Bethesda and Obsidian have released Old World Blues, the latest DLC for Fallout: New Vegas. Of course, as the post title implies, they haven't really released it yet. The DLC is only available in North America right now; all other regions will have to wait for tomorrow, July 20th. Despite the fact that July 19th was repeatedly advertised as the release date, Bethesda has instructed Valve to prevent Old World Blues from being purchased outside of North America until tomorrow. The reasoning behind this stupidity? Bethesda wants to delay the non-NA release to coincide with the European Playstation Network's Wednesday updates. Who cares if this makes the announced release date a lie? Not Bethesda, certainly.
Perhaps someone should inform the Bethesda and Obsidian bloggers, since both have written posts announcing that Old World Blues is available "today!" and that you should go get it "now!" Except...if you're outside of North America, it isn't available today and you can't go get it now. Oops.
Really, though, regional restrictions of any sort for digitally distributed products are flat-out stupid. They are the result of backwards and outdated business practices that should no longer be relevant. There are customers in Europe and elsewhere right now that want to give Bethesda money. They expected to do that today, along with every other customer who actually took Bethesda at their word when the release date for Old World Blues was announced. I doubt that Bethesda will lose many sales over this; I don't doubt that they have annoyed a large portion of their customer base for no real reason.
Anyway, Old World Blues sells for the typically inflated price of $10 and adds new terrain, enemies, perks, and weapons. Read the description and view the trailer below.
"The residents of the Mojave have long assumed the trackless wastes of the ‘Big Empty’ are a no-man's-land, a desolate stretch where no living thing can survive. In Old World Blues, you discover that it is anything but...
After being transported to the Big MT research crater, you find you're the only hope of saving the Think Tank – the strange group of post-human researchers who inhabit the facility. They enlist your aid to save them from their own experiments - experiments that have gone horribly out of control. As you explore the huge stretch of the Big MT crater and its many underground labs, you’ll confront strange mutated animals, battle terrifying new atomic robots, and discover a new home base to call your own. Recover all the weapons, armor, and tech of the Pre-War era and use them to help save all of Science!"