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Watch your head, folks, because prices are falling. Today's Xbox Live holiday deal of the day is targeted directly at DLC for Bethesda's critical and commercial darling, Fallout 3. If you're looking to add more intense VATS-related action to the RPG, each add-on pack is available for 400 ($5) a piece -- a 50% savings of your Microsoft-branded space bucks.

New to the Fallout 3 universe? There are five DLC add-on packs for the (already) lengthy RPG. Arguably the most important -- and one you should tackle first -- is Broken Steel, which increases the game's overall level cap to 30 and allows players to continue playing beyond the conclusion. Also, a Game of the Year edition is available in stores, which includes all of Fallout 3's downloadable content -- making it cheaper if you don't already own the game to begin with.

Add Fallout 3's Operation Anchorage DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's The Pitt DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's Broken Steel DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's Point Lookout DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue
Add Fallout 3's Mothership Zeta DLC to your Xbox 360 download queue

[Thanks, Brett]

Android and Me points out some ports of popular id games were once available on your snazzy superphone, including Quake, Wolfenstein and Doom. They didn't last long, however, as Zenimax has managed to get the games pulled from Google's Android Market service due to copyright infringement.

It's only natural for ZeniMax to want to get the titles pulled and doubly so if the publisher is thinking about releasing id's classics on the platform, though that's just speculation on our part based on id's readiness to work on the competing iPhone platform. Head past the break to check out some footage of what you missed out on, courtesy of the unofficial Android version of Doom.

We've asked ZeniMax to comment on any commercial plans for these titles on Android and to clarify the nature of Doom's open source codebase and why it was included in this takedown request.

[Update: A ZeniMax spokesperson got back to use, writing: "We did issue a DMCA takedown notice to the Android store to remove the unofficial Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake games as they contain our trademarks and copyrighted assets, including graphics, artwork, storylines and audio. Open source relates to the underlying engine source code, not to a game's content, trademarks and assets, all of which remain proprietary. If the game was a total conversion and did not use any of our trademarks or assets, that would be fine. But none of our data can be repackaged and nobody is authorized to make a Doom, Wolfenstein or Quake product."]


[Via Game Politics]

Last week, a US District Court judge denied Bethesda's request for an injunction against Interplay, which would have prevented Interplay from selling its Fallout games -- and stopped it from developing Project V13, the Fallout MMO.

The company released a short statement about the court case in the form of SEC Form 8-K, which is intended to provide information about major events to shareholders. Interplay is not happy to merely defend its rights to make and sell Fallout games: the statement reads that Interplay is going to continue pursuing "its Counter-Claims against Bethesda, including its claims for Breach of Contract, Tortious Interference with Prospective Economic Advantage, Rescission, Accounting and Declaratory Relief seeking an award of damages and other relief."

Interplay reportedly claims that Bethesda shopped the Fallout legacy games around to other publishers, telling them that Interplay no longer had the license, which constitutes "unreasonable interference" with Interplay's property.

[Via Duck and Cover]

Richard "Demo Dick" Marcinko's first appearance in a game as Bethesda's Rogue Warrior doesn't seem to have left a fantastic taste in the mouths of many critics. Aside from the overabundance of profanity, complaints range from "generic" to "last-gen." It probably doesn't help that the game's being released during an ... ahem ... less than favorable part of the year. We wish you the best, Demo Dick! We hardly knew ye!

• MSXbox-World (4/10): "The reality is that there's little challenge as most of the stealth elements are as scripted as they come ... There's an almost last-gen feel to the game, with one embassy snow level being reminiscent of a level in Hitman."
• Gamervision (3.5/10): "There are only a few locations in the story, and they all look and play essentially the same. In fact, it feels as though they could have been presented in any order without losing much storytelling ... The only thing that is even remotely memorably is the voice of the protagonist, Mickey Rourke. He's constantly throwing out quips and one-liners in his grizzly, gritty voice, but even this seems forced."
• HellBored (2.1/10): "There is absolutely nothing about Rogue Warrior that deserves any attention ... Combine paltry numbers of enemies, small levels, and an absurdly easy approach and you can run through the entire thing in ... four hours."
• GamePro (1.5/5 Stars): "It's at best a generic FPS, and at worst a nigh-unplayable mess ... The game's dark, murky textures and limited visibility make aiming a chore, and prominent clipping, slowdown and texture popping only serve to further hinder the adrenaline-fueled covert-ops experience Rogue Warrior tries so hard to recreate"

Back at E3, we were briefly shown Brink's S.M.A.R.T. system for navigating around the Bethesda-published FPS' environment. Our play session was mainly focused on the combat and quests of the game at the time. Now, Splash Damage's own Paul Wedgewood has been kind enough to demonstrate how it works in-game, courtesy of the G4 video past the break.

Another interesting item brought up in this video is Brink's new release date: Fall 2010. Last we heard, it was destined for a Spring 2010 release. Not so anymore!

• Vault 101 Suit -- 240 ($3)
• Bethesda Game Studios Shirt -- 80 ($1)
• Fallout 3 Ringer Shirt -- 80 ($1)
• Vault Boy Shirt -- 80 ($1)
• Vault Boy Suit -- 240 ($3)
• Vault Boy Head -- 80 ($1)

Incredibly specific patch news now, with the release of a save recognition remedy for the French Canadian version of Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition (product code "BLUS-30455"). The patch will allow the GOTY re-release of Bethesda's wasteland wandering sim to recognize save files generated by Fallout 3 sans accolades.

As a Bethesda community manager helpfully points out, your old save files will only show up if there are new saves (GOTY) present -- if you only have old saves, start a new game and, you know, save. If you have in excess of 130 save files (a sign of prudence!), you'll have to delete older ones in order for the new ones to be displayed. Oh, and one more thing: "If your saves are taking a long time to load you might want to resave them and back up or remove the old ones."

And now we've exhausted our supply of the word "save," save for one which we were keeping for the en ... dammit, we wasted it!

[One thank you "reserved" for: Harry]

Ever since Fallout 3's Vault Boy went to space in Mothership Zeta, we've been at a loss for where to find the congenial gent. Alas, we never expected to see his mercurial face gracing the cover of a Massachusetts pizza shop's menu. Expresso Pizza of Billerica, Ma. put the young lad to work on the menu's cover, holding a pizza and pretending he's a waiter. We all know you're a Capital Wasteland Wanderer, silly Vault Boy!

The only question now is "How long until Bethesda shuts this down?" We contacted the Fallout publisher to find out its reaction, and were told, "Well he is a big part of our Fallout brand and is copyrighted, so, yeah, deciding on your own to use him to promote your business or product, or to sell stuff, or whatever, without getting permission from us ... not a good idea." Ruh oh!

(Thanks, Dan)

[Via BadCartridge]

With original Fallout IP holder Interplay currently embroiled in a legal battle with new Fallout IP holder Bethesda Softworks, it's no surprise that the most recently "leaked" images from Interplay's Project V13 are said to be from an "anonymous, but reliable" source. The Vault Wiki even goes as far as to claim that the images are directly from Interplay, saying "These screenshots were actually submitted by Interplay as court evidence to show that the game is in full production already."

Putting on our super sleuth detective caps, a Nuka-Cola billboard and the inclusion of a supermutant in these screens certainly confirms they are from some form of Fallout game. Big Download points out that these screens look awfully similar to concept art released by Interplay not too long ago. Without any solid confirmation from Interplay as to the origin of these screens though, we're gonna have to keep it filed strictly under the "rumor" category for now.
[Via Big Download]

Are you in the mood for some reading that's a bit heavier than the video game news post you're currently digesting? We suggest you check out this Random House page to read an excerpt from the first chapter of the Elder Scrolls-based novel, The Infernal City. The few pages of text introduce us to what will likely be the book's plucky protagonists, Annaïg and Mere-Glim.

It's a pretty intriguing kick-off for the novel's plot -- however, the excerpt doesn't exactly sound like our usual experience in the Elder Scrolls world. See, in our version, the heroes would systematically rob everyone on the planet blind, and then, once bored with that, would just start killin'. It may not win any Pulitzers, but at least it's authentic.

Though Bethesda's bigwigs have gone back and forth on the existence of another installment in the Elder Scrolls franchise, an excerpt from online book retailer Waterstone's product listing for Elder Scrolls: The Infernal City seems fairly certain of the series' continuance. The listing -- which was recently edited to remove the following savory quote -- mentions that the novel takes place 45 years after Oblivion, adding that "it partly bridges the gap for the next game, which is set 200 years after the Oblivion crisis."

As promising as this sounds, we find a major flaw with this claim -- see, we've already clocked over 200 years of playtime into Oblivion (and still haven't beaten it!), meaning we're technically playing the sequel right now. We've contacted Bethesda to ask them about the book listing, and to see if 200 years of technological progress will bring about unimaginable advances in equestrian fortification.

[Via Kotaku]

The infighting between Fallout's father and newly adopted guardian continues. According to a forum post by supposed Interplay stockholder frymuchan, Interplay has been given a 10-day extension to answer a preliminary injunction filed by Bethesda, which claims Interplay no longer holds rights to sell the original titles in the series. Following the release of Fallout 3, Interplay began selling the original titles across multiple PC-based digital distribution services.

Previous court filings by Bethesda claimed that Interplay's plans to develop a Fallout MMO -- codenamed Project V-13 -- were no longer valid because Interplay did not commence development prior to an agreed date of April 4, 2009. According to the post by RagingBull forum user "frymuchan" -- who claims to have received the information from official court documents -- Interplay claims it did issue a letter to Bethesda prior to the April date outlining details of a Fallout MMO, but Bethesda told it "for no apparent reason" that Interplay was no longer allowed to develop the game. Interplay believes that Bethesda's interference with licensing agreements to make the original titles in the series available digitally is unreasonable based on the current contracts in place.

Frymuchan also claims that Interplay has filed a countersuit versus Bethesda over statements it made to third party companies to whom it was attempting to license the original titles. According to the post, Bethesda released statements to companies such as GameTap and Good Old Games, claiming Interplay had no rights to license Fallout 1, 2 or Tactics for sale on its services. Interplay's counterclaim maintains this "unreasonable interference" puts Bethesda into breach of contract and makes the license sale "null and void," therefore reverting the agreement back to a sub-licensing deal between Interplay and Bethesda. In short, Interplay claims Bethesda now only holds rights to Fallout 3 with options for a fourth and fifth game in the series.

It's an argument of apocalyptic proportions and we're expecting more details when the extension expires next week.

[Via GamePolitics and Destructoid]

Bethesda Softworks has revealed the cover for The Infernal City, the first of two Elder Scrolls books the publisher plans to produce. The novel, written by Greg Keyes, will make its way to store shelves November 24 ... the audio book will only have six voice actors (OK, we made that last part up).

Joystiq chat transcript upon seeing the cover:

Alexander S.: Question: Where is the water generated from that just flows out of this flying city?
Dave H.: A wizard did it.
Alexander S.: That's your answer for everything.
Ben G.: Yeah, Dave's wrong anyway. A whole bunch of wizards would be required for something like that.
Alexander S.: They have a wizard on the "Hamster Wheel of Water Generation."
JC F.: How could you even keep the city's inferno going with all that water?
Justin M.: It's a water inferno.

A couple of threads over at Bethesda Softwork's forums reveal that Canadian PS3 owners are having a problem getting their previous Capital Wasteland save files to be recognized by the newly released Fallout 3: Game of the Year Edition. Speculation by forum posters about the cause of the issue seems to revolve around either improper/outdated patching or that the GOTY edition isn't compatible with a version of the game sold in the region.

We've been in contact with Bethesda this morning, which is aware of the problem and is currently trying to figure out precisely what the issue is before it makes a statement. We'll update as soon as we learn more.