Well, I'm torn now. The websites and forum pages I've seen generally recommend New Vegas, but they say you can't really appreciate the changes unless you play Fallout 3 first. I've been leaning more towards New Vegas, but most people say aspects of Fallout 3 are better. I'm almost completely torn, so it comes down to this...

The other Bethesda games I've played are Skyrim and Oblivion. I played Skyrim before Oblivion, and I enjoyed Skyrim tons more than I enjoyed Oblivion. Is this the same situation? I always hear people say Oblivion is better, but I enjoyed Skyrim more because it's more dynamic and streamlined. Basing off of this, should I just get New Vegas, in terms of New Vegas being Skyrim as Fallout 3 to Oblivion?

Also, I enjoy exploration more in terms of finding something in the middle of nowhere- Is this similar to New Vegas? I've seen pictures of ruins everywhere in Fallout 3, and while I think it's more of an 'urban' environment, I feel like that might take away a lot of the exploration as there's things immediately around. Right?

Edit: Based on knowledge and opinions of friends, as well as preference, I've decided to get New Vegas. Thank you for your opinions. You may lock this thread now, if you wish.

I've played both games also and I personally found Fallout 3 to be my preferred title though both have their own merits and shortcomings.

In terms of gameplay, both are quite similar though NV is perhaps more realistic in that you have more varieties of medications, different options for weapons and even hardcore mode which adds an entirely new level of survival to name a few. The DLCs for F3 are generally very good in my opinion, so are those for NV I've heard though I'm unfamiliar with all of the NV DLCs as I haven't had the opportunity to play all of them through yet. From what I can tell from critic reviews and player consensus, both games are acclaimed yet F3 seems to top NV in most polls. Not saying the majority is correct but it is a factor.

I have a Windows 8 laptop and neither F3 nor NV have particularly agreed with it. I seem to recall F3 had some compatibility issues but as Azie mentioned there are a lot of helpful guides on the Steam forums and the like and I was able to fix it within a couple of hours. NV was more so a Steam issue I think, but that was also resolved without too much hassle.

I suppose long story short it all comes down to personal opinion when recommending one, though if unsure I'd probably suggest F3 as it's chronologically first in the series (excluding 1 and 2). If you enjoy then New Vegas is the next logical step.

New Vegas.
I've played both, and I'd have to say that NV is my all time favorite.
Fallout 3 had a better story, but I felt like NV was just, better.

I haven't played 3 so I don't know a lot about it, but whatever. I won't pressure you into buying New Vegas, I'll just tell you why I love New Vegas.
I chose New Vegas instead of 3 precisely because of Las Vegas. Thing is I love gambling. There are 3 or 4 themed casinos in New Vegas. And New Vegas is sooo darn cool. And the Mojave Wasteland is beautiful.
There are 3 main factions: there's Mr House, a Howard Hughes expy who lives in an old casino and controls New Vegas through his robot army, there's the New California Republic, which is kind of a Post-Apocalyptic United States, and Caesar's Legion, a bunch of Roman Empire wannabes who use American Football equipment as armor, speak basic Latin (Ave, Kajsar, Amicus) and don't like women.

Gosh, I don't like writing. I think this is enough for now.

AzieI played both and feel that Fallout 3 was the better title. Both games are very similar in mechanics and game-play style, to the point of New Vegas feeling like DLC and not its own game. Modding communities for both games are rich with great content, though my general perception was that #3 is the favored title. If you plan on modding, you may want to research mods you want and base your choice at least partially on which mods are available for each title.

Find Them Creepers
I've also heard Fallout 3 doesn't work too well on new computers. Is this true?

I'm not sure about New Vegas, but Fallout 3 has a fair amount of compatibility issues in Windows 7 and 8. Thankfully, there are tons of helpful guides on Steam that can help solve start-up crashes, freezes, etc. fairly easily. It's a little bit of extra work to get it running, but if you're willing to do it, I think it's the better game. If you don't want to do the extra troubleshooting to get it running properly, you might want to opt for New Vegas.

I think I might just get New Vegas. After poking around reviews and videos, I think it's the better option for me.

I played both and feel that Fallout 3 was the better title. Both games are very similar in mechanics and game-play style, to the point of New Vegas feeling like DLC and not its own game. Modding communities for both games are rich with great content, though my general perception was that #3 is the favored title. If you plan on modding, you may want to research mods you want and base your choice at least partially on which mods are available for each title.

Find Them Creepers
I've also heard Fallout 3 doesn't work too well on new computers. Is this true?

I'm not sure about New Vegas, but Fallout 3 has a fair amount of compatibility issues in Windows 7 and 8. Thankfully, there are tons of helpful guides on Steam that can help solve start-up crashes, freezes, etc. fairly easily. It's a little bit of extra work to get it running, but if you're willing to do it, I think it's the better game. If you don't want to do the extra troubleshooting to get it running properly, you might want to opt for New Vegas.