February issues of several magazines are featuring exclusive content concerning Fallout New Vegas.  One such magazine, PC Gamer, released somewhat early to their subscribers so naturally the details on the game have begun pouring out onto the web.

There is now an optional level of difficulty called “hardcore”, which increases the game’s realism and conversely the difficulty in the following ways:

• The player character will be required to drink water to survive.
• Ammunition now has weight.
• Healing is not instantaneous.

Being forced to either carry water or hover around a water source will certainly prove interesting in a desert environment.  Likewise, healing while under heavy gunfire will prove more difficult with the effects setting in slowly.  I imagine more powerful weapons will also have heavier ammunition, suggesting players will have to carefully choose what to bring with them on their journeys.  I believe having companions will almost certainly be a requirement on this setting at least for the purpose of carrying more gear.

I appreciate the realism here, which already is making the world of the game feel more dangerous.  Also, this higher mode of difficulty is more appealing to me than “hard” in Fallout 3, which only affected the strength of enemies and the EXP the player received.

The player character (PC) was once a courier, left for dead in the desert.  A robot named Victor (quite possibly the one in the teaser trailer) unearths the PC and presents him/her to his owner, a doctor named Mitchell.  The doctor treats the PC’s wounds and presents a vigour test, described as an electric parlour game, which determines SPECIAL.  Mitchell, a former vault dweller, presents the PC with both a Pip-Boy and a vault suit.

Major factions appearing in the game include, as speculated, the New California Republic (NCR), a group of slavers dubbed “Ceasar’s Legion”, and the residents of New Vegas.  The three appear to all be at odds with each other.  With whom will the player character ally?

When it comes to enemies, ghouls are of course returning in full force.  It is also confirmed that a ghoul can be recruited as an ally if they player rescues him/her in a certain quest.  Super Mutants come in more varieties including the intelligent Nightkin.

Real world locations that appear in the game include:

• McCarren Airport which serves as the base for NCR in Nevada.
• The Hover dam which is supplying New Vegas with electricity.
• Area 51 (rumored, no confirmation)

The Karma system is back and will be coupled with a reputation system.  Karma is character specific where Reputation is location specific (e.g. how the NCR feel towards the PC may differ that how Slavers feel about the PC).  Lastly more conversation options are unlocked depending on the skills the player excels at.  This system is much more complex than in the past providing different levels of options depending on the PC’s aptitude according to J. E Sawyer.

Thanks once again to a fan and The Vault for getting this info out as quickly as possible.  Now I am just waiting on some scans!  Once they are available I will certainly be posting them.

Related Entries:
Fallout: New Vegas Rumors Emerge
Fallout: New Vegas First Teaser Image… Maybe?
Fallout New Vegas: Teaser Video

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Today Bethesda released a teaser trailer for Fallout: New Vegas.  Sadly very little information on the game is revealed, but this is probably just the beginning of Bethesda’s marketing campaign which will last until the game’s release which has been confirmed for this Fall.

The trailer opens with some unknown variety of robot sifting through sand and garbage on the outskirts of New Vegas while Sinatra’s Blue Moon plays.  As the camera pans back we see what appears to be a member of the NCR (New California Republic) gazing on.  He states  (in Ron Perlman’s voice) “War, War never changes” — a classic quote from the series.

The only other information we have to go on beside the teaser trailer is this summary from Bethesda’s main site:

Experience all the sights and sounds of fabulous New Vegas, brought to you by Vault-Tec, America’s First Choice in Post Nuclear Simulation. Explore the treacherous wastes of the Great Southwest from the safety and comfort of your very own vault: Meet new people, confront terrifying creatures, and arm yourself with the latest high-tech weaponry as you make a name for yourself on a thrilling new journey across the Mojave wasteland. A word of warning, however – while Vault-Tec engineers have prepared for every contingency,* in Vegas, fortunes can change in an instant. Enjoy your stay.

* Should not be construed as a legally-binding claim.

This blurb, like the trailer,  sheds little light on the game’s story or mechanics.  The part that mentions “simulation” worries me a bit but I will wait until all the facts are in before I start throwing punches.

Both Official Xbox Magazine and Playstation 3 Magazine will have articles concerning Fallout: New Vegas released February 11th.  The articles are said to include screens and information presumably more concrete than the above trailer.  I will certainly be picking up a copy of that and possibly uploading some scans unless I find some first.

EDIT: Both magazines are released exclusively in the UK.  Bummer.  Any English fans wanna provide me some screens?

Special thanks to The Vault and their excellent community of fans which really helped me collect the information for this post amidst a sea of blocked websites at work.  I think this is going to be an exciting Fall indeed.

Related Entries:
Fallout: New Vegas Rumors Emerge
Fallout: New Vegas First Teaser Image… Maybe?

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Sega took an egg-beater to the hearts of Shenmue fans late last month when they had the audacity to mention Shenmue III was a possibility.  The deciding factor?  Well, they don’t want to pay for it, so they need a hardware manufacturer to support the project in exchange for exclusivity.  I guess they weren’t too happy with the sales of the previous titles and don’t feel like taking a chance.  With the story already completed and someone else funding them, Sega’s profit potential would be substantial.

I always hate when the financial politics behind games become apparent, but I suppose that’s just part of the process.  From a marketing standpoint, the fact that the series has maintained such a following 10 years after the first title’s release is saying a lot for its potential in the current generation.

Is this passing comment by Sega and my air-tight logic enough to entice one of the three console manufacturers into stepping up to the task?  That sounds doubtful to me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t dream.

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The whopping four disc soundtrack to Final Fantasy XIII was released in Japan last week.  The series is well known for exceptional scores, which is probably why such a lavish collection was possible.  The OST boasts 85 total tracks with some fancy packaging to boot.  For more details you can check out the official website of the soundtrack here.

Bleak Harvest was nice enough to provide me with a link to download the OST and I figured it was only fair to perpetuate his kindness by linking to it here on the site.  I highly recommend giving it a listen since this will be the most complete soundtrack the game will receive.  The one bundled with the PAL special edition certainly pales in comparison.

For the sake of completion I have included both the Japanese and English tracklisting which can be found below.  Enjoy and if anyone wants to stick a mirror in the comments be my guest!

Composer: Masashi Hamauzu
Japanese release date: January 27th
Discs: 4
Download link: here

Tracklisting:

(more…)

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A couple weeks ago Mark from PSNation, Bleak Harvest, and myself had a rousing discussion concerning our experiences importing Final Fantasy XIII.  Actually Mark didn’t import it, he was just our ringleader so to speak.

I realize at times the tone may border on the negative but rest assured both of us genuinely enjoyed our time with the game.  For more on my feelings concerning Final Fantasy XIII you can check out my impression, which may also clear up some of what we talk about in the podcast.  After giving it another listen, I think I sounded like an escaped mental patient while trying to explain the weapon system…

If you’re still frothing at the mouth for more opinions concerning the game, you can also check out Bleak Harvest’s extremely in-depth impression here.

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