Bethesda Looking Into Fallout 3 Leak

Were you the one that leaked Fallout 3? Well, you better not be, because Bethesda is looking to find out just who did! Bethesda VP Pete Hines says they've narrowed it down and they're gonna get you!

"We're looking into it. Since we haven't sent out a single disc, it greatly reduces the number of places this might have come from."

So that means it must have been an internal leak (really doubtful) or someone haxored their way in. Me? I like to buy my games (or at the very least own a used retail copy). Nothing beats the smell of opening a new game and displaying it proudly on your bookshelf with the rest of your collection.

(Tom's Games va Maxconsole)

Fallout 3 360 Compromised By Pre-Apocalyptic Pirates

Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC are still a good 20 days aways from release, yet owners of slightly shadier Xbox 360 systems are already getting their game on, thanks to a copy of the game now making the rounds at the more popular torrent sites on the web. Seeing as Fallout 3 just went gold, this is more than likely a leaked review copy that got into the wrong hands.

I've personally confirmed that there is indeed a file purported to be Fallout 3 on several sites I visited, all weighing in at a uniform 6.52 GB in size. I won't give site names, and I won't be downloading it to verify it's veracity, because a - I don't have enough time or patience to do so and b -

I wake up and i see THIS? This is like an early xmas gift =D Thx loder! U're the man

Game pirates are dickheads.

No DRM Issues For Fallout 3

With all of the furor whipped up in the wake of Spore's restrictive digital rights management system, DRM is a hot-button issue with PC gamers the world over. In an interview with Shacknews, Bethesda spokesman Pete Hines reveals that Fallout 3 - one of the year's most anticipated games for the PC - won't come with any sort of DRM at all.

Pretty similar to what we did for Oblivion, which was—we basically don't do any—we do the mildest form possible. I actually don't know if I even want to get into what it is that we exactly do, but we try to be really noninvasive when it comes to that stuff.

Note that Oblivion only required the disc in the drive, a restriction that even players who buy a copy are likely to overcome with a hack for the sake of convenience. Not as good for Bethesda as something more secure, but the fans will surely appreciate the hell out of it.

The Fallout 3 PC Interview: Bethesda on DRM, Censorship and Consolification [Shacknews via GamePolitics]

How Fallout 3 Is Different Than Oblivion

Oblivion had tons of girlie things for me to do. I could pick pretty flowers, collect pretty crystals and buy pretty clothes. Fallout 3 is distinctly un-pretty, but what did you expect from an irradiated post-apocalyptic Earth? The only flowers you’ll find here contain death, and you can forget those fancy brocade gowns.

I never played the first two Fallouts and have very little sentimental attachment to Pip-boy, Vault 101, or Dogmeat. When early impressions of Fallout 3 labeled the game as “Oblivion with guns,” I thought: sign me up. But many diehard fans and purists don’t want that. They want an experience that’s true to the spirit of the original Fallout, a game that builds on the innovations and atmosphere that evolved in Fallout 2.

After being filled in by Manfriend, I was able to take a look at Fallout 3 and judge for myself if it has more in common with Oblivion than it does with Fallout. And after three hours with the game, I’ve decided… it’s 50-50.

Bethesda Can't Find Time For Fallout 3 Mods

Having played Oblivion on PC, I can safely say that user-generated mods saved that game. Fixed the AI, improved the graphics, that sort of thing. Same goes for their last few games as well. But what of Bethesda's next game, Fallout 3? Things are less certain. Pete Hines:

Folk probably took for granted that every time we make a game, there’s a mod tool. We explained to folk that it takes a lot of time and effort to get that tool ready for release, and it’s not on our schedule right now. We need to get the game done and out. It’s not to say we won’t do it. It’s that right now we have an enormous amount of work to do, for three platforms and all these different languages to get it out around the wall.

Sad to hear. Maybe modders can step in and get mods working?

Interview: Pete Hines On Fallout 3 Mods [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Fallout 3 Kicks Its Drug Habit, Thanks To Australian Intervention

When Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification board refused to rate Fallout 3, it did so due to one too many drug references. Apparently, the virtual use of opiates in-game — "material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use,” in OFLC-speak; "chems" in game speak — is frowned upon. The uptight Aussies later cleared the game for release, giving Fallout 3 an MA15+ rating, but only after Bethesda Softworks cleaned up its act.

Fallout 3 hasn't just gone cold turkey in Australia, mind you, as Bethesda's Pete Hines tells Edge that any and all references to real-world drugs have been removed — from all versions.

Tattoos: Area Man Hoping Fallout 3 WIll Be Critical Success

You are doing it wrong! You are supposed to wait until AFTER a game is lauded as a bona fide classic before you get its iconography indelibly etched into your flesh.

Sure, Fallout 3 is looking good and all signs point to it being a decent game.. but you have know that somewhere there is a sheepish body art fan walking around hiding his Too Human inkage under a heavy wool shirt.

Reader David Lo sent in some snaps of what we assume is his actual arm, now forever marked with a colorful rendition of Vault Boy cheerily gibbing someone with a handgun.

It is nice work, but.. well, we hope it works out for you, mate.

No PS3 Trophies For Fallout 3

Fans of little graphics popping up on your television telling you how good you are at the game you are currently playing are going to be a little disappointed when they pick up the PlayStation 3 version of Bethesda's eagerly-anticipated Fallout 3. In an interview with PlayStation Universe, the company's dashing Vice President of Marketing Pete Hines revealed that trophies won't be making an appearance in the game...at least not initially.

"Not at launch...It remains to be seen what we do down the road. It wasn't something we were able to incorporate into the game for launch."

Not all that surprising, considering the company's documented preference for the Xbox 360. Hopefully trophy support will be added somewhere down the line, but Pete sure doesn't come off as that enthusiastic about the idea, does he?

No trophy support for Fallout 3 at launch [PSU]

Fallout 3 DLC Will Be Quests, Not Dog Armour

A few years back, Bethesda released a sprawling, open-world RPG on the 360. Then, when it came time to release some DLC for it, they dropped the ball. Released some horse armour, whole thing didn't go down too well. So it's just lovely to see that, when it comes to Fallout 3's DLC, Bethesda will be releasing content that's more in line with their later Oblivion stuff - like Knights of the Nine - than the earlier stuff. Pete Hines:

We want stuff that's going to be several hours. Not just like a one-off thing, but something like where you can download it and play it for X number of hours.

It'll be similar to what we did with Knights of the Nine in Oblivion, where it's like whole new quest lines, new stuff, that kind of thing.

Good to hear, good to hear (unless you're a PS3 owner, that is).

Fallout 3 Interview: Bethesda Addresses DLC, World Design, and 'Oblivion with Guns' Comments [Shacknews, via Eurogamer]

Schwag Off: Who had the Best Schwag of PAX?

There was plenty of cool stuff to grab at this year's Penny Arcade Expo. Lots of t-shirts of course, stickers, wrist bands, all of those freebies from bungie, the boxes of stuff. You could even get a free copy of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway if you were willing to have your head shaved. Tristan got a free spray-painted tattoo. (There were two designs) Among all of the largess two companies' swag really stood out though.