Comments on: Back-Linking and Dormant Content

By: David J Edery

David J Edery — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 17:03:27 +0000

Hey Tim — actually, Professor Layton literally just arrived at my doorstep. It’s in my DS but I haven’t played it yet. Lovely coincidence I’ll look forward to checking it out. :)

By: Tim Crosby

Tim Crosby — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:11:56 +0000

I assume that you’ve played the DS brainteaster game “Professor Layton and the Curious Village “, which has one section explicitly locked until the sequel. (At least, this is true in the US version of the game.) I believe the extra content is unlocked with a passcode (which means it would technically be possible to access the content before the sequel without hacking the game, but oh well).

By: Page

Page — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:45:23 +0000

Right-I just meant to emphasise that the Gears of War 2 linking forward process is only new because it’s achievement-based here. As far as linking backwards is concerned, developers could consider adding content by patching the game (or at least free DLC…) instead of PDLC.

By: David J Edery

David J Edery — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:35:10 +0000

Right — you’re talking about linking forward (content in a sequel is unlocked via actions taken in an earlier game.) I’m talking about linking backwards (content in an earlier game is unlocked via actions taken in a sequel. The reverse.)

Thus the emphasis on dormant content. Make sense?

By: Page

Page — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:04:32 +0000

David, I think the process in Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 was a mix between what is described for Gear of War 2 and what you mentioned: it did unlock content in the sequel based on your progress in the original in addition to the “better stats” feature. The only difference is that in GoW2 it’s achievement-based, probably because it’s a X360 exclusive, which was not the case for R6V2 :)

By: Nick Ferguson

Nick Ferguson — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:09:57 +0000

Banjo-Kazooie’s infamous “Stop ‘N Swap” will FINALLY be put to use, this time between the upcoming XBLA re-release and the new 360 game.

Huzzah for Rare!

By: David J Edery

David J Edery — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:10:58 +0000

Page – That doesn’t sound like the same thing — it sounds like another example of linking forward. Many sequels have rewarded the playing of a previous game by, for example, letting you carry over your saved character with better stats (as opposed to unlocking content in the previous game.)

By: David J Edery

David J Edery — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:00:48 +0000

Peter – There are no original ideas, eh? :)

By: Page

Page — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 10:20:26 +0000

same thing with Rainbow 6 Vegas 2: if you had a save for Rainbow 6 Vegas, you got additional content and you started with a level 2 character I think.

By: Peter Hatch

Peter Hatch — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 05:47:14 +0000

Banjo-Kazooie had a link back planned, though changes to the N64 hardware meant it wasn't implemented. See this Wikipedia article for details.