In June 2015, the first official trailer for “Dreams” was offered during Sony’s high mass for its PlayStation 4. It was at the E3 show in Los Angeles. Knowing the English studio Media molecule – and its three (half) game-mechanic “Little Big Planet” – we were almost certain that the cracked heads of Britain would persist on the bizarre. We were not disappointed (see video below).
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First trailer for “Dreams”, in 2015, two years after the project was announced. (Video: YouTube / PlayStation)
Five years later, on Friday February 14, 2020 exactly, the product is officially launched, exclusively on PlayStation 4 (Media molecule belongs to Sony). To have been able to lift the lid of the box a little earlier in the week, we can now say that the mad scientists of Guilford have thoroughly pushed the logic of their previous productions: either offer in a package a video game, and rather a good, with the tools, the manuals, and all the support required to allow users to design what they want in terms of digital expression. All kinds, all sizes, all ambitions. Officially, “Dreams” is now called “social network of creation”. Of which act.
A dream of Art
At the very early stage of our exploration, we first ventured into “Art’s Dream”, a narrative game, jazzy as hell because the hero is a musician, and which intertwines various video game mechanics. Created in-house by studio professionals, this interactive adventure with pieces of puzzles and platforms in it lasts the length of a feature film. It is explicitly intended to show from which wood the tools of creation of “Dreams” are heated.
An entry in the catalog
Mission accomplished, it’s impressive. But “Art’s Dream” is only one of the entries in a catalog already provided with creations from the community, the one that benefited from early access and therefore a few months in advance to offer who copies of existing games , which of the original creation, which of the still more abstract concepts. We spotted a horror game, a slider race in the desert, a shoot in subjective view … Nothing that has yet happened at the level of “Dream of Art”, but that does not seem less promising . We only scratched the surface, though.
“Art’s Dream” in platform game mode
On the “creation space” side, we are in the middle of a flawless pedagogical guide, who takes, with humor and infinite patience, the hand of the apprentice and leads him step by step in the discovery of the tools of more and more complex. The small and big things that come out of it can then be classified, shared, evaluated, promoted.
The shadow of Project Spark
The ambition, generosity and undeniable capital of sympathy enjoyed by Media molecule gives hope that “Dreams”, a site in constant evolution, will be able to grow and prosper. And above all bypass the iceberg that slowly sank “Project Spark”, a similar concept (both game and creation tool), launched in 2014 by a Texan studio under the patronage of Microsoft for PC and Xbox. However, the project found neither the recognition it would have deserved, nor its business model. In 2016, the small fire started by the spark went out in general indifference.
Too many questions remain unanswered – notably the establishment, envisaged but far from being finalized of a reward system for “dreamers”, possibly financial – to seriously predict that “Dreams” will succeed in breaking through the cloud that casts a shadow on the concept itself. It is however necessary to recognize that many fairies are around the cradle.
For our part, at a very modest level, we remain fascinated by the content portal … forged with the tools which, despite all the educational treasures deployed, continue to intimidate us.
Spectator or actor? “Dreams” would like us to be both but, good prince, leave the choice. It’s his politeness.
Jean-Charles Canet
Created: 02-14-2020, 5:49 p.m.
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