Get your first look at Fable 3 in this trailer from GamesCom 2009. The sequel will feature you playing as the child of your Fable 2 character.

The second DLC pack for Lionhead Studio’s massive hit Fable 2 has been released. Fans of the Xbox 360 RPG can purchase the new add-on content from Xbox Live Marketplace right now for 560 MS bux ($7 USD for you normal people).

The new content offers two new missions, a new combat arena aptly titled ‘Colosseum’, creature costumes, hair styles, make-up, dog tricks, and potions that can change your gender or dog’s breed. ‘See the Future’ reintroduces Murgo, the guy who sold you that magic music box, peddling cursed items supplied by a mysterious source. Through examining these items, the player is whisked away to new locations, battling new enemies and, eventually, gathering a glimpse into their own future (possible plot hints to Fable 3).

If you decide to purchase ‘See the Future’, take note that if you and your buddy want to co-op Fable 2, the latter will need to download the ‘See the Future’ (free) pack to maintain compatibility (or as I foresee, showing off your character in drag). As implied, the “free” version, however, does not give your buddy access to ‘See the Future’ content.

Looks like Fable 2 players anxious to get their hands on Knothole Island, the extra content for the game, will have to wait a bit longer than the original date of December 22 Here is what was posted this morning on Xbox.com:

Due to unexpected technical difficulties, the Fable II: Knothole Island expansion will not be available until late January 2009. As a result, the Fable II, Knothole Island Download and Win, originally scheduled to take place December 22 – 23, 2008, has been temporarily suspended. Please check back for updates. In addition, you can still register for the Download & Win by downloading the free Fable II: Knothole Island registration gamerpic, or by registering via Xbox.com at www.xbox.com/fableIIknotholesweeps. Registered participants will be notified using the contact information provided at time of registration with revised Download and Win Entry Period dates.

For more information, click here.

Looks like the downloadable content heading to Fable 2 mentioned back in November will not be arriving on December 12 like everyone thought. Lionhead told Eurogamer this morning that the Knothole Island DLC will instead be arriving on December 22.

Goodies include new quests and decisions, and a new, free o-op patch which will allow Knothole Island players to play with those who do not have it. Those who download the patch or the Knothole Island content will get some cool Assassin’s Gloves, a collectible book, Knight’s Boots, and a Weight Loss potion amongst other goodies.

As mentioned above, the patch is free but the Knothole Island DLC will cost you 800 Microsoft Points ($10.00). Those who download the patch will still be able to play together, but unless you have the Knothole Island content, you will not be able to visit.

A large patch for Fable 2 is currently in the works. Lionhead has issued a list of the fixes, and if you have not played the game, you may wish to skip reading them because apparently it contains some spoilers. It can be viewed at your own risk after the break.

The patch is currently being tested, so as soon as we know when to expect it, we will be more than happy to tell you about it.

(Thanks VG247)

Read the full article

According to IGN,  German gaming site Gamora has stated that Fable 2 will be heading to the PC sometime in February 2009. This was apparently told to them by an “insider”.

Now, before anyone gets in an uproar, remember that a year after the release of the Fable on the Xbox, it launched for the PC. Therefore this rumor is not too far fetched. However, be that as it may, do not take this news as total rubbish until we get official word from Lionhead Studios themselves. Plus, as far as being released as an “Xbox 360 exclusive”, remember that Microsoft is the PC, which gives a bit more credit to the rumor because we all know how much Microsoft loves to make as much money as they can, any way that they can.

The idea of it coming in February is the part that is a bit hard to for me to believe, but like I said, wait for word to come down from Lionhead before dismissing this entirely.

Looks like the big Fable II announcement that was suppose to be heralded throughout the globe this week has been postponed. Thanks to a tip from Strategy Informer, we have learned that over on the Lionhead Community Blog that the big news will now be announced on Monday, November 24.

From the blog:

“I know what you’re thinking, but no, I’m afraid this is not the BIG news that got me (and most of you) so excited last week. The big bods over in Redmond decided that, this week wasn’t the time to tell you what that announcement is we have ready here in Guildford. However, there is some G o o d [Good] news. To celebrate the launch of the New Xbox Experience, we’ve created an all-new Fable II theme for your dashboard. Go show your Fable pride!

For those of you who are waiting for the “big one” – stay tuned, Microsoft assures me that we can announce it on Monday 24th. If not, I will fly over there and slam my fist on a desk. Like, really hard!”

So, until then we can only speculate what this “news” is going to be. Check back with us on Monday to find out the gory details.

(Thanks Jamie!)

Here are just some gaming related stories floating around on the web today.

• The Left 4 Dead demos for the Xbox 360 and PC are now live. If you are an Xbox 360 user, log into Xbox Live now and get to downloading. If you are interested in the PC version, head on over to Steam.

• Far Cry 2 has sold over 1 million units since it was released around the end of October. Seems like the demand for shooters is still going strong in this day and age–then again, it is the most poplar gaming genre out there, and who could blame gamers for that? What better way to let off a bit of frustration and pent up, pissed off rage than to shoot a bunch of dudes impeding your progress?

• Ascaron’s fantasy RPG Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has arrived in stores today for the PC and via Steam. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will be hitting shelves sometime around February 17, 2009 providing there are no more delays. We also have some pretty cool new trailers for you which can be viewed here and here.

• Epic Games president Michael Capps is whining about the used game market cutting into his wallet. “We don’t make any money when someone rents it, and we don’t make any money when someone buys it used — way more than twice as many people played Gears than bought it.”

• iPhone gaming is pretty damn popular. Apparently “NPD report shows more people playing than working with their smartphones”. Get back to work people, the economy needs you!

• Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon – will release on December 1 according to IGN. Taking over where the last game left off, as Crypto you are sent to the 1970s to thwart a conspiracy that threatens the Furon race.

• Big Fable 2 announcement set to burn up the internet next week. Why even tease people with something like that and just fricking announce it already? Hasn’t Lionhead Studios done this before and it was just a silly bit of nonsense like new screens or something?

• Gene Simmons, ever the entrepreneur, is releasing a guitar peripheral that is a replica of his famous “Axe” guitar for $79.99. It is only for the PS2 and PS3 and should you purchase it, please feel free to send us pictures of you with it–providing you have a tongue as long as Gene’s, otherwise we could care less. Sorry, that’s just the way it is.

• Rock Band junkies can look forward to the Foo Fighters hitting Xbox Live today. “The Colour and the Shape” is an awesome album, and if you do not want the whole album for your game, you can get each song individually.

Here are some files that hit FileFront today:

• Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria– screens, trailers
• Fallout 3 Patch (actually hit over the weekend)
• A Vampyre Story: Halloween trailer–we really screwed up on this one. Sorry it’s so late.
• And for those of you who play or want to try out Mount and Blade, here is a patch and a new demo.
• Full list of trailers can be found here.
• Full list of demos can be found here.
• Last but not least, full list of patches can be found here.

The Internet is boiling with reports of game killing bugs for Fable 2. The Lionhead RPG premiered last week with seemingly more than its fair share of glitches. As Microsoft and Lionhead work to get a patch out soon, a source that claims to be one of Sony’s Lead Quality Assurance Testers has a suggestion to cure some of players ills.

Rodney who uses the handle Rod_Five on the Lionhead Community Forums asserts that many of the bugs and glitches players are experiencing are caused by the hastily created online co-op patch.

“Now as many of you know it wasn’t until a few days before the release if it was known whether or not online co-op would make it. Now a game goes gold (off to be made into the retail version everyone plays) at least three weeks before… release… on a larger release like Fable 2, I’d bet that it went gold five weeks before release because of the larger scale of its release. So that means while the game was out of Lionheads hands they were working on the patch to add the online co-op feature, which I doubt they had time to properly test since they were on such a crunch to get the patch out by day one.”

“So, my big point is that it’s very possible that the online co-op patch created these game-breaking bugs.”

Rod_Five goes on to give specific instructions on how to remove the patch which is set to download and install as soon as you go online with Fable 2.

Forums are tricky in that it’s hard to confirm the identity and experience claimed by any poster. If Rod_Five is a QA guy for Sony, it’s ironic he posted on an Xbox 360 game and goes to show some games can cause loyal console fans to cross lines.

There hasn’t been an official response from Lionhead or Microsoft to this suggestion. Many players have responded to this thread and have recommended removing the patch in many other other threads on the forums. Although it hasn’t helped everyone, many players report they’re happy to have found a solution. One poster also pointed out that it allows you to exploit the pub game glitch again.

When it comes to making a quick buck and throwing caution and good sense to the wind, Rodney Gray an employee for Techincolor in Memphis, Tennessee can now be forever put into the category of the one world’s dumbest criminals. Why you ask? Because he stole not only 807 DVDs from the packaging, warehousing, and distribution company he worked for, but also over 100 copies of the Xbox 360 exclusives Gears of War 2 and Fable 2 to sell on the street.

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, Police were alerted after a security guard for Technicolor reported the theft of the different media discs and after staking out Gray, age 43 at his hotel, they pulled him over this past Thursday for outstanding driving offenses and found 31 copies of the games in a bag he had on his person. Upon entering his hotel room, they found 97 copies of the games along with 807 the unreleased DVDs. Police are unsure how many had already been sold on the street, but they are estimating the total worth of the merchandise at over $100,000 and they are currently investigating an unnamed culprit in the theft.

With the economy the way it is, it is not surprising that some people would resort to such unethical behavior, but then again you have to be a pretty shady person to do something like this is the first place. Those leaked games not only will hurt the possibility of Technicolor acquiring future contracts with developers and movie studios in the future, but it also hurts the consumer and gaming companies as well. It puts the game out on the street and possibly on torrent sites which will not only account for lost income for the gaming developers and publishers due to pirating, but also negatively affect the reputation of gamers because unscrupulous consumers feel the need to buy stolen games and release them before the actual date.

Fable 2 is expected to be released today so it really should not effect Lionhead too much, but Gears of War 2 is not hitting shelves until November 7 and one can only imagine how that will compromise Epic’s highly anticipated title. Hopefully it will not make too much of an impact, and I do not know if Gray is a gamer or not but any gamer purchasing a stolen game off the street should know better and if they do, they are just as guilty as Gray.