My toon is bumbling around RepConn facility trying to find the durn basemant . . . so I looked it up on wiki and noticed that the place seems to be a spinoff of the "PEPCON disaster in 1988"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzPksCgnCqc

Via the wonders of the Interwebz, this led me to this jewell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA8z94MXo9M&feature=endscreen&NR=1

I thought it was rather eery how familiar the architecture, clothing, cinematography, vehicles, etc. were in comparison to the ruined alternate-retro-history of the Fallout Universe.

Obviously, there are many completely unrealistic elements to the Fallout universe. However, the overall historical themes and design sensibilities are unquestionably linked to the peak of the early Cold War fear era, the time when long-range bombers carrying hydrogen bombs might have flown in devastating first strikes.

I must suspect that this vaguely familiar 'false nostalgia/nightmare' effect is a large part of why Fallout is so popular.

Many 'fantasy' games create imaginary worlds almost completely from scratch or using mythos and legends that are much more remote and less familiar. I've always thought that the creators of this game universe had done a remarkable and uniquely significant job in blending real history into the imaginary post-apocalyptic world of Fallout.