David Jaffe, Peter Molyneux, Greg Zeschuk, Cliff Bleszinski - four of the most creative minds in gaming industry share their thoughts on the four things that sell: sex, violence, ratings, and gaming design. Get their take on the the consumers' perception, the fun, the taboos, and the necessary.

Hmm. I see CliffyB is making bold statements yet again. Bold as they come, it's always interesting to see how a game developer assesses the current playing field that he is working in. So what's Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski commenting on now? In an interview, he remarked that some of the more influential game developers out there aren't always given the honor or appreciation that they so deserve.

Lionhead Studios' Xbox 360 exclusive title Fable 2 will apparently be released "when the leaves have a slight brownish tinge - but are still on the trees." That's what Lionhead's big boss Peter Molyneux says, anyway.

The highly anticipated sequel to the Xbox title Fable will reportedly arrive late next year. More from Molyneux at the full article.

A few months back, we reported that Electronic Arts Japan quietly announced the development of Populous DS, a remake of the god game created by Peter Molyneux. Well, now we've got additional information on this sweet little game, in the form of DS screenshots and a release date and price for the game!

According to Dengeki Online, the game is slated for a Japanese release on February 21, 2008 with a retail price of 4980 yen (US$ 45). For more info, as well as the numerous screenshots, click on "read more" link below.

During the Electronic Arts pre-TGS press event, EA Japan's lead designer Takahiro Murakami confirmed that the popular god game Populous is currently in development. During the event, Murakami - also the designer for SimCity DS - was finally able to announce that the remake of Peter Molyneux and Bullfrog's video game will heading to the Nintendo DS.

He also told the press that Populous DS has only been in production for six months, so there's still no release date for the game; neither are there screenshots or video clips of Populous DS. Fortunately, Murakami was able to shed light on some important game details. He said that like the original Populous computer game, players will be playing the role of a deity who's responsible for nurturing a civilization and shaping the landscape in their attempt to win against another civilization under the rule of another deity. In this Nintendo DS remake of the game though, multiple deities will be featured. Some new powers had also been added to make the video game more interesting.

The Nintendo DS version will do away with the book layout and have a new design for the game. Murakami assured though that the game will remain recognizable as the original Populous. The interface has been revamped to accommodate the handheld's dual screen. Players can use either the D-pad or the stylus in the game. Populous DS will also have a story mode with a tutorial to help out the player.

The most interesting feature of Populous DS is perhaps the addition of a multiplayer battle mode where up to four players can compete. How the battles will play out was not discussed in detail, but EA's Murakami mentioned that, "Just because you move your controller or stylus fast doesn't mean you'll win; you'll have to think."

So will Populous for the Nintendo DS be as promising as the original version? We'll have to wait until Electronic Arts shows us more assets and gameplay details before we can finally say that Populous DS is worth another Origins Award for Best Military or Strategy Computer Game - or any award equivalent to it.

Nobody knew that independent Lionhead Studios would hit big, but Black & White was a spectacular debut. Their next game, Fable, went on to become one of the best-selling Xbox games. Fable 2 is packing a lot of promise and we can't even imagine what more good stuff they'll put in it. We can only be certain about one thing - gaming legend Peter Molyneux from Lionhead doesn't like games on mobile phones.

Molyneux sees great future in the handheld space, saying "there's no doubt in my mind that we will be playing more games on mobile devices." However, mobiles aren't exactly where mobile gaming is.

"Clicky buttons are useless for playing games, and it's down to some other stuff, display drivers and hardware chips obviously," he said regarding phones that try hard to be gaming devices.

Right now, the gaming industry giants are simply leagues ahead against mobile phones. "It's just very clunky at the moment, and every time I try and play a mobile game I end up wanting a PSP, or DS," Molyneux continued.

 

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)

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.