Back to the Future, re-building the past

It’s been almost 25 years since Back to the Future graced the silver screen with its presence for the first time, and we’re bound to see all kind of homage and revivals. Luckily, this time around there are no revamped versions to stir up the fandom but, instead, we’re getting a video game from Telltale Games (Sam & Max, Tales of Monkey Island) based on the adventures of Marty McFly and Doc Brown.

We all know that the translation from the big screen to the gaming world has one of the most infamous histories of our time. Most licensed titles tend up to be rushed and downright broken, due to the greedy efforts to milk the franchise of all that is worth while the hype’s still high. Nevertheless, there’s a new kind of game based on movies that doesn’t need to be butchered by release schedule of their film counterpart. These games are based on nostalgic and cult classics, revived to tell, once again, new tales from their dormant worlds. Among these we can count Evil Dead, Ghostbusters, The Warriors, The Godfather and, of course, the aforementioned Back to the Future.

Here at Okam we’re dedicated to develop Cross and Trans-media content, which means that, even if we’re focused on animation, we also deal with finding ways to integrate stories to other formats. For us, this means a persistent effort to analyze in which ways the different media can interact with each other to tell a story, and the possibilities they bring. We are firm believers in that gameplay is what makes a game great, but we must focus our studies of this medium in their narrative aspects: their specific technique, qualities and capabilities.

The possibility to develop new and extensive stories set in universes that have been sleeping for more than twenty years is one of the biggest possibilities that the gaming world give us. And not anymore in small doses or spin-off comics and animation series; the kind of time and money that an AAA title demands should make developers especially careful about the details and overall quality of their product. This brings, of course, the risk of drowning the creative drive that made the original franchise in order to make a safer product so great or the risk of ending up a ostracizing the niche that kept the franchise alive in order to attract a new generation.

In cases like that of Back to the Future, where most actors can’t come back to reenact their original characters, videogames come as an opportunity to expand their universes. The first question that comes up is about the canon-status of these new stories: how much real will they be? This is an important question, and its answer will tell us a lot about how much does our society consider videogames as a legitimate narrative industry. Are we in the brink of measuring this industry head-to-head with established media such as movies? In the end, this question will be answered by aspects that have very little to do with the narrative itself, such as gameplay, and just when that’s covered, by its story.

This brings us to our second question: how will they be written? Unlike other spin-offs such as comics or animated series, the narrative of a videogame must integrate the particular elements of this medium. It’s not a linear and passive string of takes (drawn, animated or filmed), but an open space of interaction. Lately, narrative has been a field of successful experimentation for videogames, with titles like BioShock, Portal and Braid (among MANY other) leading the industry into new ways to develop a story.

But we, the nostalgic ones, don’t need to ponder about such things. Telltale is developing a graphic adventure game, the most nostalgic of genres. And that’s a good thing, because Day of the Tentacle set a high-pedigree precedent on how to integrate time travel and point-and-clicking. Besides that, Bob Gale (the original scriptwriter) we’ll be helping with the script, so we have a lot to be hyped about. 

BTW, Feliz Día de los Muertos to all Mexicans!