With Fallout 3 on the way... Here's a little topic for you and me!
What is the release date?
Fallout 3 will be available for PC, Xbox 360, and PLAYSTATION 3 in North America October 28th, 2008 and Europe October 31st, 2008. Japan gets it December 4th, 2008.

Fallout 3
Description:
Vault-Tec engineers have worked around the clock on an interactive reproduction of Wasteland life for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own vault. Included is an expansive world, unique combat, shockingly realistic visuals, tons of player choice, and an incredible cast of dynamic characters. Every minute is a fight for survival against the terrors of the outside world – radiation, Super Mutants, and hostile mutated creatures. From Vault-Tec, America’s First Choice in Post Nuclear Simulation.

Story:
Vault 101 – Jewel of the Wastes. For 200 years, Vault 101 has faithfully served the surviving residents of Washington DC and its environs, now known as the Capital Wasteland. Though the global atomic war of 2077 left the US all but destroyed, the residents of Vault 101 enjoy a life free from the constant stress of the outside world. Giant Insects, Raiders, Slavers, and yes, even Super Mutants are all no match for superior Vault-Tec engineering. Yet one fateful morning, you awake to find that your father has defied the Overseer and left the comfort and security afforded by Vault 101 for reasons unknown. Leaving the only home you’ve ever known, you emerge from the Vault into the harsh Wasteland sun to search for your father, and the truth.

psst


9000% of the populace have already played it on 360


leaks oh my

This shits mine come christmas.

Yeah, I pre-ordered two of the lunch boxes that come with the pip-boys (one to play and one I will never open) and I've cleared my calendar for the 28th so I can game as much as possible.

just kidding this games gonna suck

i, however, DID buy two of amazon's special editions one for playing and one for never touching.

semper gaming -me

Heh, yeah I expected you to say that Marcus. I don't know if I want to get this. I mean I saw some walk through videos of it and it just doesn't seem as appealing as the last two Fallout games. It looks like a dumbed down oblivion with the "VATS" system. Maybe it's just the next gen graphics or whatever, but it just doesn't look like the same style as the other Fallout games.

yeah i will probably get this, it looks fun, but it's pretty hilarious how close it is to oblivion even if theyve upped their game a bit. it's like moving from a REALLY NICE RM2k engine to EVEN NICER R2mk2003 rm2k2003 engine.

also marcus are you getting this i remember you were all excited for it!

Heh, yeah I expected you to say that Marcus. I don't know if I want to get this. I mean I saw some walk through videos of it and it just doesn't seem as appealing as the last two Fallout games. It looks like a dumbed down oblivion with the "VATS" system. Maybe it's just the next gen graphics or whatever, but it just doesn't look like the same style as the other Fallout games.

it's actually an AMPED UP oblivion with guns or whatever stupid catch phrase gamers use to make them feel better about not liking something.  the gameplay, leveling up, and dialog that's actually affected by your attributes and skills (YES DIALOG IS ACTUALLY CHANGES BASED ON YOUR CHARACTER) is a step up above everything bethesda has done.

to put it simply (from someone who actually played it) it's a pretty fun game with the same flaws bethesda has never fixed in the history of ever (particularly shitty animation and dumb ai) but yes, if you go around comparing it to fallout you are guaranteed to be disappointed because OMG IT IS NOT FALLOUT.  if you're one of those internet tough guys who likes to nitpick and whine about every little thing (ITEMS THAT GIVE NEGLIGIBLE BOOSTS TO SKILLS FUCK YOU BETHESDA FUCK YOU) then i recommend putting a piece of masking tape over the box and writing in marker "Free Roaming Post-Nuclear RPG Inspired By Fallout" on it.

Yeah I'm the guy Marcus is talking about and I despise anything Fallout 3-related. Just wanted to put that out there. Every now and then when I haven't been following it too much I start to think "perhaps it'll be good in the end" then I read some of the latest news development about the game (or in this case it's almost out so I guess everything's kinda been revealed) and I go back to "what the hell are they thinking?"

They've done this consistently throughout the development phase which essentially means that any redeeming factor of the game has long since disappeared.

But it is true. I'm one of those stuck-up Fallout guys who probably dislikes this just on principle. This quote is probably telling:

if you go around comparing it to fallout you are guaranteed to be disappointed

If a new game can't compare to a 10-year old game I just don't see what the point is. Have games really become this much worse over the years and have our expectations really been lowered this much?

I might get this if I'm still not gone and need something to do. I liked oblivion and I've never gotten into the old fallout, so if they fail and make this oblivion with guns it'll still be entertaining atleast.

If a new game can't compare to a 10-year old game I just don't see what the point is. Have games really become this much worse over the years and have our expectations really been lowered this much?

What?  No, it's just a completely different game.  If Fallout 3 happened to be top-down point and click RPG with a turn based battle system then I would immediately start drawing comparisons but as it is it's a totally new game and the only thing it shares with Fallout 1 is the universe and SPECIAL system.

Comparing it to other games of it's type (particularly first person open world RPGs... not like there's any others outside of TES) it's a clear mile above them.  A common anti-bethesda naysayer would reply with "well it's not hard to improve upon shit hurf durf" to which i reply "if you hate the genre/company/game then nothing about this game will make you change your mind."

I hated Mario Party and all the sports spinoffs but it didn't detract from my love of Mario platformer/RPGs because I understand they're completely different games.  I know people who can't even play Fallout because the game's design and execution is so archaic and unfriendly but they're frothing over Fallout 3 because, holy shit get this, it appeals to them.  Maybe Bethesda could have alienated the rest of the world and jacked off the 20,000 or so people who actually bought Fallout but they didn't.  In its place is a fine game but if you don't like their past works then don't trick yourself into thinking you'll like this either.

On the other hand a comparison to Fallout isn't completely unwarranted since the game is called Fallout 3 and not Fallout: insert spinoff title here. If you put a number after a game you sort of expect it to have some resemblance to the previous games.

On the other hand a comparison to Fallout isn't completely unwarranted since the game is called Fallout 3 and not Fallout: insert spinoff title here. If you put a number after a game you sort of expect it to have some resemblance to the previous games.

But resemblance in what?  Gameplay?  Art?  Story?  Universe? 

Was Metroid Prime anything like Super Metroid even though they're canonically in the same time-line?

What about Resident Evil 4?

These are the same points that are brought up in EVERY SINGLE TOPIC regarding this subject and it all spins back to the same thing.  You expect a similar game.  This isn't a similar game.  Fallout 3 has all the art and atmosphere down pact minus the stretches of desert since it takes place in a ruined metropolis.  The gameplay is totally different.  The definition of sequel is something that comes next in sequence.  Well, Fallout 3 is a sequel to Fallout 2.  There's no written rule that states it must be the same or even remotely similar to the original.

Which is why you don't like it.  Fine, it's a fair opinion to share.  I didn't like Rayman 2 because it wasn't a sidescroller.  How nerdy can you get, right?

The real question is WHY did Bethesda choose to resurrect a series that sold like shit and few people in this generation can even recognize?  It's fun to note that Fallout was released quietly and it wasn't until Interplay was taken over by the French that magazines started jumping on it and calling it the best game ever.  Why ART AND ENTERTAINMENT elevates things that are long dead is beyond me but I guess it's one of those "Well, you can't miss something until it's gone" type of deals but I call bullshit on that.

I've spoken with Howard and a couple of the guys on the team and they really really love the franchise.  Like truly.  TES is HUGE and there's no reason for them to focus on anything else while it's selling like hot cakes but they've backed this thing up with millions of dollars in advertising and support and this is a labor of love.  

So the next big question is "Why is it so different" and the only answer to that is marketing.  TES sells.  Everyone including people who fucking hate RPGs love the series so why not expand on the engine with a totally different game from the series they love?  Yeah yeah it pisses off the puritans but Bethesda is still a company out to do one thing: make money.

I wish we lived in a world where ideas could fill our stomachs but making Fallout 3 an exact replica of Van Buren or whatever would have been a risky gamble.  There's the off chance that it'd hit big and make millions but the last super popular top down point and click RPG was what, Baldur's Gate II?  Neverwinter Nights achieved ridiculous popularity but not because of its singleplayer mode and Fallout's singleplayer is the number #1 thing.  To make it multiplayer would kill the theme of feeling like the last dude on earth.

Bethsoft could have just ignored the property like everyone else did.  When Interplay was selling their assets, no one else jumped on the Fallout bandwagon.  Hell, I'd rather have Beth have it so it could at least be an RPG instead of EA swallowing it and just sitting on it waiting for a company to come along so they could force the project then pull all funding at the last minute.

EA still owns the rights to Wasteland.  They could have bought Fallout and just killed the thing right there.  

Or even worse.  EA could have pulled an Ultima IX and made Fallout 3 a third person action game with like 3 weapons, no stats, dialog, and a linear story progression.

Metroid Prime

Rayman 2

Mario 64

Resident Evil 4

Castlevania Symphony of the Night

These games were so radically different from their predecessors but they sold so many copies so the companies decided to change the way the series played.  If Super Metroid was so popular how come the GBA metroid games didn't sell as much as the Gamecube metroids when the GBA outsold the Gamecube by more than double?  Perhaps Fallout: Top Down Turn Based Game could possibly sell well but not as much as Fallout: Oblivion with Guns.

And yet there'll still be people who hate the change.  I'm still bitching about a sidescrolling level based Castlevania because everyone pirated Rondo of Blood remake.