Cross platform media is a way of selling the same product or series on different platforms. It can be used to add extra content to a product (as in a behind the scenes video), to cross platform boundaries with a single story (if a tv episode finishes quickly and invites you to go to a website to finish the story) or multiple protects can share a universe or story but approach it from different angles or ways.
Defiance is a great example of this third kind of Crossmedia. A SciFi TV series and an MMO both set in the same universe but largely independent. The amount of connectivity developers have with Online games allowed Trion to update the game based on the weekly episodes of the TV show. Some characters would leave the show and travel to the area of the world the game is set and vice versa.
The key point here though, is that the game and the show are both fully enjoyable on their own. This is an example of Two products enhancing each other, neither relying on the other, in the way a 'behind the scenes' does.
This is an important point to remember. You shouldn't just take all the cut scenes out of your game and put them on YouTube. You will only inconvenience the players who would have enjoyed your story in game, and given the action oriented players no more convenience than a skip button would have.
Then look at this from the point of view of a YouTube viewer. Even if your cut scenes are complete enough to get a feel for your game without any of the atmosphere and back story gained from game play, why would I now want to play it when I know what happens?
To make this work, learn a lesson from Trion, tell a parallel story. One that complements and sells your universe and ideas without giving away the game. That way people will seek out your game, looking for another hit of the wonderful story and universe they just experienced..
To apply this to my game idea:
YouTube: A series of animated shorts (each approx 5 -10 min) following Rex Marksly, the best pilot ace in the sky. The series would run like the old 50's action comics come to life, over the top, cheesy humor and bright colors. The Series would be set 100 years before the game.
Game: The game allows the player to hunt for Rexs' hidden treasure, all the loot from his bold and amazing life. Following clues from Rexs diary (which you won in a poker match) you travel the archipelago, finding more diary pages and clues to hunt down your fortune (While fighting pirates and taking bounties and generally being at least as awesome as Rex was anyway).
So you don't need either to enjoy the other. But besides the setting, how are they connected? Well, each episode would contain enough information to track down an artifact or weapon otherwise hidden from the player. Rex might get knocked out in the episode and drop his revolver. The player then has the clues needed to go and find it. These missions would not be core story missions but would enhance the overall fiction.
But we can do better than just two platforms.
Mobile App: Small 2D arcade plane shooter. Play as Rex Marksly and rule the skies. Pay 1.99 for all levels or play for free and unlock extra levels by finding certain diary pages in the main game. Once your saves are linked, earning points or treasure in the mobile game will provide main game advantages as well.
So the Animation, Game and Mobile game are all fun on their own, but enjoying all of them will create a richer experience both in terms of story and game play.
If the Animation was on YouTube, the game was chrome browser based and the mobile app was on android, Google might even pay for it.
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