The course I was part of was a week-long exercise that involved highly immersive simulations: featuring everything from landmine explosions to hostage and kidnapping situations. In order to be sent ‘on mission’, you had to first complete a very comprehensive form of security training, commonly known as ‘Hostile Environment Awareness Training’ or HEAT: originally designed for journalists going out to war zones. They put together a list of ‘experts’ (a description that was tenuous at best in my case) who could be deployed at short notice to support the UK’s international aid efforts. My role had been part of the international effort to support economic redevelopment following the war there.īack in the UK, thanks to my experience, I was invited to become part of the Government’s ‘Stabilisation Unit’. Interactive video and humanitarian responseįast forward twenty years and I had just returned from working with the United Nations Mission in Kosovo. Many of us enjoy consuming culture, while also being inspired to roll our sleeves up and have a go – as the exponential rise of YouTube and now TikTok has proved beyond any doubt. That democratic spirit always resonated with me – technology empowering us to unlock our own creativity. Indeed, in the you-can-do-it-too spirit, many early ‘home computer’ games for the likes of the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 often had some fairly rudimentary authoring feature that allowed you to create your own games – no BASIC required!
CHOOSE YOUR STORY GAMES CODE
PC mags were filled with code to build your own games and people like Matthew Smith and Tim and Chris Stamper, in the UK at least, became punk-programming icons. However, it wasn’t just high-profile, blockbuster games and consoles that defined the nascent 80s tech scene – there was also the parallel DIY aesthetic of home computing and the world of bedroom-coding upstarts. The choices you make affect how the story unfolds, as with the books of the same name. In their most common form, they tend to link video sequences using a ‘choose your own adventure’ style approach to decision making.
CHOOSE YOUR STORY GAMES FULL
The game was one of the earliest – and most famous – examples of a genre that is now known as Full Motion Video or FMV.įMV games combine the art of film with the interactivity of games. It worked through the use of laserdisc technology – if you made your move at the right time, you would skip to the correct outcome. Its innovation was to combine the animated storytelling of Don Bluth with interactive gameplay. Interactive video and gamesīack in the 80s Dragon’s Lair was credited with re-invigorating an ailing arcade industry: on the backfoot since the rise of consoles. I would’ve never dreamed it at the time but over three decades later, I can draw a line from those childhood days, through experiences with the United Nations, international humanitarian response and film and television – to what we do at Near-Life™ today.Ĭheck out our Dragon’s Lair interactive scenario created using Near-Life™ CREATOR. Near my home on the outskirts of Manchester, one of our local stores had a handful of arcade games you could play and Dragon’s Lair just stood out.
Its most recent high profile name-check was in Stranger Things: a nod to its enduring pop-culture legacy. Dragon’s Lairĭo you remember Dragon’s Lair? If you grew up in the eighties and spent any time around arcade games, there’s a good chance you will. In this article, he explains why he wanted to develop a platform enabling anyone to make interactive video and how he hopes it will help change the world for the better. Mike Todd is the CEO and co-founder of Near-Life™.
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