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BIZARRE: 2 - You Need To See This

Opinion | Isometric RPGs were once considered a thing of the past, but recent success stories have proved that players still have an appetite for the subgenre

GamesRadar

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says less is often more in game design: 'As a very wise designer once said to me, a game that includes everything is about nothing'

As hard as it is to admit, an idea isn't necessarily worth implementing just because it sounds cool.

PC Gamer

Fallout 3 is famously green, but series co-creator Tim Cain didn't even notice because he's colorblind: "I was blown away"

"The whole greenish tint thing didn't apply to me"

GamesRadar

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Most of the original Fallout's "dark humor" was added just to make co-creator Tim Cain laugh: "We made this game for each other. When it shipped, we were like, 'Well, I hope other people like it!'"

If it weren't for The Simpsons, we would have no Radiation King

GamesRadar

The Outer Worlds deliberately doesn't do racial or gender discrimination in order to zero in on class, but 'that made the tone of the game feel off,' says director Tim Cain

Even people in the same social class have their differences.

PC Gamer

Fallout's co-creator again recalls nixing 'Terminator-style' robots in the original game, which has me rubbing my chin real hard at Fallout 4's entire plot: 'Mr Handy and Terminator robot do not belong in the same universe'

Talking raccoons also do not belong there, it turns out.

PC Gamer

Fallout was a "B-tier side project" for its original dev and lost two huge licenses, but its creators are glad — "So many negatives turned out to be positives"

The original creators of the Fallout series have revealed it was a "B-tier product" for a while, and failed to secure two major licenses during development.

Windows Central

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OG Fallout devs had to talk themselves into the RPG's name: "My immediate reaction was 'ehh...'"

"Fallout was on the list. But we all went, 'It's too obvious.'"

GamesRadar

Fallout's original creators say that Fallout 3 and 4 aren't quite what they would've done, but 'sales say people love what they did'

"I'm looking at my glass cabinet full of Fallout goodies."

PC Gamer

Fallout's origin can be traced back to a pizza party Tim Cain threw

But were there anchovies?

PC Gamer

Fallout was a 'B-tier product' that lost both the licenses it was banking on and had its lead dev joking, 'In a week, we’re going to be asking whether people want fries with their meal,' but now he thinks those trials 'turned out to be positives'

The little post-apocalyptic roleplaying game that could.

PC Gamer

Fallout co-creator wasn't allowed to share ideas with the rest of the team, so he showed the engine that would eventually power the RPG at a secret pizza party

Disguised by pepperoni

GamesRadar

Fallout co-creator "would have gone in a different direction" than Bethesda did with the RPG series, but "sales say people love what they did"

The OG Fallout creators still enjoy Bethesda's RPGs, though

GamesRadar

Fallout was a "B-tier side project" compared to the D&D "money teams" at Interplay, says series co-creator Tim Cain: "We're off in the corner"

Not so B-tier anymore!

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GamesRadar

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says games "could benefit" from being more like toys, which Minecraft, Skyrim, and all "the best games" are: "Freeform, goal-free playing"

From open worlds to endless gameplay, he thinks a lot of us yearn for toy-like features

PC Gamer

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says 'remote work isn't all sunshine and lollipops' and explains why he's happy to be back in the Obsidian office after 5 years of semi-retirement

"Uncle Tim likes a bagel once a week."

GamesRadar

Tim Cain worked 12 hour days and 7-day weeks making Fallout not because of crunch, but because "we loved what we were doing"

"I'm glad things have changed. That was unsustainable, but it was also absolutely amazing"

International Business Times UK

2026's Gaming Hall of Fame: The 10 Characters Who Ruled the Year

From long-time icons to breakout stars, these were the 10 most popular video game characters of the year, ranked by fan buzz.

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PC Gamer

Fallout lead Tim Cain worked 70+ hours a week for 2 years to make the classic RPG: 'I'm glad things have changed, that was unsustainable⁠—but it was also absolutely amazing'

"I often drove to work in the dark and drove home in the dark."

GamesRadar

Fallout co-creator is glad his RPGs are remembered as "flawed masterpieces" rather than "very buggy games," but warns devs that adding more features will always make other parts of their games worse

"We chose lots of features over bug fixing"

PC Gamer

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain boils RPGs down into 9 different types of quests, but warns "more of one thing means less of another"

Developers only have a finite amount of time to code, so more quests can often mean more bugs.

PC Gamer

Original Fallout lead Tim Cain reckons vitriol around games has always been around, but it's 'more hostile' these days: 'I see lot of people arguing past each other, even if that means denying that the other group even exists'

"People have always had different tastes and they wanted different things."

GamesRadar

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says "there's so much arguing" about games to the point some fans and devs are leaving altogether, but his wisdom is "buy the games you want to see more of," especially indies: "It's the only way forward through this I can see"

"A lot of arguing I see online is gamers arguing past each other"

GamesRadar

OG Fallout creators wanted the IP when it was up for sale, but Bethesda's $6 million bid was a blowout: "It wouldn't have mattered if they heard our offer or not, because they would have laughed"

"We never even got a chance to make an offer"

GamesRadar

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says "realism" complaints are often caused by game worlds breaking their own rules, something his early RPG Arcanum was meticulous about: "Magic and tech don't coexist"

"Realism gets conflated with consistency. A lot"

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