What were the last video games you played?

[Gowienczyk]

I hate this line of argument. A work of fiction that's based off another work of fiction from another medium shouldn't have to be experienced in the other medium first to be enjoyed. You don't see me going around telling people that Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World wasn't to their liking because they didn't read the books yet. Hell, there's so many examples that I won't even bother listing them all.

Hell, I just stated an example in my last post! Lego Indiana Jones! Never watched an Indy flick and I don't ever plan to, but the game was lots of fun.

Maybe this would be relevant if the game wasn't tailored to the Back to the Future fan with every reference, joke and little tidbit. It makes nods to classic culture (most of which you are ignorant of) and it does it very snappily at that. The game isn't just BASED on the Back to the Future, it myswell be the next installment of the damn movies.

[Cipher_Peon]

Maybe this would be relevant if the game wasn't tailored to the Back to the Future fan with every reference, joke and little tidbit. It makes nods to classic culture (most of which you are ignorant of) and it does it very snappily at that. The game isn't just BASED on the Back to the Future, it myswell be the next installment of the damn movies.

I feel that a thorough appreciation of the source material should lead to smaller references, easter eggs, continuity nods, etc rather than be the center of the whole thing. A piece of entertainment shouldn't try to actively seclude those who haven't experienced its source material, it's just losing potential customers and fans. I would much rather have a standalone experience that is improved with extensive knowledge of the Back to the Future franchise instead of a game that only Back to the Future fans can enjoy.

[Lowlander2]

But mere nods, references and cameos would seem tacky and cheap, like the developers really weren't into the Back To The Future experience, and that they didn't care. Just look at their Jurassic Park game.

[Gowienczyk]

But mere nods, references and cameos would seem tacky and cheap, like the developers really weren't into the Back To The Future experience, and that they didn't care

Exactly. The game was never meant to be standalone and it never pretended to be.

[Lawdog1521]

Having played BTTF all the way through I don't see why you couldn't play it as a stand alone game anyway. What's so hard to figure out? A time traveling kid has to get back to his own time. It's kind of in the title.

[Cipher_Peon]

But mere nods, references and cameos would seem tacky and cheap, like the developers really weren't into the Back To The Future experience, and that they didn't care. Just look at their Jurassic Park game.

As for my line of argument, I state the Scott Pilgrim game and movie, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the Super Smash Bros series, a LARGE amount of game, movie, book, comic book sequels, and the Silent Hill movie. None required the knowledge of the works they came from before hand and can be enjoyed thoroughly as their own entity without experiencing their sources. However, thorough knowledge of the source material leads to fantastic moments where the fans would appreciate whereas the rest of the audience wouldn't understand how important it is (ex: using the music from the Silent Hill franchise in the movie, which was a fantastic touch). The Jurassic Park game had many flaws, and I believe their approach to trying to capture a bigger audience went about it the wrong way. Try to make a standalone experience so that nonfans can enjoy it on its own merits, but have enough continuity nods and all that jazz to enhance the universe for fans of the source material.

[Lowlander2]

You might have a point if the game wasn't a point and click adventure, which is ALL STORY. No story really operating on the hinges of BttF mythology could have been that good. It needed the incorporation. Just look at the Saturday morning cartoon series.

Your comments about "limiting the size of the audience" also may have made sense elsewhere, but guess what? The Back To The Future films are immensely popular, and have stayed that way throughout the following generations. You wouldn't be complaining about any of this if you had just caved in to peer pressure and WATCHED THE DAN FILMS. You don't even need to see all of them; you'll have enough of a grasp on the story if you've only seen the first.

[Lowlander2]

Gran Turismo 5: Lots of updates and installation, but it is worth it. The racing is just good, and the events are really varied.

WWE '12: Lackluster menus, but overall the focus on a faster pace this time has paid off. It's much more fun all around.

Fabl3: So...much...blur. The game itself is not that great either. Just boring.

I'm plowing through the Uncharted series next week, Vita and all.

[Riffrockrat]

Rock Band 3, of course. Aside from that, I think the last non-music game I played was Oblivion about a week ago. One of the games I bought when I first got a 360 and it is still good, but I really absolutely *must* buy Skyrim soon. So many great games out there I need to try, I need to rent and finish Arkham Asylum so I can try Arkham City. Same with the Mass Effect series (never finished the first game, what I played of it was awesome, though). And I see Low mentioned WWE 12, been meaning to try that. I used to at least rent (and usually ended up owning) every year's WWE game, but not this year (been spending a lot of my video game budget on Rock Band DLC, I guess).

On PC, I've been playing WoW for almost seven years now. Pre-expansion syndrome is getting to me, though, and I am burnt out on it a bit for the moment, so I've been playing the standby I started playing during the last pre-expansion lull -- Everquest 2. Nowhere near as polished as WoW, and certainly not a better game overall, but it has some features and aspects about it that keep me playing it every so often... not to mention it has what is probably my favorite MMORPG race ever.

[SheSaidSheSaid]

Giving Assassin's Creed Revelations another spin. I have only seen the ending once, it would be good to see it again.

I want to unlock the MP-specific content (the videos and files), but I can't stay connected to the server to complete a match