Gaming Made Me: Brian Mitsoda and Annie Carlson
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Fallout (Black Isle)
So, Fallout wasn't a revolution or the most popular game ever when it was released, but it had a profound impact on me, as it directly contributed to my career in the game industry. It's not the first RPG I played by any stretch, but it was the first one that made the main character feel like a normal person rather than the activation switch in a predestined, very linear path. Not only was it wide open as far as play-styles went, but it was stunningly written with people over the age of twelve in mind. The combination of lax narrative and open world design made me reconsider a career in movies or TV and made me think gaming was going to be where it was at as far as developing new ways of creating and experiencing story.
At the time of its release, I was working on the fringe of the movie industry in Los Angeles. Looking up Interplay, I found out it was close enough (Orange County) to give it a shot, and they were hiring for testers at the time. I applied, got the job, and was on my way to becoming a designer of many cancelled titles and one that actually got out well enough received for you to be reading this today, how '˜bout that? Perhaps if not for Fallout, I would have never thought my love of games, design, and writing could be combined and instead I'd be getting into the head of the Monopoly thimble, trying to figure out its motivation in the script while attempting to drink myself to death.
