Then FONV brought a whole different setting and perspective to the Fallout universe, at least compared to FO3. The story telling was indulging and it felt like it really brought the sci-fi feel to the story in a much more aggressive way. The choices it offered really put you into the shoes of the courier and opened the world for you to become whoever you wanted, it had some of the strongest RPG aspects that lack in many games released today. That only fueled the flame even more and convinced me to start looking at other games with this post-apocalyptic theme.
From there I dabbled in the original Fallouts (1,2 and Tactics) but I could never fully immerse myself in them which truly I wish I could. I respect those games for what they are and I enjoyed reading the stories within them but blatantly, it isn't for me. From there I've played Rage, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, etc. and plenty of other games that take post-apocalyptic into a different direction such as zombie-themed games to Half Life (at least I personally consider them "post-apocalyptic") and so on. I've recently also been introduced to Wasteland 2 which is currently in production and although I lack interested in the original Fallouts I'm going to give this a try without a doubt. And from there on, I'm anxiously waiting on FO4 and the next release of a game that with capture my imagination as the Fallouts have.
Fallout has influenced the way I see and play games, what I expect and what I crave from them. It's something that I think I'll always carry with me and something that defines who I am to a certain extent. This is sort of my story and I'm interested to see what some of you guys have experienced and Fallout and the post-apocalyptic theme has meant to you.