Despite widespread critical acclaim and notable commercial success, Bethesda's magnum opus, Fallout 3, has hit a few problems in Japan – specifically relating to 'The Power of the Atom' side quest.

Japanese censors have demanded it be removed from the game before it hits Japanese shelves due to references to the atomic bomb.

Kotaku claims that cuts have been made to the side quest, which gave players the opportunity to detonate a nuclear bomb.

Over the other side of the pond, the ESRB has come under fire by Gametrailers, whose Editor-in-Chief Shane Satterfield told GamePolitics: "The week before that we had gotten an exclusive on a trailer, suddenly we get a call and the publisher [Bethesda] is telling us to take it down because of the ESRB.

Like the frickin' mafia

"The ESRB can only regulate media that the publishers send us. Anything that we create in-house, as GameTrailers, they can't touch," Satterfield added.

"So, we'll make our own violent-as-hell trailer that they can't do anything about. So we did. We put it up, it was huge. Then we get a call from publisher X who said 'the ESRB is putting pressure on us and we can't work with you guys unless you do what the ESRB says'. They are like the frickin' Mafia."

Fallout 3, despite its difficult gestation over in Japan (and Australia, due to 'drug references' since removed from the game), is by far one of the most accomplished videogames of the year. Hell, of ever. We urge you to buy it.

TechRadar has contacted Bethesda's UK press office for further comment on this story, so stay tuned for updates as and when we get them.