I’ve currently logged about 105 hours in Fallout 3, and that’s with the story not yet completed and only the Operation Anchorage DLC done and dusted (I also have Broken Steel). That’s a lot of game for the £30 I paid for it, and I looks like we’re going to get a pretty good deal again as Fallout: New Vegas promises to be bigger.

Speaking with USA Today Bethesda’s Pete Hines believes you’ll sink hundreds of hours into the game, so he’s just one guy to blame for your sudden lack of a social life.

“[The game] has a brand new, fresh experience that has a familiar feel of Fallout, but otherwise it’s an entirely new game and a new look, with Joshua trees and tumbleweeds and blue skies.

“Vegas is up and running. It is not a ghost town. It still exists and thrives. There are casinos, and you can go down onto the Strip. It will have a very different feel from that standpoint.

“It is a massive game world that will take you hundreds of hours to explore every nook and cranny.”

The game will compare in size to the Capital Wasteland from Fallout 3, but any characters from your beloved wasteland won’t be appearing. Instead you’ll hear about the events of Fallout 3 through it’s own “self-contained story”, which means that players new to the series will get a refresher on what’s happened in the world of Fallout so far.

More about the game will be revealed in the April edition of PC Gamer, so check back here for more juicy details come March 2nd.

Yet another confirmed release date has popped its head out of X10. Microsoft have confirmed that Alan Wake, the supernatural thriller, will be released on May 21st in Europe and May 18th in the US.

People who pre-order the game will receive a “Bright Falls Bonus Pack” that includes avatar gear, an Xbox Live theme and a “making of” video.

It’s great to have confirmed release date for Alan Wake given that it was announced way back in 2005. It’s one of my most anticipated releases of 2010, and if you’re also looking forward to it then you probably wouldn’t mind taking a peek at this new trailer.

Earlier today Capcom announced that Dead Rising 2 will be coming to Europe on September 3rd (August 31st for the US and September 2nd for Japan). Alongside that news was the announcement of some exclusive content for those that buy the game for the 360.

Dead Rising 2: Case Zero will be a prologue to the sequel and will be released on Xbox Live shortly before the release of the full game. It is intended to provide a link between the first and second instalments of the Dead Rising franchise, although it probably won’t explain why Chuck Greene has such a corny generic name.

So, the Dead Rising franchise may not be exclusive to the 360 anymore (let’s just put that awful Wii port out of our minds altogether) but at least the console that birthed the franchise will be getting some extra love.

There’s no word on the release date or pricing yet, so stay tuned for those.

Microsoft has reiterated that that the first piece of Modern Warfare 2 DLC will come to Xbox 360 first.

The earlier rumour was confirmed at X10, the resurrected Xbox expo, with the news that the 360 will have a 30 day head start over all other systems. The rumour that the release date will be 1 March has not been confirmed, with Activision delivering a “no comment” on that.

The worrying thing is that there’s another rumour that says the DLC will only include two maps, which is pretty poor if you ask me. This exclusivity trend is also worrying, as a lot of gamers are going to miss out on new content for a whole month (although it’s not as bad as the GTA IV DLC 360 timed exclusives that have only just been announced for PS3).

So it’s pretty much rumour central here right now, but we’ll be posting more solid info as it comes in.

To get in on the beta for Halo Reach you will need a copy of Halo 3: ODST

Fresh from the X10 event in San Francisco, Bungie and Microsoft have unveiled the date for the much anticipated Halo Reach Beta.

Owners of Halo 3: ODST will be able to get their hands on the Reach Beta starting May 3rd 2010, providing that they still have the disc. Players will be able to access the beta through the ODST menu. Bungie have also released the cover art as well as minor details on the first map: “Powerhouse”. Expect more details to surface in the next few days. In the mean time, here’s a post on Bungie.net with more details: Bungie.

Also from the X10 event, Microsoft has announced release dates for Alan Wake (finally), Splinter Cell Conviction (again, finally), Lost Planet 2 and Dead Rising 2. The first 3 will all be out by May, with Dead Rising set for an August release. They also announced some Xbox Live Arcade releases including Perfect Dark, and confirmed that Fable III will be out this holiday season.

I’m sure you’ll hear more from us if any more big news comes out of there (Natal anyone?).

Magazine scans featuring screenshots and new information about Fallout: New Vegas have appeared online.

The scans are from the latest issue of PSM3, adding to what we already know from the PC Gamer scans that our sister site, Xboxer360, posted about a few days ago. Screenshots show the game looks very similar to Fallout 3, but since it’s running on the same engine that’s no real surprise. Some of the new revelations are that there will various warring factions, a command wheel for followers and more varied plant life.

There’s a tonne of more info in the scans, so head on over to No Mutants Allowed for the run-down and the aforementioned magazine scans.

This is a day late because a monkey jumped into my computer and stole my original copy. I spent the rest of the day tracking him down through the wilds of the Internet jungle, seeing sites (see what I did there?) no sane man should ever see and having to escape from a tribe of furries. I finally dived into a river of spam and ended up in Nigeria, where I was scammed out of all my money and had to ride the Internet home clinging to yet another wannabee’s YouTube videos. I finally gave up and stumbled into my bedroom, clothes torn to shreds, to write a new post. So, when you read this, I hope you’ll realise just how much trouble I went to for all of you.

A more simple (and, erm, true) explanation would be that I simply forgot, but that wouldn’t make for an interesting story now would it?

Bioshock 2 is your only big release this week, and it’s also a game I’ve just been playing before throwing it into an ever-growing pile of games I have to complete. I should be happy to be a gamer right now, but it’s time like this where you realise there’s just not enough hours in the day.

Here’s the full list of this week’s releases:

• Bioshock 2 (PC, PS3, X360)
• Rollin’ Rascals (DS)
• Safar’Wii (Wii) – Possibly the lamest pun I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading.
• Reel Fishing: Angler’s Dream (Wii)
• Sonic & Knuckles (Wii)
• Frogger Returns (Wii)
• Big Catch Bass Fishing 2 (Wii) – Two fishing games in one week? Those three fans are going to be ecstatic!
• Overturn (Wii)
• Flips: Percy Jackson (DS)
• Jonas (DS)
• Karaoke Revolution (PS3)
• Memento Mori (PC)
• Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes (DS)
• Star Ocean The Last Hope: International (PS3)
• Phantasy Star Zero (DS)
• Ninja Blade (PC)
• Bleach: The 3^rd Phantom (DS)
• Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll (Wii)
• Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (DS)
• Avalon Heroes (PC)

Final Fantasy XIII is Square Enix's next blockbuster release, coming out in March

Square Enix recently reported rather sizeable profit increases on a year-on-year basis, with increases in the many billions of Yen.

They have stated that their operating income increased by 68% from the previous year, to 21.4 billion yen and that net sales for the period were up 30% to 135 billion yen. Square obviously have the release of Final Fantasy XIII in Japan to thank for a lot of that, as well as Arkham Asylum which sold very well. This is pretty good news given the current economical climate and all that stuff that I am not going to pretend to be knowledgable about. Still, good to hear that a company is doing well.

At the same time, EA has announced a loss in quarter 3 of its fiscal year, despite various big-name titles. Games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Dragon Age and even FIFA 10 were not enough to stop the company from seeing a decline in profits from the previous holiday period.

However, with Dante’s Inferno already out as well as the massive Mass Effect 2, I don’t think it will be anything major to worry about for EA. With ME2 topping all the sales charts, it’s already looking like a good start to 2010 for the publishing giants.

We may have already known that Bioware was planning more content for Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 (and, of course, we already have some, but it’s always nice to hear it repeated just so they don’t forget.

“We like to support our games long-term,” BioWare founder Muzyka told IGN.“Our fans are really important to us, and we try and support them. We have long-term plans for both Dragon Age and Mass Effect.”

Just how long is long-term though?

“We have a separate team running in parallel as part of the franchise team,” he added. “You know, people are moving back and forth, but we’ve made a dedicated investment in DLC for Dragon Age and Mass Effect, so we’re going to support them for a long time.”

“Stand alone products, expansion packs, things like that as well.”

So, if you love Dragon Age and Mass Effect (just like I do) we’re going to get even more content to try and satisfy our appetite for these epic universes.

Check out the rest of the interview here, which concentrates on the future of Mass Effect and other Bioware franchises.

Mass Effect 2 has held onto the UK All-Formats chart top spot for a second week. Publisher EA’s latest release, Dante’s Inferno, debuted in fourth. Ubisoft’s budget Wii title Just Dance held on at two, while Modern Warfare 2 is in third and FIFA 10 made up the top five. Wii Sports Resort, MAG, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus and Avatar rounded out the top 10.

Star Trek Online spent a first week in 11th, and further down THQ’s new racer MX vs ATV: Reflex entered at 18th.

New releases outside of the All-Formats Top 40 were Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Crystal Bearers, which finished 11th and 17th on the Wii chart. Disgaea 2: Dark Days Hero finished 9th on the PSP list, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sequel Call of Pripyat finished 4th on the PC chart.