I sat through a half hour demo of the promising Xbox 360 role-playing game “Fable 2” yesterday at Microsoft’s gaming event in San Francisco.

And I got the impression that the game, which is made in England by Peter Molyneux and his design team at Microsoft-owned Lionhead Studios, is very British.

As in… the opening cut scene ends with close-up footage of a bird dropping feces on you character’s head.

As in… Molyneux himself cheerfully proclaiming that not only is flatulence back for the sequel but that “if we want to sell a million units in Britain, we just introduce farts.”

Very, very British.

So, after the demo, I asked Molyneux if there was anything American in the game.

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At Microsoft’s press event in San Francisco yesterday I had a chance to play and/or watch most of the biggest Xbox 360 exclusive games of 2008.

And I heard some bold statements from the people who made them:

Game designer Peter Molyneux on his team’s “Fable 2″:

• “We have done everything we an do to make a story you can remember and will stick in your mind.”
• “‘Fable 2′ has as many features as I’ve ever seen in a game.” [After showing such features as cut scenes that can be interrupted by player-triggered farts, spotting a troupe of gypsies whose kids act out the plot of the first "Fable," and explaining that many regions of the game will change dynamically over time based on the player's actions.]

Game designer Denis Dyack on his team’s “Too Human”:

• “The game has the most content we’ve ever create. Even in the main menu, the Norn in the Well will probably talk for 30 minutes [if you don't press the start button.
• "I don't think anyone can experience everything that's in there." [After explaining that the game's five classes each have 50 levels, which take about 50 hours per class to achieve -- and noting that a single play-through of the game will only offer players enough time to get to the high level 20s.]

Game designer Cliff Bleszinski on his team’s Gears of War 2″:

• “A lot of people’s memory of ‘Gears of War 1′ is gray pillars. We wanted to change that.”
• “Thirty percent of ['Gears of War 2'] is underground. Cave games are cool, but this is not a spelunking game.” [After playing a level that took place entirely above ground and involved Marcus Fenix standing on top of a massive truck, shooting down mortars, mowing down enemy miners, and engaging huge tank-sized bosses called Brumaks].

At long last I’ve transcribed my GDC interview with Peter Molyneux, head of Lionhead Studios and chief architect of the Xbox 360 fall exclusive “Fable 2.”

I teased a video excerpt earlier this week. Now you can read my conversation with him about:

• What people ask him about at GDC.
• What the most ambitious element of “Fable 2″ is.
• How you can steal his wife in his game.
• How to punish your “Fable 2″ family with an apple pie.
• Why you might want to live in a town called Bloodstone.
• What lessoned he learned not to repeat from “BioShock.“
• How he left me completely perplexed at the end of our interview.

And more! Read on. It’s Molyneux, so, you will be both informed and entertained…

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Later this week (hopefully Wednesday) I’ll post a full transcript of a recent interview I did with Peter Molyneux about “Fable 2,” unusual ideas for mini-games, the fate of in-game orphans, lessons learned from “BioShock” and the usual array of fascinating stuff that comes from chats with gaming’s most quotable developer.

Today, watch a sneak peek: a portion of our chat about morality, with a bonus discussion of attracting women even while being a jerk.

Here’s an excerpt for people who can’t watch the video: Read more…

I’m presenting two posts today that excerpt from a big “Fable 2” interview I conducted last month with the ever-fascinating Peter Molyneux. I hope to have the whole thing posted on Wednesday.

But, for Monday I wanted to provide a couple of tidbits.

This tidbit: confirmation that the promised acorns-will-grow-into-trees feature that didn’t make the first “Fable” will be in this year’s “Fable 2,” but possibly in very limited form.

Multiplayer: When I interviewed you for the New York Times for the first “Fable” you talked about the potential for the dropped acorn that grows into the oak tree…

Peter Molyneux, Founder, Lionhead Studios: Yes.

Multiplayer: …and got yourself into a bit of issues with that.

Molyneux: [smiling, rolling eyes]… trouble…

Multiplayer: Can you clarify the capacity of acorns growing into trees for “Fable 2″?

Molyneux: I can tell you definitively that there is absolutely an acorn and it does absolutely grow into a tree. And it is actually part of the story now. We decided we got into so much trouble over acorns and trees that we are going to make it part of the main thread of the story in “Fable 2″

Multiplayer: So it will be like the ["Portal"] Companion Cube?

Molyneux: Kind of. I’m not as cool as the Companion Cube.

Why the Marvel MMO didn’t make sense anymore. When “Banjo” is coming out. Whether “Mass Effect” is still a 360 trilogy. What will be the best-looking game on Xbox 360….

Last Thursday at the DICE gaming summit I met with Shane Kim, head of Microsoft Games Studios, in a conference room across the hall from where he had sat for a public interview with the New York Times’ Seth Schiesel. We discussed his publishing philosophy and reviewed the status of Microsoft’s major first-party gaming franchises one by one.

Our sweeping conversation covered “Halo,” “Gears of War,” “Alan Wake, ” and the host of other big Microsoft-backed games under his watch. Kim acknowledged that his studios’ line-up is more slender than the in-house offerings of Sony and Nintendo, adding that he hoped MGS’ reputation is one of “high-quality premium experiences.”

No, MGS won’t be set up to produce a lot of games, certainly not one a month, a rate I threw at Kim. “I know for us it’s been very fruitful to focus and to really get our attention and resources focused on key things,” he said. “I’m actually very comfortable with the volume of titles we have.”

Kim was a good sport, even gamely answering my question about whether the view that “Call of Duty 4” — not an MGS title — was the best-looking game on the Xbox 360 last year would drive Kim to ensure his label has the best-looking 360 title in 2008. He said: “I hope ‘Fable 2‘ is going to be really beautiful and that it will be considered the best-looking game.”

What follows is a game-by-game breakdown of my chat with Shane Kim.

Let’s start with the Marvel MMO and his explanation of why it’s not being made anymore…

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