Platinum chip

The platinum chip is a quest item in Fallout: New Vegas.
==Background==
The platinum chip was designed by Robert HouseThe Courier: "I have a right to know more."Robert House: "That's simply not true. I am the only person to hold any rights pertaining to the Chip. I designed it, and I paid for it - dearly. To develop that Chip, I spent a sum of U.S. dollars - not the bottle caps that pass as currency these days - but a sum beyond counting. For decades, I paid salvagers to comb the ruins for it. And when it was finally discovered, tens of thousands of caps spent to have it brought here. We know how that turned out. Complete your contract and it will be the last time I pay for the Chip. Save your questions for then."(Robert House's dialogue) and was printed at great expense in Sunnyvale on October 22, 2077, a day before the Great War, but it became lost in the following nuclear holocaust.Robert House: " Decades of hiring salvagers out west to search for this little in the ruins of a place called Sunnyvale. Back then, anyway. That's where the Chip was printed, on October 22, 2077. It was to have been hand-delivered to me here, at the Lucky 38, the next day. But the bombs fell first. Suffice it to say, the delivery was never made."(Robert House's dialogue) After regaining consciousness from his coma after saving Las Vegas from full nuclear destruction, Mr. House spent millions of caps (812,545 in 2280 alone)The Courier: "What do you know about the courier Benny shot?"Yes Man: " - Did you know that Mr. House spent 812,545 caps hiring salvage teams to find the Platinum Chip- just in the last year alone? Or that there were seven couriers, but six of them were carrying junk? How about their exact routes, and the mercenary teams that screened them? I knew all that. Pretty smart, huh?"(Yes Man's dialogue) to find it. Around late 2281, the platinum chip was finally located by one of these scavenger teams. Cautious about its arrival, Mr. House first had delivery paths, avenues and routes screened prior to having it sent to New Vegas via the Mojave Express, along with five other dummy packages of various novelty items so as not to convey its importance to anyone like raiders or the Brotherhood of Steel.Mojave Express delivery order (4 of 6)
Carried by the Courier from southern NCR, through the Hub,J.E. Sawyer: "The Courier carried his/her delivery from southern NCR, toward the Hub. We intentionally left the Courier's origins and the exact nature of the initial transaction vague." to New Vegas, the chip was intercepted by Benny around Goodsprings after attaining the exact route through Yes Man. House's protégé intended to use it to gain control of the New Vegas Strip and make it an independent power in the wasteland, free of his employer's machinations.The Courier: "If the Chip's so valuable, why use a single courier to transport it?"Robert House: "You realize you were just one of many couriers, the rest of them , so to speak? Add to that many thousands of caps worth of mercenary protection to screen your avenue of approach. Had I used an armed caravan to transport the Chip, I might as well have been announcing to the world "this is important. Attack this!" I didn't want to attract the attention of groups like the Great Khans or the Brotherhood of Steel. Alas, the real threat was closer to home."(Robert House's dialogue) The only locations on Earth that have the computer hardware necessary to read the chip are inside the Lucky 38 casino and a weather monitoring station on Fortification Hill.The Courier: "Where do you think Benny's gone?"Robert House: "His destination is hardly a mystery. It's a near certainty that he's making his way for Caesar's camp, at Fortification Hill. It's one of just two places on Earth that have the hardware necessary to read the Platinum Chip - the Lucky 38 is the other, of course."(Robert House's dialogue)
==Characteristics==
The chip is a sophisticated, high-density data storage device.The Courier: "Benny stole a Platinum Chip from me. Do you know what it's for?"Yes Man: "Sure! Benny had me look at it a bunch of times! It's a data storage device, kind of like a holotape, but a lot more advanced! As for what's on it, well... Some of Mr. House's data transmissions made it sound like the Chip could upgrade his defenses somehow! That's just a guess, though! The Chip's a proprietary format! You'd need special hardware to read the data on it! There are two locations with non-standard hardware on the network - the Lucky 38 and an underground facility at Fortification Hill. I'd look there!"(Yes Man's dialogue)Robert House: " "(Robert House's dialogue) In addition to opening otherwise locked facilities controlled by the Lucky 38 casino's computers, the chip contains the Mark II operating system for Securitron robots. The Mark II operating system has numerous features that the Mark I system lacks, such as drivers for an auto-repair system as well as the correct drivers for the grenade and missile launcher weapons that all Securitrons are equipped with but unable to use.
Though a proprietary format, the platinum chip also contains software upgrades for the Lucky 38's systems. Besides being a casino and the headquarters for Mr. House's endeavors, the Lucky 38 is also armed with a missile defense grid. During the Great War, these weapons were used to prevent most of the nuclear warheads from destroying Las Vegas and the surrounding area,The Courier: "What preparations did you make to save Las Vegas?"Robert House: "On the day of the Great War, 77 atomic warheads targeted Las Vegas and its surrounding areas. My networked mainframes were able to predict and force-transmit disarm code subsets to 59 warheads, neutralizing them before impact. Laser cannons mounted on the roof of the Lucky 38 destroyed another 9 warheads. The rest got through, though none hit the city itself. A sub-optimal performance, admittedly. If only the Platinum Chip had arrived a day sooner..."(Robert House's dialogue) and, if the platinum chip had reached House in time, would have prevented all of the warheads from hitting the Vegas area. Despite its name, it is not made of platinum, rather it refers to the data itself.The Courier: "How's the Chip work?"Benny: "It's some kind of data storage device, dig? So it's the data on the Chip that's platinum, not the Chip itself. Trouble is, the Chip don't fit any computer I've found. Must require special hardware."(Benny's dialogue)
==Location==
The platinum chip can be obtained by killing Benny. It is also possible to obtain the chip by either working with or killing Caesar.
==Notes==
* Mr. House mentions that Benny could threaten to destroy the Platinum Chip to blackmail him. However Benny will never do so under any circumstances, even if confronted directly.
* If the player asks Veronica what she knows about the Platinum Chip, she will correctly say that it looks like it was manufactured before the Great War. However, she will then estimate that it was manufactured in the mid-2200s, well after the Great War.The Courier: "Can you tell me anything about this platinum chip?"Veronica: "Yeah. It's not for poker. I've never seen anything quite like it, but I can tell you it looks like it was fabricated before the War, and not at a mint. Some kind of tech... I'm gonna say... mid-2200s. Hold onto it. Might be your lucky chip."(Veronica Santangelo's dialogue) This is most likely an oversight.
Inside the game files exists an unused duplicate item called just "Platinum Chip" (no "The"). It has a value of 1 and uses the blue pass card as a model.
==Behind the scenes==
* A replica platinum chip is included in every copy of the Collector's Edition of Fallout: New Vegas. The Collector's Edition chip has Morse code numbers on each of its sides. The 200 side reads "112281," while the Lucky 38 side reads "232077." Also on the 200 side, there is a symbol of a roulette ball in a 7 slot, while the Lucky 38 side shows a roulette ball in a 10 slot. When presented in MM/DD/YYYY format, the date ascertained from the Lucky 38 side is, in fact, 10/23/2077, the day of the Great War, and the day the chip was to be delivered to Mr. House. The significance of the date obtained from the 200 side, 07/11/2281, was the date the events of Fallout: New Vegas began before the change for 10/19/2281.
* The chip being made in Sunnyvale, CA is an homage to the movie WarGames.J.E. Sawyer on Formspring
* The platinum chip was originally planned to trade hands much more frequently in the second half of the game. This was changed early on in development when Joshua Sawyer asked John Gonzalez to focus more on the interactions and motivations of the major factions rather than the chip itself. Remnants of this original design can still be found in the GECK, with the most prominent being the unfinished script .Joshua Sawyer's TumblrThere's an unused, incomplete script in F:NV called vChipHistory. It tracks the player giving the Platinum Chip to one of four factions, Mr. House, Legion, NCR or the Followers of the Apocalypse. It then tracks the player stealing it back and giving it to one of the other factions. Was F:NV's main quest even more ambitious early in development?
Joshua Sawyer: The main plot did revolve around the platinum chip floating around for a while. Shortly after this version of the critical path was stubbed in, I talked to John Gonzalez (our creative lead) and asked him to change the focus of the second half of the critical path. I was concerned that it was too "foozley" and didn’t focus enough on the factions and their interests in the war. He redesigned the second half of the critical path to faction interactions and motivations.
==Bugs==
* It's possible to obtain 2 platinum chips. First, obtain the first one from Benny. Then visit Caesar. Then exit the premises of The Fort and become vilified by Caesar's Legion (or any reputation that makes them hostile). Then pay another visit to Caesar and kill him. The second platinum chip can now be looted from his corpse. 
* Alternatively, allow Benny's capture by the Legion, and complete the quest of choice in Mr. House's bunker. Afterward, pickpocket the chip from Caesar and then leave the camp, returning to Cottonwood Cove. One should arrive with two platinum chips. 
* Another way to obtain 2 platinum chips is to go to the Fort without encountering Benny at the Tops. Speak with Caesar, he will give the player a Platinum Chip so one can destroy (or not) Mr. House's bunker. Then, go to The Tops and visit Benny at his suite (Average Lock on the door), one can loot a platinum chip from his body after the player character murders him.
* If the player kills Benny and obtains the platinum chip and then proceeds to talk to Caesar the chip will be taken from one's inventory once entering The Fort. To obtain another chip return to The Tops and start the Yes Man quests. Go to the Lucky 38 and kill Mr. House. One will receive another platinum chip. 
* It is possible to end up losing the platinum chip, thus preventing one from finishing the game's main storyline. This will occur if the courier enters Caesar's legion as an enemy and then slaughters Caesar and his guards, and then choose to let Benny live. Since Caesar is already dead, the chip will not appear in his inventory, and if Benny escapes, he will disappear from the game and one cannot loot it from his corpse. Paradoxically, even though the chip will not appear in one's inventory, the player can return to Mr. House and he will act as though you have and have handed over the chip, even upgrading his Securitrons and inviting one to return to Caesar's fort and open the secret bunker. For PC, one can just use console commands to get the platinum chip to appear in your inventory. 
==Gallery==
FNV-CE-PlatinumChip-Front.png|Collector's Edition replica front
FNV-CE-PlatinumChip-Back.png|Collector's Edition replica back
Ring-a-Ding-Ding.png|As depicted in Ring-a-Ding-Ding!
File:Icon platinum chip.png|Icon in the pip-boy
==References==
Non-game
Category:Fallout: New Vegas miscellaneous items
Category:Fallout: New Vegas quest items
Category:RobCo Industries technology
de:Platinchip
es:Ficha de platino
fr:Jeton de Platine
it:Chip di platino
nl:Platinum Chip
pl:Platynowy Szton
ru:Платиновая фишка
uk:Платинова фішка