We understand that a few of the guys at the studio also worked on Van Buren – the could have been Fallout 3 game – what came of that in the end? Have you taken anything across from that development in to this one?

Like most cancelled projects, the assets and documents went on a drive somewhere and collected dust in the "could have been" vault. We have carried some of the ideas from Van Buren into New Vegas. Primarily, the use of Caesar's Legion as a looming threat in the region, though it is much more present in New Vegas than it was in Van Buren. Most of the other similarities lie in bringing back regional power players from previous games: the New California Republic, Gun Runners, Crimson Caravan, Followers of the Apocalypse, and so on.

Planet Fallout is excited to announce the re-launch of the site for the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas. After working with VaultTec for an undisclosed amount of time, we have refashioned the site to accommodate the new game while maintaining all the content from all past games in the franchise. Basically, the main fouc of the site is now on New Vegas and all its sinful glory.

Let’s talk a little about Planet Fallout and a couple key areas. Besides the latest daily news and feature articles written by staff covering Fallout: New Vegas one of the biggest attractions at the site is the Fallout: New Vegas Wiki. The Fallout Wiki is a growing wealth of game information. What is the best part about the wiki? If you see something missing that you know about, then feel free to add or edit it in. Your expert knowledge of Fallout can help others and enrich the community. Drop by this page for more help regarding the wiki and how you can help. It is very easy!

Let us move on to the community powered databases that will be coming. What does 'community powered databases' mean exactly? In a nutshell it means you, the community, can submit or edit an entry into a database. For example, if you know of a Perk not currently listed in the Perks database, you can add it yourself (or edit an existing entry). Once the game is launched we will be opening all of the databases. These include: Quests, Maps, Locations, NPC, Weapons, Schematics, Armor, Drugs, Tools, Items, Creatures, Radio Stations and anything else in the game. So be on the lookout for those once the game is out. I know, I cant wait either!

Now all this shared collaboration does not come without reward. Planet Fallout has a ranking system that uses what we call, “Nuclear Points”. In a nut shell it boils down to every contributions you make at the site will earn you a certain amount of points, hence Nuclear Points. Pretty crafty eh? We thought so. Here is an example. If you post a comment within a news article, you get 5 points added to your score. If you edit a wiki document, you get 10 points added, and so on. The more points you get the more levels you progress. Starting from a simple Gecko all the way up to NCR Ranger. The top five are displayed through out the site and the rest go into the Leaderboard.

Lastly, be on the lookout for our New Vegas Interactive Map we have planned once the game is released. It will be just like our current one for Fallout: 3. This interactive map will allow everyone the chance the mark locations found within Fallout: New Vegas directly into the map. For example if you know the location of a killer weapon you found, you can place a marker on the map and share it with the community. Go check out the Fallout 3 Interactive Map.

Oh, one more thing. Check out the newly released exclusive preview video showcasing the game in action.

'Course, we're not ones to leave you behind! We've secured an exclusive interview with the Fallout: New Vegas team, and since we forgot to send you a birthday present last year (sorry, it totally slipped our minds), we'll make it up to you by letting you ask your questions of the New Vegas boys and girls.

When I was looking at Big Guns for F:NV, I considered that the list of weapons was small compared to any other weapon category and several of the weapons arguably belonged (or at least could be easily categorized) elsewhere. Moving the Big Guns to different weapon skills and dissolving the Big Guns skill would allow weapons like the minigun to remain as a powerful top tier weapon without needing to invent low-tier "Big Guns" that might further confuse the dividing line. Coming up with a wide power spectrum of Guns, Energy Weapons, and Explosives would not be hard at all.

So you've made it pretty clear that you're more interested in developing games than writing the stories in those games, despite your company's reputation. Do you at all resent that so many people keep focusing on Obsidian's writing?

Not at all, but I think people should have higher standards for game play. Slapping "RPG" on a game should not give it a free pass for clumsy or poorly balanced mechanics. Additionally, I believe that an RPG with a "great story" that does not mechanically work well with player choice might as well not be an RPG.

A lot of RPG designers fixate on telling the player a story instead of giving players tools to make *their* stories unique and reactive.

I am beyond excited to see what the crew at Obsidian Entertainment--many of whom developed the original Fallout games--is putting together with Bethesda's toolbox in Fallout: New Vegas

The lone New California Republic Ranger stands tall above the foreboding New Vegas skyline, daring you to enter his domain and play his video game for 300 hours. We can’t wait to meet him — hopefully while armed with some kind of grenade launcher. A golf club at the very least.