5/16/14

TV Programs from Xbox

I guess everyone is in the television series game these days.  Microsoft's Xbox Entertainment Studios has snagged Steven Spielberg to produce a series based on the Halo video game. Not too long ago I watched the web-series Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn and was surprised by the quality of the program.  Hence, a new television series similar to this type of series could be very promising.  Showtime is interested in hosting the new program, while Microsoft will still make it available to customers via the Xbox.

Microsoft plans to create other shows as well, including a new drama Humans, to be created with the United Kingdom's Channel Four.  Xbox Entertainment Studios defines the new show in this way:

"Humans" is set in a parallel present where the latest must-have gadget for any busy family is a 'Synth' - a highly-developed robotic servant eerily similar to its live counterpart. In the hope of transforming the way they live, one strained suburban family purchases a refurbished synth only to discover that sharing life with a machine has far-reaching and chilling consequences. 

Another show in development is Winterworld, described as a limited live-action series in which a new ice age covers the world and those humans remaining "have formed tribes that war, enslave and trade with one another in an effort to survive the infinite winter."  Yes, another potential outcome of climate change.  Al Gore, are you listening?

Some of these new shows seem to be natural products of a game maker, while others such as Winterworld are more of a stretch.  Potential content is everywhere.  The secret is to tell a new story that interests the viewers, or at least an old story in new clothing that still holds up in the present day.

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