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Star Paladin Cross' very own Follower Spotlight! After the jump! 

When developers make games, they make moral choices. And when they've reached the final conclusion we ask ourselves "Is it right?" "Is it wrong?" Well, that's subjective. Check out our thread on killing children in Fallout here. What do you think?

Before you answer, let RJtheShadow inspire you with this deep post: 

In my opinion, it depends how extreme you want to go in realism if you're a Fallout purist.
Children ARE humans, any physical abuse doesn't go without its effect.
(yes, possibly-fatal violence falls under that, I believe)
Killable children in games adds to realism and, in a limit, to a moral responsibility.

Every death you deal upon a non-hostile in Fallout is a choice.
If one could kill children in Fallout, or have mods that allow so, this doesn't mean they intend to do so.

Picture this dramatic scene in Fallout.
There are mods out there that add more life to the wasteland. Wanderers, young and old.
You are on a road. One end, Raiders, other end, you. In the middle, children and a wrecked car.
Battle ensues, and the car explodes. The children didn't flee far enough yet.

Normally, they survive the bombing. Hell, no scratch even.
What emotional kick does this give you? Nothing. Just another pack or raiders kissing the ground.
"Yeah, I'm rockin', wish it were enclave though, I need some heavy caps"

If Children would be able to die, you would see their corpse.
You would have the raiders dead, a good thing.
But the children are dead. You failed to follow up a responsibility as an adult.
You feel you have failed. This is depth. This is an emotional feeling no fancy plasma or magic effects can give.

The reason no Game developer will EVER let you kill children bluntly is because we are limiting our morality and are governed by those who are afraid of an unexpected reaction to this possibility to kill children. As I will clarify below.

Do I approve of children being hurt in real life? Absolutely not.
Is it possible to hurt children in real life? Frankly, yes.
Does a rationally thinking adult harm a real child? No. The responsibility of an adult.
Would I approve if a game would allow harm to virtual children? For the sake of realism, I'd balance to yes, and maybe a little to no.
I weap that this realism cannot be implemented in games, but I know why.

There are sick people out there. People who have done bad deeds because they cannot rationalise game events versus real life.
Those school-shootouts for example. Every time this happened, some f-cko liked putting up that gaming was leading to this.
This circle lead people being afraid of this hoax, limiting games, and so on...

Last I checked, GTAIV was +18, right? I forgot about Fallout 3 at the moment.
How come I see kids WAY too young buying that game. People ignore the age limits but yet need a scapegoat when their 'illegal' freedom turns against them when our children steal a car, or obtain a pistol because they are angry at another boy for stealing a minor posession, probably childs play. We might just be witnessing a circle of events. 
Violent games do not make mass murderers. But, just like movies and real-life trauma's, they can have an impact on fragile children. Hence the age limit

Bottom line, irresponsilibities is yet amongst one of the many reasons people are soft yet fierce on topics that do not weigh up to greater problems. 
I feel disbalanced when people protest for virtual actions that are morally disbalancing, whilst in real-life there are children being forced to fight, having pushed a gun in their arms in conflict countries.

By the way, if nobody mentioned it yet, there's a mod on the Nexus that lets you kill children effectively.
Its under the Adult mods. For a reason.

And for the record...
No, I don't know how I managed to type all that out. Maybe because I just ate and managed to get a clear mind.
If you find my opinion to be confusing you, thats okay. This is a topic that is ages away from being balanced.
And how about those people disliking kids when they steal something from you? Or if it were black people?
Exactly. These sensitive topics cannot pass in one or two alinea's. I think a book won't even do.

If you feel like discussing this with me, I will only do so civilised.
If you want to flame, just send me a PM. I can just ignore you there then.
My final opinion remains that killable children should be implemented as soon as we'd have a reliable way to prevent children and weak-minded to experience these deaths or responsibilities. People who can rationalise these sensitive topics.

But frankly, aside a few techniques to see lies to solve real murders, were still not perfectly controlling, let alone perceiving emotions and feelings of another person. Hell, sometimes we don't even know our own emotions. 

The Minigun in Fallout 3 is the most commonly-encountered Big Gun, which means it is comparatively easy to find and repair, as well as one of the few Big Guns easy to find ammunition for; nearly every Super Mutant Brute encountered with one has at least 30 5mm Rounds for it. It is also carried extensively by Brotherhood of Steel units, Brotherhood Outcast Units, Enclave Soldiers, as well as occasionally on some Raiders and Slavers. This is offset somewhat by the Minigun's high rate of fire quickly using up ammo. Though it does use up ammo as quick as the Gatling Laser, the Minigun is designed as a sustained-firing weapon, and its rate of fire of over 40 rounds per second means that it can use up 240 rounds quickly. Because of this, those who intend to make use of it should buy additional ammunition, which is generally quite plentiful at shops.

When firing the Minigun without V.A.T.S., there is a wind-up time between holding the fire button and when it actually fires. It usually takes under a second to begin shooting. This can be negated by tapping the fire button repeatedly to keep it spinning while not actually firing.

Miniguns have a high resale value and a high repair cost.

The Minigun is not as powerful as the Gatling Laser but does fire as fast. It does, however, have the advantage of having a much more common ammo type, and being much easier to keep in good condition; the Gatling Laser is much rarer.

The Minigun is known to disappear from NPC follower's inventories (XBox 360 tested, Charon and Clover).

Brotherhood Outcasts occasionally hold the Minigun like a rifle, without the ammo crate on their backs.

Source: http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Minigun_(Fallout_3)

Fallout 3 developer accuses original publisher of breach of contract, trademark infringement over stillborn MMORPG and selling Fallout games on Steam, GOG.com, and GameTap.

My review:

So here's the story: My old man and I sometimes like to play video games together. After a while of not playing, he decided to go out and buy Fallout 3, under the assumption that it was a shooter. I originally did not know exactly what genre it was until I did some research, by the way. Anyway, after playing for a few hours he got tired of the myriad of RPG elements and quit the game completely, leaving me to explore the wonderful world of Fallout 3, a world full of dangerous creatures, numerous quests, plenty of weapons, items, and locations, and one of the best RPG experiences I've ever had.

Fallout 3, like the other games in the series (I have never played them myself but I know a good deal about them) takes place after a nuclear war with China devastates the U.S. and nearly destroys the world. Unlike other games in the series, this one takes place in Washington D.C. You are a member of Vault 101, a safe haven for a few select people chosen to live there in preparation for the war. I won't spoil it for you, but something causes you to escape the vault and venture out into the Capital Wasteland, as it is called. Here there are no laws and no limits. You can do anything you want. Be good or evil. Jump into the main quest right away, do some side quests, or just explore. And trust me, there's a lot to explore. But, I'll get to that later. So, here's the review.

Graphics 9/10:

The graphics are on par with what you would expect in a game that goes above and beyond normal standards. Environments are detailed and textured nicely, the character models are flawless, and mouth movement and facial expressions aren't the best I've ever seen, but they're still very good. Now, the world isn't as full and luscious as, say, Oblivion, but what do you expect after a nuclear war? Overall, very good graphics.

Sound 9/10:

The sound is nothing incredibly special, but no complaints here. Explosions sound quite nice, whether you're blowing up cars, enemies or a certain atomic bomb... The gunshot sounds and vibrations aren't spectacular, but they get the job done. The voice acting is terrific, I must say. I don't put too much emphasis on sound, but it was well done.

Story 7/10:

Western RPG's aren't really known to have as good stories of ****c and Japanese RPG's, and Fallout 3 is no exception. It's enough to keep you going and has enough plot twists to keep you on your toes, but Fallout 3 is more about free-form exploration and questing than following a story. Decent, but not great.

Gameplay 10/10:

What makes or breaks a game, right? Well Fallout 3 made it with flying colors. I'll break the gameplay down into three parts so it doesn't get confusing.

Exploration and Interaction- This is basically all things non-combat. The world of this game is huge, and you are encouraged to explore. Really, if you want to survive, you have to. You'll find new locations (there's tons of them), caps (the game's currency), things to sell, new weapons and ammo, and of course, enemies. The sheer size of the world can only be compared to games like Oblivion (which I also loved). If there were ever a "Best Game Worlds" award I would give the trophy to Bethesda for their work.

Interaction is mostly dealing with objects and NPC's. You can pickup and move objects, which works fine except for the movement, but you'll rarely use it. Talking with NPC's is efficient and fun. If a character asks you a question, there are almost always several responses you can make, which vary depending upon what you want your personality to come of as. There are also speech challenges, with certain NPC's, which can lead to information and rewards, but only have a chance at succeeding. The higher your speech skill, the higher the chance of success. However, it's all too easy to simply save and reload (you can save at any time) until you get the desired result. The non-combat features are better than most RPG's and I have no complaints.

Combat- You'll be doing a lot of fighting in Fallout 3. Enemies range from violent people to mutated insects to just plain weird. Like any game, you'll start out with weak and basic weapons, but it's not too hard to gather more powerful weapons and armor, especially if you're doing a lot of exploring. There are both guns and melee weapons, which range from knives and shotguns to handheld chainsaws and plasma rifles. As for the actual combat, you can fight enemies in either first or third person. Combat runs like most shooters, though sometimes not as good. You'll hardly notice it, but after playing a game like Bioshock, Fallout 3's combat can feel a bit clunky. There's also a new system called V.A.T.S. mode. Basically it pauses the game, lets you focus on nearby targets and select body parts to hit by spending a limited amount of action points on them. It's a good system, and makes combat more manageable when things really get hectic. Overall, combat is a blast, and you'll never grow tired of blasting away mutants with your totally sweet gatling laser.

Character Progression- I thought I'd include this since it's an important part of any RPG. Basically, you level up by gaining experience from killing enemies and completing quests. Once you level up, you can put a set amount of points into any skill, thereby creating a player that fits your play **** You can also choose a perk at each new level, which can give you special abilities, improve your skills, or let you do more damage. It's a solid system that will have you itching to get more experience and get to the next level.

Fallout 3 is a must-have for any fans of the series, RPG's, or just great games. It's easy to spend over a hundred hours in the Capital Wasteland, and you still wouldn't have completed everything. An excellent game that I'm still playing almost a year after it's release and I highly recommend.

Final Score 9/10

You won't find a better game from 2008.

By Maxmax1234

By Soulja_West

We have 1000 Fallout members. Thats quite an achievement in a short amount of time. We thank all our 1000 followers for the regular visits and I believe before this year is over, we will have close to 2000 members and counting.

From Onozuka Komachi

The Next Level has done an interview of Bethesdas Fallout 3 lead designer Emil Pagliarulo. Many questions are asked including the complaint of "Oblivion with guns" and status on the new Fallout 3 pack which includes all the DLC.

TNL: A simple one right out of the gate. Mothership Zeta has been cited as the last DLC for Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas is being developed by Obsidian. Can you give us some clues as to what's next for Bethesda? Can we expect a new Elder Scrolls game, another Fallout or something entirely different?

Emil: Well, in the short term we've got the Fallout 3 Game of the Year, which is the base Fallout 3 game with all five DLCs rolled into it. So we're still actively working on Fallout 3 stuff. Beyond that, everything is super exciting and super top secret, and if I told you what it was, I'd be amongst America's unemployed tomorrow. So I'll leave it at that.

TNL: When it was first announced that Bethesda would be making Fallout 3, many gamers were convinced it would just be Oblivion with guns. I'm curious as to what you thought of that. Also, with the success Fallout 3 has enjoyed what, in your opinion, did it do better then Oblivion?

Emil: Yeah, the whole "Oblivion with Guns" criticism was hurled our way so long ago. But it's funny, because in order for that to resonate with you, you have to sort of feel that Oblivion isn't a good game, and "Oblivion with Guns" would be a bad thing. Well... we think Oblivion is a damn good game. And so did millions of people who bought it. And scores of reviewers. So, you know, we started to realize, "Hey, that's more a compliment than an insult, isn't it?" So for us, Fallout 3 is "Oblivion with guns" in all the right ways. Meaning, you wander around a huge world, and talk to lots of interesting characters, and get lots of quests. But instead of killing them with a magic sword, you kill them with a gun that shoots teddy bears.

You can find the full article here.

Source: nma-fallout.com/

From Onozuka Komachi

Sacrebleu!

It seems that the version of Fallout 2 being offered through Steam for download has some strange issues of being an amalgamation of completely different national versions. The text is in English, but the intro is spoken in French, and the children are missing à la the United Kingdom version. From Examiner:

Redownloading the game does nothing, but replacing the MASTER.DAT and CRITTER.DAT files from the original game CD - if you have it - should fix the problem.

For the full article look here, mon ami

Source: fallout.com/

Bestheda is releasing an art book for Fallout 3 and it will be available October 6, 2009. The title of the art book is called, The Art of Fallout 3. Personally, I like the name because Fallout 3 is a work of art. The art of Fallout 3 will contain nearly 100 pages of fallout 3 art work for your viewing pleasure along with commentary from Bethesda's artist. The Art of Fallout will be a coffee table book format.

The Art of Fallout 3 will retail at $29.99 in the US. Fans of Fallout should check this out. You can pre-order the Art of Fallout 3 here.

By Maxmax1234

By Soulja_west

Mothership Zeta is the last DLC for Fallout 3 and it went out of a low note. Gamespot editor Kevin VanOrd gave Fallout 3 a 6.0. The reason behind is score is because he says that Mothership Zeta has a poor story, akward shooting, and boring mission objectives. Kevin Vanord is a well respected reviewer and I like some of his reviews but I will play Mothership Zeta for myself to see if I like it or not but for those of you that have played it, give us your opinion on the lastest DLC for Fallout 3.

Click here for full review

The Fallout 3 website has confirmed that Mother Zeta is the last DLC for Fallout 3 but you can never tell with Bethesda. The fans want to hear it from the horses mouth and here it is.

Bethesda

"never say 'never,' but this is the last DLC we have planned."

It really feels like déjà vu. So maybe we'll see more aliens abducting samurais.

From the description, do you think that Bestheda in the future will release more DLC for Fallout 3? It sure sounds like it to me. I wouldn't mind if they did though.