Fallout 3

Speaking to Edge, Bethesda has explained what it calls a “misconception” regarding the classification of Fallout 3 in the Australian region. Edge has also learned that due to concerns and issues raised in the process of international classification, Fallout 3 will not contain real world drug references in any territory.

Fallout 3 was originally refused classification by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, citing among other reason the in-game use of “Morphine” in order to ignore limb pain. According to the Office’s guidelines, “material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use” is refused classification.

In mid-August, the OFLC announced that a revised version of the game had been granted a rating in Australia, thanks to edits that changed the context of the in-game drug use.

While it has been assumed that these changes would only be in place in the Australian release of the game, Edge has been told by Bethesda vice president of PR and marketing Peter Hines that there will be no differences between the version that releases in Australia and the versions that will release in other territories, including Europe and the US.

Calling the idea of an Australia-specific version of the game a “misconception,” Hines told us, “We want to make sure folks understand that the Australian version of Fallout 3 is identical to both the UK and North American versions in every way, on every platform.”

He continued, “An issue was raised concerning references to real world, proscribed drugs in the game, and we subsequently removed those references and replaced them with fictional names. To avoid confusion among people in different territories, we decided to make those substitutions in all versions of the game, in all territories.”

Hines stated, “I didn't want people continuing to assume the version in Australia was some altered version when it's not.” Finally, he explained that, “There are no references to real world drugs in any version of Fallout 3.”

Bethesda has in the past described the landscape of international ratings classification as a challenge. In previous interviews, Hines has referred to the variation of rules and standards across different regions as “frustrating”.

captain red dog wrote:Doesn't the Biosuit in Half Life tell you that it is injecting morphine?

F-Heonix wrote:So that LTD, is that including the lunchbox and bobble head? Because if it isn't

Sarge wrote:That LE is might tempting, hopefully it won't already be broken in the box like the BS LE figurine.

I still haven't received my replacement figurine/model.

Dante wrote:

F-Heonix wrote:So that LTD, is that including the lunchbox and bobble head? Because if it isn't

That version is just the game and figure - the other version is the lunchbox, clock, bubblehead, arttbox and game

evanswolves wrote:

Dante wrote:

F-Heonix wrote:So that LTD, is that including the lunchbox and bobble head? Because if it isn't

That version is just the game and figure - the other version is the lunchbox, clock, bubblehead, arttbox and game

I thought the clock was exclusive to Amazon in the USA

Sarge wrote:Censors Force Fallout 3 Changes

UGO: Just wanted to confirm the annoucement that all versions of Fallout 3 would be indentical, with the changes being made to the names of specific drugs (changing them from real-world names to in-universe names). Can you be more specific? If I recall, all of the drugs in the builds we’ve played were made-up names like Buffout and Mentats.

Pete Hines: The chems in the original Fallout used fictional names...Buffout, Jet, Rad-X, etc. Those all appear in Fallout 3 in exactly the same way as before.

We had added a new chem to Fallout 3 and had given it a real-world name, Morphine. Questions were raised about the use of that real-world drug, not only in Australia, but other territories as well. We decided there was no reason it needed to be named that and it should be a fictional name like the other chems, so we changed it to “Med-X”.

That’s the change we made in response to those concerns, nothing else.

So there you have it. Lots of craziness for something pretty innocuous. See, it always helps to ask!

captain red dog wrote:

evanswolves wrote:

Dante wrote:

F-Heonix wrote:So that LTD, is that including the lunchbox and bobble head? Because if it isn't

That version is just the game and figure - the other version is the lunchbox, clock, bubblehead, arttbox and game

I thought the clock was exclusive to Amazon in the USA

FFS! I want the clock now too!

Revitalizing a Heritage: The Writing of Fallout 3

During development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda Game Studios designer Emil Pagliarulo was tasked with creating the game's "Dark Brotherhood" scenario, which he says is "for those players who have jumped over [the] moral fence and never want to look back."

The experience of designing that kind of quest surrounded by a high fantasy world may be part of what prepared him to take the lead on the bleak, post-apocalyptic and darkly humorous Fallout 3.

In development for four years and subject to the vocal scrutiny of longtime series fans all along the way, Fallout 3 must both live up to Black Isle's classic 1997 PC RPG Fallout as well as differentiate it from Bethesda's own classic PC RPG setting, The Elder Scrolls.

The closest area of scrutiny for those expectations is likely the game's prose, and so for the first time in the studio's history, it assigned the title of lead writer -- a duty Pagliarulo considers parallel to his role as lead designer.

During the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Pagliarulo sat down with Gamasutra to discuss Fallout 3's lengthy development process, which will culminate in an October 28 release for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3; his challenges in finding the right tone for the game; his thoughts on video game writing; and how his early days at now-defunct Looking Glass Studios were "like a crash course in good game design."