HBO has a winner with Game of Thrones, making it the perfect candidate to test out some new features and further promote the pay cable channel’s HBO Go service.
This upcoming Sunday’s Game of Thrones premiere featuring stars Lena Headey, Peter Dinklage and Emilia Clarke, amongst others, will blend the broadcast and home video worlds for those watching it via HBO Go on an iPad. Rather than simply watch the one-hour premiere, a stream of content links will appear to the side of the presentation, allowing instant access to bonus features normally found on the Blu-ray or DVD release.
The new functionality HBO is testing out sounds a lot like Universal’s U-Control that’s exclusive to their Blu-ray releases, except you don’t need physical media to take advantage of it. I’d expect many of these bonus features to appear on the eventual Game of Thrones: Season 2 Blu-ray release in 2013.
Available to access during the Game of Thrones: Season 2 on HBO Go for iPad are commentaries with David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin and others; new character descriptions as they are introduced – a great idea considering the sheer number of characters on the show; cast and crew interviews; pop-up alerts that explain relationships and back story; concept art and set photos; a Westeros map with key locations; show quotes that can be instantly shared via Facebook, Twitter, etc., as well as the ability to make social media status updates while watching the episode; and a guide to the many houses in Game of Thrones.
In the case of this new functionality, a video is worth more than a thousand words. Here’s a sneak peek at the Game of Thrones HBO Go interactive iPad viewing experience.
Catch the Game of Thrones: Season 2 premiere ‘The North Remembers’ April 1 at 9pm on HBO.
