Fans eagerly awaiting the release of Fable III will be excited to hear that the pre-order bonus offered through Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, and Newegg became available yesterday in the US and UK (and worldwide later this week). What exactly are they offering? A chance to create your own custom villager, complete with 1000 gold, quests and marriage proposals, to run around the magical world of Albion (or to die swiftly at your sword if that's more your thing).

"Fans can utilize the tool to create a male or female villager with more than 2,000 different variations, including an enthralling backstory for the character, unique personality traits, clothing, accent, hairstyles and the region they hail from. Whether you create a valiant ally, an evil villain, or perhaps the perfect spouse, let your imagination run free as you make your mark in the fantastical world of Fable III."

Not only that, but if you are so inclined you can create custom wallpapers featuring your creation and share them with your social network buddies. You can experiment with the creation tool as much as you want but you can only export one character per code, so make sure you pick exactly what you want or you're stuck with what you've got.

All of this getting your adventure juices flowing? Well here's a tutorial showing you exactly what we're talking about:

Personally I like the idea, but I can't help but think that this should have been a standard feature in the game. If you really wanted to get me excited about pre-ordering, how about letting me make a 100% custom flunkie that will follow me around, fight my enemies and carry things for me. Adding a long lasting touch like that would get me interested in putting down my hard earned 5 bucks without being too difficult to implement.

What do you fellow ranters think about this bonus? Is it a throwaway gimmick or enticing addition?

Fable III launches in the U.S. on Oct. 26 for Xbox 360 and will be available in both Standard and Limited Collector's Edition.

Source: Xbox Press