Bethesda Softworks posted a notice to its corporate website today detailing the changes that have been made to the Japanese version of Fallout 3 for the Xbox 360. The game has seen some of its content toned down for Japanese audiences.

In the notice, Bethesda states that due to numerous inquiries to its customer support line, it has decided to formally announce the following areas of difference from the North American version:

• Motions where human characters or named ghoul creatures have body parts chopped off have been removed. For super mutants, feral ghouls,monsters, animals, insects, and robots, such motions remain the same as in the North American release. Similarly, the game has incurred no changes in terms of blood amount, dead bodies left on the field, and the Gore Pack.
• A quest known as "The Power of Atom" has seen the NPC character Mr. Burke removed in order to prevent players from being able to select to detonate a nuclear weapon.
• One particular weapon has seen a name change. The notice did not name the specific weapon.

The first two changes were made because it was determined they fell under "forbidden expressions" as outlined by the CERO ratings group. The third change was made at Bethesda's own discretion.

Outside of the toning down of content, the Japanese version of Fallout 3 sees one major change: voiceovers. The Japanese version features Japanese subtitles and voices. Radio broadcasts are also in Japanese. Due to data size limitations, the game does not include multiple vocal language tracks, so it's not possible to use English voices with Japanese subtitles. The notice does not make it clear if it's possible to do the reverse -- play with Japanese voices and English subtitles.

Despite the content changes, perks, skills, and achievements all remain unchanged from their North American counterparts.

Localization work has finished up on the title, according to the notice. The 360 version hits on December 4, with the PS3 version arriving on January 15. Today's announcement specifically refers to the Xbox 360 version.