Choose Your Own DVD Adventure
from the all-about-the-happy-endings dept
As video games become more movie-like, is it any surprise that movies may be becoming more video game-like? A Canadian company is working on a technology that would let you turn a DVD into a "choose your own adventure" style interactive story. Basically, the movie rolls along, and at certain points you're asked to make a decision what to do. The DVD then skips to the right spot and fills you in on what happened. Of course, this pretty much limits any release using this technology to the home video market - unless they follow the path of the movie "Clue" from the 80's, which was made with three different endings (different theaters randomly showed the different endings). I wouldn't think this particular technology is too complicated. However, it still seems like video games moving up to more immersive story telling have more potential, than movies moving towards interactivity.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
History...failure...doomed to repeat...you know th
Hehhe...sorry about the yelling, but I can't be the only one that had a thought close to that. Anyone remember those goofy VHS/board game hybrids that were out there in the late 80's? You'd play part of the video, then site down and play the board game for a while to determin what part of the tape you would view next, then fast-forward and play some more of the VHS tape...pretty weird stuff, never very well executed. Or how about those retarded SegaCD and computer FMV games of the early 90's?
This could work (Dragon's Lair...), but it really depends on the content. I almost think this is a solution looking for a problem. This could be interesting...but why do I get this feeling that all the content that will end up using this technology will be on par with those early 90's FMV games?
Maybe I'm wrong though. Maybe they have a kick-ass story in the folds that is the actual reason for creating this technology. Then again, after reading the story it sure doesn't sound like it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: History...failure...doomed to repeat...you kno
But now the technology IS here. I can totally see the concept of those games on DVD, no more "fast forwarding/guessing" to the next stupid scene. DVDs general can run a pretty sophisticated interface (my SO totally enjoyed the games that game with the Harry Potter CDs).
I can't say that content will be any better or worse of course...just that the technology supports the concept better today and that it has a chance to be pretty good.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
What About I'M YOUR MAN (1992)
It was this terrible "interactive movie" they showed in New York at Lowes 19 St. East. Little remote controll thingies built into the armrests allowed the viewers to vote on what direction the movie took at certain points.
Of course Dragon's Lair, Train 999, and that other terrible anime-based laserdisk game (no fingers, no fingerprints) predate this by over a decade, and therefore deserve the title of "first interactive movies."
[ link to this | view in chronology ]