Fallout 4 is happening.
Go to the Bethesda website and a very familiar looking and very much ticking clock (seen above) slams you in the face, smiling ominously and knowingly with its obtuse, unfocused face. The arms spin in real time, the image grain flickers in that old-projector style, and most importantly, the timer ticks down. “Please stand by” is all it says. And like a bunch of Y2K fanatics, we do.
The rock-em-sock-em apocalyptic classic is less than a day away from being announced. According to an article posted on Kotaku, “a person familiar with goings-on at [Bethesda] told me that a 24-hour countdown clock would be launching today and lead up to a Fallout 4 announcement this week.” The article goes on to speculate, “Looks like that’s true, although of course it’s possible [Bethesda]’ll drag this out with an extended ARG or other teasers leading up to the 14th.”
The 14th, of course, refers to June 14th, on which day Bethesda will be rocking the E3 2015 stage. Is it strange that they would announce the game before E3? Perhaps. (A similar preemptive-strike scenario was speculated at when Crystal Dynamics teased an announcement regarding Rise of the Tomb Raider on June 1 and ended up only (I say only) releasing a teaser trailer.) But with Fallout 4, the internet has been on fire for some time now with anticipation of this installment, and naturally this new countdown can only send it into a deeper frenzy.
And maybe it isn’t that strange that the game should be announced before E3. No matter when its definite existence reaches the public’s ears, there’s going to be chaos and fearful displays of excitement. So in the days leading up to E3, the Bethesda panel stands only to draw more attention than it may have when Fallout 4 was still just speculation.
Get out your party supplies, cone-hats and all. The end of the world is on its way!
