I've played a good 20 hours of Fallout 3 and I can't shake the feeling that if I were a Japanese citizen, I'd miss out on quite a lot of what this game has to offer. It seems that Bethesda has decided to make quite significant changes to the Japan bound version of the game in order to be sure it does not come under attack for neglecting cultural issues. Fallout 3 will launch in Japan sometime in December.

This basically means that when you get to Megaton, you will no longer have the option to detonate the Fat Man nuclear device in order to wipe out the city and the name of the device will also be changed. On the one hand, it makes sense to take that out of the game considering what Japan went through over 50 years ago, at the end of World War II. On the other hand, the game makes a good case for the horrors of nuclear war through the overall setting and the player is provided with a clear choice when undertaking the “Power of the Atom” quest, so it's a bit self defeating to take the option to detonate out.

It's not clear whether people playing the Japanese version of Fallout 3 will be able to get a residence in Tenpenny Tower following the removal of the option to detonate the bomb. The game also has a weapon which can fire nukes and it's not clear whether it will still be available.

Bethesda has already made modifications to Fallout 3 and its references to drugs as the Australian ratings board refused to allow the game to sell after an initial evaluation. Fortunately, the company made the necessary changes and Australian players are able to enjoy this beautiful, complex and thought provoking post apocalyptic role playing game. Don't forget to stay away from those irradiated scorpions.