Hold the front page, something exciting is happening on PSP! Konami has announced details of two forthcoming titles that can only be described as, ahem, interactive multimedia experiences. No wait, come back, they sound quite interesting.
First up is Metal Gear Solid Digital Comic (working title), a PSP version of the already published MGS comic book 'digitally edited' into 3D visuals then tarted up with animations, sound effects and music. The press release goes on:
"As viewers progress through the story, they can zoom in and out of the images using the analogue stick and scan specific points of interest. These scanned images are then stored in a library of 100s of similarly noteworthy elements, adding replay value to the story."
Then there's...
...The Silent Hill Experience a similar multimedia mash-up of Silent comics, music and interviews. Or as the release puts it:
"Designed to offer a comprehensive guide to all things Silent Hill, The Silent Hill Experience combines a number of media formats to give a compelling overview of the horror series. Using an intuitive 3D interface, users can view all-new Silent Hill digital interactive comics, listen to music from the four games in the series, and watch exclusive video content. The Silent Hill Experience also features an interview with Christophe Gans, the Director of the highly anticipated Silent Hill movie, starring Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean."
Release dates and prices have yet to be announced for the two products, but Konami is clearly proud of its endeavours, referring to them as "an entirely new genre". Well, okay it's new to PSP, but both projects sound a little like glorified Flash-based websites, or even the first wave of interactive multimedia CD-Roms that swamped the shelves when PCs first started shipping with CD-Rom drives.
Price will be the issue here. I've tried to contact Konami's PR people about this, but have yet to speak to them. Surely the company has a budget price point in mind. I'll update if they ring me back.
So what do you think? Are you interested enough in the MGS and Silent Hill brands to buy digital comics based around them? Or would you rather cut-down versions of these features were included as extras on a game release?
