The Video Game Critic

Ever since the full-motion video/interactive movie bust in the mid-90's, incorporating real video into games has a certain stigma. I heard a new Rock Band game was going to incorporate footage of an actual crowd and I thought that was pretty cool. However I noticed a chorus of people mocking it, comparing it to old 3DO and Sega CD titles.

Personally I kind of like real video in games. When you go back and play those games they are actually quite fascinating, even if their gameplay is limited. And there is a place for it. One of my old basketball games showed actual footage of real cheerleaders jumping around in slow motion. That was awesome. I'll take that over the computer-generated clones that pass as cheerleaders in modern basketball games.

And frankly I'm surprised most of today's gamers can even remember back that far. I think it would be really cool to see video clips incorporated into modern games. Heck, they could probably make one heck of a Night Trap reboot.

Your thoughts?

Indeed, I've played FMV games like Space Hulk and Space Pirates online and enjoyed them quite a bit, and other games like Metal Gear Solid 2 have effectively used real world footage, so yeah, i'd definitely like to see a modern day version of Digital Pictures make some FMV games.

As long as it isn't exclusively an FMV game with terrible gameplay, I don't see the problem. I mean, I think using actual crowd footage is a great idea, but you have to remember people love to complain about literally anything and everything, especially on the internet.

VideoGameCritic wrote: One of my old basketball games showed actual footage of real cheerleaders jumping around in slow motion. That was awesome. I'll take that over the computer-generated clones that pass as cheerleaders in modern basketball games.

That's probably the single best use of full motion video ever devised. It's weird how the football players will look great and then you'll see some blocky, freaking ugly cheerleaders jumping around. And that's even if they're provided.

Oh, I think the new Guitar Hero game will have live action crowds and not Rock Band.

Regardless, it could be fun. Depending on how it's used it could provide an extra sense of realism and fun. I see nothing wrong with that.

With the advent of super high frames per second and 4K, full motion gaming might become more practical, as the controls suffered due to bad optimization, which explains the awkward gameplay on certain Sega CD titles.