http://bugs.winehq.org/show_bug.cgi?id=23616
--- Comment #5 from Holly Bostick aka.motub@gmail.com 2010-07-19 00:20:43 --- Further testing reveals that the problem is caused by PulseAudio. After an update to 1.2, I finally broke down and turned PA off in order to resolve sound issues with another game under Wine. When that succeeded in resolving the issues, I thought to go back and start a new, new game of Fallout 3. The sound in the childbirth scene worked perfectly (haven't heard my first cry in like the longest time) and the scene progressed through its dialogs and conversations without a hitch.
I then turned PulseAudio back on and did it again; the problem re-occurred. Exited, turned PA off again and restarted-- problem disappeared.
So whether this is a bug in Wine triggered when PulseAudio is active or whether it's a bug in PulseAudio that cannot be solved via Wine, the workaround seems clear-- turn off PulseAudio!
Thank you for any further clarification regarding these results.