Everybody wants to be "the one who knocks," and that might actually be possible now that Sony Pictures is working with the Breaking Bad crew to make a virtual reality experience. While the parties involved are pretty set on the fact that this won't be a "game," everybody seems pretty excited about the stories they might be able to tell in the virtual space.
According to a recent report from Polygon, last year Sony Pictures met with a whole bunch of Hollywood-types in order to show off VR technology. Since the event was hosted by PlayStation, we assume the PSVR was the star of the show, though platforms were not discussed.
Along with Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore and The Walking Dead's Frank Darabont, among others, Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan was on hand to see what all of the VR fuss was about. According to the report, he was very impressed and is now working on a Breaking Bad experience for VR. Unfortunately, we have no idea what form this might take. The team may simply attempt to recreate something from the show and give the player a chance to explore the scene or make something new and tangentially connected to Heisenberg and Co.
As Sony Interactive Entertainment America's Shawn Layden tells it, Gilligan is partnering with Sony Pictures to create this Breaking Bad "experience," noting that it isn't going to be a video game. In other words, you won't be making meth in a trailer or shooting drug lords who stand in your empire's way. That leaves things pretty open, but we're certainly intrigued.
Layden said that Sony is interested in helping these types of creators find new and interesting ways of using VR, such as the PlayStation VR headset. As he notes, you're being asked to tell a story or get a point across without the usual control a director has.
In movies and television, a director decides exactly where the viewer is and exactly what they see. In VR, those restrictions can be completely absent. So, how do you tell a story when the viewer is potentially able to wander off or look the wrong way at an important moment? What sort of new queues need to be utilized in order to draw the player's attention to a desired spot. And if the player misses those queues, can the story be saved? If not, is that important?
That's on the tip of the iceberg when it comes to creating for these types of new platforms, so we're excited to hear Sony is being so proactive in reaching out to creators and offering them a helping hand. We're not sure what to expect out of this Breaking Bad experience, but we're itching to strap a VR headset on once it's ready.
