Platinum Chip

The Platinum Chip is a quest item in Fallout: New Vegas.

Background
The Platinum Chip was designed by Robert House and was printed at great expense in Sunnyvale on October 22, 2077, a day before the Great War, but it became lost in the following nuclear holocaust. After regaining consciousness from his coma after saving Las Vegas from full nuclear destruction, Mr. House spent millions of caps (812,545 in 2280 alone) to find it. Once it was located, he had it sent to New Vegas via the Mojave Express.

Carried by the Courier from southern NCR, through the Hub, to New Vegas, the chip was intercepted by Benny in Goodsprings. House's protégé intended to use it to gain control of the New Vegas Strip and make it an independent power in the wasteland, free of his employer's machinations. The only locations on Earth that have the computer hardware necessary to read the chip are inside the Lucky 38 Casino and a weather monitoring station on Fortification Hill.

Characteristics
The Chip is a sophisticated, high density data storage device. In addition to opening otherwise locked facilities controlled by the Lucky 38 casino's computers, the Chip contains the Mark II operating system for Securitron robots. The Mark II operating system has numerous features that the Mark I system lacks, most notably drivers for an auto-repair system as well as the correct drivers for the grenade & missile launcher weapons that all Securitrons are equipped with but unable to use.

Though a proprietary format, the Platinum Chip also contains software upgrades for the Lucky 38's systems. Besides being a casino and the head quarters for Mr. House's endeavors, the Lucky 38 is also armed with a missile defense grid. During the Great War, these weapons where used to prevent most of the nuclear warheads from destroying Las Vegas and the surrounding area, and, if the Platinum Chip had reached House in time, would have prevented all of the warheads from hitting the Vegas area. Despite its name it is not made of platinum, rather it refers to the data itself.

Location
The Platinum Chip can be obtained by killing Benny. It is also possible to obtain the Chip by either working with or killing Caesar.

Behind the scenes

 * A replica platinum chip is included in every copy of the Collector's Edition of Fallout: New Vegas. The Collector's Edition chip has Morse code numbers on each of its sides. The 200 side reads "112281," while the Lucky 38 side reads "232077." Also on the 200 side, there is a symbol of a roulette ball in a 7 slot, while the Lucky 38 side shows a roulette ball in a 10 slot. When presented in MM/DD/YYYY format, the date ascertained from the Lucky 38 side is in fact 10/23/2077, the day of the Great War and the day the Chip was to be delivered to Mr. House. The significance of the date obtained from the 200 side, 07/11/2281, was the date the events of Fallout: New Vegas began before the change of the developers for the 10/19/2281.
 * The Chip being made in Sunnyvale, CA is an homage to the movie War Games.

Bugs

 * It's possible to obtain 2 Platinum chips. First obtain the first one from Benny. Then visit Caesar. Then exit the premises of The Fort and become vilified by Caesar's Legion (or any reputation that makes them hostile). Then pay another visit to Caesar and kill him. The second Platinum chip can now be looted from his corpse.
 * Alternatively, allow Benny's capture by the Legion, and complete the quest of choice in Mr. House's bunker. Afterward, pickpocket the chip from Caesar and then leave the camp, returning to Cottonwood Cove. You should arrive with two Platinum chips.
 * If you kill Benny and obtain the Platinum chip and then proceeded to talk to Caesar the chip will be taken from your inventory once entering The Fort. To obtain another chip return to The Tops and start the Yes Man quests. Go to the Lucky 38 and kill Mr. House. You will receive another Platinum Chip.
 * It is possible to end up losing the platinum chip, thus preventing you from finishing the game's main story line. This will occur if you enter Caesar's legion as an enemy and then slaughter Caesar and his guards, and then choose to let Benny live. Since Caesar is already dead, the chip will not appear in his inventory, and if Benny escapes, he will disappear from the game and you cannot loot it from his corpse. Paradoxically, even though the chip will not appear in your inventory, you can return to Mr. House and he will act as though you have and have handed over the chip, even upgrading his Securitrons and inviting you to return to Caesar's fort and open the secret bunker. For PC, you can just use console commands to get the Platinum Chip to appear in your inventory.