Fallout 4 Revealed
After multiple hoaxes, rumors and painfully vague teases from Bethesda, the long-awaited fourth entry in the Fallout series was announced on Wednesday morning. At the end of a 24-hour countdown, Bethesda pulled back the curtain on Fallout 4 with a meaty trailer of in-engine footage. This entry looks to take us into Boston, with the trailer teasing locations based on Fenway Park, Scollay Square and MIT. It also appears we’ll be getting some playable segments that take place before the bombs drop, letting us see the series’ 50’s idealism in its’ non-radioactive form for the first time.
No release date was given for Fallout 4, but like nuclear war itself – it may be here before you know it. The in-engine trailer suggests a nearly finished product, and retailers like Steam are already taking digital pre-orders. Could a 2015 release be in the cards? We’ll find out for sure at Bethesda’s E3 Press Conference, taking place June 14 at 7 p.m. PST.
Steam now offering refunds
Valve’s digital distribution service leads the PC gaming market by a country mile, but it’s often been criticized for its substandard customer support. Unlike most of its competitors, getting in touch with Valve over a service issue is a headache of email chains with long waits between replies. But now, thanks to Valve’s generosity (and new looming consumer rights’ laws in the EU), refunds are now possible over the Steam platform. As long as it’s been less than two weeks since the purchase was made, and you’ve played the game for less than two hours, a refund can be requested for any reason.
The change in policy could have large ripple effects on the PC gaming landscape. For the longest time, game pirates have justified their actions under the blanket of just wanting to “test a game out,” ensuring a new title works on their specific setup. This update in policy will force said pirates to put their money where their mouth is and may reveal just how much of the piracy industry is being done for “justifiable reasons.” Game design also stands the risk of being effected, as the 2-hour benchmark may frown on shorter experiences. Narrative driven titles like Gone Home can infamously be completed in less than two hours — leaving the door open for abuse of this new policy.
XCOM 2 Brings The Fight To You This November
Following up on last week’s ominous ‘Advent’ teaser campaign, 2K has officially announced XCOM 2 for PC, Mac and Linux for a fall release. The sequel to 2012’s Enemy Unknown, this new edition of the turn-based strategy series actually assumes you lost the war on invading forces. Now a band of militants on the run, you will command soldiers across the globe to liberate cities that have been taken under alien control. From a flying base, you’ll take on more sectoid soldiers, as well as what appear to be human-sized snakes in military armor. We’ll see what other nightmarish creations this alien saga brings to life when it releases this fall.
Follow Chris Berg on Twitter, @Mushroomer25
Week In Gaming – 6/5/2015 : Fallout 4 creeps out of the vault.
Chris Berg
June 4, 2015

No it’s not a hoax. Or a tease. Or a fake. Fallout 4 is coming.
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