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They have to figure out how to beat that monster, open that bridge, get past that gate. (Again, this is crucial to CYOA navigation on paper.)Īs for comparisons to games, in games where people are willing to try again and again to reach the end of a sprawling game, they're usually trying to solve puzzles or develop game skills.
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The software sort of behaves like it remembers what you've already seen, but in part for technical reasons and in part because a lot of segments look alike and happen in the same settings and involve the same elements, you can't immediately say, "Oh, I've seen this part" and double back. That means you can't, for instance, make a choice and then jump back past the choice point and try the other one, like you can with a CYOA book. Fast forward and rewind are of limited use - you can jump 10 seconds ahead or back, but only within the unbroken segment you're watching, between the last choice you made and the next one.
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There's just a distance, not yet bridged, between what a movie is and what a CYOA book is - let alone what a game is.Īfter the first time you follow Bandersnatch through to one of what Netflix says are its five endings, it quickly becomes tiresome to try to find others. Bandersnatch has a couple of classic Black Mirror-ish tricks to spring, and on a first viewing (which might take you an hour and a half or so), they're a lot of fun.īut this is a long way from being a fully developed concept that Netflix can deploy for other forms like romances or comedies (as representatives have suggested it might).
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The novelty is interesting, and in a couple of places, the story flirts with some great ideas about control and free will that have a connection to the very fact that you are - to some degree - dictating the narrative you see. Should Stefan say yes or no to a tempting offer? Should he take medication or not? Should he listen to the Thompson Twins or a compilation cassette? There's a lull in the action while you make each choice (if you don't choose, there's always a default option), but it generally doesn't actually hitch or pause or hiccup before it continues. Sure, he's getting angry and wondering if he's losing it while he works on his game, but that's pretty elementary "isolated artist who might go mad" stuff, and it doesn't really hold up a narrative on its own.īut while the story sags a bit, the execution is largely seamless. While it obviously makes sense for Stefan to be developing a CYOA game inside a Netflix CYOA movie about him - that's kind of the joke - you don't really learn enough about who he is to care about him. It would have been good to see this technology demonstrated on a stronger story. Pop Culture Happy Hour In Season 4 Of 'Black Mirror,' Power Corrupts, But Love Still Matters
CYOA was an elementary, low-tech version of interactivity, long before today's complex open-world games were available. If you leave the stick on the ground, turn to page 51." And you would follow the story from there. Something like, "If you pick up the stick, turn to page 49. For those who aren't familiar, CYOA books (which really existed) are books where at certain points, the story asks you to make a decision. Set in 1984, it's about a young programmer named Stefan working on a game adaptation of a famous "choose your own adventure" book. On Friday, Black Mirror released its latest installment, called Black Mirror: Bandersnatch. Now, Netflix makes it directly for its streaming service.
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A new film that can follow a variety of paths depending on choices made by the viewer - a film that's almost a game - is the next direction it would like to stomp its giant feet.īlack Mirror, a science fiction anthology series focused on the horrors of technology, was originally on British television. And it's looking for new areas that it can own, new ways it can make itself essential, new worlds it can dominate. But its appetite increases, and now it also wants to be your source for holiday schlock, baking competitions, home renovation shows, documentaries, animation, stand-up specials, and romantic comedies. The streaming service started its originals business with prestige dramas and comedies. Netflix is hungry, and it's got its eye on a juicy slice of interactivity. Fionn Whitehead plays Stefan, programmer creating a mid-'80s adventure game in Black Mirror: Bandersnatch.