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Sun 03/06/01 at 18:43
Regular
Posts: 787
(Game supply getting low?)

Just leave it. I'm allowed to make big topics if I want to.

(You just want a game though, don't you?)

Yeah, I want a game.

(See, that wasn't hard.)

I just thought it would be a nice time to bring back my old hatred. I like having a good rant about things I hate.

(I expect my topic is in the pipeline.)

FMV is beyond a joke now. When it first appeared, God knows when, when some twisted sicko decided that playing a game isn't good enough, and decided that you should watch a sequence that would be much more amazing if you could actually play it, people were sucked into the mystique of playing a filmgame.

A few minutes later, the gamers got bored, and advertisers started rubbing their filthy hands together.

Oh yes. Full Motion Video is here to stay, and if we are to live in harmony, it needs to be toned down.

Squaresoft, I'm afraid, are a huge target of this. Their games, riddled with break ups in the gameplay are more of a bother to me than making it a much nicer experience. Pointless as it seems to me, it still encourages millions of people to buy the game. Before I am corrected by the onflock of the Final Fantasy series lovers (Which has the be the greatest oxymoron ever...), I better point out that when you actually get to play the game, the gameplay is quite good.

FMV can be very good at times though. When used efficiently, IE, before the game starts, or when the game ends... it works excellently. Even a short burst at the start of a level or end, is good. Such as Jedi Knight, despite lacklustre acting, is a good break from the gameplay, and a little "reward" to finishing the level.

I'm sure one or two people remember Fast Food Dizzy on the C64 or equivalent. If you remember, after you completed a level, a small action sequence was shown, of Dizzy escaping from the rip offs of the ghosts from Pac Man. Such as Dizzy escaping in a plane, or running them over in a steamroller.

This could be the very first start to FMV. Although the sequence is actually FMA, or Full Motion Animation, which basically means that the action is created with the game engine, it did insinuate that there was a break from gameplay, and something happened that was beyond your control, albeit slightly humorous.

I seem to have lost my train of thought. This usually happens mid post, and encourages me to read through my post to find out where the hell I started, and how I got here.

Bear with me. Obviously the wait is much shorter for you, still though, please be patient.

Oh right. FMV.

The only way you could describe FMV fully, is by calling it "false advertising." Used in hundreds of commercials, mostly Playstation ones, and Playstation twos, it conveys the image of this super game... looking better than anything you've ever seen... and then actually buying and playing the game, and finding out it's the most gut-wrenchingly awful games, graphics and gameplay wise, you've ever encountered.

A bit like the devil showing you paradise in hell... until you actually get there, and have to stand on your head in a swimming pool of faeces for 24 hours a day.

Damn, I'm lost again.

Half-Life had the right idea. Deus Ex was close, but Half-Life is the real great one. It never takes you out of your body... well, not in my version anyway. The story always flows on, and you never lose control of Gordon, and never go outside the realms of his skin. Not a nice description, sorry.

Deus Ex is close. Any FMA sequence is only that of you ending a level, or talking to someone. It works very well, and you do, in a way, become JC Denton. This certainly wouldn't be possible if every little action sequence that advanced the plot involved the screen going black and a pre-rendered action sequence appearing, with huge explosions and a much better looking game than what you've just been playing...

Damn. I seem to be repeating myself. I should delete all this and start again... but I can't be bothered.

(Shall I continue?)

Do you have anything to say about FMV?

(Not really. Just thought I would type some crap that's already been mentioned before. Continued the trend, as it were.)

Thanks.

(No problem. Shall I then?)

No. I'm still trying to find a main point though.

(How about: games are becoming too much like films.)

Yeah, that will do.

In a way though, they are. Games and films are two completely different art forms... and yes; I do believe game making to be an art.

Games allow you to become a character, and films allow you to watch a character. Simple as that.

(Didn't you already write a topic about this?)

Yeah, but I thought we could discuss it again.

(Then why not pop the old one?)

Oh shut up.

Now, when FMV comes along, adding elements of not playing games... it takes away the element of gaming. Taking you away from the escapism of becoming a character, and putting you into the third person faction. Indeed, this isn't really wrong, but it's not gaming.

(So what is gaming?)

Glad you asked. Gaming is the ability to transform you, plain old Joe, and turn you into this wonderful being, able to do a hell of a lot more things than what you can in real life, and make it fun at the same time. Without getting arrested.

(And so on.)

Yeah. Personally, I like most types of genres. Train sims aren't a must for me, but then, I doubt they are for most people.

(Cybernet gave it a good review the other day. It was quite funny, she commented on how good the graphics were.)

Ohh... good point. If you were to compare films to games, there is a certain viewpoint that which you can.

Special effects in games, and graphics in films... oh no, other way round.

Special effects, if concentrated on, ruin the plot and the enjoyment of the film. Like graphics.

Special effects have evolved over the years, becoming better and greater to look at. As have graphics.

Special effects are the thing that film previews seem to spend more time focusing on. Same with graphics in games previews.

This is true 99% of the time, anyway. Some games can look great, and play great too. If you're looking for a great game though, don't look at the pictures; look at how it plays.

One last thing... the thing that seems to be so easily overlooked... and so many people seem to forget...

The controls. This, my dear friends, is the meaning of games. The Holy Grail of the gaming world. If you can get easy controls, you've got a great game. It's the one thing you should know about games.

(Which is funny, because no one has bothered reading this far.)

Hmmm.

Well, not so much easy controls... The word is intuitive.

In Jedi Knight, again, you were given a lightsaber. The wonderful controls of the game made you feel as if you were making the lightsaber move in it's wonderful ways. The movement of the mouse depended where the saber was swung... and a quick centre button click would allow you to double swing it. Easy.

Compare this to The Phantom Menace. Not the film... everything looks good compared to that. The game, the third person one.

*click click click click*

That's all it was. It wasn't fun. The level design wasn't that good either... but there were no feelings to the control. You weren't a jedi, you were a puppet master.

Perhaps controls aren't everything, but they certainly add to the gameplay.

(Anything else?)

I've got a huge list. Movie tie ins was supposed to fit in above... lack of games out at the moment, general low in gaming industry...

Nah, can't be bothered. The Post This Message button is too attractive, and I want to write in the story.

By the way, if you did read it all, you're an idiot. Never read something this big, it won't teach you anything.
Sun 03/06/01 at 18:43
Regular
Posts: 23,216
(Game supply getting low?)

Just leave it. I'm allowed to make big topics if I want to.

(You just want a game though, don't you?)

Yeah, I want a game.

(See, that wasn't hard.)

I just thought it would be a nice time to bring back my old hatred. I like having a good rant about things I hate.

(I expect my topic is in the pipeline.)

FMV is beyond a joke now. When it first appeared, God knows when, when some twisted sicko decided that playing a game isn't good enough, and decided that you should watch a sequence that would be much more amazing if you could actually play it, people were sucked into the mystique of playing a filmgame.

A few minutes later, the gamers got bored, and advertisers started rubbing their filthy hands together.

Oh yes. Full Motion Video is here to stay, and if we are to live in harmony, it needs to be toned down.

Squaresoft, I'm afraid, are a huge target of this. Their games, riddled with break ups in the gameplay are more of a bother to me than making it a much nicer experience. Pointless as it seems to me, it still encourages millions of people to buy the game. Before I am corrected by the onflock of the Final Fantasy series lovers (Which has the be the greatest oxymoron ever...), I better point out that when you actually get to play the game, the gameplay is quite good.

FMV can be very good at times though. When used efficiently, IE, before the game starts, or when the game ends... it works excellently. Even a short burst at the start of a level or end, is good. Such as Jedi Knight, despite lacklustre acting, is a good break from the gameplay, and a little "reward" to finishing the level.

I'm sure one or two people remember Fast Food Dizzy on the C64 or equivalent. If you remember, after you completed a level, a small action sequence was shown, of Dizzy escaping from the rip offs of the ghosts from Pac Man. Such as Dizzy escaping in a plane, or running them over in a steamroller.

This could be the very first start to FMV. Although the sequence is actually FMA, or Full Motion Animation, which basically means that the action is created with the game engine, it did insinuate that there was a break from gameplay, and something happened that was beyond your control, albeit slightly humorous.

I seem to have lost my train of thought. This usually happens mid post, and encourages me to read through my post to find out where the hell I started, and how I got here.

Bear with me. Obviously the wait is much shorter for you, still though, please be patient.

Oh right. FMV.

The only way you could describe FMV fully, is by calling it "false advertising." Used in hundreds of commercials, mostly Playstation ones, and Playstation twos, it conveys the image of this super game... looking better than anything you've ever seen... and then actually buying and playing the game, and finding out it's the most gut-wrenchingly awful games, graphics and gameplay wise, you've ever encountered.

A bit like the devil showing you paradise in hell... until you actually get there, and have to stand on your head in a swimming pool of faeces for 24 hours a day.

Damn, I'm lost again.

Half-Life had the right idea. Deus Ex was close, but Half-Life is the real great one. It never takes you out of your body... well, not in my version anyway. The story always flows on, and you never lose control of Gordon, and never go outside the realms of his skin. Not a nice description, sorry.

Deus Ex is close. Any FMA sequence is only that of you ending a level, or talking to someone. It works very well, and you do, in a way, become JC Denton. This certainly wouldn't be possible if every little action sequence that advanced the plot involved the screen going black and a pre-rendered action sequence appearing, with huge explosions and a much better looking game than what you've just been playing...

Damn. I seem to be repeating myself. I should delete all this and start again... but I can't be bothered.

(Shall I continue?)

Do you have anything to say about FMV?

(Not really. Just thought I would type some crap that's already been mentioned before. Continued the trend, as it were.)

Thanks.

(No problem. Shall I then?)

No. I'm still trying to find a main point though.

(How about: games are becoming too much like films.)

Yeah, that will do.

In a way though, they are. Games and films are two completely different art forms... and yes; I do believe game making to be an art.

Games allow you to become a character, and films allow you to watch a character. Simple as that.

(Didn't you already write a topic about this?)

Yeah, but I thought we could discuss it again.

(Then why not pop the old one?)

Oh shut up.

Now, when FMV comes along, adding elements of not playing games... it takes away the element of gaming. Taking you away from the escapism of becoming a character, and putting you into the third person faction. Indeed, this isn't really wrong, but it's not gaming.

(So what is gaming?)

Glad you asked. Gaming is the ability to transform you, plain old Joe, and turn you into this wonderful being, able to do a hell of a lot more things than what you can in real life, and make it fun at the same time. Without getting arrested.

(And so on.)

Yeah. Personally, I like most types of genres. Train sims aren't a must for me, but then, I doubt they are for most people.

(Cybernet gave it a good review the other day. It was quite funny, she commented on how good the graphics were.)

Ohh... good point. If you were to compare films to games, there is a certain viewpoint that which you can.

Special effects in games, and graphics in films... oh no, other way round.

Special effects, if concentrated on, ruin the plot and the enjoyment of the film. Like graphics.

Special effects have evolved over the years, becoming better and greater to look at. As have graphics.

Special effects are the thing that film previews seem to spend more time focusing on. Same with graphics in games previews.

This is true 99% of the time, anyway. Some games can look great, and play great too. If you're looking for a great game though, don't look at the pictures; look at how it plays.

One last thing... the thing that seems to be so easily overlooked... and so many people seem to forget...

The controls. This, my dear friends, is the meaning of games. The Holy Grail of the gaming world. If you can get easy controls, you've got a great game. It's the one thing you should know about games.

(Which is funny, because no one has bothered reading this far.)

Hmmm.

Well, not so much easy controls... The word is intuitive.

In Jedi Knight, again, you were given a lightsaber. The wonderful controls of the game made you feel as if you were making the lightsaber move in it's wonderful ways. The movement of the mouse depended where the saber was swung... and a quick centre button click would allow you to double swing it. Easy.

Compare this to The Phantom Menace. Not the film... everything looks good compared to that. The game, the third person one.

*click click click click*

That's all it was. It wasn't fun. The level design wasn't that good either... but there were no feelings to the control. You weren't a jedi, you were a puppet master.

Perhaps controls aren't everything, but they certainly add to the gameplay.

(Anything else?)

I've got a huge list. Movie tie ins was supposed to fit in above... lack of games out at the moment, general low in gaming industry...

Nah, can't be bothered. The Post This Message button is too attractive, and I want to write in the story.

By the way, if you did read it all, you're an idiot. Never read something this big, it won't teach you anything.
Sun 03/06/01 at 18:51
Regular
Posts: 6,702
Final Fantasy might not be a real oxymoron. It is the final fantasy for each particular group of characters on their world. There are sequels to the final fantasy, but with a new cast and world each time.

As for the fmv advertising, PSone did a bit, but I thought the PS2 only had one TV add, and that had no shots of PS2 games. As for other adverts, like in mags and DVDs, I hadn`t noticed. They mostly seem to show gameplay.

Please tell me which PS2 adverts have mostly fmv as their contents.
Sun 03/06/01 at 18:51
Posts: 0
Thats one helluva rant! One question: Is a FMV a cutscene? If so, I disagree-they are good, especially in adventure games
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:02
Regular
"smile, it's free"
Posts: 6,460
What does it say for the person who wrote it all? ;)
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:03
Posts: 0
I read it all and now my eyes hurt. I'm going to sue that Grix for all he's got (so that's 1 brain then...).

Anyway, yes, from what I could decipher you don't seem to like FMV. Well, I suppose you're right not to seeing as it's now a waste of time. You see, what with games getting better and better graphics you no longer need to switch to these acted out scenes for storytelling. You can use the game engine or just tell the story entirely from the eyes of the player (like in Half-Life, which Grix mentioned... I think).

Still, when you say that going out of the character at all can be bad you have to remember that it may at times be better than seeing the whole thing from First Person. I really enjoyed to play Jedi Knight in Third person from time to time because it gave a mix between seeing you do your full swing and seeing your opponent being killed. Still, it made it harder to aim guns, infact I would probably say impossible.

It really does depend on the type of game which camera angles should be used and what should be used in cutscenes. Is FMV so bad when playing an RTS game? It let's you see the important story building scenes up close instead of from afar. Of course they often use other types of graphics but the main point is that they don't always use the game engine.

RPGs are good for low FMV counts. This is probably because you are the character and you do see the whole story unfold before you, so to cut to something your character (you) has no knowledge of would be ridiculous.

To be honest though, I'm inclined to agree that FMV should be phased out since it is mostly unnecessary, does not add anything to the gameplay and can often interrupt the flow of a game.
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:04
Regular
Posts: 23,216
Ok... "Final Fantasy which is using different characters everytime so therefore it doesn't mean the series" isn't an oxymoron.

Final Fantasy 8, is.

I said PS2, because I am judging something by it's previous console, and considering that just about all the PS1 ads were composed of FMV, I kinda expect Sony aren't going to change their marketing methods.

Why Sony?

Nintendo and Sega don't advertise. You can't be biased when there is only one choice.
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:04
Regular
"You've upset me"
Posts: 21,152
Anyone got Cannon Fodder for the GameBoy Colour? That's got an FMV intro!! Boy was I shocked when THAT greeted me!
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:05
Posts: 0
You know, now that I think about it it isn't really a general rant now is it. It's a specific rant about FMV, with slight references to films which are so similar to FMV (in that they are FMV) that it makes no difference.

So why wasn't it called "FMV rant"? eh?

Oh and Vote Gronti!
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:06
Regular
Posts: 23,216
VenomByte wrote:
> What does it say for the person who wrote it all? ;)

I dunno, I'll have to ask him. ;0)
Sun 03/06/01 at 19:07
Regular
Posts: 23,216
Nothing is general, really. Except practice, but then that's medical.

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