*1880's - Still photography is developed.

*1890's - Motion pictures, or "movies" are developed.

*1920's - Sound is introduced to movies and people call them "talkies".

*1970's - Choose Your Own Adventure books were a major success among children and young adults.

*1980's - Early Laserdisc technology allowed for experimentation with non-linear, random access video files that enabled a Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) style "game". Some major arcade hits include Dragon's Lair, and Space Ace. There were a lot of educational titles that made their way into a few classrooms as well.

*1990's - Hollywood tried a couple experiments with live action CYOAs when DVD technology took off. One major project, the obscure Im Your Man, was a total failure.

*2000's - While not a CYOA, the popular Scene it? is a "DVD board game" that allows the user to use their remote to choose answers to movie trivia. With the advent of Flash, there are a number of small, mostly advertising based, interactive games that resemble CYOAs or allow for simple choices. Also, the Choose Your Own Adventure book series is set to be re-published.

The early experiments in the 1980's and 90's were called "interactive movies", and I feel that that name is part of the reason the concept failed. Not to mention those CYOAs were poorly written, acted, and the choices did not come nearly fast enough. More than the production though, people need a name that fits what a particular thing is. We all know what a movie is, and if you know anything about film history then you know what a talkie is. What does it become when you add choice?

A Choozie(TM)!

- Joe Golling 06/20/2008