When I picked up my copy of Soul Calibre IV at GAME on Thursday, I quizzed some of the staff about why the pre-order signs for Fallout 3 were still all over the place. The senior guy told me that he understood the game was to be undergoing some "minor texture and names changes" in a bid for re-classification. I was inclined to believe that the game still had time to be re-cut for it's October release but I wasn't sure about the "minor changes" bit. Gamerchip seem to confirm this too, as retailers are now taking pre-orders.

Right now, as I understand it the only thing holding the game back is the portrayal of morphine as an alternative to generic first aid packs. There are no changed missions, dialogue or other content. So what I'm going to ask is: should I still import Fallout 3 or should I setup a pre-order soon? Whilst I wouldn't settle for a game that had big chunks of content altered or removed for a lesser classification, to my mind removing the morphine/first-aid mechanism and changing it to something more agreeable to the classification board, is not really a big change.

The only other hang-up is the Australian special edition. GAME have Fallout 3 listed as coming with a 5" Brotherhood of steel figurine, Fallout trading cards, Pip boy keyring and strategy guide. Now, that's quite different from the US and European special edition. I have to say, I really fancy the US/EU special edition. That being said, the bonus goodies offered with the Australian game seems just to be a regular release: that is, there's no mention of it being a special edition, so I wonder if there will be a special edition announced . So, to import or not to import?