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"In the middle of nowhere," says Warren, referring to the

Sept. 25, 2018 by Carolyn Mueller

"In the middle of nowhere," says Warren, referring to the kind of place where people will tell you what they do, "people say, 'Oh I just want to see how these things are done for me.' " It's not even about the details or how the car breaks down, but how the money is spent and where the dead bodies are buried.

One idea that stands out is that of an "alien-themed" movie called "The Walking Dead" that was pulled into a series of SXSW documentaries and released at last year's festival. The original show was actually a sci-fi sci-fi horror, and its cast were based on the characters of some classic horror films. One of the main inspirations for the show was the series of zombie movies starring David Lynch, which was then dropped by the likes of The Walking Dead.

"I was like, 'I got this idea from watching them on Netflix, and I was like, 'It'd make sense!'" says Warren. "The only reason I didn't buy any of the [series] was because I was such a nerd. I didn't want to hear about it. I was like, 'Wait, I've seen The Walking Dead, and I'm going to give you the movie now.'" The Walking Dead's director, Matt LeCoultre, said in a statement that the movie had a "huge cult following."

The Walking Dead follows the original "Walking Dead" and its "The Walking Dead" zombies. Credit: AMC

There were a couple of things that stuck out to me about the movie that make it special. One was that the episode itself only took the audience three minutes to watch. That said, it was clear to me that the idea of the game unfolding like this is something of a classic Hollywood trope. (The original episode has been used as a backdrop to a TV show and even an action movie.) In the video game world, "the idea of the zombie race" as a concept is the ultimate test for whether a game could sell at SXSW.

The idea of a game being played as a show, which is never shown, is also a challenge. "There's a certain level of tension," says Warren, "because you are playing a game, so you're not expecting much from it." As a result, the game's mechanics feel almost alien. The first few minutes are pretty obvious. But on the second screen the game seems to be taking over the action.