Fallout 3 Launches Amidst Controversy

Earlier this week, Bethesda released Fallout 3 after a long campaign of defending and protecting the game's reputation from claims that it contained inappropriate content. Ads for the game in Washington DC's subway system were pulled after they upset some touchy travelers over the depiction of post-apocalyptic Washington landmarks. Shortly before the game's release, early trailers were removed as well. Earlier this year, the game was banned in Australia for its in-game use of morphine, causing the drug's name to be changed to Med-X. On the issue of sensitive content, Bethesda's Emil Pagliarulo wrote in Edge Magazine about the design decision to disallow the killing of children in the game. Gamasutra ran an opinion piece on the same subject, and the Washington Post discusses the role of Washington DC in Fallout 3. On the DRM front, the game does come with SecuROM, but Bethesda says it's only used for a disc check. Reviews for the game have been overwhelmingly positive so far, despite reports of bugs with the save system and occasional lock-ups.

Comments

Why pre-order...?

[keith_nt4]

Well I suppose it's off-topic but I'm still a little angry about it: I put down $5 at a video game store in EARLY OCTOBER for the PC version of Fallout 3. The guy called it a "pre-order". The term suggests I'm "ordering it" BEFORE it is released. As in I'll have a copy when I come in to pick it up. Isn't that the point? So I go in on the 31st to pick it up and they say it's sold out...what is that like four days? Nobody said anything about getting it within four days. So I'm trying to figure out what the point of pre-ordering is if you don't actually get a copy. What did I pay for?! I think I'll stop going to that particular place for anything game-related. Gamecrazy.