Publisher Bethesda Softworks and developer Obsidian Entertainment’s Fallout 3 follow-up, Fallout: New Vegas, was officially announced a while back, but we didn’t get much in the way of details. Now the aforementioned companies are spilling a few beans. First: a trailer, courtesy of Youtube and Machinma.

Fallout: New Vegas takes place in the same time-line and universe as Fallout 3. Also, the game isn’t handled in-house by Bethesda, but rather Obsidian, who also worked on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and the forthcoming espionage RPG Alpha Protocol. It shouldn’t be a surprise, given Obsidian’s experience, that the game will retain Fallout sensibilities—role-playing; post-apocalypse with a dark sense of humor; and so on.

No word on a firm release date yet, but we know Bethesda plans to put Fallout: New Vegas on shelves this fall.

Well this is a pleasant surprise.

Bethesda have today announced Fallout: New Vegas. Very little was revealed about the title, but it is not considered a sequel to Fallout 3, only a new game set in the same universe. It will be developed by Obsidian, makers of Knights of the Old Republic II, Neverwinter Nights 2, and the upcoming Alpha Protocol.

It will be released next year for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. Get ready to spend another couple hundred hours in the Wasteland.