Abstract
Problem: Are games art, and what does a game "mean" — especially when its creator has no control over a TV adaptation?
Approach: Tim Cain reflects on the leaked Fallout TV show photos, his late friend Steve's love of Fallout, and the nature of meaning in interactive media versus passive media like books and films.
Findings: Games are art. But unlike books or movies, their meaning is fundamentally player-dependent — no two people play the same game the same way, so no one (not creators, not critics, not fans) can dictate what a game means. The game "points to the path" but the player walks it.
Key insight: Because games are interactive and non-linear, meaning is co-created by the player — making games a uniquely personal form of art that no one, not even the original creator, can claim singular authority over.
The Personal Starting Point
Tim opens with a deeply personal note. Two friends, Brian and Steve, both passed away from cancer within the previous three years. Neither knew what Tim did for a living when they first met through online groups, but both were avid gamers. Steve in particular was a massive Fallout fan who would replay the games obsessively — and would reload saves if he ever caused a bad outcome, because he wanted everyone in the game to be happy. Tim notes Steve was like that in real life too.
Steve's widower, Matthew, sent Tim leaked photos from the then-upcoming Fallout TV show, wanting to know what Tim thought. Tim immediately shared them with Leonard Boyarsky.
Reacting to the Fallout TV Show Photos
Tim and Leonard went through the leaked set photos in detail, but their reactions were very different.
Tim's Perspective (as a Designer and Fan)
Tim looked at the photos as any fan would, comparing them to what he knew about the game world. He noted:
- Hawthorne Labs, a division of Vault-Tec — he wasn't sure if that was in the original game
- Super Duper Mart and Red Rocket looked right
- The Vault interiors — the railings, vents, and overall aesthetic looked good
- Vault suits — they looked like what he'd imagined; he noted they never defined the material (cloth vs. plastic), though he recalled writing a "jumpsuit extruder" into one vault's design
- Pip-Boys looked really good
- The overall post-apocalyptic aesthetic felt authentic to him
Leonard's Perspective (as the Original Artist)
Leonard, as the artist who created many of the original visual designs, had a more critical eye. He focused on specific details like which version of power armor they used, wishing they'd gone with the classic T-51b design rather than a later iteration.
Tim's Relationship to the Franchise
Tim reiterates clearly: he has nothing to do with the Fallout TV show. He's not involved, he has no say. He emphasizes that this is how the industry works — you can create something, but you don't necessarily own it and you certainly don't control it.
Games as Art and the Nature of Meaning
This is the philosophical core of the video. Tim argues:
Meaning is Player-Dependent
Games, books, and movies are all entertainment and all art. But games are fundamentally different because they're interactive. The meaning of a game comes as much from what the player brings to it as from what the creators intended.
- Everyone who watches a movie sees the same sequence of events
- Everyone who reads a book reads the same sequence of events
- This is not true for games — especially non-linear games like the ones Tim makes
Not only do players experience events in different orders, they experience different events entirely. This makes meaning highly individual.
No One Can Force Meaning Into a Game
This is Tim's corollary, and he thinks people don't consider it enough:
- Not the player's friends
- Not online commentators
- Not reviewers
- Not even the creators
The only meaning in a game is the one created by the act of playing it. When people argue about what things "mean" in Fallout, Tim says: none of them are wrong.
The Art Debate is Settled
Tim finds the "are games art?" debate silly. He can understand (while disagreeing with) why people in the Atari/early Nintendo era might have questioned it. But modern games are beautiful, well-crafted, and deeply considered. He believes some games will be held up as major works of art 50 to 100 years from now.
The Buddhist Metaphor
Tim closes his philosophical point with a Buddhist reference: the game isn't the path to meaning — the game points to the path. It's up to the player whether they want to take it.
Hopes and Concerns for the TV Show
Tim hopes the Fallout TV show will be good and respectful of the original games, but he's bracing himself. He cites several recent adaptations — Foundation, Rings of Power, Wheel of Time — that strayed significantly from their source material, particularly foundational elements.
On the positive side, he's excited about Walton Goggins as the lead, noting he's a huge Community fan and that Goggins appeared in his favorite episode (the one where they read Pierce's will).
A Final Thought for Steve
Tim closes by circling back to Steve. He says he doesn't know if there's an afterlife, but if there is, he thinks Steve would be watching the Fallout TV show — and he thinks Steve would love it. Steve had his own take on Fallout, and Tim believes the show would resonate with it.
References
- Tim Cain. YouTube video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5-wHOZCW2U