I’ve managed to borrow an Xbox while mine gets repaired, so that’s given me the opportunity to check out Fable 2 Pub Games.  It’s actually pretty fun, in the same way that losing your shirt at the casino is ‘fun’.  It’s certainly addictive, but more importantly, it’s strategically interesting.

If you’re unaware, Fable 2 Pub Games is an XBLA release (for 800 MS points) which essentally packages three of the mini games from the upcoming Fable 2 into a single package.  These three games are Fortune’s Tower, Keystone, and Spinnerbox, which are variations on Blackjack, Craps, and Slot machines respectively.

Now, while these games are entertaining in their own right, but Strategically they’re more interesting.  The gimmick with these games is that any gold you win, or debt you accumulate, gets transferred into Fable 2 if/when you boot it up.  Along with this, there is unique equipment that can be won through pub game tournaments, and this equipment gets transferred as well.

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If Fable 2 Pub Games was free… I think there would be a potential for using it as a loss leader to bring people into the retail title, although I don’t think it would work out very well.  I’m not entirely convinced that this is an effective marketing tool, especially as you have to pay, although it is an interesting one.  On the other hand, you can draw parallels between Pub Games and the wildly popular Spore Creature Creature, so I may be wrong.  As it is, I do think it’s a unique and interesting way to throw some meat to the faithful. 

If Pub Games encourages you to buy the retail title, you were probably going to buy it anyway.  But much as those who are into buying the deluxe versions of games with extras included, this works along the same line, the difference being that you get the extras 2 months before launch, digitally, and maybe it whets your appetite to buy the game at launch instead of waiting for the holiday wave.

Hell, there’s worse ways to blow 10 bucks.