Maybe with Fallout 3 finally released, Bethesda can focus on other projects, yes? If you're a fan of the Elder Scrolls series, then things are (potentially) looking up. But! If you're a fan of the Elder Scrolls series and still holding out for an Oblivion PSP, then things aren't quite looking up. Also! If you're a Bethesda fan owning the Wii or DS, then... well, maybe you might want to start broadening you console horizons.

Is Bethesda going to be releasing Oblivion for the Sony PSP after all? While the company's keeping quiet about this matter, an ad over at Amazon.com says it just might be a possibility. Details regarding this rumor are available in the full article.

After getting wind of reports from Gamestop that they have taken out The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion from its product database yesterday, many have speculated that the game has very little hope of seeing a release on the PlayStation Portable.

However, sources from Kotaku were able to catch up with Pete Hines, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations at Bethesda, and get his comment on the matter. Read what Pete Hines had to say right after the jump!

Here's a bit of bad news for those of you expecting to play Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion on the PlayStation Portable. Reports have said that the companies behind the project will be dropping any plans of continuing the handheld RPG adaptation of the PC hit.

The game was originally slated to be released last Spring, but its release date was pushed back and forth several times since then. Read the full article after the jump!

We've seen a number of delays and rumors (believe us, there are lots of them) related to Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion and unfortunately, we've got another one.

A couple of days back, Kotaku reported a rumor that Oblivion for the PlayStation Portable has gathered dust (read: delayed might be an understatement). Kotaku ventured to report that the video game might even put on the vaporware bin. The GameStop placeholder for the title still snugly shows an approximate ETA of December though.

Of course, you'd want to know why there's another rumored delay. Actually, the explanation has an eerie resemblance to a rumor mosaic: Rumored Oblivion PSP developer Climax Studios' Portsmouth team are rumored to be having loads of problems with production, hence the rumored delay.

There's enough rumor in there to fuel a giant rumor mill of delay (like here, here, here, and here). Anyway, we'll leave it at that and be on the look out for more news regarding the The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion. Stay tuned.

 

Not really news, but if this buzz hits the grapevine later on, at least you know how it started. The story is that when gaming news site CVG contacted Ubisoft for updates on the announced PSP version of Oblivion, the Ubisoft spokesperson noted "no comment." This, of course, caused CVG to go as far as to speculate that the PSP version of the game has "been put quietly on hold."

Now that right there seems like being a bit too hasty to us. After all "no comment" could mean a whole different number of things.

To be fair to CVG, they did note that they'll keep on looking for a real update. They do, however, seem to stand by their speculation. You really can't blame CVG, especially since the release date keeps getting bounced around like a volley ball in DOAX2. Plus there's also the fact that we haven't really heard anything concrete about Oblivion for the PSP since its official confirmation along with the PS3 version.

We'll update you as soon as more official reports on the PSP version of Oblivion is made available.

Oh. Are we playing volleyball now? The release date for The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion keeps getting thrown around like it's going out of style. Right now, it's pushed back (according to GameStop, at least) further than anyone every expected it to go.

A few weeks ago, there was a bit of confusion with the release date, whether it was really on April 16 or September 3. And then, just a few days back, the release date was pegged back to April 16. What gives? Right now, if you check GameStop, you'll see the Bethesda Softworks title clocked in for a December 3 release.

Excuse me while I fan myself. I feel faint.

That's like more than half a year from now. That's like more than half a year from it's original April 16 release. If anything, here's to hoping that Bethesda would clarify things. The last official thing we heard from Bethesda was that the handheld Oblivion game is still under a TBC/TBA release date. Oh well. Guess all we can really do is wait. Speculation can only go so far.

Thanks to reaperchad for the tip!

No, the balancing act isn't an expansion. Read on...

 

Bethesda's Peter Hines talks to GameIndustry.biz about the balancing act that is The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - from the PC ,the Xbox 360, the PS3, and even Elder Scrolls Travels for the PSP.

The PC and PS3 posed their own challenges. Peter describes the PC as a powerful platform, but "totally undefined" in terms of the hardware that goes inside. For the PS3, it's an entirely new ballgame, very powerful but obviously works in a different way from the Xbox 360 (and the PC, for that matter). While the PC programmers took advantage of the Xbox 360 experience to optimize the game there, the PS3 team had the help of experienced Sony platform programmers to optimize Oblivion for the PS3.

Speaking of Sony platforms, says Hines: release date for PSP Oblivion is still TBC (or TBA, if you're more familiar with that acronym). Since it's a game on a different kind of platform, "It basically uses nothing from Oblivion, it's a completely new game."

In response to GI's curiosity - why did Ubisoft publish the PS3 Oblivion and not Take-Two Interactive, Peter Hines "really can't say. Too much backroom stuff" (Hmm... very intriguing. Very intriguing indeed).

Oh, and if anyone's still asking about a Wii Oblivion, Hines must sadly decline.

It's something we'd like to do, but unfortunately it's not a very good fit with Oblivion. Oblivion is a very demanding game hardware-wise and in terms of graphics processing and raw horsepower. It's not something the Wii was designed to do. They decided not to make the focus on raw horsepower but on interface and so forth.

It's a great console and many of us at Bethesda have one but I know that bringing Oblivion over is not possible - we'd have to do a whole new game.

Guess we can't count on a similar DS Oblivion either.

This is peculiar. Just a few days after video game retailer GameStop had The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion RPG by Bethesda Softworks for the PSP dated for a September 3 release, the online store once again makes an about-face, placing Oblivion back squarely on April 16.

Confusing? Yeah verily, dear readers, although we're sure the Oblivion fans are relieved with this latest date swap. On the other hand, there is much speculation how this game will perform, given that past reports have stated players will be missing out on the game's famous free-roaming gameplay, and will instead have to contend with 10 levels worth of dungeon-crawling as they combat the Daedric threats heralded by King Tamriel's (aka Captain "Love-Doctor" Picard) untimely death.

It depends on your taste, really - some people would have preferred a more linear approach to the game, while other RPG fans felt Oblivion's meat was more in the side quests and the travelling, as compared to its central (and disagreeably short) plot. Of course, the GameStop release date is still open to change, with other gaming sites still listing Oblivion as a "Spring 2007" release and Bethesda's home site keeping mum. Just stay sharp for further news on a release date.

The release of The Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion has been delayed. The game developed and published by Bethesda Softworks is one of the most highly anticipated games for this year. The releases on other platforms have garnered multiple awards and accolades from different organizations like G4 and Metacritic.

For the uninitiated, the story of the game starts with the death of the Emperor of Tamriel. Because of this, the gates of Oblivion opened, and demons have begun to infest the land, destroying everything. Your character must find the heir to the throne to stop the destruction of Tamriel.

But now, the people may have found something even the demons would fear... a delay of the game's release date.

The release date has apparently been moved to September 3, 2007 as opposed to April 16, 2007 in the Gamestop shop. Those five months can seem like an eternity to a lot of gamers who have been patiently waiting for this game. We, like most of them, have been praying that it was simply a typographical error. More news on this as we receive it.