Fable 2 took a hit on the the UK charts last week as Fallout 3 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) launched in the UK last October 31st. The post apocalyptic action RPG took the top spot as it sold more copies in two days than all the games in the franchise combined. See the software charts for week ending November 1 in the full article.

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.

So why is it, pray tell, that most of the games we see today are either sequels or spin-offs? You've got Gears of War 2, BioShock 2, Resident Evil 5, Patapon 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, God of War III, Fable 2... the list goes on. Yes, from time to time new IPs pop into the picture, but they're few and far between, unfortunately. Maybe an article at Reuters can shed light on this "sequel spammage" scenario, as well as reveal some of the measures that they take to make their sequels more approachable to the general market.

So what's going to be in our videogaming menu starting this week? A whole lot of DS games once again, we tell you, though there's a few gems or two in the Nintendo handheld rough on Tuesday. There's a music rhythm game for almost every console out there, plus a couple new additions to the portfolio of PC games. Somehow we're also seeing another relaunching of Gears of War for the Xbox 360 the "Refresh" edition. We don't know why it's re-listed, but it is. The full list follows at the full story.

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!

Back when computer role-playing games in the west were considered to be for pimple-faced geeks that used to confine themselves in Dungeons & Dragons, Japan was crazy over Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and others that joined the bandwagon of the successful genre. America and Europe drooled over seductive elves and fought evil wizards for ages, while the land of the rising sun encountered bizarre creatures and embraced kids that eventually save the world.

Proving which of the two types is superior has been a hot topic for dedicated fans, making it interesting how what's enjoyable to some is simply odd to others. Only a few wouldn't favor one over the other, while the rest point at flaws apparent on both sides. Let's take a look at the elements that make western RPGs (WRPG) so different from Japanese RPGs (JRPG), and what strong points they have that leave gamers craving for more.

WRPG and JRPG girls face-off

Characters
Almost all WRPGs place players in the shoes of the main character. It's not an easy task (if not impossible) to name titles from renown developers like Black Isle Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and Bioware that don't offer aspiring adventurers the option to create their own characters. We've always seen humans, elves, dwarves, and other races take up various classes like fighters, clerics, wizards, and thieves.

Some argue that JRPGs aren't immersive because players are forced to play soon-to-be-heroes or warriors of light, but Japanese gamers seem to enjoy playing as someone else and are even able to relate with over-the-top personalities. Mute characters made to involve players in the story aren't enough to silence nitpickers, yet they seem to be effective as proven by Chrono Trigger and Pokemon. Instead of having cookie-cutter races and classes persistent in RPGs from the other side of the world, Japan had young boys fighting aliens and troubled esper girls escaping slavery.

We've only touched on the element of character here, so if you want to read the rest of this quick peek at the differences of WRPGs and JRPGs, then head on to the full article.

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.

Much hype came with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion moving to the PS3, but those who own the game are probably enjoying it despite all the arguments between platforms. Pete Hines have spoken before about the port, and his words aren't much different from Senior Producer Craig Lafferty's.

Lafferty is pretty happy about the result of their work. The graphical differences from both consoles are pretty difficult to notice, something they intended right at the start. Optimizing was a success too, effectively removing loading times and including Knights of the Nine expansion.

As for taking the MMO world, Lafferty could only say there's a possibility in that. A Wii version is less likely to happen given the specs an enormous game like Oblivion requires, but "it's something [Bethesda Softworks] would like to do."

Unfortunately, there's nothing new on Elder Scrolls Travels: Oblivion yet. No need to worry though, we'll keep you updated as news comes. For the full interview, click on the Read link below.

We've seen a number of titles that use Kynogon's AI engine called Kynapse. A lot of video game developers have chosen to use it in their games - Turbine (for Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online), Lionhead Studios (for Fable 2), and Bethesda Softworks (for Rogue Warrrior).

Deadline Games (Chili con Carnage and Total Overdose) has taken them up as the AI middleware guys to handle all their next gen engine. And subsequently, Kynapse would most probably be also used for their upcoming titles for next gen. Deadline Games' production manager Per Kyed Laursen said about the AI solution choice:

We were looking for a solution for AI for inclusion into the second generation of our Kapow engine that will form the basis of our production for all of our next gen titles. We found that the combination of functionalities and tools, the quality and responsiveness of the technical support, the overall performance and hardware acceleration for next gen platforms made Kynapse the obvious choice for our AI needs.

CEO of Kynogon, Pierre Pontevia, is also enthusiastic about the new partnership. "We are pleased to announce our long term relationship with Deadline Games today," he adds. "Deadline Games have shown their commitment to making games that have solid technology and that are great fun to play, and we look forward to working with them on their future projects."

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!