Is this game supposed to be BTTF4?/ The canon debate

[comitob]

Is this game supposed to be like a new Sequel to the Back to the Future Series, or is it going to be 3 episodes based off the movies?

[Icedhope]

Originally Posted by comitob

Is this game supposed to be like a new Sequel to the Back to the Future Series, or is it going to be 3 episodes based off the movies?

It's not supposed to be a sequel think of like an expanded universe type thing.

[Vainamoinen]

Here we go. Not surprisingly.

This is a question which will be very hard to answer for TTG. "Expanded universe" is a very vague tagline serving as an answer to an equally vague question.

What is it you'd actually want to ask with the seemingly simple question "Is this BTTF 4"?

• That it directly continues the storyline established in the movies?
• That it includes all the characters/ places from the movies?
• That it's actually so non-interactive that it could be regarded as a fourth movie?
• Should these episodes be regarded as an "official" or "canon" continuation of the BTTF movies?
• Possibly, that Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis will even write the storyline?

And what is it Telltale and Universal actually want to communicate with the "expanded universe" idea?

• That we'll have to deal with many more characters, possibly playing a new character?
• That they do not feel bound to the BTTF movie "canon" of events?
• That they do not feel bound to the BTTF cartoon " lesser canon" of events?
• That they'd like to dismiss vague ideas of an "official" or "canon" story continuation up front?
• That they'd like to keep any creative storyline direction a possibility?

Lots of things to think about.

[Thespis]

"Is this a sequel to the movie series" isn't a vague question. It's a specific question with a specific answer, which is "no."

Why would this be a hard thing to explain?

There are countless games out there based on movie and TV franchises, and very few of them are supposed to be sequels. The vast majority are just games based in the world of the franchise.

You're making it a lot more complicated than it actually is.

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Thespis

"Is this a sequel to the movie series" isn't a vague question. It's a specific question with a specific answer, which is "no."

So you'd rule out completely that they might continue the story of Marty McFly and Doc Brown?

[Thespis]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

So you'd rule out completely that they might continue the story of Marty McFly and Doc Brown?

Just because a game is made using the main characters of a movie does not mean it's a sequel. It's just a game based on a movie.

[Falanca]

No comment.

[Thespis]

Here's where I'm getting my information, in case you were wondering:

Connors said the games, which are in the early stages of development, would tell new stories extending the "Back to the Future" and "Jurassic Park" lore. He teased that the "Back to the Future" games may include a DeLorean ride back to the 1970s while the "Jurassic Park" games would be intense and add new backstories to the series' man-versus-dinosaur mythology.

"The games are going to exist within these worlds," said Connors. "I wouldn't call these games sequels per se but a new interpretation of their worlds for a new medium. For one generation, it's an introduction to these series. For another generation, it's a thing they can look back on and something they can share warmly with their family and friends."

[Vainamoinen]

Originally Posted by Thespis

Just because a game is made using the main characters of a movie does not mean it's a sequel. It's just a game based on a movie.

Well, by mere definition of "sequel", it actually would be one.

[Thespis]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

Well, by mere definition of "sequel", it actually would be one.

Read the quote I posted above.

[Vainamoinen]

It's a nice quote, absolutely not unknown to me, and it definitly is not only at the core of my original post's issues, but in fact raises the questions in my original post.

If the game continues the story of the movies, it's a sequel by definition. If that's not what Connors meant, we'd still have to hear his definition of "sequel". And he'd definitly touch on the issues in my first post by doing that.

Don't get all heated up on this... we're both waiting equally passionate for new information.

[ShotgunStalker]

i hope everything that happens in this video happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBw9E2Q_aY
Its so freakin epic!! I mean it!!

[DaVince]

"Alternative version" works as a definition. I mean, it's been done before. And where the hell did that Lord of the Rings MMORPG come from, anyway? That's right - it's all alternative, non-canon stuff.

[techie775]

Originally Posted by ShotgunStalker

i hope everything that happens in this video happens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBw9E2Q_aY
Its so freakin epic!! I mean it!!

that was great....

[bttf1985cc]

well I hope they stick with the movie, Whats back to the future without the deLorean or marty,doc, hill valley ect... I dont think UH will have them stray 2 far away from bttf the movie plot lines. Its like when they make jurrasic park the game they dont have dinos in it . These are things that stand out in the movie and things we have come to love, thats we are all fans! So hopefully they make game play like in the movie! Have a chase in the twin pines mall, stop biff from getting the sports alamanic and having a alt future.

[Jota]

Think of it like Star Trek. Deep Space 9 wasn't a "sequel" to The Next Generation, which itself wasn't a sequel to the original series. The later television series weren't sequels to the earlier films. They were all just different stories in the same universe. I figure the TTG Back to the Future game(s) will share a similar kind of relationship to the Back to the Future movies.

[Sinaz20]

To answer this question without treading over NDA lines... it goes a little something like this:

I think it is safe to assume based on the survey that we are not looking at retreading the movie plot-lines.

Therefore, considering that there is no additional time machine for Doc and Marty to have adventures with before the initial Twin Pines introduction of the DeLorean (within their local timeline of events, I mean,) these games could only ever be within the realm of sequels-- as there is no interesting prequel material without the invention of time travel.

As with any licensor, we are bound by guidelines, rules, and cannon that the property owners consider essential to the license. Even if we create new characters, they have to be approved by the Bob Gale/Universal machine, who so far have been very excited by the ideas we have been presenting them, and have been tossing equally exciting "why not's" back at us. We are pretty much ignoring the cartoons, for what it's worth, and focusing simply on the cannon as presented in the movies and creating new cannon with the blessing of Bob Gale.

Ultimately, something I emphasize almost every time I respond to a thread here, those of us working on Back to the Future are passionate about the movies. We don't want to make a game that features random, unknown characters driving a time travelling Mini Cooper.

For us, it's all about Doc, Marty, Biff, Einstein and a DeLorean-- and the family-based drama they deal with throughout time in Hill Valley. We're not doing Bill and Ted, or Terminator, or Hot Tub Time Machine... all great flicks, though.. of a different ilk.

S'alright? S'alright!

[Spykes]

Originally Posted by Sinaz20

For us, it's all about Doc, Marty, Biff, Einstein and a DeLorean-- and the family-based drama they deal with throughout time in Hill Valley. We're not doing Bill and Ted, or Terminator, or Hot Tub Time Machine... all great flicks, though.. of a different ilk.

S'alright? S'alright!

This makes me smile.

Sounds like you guys got the core of BttF down perfectly.

[Falanca]

By the way, I wouldn't really mind a Bill and Ted game from you guys o_o

[Vainamoinen]

Thank you so much for your post, Sinaz - that's a strain of philosophy I've been hoping for.