Here’s a really quick one: I kept getting this error when I tried to launch my recently purchased copy of Fallout 3. I googled around a bit, and while I found people with the same problem, no fixes were available.
Solution
While not an actual solution, I’ve been able to circumvent this problem by closing Steam, and re-opening it. This will allow you to launch the game successfully, but only once. If you quit the game, and try to launch it again, it won’t work. To get it to launch again, simply repeat the process – close Steam, re-open it. I’ll try and figure out how to fix this once and for all.
See Also
Steam Forum Post – Fallout 3 fell over and went boom 🙁
UPDATE January 8, 2023 – Old comments posted to my previous site can be seen here.