It’s always been a daunting task to find the best of what is available from Netflix. There have been third party options for years, but Netflix’s own solutions to the problem of curation have been limited. For PS3 users that changed starting last year, as Netflix began rolling out “Max” a virtual assistant that finds users something to watch.
What is Max from Netflix?
Here is Netflix’s description of Max:
Max, rumored to be the child of Siri and HAL 9000, asks a few questions about your mood or movie and TV show tastes to arrive at a suggestion … One of the experiences Max offers is called the “ratings game,” where you pick a genre to fit your mood and then rate a few titles on the familiar Netflix five star scale
…Sometimes, when Max feels particularly confident, he will offer a fun, personalized suggestion after asking only one simple question … Other times, when intoxicated by past success, Max will get a little cocky and offer a suggestion right away, no questions required. The catch … this is a mystery suggestion and you’ll just have to press play and trust him.
I found out about Max about a month ago when I fired up Netflix on my PS3. We had been using our Wii U for Netflix but since recently moving the Wii U to the bedroom TV, we were forced to change to a different box to watch our Media Content. My interested piqued after seeing the button, which previously had not been there. When I clicked on it I was treated to a gameshow like atmosphere and a voice that sounded suspiciously like Greg Kinnear asking me to pick between three categories, which if I recall were “Thrillers”, “Critically-Acclaimed”, and “Kooky.”
The whole process was quite fun, and led me to finding a movie to watch! The content finding games that “Max” takes you through will vary ever so slightly the first few times you activate it. One of the times I was asked to choose between two actors that I was in the mood to watch in a game called “Celebrity Mood Ring.”
If Max is unable to find content for you he whips out the “Back-up Plan” in which he suggests another movie in a similar category that you picked earlier. If that fails a rapid fire round starts where you have 5 quick “yes/no” choices to make.
Here is a video of Max in action:
If you have a PS3 and a Netflix account, give Max a shot!