The Richard Rant #4: Licence To Shill

Back

November 9th, 2011 | By

Tagged in: | | | | | | | | |

November 15th may be the date on which North American gamers allow their lives to be sapped away by such mainstream juggernauts as Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Saints Row: The Third and Need For Speed: The Run, but it also marks the release date of Telltale Games’ next work of nostalgic virtual reality phenomena.

If you haven’t already guessed, the game in question is Jurassic Park, Telltale’s most recent attempt to latch onto the contemporary zeitgeist of breathing new life into the cherished cultural relics of yesteryear. Back to the Future, Sam and Max, Homestar Runner and Monkey Island all proudly comprise the upstart indie studio’s ever-bulging portfolio and, with spin-offs for The Walking Dead and Law & Order: Los Angeles also in the pipeline, it’s fair to say that Telltale have the licensed property market more than covered.

But now that an independent developer has such historically unparalleled access to some of our favourite intellectual properties, should we be celebrating or exercising the kind of cynical caution normally associated with geriatric trainspotters bemoaning the decline of the 0-6-0 steam locomotive?

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure myself, and that’s despite having mulled it over for several months. On paper, this kind of monopoly would normally grind my gears like only the most ruthless of gear grinders ever could. After all, if the recent silver screen reboots of The Dukes of Hazzard and The A-Team have taught us anything, it’s that handing over the creative reigns of an established franchise to a third party is a recipe for disaster, serving only to draw the ire of the majority of die-hard fans who waste their hard-earned cash on a soulless milking of a once-proud artistic entity. And that’s not to mention the fact that the lion’s share of video games based on existing series from other forms of media have been raw, unmitigated bilgewater and chips, Goldeneye notwithstanding.

Why, then, don’t Telltale’s regular voyages into some of my favourite ramshackle worlds bother me particularly? Because they’re done well; that’s why. Well, on the whole, anyway. I’ll readily admit that the Tales of Monkey Island series left me, a fan of the original Lucasarts masterpieces, a little cold, and I never really managed to get into Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People.

Back to the Future, Sam and Max and Poker Night at the Inventory were, however, delightful bundles of gleeful mirth. Not only did they hook and reel in the innate fanboy inside me, but they also managed to go the extra mile and build upon the treasured memories I held for the established lore laid out by their forefathers. OK, so maybe Poker Night was just a poker game featuring a handful of pre-existing video game characters, but it was executed so effectively that it managed to maintain a quirky sense of interactive engagement without compromising the affection I held for its animated participants.

Back to the Future was a different story, though. Telltale’s rendition of Spielberg’s iconic 80s family flicks offered so much in the way of fan service and mighty production values, helped in no small part by the considerable voice talents of Christopher Lloyd, that it rekindled my interest in a franchise that had remained dormant at the back of my mind for several long years.

That’s why I’m looking forward to seeing how Jurassic Park: The Game turns out. I’m not even a particularly devoted follower of the film series, but Telltale’s track record thus far has compelled me to take a closer look at what’s in store for the prehistoric troopers and their tantalising human prey. And it’s also why I might even delve into some of the franchises upon which the studio’s other upcoming titles will be based. That’s right; a video game created by an independent developer is sparking my interest in totally separate forms of visual media, and if that’s not a mark of success, I don’t know what is.

I’d be happy to see more indie developers get the opportunity to have a go at building upon the foundations of established creative formulae, and I’d be just as elated to see one or two of them deviate away from Telltale’s solid, if a little uninspired, point-and-click adventure model. Sadly, though, I’m also aware that Telltale’s resources far eclipse those of the vast majority of other indie studios, and that’s where my lingering shred of doubt lies. Seriously, Telltale, share the wealth, or we might stop making allowance for you. And I also won’t invite you to my birthday party. You’ve been warned.

So, then, ladies and gentlemen, what’s your take? Are you looking forward to Jurassic Park: The Game, or does the Telltale approach to gaming media turn you off? Do you have any thoughts on the utilisation or exploitation of creative licences in the video game industry? Leave a comment or two and let your opinion run wild and free. I’ll be back next Wednesday, but I’m eager to read what you’ve got to say before then.

You may be interested in:

  1. The Richard Rant #3: Don’t Pray the Gay Away
  2. The Richard Rant #2: Limiting Greatness
  3. The Richard Rant #1: Five Reasons For Optimism
  4. Ruins Review
  5. Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse in Metal Dead, an Interview with Walk Thru Walls
| More

About the author

(210 posts)

Richard is an embittered Englishman with a warped outlook on the surrounding world. When he isn't rambling about his latest nugget of garbled contemplation, he's probably taking a look at the latest breakthroughs in innovative indie game design. However, behind his stony visage lies a shy, sensitive figure, so go easy on him, won't you?There is currently no description for this author...

  • http://betweencontinues.blogspot.com Lee Weedall

    Telltale do what they do very well. They clearly go in to an IP with a good understanding of what is great about it, and then build a game to fit this. As long as they keep on doing this, who can have grounds to complain? It’s not like they have been given these licenses for nothing, nor is it that nobody else could get them. Yes, many indies would struggle to afford the licenses, but Telltale are only getting to play with the big toys today because they have built their way up. What is to stop another developer doing something similar?

  • Daniel

    Telltale games has such a track record that I’m getting Jurassic Park DESPITE my feelings of the movie series Jurassic Park (never got into them)

    Also I am beggining to wonder when we can stop calling TTG an Indie company, but Ill give them credit where it is due, they are pioneers in terms of matching quality to the name of the product they bring forth.

    As to how they are able to bring their A-game, is the simple fact that they clearly love what they are doing. Monkey Island was hardly a cash in to the monkey Island Games. SBCGFAP got me into Homestar runner.

    Personally I would like to see them do more original works but as of what I have played, they have shown no signs of slowing down on bringing their A-game.

  • Matt Hargett

    The core story for their Back to the Future series, exploring Marty & Doc’s relationship and the concept of “don’t alternate timelines deserve to exist?” was brilliant. The technical execution was probably their worst effort to date: animation and rigging issues that persisted for almost the entire season, really awful looking environments and textures, and extremely low quality audio (especially on the non-English tracks).

    Compared to the steady improvements in all those areas on previous titles, which culminated in the amazing technical execution of Sam & Max The Devil’s Playhouse, BTTF was a bit of a slap in the face. I did love the core story, but my expectations were high because TellTale set them there by totally rocking it on their previous releases.

    I sincerely hope Jurassic Park keeps the great storytelling of BTTF, but has the levels of quality in art, design, and lighting that they were on-track with in Sam & Max. If this is another technical miss, it will be proof that they can’t operate at scale with the same levels of quality that made them successful in the first place.

  • JediMB

    Personally I was a bit disappointed by Back to the Future, due to time travel only being used as a game mechanic for a single puzzle, but the story was solid and the puzzles and dialogue offered a lot of fun.

    Tales of Monkey Island is actually my favorite Telltale game at this time. I know, I know, it really was way too self-referential with the jokes, but I couldn’t help appreciating the continuity-nods, and the puzzles were a blast too.

    Now, I love the original Sam & Max: Hit the Road… but Telltales episode-based series hasn’t really impressed me yet. The first episode was pretty good, but with the second I got so bored that I just stopped playing and never picked it up again. That said, I’ve purchased the entire series on Steam and am ready to give it another shot down the line.

    So… Jurassic Park. Wow. In the 90′s, I was the biggest dinosaur nut, thanks in no small part to Jurassic Park (both movies and novel). Unlike the BttF, I really don’t have any expectations when it comes to gameplay mechanics for the JP game, so as long as the Heavy Rain approach works well, all I’m asking for is an exciting story… and I’d like to believe that Telltale are capable of delivering.

    I’m also looking forward to hearing more about that The Walking Dead game.

  • Richard Glenn

    Lee – You’re right, and I’m sure nobody will have any issues if Telltale continue to churn out decent products. As long as their creative pride remains intact and they treat the intellectual properties with the respect they deserve, I’ll be as happy as Larry (whoever he is), but I’d still like to see some other developers try their hand at working with existing franchises.

    Daniel – Yes, I think that it’s beginning to become a bit of a stretch to call Telltale an indie company, but their rapid growth certainly owes a lot to their prowess in the licensed games market. In general, whether or not they start experimenting with some original IPs will probably depend on the extent to which the public continues to spend money on their licensed products.

    Matt – Back to the Future certainly left a lot to be desired in terms of its controls and technical assets. Maybe the interactivity and strength of the storyline was enough for me to see past its shortcomings, but I have no qualms with anyone claiming to have been turned off by them. I always find it interesting to talk about Telltale’s products because I’ve yet to come across anyone who loved every single one of them, but I’ve also never known any of them to be universally derided. We’re probably in the same boat in that Telltale comes across as a “hit and miss” company, but their “hits” have been so impressive that it’s always easy to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    JediMB – I enjoyed Telltale’s versions of Sam and Max, and while I didn’t hate their Monkey Island iterations, perhaps I was a little to harsh on them in the sense that I was constantly finding myself comparing them to the Lucasarts originals. Having never played Sam and Max Hit the Road, I didn’t encounter the same problems, so I fully appreciate why you, an original fan of the series, may not have liked it quite as much as I did. The supposed Heavy Rain approach to Jurassic Park is probably its most intriguing aspect at the moment. That’s not to say that I don’t appreciate Telltale’s efforts to keep the dying art of point-and-click adventure games alive, but I’m eager to see them tinker with the formula a little.

    Speaking of future Telltale products, does anyone have any ideas for any other reboots? Personally, some sort of Ferris Bueller tie-in would seem like an interesting concept, as would something based on Grim Fandango. Any thoughts?

  • Mutant Newt

    Browsing Telltale’s forums, other indie developers actually tried to license a similar franchise. Phoenix Online and AGD Interactive attempted to obtain the king’s quest rights. Apparently Telltale shouldered these indies aside to grab this license. And that’s despite the Telltale design philosophy being completely polar to the Sierra design philosophy. Dave Grosman seemed to have a rather adverse view about Sierra game design in one of his earlier interviews and talked about what he would optimize, as if there was something wrong with Sierra games. And this is the guy in charge of Telltale’s king’s quest reboot!! Sierra games were challenging and hard while Telltale’s games are essentially interactive movies which require no thought and seem to favor a casual audience. Personally, I believe not one of their adventure games comes anywhere close to any quality adventure game from the 1990s.

    There are a few threads on the Telltale forums entirely dedicated to concerns about their new king’s quest reboot and how it will turn out. The consensus seems that the series die hards aren’t optimistic after experiencing the semi-interactive movie that was BTTF and seeing how Jurassic Park appears to be filled with QTEs. Concerns may be justified that Telltale isn’t the right developer to fiddle with Sierra licenses and stories on account of them not understanding the appeal behind those iconic games (coming from a Lucasarts design background).

    And I just wonder about Telltale being viewed as this knight in shining armor when other indies were actually trying hard for the king’s quest license. Telltale knew these indie developers dedicated years to understanding the King’s Quest series and would have done an excellent job on a new game. So why did TellTale treat the talented smaller indies in a way that prevented them an opportunity that could have been their big break? Instead of licensing something else and sharing some of the opportunity with other indies they flexed their money and eliminated competition. Gamers won’t benefit from one non-innovative company monopolizing every adventure game license, but that’s what we have with Telltale.

  • Richard Glenn

    That’s a sobering story, Mutant Newt. If Telltale did stifle the efforts of other indie developers, that’s a sad reflection of the nature of licensed gaming properties. This is the sort of thing that I was referring to when I suggested that a long-term monopoly for a single company on these types of games could be harmful to the prospects of both other developers and the franchises themselves, so I hope it’s more hearsay than 100% fact. Honestly, I don’t know either way, but I think it’s fair to say that, while Telltale’s games can accurately be described as “semi-interactive movies,” plenty of people seem to like that formula, for better or worse. They’re probably not as in-depth or engaging as the most prominent titles during the peak of the adventure game zenith, but there’s still and undeniably significant market for the simple approach that Telltale have adopted.

  • Luis Dechtiar

    A pitch for Telltale to consider remaking the Gabriel Knight series: http://www.luisdechtiar.net/2011/11/gabriel-knight-remastered/