First announced back in April 2009, the next edition in the Fallout series has finally had its first footage.

The Fallout New Vegas Teaser reveals it will launch at the end of 2010 on PC, XBOX 360 and PS3.

Bethesda are on publishing duties, with Obsidian developing the game.

Bethesda has announced it will taking over publishing duties for the first-person shooter Rage.

Electronic Arts were due to be publishing the game.

It is being developed by id Software and is scheduled for a 2010 release on PC, XBOX 360 and PS3.

This announcement is not affecting the development process.

A host of E3 material has been released with the main event kicking off next week.

Bethesda and Splash Damage fans will be intrigued by BRINK – a new title heading out at the start of 2010.

Electronic Arts has put out more footage of Need for Speed: Shift and The Saboteur, plus unlockable content is on show in The Sims 3 and Battlefield 1943 videos.

The new shooter from Codemasters, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising gets an outing too, showcasing the intense in-game footage.

More to follow throughout next week.

Bethesda has confirmed that it is to publish WET, the third person shooter title from development studio A2M.

The game was set for a 2008 release, but was a victim of the Activision/Vivendi merger.

It will now be making a splash on the PS3 and XBOX 360 in the latter stages of this year.

Bethesda has announced that it is releasing a new Fallout title in 2010, called Fallout: New Vegas.

It is not a follow-up to Fallout 3, instead it is a standalone title set in the Fallout universe and will be released for the PC, XBOX 360 and PS3.

Obsidian, the studio behind Neverwinter Nights 2 and the upcoming Alpha Protocol will be developing the game, leaving publishing duties solely to Bethesda.

Following news that Fallout 3 has had to remove certain drug references in order to gain classification in Australia, the game’s Product Manager, Pete Hines, has lashed out against the ratings agencies, and their varying standards.

“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’,” he said.

“In one place nudity is a big deal but violence is fine, and in another place drugs are a problem but nudity is fine. I guess that’s the way of the world – not every country is the same. You’re not aiming at one target, you’re aiming at six different ones, worrying about how each one will feel about different things.

“We just go through and make the game that we want to make – We have our eyes wide open, mindful of the things that could be flagged up and how we’re going to resolve them if that becomes a problem,” he added.

Massive interview with Executive Producer Todd Howard answering some popular fan questions just went up over at Bethesda’s site.  There’s loads of new in depth details there, so well worth checking out. Even I, with my jaded ‘what do Bethesda know about story and atmosphere’ perspective, was suitably enthralled.

For those that can’t be arsed:

-  Bethesda is skirting round the maturity a little, offering up drugs, slavery, postitution etc, ut shying away from nudity and child killings.

- Children are invincible and will run away when attacked

- Most NPCs can be killed, but a very few are story essential and can only be knocked unconscious

- Most decisions fall into good or evil options

- Inventory is weight based, not slots

- A few NPC companions exist, but are hard to find, and can only be used one at a time

- No level editor at release, maybe later

- Perks and traits have been merged: traits no longer exist

- Combat is realtime, but stats based: a low handgun skill means slightly higher aim wobble, and much lower damage

There’s a few things in there that make me really really excited. The first time you talk to a Ghoul, one of the diaogue choices is “Gah! What the f*#$ are you?”

There’s also a few things that make me cringe. For one, it doesn’t sound as if Bethesda is providing quite the same level of liberty and moral ambiguity. Most quests and decisions will have god or bad outcomes, fairly black and white, so the extent to which you can forge a unique path seems limited. Unlike the old games, you can’t play the entire thing by killing everybody. There’s some dramatic options available, but it sounds more branching than sandbox to me.

The maturity thing is a bit annoying. As Howard notes, “We wouldn’t be able to sell the game, anywhere to anyone, if the children could be killed.” He pitches the whole ‘it wouldn’t have added anything to the game anyway’, but I do feel as that level of freedom and maturity is something that somewhat defines the series.

And now I’m exhausted, because I’m really really confused about whether I should like this game or not.

This one kicked off a week or so ago, when Game Plasma posted a comment on unknown adventure title Limbo of the Lost. As you can see from the images above, Limbo’s levels bear an uncanny resemblance to areas originally appearing in Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion.

The game’s publisher issued a swift response.

“Tri Synergy is just as shocked as everyone else is by the recent screenshot comparisons. Tri Synergy will discontinue distribution of Limbo of the Lost in both retail and online outlets. We have contacted the developer, Majestic, and are anxiously awaiting their response.”

Yesterday, three man developer Majestic responded to the accusations for the first time. Gamespot’s down at the moment, but the comment went roughly as follows.

“In response to the shocking notification that some alleged unauthorized copyrighted materials submitted by sources external to the development team have been found within the PC game Limbo of the Lost, we (the development team) have given our consent and full cooperation to both publishers who are recalling all units from all territories immediately.”

So, it sounds as if they’re in no way denying the parallels, but are shifting blame onto ‘external sources’.

We’ll see. Once thing’s for sure – I’ve never seen anything quite like this before. It’s like Porsche revealing a new 911, only to discover they’ve just slapped a new body kit onto a Ferrari.

Lots and lots of new info on Fallout 3 emerged recently, and I’ve been kind enough to sum it all up for you.

First off, the 360 has been confirmed as the lead platform – a stark departure from the hardcore PC gaming approach of the previous, non-Bethesda iterations. Apparently it’s because they had mroe time to work on 360 – it’s been out a year longer than the PS3 – but then I always thought the PC had been around for longer than both of them, but there you go.

Secondly, despite shooting for 30 fps on all platforms (with load times and detail levels a secondary priority), the game will require the same hefty PC specs that Oblivion did – and that’s relative to the time of release, so it’s going to be a big hitter.

Third, Bethesda is looking into releasing DLC for the game, though no hard and fast details are confirmed as yet.

Finally, Dogmeat the dog can be killed. Very easily, and very permanantly.

Aww.

Sadly, the big winner was a sensible, useful gameplay mechanic, rather than something ludicrous. ‘Grim Reaper’s Sprint’ refills players’ move action points every time they kill an enemy.

More interesting runners up included:

- Kleptomaniac: You have the uncontrollable urge to steal from people you talk to. They never notice it, but neither do you! You sometimes end up with their money or items. It’s like a disease!

- Crazy Eye: Opponents attacking from the front suffer a penalty to hit you because, seriously, that eye is freaking me out.

- Puppet Master: You have a special little friend, your hand puppet who has followed you through thick and thin, and always has an opinion about things. (Gain an extra dialogue option)