A combination of hype, release across multiple platforms, and, of course, a good game has led to a very successful launch for Fallout 3. Bethesda has announced that the game has shipped a total of 4.7 million units across the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Assuming those units all result in sales, that's a haul of $300 million at retail.

The game launched across various territories at the end of October, though it still has yet to launch in Japan and will not be available in India. Fallout 3 has also seen a significant leap in sales compared to Bethesda's last game, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. In fact, the first-week sales of Fallout were 57 percent higher then those of Oblivion.

What's most impressive is that Fallout was able to be so successful in spite of a number of complications with both ratings systems and piracy. Now we'll just wait and see if Bethesda's next game can continue this forward momentum.