Xavier Esquilin

1st semester, Department of Computer Science

University of North Carolina-Charlotte, United
States
xesquili@uncc.edu

Summary
The topic that I have taken interest in is a
game series called

Fallout. This is a game that is

based on the post-apocalyptic idea of life. One
famous quote that stays with you in the game is,
war never changes. This is because life was
completely changed for all the people after the
bombs were dropped by the United States and
Russia, but of course some people rose to power
again and when different groups such as the
Brotherhood Outcasts and Pitt Raiders resort to
the one main way they know to settle differences,
war. Brought to us by the imaginative group,
Bethesda, fallout combines a deep story with a
freedom that makes the player feel like they are
actually

in control. Fallout 3 takes place in what

would be Washington D.C and is now the Capital
Wasteland. You start out in Vault 101 with the
knowledge that your father left the Vault and that
your mother had died while giving birth to you.
This leads you to also leave the Vault in search
of your father because he is the only family
you

have left. Along your trip you learn how to

interact with outsiders and you learn about the
dark past that the capital wasteland had. Soon
you learn about a protection system called
Power Armor and that this will be needed later
on. This is important as one of the main powers
you go against is the New government group
called the Enclave. They are trying to take your
fathers work to irradiate the waters so that more
people can drink from them freely and make it
theirs so that they can regulate it. Because of the

fear of the new power becoming too overbearing

a new group, The Brotherhood of Steel, bands
together and trains its operatives to go out and
work with the different factions in the capital
wasteland to try and build a resistance force. In
the end of the game you work with the
Brotherhood and clash with the Enclave and foil
their plans to take over project purity by just
destroying the project. You did this to follow
your father's wish of never letting the Enclave
take over. The game takes somewhere around 30
hours to beat if you just play the main story with
side missions here and there. The game comes
loaded with content that is highly detailed for the
hardcore gamers that you would have to hunt to
find out more. This game is before the next one
in the
series, Fallout 4, which takes place in
Boston, Massachusetts. The idea is to have a
different perspective on the how life turned out
after the war from different locations in the U.S.
These events take place far in the future in the
year 2277 which is 200 years after the main war.
The reason for this long period of nothing is
because people to wait for radiation levels to go
back down and be habitable. The developers of
the game liked to have fun and even input some
voice lines using their family members such as
the head developers one-year-old son. Another
famous person shown in the game was Liam
Nelson who played the role of James, your father
in Fallout 3. To have consistency with the time
line of the game the developers decided to have a
1940s soundtrack of the game to truly show how
locked into the past they survivors are and where
their progression ended. As for their marketing
method they created a teaser website on May 2,
2007 in which the gaming world went wild as all
they could see was a countdown clock to the
release date of the game on June 5, 2007.
Everything was not peachy for the company
though the launching process looked great.
Bethesda actually bought the license to the

Fallout series from a bankrupt Black Isle

Studios. This lead to bad blood because after the
purchase Bethesda did not use any of the code
from the original developers and truly made it
their own game. The original team felt uneasy as
they felt their child was just sent off to the
highest bidder and now they have no control on
how it turns out. Whatever they imagined the
game could be was completely changed and all
they could do is sit back and watch it happen.
Thankfully Bethesdas awesome team of
developers helped push the game into
superstardom and did not drive it into the ground.

1 Since both take place in the same timeline in

different locations, I believe both have an equally
likely chance of becoming a reality. In the games,
the nuclear war started with China, which is
unlikely due to the strong economic ties between
China and the United States. A nuclear war with
Russia or North Korea is a strong possibility
especially if our political system continues to be
a breeding ground for hate and prejudice.
Tensions are rising again and some consider our
relations with Russia to be close to those during
the cold war.

Topic Proposal

2 The nuclear wars started originally in the game

because of resource demand. In our world today,
there are serious concerns about depleting our
natural resources which would lead to violence
between nations that could lead to what we see in
the Fallout games.

Video games have come into our lives

and taken it by storm. A game named Pokmon
Go managed to stir up such a storm that
businesses everywhere began catering to it so

that they
could increase their sales. Other games
like Fallout show us what life could be like on a
post nuclear war Earth. Games like these are fun
but can have a fairly scary resemblance on our
real lives. An aspect in the game that has some
people worried is the role playing aspect. People
in these games tend to go the eviler route
thinking that its just a game and it will not hurt
anyone. Little do they know this could subtly
change the way they act in the real world. Video
games have a larger impact than most would
expect and this paper plans to cover the overall
interaction between people, video games and real
life.

2) What in todays world do you feel like is

similar to the game?

3) What other games do you feel relate to

our real world?
3 Some aspects of more recent call of duty games
play on plausible ideas even if they take them a
little too far. Cybernetic augmentation is a real
possibility in the near future with quickly
advancing technologies. The game "The
Division" plays on a real possibility of disease
and destruction from biological attack.
4) What are some social norms in Fallout
that seem to have changed versus what
we are used to today?

Interview #1
1) Do you think Fallout 3, 4, or both has a
greater chance of actually happening in
our future?

4 A development that came out of the war was a

loner mentality that is very different than
anything we have today. Most people in the game
fend for themselves and wander alone trying to
salvage for themselves rather than make big
groups, which seems counter intuitive. Another

strange occurrence in the game is the sudden

blood lust of the raiders in the new world. Their
savagery and gruesome displays are unlike
anything that would have happened in the old
world.
5) Do you think you could survive a nuclear
fallout now that you have played or
completed one of the Fallout games?
5 I do not believe I could survive a nuclear
fallout unless the circumstances were exactly like
they were in the game. Most people do not
survive in the game unless they have power
armor, not to mention that in real life, we only
have one life. If Fallout has taught me anything,
anything can kill you in the wasteland.
6) What are the top 5 items you would take
with you into a nuclear shelter? (This is to
check the persons values and see what
they feel they want versus what they
should need.)
6 I would take a NATO bored rifle or hunting
store rifle because ammo would be more
common than something more exotic or
powerful. I would also take a combat knife
because of its multiple uses in any survival
situation. I would also take some duct tape
because duct tape can be applied for bandages or
used in any number of circumstances. i would
take a bundle of rope because it has as many
applications of duct tape. Finally, I would bring a
first aid kit because in a wasteland, an untreated
minor cut could become deadly.
Interview #2
1) Have you had moments while playing a
game that made you almost forget that it
is just a game?

Yes, I have, especially when the story is

immersive such as the family issues that
you go through in Fallout 3 while looking
for your dad. You get kicked out your
vault because you know they wronged
him and then you are left to find him in
the open world and it just motivated me
to find him as if I was really on Earth
looking for my dad.

2) What are some aspects of video games

that you wish were in real life?
Being able to respawn because dying is a
natural fear but if I could come back then
I would have little to worry about. Also
this would be useful if I made a mistake
and wanted to try again.
3) Would you say the realism of these games
actually hinder some people from being
able to distinguish what is ok and not ok
to do in the real world?
No if they are not able to differentiate
between reality or fiction games aren't a
factor, it'll happen anyway.
4) How many hours per day and week would
you say you are playing a game?
2 hours per day and about 20 per week.
This varies greatly now that school is
back in session because as much as I love
to game I love not failing much more.
5) Have you bonded and made friends in
real life through the bond of a common
game interest?

Yes, across continents too in countries

such as Germany, Poland, and Great
Britain.
6) What is some good you feel video games
have in the lives of millennials?
I feel like you get faster reflexes, learn
better ways to communicate, and have an
outlet for anger or stress.
Literature Review
[1] Dives head first into the ideas of
morality and video games effect on it in humans.
To do this he ties in famous phosphors and ideas
such as Aristotle, Phronesis. This helps to add
backing to his argument as those are reputable
references to make. Immorality seems to be a
leading thing in games because people feel like
its just a game and that they can do whatever.
This is true but it does seem to have a carryover
effect into peoples lives. This is what makes role
playing games that lets people control their race,
gender, occupation and various abilities such a
strong force and grabs people easily. [2]
Connecting games to real life help people
escape reality and get exactly what they want.
Fallout accomplishes this by employing a
S.P.E.C.I.A.L system which stands for Strength,
Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence,
Agility, and Luck. [3] being able to make
yourself in game anything you want transfers to
real life as now we have people altering their
bodies to make them better by implanting RFID
chips into their bodies. [4] They are doing this to
hack the body and be able to push it to its true
limits.
Video games have become almost
invasive in todays world. Everywhere you go
you can see ads for games or people playing
games. They are usually made to advertise

towards kids, however, you may be surprised to

find out just who is actually playing video games
the most. The average age of gamers today is
actually thirty-three years old. [5] Daphne
Bavelier goes into the idea that gaming might
pose some positive impact on your brain. Her
reasoning is that it causes you to focus on a main
object and think rapidly which fine tunes your
reaction time. This is also leads into an argument
made by Gabe Zichermann who says that video
games actually make kids smarter. He argues that
todays kids are not getting higher cases of
A.D.D but that todays world is just moving too
slow to keep their attention. [6]

For some people playing a game is simply

not enough. People become so attached to the
game that they wish to bring it into real life in
some way, shape or form. This lead to the birth
of the Drone Racing League. [7] This was a
group of people who wanted to bring a NASCAR
like game to in the air drone racing fun. Being
that this was an expensive route some people
prefer the more fantasy route. In his 2006 ted talk
David Perry mentions how people are willing
spend large sums of money on virtual space. [8]

[1] Marcus Schulzke

[2] Mark Wolf 2016
[3] Christopher Seidl
[4] Eyder Peralta
[5] Daphne Bavelier
[6] Gabe Zichermann
[7] Weekend Edition Sunday
[8] David Perry

Fallo
ut 3
Begi
nning
s

Fallo
ut 3
Char
acter
Deve
lopm
ent

Seidl, Christopher, "Capital Sandbox:

Fantasy and the Mechanics of Form in
Fallout 3." Thesis, Georgia State
University, 2015.
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu
/english_theses
/186
Sicart, M. (2009). The Ethics of
Computer Games. Cambridge:
The Massachusetts Institute of
Technology Press.
http://gamestudies.org/0902/articles/sc
hulzke/

Fallo
ut 4
genre
gami
ng

M. Wolf, "Genre and the Video

game", Amazon naws, 2016. [Online].
Available: http:
//s3.amazonaws.com
/academia.edu.documents
/1979904
/9h2wevyakguizku.pdf?AWSAccessK
eyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNPEA
&Expires
=1473832756&Signature
=Y7G678ssHeTjzVuKfZezgmCCrsk
%3D&response-content disposition
=inline%3B%20filename
%3DGenre_and_the_Video_Game.pd
f [Accessed: 12- Sep- 2016].

Vide
o
game
s

Daphne Bavelier
https://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_ba
velier_your_brain_on_video_games#t
-75154

Vide
o
game
s

https://www.ted.com/talks/david_perr
y_on_videogames#t-314200

Vide
o
game

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechco
nsidered/2016/01/31/464714071/a-vid
eo-game-irl-drone-racing-league-aims
-to-be-nascar-in-the-air

Vide
o
game
s

https://www.ted.com/talks/gabe_ziche
rmann_how_games_make_kids_smart
er (Gabe Zichermann)

Vide
o
game
s

http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechco
nsidered/2016/03/10/468556420/body
-hacking-movement-rises-ahead-of-m
oral-answers

Sources
1) Seidl, Christopher, "Capital Sandbox:
Fantasy and the Mechanics of Form in
Fallout 3." Thesis, Georgia State
University,2015.http://scholarworks.gsu.e
du/english_theses/186
2) Sicart, M. (2009). The Ethics of Computer
Games. Cambridge:The Massachusetts
Institute of Technology
Press.http://gamestudies.org/0902/articles
/schulzke/
3) M.Wolf,"GenreandtheVideogame",Amaz
onnaws,2016.[Online].Available:http://s3.
amazonaws.com/academia.edu.document
s/1979904/9h2wevyakguizku.pdf?AWSA
ccessKeyId=AKIAJ56TQJRTWSMTNP
EA&Expires=1473832756&Signature=Y
7G678ssHeTjzVuKfZezgmCCrsk%3D&r
esponsecontentdisposition=inline%3B%2
0filename%3DGenre_and_the_Video_Ga
me.pdf [Accessed: 12- Sep- 2016].
4) Daphne Bavelier
https://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_baveli
er_your_brain_on_video_games#t-75154
5) https://www.ted.com/talks/david_perry_o
n_videogames#t-314200
6) http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsid
ered/2016/01/31/464714071/a-video-gam
e-irl-drone-racing-league-aims-to-be-nasc
ar-in-the-air
7) https://www.ted.com/talks/gabe_zicherma
nn_how_games_make_kids_smarter
(Gabe Zichermann)

8) http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsid
ered/2016/03/10/468556420/body-hackin
g-movement-rises-ahead-of-moral-answer
s
9) Interview one: Andrew Martin, Student at
NC State.
10) Interview two: Dymont Dewberry,
Student at UNC-Charlotte.