype. I hope you enjoy it.

The Long Hard Wait
By Kurt “The Strangler” Miller

2 years ago I began my research into what next generation gaming system I was going to purchase. Having both gladly and regrettably invested my hard earned cash into a Dreamcast two years earlier, I was hesitant about throwing $300 at any console, even Sony’s profitable powerhouse, the Playstation 2. I was going to make damn sure this time that I chose a console that would stick around for a while.

Visiting websites and forums I discovered that both Nintendo and even Microsoft were throwing their hats into the next generation ring. Let’s check out the good and bad for each at that point in my life, shall we? OK!!! LETS GO!!!

PS2 - Looked pretty good, but I kept on reading about how the Dreamcast even did things better than the PS2 technically. This kind of bummed me out seeing as the PS2 was released long after the Dreamcast. What a rip. Some good games though, and some great ones coming out like Grand Theft Auto.

Gamecube - Very nice. It listed all kinds of things I had no idea about and didn’t care enough to research, but it all sounded wonderful. I might not know what Texture Mapping and Anti-Aliasing is, but I sure as hell know I want my console to have them! Plus Nintendo has a long distinguished rep as a quality company… but then again I knew they were going to put that little bastard Mario in everything. I despise Mario. If Mario were alive I’d club him to death with his own fist.

“Why you hitting yourself? Why you hitting yourself???”
“Whya youa do this? Itsa a me… MARIO!!”
“Death to annoying Italian Stereotypes!!!”
That is the point I would black out in a blinding rage and later wake with Mario’s severed head in my lap.

Xbox - Sweet Mother!!! A hard drive??? 80 Kazillion Polygons a half millisecond? I am no longer a graphics whore… I am a POLYGON WHORE!! But what about the games? Dead or Alive. MMMMM… boobies. Halo? What the f**k is Halo? Sounds stupid to me…

After a long time of researching I came across an interview at a site that shall remain nameless by a former Admin whose name begins with a B, ends with a D, and has an O-N in there someplace. The interview described possibly the most wonderful of all games ever to be described. This interview described a game that was then called Project Ego.

My decision was made after reading one short interview, seeing a couple of screen shots and finding out the backing for the project was coming from Peter Molyneux, the mad digital genius behind legendary titles such as Dungeon Keeper, Populous and Black and White. I couldn’t have been happier as I received my XBox and eagerly awaited Fable in September of 2002.

…

What? You’re laughing? Why is this? What you fail to remember is that way back when all the hype around the XBox began, Project Ego was initially slated as being released in 3rd Quarter 2002. If don’t believe me, go look it up in some archives. Project Ego has been pushed back farther than it takes many titles to be developed in their entirety.

Meanwhile the hype machine has chugged on relentlessly. Screenshots and Developer Diaries popped up everywhere. Fan sites erupted and magazines printed every move of Molyneux and the Brothers Carter culminating in a fever pitch as Molyneux very bravely stated that Fable would be “the greatest RPG ever made”. This is quite a statement to be made considering Molyneux has never worked on an RPG and is prematurely comparing his work in progress to such greats as Final Fantasy 7, Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind and Baldur’s Gate with his claim. This statement alone spurred relentless discussion across the Internet… at least for a little while.

So what happened? Where’s the hype now? I’ll tell you what happened… delays. Numerous and torturous delays. Spring 2002 pushed back to Fall 2002 pushed back to Winter 2002/2003 pushed back to Winter 2003 maybe even early 2004. (EDIT 7/19/04: And now 3rd quarter 04 )

Waiting makes Bill Bixby angry. You wouldn’t like Bill Bixby when he’s angry.

So, the hype machine has subsided, but have the expectations followed suit? No. If anything the expectations for Fable are the highest I’ve ever seen for any game made to date, and I’m including games involving the Ambiguously Gay Duo of Mario and Link (A mustachioed plumber and an effeminate teen in tights? You do the math). Now Big Blue Box is in a pickle. They have painted themselves in a corner that only supreme gaming excellence will get them out of. They also find themselves in a unique situation, as only established franchises such as Mario, Zelda and Metroid have shown to have built up these kind of expectations. Established franchises have one thing going for them that Fable does not: A fan base.

Mario, Zelda and Metroid fans will love their games as long as they remain at least good. If Fable only manages to reach “good”, it will be deemed as a massive failure of the highest degree. WWF Raw fell into this category.

WWF Raw was initially slated to be a launch title, but was delayed over and over again. The excuses that hopeful wrestling fans gave for these delays were “as long as they get it right”. This is the mantra of every gamer who is repressing rage after seeing their anxiously awaited title be delayed constantly. Unfortunately, average games like WWF Raw tend to be the result of constant delays more than superb titles such as The Wind Waker (Man… I’ve never been so angry that I like a game so much). I believe this is because many times the problems facing delayed titles tend to be fundamental to the very design of the game. Once the fatal errors are discovered through testing or focus groups the titles are quickly delayed in hopes that they can be fixed, but eventually released with the same issues that they were delayed, because no more costs can be incurred on a problematic title that may not make enough money to cover investment costs. Now WWF Raw was not a bad game, but constant delays and hype had engulfed this title to the point that merely being “good” wasn’t enough to save it. Now THQ and Anchor are forced to redo the entire engine and add dozens of features just to save face in the eyes of pissed off fans.

This is a fine line that all developers are walking now. They give premature release dates to whet the appetite of gamers before they even know how the game is going to turn out, and then delay the games repeatedly to a date that they probably knew the game wouldn’t be ready until. So when problems come up, and they always do, the games are delayed even farther and the fans are disappointed and angered needlessly. But the timeline that they haven’t perfected yet is this: How long is too long? How long can they delay a game until expectations either get too high, or disappear altogether from loss of interest?

So what will be Fable’s fate? Will it be “the greatest RPG ever made” or just another WWF Raw? We’ll just have to wait to find out… and wait… and wait and wait and wait and wait until it is finally released two years after its was first estimated. By that time hopefully I’ll still be able to be satisfied by Fable, because unless it is “the greatest RPG ever made” I’ll be a little angrier and Bill Bixby when he’s angry, and you wouldn’t like Bill Bixby when he’s angry.

Until then, I guess I’ll read some Developer Diaries again and look at some old screenshots and try and keep my expectations at a reasonable level… damn, didn’t work.

Until next time, keep your hammers dry.

[Acebot44]

I did enjoy that quite a bit. What I enjoy more is that the game WILL be out on the 14th. If it isnt, I will eat my sock. Write that down...again