Fable Anniversary, a high-definition remake of the original Fable, will be available on Xbox 360 this holiday season, announced Lionhead Studios' Ted Timmins on Major Nelson's podcast today.

Lionhead teased the HD remake earlier today. The studio is remastering Fable: The Lost Chapters, the expanded edition of the game that was released in September 2005 on Windows PC and Xbox and in October 2008 on Mac. The original Fable, a role-playing game designed by Peter Molyneux, launched in September 2004 exclusively on Xbox.

"We're really excited to be bringing a remastered version of Fable: The Lost Chapters to the Xbox 360," said Timmins, who is serving as the lead designer of the remake and was a tester on Fable, on Lionhead's website. "It's been one of the biggest community requests as we know how much the fans love the original game."

As an Xbox 360 game, Fable Anniversary will offer Achievements, which did not exist on the Xbox. "Fable's always been a bit about choice and consequence, so we're trying to put that into our Achievements," said Timmins on the podcast.

Lionhead said it is delivering a "complete HD graphical overhaul," redoing Fable's visuals in 1080p with new Unreal Engine 3-powered lighting and new animation system for faces and cutscenes. The studio is also revamping outdated elements such as the original game's interface and controls, and rebuilding the save system as a modern checkpoint-based setup. In addition, Lionhead is developing SmartGlass integration for Fable Anniversary, with a second-screen experience that offers features like an in-game map and, potentially, the ability to take screenshots.

When asked if Fable's pub games could be released on SmartGlass, Timmins said, "We're certainly exploring other avenues, let's say, with SmartGlass ... we've been experimenting; let's leave it at that."

You can check out a comparison shot of the original Fable and Fable Anniversary below.



