I got the game for Christmas and am loving it so far. For what it's worth, I just finished one of the Simpsons levels, and like the Lego sets themselves, the content in it is fairly tame.

To be honest, one of the big assets of Lego Dimensions is that it CAN support licensed IPs that might not be able to support full sets or themes of their own, like The Wizard of Oz or Portal or Midway Arcade. It honestly gives me hope that other themes that couldn't make it on their own or even through Lego Ideas, like, say, The Legend of Korra, might be able to get a chance through Dimensions. And even in the case of themes like The Simpsons, Doctor Who and Ghostbusters, which Lego is already licensing, Dimensions provides an avenue for these niche themes that might not be able to support a full game of their own.

Do I wish the game had more of Lego's original IPs as well? Sure. I'd love to see Elves, Nexo Knights, City, Friends, and maybe even Bionicle get included. And given the game's three-year projected lifespan, they might still  happen! But there's little doubt that a lot of the game's mass appeal comes from those licensed IPs, just like it does for Lego's other licensed games like Lego Star Wars. A lot of the buzz I've seen around the game has been around things like Portal and Doctor Who. If the game does fail, it won't be due to those sorts of IPs, that's for sure—they're one of the biggest selling points for the game in the first place.

Portal and Doctor Who  (and the simpsons) are definitely not 'big selling points' for LEGO Dimensions considering that:

a. LEGO Dimensions, as a LEGO game, is aimed primarily at children. That alone means the inclusion of things like The SImpsons is incredibly awkward. 

b. Most children probably have no idea what Portal is.

c. Outside of the UK, Doctor Who is not very well known - maybe some awareness, but not a lot

d. Both Back to the Future and Ghostbusters are 30 year old movies. Wizard of Oz is even older.

e. Has literally anybody heard of whatever midway arcade is before?

I think you're vastly overestimating LEGO Dimensions's selling chances and its selling points. Most older fans (like TFOLs and AFOLs) who are interested in the extra pack things seem to be interested in the LEGO itself rather than the game.

How on earth is portal competition for this game? Especially since in your next post you admitted most children wouldn't know what it is? That makes no sense. Someone who would be interested in the game probably owns a console and therefore has a higher chance of being aware of its existence. Probably why it didn't get a set.

If BTTF, Ghostbusters, the Simpson's and Wizard of Oz aren't well known by children then logic would dictate that they are not it's intended audience. And BTTF recently had it's 30th anniversary and a video game not too long ago. So its obviously popular enough for that.

Doctor Who is pretty well known.

I have not heard of midway arcade but I'm sure others have.

There probably isn't more Lego IP's because someone who is interested in Lego would already be buying it due to it being Lego. The packs are probably to take in sales off of other brand's popularity.

In addition, all of these brands that may not have gotten their own games before now get a piece of this. Which is cool in of itself. We'd probably never get a Lego portal game bit now we get a refferance in a larger game.

Portal and Doctor Who  (and the simpsons) are definitely not 'big selling points' for LEGO Dimensions considering that:

 

a. LEGO Dimensions, as a LEGO game, is aimed primarily at children. That alone means the inclusion of things like The SImpsons is incredibly awkward. 

b. Most children probably have no idea what Portal is.

c. Outside of the UK, Doctor Who is not very well known - maybe some awareness, but not a lot

d. Both Back to the Future and Ghostbusters are 30 year old movies. Wizard of Oz is even older.

e. Has literally anybody heard of whatever midway arcade is before?

 

I think you're vastly overestimating LEGO Dimensions's selling chances and its selling points. Most older fans (like TFOLs and AFOLs) who are interested in the extra pack things seem to be interested in the LEGO itself rather than the game.

The appeal for the brands is there. Doctor Who is bigger globally than it ever has been, with a huge following in America. Portal is actually used in some schools to teach basic physics concepts like gravity, acceleration, and inertia. Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, and The Wizard of Oz are all old enough to be classics, just like Lego's ORIGINAL licensed theme, Star Wars. These are franchises which nostalgic adults share with their kids, and let's not forget that even for the kid audience it's adults who will be doing most of the actual buying. Even The Simpsons is essentially a family show, despite the occasional crude humor, and is really no less appropriate for kids than any other primetime sitcom. When I was growing up I didn't watch shows like The Simpsons, and I easily recognized that even in middle school ten years ago I was one of the few kids who DIDN'T recognize the characters and in-jokes.

I think you're vastly UNDERestimating the appeal of this game (and the respective packs) to kids and adults alike. Lego video games are not just for kids, and in fact the audience for video games in general skews much older than the audience for toys. It's no coincidence that the majority of adult-sized Lego-branded clothing usually ties in with the major licensed videogames like Lego Star Wars, rather than Lego's in-house themes or even AFOL-focused licensed themes like The Simpsons. Lego Dimensions may be aimed at all ages, but kids are hardly the only demographic it's targeting.