You’ve probably heard of Netflix’s latest attempt to enter or start a new genre for visual entertainment. Netflix is introducing the “choose your own adventure” format to its more adult content. The company has started playing around with this format with some of its kid’s offering but now it’s the parents’ turn to play as they watch. The Black Mirror universe seems to be an apt place to play around with this genre. The streaming service just put up the movie Bandersnatch, which follows a young programmer named Stefan. The movie is set in 1984 and has Stefan working on a game adaptation of a famous “choose your own adventure” book. This interactive film will require you to, well, interact with it. There is no linear version of the film—meaning you can’t just watch it without making choices for the character.
This also means it doesn’t work on all devices. Bandersnatch was written using proprietary technology. And this means not all machines can translate this experience. According to Netflix, you can’t watch (or experience) the movie on Chromecast, Apple TV, and “some legacy devices,” which no longer support Netflix software updates. These include the likes of the PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Wii U, and the like. It will, however, work on “most newer devices, including TVs, game console, web browsers, and Android and iOS devices running the latest version of the Netflix app.” A small icon will appear on top of the title card to let you know that you can stream Bandersnatch.
Source: The Verge