As I mentioned in last week's column, I think that the traditional media needs a few far-out thinkers to help interactive entertainment realise its full potential in the entertainment landscape. Thankfully, it seems I'm singing on the hymn sheet as a few big-wigs in Los Angeles.
I mentioned the James Cameron MMOG/movie experiment which was first brought to my attention by the ladies at Wonderland. Now it seems there's another.
Spong has a story about a Ron Howard-conceived project which aims to integrate the sociability, interactivity and content creation essential for the success of so many Massively Multiplayer Online Games with a reality TV series. Before the words "Reality" and "TV" force you to go drown yourself in the closest bucket of water, this may be the cross-over which acts as the harbinger for a new form of media entertainment.
From the article:
X Quest, for those who haven't heard of the game/show concept before, really does promise to be something wholly and entirely new - a massively multiplayer game that will be simultaneously developed with the reality TV show of the same name, according to the story in the latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter.
Due to launch in 2007, the MMOG and the TV show will intertwine and feed into each other's worlds - the game impacting the TV show, and vice-versa.
...
Players in the game will be able to interact with the reality TV stars from the show, with the best X Quest gamers on board to star in the subsequent seasons of X Quest.
Oh, now that is exciting. That's much more interactive than sending a text message to Eurovision.
For those purists out there who fear the destruction of game property at the hands of ignorant non-game media types, the development is being spearheaded by Alex Seropian, founder of Halo creators Bungie Studios and Stubbs the Zombie creators Wideload Games.
