It's well known that Bethesda Softworks' upcoming post-apocalypse RPG Fallout 3 was in danger of being banned in Australia for its depiction of drugs in the game (an edited version of the game has now been approved by the country's ratings board). But that doesn't mean the developer/publisher has smooth sailing in other countries where the game is being sold.In a chat with Computer and Video Games, Bethsoft PR head Pete Hines, while dodging specific questions about the Australian situation, did state, "The frustrating thing for us is that the standards and rules can be so varied across territories, that we work with five or six ratings agencies and each one has different 'hot buttons'." As an example he stated, "In one place nudity is a big deal but violence is fine, and in another place drugs are a problem but nudity is fine." In the end, Hines stated that such issues don't really affect their development plans, saying. "We just go through and make the game that we want to make."...

The game's release won't be for several weeks yet but Bethesda Softworks is already talking a little bit about their plans for downloadable content for Fallout 3, their upcoming open world post-apocalyse RPG. In a chat with Shacknews, the company's PR head Pete Hines gave some hints about their plans for post Fallout 3 content.The game itself heads for stores on October 28 and while Fallout 3 should have hours and hours of gameplay by itself, Hines states that their plans for downloadable content will add even more play time to the game. He states, "The type is really--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. 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 previously announced at E3, only the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Fallout 3 are scheduled to get downloadable content after the game ships to stores....

The developers at Bethesda generously released five narrated gameplay videos explaining the ins and outs of everything you need to know about Fallout 3. It's all here, story, environments, combat system and enemies. These videos should supply fans with everything they need to prepare for the future.Download the HD Fallout 3 Gameplay Trailer 1 - Escape (118 MB)Download the HD Fallout 3 Gameplay Trailer 2 - Megaton (117 MB)Download the HD Fallout 3 Gameplay Trailer 3 - The Wasteland (118 MB)Download the HD Fallout 3 Gameplay Trailer 4 - Super-Duper Mart (96 MB)Download the HD Fallout 3 Gameplay Trailer 5 - Tenpenny Tower (85 MB)...

One of the highlights of the Penny Arcade Expo exhibit hall was the Fallout 3 display, complete with a authentic Airstream trailer that developer/publisher Bethesda Softworks refurbished for the occasion, compete with a flat-screen TV and a mini-fridge with Nuka Coka. It certainly fits with Fallout's retro future world.So what will become of the trailer? According to Kotaku, Bethesda Softworks has decided to donate the Airstream trailer to Penny Arcade's Child's Play charity, which raises money for a number of children's hospitals. The trailer will be made available following the game's release in late October. Presumably the trailer will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. It would be great to see some gamer get that sucker and have it in his or her back yard....

While the game industry is beginning to understand that they can sell high profile games any time of the year the truth is that the time period between the first of September and the first week of December remains the biggest time of the year for new games to be released. 2008 seems to be no exception to this rule as PC gamers have a ton of new and promising titles to choose from this year.So which games are we most looking forward to playing this fall? Well it so happens that we have created a feature gallery that has our picks for the PC game titles we most want to play in the next few months. That list include a long awaited MMO, a new expansion pack to the biggest MMO, an alternate history RTS game, a number of great looking first person shooters, a post-apocalyse RPG and a title that some are already declaring "the greatest game ever made." (in fact you can get a clue as to one of the games on our list from this custom case mode we saw at QuakeCon).Our list of games is ordered by their scheduled release dates. Keep in mind while checking our picks that release dates can and do change at the last minute. Our picks represent the best info on these dates at the time of the posting of this article but if any changes are announced afterward we will report on them on the news site.Click on the image above to continue reading "Most Anticipated Fall 2008 PC Games"...

Games Convention is underway in Germany and the folks at Bethesda Softworks are there letting the European press get their hands on a build of their long awaited RPG Fallout 3. They also just sent over three new screenshots from the game for and let us know that the final release date for the title has been settled. Fallout 3 is due for release on October 28 in the US and on October 31 in EuropeAs you can see from the above new screenshot, Fallout 3 takes place in a very dangerous post-apocalyptic setting where danger lurks at every turn. You need weapons to explore the blasted landscape so that you can deal with the many, many mutated threats in the ruins of Washington DC. Fallout 3 is still scheduled for release this fall for the PC and other platforms....

After swirling rumors regarding Fallout 3 potentially missing an Australian release due to drug-related content, a re-submission to the Classifications Board has resulted in Bethesda's post-apocalyptic RPG getting a green light to release in the land down under, but with some of its content edited.Published by Zenimax Europe Ltd., Fallout 3 will receive an MA15+ rating due to "Strong violence, drug references and coarse language." The extent to which the game's content has been edited is not known. The reevaluation process is known to last several weeks, but it appears as though the Classifications Board made their decision in just a few days.An edited version of the game was the subject of other recent rumors, and while not ideal, it's certainly better than not receiving Fallout 3 at all....

Despite the hesitation from vocal Fallout fan boys concerning Fallout 3 using the Oblivion engine and emphasizing a first-person point of view, all signs point to the post-apocalyptic RPG being Bethesda's best title yet -- and the 36 video game journalists who comprise Game Critics would certainly agree. Game Critics recently announced that Fallout 3 won their prestigious Best of Show E3 award, as well as the genre-specific Best RPG.According to the official website, Game Critics bestows its awards upon games which "will shape the future of interactive entertainment, as demonstrated via hands-on playable form at the E3 Media and Business Summit in Los Angeles, CA."Download the latest Fallout 3 HD Trailer...

Have you ever spotted information about a game floating around the Internet, practically waving its hands and jumping up and down for your attention? Did you ignore that friendly, lonely information asking you to just give it a chance? Shame on you! Well, sorry, not shame on you, since you're obviously reading this Fallout 3 preview. Actually, calling this a preview would be a bit misleading. Instead, think of this as a look into the reasoning for you to love Fallout 3.In the spirit of Fallout 3, we've created our own mutant rats. We call them love-rats, which are foot-sized rats possessing shockingly tiny front-legs and disturbing large hind-legs. We hope that you're highly resistant to love-rats, because we're about to unleash them unto your face so they can skitter and nibble you with their filthy infected love-maws! Check out 5 reasons to love Fallout 3 >> Download the latest Fallout 3 HD Trailer...

Bethesda Softworks continues its practice of only releasing a few screenshots at a time of their long awaited post apocalypse RPG Fallout 3. Today the publisher released three new shots showing off some action from the game, including a visual of a previously unseen air vehicle.Meanwhile, reports that the Australian ban of Fallout 3 may be dealt with with Bethsoft apparently agreeing to edit the game so it can be sold in that country. Details on what has been edited have not yet been revealed and so far there's no word if the edit will ensure that Fallout 3 will be released in that country. Australia's state run ratings board refused to give the game a rating due to the game's drug use....

Even though it has been called by many who attended the worst E3 ever held, that hasn't stopped the Game Critics Awards from naming their picks for the nominees for their annual Best of E3 award. The awards, picked by a group of mainstream and game oriented journalists (including Chris Grant of our sister site Joystiq) had three games that will appear on the PC platform named as Best in Show (Fallout 3, Mirror's Edge and Spore). The nominations for Best PC Game are Spore, Dragon Age: Origins, Warhammer Online, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II and Left 4 Dead. Indeed Valve's upcoming zombie shooter got three more nominations (Best Original Game, Best Action Game and Best Online Multiplayer Game). You can go to the Game Critics Awards' web site for all the nominees; the winners will be named on August 5....

If you are as pumped for playing Bethesda Softworks' Fallout 3 as we are here at Big Download you know that it doesn't take much for us to post a story about the post-apocalypse RPG due out this fall. This week the official Bethblog web site gave us yet another Fallout 3 excuse as the marketing for the title goes in an interesting direction.Specifically, Bethesda is getting ready to ship out large stand-ups of the Brotherhood of Steel to retail stores around the world. The blog site posted up pictures of a army of these huge promo items in a warehouse before they head out to stores. We think these guys could take out an army of toaster-style Cylons. What do you think?...

Bethesda Softworks knows a good marketing scheme when it sees one and this week on their official Fallout 3 web site they launched their latest effort to promote their upcoming post-apocalypse RPG. They released the first installment of a comic strip based on the game from the Penny Arcade team.In case you have been living under a rock, Penny Arcade is perhaps the most popular web-based comic strip there is and it mostly deals with the game industry. Their Fallout 3 strip, which will have new installments every week for the next few months, has a story that deals with one of the other Vaults that isn't seen in the game. Fallout 3 itself is due out this fall....

We've already presented the latest Fallout 3 trailer to you in streaming form but we're now happy to offer the entire HD version of the E3 2008 trailer for download. Clocking in at 152MB you can relive the live-action educational magic which includes such gems as a dishwasher buddy that looks suspiciously like a Star Wars Probot and a creepy old man who reveals a young woman's future as a re-population hub for a nuclear ravaged world. After the live action shenanigans are over make sure to stay for the gorgeous gameplay footage from Bethesda's latest role-playing epic. Fallout 3 is scheduled to release this October. Download the Fallout 3 E3 2008 trailer now!...

(Editor's Note: This hands-on impressions article used the Xbox 360 version of the game)It's extremely hard to really get a feel for what a game that has about 100 hours of gameplay in less than 30 minutes of time. Yet that was our constraints while playing Fallout 3 at Bethesda Softworks' E3 2008 meeting room. It was enough time to confirm that the game plays well in those 30 minutes but that's about it.Still it was our first time actually playing the game that has a rabid fan base and while we wonder if anything will truly please every fan of Interplay's first two games in the series, Fallout 3 does at least have some high production values, a ton of options on how you can play as your unnamed character and some nasty mutants to blow away. As with Bethsoft's last two Elder Scrolls games Fallout 3 is played primarily as a first person game although you can switch to a behind-the-shoulder third person viewpoint if you wish....