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Okay, so here's tough philosophical question, what exactly is Netlix's new interactive movie? It clearly exists in the spectrum of space between pure film and pure video game, but where do we draw the line between those two, and who gets to decide? If the exact same product was released by a video game publisher instead of Netflix would it have been included on the video game section of the website instead? Is the context of who created a work important in classifying which medium it belongs to? Does it even matter?

My vote goes heavily toward it being a film. There are elements of both of course but I find Bandersnatch to be a film with game elements, similar to how something like Heavy Rain is a game with film elements. I don't think Bandersnatch as it exists would ever be released by a game company because there isn't enough playability to it.

CosmicMonkey wrote:Okay, so here's tough philosophical question, what exactly is Netlix's new interactive movie?

It is a film with playable elements.

CosmicMonkey wrote:It clearly exists in the spectrum of space between pure film and pure video game, but where do we draw the line between those two, and who gets to decide?

Do we really have to? I mean as long as the experience js engaging for the audience do we really need a label on exactly what it should be.

CosmicMonkey wrote:If the exact same product was released by a video game publisher instead of Netflix would it have been included on the video game section of the website instead? Is the context of who created a work important in classifying which medium it belongs to? Does it even matter?

No I dont believe who created the work is important how it gets classified. I think this is groundbreaking in a way. This could be a happy medium for those who enjoy both film and video games. It may also allow people to see the benefits of video games as well. It is cool. I like where cinema is heading.

I think kgbelliveau made the best points, in that it really doesn't matter.

Late Shift and The Bunker are essentially the same thing as Bandersnatch (live action movies where the viewer makes choices), but were made by video game developers and are therefore considered games, first and foremost.

I think these types are interchangeable, and the classification will be made depending on how the medium is viewed (ie Netflix/movie streaming service vs. Video game console/Game Streaming services)

It's a visual novel, clearly.

Anomaly1 agree with you