Vault 101 Holiday Party!

From the Bethesda Blog:

Today we will be releasing our final Bethesda Softworks Newsletter for the year of 2007. It’s been an exciting 2007 for us — releasing Shivering Isles, Oblivion GOTY, and Star Trek: Conquest, as well as finally unveiling Fallout 3.

To celebrate the holidays, the newsletter will give access to a couple of Vault Boy-themed wallpapers for your desktop.

To sign up for the Bethesda Softworks Newsletter, click here.

If you’re a big Oblivion fan keep your eyes on this one!

TGR put up a list of their 10 most anticipated games of 2008 and has Fallout 3 in…number three:

[...]The game begins in one of these underground vaults, where the player is eventually tasked with venturing out into a 1950’s style futuristic world that was ravaged by the apocalyptic war. What you do after that is up to you as the game allows the player to freely traverse the world looking for quests. Unlike the previous Fallout games, this one will take place in the first person, although Bethesda has made it clear that this is no FPS, saying that combat will be determined by the player’s skill set. Even though it’s still a ways off, Fallout 3 is looking to be a very engrossing RPG with an almost overwhelming amount of depth, if you’re a big Oblivion fan keep your eyes on this one.

Oh boy.

Spotted at the Bethesda Blog.

Community Corner: Atomic Ninjas Interview

A new featured series of interviews starts today in this blog, talking to Fallout community members and other gamers, recording their views now that the last year of development of Fallout 3 is underway.

The first interview is with the Atomic Ninjas Brother None and Suaside.

I feel they are a good example of how communities and individuals are more and more creating their own content and participating actively on the Web, instead of being passive receivers of pre formatted info, something that it’s quite close to me, particularly in these post-GerstmannGate days.

A few tidbits:

What did you think of the reactions on the web, inside and outside the community?

BN: What, to the review? I think people appreciated the density of information. As one press guy told me, it is the “next closest thing to having seen the demo”, and that’s good.

S: I was quite pleased with the feedback we received. I think most reactions validated our work, which is of course always nice. While many fans told us we had confirmed their fears, others told us that they would give FO3 a chance while they had been very negative on the subject before. While our own opinions were strong, I think we did a good job at telling people what we had seen at the best of our capability.

Even the professional press chipped in, usually with a kind word here and there. With the exception of a few overly negative comments of course… But overall, the reactions were rather positive.

Apparently many fans thought it good enough to donate a little bit of money, which meant we were able fund the trip without too much of a financial hangover. Thanks again for that, guys! Much appreciated.

There’s a lot more on Community corner: Atomic Ninjas Interview.

Action Trip: The Year Ahead

Action Trip has a 2008: The Gaming Year Ahead feature online:

The year 2008 is practically around the corner and there are plenty of games we think you should be on the lookout for. Instead of getting into the details about each game individually, we decided to single-out what we feel are the top candidates for making an impact in a specific genre. So, without further ado, let’s check out what awaits us next year.

So what’s their choice for an RPG? Fallout 3:

After its successful title, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda Softworks turned towards reviving the popular sci-fi RPG franchise, Fallout. When we witnessed Fallout 3, the gameplay had that distinct Oblivion-ish feel. The setting looked quite good, but there’s a long road ahead. Last we checked with Bethesda, the production of the game was in full sway, with around 70 people working intently on the very meat of the game. So, while the designers, artists and programmers are filling out the world of Fallout 3, we twirl our thumbs in anticipation for one of the most promising single-player RPGs, slated to launch during Q4 2008.

You can check their other choices here.