Fable 3: one screenshot to tease them all

Posted by Andrew On February - 24 - 2010

Lionhead Studios has released a new screenshot of the highly anticipated third installment in the Fable series, said to utilize Microsoft’s Project Natal motion capture technology and hit stores shelves around the end of 2010. At this moment, you’re probably not thinking about Natal or Fable 3′s release date though – you’re probably thinking “What’s the point of releasing one screenshot at a time?”

It’s a good question. You see, sometimes video game marketing can act like a fire hose, constantly gushing out content. Other times, a game’s hype machine can resemble an IV drip, slowly teasing, drip by drip. A studio like BioWare is a good example of the former, preferring to impart meaty chunks of information and new reveals upon their fans on a weekly or monthly basis as they’ve recently done with both Dragon Age: Origins and Star Wars: The Old Republic (they also like putting colons in their game titles, apparently). Lionhead, on the other hand, represents the latter, as to date we’ve only seen a small handful of screenshots and concept art for Fable 3.

If there’s a follow-on question as to which marketing strategy works better, one would be hard pressed to find a clear answer. One’s not better than the other, they’re just different. Like snowflakes. The more easily answered question is around which you, the gaming public, prefer. My money’s on BioWare’s firehose technique.

Regardless, check out the latest Fable 3 screen below. It includes an evil pirate and some machinery. Fable 3: Natal-supported, industrial pirate approved.