Obsidian Taking Fallout to Vegas

At a press conference earlier today in London, Bethesda surprised everyone by announcing that there will be a new Fallout game releasing in 2010. The game, called Fallout: New Vegas, is not a direct sequel to Fallout 3 and will not be developed by Bethesda. Instead, this time around we’ll be seeing the vision of Obsidian Entertainment, which you may remember as Black Isle - the original developers of Fallout 2.

Pete Hines, VP of Marketing and PR for Bethesda, had very few details about the project other than the fact that it’s neither a sequel nor alternate game type: New Vegas will be an RPG. “It’s not a sequel to Fallout 3, it’s just another game in the universe, and it has no impact whatsoever on whatever Todd Howard [long-time designer/producer at Bethesda] and his team are working on,” said Hines. Of the limited details available, Hines did comment that the game is targeted for release on PC, 360 and PS3 in 2010.

Dead Rising 2: Zombies Do Vegas?

I’ll be the first to admit that one of the games I was first looking forward to when the first Xbox 360 rolled off the assembly line was Capcom’s survival horror, Dead Rising. Frank West’s harrowing, over-the-top 72 hour adventure in the Willamette Mall was one of the best times I had on the 360. Now, Capcom is returning to the world of Dead Rising, and it’s bringing PS3 and PC owners along for the ride.

Earlier this morning, Capcom officially confirmed that a sequel to the popular zombie game is in development at Canadian developer Blue Castle Games, working alongside a number of members from the original Dead Rising team, including producer, Keiji Inafune. Although Capcom has kept quiet so far on a possible release date for Dead Rising 2, one thing the company did confirm is the new game will not be exclusive to the 360 this time around, instead being simultaneously developed for the 360, PS3, and PC. Sorry Wii owners, it looks like you’re going to be stuck with the neutered port of the first game for the foreseeable future.

Details on the plot of Dead Rising 2, are still being kept under wraps, but the game is set several years after the infamous zombie invasion of Willamette. Apparently, the zombie virus was not contained at the end of Dead Rising and it ended up spreading unchecked throughout the United States. In Dead Rising 2, the latest outbreak hits ‘Fortune City’, and players will be gambling with more than just chips when they face off against the undead in the city’s massive hotel and casino. It looks like everyone’s favorite photojournalist, Frank West, might be a little busy this time around though (he’s covered wars, ya know), as both West and his camera are conspicuously absent from Capcom’s early screenshots.

More word on Dead Rising 2 is expected soon, and we’ll share what we learn as soon as information is released.