Pimp-Boy 3 Billion (2024)

“Outstanding! You have no idea how much this means to me, but I think this little beauty will give you an idea.”— Mick

Characteristics[]

The Pimp-Boy 3 Billion is a standard Pip-Boy 3000 that has been "pimped out" with what appears to be gold and silver plating as well as encrusted diamonds. Once received, the Courier automatically replaces the standard Pip-Boy 3000 with the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. To switch back to the original Pip-Boy, they can simply talk to Mick about it.

Location[]

The Pimp-Boy 3 Billion can be obtained from Mick of Mick & Ralph's as part of an unmarked quest to determine why the Omertas (of the Gomorrah casino) have stopped purchasing weapons from him. This is initiated by talking to Mick and asking how their business is and ask what the deal is with the Omertas at any time prior to completing the quest How Little We Know. The Courier will be given a note outlining Mick's request. The Courier must then complete How Little We Know.

Completing the quest by siding with the bosses, the Courier can convince Big Sal to buy guns from Mick again by passing the Speech check (50). The Courier can then return to Mick and inform him that the Omertas will once again be purchasing weapons from him, at which point he will reward them with the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion.

If sided with Cachino, another way of getting it is to free Troike from his contract. Cachino will tell the Courier about Troike's incident, which involves a dead hooker. Though this step can be skipped and have Troike directly freed from his contract, the hooker's corpse will be located in the Suites level of the hotel behind a very hard lock (key for this room can be pickpocketed from Clanden), and will require a Medicine skill of at least 35 to examine.

Once done, go back to Troike and ask him about the hooker (and not about the gun shipments). There is a Medicine check in the conversation in which a Medicine skill of 30 is needed to pass. After passing it one can simply ask him about the dead hooker after Cachino has explained the incident. Offer to talk to Big Sal about letting Troike out of his contract. Once prompted to do so, one should go talk to Big Sal and suggesting of paying off Troike's contract with 300 caps. Passing the Speech check (53) or the Barter check (45) will also work. Telling Troike the good news will have him explain about destroying the gun shipments. After destroying the shipment with Troike's thermite, visit Cachino to finish the quest and then speak to Mick. He will give thanks for clearing up what the Omertas were doing. There should be an option on letting Mick know that the Omertas will be buying from him again. Mick will then give a reward in the form of a Pimp-Boy 3 Billion.

Notes[]

With the Wild Wasteland trait, funk music will be played upon equipping the Pimp-Boy, and the Wild Wasteland indicator will appear in the top left hand of the screen. The music can be heard again repeatedly by simply going back to Mick and swapping it back for the old Pip-Boy.

By talking to Mick after the quest How Little We Know and asking how his business is and telling him that the Omertas are buying his guns again, the Pimp-Boy can be obtained.
While the original Pip-Boy 3000's screen is green (the default HUD and Pip-Boy color in Fallout 3) when viewed in third person, the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion's screen is amber (the default HUD and Pip-Boy color in New Vegas).
The Pimp-Boy 3 Billion and Pip-Boy 3000 can be swapped to and from whenever speaking to Mick.
With a bad reputation in Freeside, Mick and Ralph will refuse to talk to you, making it impossible to get the Pip-Boy 3000 back or vice versa.
The Pimp-Boy can still be obtained after killing Omerta's, so you can kill them first, then talk to Mick and after ending the conversation with Mick, ask him about business again and he will give you the option to upgrade the Pip-Boy, but he won't mention it first.
Alternatively, on PC, the Pimp-Boy can be added using the console command player.additem 11bacb 1 and then player.equipitem 11bacb. To revert to the old Pip-Boy enter player.equipitem 15038 (for the Pip-Boy 3000), then player.equipitem 25b83 (for the glove).

Behind the scenes[]

Justin Bell was responsible for creating and implementing the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion's musical sound effect.^[1]

Bugs[]

Female characters will hold the Pimp-Boy at an angle, due to the item not having a separate mesh specified for female wearers.^[verified]
Sometimes when placing the map marker, the map will disappear leaving only the location markers. Fix by exiting the Pimp-Boy and returning. This can also happen with the default Pip-Boy if Old World Blues is installed.^[verified]
Sometimes, after completing the How Little We Know quest, Mick cannot be told that the Omertas are buying his weapons again. To work around this, before telling Troike to destroy the weapons, have his contract destroyed by talking to Big Sal before completing the quest. Then tell Troike he is free and then tell him to destroy the guns. Finish the quest by killing the bosses and return to Mick. Even though he mentions that the Omertas won't buy from him anymore the speech option is there indicating they will, which gives you the Pimp-Boy.^[verified]
Adding the Pimp-Boy through the console commands' add/equip method you can then go to Mick & Ralph's and the option to switch back to the old Pip-Boy is there. This bypasses the speech glitch and allows you to switch Pip-Boys as normal.^[verified]
The Pimp-Boy 3 Billion is often much brighter or much darker than the outside light level. At night time, the Pimp-Boy will sometimes be as bright as day, and vice versa. This can be fixed by turning in a different direction from the sun or moon and it will go back to normal.^[verified]
Sometimes when the Pimp-boy 3 Billion light is off, it still shows the glow from it but doesn't account for light and still causes enemies to see you while sneaking.^[verified]
The knob controlling the 5 sub-menus of the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion is "broken", being a notch off and turning differently or even not working at all in the case of PS3 and a female character.^[verified]
The wheel used to go up and down in the menus is stuck in its place, and won't turn when prompted.^[verified]
Sometimes after finishing the quest "How Little We know", Mick will not give you the option to switch to the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. The only way to fix this for the console versions is to make a save before you start the quest and hope for the best. On pc you can "fix" this by typing in "player.additem 11bacb 1" into the console, then go to Mick and ask him to switch your Pip-Boy 3000 to the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion. After you've switched to the Pimp-Boy 3 Billion, you can still switch back.^[verified]