Well, the Bioshock and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion bundle just got a lot less interesting. We put in word to Bethesda's Pete Hines asking which version of Oblivion would be included in the bundle, and he got back to us with this most sad news: It's the original game. That means it's not the Game of the Year edition including Shivering Isles, the lengthy expansion featuring the hilarious Daedric Prince of Madness, Sheogorath.

Update: Well, folks, Bethesda has confirmed our fears: The Oblivion included is not the Game of the Year edition. It's the original Oblivion release.

Bethesda, proprietor of large, navigable worlds both post-apocalyptic and, uh, pre-apocalyptic, has teamed up with 2K Games to offer a gaming bundle not seen since the days of the original Xbox, when you could get Jet Set Radio and Sega GT together in one convenient package. 2K and Bethesda are bundling Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and Bioshock together for Xbox 360 and Windows PC, for $39.99 and $29.99, respectively, starting July 7.

The press release was unclear on which version of Oblivion this is (Game of the Year edition?), so we've sent word for a comment regarding that.

Steam users, know that Bethesda has just unloaded three of its top titles onto the service. Starting today, users can download The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Game of the Year edition). Adding further incentive is a 20% discount on these titles, valid this week only.

Odds are you played both Elder Scrolls games already, but if you've yet to try the under-appreciated Call of Cthulhu, then we suggest you pounce on this. The hotel chase scene is an experience we'll never forget.

[Via Shacknews]

The Elder Scrolls series is known for its large amount of in-game reading material. Oblivion and Morrowind both had dozens of books to read through when you weren't busy playing the games, a lot of which were based on the rich history and mythology of the Elder Scrolls universe. Bethesda has just announced that, starting this fall, you'll be able to find books based on the Elder Scrolls games in the real world, too.

These books are to be written by New York Times bestselling author Greg Keyes, who authored the Age of Unreason Tetrology and three Star Wars books in the New Jedi Order series. The first of the two Elder Scrolls book, The Infernal City, takes place after the events of Oblivion, during a time when a mysterious floating city is causing Tamriel's residents to rise again as undead. You know, that old chestnut.

As of this week, it's been three years since the entire internet exploded with the news that purely decorative horse armor would cost 200 MS points ($2.50) to add to your copy of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. To celebrate that happy occasion, you'll be able to buy all of Oblivion's fine Xbox 360 DLC for half of its normal price during this week. All the DLC that is ... except horse armor.

No, if you want horse armor, you're going to have to pay double the normal price. Seriously. And speaking as a group of guys who like to look like they've got a little fantasy cheddar in the bank when they roll into a new village, let us tell you: Worth every penny.

[Update: Just to clarify, this isn't a joke. Well, it's not our joke. Bethesda promised us that this was totally true.]

While Oblivion and Fallout 3 offer an MMORPG experience without all of the lumbering masses, Bethesda father figure Zenimax Media continues to eye the real MMO market. The company is looking for new talent to help its cause, announcing that it has entered into a second hiring phase at its MMO-focused ZeniMax Online Studios.

Currently ZeniMax's online branch employs a team of 60, with former Gamecock and BradyGames exec Steve Escalante and Blizzard support guru Rich Barham making up the latest additions to the studio's roster. Studio president Matt Firor teases that devs of all disciplines looking to help "create the next great MMOG" should apply within. No specific project has been announced, but in this shrinking economy any sign of positive growth is cause for celebration.

Some of us had only just recovered from turning back the Daedric scourge in Tamriel before Bethesda took it upon itself to obliterate the countryside altogether in Fallout 3. Destruction of this magnitude takes planning, and speaking during last week's DICE summit in Las Vegas studio director Todd Howard laid out Bethesda's three simple rules for "making excellent games."

According to MTV Multiplayer, Howard's vision for great game design can be distilled down into the following principles: 1) A dev's ability to leave even their favorite ideas on the cutting room floor, 2) the capability to think smaller and keep things simple and 3) being able to define a project "by the experience you want people to have," rather than just a laundry list of features.

During his time on stage, the outspoken director also took issue with the importance of the Wii's overwhelming dominance of the console market, with Gamasutra reporting that Howard said "if install base really mattered, we'd all make board games, because there are a lot of tables." True, but we'd still be hard pressed to trade away our railway rifle and head shots for a pricey monopoly built on the smoldering ruins of Boardwalk and Park Place.

Source -- The Following Colorful Wisdom Is From Todd Howard
Source -- Bethesda's Howard On Supreme Playability

In the closest thing you'll find to a Megaton announcement at New York Comic Con, Fallout 3 executive producer Todd Howard has confirmed during a panel at the show that Bethesda is now working on an iPhone game. News of this comes from Newsweek corespondent N'Gai Croal's twitter feed (we heard it, too -- sitting in the audience!) and includes no other details. That's because there weren't any.

Whether the game is Fallout-related, Oblivion-related or something completely new, we're intrigued to find out. Who knows, maybe it's that ill-fated Oblivion PSP title that never made it to market. Check back later for our full report on the Todd Howard and Ken Levine panel at Comic Con.

Considering that the term "Horse Armor" has become a common idiom when referring to unnecessary, costly DLC, we find it somewhat surprising that people are still purchasing Oblivion's equestrian plate mail. However, a recent Bethesda Blog post which ranked Oblivion's available add-ons by their total sales figures claimed, "even Horse Armor continues to sell daily." While pondering the type of folks who would drop two-and-a-half American dollars to trick out their virtual ponies, check out how the rest of the DLC measured up:

1. Wizard's Tower
2. Thieves Den
3. Mehrunes Razor
4. Spell Tomes
5. Vile Lair
6. The Orrery
7. Knights of the Nine
8. Shivering Isles
9. Horse Armor
10. Fighter's Stronghold

Not content with just the details Bethesda was willing to part with about the upcoming Fallout 3 DLC, MTV's Stephen Totilo grabbed his brass knuckles, donned his fedora with the "Press" card tucked under the band and pounded on the e-door of PR man Pete Hines until he gave up some answers.

In terms of scope, it looks like you'll want to (sadly) think smaller than Oblivion's massive Shivering Isles and more along the lines of Knights of the Nine, which ran $9.99. Also, it looks like you'll access the new stuff in-game rather than through a menu (à la Oblivion.)

That's pretty much all Totilo managed to get out of Hines, even though he tuned the poor guy up pretty good. Where'd he learn to fight like that? Why, from the best, of course.

Now that "Oblivion with guns" is done, it's time for Bethesda to make another "Fallout with swords." The developer's publishing executive, Paul Oughton, indicated to GI.biz that the company could "potentially" have the next Elder Scrolls title ready in 2010.

Oughton also stated Bethesda currently doesn't have any plans to release its titles on Wii. He acknowledges that Nintendo has opened up a market, but the publisher plans to stick with the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC. An Oblivion or Fallout 3 port for Wii is still theoretically possible, it just doesn't sound like Bethesda would be the one doing it.

With Fallout 3 releasing this week, all eyes have been on Bethesda. They commented that a new Elder Scrolls game could be on schedule to release in 2010, for the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, but not on the Wii. "At the moment we're not that interested in the Wii," said Paul Oughton, publishing executive for Bethesda. Despite Nintendo's huge base, Bethesda doesn't see success much longer for those working with the Wii and DS.

"We've seen games selling in the past 18 months that we never thought we'd see," Oughton said, further adding that he "wouldn't have thought that pet games and cooking games would have a viable market five years ago." But, we're getting to a breaking point, he claims. "Nintendo bought new products in with vast amounts of marketing money to launch these into the minds of the consumer and made a market for them. Every other publisher then very quickly developed DS and Wii products and we're getting to saturation now."

Sure, that's all well and good, and we appreciate you offering your opinions, but this doesn't do anything to explain why a new Elder Scrolls game isn't headed to Wii. If Bethesda could make the game for PSP (they never finished, but they had to think the tech was up to spec to even begin undertaking such a project), why not for Wii? Do you not think there's a market for your games on the console, Bethesda?

As an Oblivion fan, I was ready for Fallout 3 to completely blow me out of the irradiated water. I had the shiny "Game of the Year" trophy all polished and ready, and all I was waiting for was a couple of hours of play time before I made the trip to the engravers.

Before I talk about those hours though, let me tell you fellow Oblivion fans what you need to hear: All the good stuff is here. There's still a giant world to explore, with tons of diversions if you don't mind chasing them down. It may not be as pretty as Tamriel, but it's a lot more dense, teeming with treasures to dig up and people to meet/kill.

You still have countless different ways to customize your character, who could be anything from an evil medical genius who's got a way with rocket launchers to an angelic scientist that can decapitate a mutant with a single hammer swing.

Those battles feel surprisingly satisfying too, thanks to the addition of Fallout's V.A.T.S. system which lets you stop time and to choose which body parts to target, usually resulting in a decapitation or ... de-arm-itation. Each shot uses a number of action points, and you have to wait for them to refill before you can get any more aiming assistance. It works so well that I hope something similar is implemented in the next Elder Scrolls title.

Through the end of October, Microsoft is running an "Extended Play Download Days" promotion on the Xbox Live Marketplace, where they've selected and discounted a few sets of popular DLC.

The discount priced DLC includes content from Beautiful Katamari, Forza 2, Guitar Hero III, Mass Effect and Oblivion with savings ranging from 25-60% off the original prices. That means you can get Mass Effect's Bring Down The Sky DLC for 300 (originally 400), Oblivion's Shivering Isles for 1600 (originally 2400) and GHIII's Foo Fighters Pack for 360 (originally 500). View the complete list of discounted Extended Play Download Days DLC after the jump.

Microsoft is running an "Extended Play Download Days" promotion between now and the end of October, with select downloadable content discounted for six Xbox 360 titles. Sure, half of the promotion consists of Beautiful Katamari accessories and stages, but we've also got Forza Motorsport 2, Mass Effect, Guitar Hero 3, Lost Odyssey and a deep discount for Oblivion Shivering Isles (from $30 to $20). Not coincidentally, today also marks the first day of the new Xbox 360 price drop.