16 replies to this topic

[JagMX]

im a big fan of FMV, always been and always will be.
But when it comes down to what looks better than what and such, i cant help but prefer the FMV dating PRE-sony playstation one.
I enjoy watching the "choppy" or grainy or near perfect FMV, like on the 3DO, JagCD, Saturn, CD-I, etc..

I find the life-like games (like psychic detective and others that have real people and real life areas) with the blocky fmv more interesting and enjoyable than watching something that looks like dvd quality or a regular tv show.
i like the fmv thats on the systems before the piece of shit one came out. Id rather watch it that the majority of whats out today.
Its like if i really wanted to see video violence with real people and real events, ill just watch the news or something but its the choppy, grainy, and or blocky video thats makes me think otherwise

i just think the fmv today hasnt much competition anymore. The Xbox/Ps2/Gamecubes and do practically the same thing, one version might look better than the other and so on but its only slightly now.

what are YOUR thoughts on FMV past and present

[Ze_ro]

Personally, I'm against FMV. The whole concept was just a lame way of covering up for a lack of gameplay... especially in the SegaCD days where the CD space was never really used for much more than FMV clips.

Instead, I prefer when the game has events scripted into the engine... like talking to scientists in Half-Life and such. Not only do you not have to worry about video quality, but you also don't get the game->FMV->game transitions that disrupt things a bit.

Another thing I've always disliked about FMV, particularly in old FMV is bad acting. I tried playing Ghen War on the Saturn, and the acting in the cut scenes is just awful. I also dislike seeing bad artifacts in older codecs... like when you play Vid Grid, and you get weird color blockiness because everything is compressed with Cinepak.

--Zero

[Lemmi]

I am with you Jag

games like Corpse Killer & Fahrenheit 32X , are fun to play with the old grainy fmv

as for the acting in video games they all are pretty bad even in todays games, but the acting doesnt bother me i find it funny

[chrisbid]

but Dana Plato was in Night Trap


i also love the horrid acting in Sewer Shark. I heard off hand that the Sega CD and Saturn video codec isnt difficult to translate. So there is a possibility to make your own movies and watch them on a Sega CD, that would be awesome

[JagMX]

Lemmi said:

I am with you Jag

games like Corpse Killer & Fahrenheit  32X , are fun to play with the old grainy fmv

as for the acting in video games they all are pretty bad even in todays games, but the acting doesnt bother me i find it funny

glad im not alone so far
Corpse Killer - great fukin game

i find most of the acting in video games funny as well. Not many, if all cant seem to do good acting.

[Lemmi]

the acting in the 3do game Daedalus Encounter wasnt to bad, it had its spots of badness but i think that has to do more with the dialogue written then the actors

[JagMX]

Ze_ro said:

Personally, I'm against FMV. The whole concept was just a lame way of covering up for a lack of gameplay... especially in the SegaCD days where the CD space was never really used for much more than FMV clips.

Instead, I prefer when the game has events scripted into the engine... like talking to scientists in Half-Life and such. Not only do you not have to worry about video quality, but you also don't get the game->FMV->game transitions that disrupt things a bit.

Another thing I've always disliked about FMV, particularly in old FMV is bad acting. I tried playing Ghen War on the Saturn, and the acting in the cut scenes is just awful. I also dislike seeing bad artifacts in older codecs... like when you play Vid Grid, and you get weird color blockiness because everything is compressed with Cinepak.  

--Zero

wel lthe sega cd was kinda the first home console cd system with mpeg quality shit( i think?) sothey figure pound in as much FMV as they can because everyone is just so used to seeing 2d games. Good idea i think to attract attention, but once those games get played once, they dont often get played again.

as far as the in-scripted stuff, i like that too, but i still thnk some fmv should be included - whether its the beginning of the game for the story or an ending.
all 3d rendered fmv today is all almost seamless and perfect without any blocky grainy stuff. Im just sick of seeing it cuz most of it looks the same, some is good and ill enjoy but only when its different

now there another great xample of a games fmv that i love VidGrid for the Jagcd

[JagMX]

Lemmi said:

the acting in the 3do game Daedalus Encounter wasnt to bad, it had its spots of badness but i think that has to do more with the dialogue written then the actors

[b]that game is GREAT, defintly one of my top fav games of all time. and my fav on the 3do. the acting was defintly good...i think imgunna start a new game and relive that xperience all over again

[liquid_sky]

i used to play corpse killer all the time on my saturn

[ElectricTroy]

I think FMV is great for story-intensive games like RPGs. I can't imagine playing Xenogears, Xenosaga, FF7-10 without FMVs. The story just wouldn't be as dramatic.

[Jetboot Jack]

Jaghammer,

As someone who slaved long and hard to produce video sequences (both interactive and non interctive) I gotta say thank God for modern machines that can spool MPEG2 (or nearly) quality video...

I hated seeing the work of my team mates (even on the PSX) reduced to a stumbling frame rated, ugly blocking and compressed palette. Everything was engineered to full frame, full color 30 fps only to be slaughtered to 8fps, 16 or 32 color blobs

If you saw the ORIGINAL sewer shark or Night Trap on the RCA disc system they were developed for, then saw what SEGA did to that work to fit it onto the Sega CD it too would make you cry...

However I agree there is a certain charm in lo-fi video, I played LOADSTAR to death, and I love my N64 Resident Evil 2 cart with ALL the PSX fmv crushed in there

sTeVE

[JagMX]

wel lthe sega cd didnt xactly even have decent fmv in my opinion. Im not really talkin about the horrible low low quality fmv, i mainly mean the middle quality. But sometimes even that ridiculously horrible low quality fmv has its good moments

[liquid_sky]

alot of the sega cds video problems IMO had to do with the low color scheme of the genises that was, i guess you could say, co-powering the segacd.

[JagMX]

well wherever the source of the problem came, it sure was a problem

[Clock]

The best use of FMV I've seen is Lord Of The Ring The Two Towers. I've only seen the PS2 version but it actually changes from FMV to game play as smoothly as I've ever seen it. Seamless.

[Vic George 2K3]

I would like to see games like Sewer Shark, Double Switch, and Ground Zero, Texas redone for the modern systems.

[Han]

Sometimes FMVs are just a waste of space or sometimes they are actually more fun than the game itself. But there are occasions when they actually add to the game. Like for instance: Tie Fighter or Thief I... Great FMV sequences that actually added to the atmosphere and urged you to play on ...