Released in October of 2010, Obsidian's Fallout New Vegas quickly became a fan favorite. The game transcended numerous technical flaws thanks to witty writing, strange humor, and humane storytelling. To this day, the game still ranks among the Fallout series' absolute best. Given the excellent writing and clever references it should be little surprise to know that one of the games add-ons, Old World Blues, pays homage to one of pop-cultures finest creations, Venture Brothers.
Much like Fallout New Vegas, Venture Brothers has a twisted sense of humor that pokes fun at life's cruelty while never loosing sight of the people in its story. Venture Brothers follows the titular Venture family: Dr Rusty Venture and his two sons, Hank and Dean. They go on numerous adventures and are chased by super villains, but at the heart of all the shenanigans is tragedy. Rusty is the son of Dr. Jonas Venture, a famed scientist who built a fortune with his inventions and fame through the exploitation of his son. Jonas turned Rusty into a superstar as a child, having him star in a TV series much akin to the 1960s Johnny Quest. Routinely traumatized over the course of the series, Rusty grew into a broken man stuck in a codependent cycle of hero vs villain. Hilarious, but tragic, Rusty is an endearingly pathetic character who leaves an indelible mark.
Obsidian Studios clearly agrees with the sentiment, and includes a tribute to Rusty Venture in "Old World Blues" via Dr. 0. A main character in the DLC, Dr 0 shares many of Rusty's character traits and is also played by the same voice actor: James Urbaniak.
How Old World Blues Pays Tribute to Rusty Venture
Dr. 0 belongs to the Think Tank: a group of pre-war scientists who put their consciousnesses into machine bodies. Much like Rusty Venture, Dr. 0 is looked down upon by his peers, inept with technology (despite being a doctor), and suffers from a crippling inferiority complex. Dr. 0's sad ineptitude is best expressed by his name. Dr. 0 is called Dr. O by his fellow scientists and lacks the confidence to correct them. Furthermore, Dr. 0 is so oblivious he never thought to use a zero with a slash through it to assert his name and definitively differentiate Ø from O. If the player takes the time to talk with Dr. Ø they can advise him on his name and help him, finally, express himself, at least to some extent.
Aside from the character tribute, Fallout New Vegas' "Old World Blues" contains one other reference to the Venture Bros. If the player has the Wild Wasteland Trait, a perk that opens up gameplay to all sorts of weird antics, then they can find walking eyes. These tiny surveillance robots can be located in the Magnetohydraulics Complex. They do not serve much purpose in the game, but are a clear callback to one of Dr. Rusty Venture's inventions: the walking eye. The Walking Eye first appears in the Season 2 episode "Fallen Arches" in which, like its Fallout counterpart, it operates as a surveillance robot. The robot would go on to appear in later episodes as a butler.
Thoughtful, humorous, crass but always incisive in their character portrayals, Fallout New Vegas and Venture Bros. are a match made in heaven. With Venture Bros potentially being revived on HBO Max and Obsidian continuing to make Fallout-like games with The Outer Worlds series, there is still hope that Venture Bros. will once again cross over into an Obsidian creation.