Fallout 3 has been nominated for 7 of Spike TV's Video Game Awards. The nominations are for:

Studio of the Year: Bethesda Softworks for Fallout 3

Game of the Year: Fallout 3

Big Name in the Game: Male: Liam Neeson as "Father"

Best Original Score: Fallout 3

Best Xbox 360 Game: Fallout 3

Best Graphics: Fallout 3

Best RPG: Fallout 3

You can click on any of those links to vote. I think the "Best Graphics" nomination is a bit of a stretch. Also, why isn't there a nomination for best PS3 game? ;-)

According to Pete Hines, PC users will be the first to enjoy downloadable content for Fallout 3. From Videogamer.com:

Microsoft has confirmed that Fallout 3 will be the first title to offer DLC through the newly announced Games for Windows LIVE Marketplace.

Pete Hines, vice president of public relations and marketing for Bethesda Softworks commented: "Games for Windows LIVE helps us expand the Fallout 3 universe and bring the full experience directly to gamers. Through the Marketplace we now have a no-nonsense way to deliver updates and great downloadable content. It's really a complete package, and a great fit for Fallout 3."

I hope they make the game playable before any DLC comes out. A mega patch should be an absolute priority right now.

Kotaku is not too happy about the state of Fallout 3:

Been sitting on this for a few days, just in case Bethesda managed to get their act together since Fahey's post, but the number of users affected and time that's passed is getting a little much. Seems Fallout 3 is still broken. It's broken on PS3, it's broken on 360, it's especially broken on PC. The console versions are still crashing and freezing and corrupting in various spots, while the PC version...well, where do we start.

OK, let's start with my copy.

I got my copy off Steam on launch day. Love the convenience. Anyway, when I picked it up, the game ran fine. Ran like a dream, on full settings, and I was having a blast. Then a patch was released. Steam being Steam, it installed the patch automatically.

Now I can't play the game.

I try to load any of my games and the game locks up. Lovely that a patch meant to fix things instead broke my game that, previously, wasn't broken at all.

Course, that's just my story. PC gaming is rife with this sort of stuff, and normally, issues affecting one man aren't enough to kick up a stink over. But take a look at the game's official support boards. The 360 boards, the PS3 boards, the PC boards. It's not my game that's broken. It's a ton of people whose games are broken, across all three platforms, and they're broken in a variety of places (ie, this isn't a single issue, it's a wide variety of issues).

Now, before we get too down on Bethesda, the same thing happened with Oblivion. Game was all kinds of broken, eventually patches came out, game stopped being broken, everyone got on with their lives. And the same will no doubt happen with Fallout 3. It's just a shame that, over two years on, people throwing down good money on a Bethesda game have had to put up with the same mess all over again.

I'm not very happy either. I was able to play for a few hours until the game crashed, and now I can't even start the program without it crashing. Something has got to be done soon.

And more reviews

GameShark has posted a review and an "A" grade for Fallout 3 stating, "Fallout 3 is an open book -- and one you should not miss." CheatMasters, Die Hard Game Fan, The Michigan Times, PlayStation Beyond, AusGamers, Dread Central, Remove the Labels, Yahoo Games, Gaming Life, Game On, VideoGameMedia, GamePyre, RF Generation, and Loot Ninja have also posted reviews.

Yeah, more reviews for Fallout 3, courtesy of Bethesda.

360 Magazine has posted a review and a 10 out of 10 score for Fallout 3 saying, "Fallout 3 is an absolute behemoth of a videogame and one that stands taller than most, even during the packed holiday season." BritXbox, Ultra Ninjas, Gaming Planet, Game Vortex, PlayStation Illustrated, The Onion AV Club, The Game Review, PlayStation Lifestyle, Gay Gamer, Daily Mail, PSW, PC Game Fun Time, HeraldNet, The West Georgian, and The Ledger have also posted reviews.

It's a little later than originally thought, but Bethesda has released a small patch for Fallout 3.

Fixed occasional crashes when exiting the game or using Alt F4 to exit.

Fixed crashes when using Alt-Tab while binks or credits were playing.

The game now restarts properly after title updates finish installing.

How about the patch that fixes the crash before the game menu loads? Check it out here.

Fallout 3 is selling big.

Approximately 4.7 million units of Fallout 3 were shipped worldwide last week for the Xbox 360(R) video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION(R)3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows(R) representing retail sales in excess of $300 million.

Not bad for a week, eh? Read the whole press release here.

Sorry I've been pretty lazy in posting reviews, but most of the reviews say exactly the same thing. However, here are some reviews from today!

RPG Gamer has posted a review and a 5 out of 5 score for Fallout 3 saying, "… Fallout 3 crafts an addicting gameplay experience…". Thunderbolt Games, VG Reloaded, Den of Geek, HonestGamers, The Electric Playground, Lazy Gamer, Daily Record, The Hachiko, TalkXbox, GamerVision, GameBrit, SF Gate, The Daily Campus, Random Battle, and Dose.ca have also posted reviews.

In this article at Eurogamer, Pete Hines said that a patch for the PC version of Fallout 3 would be released later today:

Bethesda bigwig Pete Hines has said a patch for the PC version of the game will be released later today.

Speaking in a Eurogamer Live Text article, he said the patch will "address a few PC-specific things that have come up".

Yeah, that didn't happen. So what will happen? Matt Grandstaff clears things up:

Hey all, I wanted to give you an update on this…

It looks like this patch might not being going up today, but you should expect it sometime this week. You should know the patch only fixes some crashing on exiting the game, as requested by Microsoft.

We’re also moving along with pulling together a more extensive update. We’re still in the process of going through and looking at any issues/fixes, and once that is done there is lots of additional testing/fixing that has to be done before it can be released. Similarly, we're looking into matters on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

When I’ve got more information, I’ll pass it along.

Fortunately, none of this bothers me yet because my copy still has not arrived. With my luck, it was probably confiscated by customs.

The Bethblog has posted a blurb about Games for Windows Live, which is basically like Xbox Live I guess.

PC users now get achievements and friends lists similar to how Xbox Live works. Here some cool things you can do with Games for Windows Live.

1. Earn achievements. You can create a free Games for Windows Live profile or link your Games for Windows Live profile to your existing Xbox Live profile. That’s right — you can earn Fallout 3 achievements twice, for both PC and Xbox 360. To link your Xbox Live profile, create a Games for Windows Live profile using your Live ID (ie, the email and login you used to link your Xbox Live profile to Live ID — that is, how you log onto xbox.com)

2. Once you link your Xbox Live profile, you’ll be able to see both your Games for Windows Live and Xbox Live friends together via the Games for Windows Live dash.

In addition, they wrote up a small note about save game issues with Fallout 3:

3. Question: Hey I was playing the game for a while, then logged onto my profile and my saves are gone? What happened?

Answer: Your saves are kept in specific directories tied to your profile. But don’t worry - you can go into your My Games folder and copy those saves over to your Profile’s save game directory.

For example, on my computer running Windows XP, under the Saves directory, I have two folders - Player1 and acheng. I can simply copy all the saves from Player1 to acheng, and I’m able to access them while logged on with my gamertag. On Windows XP, look in your My Documents\My Games\Fallout 3\Save folder. On Windows Vista, the path is C:\Users\{Username}\Documents\My Games\Fallout3\Saves.

For more troubleshooting tips, visit the Games for Windows Live technical support pages.

I didn't know much about this Games for Windows Live thing until I read this. Looks like you're able to play some multiplayer games crossplatform with the 360 (which means they probably nerf PC users to compensate for the inaccuracy of console controllers).

The first mods for Fallout 3 are out. Nothing gamebreaking, but take a look:

The aptly named No waypoints or markers for enemies or quests for Fallout 3...uhm...does what it says.

Radiation Redux tweaks the whole radiation thing so it doesn't give you quite as much info on your radcount.

Minimal UI Mod "removes many hud elements, and others are scaled down. Also includes the Official Fallout Font from the NMA site, with a few different sizes included for you to try out".

Pete Hines was asked by MTV Multiplayer why Fallout 3 really is the third in the series.

“We do consider it to be part of the series and we are trying to continue the legacy of ‘Fallout 1′ and ‘2′,” explained Hines. “That’s part of it, which is that we wanted to fit in to what’s going on. We didn’t want to suddenly just call it ‘Fallout’ because then it’s like we’re trying to pretend like the first one didn’t [exist].”

The way Hines talked about the subject, you could sense that making Bethesda’s take on “Fallout” as an official third entry raised the stakes for them on a personal level. It drove them to make this a true “Fallout” sequel, not a mere reboot, even if the visuals had changed.

“There’s only one ‘Fallout’ ever. There’s only one ‘Fallout 2,’” said Hines. “Those games will always exist and we didn’t want to do anything that was seen as trying to start over again. Honestly, we never really seriously considered anything else. It’s the next ‘Fallout’ game, that’s what we’re trying to to, both for people who played the original games and people who never have.”

What do you think?

So says Macky. He eloquently sums it up here:

I’ve decided to withhold my general opinion of the game until I get a little more of the game experience behind me.

However, I thought that this one piece of advice is worth exploiting, as it has single-handedly changed my experience of the product.

It turns out that simply playing the game on Hard (after leaving the vault or anytime thereafter) immediately shifts combat to a tactical engagement reminiscent of Fallout 2. I cannot imagine anyone who is playing this game on normal after I performed this switch.

Within an instant of changing the difficulty to hard, the game has turned from having a superfluous item inventory to feeling as if you are just barely surviving (.... w/ some room for comfort). From mindless FPS to deadly and complicated combat scenarios.

On the Hard setting, every combat engagement has required tactical strategizing, and accordingly, VATS begins to be used more in the vein of the turn-based targeting system we all used to love. In simpler terms, VATS becomes necessary, just as the turn-based system was necessary in taking out Frank Horrigan’s machine-gun arm and then legs before he could decimate my HP. Lots of strategic planning with mines, frag grenades, sniping, targeted shots, scraping for any ammo you can find, and laying traps in advance to catch enemies off guard. Lots of saving and reloading.

Again, I am only mentioning this because the game on normal was a ridiculously mindless FPS. With the simple change of difficulty, the experience and adventure of my survival has become very reminiscent of Fallout 2. And quite honestly, this pleases me greatly. Once again, I cannot imagine any Fallout fan muddling through this on a lower setting – that is, doing so and expecting it to resemble the feel of the previous games.

This is not to say that I feel the game should at all be likened to Fallout 1 or 2...a judgment I will reserve for latter. I am simply stating that the difficulty setting has completely changed my experience with the game for the better, and that that effect has amazingly brought the experience closer to my memories of Fallout 2.

What do you think? Agree/disagree? I'm still waiting for my freaking copy in the mail.

Popscythe has done a quick write up of his first impressions of Fallout 3, and he is certainly not happy. Read on, but be aware of harsh language, and an even harsher review!

Click here for the review.