Talking to VG247 today, Bethesda's Peter Hines said that journalists at E3 were surprised they were allowed to freely play the game.
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GamingShogun reports on a message received from Pete Hines stating that the first of many official Fallout 3 comic strips, created by the guys at Penny Arcade, has been posted online for your viewing pleasure...
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Fallout 3 developers share their thoughts on E3 2008 - agrees that the show's concept still needs a little tweaking.
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At the E3 Media and Business Summit last week, Bethesda Softworks said it would be bringing Fallout 3 downloadable content exclusively to Xbox 360 and Windows, leaving buyers of the PS3 version out of luck as far as extra content is concerned.
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Despite moving back to its old stomping grounds in the Los Angeles Convention Center, E3 was kinder and gentler than year's past. Crowds were rarely seen and game journalists were, at times, able to form the semblance of a smile by the end of the show...thanks in no small part to some very enjoyable games and a distinct drop in the body odor factor. Anyway, here are UGO's picks for the best of the best of E3 2008.
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Ripten:

"A lot of times you'll hear about religious lunatics who can't wait for the impending apocalypse. I never understood how they can look forward to something as utterly tragic as Doomsday.

Well, I have seen the blasted, radioactive future-and it is fun. Assuming our hands and eyeballs haven't melted into goo, we can all anticipate an endlessly entertaining nuclear aftermath, as portrayed by Fallout 3. "

Full preview after the jump.
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From Blast Magazine:
"Okay, so it wasn't the most surprising, awe-inspiring E3 ever, but we had a great time and saw some amazing things.

We witnessed a revitalized Atari, a ballsy Electronic Arts and the peak of the music game fad."
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Ars Technica writes: "Last week, Fallout 3 joined a long list of games deemed unsuitable for sale in Australia. Because that country lacks an equivalent to a Mature rating, many more adult-themed games receive this treatment. Michael Atkinson, Attorney General of South Australia, has explained why he believes that an 18+ rating should not be put in place."
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"With this lineup due to be making its presence felt in the homes of PS3 users everywhere, it looks like this will be one of Sony's best-selling years. Microsoft's fall lineup might have problems keeping up with this release schedule."
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One of the new features announced for Fallout 3 during E3 was the ability for the player to construct his own weapons out of bits of machinery he or she finds lying about in the world.

Bethesda's Todd Howard demonstrated this by showing off a rocket launcher that was built out of a wood chipper and a leaf blower. Oh, and it fires teddy bears.
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VG247: Bethesda's Todd Howard has just played Fallout 3 for the first time in public in Microsoft's E3 press conference.

Howard showed the PipBoy 3000 with various menus and its radio options.

"This is a game where you can play any kind of character you want," said Howard.
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Fallout 3 has been banned in Australia, but Aussie gamers aren't giving up without a fight. Gameplayer.com.au has launched a petition in a bid to change the minds of the Australian censors:

"This petition is deigned to show to the Attorney General that the Australian public - the people to whom he answers - disprove of the current classification system. In particular to highlight the lack of consistency and hypocrisy in its decision making…"
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From GamingTarget.com "Bethesda Softworks' parent company, ZeniMax, has a new website up, an unannounced page for Bethesda's upcoming RPG Fallout 3. The page will almost certainly be announced when E3 starts this week (edit: where our very first appointment on Tuesday is to preview the game), but we bring you the skinny ahead of time."
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GamingShogun writes, "Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that it has partnered with the American Cinematheque and GEEK Monthly magazine to sponsor 'A Post-Apocalyptic Film Festival Presented by Fallout® 3' at Santa Monica's Aero Theatre this August..."
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If you're waiting for your chance to see Fallout 3 in action, G4's got you covered on Monday. Beginning at 7PM (Eastern Time), they'll be airing a two-hour E3 Preview Show featuring a Fallout 3 demonstration from Todd Howard.
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IGN Australia has received documents outlining the reasons behind the Fallout 3 ban, and warning all Australians from importing the game.

IGN writes:

"IGN AU has received the OFLC's report on its appraisal of Bethesda's anticipated RPG, Fallout 3. The two page document outlines the classification board's reasons for refusing to classify the game for Australians; specifically, the intrinsic use of 'Chems', which are thinly-disguised narcotics that can be used during the game for various stat-modifiers.

Also worth noting, for people considering a foreign copy of Fallout 3 on PC and PS3, we have some bad news; you may run into legal issues. The OFLC's guidelines on the importation of games restrict buyers from importing games with drug-related content:

"The Classification Board may advise that importation or exportation of items should not be allowed if they:
# in relation to a computer game – are unsuitable for a person under 18 to see or play; or
# promote, incite or instruct in matters of crime or violence; or
# promote or incite the misuse of a drug specified in Schedule 4.

Like importing any other banned game or film, you take the legal ramifications of the process into your own hands. Don't say we didn't warn you."

Hit the jump for more.
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Eurogamer reports that Bethesda has said there will "definitely" be no developer tools shipped with the PC version of Fallout 3.

But it remains a possibility for the future, unlike on consoles where there are too many "barriers" to overcome.

"It will definitely not be included on the disk," said Todd Howard in a fan interview on the Bethesda forum. "If and when one is available it will be a free download. I wish I could promise that an editor will be coming and when, but I can't.
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VG247: Bethseda's Fallout 3 has been refused classification by the Australian OFLC.

Dated July 4, the RC rating comes just four days before Bethseda announced that the game would feature slavery, drugs and addiction.
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Bethesda power-dresser Todd Howard has promised that Fallout 3 will lose none of the "harshness and maturity" fans like about the series.

Howard said "slavery, children, drugs and addiction" will feature as themes, and that narcotics abuse will be a "key gameplay device". But child killing and nudity will not feature, as they were deemed to add nothing to the "flavour" of the game.
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Kotaku reports:

Yes, the rumour was true. The Office of Film and Literature Classification has handed an RC to Bethesda's Fallout 3, making it illegal to sell the game in Australia. It's not known at this stage if the ban was for drug use, as the original rumour states, or gore as I was predicting.

I was ready to dismiss the rumour when I first heard it, but my suspicions were raised when Red Ant failed to confirm or deny it. It's not unusual for a publisher to do this, but it seemed particularly odd as Red Ant had no problem in the past commenting about Fallout 3 and the OFLC.

We'll be on Red Ant and Bethesda's backs to see what it plans to do. Most likely the game will be edited to remove the offending content and resubmitted, as AFA Interactive did with Dark Sector.

Even if it is edited, I don't think it'll stop some from importing the title, as was the case with Grand Theft Auto IV after it was censored for Australia...
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