On topic I'm gonna have to throw my vote into the "please don't let the be Oblivion with guns" crowd. Not because i'm a super Fallout fanboy or purist but because Oblivion was a pretty mediocre game.

Abishai

mandarin

noob

DistrictDirt

Only that in Oblivion's case, it was painfully obvious that very little was done to fit the UI in with the capabilities of the PC (most obviously our ability to run at different resolutions, etc) which only got fixed by third party mods.

If they spend the time making the PC version a viable alternative, I don't mind. Just as long as they put the effort in. I know myself personally don't have anywhere near the number of console games as I do PC ones, and I'd appreciate a decent port out of the box.

splines

Nope, not really, Sprint has one of the most amazing human speech synthesizers and it is real time. The best synthesis technologies are unfortunately proprietary. I would like to see a technology that takes existing base speech technology and sorta assists it with hints to produce more natural speech flow. It wont be as small as simple text files but should be smaller then compressed audio allowing you to store hundreds of times more speech. Pipe dream? Maybe...

okenny

SmilingPolitely

That said, Fallout's always been one of those series ive missed out on, recommended by numerous friends, and I too am looking forward to the port of this game, here's to mebbe tossing 1 & 2 in with it, milk us console kids a bit & expose us to what looks like a great seires, mebbe?

TheIrishNinja

Sloopydrew

CheekMystique

okenny

And "quality" was an unfortunate term. I should've been more precise and used "fidelity" or even "freedom of expression in realizing a vision". My bad.

The "elitist" label. Could have something to do with seeing self-proclaimed "hardcore" console gamers lacking in the know-your-full-fucking-gaming-history department (not talking about you okenny). Historyless gamers lauding Halo, Gears, LittleBigPlanet, etc. as the pinnacle of gaming sophistication, without even knowing what's been done (often years before) on the PC...

Yeah, we might come across as elitist bitches from time to time ;)

I'm not bashing consoles, they're affordable and good at what they do. But they are inarguably the less powerful platforms.

If Fallout 3 is developed for the lowest common denominator, it might well be "good enough". But then it can't reach it's full potential on the PC. Which I find a little sad. (Even PS3 owners suffer at the hands of developers quick-porting 360 games, and vice versa. It's sad for the whole family.)

CheekMystique

Other than that, I completely agree with you, I just prefer PCs based on what they can do.

And, I'm looking forward to this. I may be one of those ZOMGZ ITS NOT ISOMETRIC WTF fan boys, but I realize that it's not 1997, this isn't Black Isle and how the game is shaping up points to that it's going to be peachy keen. I'd also hit Liam Neeson like the fist of an angry god.

All in all, thanks for the argument.

Keldan

Oblivion plays better on consoles then it does on PC if you go by average player experience because most people don't have a rig that can run oblivion at nearly the frame rate that 360 can. Of course I've seen PCs that run Oblivion at 50fps at 2560x1600 with all details maxed out. The console paradigm is delivering a consistent gaming experience on standardized hardware and it delivers. As for the PS3 comment, please read the PS3 review. Oblivion after a year of extra development fixed a bug that allowed for better quality as well as a draw distance error that made objects pop into the scene irregularly on the 360 version. FACT: the PS3 does look slightly better. FACT: the 360 version runs much smoother.

As far as your comment that the PC is the premier gaming platform, that is a statement based on feelings and if that makes your day, so be it. I'll still probably see more games than you this year. Gotta love the PC gaming pod-casters. When they have a roll call on what they've been playing, it's usually some console game. I love my PC for games but I moved to the 360 because I didn't have the $2500 to build a system that would now be obsolete had I built it when I bought my 360 1 1/2 years ago.

Just be happy that these guys are making this game (probably because if the success if Oblivion) and leave it at that.

okenny

And I think the last bit was a stab at developers making PC games then coming around and porting them to a console, and yes, this does happen. But the big problem with that for truly next gen games is that they will not run on a console. End of story. Crysis, Project Offset, and the "high-end" games probably won't run on a console's hardware.

Look at Oblivion. It could barely run on the 360 (and by barely I mean with all the nice shinies that PC owners get, draw distance, what not) and I haven't looked at the PS3 version, but I heard the draw distance was somewhat improved.

Point is, yeah, you can develop games for the console, and develop games for the PC, but there will always, always be a gap. This is not a fan boy talking here, this is a statement of fact. I'm not saying that console games are bad, I'm a console gamer. I'm just saying that the PC is the premier platform. It has everything you need. I'm sure for the average consumer, yeah, a console will do fine. But if you really want to experience the whole gaming sphere, you're going to need a good computer.

Keldan

But come the fuck on, you can't seriously correlate sales and market share with a game's "superiority".

You can't correlate the counter to that either... before you go there.

Games like Fallout 3 will benefit from being on multiple platforms. Oblivion did this successfully and Fallout 3 will. PC users that bitch like this are the reason why PC users are seen as elitist. Give it a brake already. If people are afraid that Fallout will suffer at the hands of consoles then start a petition... I wouldn't be surprised if that made Bethesda drop the PC version all together hearing this shit.

okenny

I know this is sort of random/knitpicky, but amoungst all the awesome fallout 3 news, this stuck out to me for some reason...

"What happened to Rogue Trooper?"

Are you sure it wasn't "Rogue Warrior", the game based on Richard Marcinko's writing that was being mentioned?
[www.bethsoft.com]

I'd like to know what happened to it as well, it looked pretty finished back when Kotaku reported on it before...

Goris_of_Vault13

OMG *jaded* super computers with 10240 node processors are so much much more powerful then PCs. They can do 40 teraflops and cost $10 of millions and blah blah blah... As a PC gamer, I can tell you the reason the PC market will never be as big as the console counterpart has nothing to do with computing power... it's as you say... consoles are cheap and simple. You could go ahead and argue how awesome games like Crysis are and you would be right but you know what... that means nothing. These developers say one thing to keep fanboys at bay and then when it's time to get paid.. they follow their wallets, not the fanboys. For better or worse, that is reality.

okenny

robur

But come the fuck on, you can't seriously correlate sales and market share with a game's "superiority".

If we consider the possibility that the primary goal of creating a game is NOT making the *most* money possible (and believe it or not, most of us "fanboys" - even many developers - don't measure a games' qualities in publisher profits), and instead on having the *best* game possible: guess what, your eyes land on the PC. Period.

'Unlimited' storage; superior power in graphics, computing power, sound, input devices; an open platform that fosters the most advanced community/online functions - multiplayer, modding, and on and on.

And you know what, there still is ample room in the gaming industry for the many developers hell-bent on creating the *best* thing they possibly can. And for us fanboys and modders who enjoy their effors.

That, my friend, is something you need to accept.

CheekMystique

PC games will be dominant in my mind until consoles can come out of the mod closet and let users mess with the games to their heart's content. Also, will killer app games like Crysis be coming out on the PS3 or 360? No, never. Because the consoles couldn't handle it.

Keldan

I will agree that the more dumbed down the game, the larger the audience. I would argue against such views 8 months ago but we now live in a world with Wiis. You are 100% right that consoles fund a lot of PC projects. A bulk of Oblivion sold was on console so people who cry about dumbing down PC games sound like those petition-passing DMC4 idiots.

okenny

If they couldn't release it on consoles Fallout 3 would not be getting made. Period. I know you PC fanboys out there love to decry the "dumbing down" of games on console, but if it weren't for the sheer girth of the console market these huge projects wouldn't see the light of day.

I know change is hard to accept, but if PC gaming were so clearly superior to consoles more people would buy PC games. Would they not? As it is the PC market's revenue potential can't singularly support an effort like this, and ground-up PC titles rarely fare well in the console market when they're converted.

It's the future man. We just have to deal with it... but:

@sinny:
Calling Oblivion out as an action-rpg is just a silly troll. We know you've only been posting on Kotaku for five days, but try not to lower the level of discourse to a flame war in your first week.

stranger

And even if it isn't the Fallout that many wanted, it at least looks like a good game.

splines

sinny

That's the most comforting thing I've read about Fallout 3 to this point.

Adam Ruining

jmote

I've gone through every phase of grief for this game.. Initial reaction was
1. shock ("WTF?! Faa..three??") which quickly turned into
2. denial ("This is just vaporware bullshit, FU Bethesda."). I moved onto
3. bartering on forums about what could save FO3 ("They need to have a good 3rd person," "If they just nail the humor and artstyle, man," "Changing how the mutants look might make a difference?") Oscillating between
5->4. hatorade ("I'll never play any Oblivion-with-guns shit!") and
4->5. guilt ("Sorry I flamed you Bethesda, please unban me?") Then I got
6. depressed ("This game won't help me recapture the bliss of being younger and playing Fallout 1 *cries*"). Now I'm slowly easing into
7. acceptance, fall 2008 buddy, and the possibility Fallout 3 will actually be sweet as pie. I feel
8. hope my friends.

Group hug?

CheekMystique

and Counterstrike is a combat simulator right?

Lot Krotan

Well thank you for correcting me and an entire industry (along with the creators) with that amazing insight.

okenny

...but then again, you are entitled to your opinion and the right to disregard quality while stating them.

okenny

sinny

More than year if it's going to be Fall 2008. I really wish developers would stop showing games that are so far out. If you want to make an announcement just to get people off your back, I understand that, but dribbling bits of info for 1-2 years is unnecessary. I really don't see what good it does. You just disappoint people with unpolished graphics and show off things that might not make it into the final game.

modifiedbears

Yeah, let's just forget the fact that the game comes out a year from now.

Vigilant Gambit

konron

insert_gently

washingtonydc

Cpt_Bongwater

SpaceWhale

FPS stands for First Person Shooter which Oblivion was not. Oblivion is a FPRPG (because I love acronyms) but seriously people need to stop thinking of first person perspective gaming as a genre. Almost the entire list of NES library was platforming and most JRPG's were either top-down or isometric view. FP just happens to be where the evolution of game presentation is heading so people need to stop bitching about it as if it's a bad thing.

God! whining babies... I never seen such a sense of entitlement... people now bitching at developers about how they should present their creative visions.

okenny

Ketzerei

Sorry, the fallout series bring out my inner fanboy...
Fuck everyone that's saying this game won't satisfy the hardcore fallout fan. I've been a die-hard fan since the first game and I think this game is going to be the best game EVAR!... Until Fallout 4 at least.
And I will really be pissed if dogmeat's not in the game!

Tiny Post-Impressionist Artist

kidko

heretrix

btw- thanks for relocating commenters names to the top of their posts. Really helps the new layout look less busy!

stranger

Well, Bethesda has more than a year to complete this game. It looks surprisingly good already, so we may yet receive the Fallout game we've been waiting for.

Crunchman

afmvdp

Here's hoping for more info at E3 (and the subsequent leaking of behind-closed-doors demos onto teh interwebs)

Make it happen freedom loving journos!

CydonianNights

The voice acting in Oblivion was good... just not variable enough for such a large number of NPCs with that much dialog. In fallout where there will be far less NPCs, this will hopefully be less of an issue. With next gen power, I seriously wonder when someone will try (really good) synthesized voices as a means of faster loading audio using less storage.

okenny

Islandkiwi

sinny

okenny

el_gordo

Vigilant Gambit

Nikolii

Ape.of.Gods

funb0x

Lot Krotan

Lot Krotan