A Blister in Time(References and Sight Gags Thread)

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From the Sam and Max Season One case file. I suppose you would need a time machine to buy one of those!
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Comments

  • edited December 2010
    I see a Miami Vice poster just above it.
  • edited December 2010
    Edna's cat's name should be familiar to anyone who played ToMI
  • edited December 2010
    Martys fingers look a little square... Is he made of Legos?
  • edited December 2010
    sethf11 wrote: »
    Martys fingers look a little square... Is he made of Legos?
    It's probably more that I'm playing this on the lowest graphical at a low resolution so it doesn't run choppy.
  • edited December 2010
    I loved the "Weird Science" poster. But it was odd to see actual licensed Universal logos like that and "Miami Vice", and yet the mall has "JP Pinneys". :P
  • edited December 2010
    Haha! I see the Weird Science too! fantastic!
  • edited December 2010
    (Minor spoilers)

    Dear Telltale,

    I can't decide whether I'm more proud or disappointed that you resisted the urge to include an Amblin Entertainment reference during the end of this episode.

    That's all. Thanks.
  • edited December 2010
    Proud. You should definitely be proud. That reference stopped being funny a loooong time ago and I was relieved that it wasn't in there.
  • edited December 2010
    I've played through the first episode once and loved it. Along the way, I spotted plenty of in-jokes that only the fans will get, some more obvious than others. So... I'll attempt to list what I remember and you can add to it.

    Warning: Spoilers a-plenty to follow, naturally.

    - Doc Brown's jukebox plays Huey Lewis and the News' "Back in Time", prominently featured in the film series

    - Inside Edna Strickland's place, examining the newspapers repeatedly recounts "headlines" of many notable events from the various Back to the Future films.

    - At one point, Young Emmett Brown says, "I have a bad feeling about this..." Young Emmett Brown is voiced by James Arnold Taylor, who also voices Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. That line is from the Star Wars series, uttered by many different characters.

    - The law office sign in Hill Valley town square names Gale and Zemeckis as partners, referring to Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, producer and director of the BTTF series.

    - The jets on the rocket pack / bike greatly resemble the backside of a DeLorean.

    There are plenty more, but this should get us started...
  • edited December 2010
    I was hoping it didn't happen too... and it didn't. Bravo.
  • edited December 2010
    In-game joke, one that really no one would get on the first play-through:

    You can see the bits and pieces of the fuel-maker for the rocket-powered drill in Doc's lab at the beginning.

    And not too much of an in joke, but the inclusion of the 1885 clocktower photo was nice.
  • edited December 2010
    Loved the "Shark!" movie placard in 1931. And Marty also mentions something about bars on windows when referencing the liquor store (could be a callback to the bars on Jennifer's windows in 1985A).
  • edited December 2010
    I just noticed the beginning plutonium DeLorean doesn't have Mr. Fusion rightly so but when Doc uses the remote to back it up for temporal displacement .. it does?! lol!
  • edited December 2010
    I give up. What "reference"? Amblin was the production company of the movies, wasn't it? And they didn't produce the game. So, why would it be at the end of the game? When was it ever used as some kind of reference? Am I missing something? :confused:
  • edited December 2010
    Kal-El wrote: »
    I just noticed the beginning plutonium DeLorean doesn't have Mr. Fusion rightly so but when Doc uses the remote to back it up for temporal displacement .. it does?! lol!

    I think all it was was a graphical thing to "hide" Mr. Fusion for the close-up. They knew they only needed it for that one moment really, so for that moment where you're right up on the car, they just cut it off.
  • edited December 2010
    What is this Amblin reference anyway?
  • edited December 2010
    That's what I thought too.. just restarted to make sure it wasn't there for the close up.. ;) still wonder if this DeLorean can fly? I guess not if it's the *spoiler* duplicate of the one hit by lightning that destroyed the flying circuits :(
  • edited December 2010
    I did like the newspaper headline about a singer disappearing lol! ;)
  • edited December 2010
    Don't forget Marty's mother's line about being "safe and sound in 1986"; for once, Marty doesn't freak out at the line.
  • edited December 2010
    Kal-El wrote: »
    That's what I thought too.. just restarted to make sure it wasn't there for the close up.. ;) still wonder if this DeLorean can fly? I guess not if it's the *spoiler* duplicate of the one hit by lightning that destroyed the flying circuits :(

    Well remember it went to the 2020's. So likely Doc got it completely repaired. However, Marty wouldn't feel comfortable even trying seeing as how he never did in the movies. Doc was the only one that flew the DeLorean.
  • edited December 2010
    Mario brothers anyone? lol
  • edited December 2010
    doggans wrote: »
    I loved the "Weird Science" poster. But it was odd to see actual licensed Universal logos like that and "Miami Vice", and yet the mall has "JP Pinneys". :P

    Universal licensed the game. Any others would require Telltale paying money to companies. :p

    Sort of like how they can't have Goodyear tires(or whatever tires they were) on the DeLorean. Instead the tires say Tell Tale BTTF Series. Barely visible in the enclosed image of the DeLorean when it arrives in 1931.
  • edited December 2010
    Being able to be a "GodFather" as your name.
    Dr.McCoy is mentioned.

    Weird Science Poster is awesome in Martys room!
  • edited December 2010
    Mysticales wrote: »
    Being able to be a "GodFather" as your name.
    Dr.McCoy is mentioned.

    Weird Science Poster is awesome in Martys room!

    You also have an option to tell young Emmett that you're from the Planet Vulcan, but he cuts you off before you say it.
  • edited December 2010
    I caught a few of these as well, but one thing that stood out was "Xavier's Farm for Unwanted Children," which was no doubt a reference to the X-Men's "School for Gifted Children/Youngsters." It's one of the places (SPOILER!)







    That Edna mentions she delivers soup to. The other places might be references as well, but I didnt pick up on them immediately. Also, when Dr. McCoy was mentioned, I instantly thought of Beast, though that mightve been a coincidence.
  • edited December 2010
    That Edna mentions she delivers soup to. The other places might be references as well, but I didnt pick up on them immediately. Also, when Dr. McCoy was mentioned, I instantly thought of Beast, though that mightve been a coincidence.
    Wrong McCoy. They were obviously referencing the Darth Vader from the Planet Vulcan scene from Back to the Future 1 by using the name of Doctor McCoy from Star Trek. I think at this point we can safely say that Marty is a bit of a secret geek.
  • edited December 2010
    What is this Amblin reference anyway?

    The Amblin logo is that image of E.T. and Eliot on the bike silhouetted against the moon.
  • edited December 2010
    I thought the Amblin in-joke (like THX-1138 in star wars) was a shooting star?
  • edited December 2010
    That actually makes much more sense. I didnt think it was another X-Men reference.

    Also, when the camera is zoomed out in 1931 facing the law firm, speakeasy, etc., theres a picture of what we can assume to be Judge Brown, who's voiced by...the one bearded guy from ToMI. I havent played it before, but I did recognize him. If you walk up to it, the camera angle changes and you wont be able to see it, Its on a pole by the car.
  • edited December 2010
    Kal-El wrote: »
    I just noticed the beginning plutonium DeLorean doesn't have Mr. Fusion rightly so but when Doc uses the remote to back it up for temporal displacement .. it does?! lol!

    Well, you have to remember, it's all a dream anyway. Doc's clothes could've been replaced with a chicken suit halfway through the sequence and it wouldn't have raised any continuity errors. The dream was based on Marty's memories, and he's seen both versions of the DeLorean.

    What I thought was a nice touch about that sequence was the mall sign. It read "Twin Pines Mall", as Marty remembered it from that night, rather than "Lone Pine Mall" as it does in the currently altered timeline.
  • edited December 2010
    ^
    Like you say it's a mix and mash of different memories.
    It probably also started to storm because of the storm in 1955
  • edited December 2010
    I, too, was bracing myself for the obvious ET gag, and was grateful when it didn't happen. Definitely wouldn't have been BTTF-y.
  • edited December 2010
    Universal licensed the game. Any others would require Telltale paying money to companies. :p

    Oh, I understand the real-life reason for it; I'm just saying that it made the "bland name" products stand out even more.
  • edited December 2010
    I, too, was bracing myself for the obvious ET gag, and was grateful when it didn't happen. Definitely wouldn't have been BTTF-y.

    A reference to a Spielberg movie ?

    Oh and do you think that having Einstein being a GPS tracker actually makes sense ? (especially beyond time and space...) Not really.
  • edited December 2010
    When Marty needs to think of a fake charity, he mentions "Mario brothers"
  • edited December 2010
    Strayth wrote: »
    A reference to a Spielberg movie ?

    A direct and blatant visual cue from a Spielberg movie. Aside from the fact that the ET-in-front-of-the-moon shot is one of the most overdone references imaginable, the pop culture references in the BTTF series tend to be intentionally made by Marty, not Seltzer/Friedberg-style "Hey, look what movie we stole this from! That's funny, right?" moments.
  • edited December 2010
    Epic Kiwi wrote: »
    Proud. You should definitely be proud. That reference stopped being funny a loooong time ago and I was relieved that it wasn't in there.

    I agree, it's a very over-used joke and that's why I was partly proud it wasn't included.

    But on the other hand, unlike all the other films and shows that have used the joke, it would actually make sense in a BttF game.
    doggans wrote: »
    Aside from the fact that the ET-in-front-of-the-moon shot is one of the most overdone references imaginable, the pop culture references in the BTTF series tend to be intentionally made by Marty, not Seltzer/Friedberg-style "Hey, look what movie we stole this from! That's funny, right?" moments.

    You're right, but the difference is that in a BttF game it's a direct nod to the company that actually produced the films, not just a random pop culture gag. It wouldn't be much different from the joke about the name of the law offices.
  • edited December 2010
    Something I'd never thought I'd hear in a Telltale game, but one of the charities that Mrs Strickland mentions is Shady Acres :D
  • edited December 2010
    You're right, but the difference is that in a BttF game it's a direct nod to the company that actually produced the films, not just a random pop culture gag. It wouldn't be much different from the joke about the name of the law offices.

    I would have been okay with the word "Amblin" popping up on a business somewhere. Again, it's the lack of subtlety in the visual gag that would have bugged me.

    A moot point anyway, since they didn't go in that direction.
  • edited December 2010
    i recognized a monkey island reference (yeah, i know its a kid's song, too), but when you talk to young emmett (cant remember where and when) marty says something like "the tigh bone connected to the leg bone" or something like that.
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