Black Mirror's Interactive Episode is Drumming Up Interest in Games

AlphaAtlas

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"Bandersnatch," Netflix's interactive Black Mirror Episode, is proving to be quite popular. Many are calling it "the dawn on interactive TV," but gamesindustry.biz points out that it's also drumming up commercial interest in similar efforts from the gaming industry. With cinematic experiences ranging from "walking simulators" and heavily story driven games to full-on FMVs and interactive videos, game developers have been crafting these kinds of experiences for decades. But several industry experts point out that there's a big divide between Netflix viewing audiences and gamers. Among other things, they say content producers need to stop using terms that are strictly associated with either industry, and act like the genres are already converging in order to encourage more consumer crossover.

"[Bandersnatch] reached all the existing Black Mirror fans, and potentially millions of Netflix subscribers who can easily access the content for free," he says. "This should have a positive effect for anyone working on similar projects, but only time will tell. It's still going to be hard to convert a non-gaming Netflix viewer into someone that's going to buy a console, or download a game to their computer just because of Bandersnatch." Therein lies a barrier to that opportunity. Bandersnatch is accessible through Netflix, to which millions are already subscribed, but interactive movie games require a separate purchase. Additionally, Bandersnatch can be enjoyed through almost any device, while games must be played on the platform for which they were purchased.
 
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Reminds me of Phantasmagoria 1 and 2 in the 90s. Not to mention the whole host of other FMV games... Mad Dog McCree, Ground Zero Texas (FTW)....
 
Watching a movie or a show and playing a game are two very different activities. One is active, one is passive. Just because I want to do one, doesn't mean I want to do the other.

Also, one of the issues with Bandersnatch is that people usually watch shows together. This makes the choice part a problem. It doesn't truly become your own, but rather a compromise.

I would really prefer if these industries did not coverage. Sometimes you want to play a game, but sometimes you just want to watch something.
 
Reminds me of Phantasmagoria 1 and 2 in the 90s. Not to mention the whole host of other FMV games... Mad Dog McCree, Ground Zero Texas (FTW)....

It was like 5 or so CDs of video. "Gaming" is the new "sci-fi"
 
My wife played around with this black mirror one for awhile but after getting sent back to watch the same five scenes for the fourth time she got bored and turned it off. Said it was an interesting gimmick but she's already got choose your own adventure games on her phone.

My six year old, however, loved the minecraft choose your own adventure he sat in front of the TV watching that show for over an hour. I was ok with it since he was actively reading to make his choices.
 
My wife played around with this black mirror one for awhile but after getting sent back to watch the same five scenes for the fourth time she got bored and turned it off. Said it was an interesting gimmick but she's already got choose your own adventure games on her phone.

My six year old, however, loved the minecraft choose your own adventure he sat in front of the TV watching that show for over an hour. I was ok with it since he was actively reading to make his choices.
Interesting. I only had to rewatch two different parts once each. I don't think the whole thing took me more than 45 minutes to reach an/the end. I thought it was rather "meh" overall.
 
I love the Black Mirror series. I "watched" this interactive movie and it was terrible. It fails as a game and a movie.
 
This will likely turn out to be like Xfiles the game on Playstation
 
They don't remember Defiance? It was just a few years ago, a TV series with a tie-in MMO type game. Where players were supposed to influence the tv series. It failed spectacularly, as the player base and the viewers of the show barely had any overlap. The game and the series went their separate ways shortly after launch.
 
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