Irvine

Irvine was a pre-War city within Orange County.

Background
The 452nd battalion of the United States Army, along with James Merish, was stationed in Irvine, California.

Appearances
Irvine is mentioned only in Fallout: New Vegas. It was to appear in the original Fallout but was cut from the final version of the game.

Behind the scenes

 * In early development stages of Fallout, the developers threw around dozens of ideas for the game. One of the joke ones included Irvine as a location: Known as Utopia and was run by the mysterious Irvine Land Corporation. It was surrounded by massive walls and patrolled by killer robots. It included tall glass buildings, palm trees, no crime, no poverty – like an ideal pre-War society. However, the corporation controlled every level of society in Irvine, enforcing its pristine perception with an iron fist. The robots, controlled by a super computer in the middle of the city, which was manufactured by the Irvine Land Corporation, were ostensibly the "helpers" that take care of the population's needs, but were in reality their overlords, controlling every aspect of their lives. Outside the walls of Utopia, the ruins of a pre-War company called Interplay could be found. To access the area, the player would have to shut down lasers defending it, using a pass card of a specific Interplay employee. If disabled, this would allow an NPC in the ending slide to steal Brian Fargo's car (a subject of much amusement to employees at the time). It was never taken seriously as an option.


 * Irvine is a city located in central Orange County, California, incorporated in 1971. Fallout developer Interplay was headquartered in Irvine, as is Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian Entertainment, which was founded in nearby Santa Ana.