How did 2 PS3 exclusives inspire one of Xbox's biggest games of 2010?

Tit-for-tat arguments over which console has the best exclusive software are par for the course amongst gamers - and even fearsomely loyal execs at Sony and Microsoft.

But there's at least one first party developer that's gracious enough to give the competition the respect it deserves: Lionhead.



Speaking to CVG, the Microsoft-owned studio's senior design director Josh Atkins revealed the two games that were the biggest influences on the development of Fable 3 - and they're both PS3 exclusives.

Atkins credits Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain and Naughty Dog's Uncharted 2 will inspiring Fable 3's storytelling and decision-making mechanic.

"Interestingly, we were all very involved with and all played Heavy Rain," he said. "We all have a lot of respect for David Cage and the guys at Quantic Dream. It's a very unique experience and a very compelling story - and there's a lot of deep gameplay there.

"Another one we talk a lot about is Uncharted 2. That blend of cinema and great gameplay was something we were certainly very influenced by."

He added: "I think you'll see... there's influence [from Heavy Rain] without question in how our interaction systems work and in how all [the player's] decisions work.

"There was many things we liked about that game, but one of the key things that they did was that the decisions you made rooted into the game world. Your eyes are always fixated on the game world - you're not looking down at the interface.

"The weaving of decision and story in Heavy Rain is another one. You saw the beginnings of that with Farrenheit, and they've taken it much further.

"With Uncharted, it really comes down to the blend of gameplay, cinema and acting - particularly the superb voice acting in that game."

Atkins also credited classic puzzler Peggle as an influence. "I know it sounds funny, but it's our job to look at the simple addiction of a game like that," he said. "It's a game we spend a lot of time playing ourselves."

Fable III is released in the UK on October 29 for Xbox 360. A PC version will follow in December

Falcon-Newsman