Why no more Full Motion Video games?

[maxlords]

Hah! I remember seeing the box for that on PC. 7 discs, wasn't it? Yikes. Looked cool on the game store shelf, but even then it looked like a mighty stupid purchase.

Anyways, I'd like to think of FMV as perhaps something to do in tandem with the game engine...something along the lines of the video clips that play on TV monitors (wow!) in Aliens vs. Predator.

Embarrassingly, I STILL have the full big box X-Files PC FMV game.....I got it cheap and then no one would take it! And it really is 7 discs...I played it for about 5 min and then shelved it for all eternity *embarrased sob*

[hydr0x]

the x-files game was great, i wish i would have bought it instead of playing a friends copy

[Daltone]

The worst acting by a real actor in an FMV game was turned in by Christopher Walken in the PC game "Ripper." One of the game's six CD labels is a snapshot of one of Walken's FMV clips, and he's clearly reading his off-camera cue cards instead of looking at the person he's clutching in his arms.

I would like to nominate that native indian bloke (his name is mysteriously absent from the manual..) from "The Elk Moon Murderer" for that prestigious award. The man is the epitomy of the word "tense" whenever he's on screen. It doesn't help that he keeps glancing in a nervous way at the camera at odd times.
Anyway, a damn good reason to bring back full FMV games is to give these poor, talentless actors (well, maybe not Walken) a job. Think of it as humanitarian aid.

Ah, Digital Pictures. I wonder whatever happened to..Tom (was it?) Zito (or have I just gone and got the whole name wrong there?) producer of many a crap game...and Night Trap. I will never forgive that man for Supreme Warrior, which hands down is the least enjoyable game I've ever played.

[/hijacking thread]

[Eternal Champion]

Something else I dug about Digital Pictures' productions is that they used genuine Hollywood talent (B- and C-list talent, granted) both in front of and behind the camera, along with well-known game designers (Rob Fulop for "Night Trap," Mark Turmell for "Citizen X").

-- Z.

WASN'T DANA PLATO (Diff'rent Strokes--R.I.P.) IN NIGHT TRAP????

I seem to remember that.

Anyway, FMV...exactly why I have never owned a Sega-CD, and why I run away screaming at the sight of FFVII and on.

("HEY!! You STILL don't have a Sega-CD"--'fraid not, Sparky)

[AB Positive]

My favorite DP babe is Camille Cooper, the blonde from Double Switch, who managed to outshine even Corey Haim and Debbie Harry. Heh.

-- Z.

Debbie Harry? As In Deborah Harry, as in "Blondie" Deborah Harry?

...

is Double Switch a Sega CD game, and if so, let it be common...

EDIT: 1 hour left, no bids, one dollar. I'll take the risk *hits 'make bid' button*

-AG

[swlovinist]

FMV was on the cutting edge about 10-11 years ago......it was a new gaming experience, and one that we all can look back at and laugh Quite frankly, many sega CD titles and 3D0 titles took and abused this technology, I think because it was a way to show that they were "different" than standard 16 bit games at the time. I think of all the games that were just slight improvements of genesis carts slapped with FMV. Dont get me wrong, I like to play games such as Dragons Lair and Cobra Command on my Sega CD, but the reason it is not around anymore is that games can do so much more. Instead of watching crappy FMV and "tapping a button at the correct split second" games now can generate(at least on the cartoon level) very detailed graphics with greatly enhanced control. Still, just yesterday, I got the urge to play Prize Fighter!!!

[Zap!]

Sorry for reviving an 11 year old thread, but I would love for them to make a comeback. I know the idea of "choose your own adventures" may not go over well, but why is there basically zero FMV of actors in cut-scenes?

[Jorpho]

I know the idea of "choose your own adventures" may not go over well

Eh, Phoenix Wright is practically an FMV game in structure – even moreso Harvey Birdman.

but why is there basically zero FMV of actors in cut-scenes?

Because it is enormously costly to shoot and extremely difficult to do well compared to the alternatives – and accordingly the result usually ends up as the target of considerable mockery.

[Tanooki]

Also back then the FMV was the best you could do. Look at the PS1 vs the N64. PS1 with the size but fairly terrible visuals limits on the polygons coupled with the low sized models the hardware(both) could do then would make it a factor. With all the space you could load out a ton of CGI or human FMV videos, albeit more costly, yet it would make the package seem better to people of that era as that was new and they didn't know any better. N64 couldn't really do it due to size, aside from the massively compressed 3CD Resident Evil 2 onto a 64MB N64 cart. Because of that they went with their models and did flowing scenes out of the actual 'area' the game was in (see Zelda Ocarina of Time.) N64 games flowed better between play and sequences, but they also in those sequences looked debatably worse because of the lack of 'video' which was the big thing in the 90s.

[The Adventurer]

Tesla Effect basicly proved that the HD era has really benefited FMV, someone big just needs to take a chance.

But actors and shooting is still pretty expensive.

[Jorpho]

I should add that there are probably numerous FMV games circulating out there in Greenlight and Kickstarter and whatnot, but they probably don't get much attention because nobody likes them.

I'm pretty sure I saw at least one in the Two Best Friends Play XBox Live Indie Games series.

[The Adventurer]

Tesla Effect was great. So there's one that isn't universally hated.

[E Nice]

FMV was on the cutting edge about 10-11 years ago......it was a new gaming experience, and one that we all can look back at and laugh .............. but the reason it is not around anymore is that games can do so much more. Instead of watching crappy FMV and "tapping a button at the correct split second" games now can generate(at least on the cartoon level) very detailed graphics with greatly enhanced control.

It sounds like FMV gameplay evolved into the QTE portions you see in many of today's 3D games. You know the scenes where game control stops and your character moves automatically and awaits the correct button input at certain time intervals. If you fail to use the correct buttons or miss the timing it just repeats the section over again until you can pass the section.

[Tanooki]

You're kind of right about that. Dragon's Lair arcade evolved into the QTE you've seen in stuff like Shen Mue and God of War.

[celerystalker]

I'm not so sure expense of shooting is that big of a barrier. For an indie, perhaps a little, but for anyone with half of a budget I don't think it's that big a deal. I mean, these days it's getting downright common to hire Hollywood actors for voice roles, and it's probably close to as expensive if not more to create the 3D likenesses for game use like Ellen Page or Kevin Spacey recently. If YouTube personalities can makes stuff like the AVGN movie or the Happy Console Gamer movie, which is basically out of one man's pocket, I don't see nearly the issue in creative budget.

I do love these games. Psychic Detective on 3DO was my favorite. If you're an importer, check out Combat Queen on PS2. It's goofy fun with production values reminiscent of an early episode of Power Rangers, but with DVD quality. Also, PC-FX has a couple of fun FMV 2-player fighters where you react to each other's input: Battle Heat and Tengai Makyou.

[Gameguy]

I'm a bit late to replying but as some others have said, FMV really didn't go away. It's just the medium used has changed, instead of filming live actors they're using pre-rendered 3D CGI graphics. The same thing is basically happening with feature films, instead of using actual live stunts or scenery it's all becoming digital effects added in later. It wasn't all live action anyway in games, with games using animation like Dragon's Lair, Time Gal, Cliff Hanger, and Thayer's Quest. FMV is still alive and well.

Of course I do wish some games would go back to using live actors, though it's more for nostalgia at this point. Most games seemed pretty terrible when they first came out, besides a few of the really good ones like The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery.

There's one I've been trying to remember the name of for over a decade but I haven't been able to find it. I remember playing this in school during the mid-90's. From what I remember it had 2 mystery cases to solve, one was a mysterious substance showing up on lawns damaging lawn mowers. You were supposed to perform tests and analyze what it was made of to figure out what it was and where it came from. The second case I can't remember all too well, I think it was trying to find some mysterious creature or monster that people reported seeing(maybe). I really didn't get far in the game at all the few times I played it as computer class wasn't that long and we couldn't save the game to continue later. It still bugs me that I can't figure out what game this is.

[T2KFreeker]

Just to throw this out there, you guys do know that Hysteria Project was released in 2009 and it's sequel in 2011. They also made it to the Playstation store for the PSP, PS3 and also the Vita...they are FMV in that classic sense, branching paths, run from the killer horror games and very much like the older Sega CD/3DO games or yore, altho0ugh a bit more fun to play...not bad games either...my buddy and I had good fun playing them...


So, going back to the old FMV formula was fun. Just saying.

[The Adventurer]

Extra Credits talked about this really interesting FMV game, Cloud Chamber on their show a few weeks ago. The way they discribe it, it's a rather a unique game experience using FMV in a way that makes sense in a modern context.

[goldenband]

I do love these games. Psychic Detective on 3DO was my favorite.

That and Wirehead (Sega CD) are probably the two best FMV-based games I've encountered so far. Psychic Detective has an interesting and unconventional narrative structure. Wirehead was just funny and goofy, though the lack of a savegame function made replaying the early stages tedious.

The arcade game The Act is also fun, though it's far closer to something like Dragon's Lair.

One of the worst tropes of the FMV era was the obnoxious or condescending lectures you constantly got in certain games. It's especially bad (and immersion-breaking) when a game insults you for not foreseeing the outcome of something your character couldn't possibly have anticipated, e.g. the trial-and-error gameplay in Fahrenheit (Sega CD/32X) where if a door turns out to have nothing behind it, you're berated for wasting time.

Oh, and Plumbers Don't Wear Ties. A horrible "game" (really a visual novel IMHO), but absolutely hilarious in its shameless, good-natured incompetence and utter half-assed-ness. "You pea-brained preppy! You vain, Volvo-driving vulva!"

[Jorpho]

I mean, these days it's getting downright common to hire Hollywood actors for voice roles, and it's probably close to as expensive if not more to create the 3D likenesses for game use like Ellen Page or Kevin Spacey recently.

I readily admit that I am not knowledgeable about the specifics of the moviemaking business, but no, I am quite certain that neither of those things comes anywhere near the astronomical costs of hiring actors and a camera crew to actually shoot something. I kind of suspect that as soon as someone actually appears on screen there are ginormous Screen Actor's Guild fees to be paid, too.

If YouTube personalities can makes stuff like the AVGN movie or the Happy Console Gamer movie, which is basically out of one man's pocket, I don't see nearly the issue in creative budget.

You get what you pay for.

Psychic Detective on 3DO was my favorite.

That one's also on the PC (and numerous other platforms).