First Look: Little Mermaid for iPad

I think the iPad could be a great platform for the "choose your own adventure" genre of books. I remember reading these as a kid. I could see even utilizing the web to enrich these kinds of books with expanded story lines contributed by other readers and fans. It could become a whole new spin on the MUD/RPG paradigm.

"In order to keep this genre of application-enhanced e-Books fresh, developers really need to step away from the easy answers of Chipmunk physics (that's the engine that drove Alice -- I'm not sure what solutions were used for the Little Mermaid) and bring artists and educators into the mix."

It would be neat if there was some sort of media oriented authoring toolchain that was artist and developer friendly that would allow you to mix animations and images. Maybe we could call it "Flatch" or something similar! It would be perfect for this sort of interactive media type-thing.

Note: I've never actually used Flash, but it seems perfectly suited for this sort of thing. Too bad everybody thinks such things are "crap" unless they are implemented nearly verbatim in native code.

I think it's cool that more "books" are exploring the interactive genre. Plus, the trailer seems to indicate that there will be more than moving and shaking - sound? touch?

Regardless, the app looks like it at least picks up where Alice left off and possibly goes further. I think that's a great thing - books that get kids excited about reading sound like a pretty darn good thing to me. Now I'm curious to check it out...

"Watching this trailer, I can't help but wish that there were a little more novelty in this app, or something that differentiated it from the "Alice" experience. There's only so much you can get from "let's shake the iPad" with flickable, tiltable animated elements before it's time to move on to more individualized expression."

It's a BOOK not a game.

You only assume that the audience this book is aimed to will not be happy to see the Little Mermaid in shakeable form. If that were true, flip book that unfold 3d scenes would not sell in Target anymore.
Ask a child whether they would want another book like Alice.
As an adult, I am not interested in any of these books, unless they produce Aladdin.
Also, they could ask the artist to drop the etched-like drawing style. How about Renaissance style, or anime style?