Anais Gutierrez
On Tuesday, Netflix’s first attempt at interactive storytelling hit the service. Starting with a new standalone animated episode called ‘Puss in Book: Trapped in an Epic Tale.’
This new service lets you choose your own adventure
The streaming giant is heading for the kids’ market with the launching of an interactive TV show that allows viewers to choose their own adventures. This way they can make decisions for their favorite characters on Netflix’ TV service.
The feature was released on Tuesday and Carla Engelbrecht Fisher, director of product innovation at Netflix, told the Press Association, “This project has taken two-and-a-half years. It’s been a long time coming and it’s all about how to make the members’ experience better.” ; “Kids think everything is there to be interacted with so we took all those things and it was this great a-ha moment – we can put kids into the directors’ seat and let them control the story,” she added.
The technology will reportedly not be limited to kids shows but to other shows, in the future.Fisher said: “We have built the tools to be able to offer this to our creators, who have stories to tell. It’s all about the stories.” The new experiment, as Netflix is calling it, is only available on modern smart TVs, streaming media players, game consoles, and iOS devices for now.
Taking on the stories
The experiment will be rolled out for two more animated kids show “Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile” on July 14, and “Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout” next year.
The first, “Puss In Book: Trapped In An Epic Tale”, is a standalone episode of a current Netflix show “The Adventures Of Puss In Boots.“ And allows the viewer to choose what Puss should do and how the story will unfold.
The viewer is asked to make choices throughout the story. The 13 different choices throughout the episode lead to two different conclusions to the show, which is aimed at children between four and six. The shortest path through the story makes an 18 minute-long episode, while the longest route through the options creates a 39 minute-long experience.
The next show, “Buddy Thunderstruck: The Maybe Pile” will see champion truck-racing dog buddy and his pal Darnell test out ideas as the viewer tells them which one to try next. The eight different choices lead to four different possible endings.
The episode will be aimed at children between 6 and 11. Another show, “Stretch Armstrong: The Breakout”, is currently in the works.
Source: Stuff
