The sound heard when the mini nuke is fired is actually the lunch bell of the Bethesda office.
The cars in the game were inspired by the Ford Nucleon, a nuclear-powered concept car; that is why they emit radiation when destroyed.
A photograph of the Lone Wanderer's parents, James and Catherine, can be found inside Vault 21 in Fallout: New Vegas.
Med-X was originally called morphine, but this small change was made so the game could receive an MA15+ rating in Australia; Bethesda later decided to use this edit in all worldwide versions. Ironically, this also fit the game's fiction, since real-world drugs had never appeared in the series and fictional names had always been used.
Many of the quest names in the game are taken from 1950s song titles.
In the Nuka Cola factory, while reading about Nuka Cola Quantum's marketing strategy, you learn that the slogan was to be 'Take the leap... try a Quantum!'; this is a reference to the series Quantum Leap (1989).
In the Little Lamplight caves, the mayor's name is RJ McCready, a clear reference to the main character of The Thing (1982).
The sound made when VATS is used is the same sound used at the beginning and end of combat in the original Fallout.
After accepting the Nuka Cola challenge, a robot in the factory gives you the password to the shipping manifesto terminals: 'NCC1864'. This is the registry number of the USS Reliant in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
The quest 'Those!' is an obvious reference to the 1950s classic film Them! (1954).
Work on Fallout 3 began immediately after The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
When a Mister Gutsy robot is killed, its last words are the marching chant from the boot camp section of Full Metal Jacket (1987). Mister Gutsy was designed to have the personality of a gunnery sergeant.
The opening sequence is a reference to the iconic opening of Fallout 1, including the narrator's famous line 'War... War never changes'.
In the initial character creation tutorial, the player is given a sweetroll and then challenged over it. This is a nod to Bethesda's old character creation system, which included a question like this: 'While in town the baker gives you a sweetroll. Delighted, you take it into an alley to enjoy, only to be intercepted by a gang of three kids your age. The leader demands the sweetroll, or else he and his friends will beat you and take it.' The 'baker' is Old Lady Palmer, and the 'three kids your age' are Butch and his friends, who happen to be sitting at the adjacent tables.
Erik Dellums, who voices Galaxy News Radio DJ Three Dog, began his film career by being credited as 'Dog 3' in Spike Lee's 'She's Gotta Have It'.
The glass pyramid at L'Enfant Plaza was destroyed in 2013.
During the quest to activate Project Purity, the Enclave takes over the scene. James, played by Liam Neeson, says, 'I don't know who they are, I don't know what they want.' This line mirrors Neeson's 'I don't know who you are, I don't know what you want' from Taken, released the same year.
The New Testament section of the Bible contains the Book of Revelation, which is quoted in the game. In the New Testament there is an author named James, who wrote about anointing the sick. Anointing is a ritual in Christianity believed to cleanse the sick of dangerous influences. The Lone Wanderer's father, James, heads 'Project Purity', which is dedicated to purifying the wasteland's water of radiation. In essence, James is anointing the wasteland by adding pure water to its water sources.
One of the names Butch and his friends consider for their gang is 'The Vault Dwellers'. Vault dweller was the title of the playable character in Fallout 1.
Lesko in the Those! quest may be a reference to the Lesko character in Phase IV (1974), a film about two scientists studying hyper-intelligent ants.
In one of his broadcasts, President John Henry Eden says he grew up in 'rural Kentucky' and had a dog named 'Honey'. Clarkson, Kentucky, hosts the 'Clarkson Honeyfest' on the last Thursday, Friday and Saturday of every September, celebrating the town's ties to the honey industry. This festival is known as Kentucky's Official State Honey Festival.
The game is one of the rare titles in which you can fight bare-handed and clear a path.
Adams Air Force Base, where much of the game takes place, is a real place.
Fallout: New Vegas (2010) was built on Fallout 3's source code, and a significant amount of Fallout 3 content that was not reused in New Vegas can still be found in the game files; these include items, weapons, armor, notes, robots, creatures, interior cells and architectural elements.
Inside the Citadel, in the hospital section, there is a robot doctor. When you encounter it, it greets you with 'please state the nature of the medical emergency'. This is the exact phrase used by the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), aka 'The Doctor', in Star Trek Voyager.
In the settlement of Girdershade there is an NPC named Ronald Laren. His name is a strange reminder of the Star Trek TNG Bajoran character Ro Laren, played by Michelle Forbes. Other than both being skilled fighters, they have little in common. Coincidentally, Ronald is tied to a quest that leads the player to the Nuka Cola Factory, where, as noted in other trivia entries, another Star Trek Easter egg can be found.