I just recommended Persona 4 to John Carpenter...

Upon learning of John Carpenter's interest in video games and his interaction with GiantBomb, I couldn't resist the urge to introduce him to the legend that is Persona 4, as well some of the other MegaTen games. His website features the option to send him an email. I'm not sure if it goes to him directly or to the website's administrator, but either way I hope he eventually reads it. I tried to keep the message as succinct as possible while still emphasizing why I think he'd find the games interesting.

Here's what I wrote:

Are you familiar with the PERSONA and the broader MEGAMI TENSEI series of video games?

If not, I highly recommend that you give PERSONA 4 GOLDEN for the PlayStation Vita a try. It's a murder mystery with lots of surreal elements, a cool art style, and offbeat Japanese-style humor. I think you'll appreciate some of the references to your films such as THE FOG and THEY LIVE as well as other cult classics such as David Cronenberg's VIDEODROME. Despite the anime influence, it's the kind of game that can be enjoyed by people who don't watch much anime. It's an RPG, but in addition to being one of the best examples of the genre available, it's also accessible to people who don't play many RPGs. It's lengthy, but that's why playing it on a portable device like the Vita is ideal. You can play in short intermittent bursts and more easily fit it into your busy schedule. Trust me, this game is so good that it justifies the price of a Vita alone.

The PERSONA games are spinoffs of the larger MEGAMI TENSEI franchise. While these games are stand-alone titles and do not need to played in order, they all tend to involve teenagers/young adults with the ability to summon and harness the power of demons in a modern fantasy setting, e.g., a post-apocalyptic Japan. My second favorite Persona title is PERSONA 2: INNOCENT SIN, which draws from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos, and is one of the surprisingly few video games in which Adolf Hitler appears as an antagonist.

If you like PERSONA 4, there are many other MEGAMI TENSEI games worth checking out. This is a brief introduction to the series: http://www.technobuffalo.com/2014/05/25/shin-megami-tensei-beginners-guide-where-to-get-started/

If you want a much more in-depth primer which explains the lore and the history behind the franchise, see here: http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/megaten/megaten.htm

Particularly noteworthy is STRANGE JOURNEY for the DS, which features a storyline and setting very similar to THE THING, complete with a suitably atmospheric soundtrack.

Likewise, CHRISTINE the killer car is present in some of the earlier games: http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Chris_the_Car

All of the PERSONA games are playable on the Vita. Many of the other essential MEGAMI TENSEI games are playable on a PS2 or PS3, although there are a few that are exclusive to the Nintendo DS/3DS.

Given your predilection for horror/fantasy/science fiction and the cult movie aesthetic, I can't recommend these games strongly enough. I think you'll find that they're some of the most imaginative, stylish, and endlessly fascinating games currently out there.

The HardcoreGaming101 guide is substantially better than the TechnoBuffalo one, but I included both because the latter is much shorter.

Now all we need is a John Carpenter Endurance Run sponsored by GiantBomb. :)

While I love that you recommended IS, I kinda hate you for spoiling the majesty of where that games plot goes. I think everybody deserves to experience the point at which the writers go "Fuck everything, I just want to have a good time" completely fresh.

I don't know why it seems weird to me if John Carpenter actually liked P4, but damn would it be amazing nonetheless.

I wonder who John Carpenter's waifu will be.

@darkbeatdk: IDK, but now I can't not picture him playing Hatoful Boyfriend

Carpenter senpai no! Wonder what he would think of the cross dressing pageant...

Persona 4 is a boring game to play though, The story is fun but the game play isn't. Couldn't see someone not way into video games getting into it.

Interesting. On the off chance that he replies, you'll have to let us know what he said.

Not to mention I think that while he does play games they tend to be far more casual, and also he doesn't play games as long as P4's 40+ hour game time.

I wonder if John Carpenter would cast Ice on Teddie's Shadow? Probably not.

I kinda assume he will have no patience for the gameplay of P4. Well, the dungeon gameplay, specifically.

Maybe I'm oversimplifying it, but seeing as he is a director that has frequently worked with special effects, it seems like he tends towards game that have either cinematic qualities, or big spectacular setpieces and really viscerally gripping action, or both.

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/john-carpenter-s-top-six-games-of-2013/1100-4814/

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/john-carpenter-s-top-5-games-of-2014/1100-5151/

He seems to be a big shooter fan (SOMEHOW). Like, imagine if Paul Ryckert went on to play shooters other than just Resident Evil 4. But based on his inclusion of Murdered: Soul Suspect and Remember Me, it seems like he is also down to play a game with an interesting story hook.

P4's story certainly goes places, but I don't know if it's the kind of hook that would grab him, especially with the pretty slow burn that game has. I feel like he'd be more easily enticed to play something like Life Is Strange, especially if he was already into Remember Me. Also, dear God, would I ever be into a John Carpenter Twitch Let's Play of like, basically any game. I wildly assume it would be Jeff Green levels of entertainment.

That email was way longer than you should reasonably expect a stranger to read.

just get him into dota. then he will know true horror.

The Thing is basically a DOTA character after all.

@Levius said:

If something has passed into general knowledge, I don't think it counts as a spoiler. Hitler's presence is often cited as one of the main reasons that the PS1 version of IS was never localized in the West, and his altered appearance in the PSP version is frequently mentioned as well. Anyone who does a little background research on the game, or just reads the Wikipedia article, will know about it. To the extent that people have talked about Persona 2: Innocent Sin, it's long been known as "that RPG with Hitler in it." Plus as I noted, Hitler appears in so few video games that it's a major hook to have him in it. "Hitler in a video game? Maybe I should check that out." And in any case, there are a few plot twists involving Hitler in IS that I didn't spoil at all.

Yeah its honestly a case of not respecting John Carpenters time. I already knew about these games and this email overwhelmed me. I realize that kumatose was excited, but narrowing the recommendation to one game without multiple links to guides would have been way more effective.

Your email reads more like a AAA PR statement than it does "Hey John Carpenter! I'm just a dude recommending a game."

Many of his films from the 70s and 80s were low budget, or considered low budget at the time, such as the original Halloween. He started out as an independent filmmaker.

On his Twitter, he's said he's enjoyed stuff like Rayman Legends, so he doesn't limit himself to horror games or FPSes. I doubt he would sit in front of the TV for 60+ hours to play P4, but if he plays on the Vita during his spare time, I could see him gradually getting into it. He'd probably appreciate some of the winks and parallels to cult films that appear in the game, which is why I mentioned them. For example...

While I wouldn't guarantee that Carpenter will like Persona 4, it's not as far-fetched as it seems at first. And he might enjoy other Megaten games even more; the main hurdle is that he probably hasn't played any JRPGs yet and titles like Nocturne and Strange Journey are not exactly beginner-friendly. But if any JRPG series were suited to his taste and style, it's Megaten.

Recommending JRPG with extremely repetitive, shallow gameplay based on the premise and story, to a storytelling professional veteran is delusional lunacy.

Who knows, maybe he will enjoy the games. =) Weirder things have happened before so it really is possible. Kudos for trying duder! *thumbs up*

This is weird.

Why are you using caps for the names of stuff? It's a bit condescending lol

Makes it easier to peruse the message and glean the important stuff. He did the same in the Best Video Games of 2013/14 lists he sent to GiantBomb and he also uses all caps for game titles on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/thehorrormaster/status/382605068026904576

Recommending a grind-heavy dungeon-crawler anime dating sim to someone who's indicated no interest in any of those things is a bit misguided. But I guess an e-mail never hurt anyone.

Why do so many people have a chip on their shoulder when it comes to this game?

@kumatose: No chip. I beat P4 twice! But if someone asked me to describe the game I beat, it would be.. a grind-heavy dungeon-crawler anime dating sim. Part of being a fan of niche stuff is recognizing exactly how niche they are.

@encephalon: Well, people who call it an "anime dating sim" usually do so with a pejorative tone. Unlike in P3, you don't have to date anyone if you don't wish to in P4, and there's no romance option whatsoever for the majority of the Social Links. It's a relatively minor aspect of the game, despite the creepy "waifu" subculture among parts of the fanbase.

Golden also minimizes the amount of grinding needed. It's probably tied with Chrono Trigger as one of the least grind-heavy JRPGs out there. That's what makes it a great portable game too. You can do a little at a time when you have a spare moment.

As for the anime influence, yeah it's there, but the game's popularity on this site should demonstrate that it has a far broader appeal than the anime crowd. Jeff and Vinny don't strike me as big anime fans. And IIRC, Carpenter was going to be involved in an anime spinoff of Escape from New York, but that never materialized into anything.

It might have made more sense to make this thread if he actually responded.

You really only needed to send the first paragraph. The rest is just jumping from game to game, reference to reference. It's a bunch of tangents that, by the end of reading, I forgot what the point of the email was. It's cool that you're passionate, but keep it simple and to the point next time.

I think the obvious parallels between Strange Journey and The Thing, as well as the appearance of Christine in the earlier games, were worth a brief mention. You don't think the guy would be interested in references to material from his own films? He's also expressed his admiration for H.P. Lovecraft's work, and so a game in which Lovecraft's influence is strongly present might interest him as well.

@kumatose: There's just too much redundant information after the first paragraph. In that first paragraph you mentioned the game, what console to get it on, and how it references his past work/ties into his interests. Then you start talking about different games, and start listing off names and consoles and other references to his work/interests, and you expect him to come away with any clear idea of what you wanted?

You lost the original message, and didn't even mention one game in your final paragraph. That's your sticking point, that final paragraph, and you didn't even give him one single name.

I think you're being anal retentive.

I used to send unsolicited emails to strangers for work. That email is way too goddamn long and unfocused. Maybe John Carpenter has more patience to read emails from people he does not know personally than the average person who receives emails every day, but I highly doubt it. Good luck with this anyway.