No matter what platform we choose to take on Fallout 3's radioactive wasteland, we will be doing so to the musical styling of seasoned game music composer Inon Zur.

If Zur's name isn't familiar to you, it's likely you've hummed along to some of his more notable tracks heard in games like Crysis as well as each of the three expansions to Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War. And speaking of three, a trio of the songs Zur created for Bethesda's hotly anticipated RPG are available to listen to on the official Fallout 3 website, from in-game tracks "Megaton" and "Into the Wasteland," to a bass-heavy title track that has us climbing the walls in our underground shelter in the march up to the game's release this fall.

Cake, pizza, fabric, all things you can take a chunk out of to judge the quality. But Fallout 3, it's more like a Jenga tower or a baby: Taking a sample slice out of it won't end up well for anyone. To that end Eurogamer reports that Bethesda's Pete Hines says there will be no demo for the sprawling action RPG.

"When you build it as one thing, there's no way to portion off a section and have it stand on its own without putting the whole game in the demo, which we're just not going to do," Hines told the publication. But honestly, if at their heart demos are to help consumers make wise buying decisions, do you really need one for Fallout 3? We'll be fine waiting to have our minds blown by the whole package. In the interim, enjoy these three new screenshots Bethesda released today, to take the edge off.

Did you know that it was scientifically possible to desire Fallout 3 more than you already do? We didn't until this morning when we saw the (unconfirmed by Bethesda) listing for the collector's edition of it at Gamestop. For $70, you'll get a Vault Boy Bobblehead doll, a hardcover book of art and a behind-the-scenes DVD. Oh, and the whole thing comes in a metal Vault-Tec lunch box. Yes. Please.

There's also a date for the game of October 7, but that could just be an estimate. As far as we're concerned (thanks in part to today's announcement) the official date for Fallout 3 is "Not even close to soon enough."

In a hotel conference room, Bethesda's Pete Hines recently demoed the latest version of the Fallout 3. He trudged through a collapsed building, firing a machine gun at ambling, radiated mutants. The gore made me wince a little, with blood gurgling from zombie limbs. Earlier, he shot the head off another enemy, and blood arced straight out of the neck, as if it was trying to reach the brain one last time.

Only minutes earlier, he'd shown me how the player's character grows up in an underground bunker, with those moments acting partly as tutorial and partly as a character creator. Your father, for example, stays hidden in the shadows after your birth until he checks out how the infant will look grown up. Players use a medical gadget to see (read: design) their appearance, then he emerges with roughly similar, paternal features.

We've covered the game a few times before, so in addition to my general impressions, I talked with Hines about some recently revealed features.

Fallout fans can look forward to over 200 different endings with the upcoming Fallout 3, according to Executive Producer Todd Howard. Speaking on the OXM podcast (interview starts at 37-minute mark) Howard said, "Being that we are Bethesda, everything gets a bit big. So as of last week, we're over 200 endings. That is not an exaggeration, but it deserves some descriptions."

The clarification is that, like other Fallout games, choices you make in the game will affect aspects of the ending, so that figure is really a combination of many sub-endings. The real question, then, is how many times do you have to beat the game to see every sub-ending?

Howard also confirmed that Fallout 3 is twice the size than anticipated and close to the size of Oblivion. "The game is easily 100 hours," he said. Howard also goes into detail about the dog companion. Fallout 3 is still on track for release this Fall.

[Via Shacknews]

PS3 owners worried that Fallout 3 might come to their system of choice later than Microsoft's box(es) can put their fears to rest. Executive producer Todd Howard said that Fallout 3 should (unlike the company's last big release Oblivion) see a simultaneous release. "They should all be the same date," he said. "That's our plan."

It's definitely happy news, but we're going to wait until a bit closer to the game's Q3 release before we go get our SIXAXIS-shaped champagne flutes out of hock. As evidenced by a bevy of PS3 game delays, programming for the system is apparently about as predictable as raising mogwais.

It's said that bigger is not necessarily better, and it's a mantra that Oblivion dev Bethesda seems to have subscribed to for their next sprawling adventure, Fallout 3. In a massive interview with Gameplayer, Bethesda spokesperson Pete Hines said that, though no one had walked Fallout 3's post-apocolyptic D.C. from end to end, it's probably 50 to 80 percent as big as the world of Oblivion.

That said, it's not necessarily bad news. Fans of the series (or opponents of walking) might be relieved to hear that Bethesda is taking the quality over quantity route. Not to mention that 50 percent of Oblivion's land mass is still pretty darned big. Check out the rest of the interview for a vaultful of other non-geographic info.

Are you the kind of vault dweller not wanting to seek life outside your safe vault dwelling but still longing for excitement? Bethesda is hiring Quality Assurance (QA) testers for the upcoming Fallout 3. Sure, you get to play the game before anyone else, but as an added incentive, Bethesda's Ashley Cheng notes that top testers usually get pulled to be interns for the company.

The developer diary for Fallout 3 has also been updated to give a profile for the Brotherhood of Steel, as well as show off some concept art for the game that you can also peruse in our gallery below. Fallout 3 is still slated for a Fall 2008 release.

A Pip Vault Boy Gingerbread house (of Fallout fame) is delicious and delectable, especially the blood splattered outside the front door. We bet he ate the little gingerbread people and wiped his smiling face on the pavement. Congratulations to Andy Barnes, who submitted this image to Bethesda's blog and won a Fallout 3 t-shirt. Check out the highlights for today:

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Rumors & Speculation
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"Every time you kill an opponent, all your action points are automatically restored." So goes the description for the perk "Grim Reaper's Sprint," winner of Bethesda's Fallout 3 Create a Perk contest. The designer, Marc-André Deslongchamps of Montreal, will see his perk included in the final game as well as receive a package of PC-related prizes.

The contest, announced in early October, was in honor of Fallout's 10th anniversary. Eleven runner-ups and five random entries were chosen to also receive gifts; be sure to check out their submitted perks at the contest page. We're hoping to see some of these other perks, especially Kleptomaniac, find their way into Fallout 3 in some facet.

Now that we know one of the perks, anyone want to place bets on what the others will be?

We don't know what makes us jealous of Bethesda developer Ashley Cheng more: that he procured a copy of Mass Effect early (thanks to Kmart) or that he drinks Nuka Cola (of Fallout 3 fame). Check out the highlights for today:

Joystiquery
Metareview: Crysis (PC)
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Culture & Community
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In celebration of Fallout's 10th anniversary, new IP owner Bethesda Softworks have opened a contest for the aspiring Vault Dweller to design their own perk to be included in the upcoming Fallout 3. The winner will also receive a bunch of gear for either PC or Console gamers (there are separate packages for each, listed on the contest page).

You don't have to possess artistic talent to enter, opting instead to use one of Bethesda's 15 pre-made sketches. However, if you want to submit your own art work, photo or whatever, you're more than welcome to. Contest ends 11:59 p.m. ET on October 31.