WHAT HAPPENS NEXT IS REALLY UP TO YOU
WHY just sit in front of the TV and watch when you can choose what happens next?
This summer streaming service Netflix has launched its first interactive “branching” narrative episodes – current titles are Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale and Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile – where subscribers are in control of how the stories unfold.
Netflix engineers in Silicon Valley and the creative minds in Hollywood joined forces to open up a new world of storytelling possibilities.
So, you sink into the sofa and settle in to watch swashbuckling feline Puss in Boots.
You chuckle as Puss in Boots finds himself in the story of Goldilocks, with the Three Bears staring at him.
And then… you’re asked to make a choice: Should these bears be friends or foes?
Carla Engelbrecht Fisher, director of product innovation at Netflix, explains: “The children’s programming space was a natural place for us to start since kids are eager to ‘play’ with their favourite characters and already inclined to tap, touch and swipe at screens. They talk to their screens, as though the characters can hear them. Now – using iPads and smartphones – that conversation can be two-way.”
Netflix says it launched the shows after “extensive research and talked to lots of kids and parents, collecting qualitative data to better understand if this is something viewers will like”.
It adds: “We’re looking forward to learning and seeing where the path leads us.”