XBox World 360 has a huge article about Fallout 3, you can find a summary at NMA, just a few highlights:
* Emil on purpose: “What we’re careful about is making sure players know that they do have a goal – to find Dad. […] we took a lot of steps to channel players who want to be channelled.”
* If you defuse the bomb in Megaton you are rewarded with a shack, “which like all your future homes can be themed in different ways – pre-war, Mr Loverman, and Vault themes can be bought at the local supply store”.
* One source of quests is a store owner in Megaton working on a wasteland field guide, who wants you to help fill in the blanks in various ways.
* You’ll find the Stealth Boy early in the game.
* There’ll be enemy snipers.
* An example of bleak humour: one house contains two skeletons hugging each other on a burnt-out carpet, a couple who died when the bombs fell.
* The writer thinks the reduction of level scaling is the “tiny change” that sets Fallout 3 above Oblivion: “The world is a scarier place without the world-levelling safety net.”
* Raiders are observed “clearly thinking and plotting before rushing into combat”. Enemies will make good use of cover, according to Todd, except if they’re too badass to take cover like the super mutants.
* The yellow, even “banana-coloured” super mutants go around kidnapping humans.
* A few hours of playing only covers about 1% of the game world.
* Another example of bleak humour: in an unopened post box you can find a letter informing the receiver they weren’t selected for the vault programme.
* The Enclave have “floating propaganda bots” in addition to their radio station to get their “message” out.
* You can pick up a radio transmission with a “Chinese voice reporting that America has fallen and for civilians to surrender.”
* A few new perks: “At low levels Ladykiller will make you more effective against female adversaires; Black Widow is the female’s equivalent. Little Leaguer will make you a big-hitting slugger with your bat.”
* On the lockpicking minigame: “Using the right stick you’ll apply torque to the lock while angling the pick with the left; too much torque on a misplaced pin and it’ll snap. It’s a game of delicate movements, and isn’t a frustrating chore like Oblivion.”
* Pete on the fact that the compass will point the way to unknown locations: “It’s our way of saying ‘there’s fun over here’.”
* There will be Squirrels-on-a-stick. Like all other food, they are radioactive.
* The first mêlée weapon is a baseball bat, the most powerful the power fist.
Fallout 3: A Post Nuclear Blog 
I get a weird feeling about this. What do you think about that GOTY thing? Oh god…
And bigger than GTA? You must be kidding…
I find all this GotY talk kinda weird, really.
I mean, GTA IV is a pretty dead cert for most GotY awards. Fallout 3 will be hyped and prolly sell well, sure, but no way it’ll do either as well as GTA IV did.
So unless the GotY people have really short memories, I don’t see it winning many awards.
plus Spore and Starcraft 2 are supposed to be coming out this year as well. Who knows what kind of reception the new Brothers in Arms game will get, it’s looking pretty good.
The feedback I’m getting through meebo is quite interesting:
More later, I have to post something before going to the beach, it’s a glorious day.
What’s disingenuous about recognizing Fallout’s competition for GOTY?
A GotY contender? Sure. But not a very good shot at winning. Oblivion lost out on the bigger GotY contest.
It lost out to Company of Heroes/Gears of war on IGN, Company of Heroes on GameSpy for PC, and it only hit #10 contender for the Xbox 360 after such games as Viva Piñata and Fight Night Round 3, and it lost out to Gears of War on GameSpot.
“Many”? It won a few, like shacknews, G-Phoria, Voodoo Extreme, but it lost out on as many as it won.
If Oblivion can lose out to Company of Heroes and Gears of War, you should be damned sure Fallout 3 can lose out to Spore and GTA 4.
The messages are getting funnier:
You are an internet criminal!