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From Ashley Cheng Blog:

Inside the Vault, Fallout 10th Anniversary edition

From the Bethesda blog:

This week is a special Q&A for Inside the Vault in honor of the 10th anniversary of Fallout. One question. Lots of answers. We asked the team: What did you like best about the original Fallout games? This was a fun one to put together, a terrific read. Even a couple of developers from our sister studio, Zenimax Online Studios, chimed in.

A few examples of the answers:

Todd Howard, Executive Producer
It’s always been the initial opening for me. It’s one of the all-time great intros. From the opening strums of the Ink Spots, Vault Boy watering his plants while being locked in a Vault, Galaxy News, “our boys” in Canada executing someone and waving at the camera, a car that does 0 to 60 in .5 seconds with “no electronics”, the final pull-back to a destroyed world, to the opening line of “War. War never changes.” Within one minute, you’re completely sold.

Emil Pagliarulo, Designer
I loved the true open-endedness of the world, and the fact that I was this lone guy in a completely unknown world, and had the power to shape my own destiny in whatever way I saw fit. In Fallout, the Vault Dweller could be anything I wanted. So in a lot of ways Fallout was the progenitor of the “sandbox” game, and its principles have been replicated in everything from Oblivion to Grand Theft Auto.

Orin Tresnjak, Programmer
I loved the level of freedom—the way they dropped you into the world with little guidance and let you discover things for yourself, with multiple ways to handle most situations. The bleakness and moral ambiguity of the setting was another big one—rather than giving you a choice between mustache-twirling evil and total virtue, they let you develop an organic, complex character. They’re probably the only games that have made me stop to think about the moral implications of the choices I was making.

Gavin Carter, Producer
The best thing about Fallout was how singular it was, and even today, how singular it remains. While most RPGs were content with riffs on the swords-and-sorcery motif, Fallout rejected any notion of standard. The setting and basis for the game are so bizarrely unique that trying to sum it up in a few sentences is nearly futile. It’s Mad Max meets Leave It to Beaver, Flash Gordon meets Barefoot Gen, The Jetsons meets global thermonuclear war. Fallout managed to maintain a near-perfect atmosphere of gritty seriousness without losing its sense of humor. Combine that with the freedom, violence, depth of plot and characters, and it’s little wonder that people are still carrying the torch for the game, even ten years later.

Interesting read, you can check the rest here, and I’ve snatched it to the articles section, where you can find it here.

Fallout 10th Anniversary Contest Official Rules

Here are the rules:

1. The Fallout 10th Anniversary Contest presented by Bethesda Softworks LLC (the “Contest”) begins at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on October 1, 2007 and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on October 31, 2007 (“Contest Period”).
2. Eligibility. Contest is offered to individuals who are at least eighteen (18) years old at the time of entry and have Internet access. Employees, producers and directors of Bethesda Softworks LLC (the “Sponsor”), ZeniMax Media Inc., their respective affiliated and subsidiary companies, advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members (spouse, mother, father, sister, brother, ward, daughter or son) or members of the households of such employees or directors or family members (whether or not related) are not eligible to enter or win a prize. By entering, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and the decisions of Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects.
3. To Enter:
   1. All submissions must be submitted via the official Contest page and received during the Contest Period, and must be in English. Entries must be submitted in jpg, gif, or png format only. Maximum size: 90 kb. Maximum dimensions: 100 pixels x 100 pixels. Submit your entry using the official entry form found upon acceptance of these Official Rules (see bottom of page) . No other method of entry will be accepted.
   2. Your entry may not include copyrighted or trademarked materials, including but not limited to logos, artwork and images, other than that which has been permitted for use by the Sponsor. The use of copyrighted or trademarked material NOT owned by Sponsor or yourself is STRICTLY PROHIBITED. Your entry may not include inappropriate language or sexually explicit content.
   3. Entries received after 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on October 31, 2007 will be deemed ineligible for participation in the Contest. Any attempt at entry except as above stated shall be void.
4. Judging. The winning submission will be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. The winner will be notified via e-mail or telephone and announced on the Fallout website. Entrants agree to be bound by the Official Rules and any and all decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding in all respects.
5. Grand Prize: PC Grand Prize:
   Your choice of an ATI or NVIDIA video card
   Logitech G15 keyboard
   Logitech G9 mouse
   Logitech G51 Gaming Speakers
   Vault Boy bobblehead
   Vault Tec lunchbox
   Fallout 3 t-shirt
   Vault Boy decal OR Console Grand Prize:
   Xbox 360 Pro
   Logitech G51 Gaming Speakers
   Vault Boy bobblehead
   Vault Tec lunchbox
   Fallout 3 t-shirt
   Vault Boy decalIn addition, the winning entry will be included in Fallout 3 and the winner will receive in-game credit.