Forget for a minute that "Fallout" and "Fallout 2" exist. It's difficult, I know. Just work with me here. So in this horrible nightmare of an existence, we didn't get to know the world of "Fallout" until 2008, when "Fallout 3" was released. Or did we?
Those crafty bastards at Bethesda Softworks must have cracked open a time capsule or something, because the publisher's blog is linking to an 8-bit version of the Vault Dweller's adventures through the Capital Wasteland.
Fortunately, we do live in a world where those earlier games exist. This 8-bit edition -- which is all in indecipherable Japanese, naturally (unless you happen to speak the language) -- was actually created by Bethesda folk to live on the game's Japanese website. Why, you ask? Stop asking questions! Just enjoy the freaking thing!
Granted, those who don't speak Japanese are going to have a hard time figuring things out. It's like the "Fallout 3" import that never was. The text menu-based play bears no small resemblance to the earliest games in the "Final Fantasy" series. It's impossible to know what's going on, but totally awesome seeing the game's gigantic map rendered in 8-bit form.
If anyone out there in the reading audience understands Japanese, I'd love for you to check out the site and share your findings. Since it's built on some kind of in-browser gaming platform, Google Translate won't be any kind of help. I'll admit, part of me hopes that all of the Japanese text is intentional gibberish since the whole thing really exists as some sort of bizarre bow to the still-popular practice of importing Japanese games.