Would you buy a totally state of the art FMV game for XBOX?

[Anthony1]

Actually, the question is this......

Would you buy a modern day Full Motion Video game for the XBOX or PS2, or even GameCube (assuming they could fit it on the mini dvd) if it was priced say $29.99, and used the latest and greatest in technology to the fullest extent?

Basically, in terms of technology, the video would be of progressive scan widescreen dvd quality, and the sound would be Dolby Digital 5.1. The video would be full screen if possible, or the largest possible video window for whatever the H.U.D. for that specific game, requires. As for the interactivity of the game, well, interactivity never really was the key factor of FMV games, it was more of a side note to the game, err, movie, but every effort would be made to also use the latest in technology to provide the most interactivity possible.

I for one, think it is a damn shame that Full Motion Video games have been totally forgotten and buried, to never be revisited again. When FMV first appeared on the scene, the hardcore gamers were totally furious about FMV, because they thought that regular normal video games could be an endangered species, and that everything would eventually become FMV. This attitude, didn't take long to reach the magazines and the casual gamers, and they also began to take on this view. Then FMV games started having super horrible sales, and they were basically run into the ground. Back in the days, when this was going on, I was actually one of those gamers that felt that all FMV games should be totally destroyed, never to be seen again.

But now that I have gone retro, and gone back and played games like Sewer Shark and Sherlock Holmes, I'm actually thinking that maybe we all jumped the gun on this thing. Sure, those games did suck big time, but the theory of Full Motion Video games shouldn't have been totally scapped to never be considered again.

I personally think, that with todays modern technology, we could have some really, really sweet FMV games. Sure, they still wouldn't have the interactivity of a regular 3D video game, but they could still provide tremendous entertainment value. Just take a game like J.B. Harolds Murder Club, or Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. If one of these games were totally redone, with modern day technology being used, I think we could basically have an interactive version of L.A. Law or something like that. Or like an interactive C.S.I. if you will. You would basically get to see scenes from a murder or crime, and then you would have to interview and interrogate people and build up enough evidence to actually bring a case to a jury. Then you would actually have to go through the process of arguing the case to a jury and have them deliberate and bring a verdict. I think it could be fascinating.


Even if Full Motion Video games are nothing more than a electronic version of "Choose Your Own Adventure Books", I still think they could be damn entertaining. The level we are at now in terms of FMV quality that you can achieve on todays modern consoles, in addition to the power of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, would be pretty damn huge.

They would never compete with the likes of Ninja Gaiden (XBOX) or Half Life 2 (PC) or anything like that, but I think that they would find an audience that would eat it up, and ask for seconds. Especially if they were priced reasonalby. Like $29.99 or so.

[Videogamerdaryll]

Hell yea,why not..

[digitalpress]

You betcha!

Well, considering that I just bought Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective for my DVD player (and am now hunting down a copy of Dracula Unleashed for same), I guess Xbox would do the job just as well. It's actually really cool to see these games on a high quality player, though the LaserActive FMV's were just as nice (try out Triad Stone - THE GREATEST FMV EVER).

Game ON, any way you can :)

[Isometric_Bacon]

I personally don't think it will work.

Why?

Well think of why they didn't sell well in the first place... lack of playability.

Sure something like Dragon's lair is great for a quick play at the arcade, (particually just because it was so amazing at the time) but would you pay $50 to play a game at home that is very linear and possible to memorise the pattern and win it just about every time? no, not really unless it was a really great game... This is why they didn't take off in the first place.

On that note, there were also games that incorporated the best of both worlds, most notably being the Wing Commander series. (No! the movie never happened! there never was a Wing commander Movie! Quit haunting me you horrid inner demons!) Those games combined great quality FMV, fabolous actors and set designs that really gave a feeling of an immersive story based atmosphere. The gameplay however wasn't FMV based, it was a space combat simulator, but it ran on such a great engine that it was addictive and lots of fun to play. It also lasted a fair while, and was the type of game that inspired replay value over time.

Unfortunately, this type of game is HIDEOUSLY expensive to produce today, and the interest simply isn't big enough to generate enough return, as they were basically making their own big-budget films. It's a real pity, because I would love a proper sequel to the Wing commander series.

FMV styled gameplay also works very well in adventure games... things like the Tex Murphy series, Blade Runner and to some extents games like Day of the Tetacle spring to mind. These sort of games can incorporate FMV without losing their playability, as the nature of their genre isn't a real "controlling" based game, and they can be on rails without spoiling the gameplay.

Whilst i'd love to see some adventure games along these lines, (instead of making them 3d characters... ugh) unfortunately like I said before, there isn't enough interest, it is much more expensive to produce than a few 3d models and no one really plays adventure games anymore, so no game companies deem it a genre to continue making games for.

[hydr0x]

Actually, the question is this......

Would you buy a modern day Full Motion Video game for the XBOX or PS2, or even GameCube (assuming they could fit it on the mini dvd)

You know, the gamecube is able to play DivX-Videos, so this shouldn't be any problem ;)

[Anthony1]

I personally don't think it will work.

but would you pay $50 to play a game at home that is very linear and possible to memorise the pattern and win it just about every time?

I did say $29.99. They would have to be priced at $29.99 or less, and they obvisously would have to cater to a niche segment of the market.

[Anthony1]

I started thinking about this subject again recently.


After playing Ground Zero Texas for the Sega CD.


I don't know, maybe it's just me, but for some reason I got a special place in my heart for corny FMV games. I know that they don't have any "real" playability to them, and that they really aren't very "interactive", maybe even not really considered a video game at all, but dagnabbit, I actually like these damn things!!!!!!!


Man, I really wish that somebody would take another crack at a Full Motion Video game. I personally feel that FMV games were way before their time, and just way too ambitious back then. The systems weren't powerfull enough to do FMV games correctly.


If you look at the FMV games on the Sega CD and the 3DO, they were just so pixelly, and hard to see, and in small little windows. The sound was scratchy and not as clear as you would expect it should be.


But if you think about it, imagine how good a FMV game could look now. Imagine how good it could sound. It could look exactly like a widescreen 16:9 DVD movie. It could have Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.

From an audio/video perspective, I think it could be absolutely stunning. Of course the key would come down to the actual interactivity. Would the power of the current generations systems like XBOX and PS2 be able to do anything to help the gameplay factor of a FMV game, or is there simply no hardward that could truly make a FMV game with tremendous interactivity and playability?


I think that developers could be much more creative and much more clever about making a FMV really seem interactive and seem like it has playability, even if it doesn't. And with the video and the audio looking so freaking good, I think if they did a decent enough job, a FMV game could actually be a huge hit, even today.

[TheRedEye]

no, please no

[Ed Oscuro]

If somebody wants to put together a decent FMV game, I'm...ready. Right now we're up to our necks in 3rd person 3D hack-or-shoot-and-slogs, and essentially drowning in First Person Sloggers, and I for one would like to see more of the contemplative sort of games making a return.

It can't be FMV only, though. No. NOOoooo. There must be CONTROL. You must have control!!

All other things remaining equal, price point should be everything.

(Vote: Been dreaming of this for a long time...but I need to play through the Myst games!)

[cratermaze]

I don't even see why you would even need a console to play a fully FMV game anymore, I imagine one could be made to play on a regular DVD player. There might be a market still for these types of games, I just don't see consoles being a good home to making a profitable one. I also think FMV would be a lot better with an established franchise like Law and Order with known actors. I think the biggest problem with the FMV games of the early nineties wasn't so much the format, just the cheesy acting and story lines.

[Fuyukaze]

I bought Xenosaga, so why not? All depends on the content.

[Gapporin]

It'd be interesting to see what they could pull off with today's hardware. I doubt they would have any more of that "I'm-standing-behind-a-green-screen" type technology, and maybe they would get some competent actors for once. I'd definitely be interested in something like this.

[Melf]

I would like to see some existing FMV games brought back to modern consoles with all the trimmings. Sewer Shark, It Came from the Desert, Power Rengers (very good game), and others done in 5.1 sound with modern video compression techniques could be released cheap (in sets maybe). That would be neat.

[tritium]

I'd do it for the boobs!!!! Just kidding (Reference to Night Trap)

Actually I'd be interested in an interactive cinematic experince, ie: Under a killing moon! I get tired of badly designed 3d models.

EDIT:
I would buy an xbox to play it.. I don't own one.

-Tritium

[Kid Ice]

I think they would have to do something totally new with the technology. Also, they would have to spend more money to get better actors.

One of the (many) problems with FMV games in the 90s was there were too many tongue-in-cheek games. Too much satire, send-up, "it's supposed to be like a B-movie", etc. How about making one like an A-movie? It seemed like they never made a serious effort with the games, they were almost all goofy. And it's a lot easier to strive for goofy than to strive for great.

[Ed Oscuro]

I don't think an FMV game actually needs to have actors.

Would I buy an FMV game? Sure.

Would I buy a Night Trap-style game? Not bloody likely.

As an aside, DOOM III has some good handling of FMV on 3D surfaces.

[zmweasel]

I would like to see some existing FMV games brought back to modern consoles with all the trimmings. Sewer Shark, It Came from the Desert, Power Rengers (very good game), and others done in 5.1 sound with modern video compression techniques could be released cheap (in sets maybe). That would be neat.

I'd LOVE to see a Digital Pictures boxed set, as DP games are my guilty pleasure. Even a DVD-quality version of Night Trap would be fantastic; it's a milestone of gaming history, after all. I've no idea who owns the rights to DP stuff these days, alas. Tom Zito, the prez of DP, seems to have dropped out of existence.

-- Z.

[Gapporin]

I would like to see some existing FMV games brought back to modern consoles with all the trimmings. Sewer Shark, It Came from the Desert, Power Rengers (very good game), and others done in 5.1 sound with modern video compression techniques could be released cheap (in sets maybe). That would be neat.

Hey, great idea! You could even have extras, like behind the scenes documentaries, interviews and commentaries!

Mmm...FMV commentary...

[zmweasel]

It'd be interesting to see what they could pull off with today's hardware. I doubt they would have any more of that "I'm-standing-behind-a-green-screen" type technology, and maybe they would get some competent actors for once. I'd definitely be interested in something like this.

You're forgetting that in the early-'90s heyday of FMV, Hollywood was leery of the video game industry, and video game budgets hadn't yet exploded, so it was difficult to hire A-list actors for FMV productions. It was a big deal, for example, when Panasonic landed Tia Carrere for The Daedalus Encounter. (It was a VERY big deal when Activision landed Bruce Willis for Apocalypse; I still consider that to be a milestone.)

For what it's worth, Digital Pictures always hired legitimate talent, if not always A-list talent.

-- Z.