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Fallout 3 the latest victim of piracy
Note: Not an actual pirate Before it had been announced as being certified gold, it appears a leaked copy of Fallout 3 for Xbox 360 (and, somewhat surprisingly, not PC) had appeared on the internet and torrent sites. Gamasutra speculates that the leak may have come from the manufacturing plant. The purported 6.52GB download requires a modified console to use. Unlike Spore, there is no activist justificaiton of "doing it because of the DRM." When contacted by Joystiq, Bethesda had no comment for the story. According to Parental Guidance, it appears the publisher-developer has already begun sending cease-and-desists to websites who link to it. While we can't prevent you from downloading the game, if you're decide whether or not to fork over $60, trust us, it's pretty good.Note: We're not going to provide links to torrent sites, and if you do, expect a banhammer in the very near future.
Fallout 3 goes gold, PC requirements detailed
Good day, Vault inhabitants. We're happy to report that Fallout 3 has gone gold for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. For those of you currently not stealing the game -- yup, it's up on torrent sites according to many tips, which can stop being sent now, thank you -- the actual release will be the week of Oct. 28.Console owners can obviously just pop in the disc (PS3 has no install, we asked), but we've placed the PC system requirements after the break.
Fallout 3's Washington D.C. Metro ads
Washington D.C. resident John Cangany sent us a tip this morning about a Fallout 3 advertisement he saw in the Metro last night and subsequently blogged about. Amused by this ad push in Fallout 3's setting (before the nuclear apocalypse), we actually wanted to know if there were more ads than the one we were told about at the Metro Center station. We contacted Fallout 3's PR people and they sent us several images of various ads found in the city's subway. We didn't receive any details about which stations these images were taken from, but we've placed all the pictures we got in the gallery below. So, residents of D.C., can you name the stations you've seen the ads in while going about your pre-Vault lives?Update: Pete Hines, Fallout 3's product manager, wrote us to say the ads are currently only at the Metro Center station. He explains the company took over all the ad space there for the month, adding that DC residents will start seeing bus and bus shelter ads in the near future. The company plans to promote Fallout 3 in other US cities soon.%Gallery-33933%
Fallout 3 hands-on: Four hours in the Wasteland
click to enlarge var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Fallout_3_hands_on_Four_hours_in_the_Wasteland'; A mere 27 days from now, many of you will – as we've had a chance to – be taking your first steps outside of Vault 101 and into the Wasteland. As your eyes adjust to the unfamiliar, natural daylight, you'll be greeted by a sweeping vista of ... utter ruin.We spent just over four hours utterly absorbed in the spectacularly bleak world of Fallout 3, sticking purely to side-quests and generally getting a lay of the land; its people, places, and many irradiated things. What you're about to read is our account of what we saw, shot at, and ran screaming from during our (all-too-brief) time with the near-completed game.%Gallery-33126%
Joyswag: Fallout 3 Survival Guide and Vault Boy puppets
Didn't get your hands in on a Fallout 3 Vault Boy puppet from this year's PAX? The folks at Bethesda have donated a hand-ful (har) for us to give away, along with a couple of Vault Dweller's Survival Guides. All we want to know is what perk you would want in real life, whether it's an actual Fallout perk or something you just made up. (Our pick: Bloody Mess, without question.)To enter this giveaway: Leave a comment telling us what perk you would want to have in real life. Be creative and descriptive! You must be 18 years or older and a (non-zombie) resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec and Megaton). Limit 1 entry per person per calendar day (comment more than once and the Brotherhood will pay you a visit). This entry period ends at 10:00pm ET on Friday, September 26th. We'll randomly select three winners at that time to each receive a Vault Boy puppet (valued at approximately $15); two of those will also receive the Vault Dweller's Survival Guide (approx. $0.15). Please check your e-mail! For a list of complete rules that you can expose to radiation, click here. Gallery: PAX 2008: The Pip-Boy Puppet Gallery: The Fallout 3 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide
WRUP: G.O.A.T. Edition
We've all decided that this whole Joystiq thing may not be for us (and unlike the last time, we're totally serious now). Thanks to the Fallout 3 G.O.A.T. exam, we know exactly what we'll be doing with our future selves. Oh, and here's what we'll be playing this weekend. Be sure to let us know what games will be occupying your time! Alexander Sliwinski: The GOAT tells me I'm a "Fry Cook." Coincidentally, I like making fried food. Anyway, this weekend I'll be playing Infinite Undiscovery, Company of Heroes and seeing if I can get the hang of Civ IV: Colonization. Christopher Grant: This Vault Chaplain will spend the weekend helping others, as is my want. I'm at my sister's new house helping her fix the place up. Some sheetrock; some trimwork; some demolition; good times. I've brought my good friend Professor Layton along to pitch in with sage advice at opportune times: "Every puzzle has an answer." When I return back home I'll be repenting for my sins ... namely the sin of not having played Beyond Good & Evil earlier! Just a few hours in, BG&E has already revealed itself to be one of the best games I've played in the last couple years. Griffin McElroy: According to the GOAT, I'm the Vault Chaplain. While not attempting to save some post-apocalyptic souls, I wager I'll be spending this weekend as I likely will spend most from now on -- playing Rock Band 2 with the roommate. Unfortunately, on more than a few occasions, the drum part of "Aqualung" has made me lose my religion (an activity not befitting a man of the cloth such as myself). Kevin Kelly: I'm playing in traffic, for the most part. Plus I'll be visiting the Arcade UFO in Austin, TX to get some quarter-licious gaming on. Oh, and GOAT tells me I'm a Clinical Test Subject. Kyle Orland: This Waste Management Specialist is taking out the trash... all the way to Maryland, where he's paying his family and friends a visit this weekend. My sister and mom both really want to try out with Wii Fit, so it seems that's what I'm going to be forced to play all weekend. James Ransom-Wiley: This PIP-Boy Programmer is considering a new career. In the meantime, he'll find some time this weekend to accept the 5¢ trade-in value for the original Rock Band at GameStop -- at least it's something toward Rock Band 2, right? Jason Dobson: GOAT says I'm a Pedicurist, who knew? Now that I'm with consoles again (unboxed!), this weekend will be spent lacing up and taping my virtual stick as I hit the ice in NHL 09. It may be the only way I ever get to see the Buffalo Sabres lift Lord Stanley, after all. Justin McElroy: This Pedicurist is going to be enjoying some Warhammer Online, with occasional breaks for Force Unleashed. Or at least, that's what I would be playing if I played video games on the weekends, instead of doing what you all should be doing: Partying hard. Like, Andrew WK hard. Ludwig Kietzmann: With the Prince of Persia trilogy behind me (much like my career as a Clinical Test Subject), I imagine this weekend will be dedicated to finding the answers to Eternal Sonata's mysteries -- chief of which is, "Why am I still playing this?" If I can break the level-up cycle, I'll almost certainly be giving Tomb Raider: Legend yet another replay. Gotta be prepared for Underworld! Randy Nelson: When I'm not busy with my work as a PIP-Boy Programmer, I'll be hacking my way through The Force Unleashed with an elegant weapon (though not a very elegant camera) for a more civilized time. Then it's time to get up-to-speed – quite literally – with the Burnout Bikes expansion. Vroom! Ross Miller: The Fry Cook inside me (wow, that sounds awkward) will be making up on hours of missing sleep. If I do have any energy this weekend, I will be overcoming the mid-chorus fill in the expert drums of "Everlong" for Rock Band 2. Once I master that, I will have the whole song and feel an overwhelming sence of silly pride.
Bethesda: Fallout 3 to be 'identical' for Aussie, UK, US versions
Bethesda's VP of public relations, Pete Hines, has confirmed with Edge Online that the US, UK and Australian versions of Fallout 3 will be "identical" to one another. A reference to the real-world drug Morphine has been removed, explains Hines, to abide with each country's ratings and classification boards, replaced with "Med-X."While "material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use" has been replaced with more fictional drug references, Pete Hines tells Joystiq that "nothing else" has changed, including the over-the-top violence we've been enjoying in the screenshots. Full statement from Hines after the break.%Gallery-3507%
PAX 2008: One hour with full version of Fallout 3
Click for all our Fallout 3 coverage var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/One_hour_with_the_full_version_of_Fallout_3'; We were given one hour with Fallout 3 at this year's PAX, and we don't mean some pared down, nerfed, demo-ized level; this was the full version. Not only that, but the Bethesda folks showed it to us in the tricked out Fallout 3 Airstream Trailer, complete with a nuclear family peering in.Lead designer Emil Pagliarulo started us out roughly an hour into the game, when you exit the vault for the very first time. We missed the whole "growing up" phase in order to rush right into the action. We didn't mind. but what of our first 18 or so years? Maybe you start out on the cellular level, and fight your way out in a glorious Spore/Fallout hybrid. Your guess is as good as ours.%Gallery-30865%
Bethesda radiates light on Fallout 3 DLC plans
Vaultnews Shacknews caught up with Bethesda veep Pete Hines and Fallout 3 art lead Istvan Pely during PAX and asked the duo a whole mess of questions about – you guessed it – Fallout 3. One of the most salient responses came to a question regarding how the developer expects DLC quests for the game to shake out.On the scope of DLC, Hines told Shacknews: "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," further clarifying plans by adding, "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."As for a post-launch DLC roll-out time line, Hines was non-committal, saying only that "we already have folks starting to look into what [the DLC] might be."
PAX 2008: The Entire Fallout 3 Vault Dweller's Survival Guide
Bethesda's Fallout 3 booth pretty much won the "Oooooooh!" contest at PAX by about a million rads. Not only did they have an Airstream trailer, fully kitted out in 1950s style and with Fallout 3 goodies inside, but they also had some of the best schwag at the expo. Vault Boy Puppet? Yes, please. Fallout 3 Penny Arcade poster? Don't mind if we do. The Vault Dweller's Survival Guide, Pocket Reference Edition? Oh my stars and garters.In the gallery below you can check out the entire guide that they were handing out at the show, and it may very well be the actual game manual. You get 50 pages chock full of tips for surviving in the wastelands, info on the different weapons, details about the creatures you'll encounter, and tips from Vault Boy himself. It even has a map and notes section in the back for your own enjoyment and doodling.Of course, the best advice can be found on Page 39: "Are you in immediate danger? You are beyond help. Drop this book and run." Update: Download it as a PDF!%Gallery-31026%
New Fallout 3 Achievements will set your pants on fire
Is your craving for Fallout 3 currently and properly satiated? If so, hold onto this link for a fix later, but otherwise check out Xbox360Achievement's listing of the game's, well, Achievements. Aside from the usual (30 quest-based, 9 level and karma-based), our favorite new achievement is going to be Psychotic Prankster, which essentially involves adding to your "Exploding Pants" statistic by "placing a grenade or mine while pickpocketing." Of course, the highlights of these little Gamerscore supplements are the associated Vault Boy icons, which would make a great collage for our desktop background.[Thanks, Dan]
PAX 2008: Meet the Fallout 3 Vault-boy puppet dance troupe
While waiting for the (much-delayed) final Omegathon to start last night, over a dozen Vault-boy puppets (of Fallout 3 fame) congregated to show off their grooving and shaking skills to a crowd of bemused onlookers. It's really what made the cheesy music infinitely more anti-meh. Check out their moves in the video above, as well as in our Omegathon gallery.%Gallery-30939%
PAX 2008: Todd Howard talks Fallout 3, MODs & console power
In an interview with Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard we discussed Fallout 3's lack of a MOD support and this generation of consoles. While Howard admits the team wants to add support for user generated content he confesses adding the feature -- which was included in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- is a daunting task for a team eager to complete the epic adventure."We don't [have MOD support at launch], we want to but we have our hands so full with getting the game out and getting tools out there that work well for people and with the game is a pretty big undertaking," Howard told Joystiq. [MP3] Download this interview in MP3 format
PAX 2008: Fallout 3 video explosion, subsequent fallout
Bethesda has dropped a ... wait for it ... megaton of Fallout 3 walkthrough footage on PAX, and, thankfully for those who can't attend, GameTrailers has upped it for your post-apocalyptic viewing pleasure. There are five (count 'em five) videos showcasing Megaton, the Wasteland, Super-Duper Mart, and more after the break.
Fallout 3 falls into retail October 28
"Prepare for the future" indeed! And by "future" we specifically mean October 28th (or October 31st for our European pals) because that's when Bethesda's "Best of E3"-award winning Fallout 3 – including the Collector's and Survival editions – falls into retailer's laps.Vlatko Andonov, Bethesda Softworks prez, teases, "To meet the huge demand for this title by our fans worldwide, we are planning one of the biggest launches of any game released this year." We're not sure what Bethesda's got in store, but when discussing a game set in a post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, we're excited to see how big of a splash it can make. Bunkers, everyone!%Gallery-3507%
Fallout 3 unbanned in Australia, edited down under
The Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) has reclassified Fallout 3 with a MA 15+ rating, essentially unbanning it in the territory. The title was previously refused classification, which meant it could not be sold in the territory, thanks to the Australian government's [insert expletive here] notion that any video game unsuitable for a 15-year-old should be illegal for all ages -- there is currently no R 18+ rating for games.Gamespot reports that Fallout 3's "reward and incentive" for in-game drug use had been toned down to receive the MA 15+. The OFLC originally objected to the use of "chems" -- substances that would give characters positive and negative effects -- as the board felt the chemicals and their delivery methods were too close to the real, pre-apocalypse world.
E3 awards: Fallout 3 = Best of Show; LittleBigPlanet = Best Console game
This is it, folks. The winners of the official Game Critics Awards for E3 2008 – as chosen by 36 representatives (including yours truly) from most of the leading video game outlets – have been revealed. Leading the pack with two wins each are Fallout 3 – winner of "Best of Show" and "Best RPG" – along with LittleBigPlanet – winner of Best Console game and Best Social/Casual/Puzzle game.The top publisher was EA (just like in our own awards) with five wins, while Sony took second place with an impressive three wins. In terms of platform concentration, the Xbox 360 barely edged out the competition with eight wins versus both the PC and PS3's seven (for those of you keeping track, the Wii only managed one win and that was for its version of Madden 09). We've got the full list after the break, or check out the Game Critics site for the breakdown by publisher and platform or refresh your memory with this list of nominees in the various categories.
Penny Arcade's original Fallout 3 webcomic debuts
We didn't even need to play Fallout 3 at E3 to know that it's going to be a very big deal (but we're glad we did, and have a hands-on coming soon). In continuing to ramp up excitement for the game's upcoming release, Bethesda is collaborating with the Penny Arcade crew on a weekly series of Fallout webcomics, the first of which debuted today.According to Bethesda's Pete Hines, the idea was actually pitched to PA's Gabe and Tycho "years ago," ultimately resulting in an original story focusing on a Vault other than 101, which is the kick-off point for Fallout 3. Click here or on the panel above to read the entire three-panel debut strip. New strips will go up on the Fallout 3 site every Wednesday, come rain or nuclear holocaust.
Joystiq interview: Bethesda's Todd Howard on Fallout 3
Hopefully we're not in danger of providing Fallout 3 overload, and if you haven't gotten the idea yet, we're really looking forward to this game. It's literally a cool science fiction series skin slapped on top of Oblivion, but we're not complaining about that. Blowing away mutants in the wasteland? Yes, please. Here's the meat and bones from our time with Bethesda's Todd Howard, and you can listen to the full audio interview below. After the break, find out some tidbits like the size of the world, how many radio stations are in the game, and why you won't be dual-wielding or buying horse armor. Oh, and be sure to pay attention to the exploding pants achievement.
Fallout 3 Vault-Tec phone number decoded
Pete Hines from Bethesda shattered our crystalline dreams yesterday when he told us that the Vault-Tec 800 number for Fallout 3 means... absolutely nothing. He and Todd Howard had argued about it, and Pete wanted it to actually have something hidden inside for fans, but he got vetoed.Although Bethesda would love for rabid Fallout fans to kick down the door of a 68 year old woman's house in Texas in search of hidden editions of the game, it just ain't happenin'. Listen to the actual audio dialogue below which busted up our hopes for a Rain Man level math secret hidden in the phone message.
