fallout posts (Subscribe to this feed)

Bethesda says first Fallout 3 PS3 DLC almost done

by Majed Athab { Jun 25th 2009 at 2:00PM }

Bethesda has already released several DLC packages on other platforms hosting its post-apocalyptic RPG, Fallout 3, but not yet on PS3. Bethesda's Peter Hines, speaking to Eurogamer, says this will all change very soon as the company is nearly done coding Operation: Anchorage for PS3 usage. Unfortunately, Hines did not reveal a specific release date for the DLC.

It's interesting to note that, while Xbox 360 and PC owners have already enjoyed Operation: Anchorage and other such DLC, these DLC packs have encountered numerous problems in the past. Hopefully, these issues will not arise again in the PS3 versions, given the extra amount of time put into them.

Gallery: Fallout 3: Operation Anchorage

Steamboats and body parts in new Point Lookout screens

by Ben Gilbert { Jun 20th 2009 at 11:30PM }

(click to Megaton-size)

In an act that can only be defined as 'terror gifting,' Bethesda recently dropped a handful of new, extra creepy Fallout 3: Point Lookout screenshots for your approval. Between the trailer (after the break), the few screens we got before and the handful of screens below, the creators of the "Capital Wasteland" have remained fairly tight-lipped about even the existence of the DLC from the get go.

Of the little we know from Bethesda about the game -- the swamp setting and promise of new weapons/enemies -- it looks as though the company is set to take even more of our money in the coming months. And considering this is the same developer that once created horse armor, we're going to say things have come a pretty long way.

[Via Evil Avatar]

Gallery: Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Continued →

Fallout 3: Bill Clinton could have been President Eden [update]

by David Hinkle { May 22nd 2009 at 1:15PM }

That's right, the sax man himself was considered by a casting agency for the role of everyone's favorite Fallout 3 radio host/President of the United States, John Henry Eden. Bill Clinton wasn't interested in the role -- or any role in gaming, for that matter -- as Lev Chapelsky, general manager of Blindlight, a company that secures Hollywood talent for voicework in games, recently told Edge. Clinton's attorneys responded to the request for him to play President Eden pretty harshly, actually: "The former president will not participate in one of your videogame products, thank you very much."

Hey, as cool as Clinton would have been as President Eden, we still appreciate the fine performance of Malcolm McDowell. The man may have not been a president, but he's certainly helped in giving the world one of its most beloved Halloween costumes. That's worth something, right?

Fallout: New Vegas coming to consoles next year

by Andrew Yoon { Apr 20th 2009 at 9:45AM }

At a Bethesda press event in London today, our very own Jem Alexander learned of a brand new addition to the Fallout universe. Fallout: New Vegas will be available on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 next year, courtesy of Alpha Protocol developer Obsidian Entertainment.

No other details have been revealed yet, but we're certain Jem will lockpick and hack his way to as much information as he can. We'll feed him to the mutants if he doesn't.

Update: The title is "just Fallout: New Vegas. No number. It's not a sequel." For those worried this non-numbered expansion would be a party game, fret not. It's "definitely an RPG," according to Bethesda VP Pete Hines. Obsidian Entertainment was founded by Fergus Urquhart who, along with a few other Obsidian guys, worked on the original Fallout. The team was approached by Bethesda and "jumped at the chance" to work on this new title.

Interplay still out of money

by JC Fletcher { Apr 17th 2009 at 6:30PM }

It seems that selling off the Fallout IP hasn't reversed Interplay's fortunes -- nor has ... planning to make a Fallout MMO. According to a recent SEC filing, the publisher ended 2008 completely broke. But don't worry! Interplay has a plan: Get more money from somewhere.

"We continue to seek external sources of funding," the company stated, "including but not limited to, incurring debt, the selling of assets or securities, licensing of certain product rights in selected territories, selected distribution agreements, and/or other strategic transactions sufficient to provide short-term funding, and achieve our long-term strategic objectives." We assume that those long-term strategic objectives would include paying off the new debts incurred in order to provide short-term funding.

The document does mention that the publisher continues to work on "the development of a MMOG code named: "Project:V13" (the alleged Fallout MMO) as well as "sequels to some of our most successful games, including Earthworm Jim, Dark Alliance, Descent and MDK." All decent reasons to hope the company doesn't tank.

[Via VG247]

Bethesda trademarks Fallout name for film and television

by Ben Gilbert { Apr 17th 2009 at 1:05PM }

Spotted on the US Patent and Trademark Office website recently were two suspicious trademarks filed by Bethesda Softworks, the folks behind the Elder Scrolls series and, most recently, Fallout 3. First, a trademark staking claim on the Fallout name for "entertainment services in the nature of an on-going television program," hinting pretty heavily at the possibility of a Fallout-themed ... television program. Another filing secures the trademark for "motion picture films about a post-nuclear apocalyptic world." We imagine you get the gist of that one, eh?

It looks as though Bethesda is thinking about the future of the Fallout IP and some interesting ways to expand upon it. With the possibility that the company has taken back the reins on a Fallout MMO, the future for Bethesda may hold a megaton more Fallout than we could have possibly imagined.

Interplay may lose its license to make Fallout MMO

by Ben Gilbert { Apr 16th 2009 at 10:15AM }

Well, folks, it's been two years -- two years and 12 days, actually. And now, because Interplay may or may not have entered into "full scale development" of the Fallout MMO it was beholden to start making by, oh, say, 12 days ago, Bethesda Softworks has, unsurprisingly, asked for its property back. Though, according to an SEC filing, no "formal action" has been taken by Fallout IP-owner Bethesda as of yet, the company has apparently made claims that Interplay is "in breach of the trademark license agreement" the two companies agreed upon back in 2007.

Rumors that Interplay has been working on a Fallout MMO arose again recently as Earthrise developer Masthead Studios offered Interplay its proprietary tools and technology for use with a project currently in-development, codenamed "Project V13." We would like to point out that while a wiki page on "Project V13" hints heavily at the codename concealing a Fallout MMO in development at Interplay, nothing official has ever been announced. And you'd think Interplay might want to do that if it wanted to keep its "trademark license agreement," no?

[Via Big Download]

Bethesda on DLC: Keep it small, 'digestible'

by Richard Mitchell { Apr 11th 2009 at 5:08AM }

Speaking to Gamasutra, Bethesda VP Pete Hines shared his company's philosophy regarding DLC. After crafting plenty of DLC for Oblivion ranging from small quest packs to the full expansion of Shivering Isles, Hines says that the team decided to focus on small, but still significant, pieces of downloadable content for Fallout 3. According to Hines, Bethesda decided to shy away from full expansions like Shivering Isles because "those things just take so damn long to do."

The goal then was to create enjoyable DLC in "smaller, digestible chunks," which led Bethesda to use the Oblivion DLC "Knights of the Nine" as the model for Fallout 3. This model, said Hines, is "substantive and it adds multiple hours of game play and new items, but we can do it in a time frame that allows us to get it out without waiting forever."

What say you, Fallout fans? Do you prefer the small, but frequent DLC packs, or would you rather see a full-blown expansion a year from now?

Masthead Studios lending Interplay a hand with suspected Fallout MMO

by Griffin McElroy { Apr 3rd 2009 at 3:44PM }

The fate of Interplay's long-held plans to create an MMO in the Fallout universe (assumedly heralded under the code name Project V13) has been in peril for quite some time now. Many feared the project would be scrapped when the title's creative director moved on to a different company, though a glimmer of light pierced the darkness yesterday -- Masthead Studios, developers of the upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise, will be giving Interplay its proprietary tools and technology for use in Project V13.

Given our MMO-obsessed sister site Massively's positive hands-on experience with Earthrise at GDC, we're excited to see how this technology will be used in Interplay's MMO. Of course, there's always a chance that Project V13 has nothing to do with Fallout. Sure, there's plenty of evidence to the contrary, but Interplay could very well be working on an Earthworm Jim MMO, which ... well, which would be just as awesome.

PSA: Welcome (back) to Fallout 3's 'The Pitt'

by David Hinkle { Mar 25th 2009 at 3:16PM }

Tips are flooding in that Fallout 3 DLC pack 'The Pitt' has re-emerged onto Xbox Live Marketplace. Those of you haven't been following the story, here's the skinny: A corrupted version of the file was pulled from Microsoft's service yesterday, with Bethesda promising a correction today. And, just as promised, it's back right now, ready for you to download sans nasty bugs. Protip: make sure you delete the old file if you downloaded it yesterday.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Gallery: Fallout 3: The Pitt

Original Fallout designer leaves Interplay, joins inXile dev team

by Xav de Matos { Mar 18th 2009 at 4:55PM }

One of the developers behind the classic Fallout has ended his tenure with Interplay to join inXile Entertainment. Jason Anderson brings his survival instincts to inXile as the creative director for an unannounced role-playing title. At the end of his career with Interplay, Anderson was working as the creative director on a next generation MMO named Project: V13 -- which our blogging cohorts at BigDownload surmise was a poorly coded way of saying Vault 13, a long-rumored Fallout MMO.

Anderson's exit probably feels like déjà vu to his Interplay comrades. In 1998, Anderson left Interplay to form Troika Games (best known for Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura) but returned in 2007 when that company shut down. While we wish Anderson the best, we really hope Interplay will reveal what Project: V13 really is ... as long as it is a Fallout MMO.

[Via BigDownload]

The Fallout game you'll never play: Brotherhood of Steel 2

by Andrew Yoon { Mar 16th 2009 at 8:15PM }

Fallout 3 isn't the first console Fallout game, but it certainly feels like it. Series fans have, for the most part, forgotten about the franchise black sheep, 2004's Brotherhood of Steel, for PS2 and Xbox. A sequel to the game was in the works, and according to its design document, would have provided a Fallout experience that appears more closely related to the original PC games than the original BoS or, arguably, Fallout 3.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun hypothesizes that the success of Brotherhood of Steel 2 would have repositioned the series as a console-only franchise, and would have prevented Bethesda from getting its hands on the series. Of course, considering the negative reaction to the first BoS title, it's clear why this project never really took off.

The 32-page design document is a relic for any Fallout fan to flip through, with tons of never-before-seen art, including images of the always-lovable ~~Pip~~ Vault Boy. The game will never see the light of day, but with this design doc, you can play it on the best console around: your imagination.

Expect Fallout 3's 'The Pitt' to be four hours long

by Majed Athab { Mar 16th 2009 at 1:00PM }

The Fallout 3 DLC pack containing post-apocalyptic Pittsburgh (what it would have looked like had the Steelers not won the Superbowl) is said to have ''four hours of playtime." That's according to lead producer Jeff Gardiner who spoke to VG247.

The Pitt, which hits later this month for 800

($10), includes new weapons, Achievements and perks. And maybe, just maybe, you might find a Superbowl XLIII trophy lying around in the rubble -- oh wait, this is alternate reality, scratch that.

Fallout 3 patched in preparation for 'The Pitt'

by Dustin Burg { Mar 2nd 2009 at 7:00PM }

Today, Bethesda released a title update for Fallout 3 in preparation for The Pitt DLC, which is scheduled for release later this month. The patch enables the upcoming add-on (once it's live) and three new Achievements associated with The Pitt content. Other than that, it's the same old wasteland for now. So, back to scrounging for scrap metals and that last bobblehead ...

[Thanks, Shaun]

NYCC 09: Bethesda developing iPhone title

by Jem Alexander { Feb 6th 2009 at 6:45PM }

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.