Im just curious as to why Bethesda didn't.

Bethesda wanted to see how the original developers (who were fired from Black Isle and many of them came together to form Obsidian) would make a Fallout game.

And because they were busy working on Skyrim.

Ah ok I didn't know that Obsidian was made up of people from Black Isle.

Call me a cynic, but I don't think Bethie would've forgotten the idea of another quickly developed Fallout game by another dev to further cash in with the FO3 success had Obsidian said "no". Meaning, I don't believe the reason for the next game was to see how some of the original devs would handle the situation - it was just appropriate (and convenient) for them to ask from the best candidate first to give a pitch.

Indeed. Can you imagine the conversation?

Bethesda: Hey, can you guys develop a new Fallout game which more closely resembles the originals than our effort?
Obsidian: Well duh. Some of us worked on those games.
Bethesda: Great, great. Oh! And while you're at it can you get Mr. Avellone and that Fenstermaker fellow involved in a way which makes our team look like an elementary creative writing class?
Obsidian: Um. Is that what you really want? I mean, sure!

Fenstermaker. Hah!

Because GOD likes me best and he wanted me to have one last real RPG before the genre was totally taken over by choose-your-own-story action games (like DA or ME) and FPS hiking simulators (Skiyrim, Oblivion, FO3).

Here here...
+1

Seriously though, I'm with UnDeCafIndeed, they did it for the money, not to learn how to make a good Fallout game. Maybe they will follow Obsidian's example in future games, but I think their original intent with hiring Obsidian was to rake in some cash playing off of the success of Fallout 3 without having to take a break from developing Skyrim.

Companies always do things for the Money.

But you have to admit, out of all the companies Bethesda could have gone to, to make another Fallout game to capitalise on Fallout 3. They chose Obsidian. A company that is full of people that worked on past Fallout games and are well versed in all things Fallout. I like to believe that some of the reasoning besides the money, was to get some education on Fallout.

Or there could be a more sinister reasoning behind it. Bethesda really likes having a fractured fan base.

Why did a company develop a game?

It obviously couldn't be for money, so what is it?

Seriously, this is hurting my brain how much I need to know this.

100% THIS!!!

Yes it was all money, it makes the world go round.
But I do agree they wouldn't of wanted to damage the series further and thought who better than obsidian.
They probably made a list of priorities.

1-money
2-more money
3-money again
932- stop forum users gaping a-hole further over lore inaccuracies.

Hey, now! That young lad did the writing for some of the best bits of the game, including the genius-yet-oft-overlooked 'Vault 11'!

Ea takes it a step further

1-money
2-offer pair of cool socks for money
3-more money
4- offer another pair of socks for more money
5-money again
6-more socks again
933- change concept of game completely so we can repeat the sock thing again with the unknowing.

Oh hell I just saw this. Brilliant.

Because Bethesda were putting more time into their main franchise, TES, to produce and develop Skyrim.

I know that. It's just the name.

Well, still better than Miracle Jazzmin I suppose

Someone once pointed out the genius of hiring them.

If Obsidian did bad, then Bethesda could say "look, see what the original creators did? Fallout is better in our hands now." The game being bad, they can say "hey, the fans wanted an original fallout" and simply give Obsidian all the blame.
If Obsidian did good, now they have an example to follow AND Bethesda looks good for hiring them to begin with, as it was a wise decision and they listened to the fans.

It's a win-win.

Obsidian has been developing RPG sequels for years, and even though they have a rep for bad technical performance in games, the narrative quality in an Obsidian game is always very high. KOTOR2, Neverwinter Nights 2, New Vegas, and Dungeon Siege III are all sequels to beloved franchises to which Obsidian have been given the reins, and with the exception of Dungeon Siege III (imo) they have done a fantastic job.

agrees with this post.

I would like to point this out ===> http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/fallout-new-vegas/1132962p1.html

"We are delighted by the reception Fallout: New Vegas has received from fans around the world," said Vlatko Andonov, president of http://www.gamespy.com/company/025/025220.html. "Despite the large launch quantities for this title, we have already received substantial re-orders from our retail partners, underscoring the tremendous popularity of this highly entertaining game."

It is a wise decision in that respect, but I have a hard time believing that Bethesda really cares that much about us (that is the small number of fans who really care about the series) when compared to how much they care about sales with (what I believe to be) the large majority of fans who are "casual" fans. These "casual" fans really don't care about the series being an RPG series, rather they enjoy exploring the map and blasting people's heads off with overpowered weapons, and there's nothing wrong with that, except that they make up the majority of gamers today, and, as such, force developers to make "dumbed-down" games in order to sell more copies. My point is that Bethesda probably (and understandably) won't cater to us in future games, but rather to the larger audience which will make more money for them.

I'm just glad that Obsidian did develop New Vegas and that we got a truly great Fallout game out of it.