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Cinematics Do Matter?
In direct contradiction to a discussion we had about David Jaffe's opinion on the subject earlier today, GameDaily Biz has an editorial up arguing that cinematics and story are very important game elements. From the article: "There have been times in our industry where sub-par product has been sold through its cinematics, but there have also been times when products have failed to live up to the promise of its creators. The merits of if a cinematic and/or story detract from a game experience is rather mute, as story is one of the oldest and fundamental forms of entertainment, expression and communication"
Who didn't want to cry like a baby when Aeris died in FF7?
Cinematics are very effective in the right situations. Would a cinematic be a selling point for me if I wanted a new hack n slash? Probably not. Would I be disappointed if the next installment of FF had no cinematics? Deffinitely.
It's the story that matters in a plot-driven game. Who can honestly say that the Final Fantasy IV or VI's stories would have been more epid with FMV? Does Chrono Trigger _need_ FMV to be great? I think not.
Finat Fantasy Tactics, which has one of the most complex stories I've ever followed in an RPG, had no FMV. It is lauded by many as one of the greatest games of all time even though it came out after the FMV-heave Final Fantasy VII. People loved that game, too. Would it have meant less if Sephiroth killed Aeris using the in-game engine? No. The event is what moves us, not the pretty graphics.
Give me story-telling the way Half-Life 2 does it (interactive). Or the way Sly Cooper does it (slide show / comic book). It should be non-intrusive, and it should feel appropriate in the game's world. If that means we use the in-game engine, great. If it means we use FMV, that's okay, too. All I want is to make sure there's a good story to tell before you dump all your money into shiny FMV.
e2 | LJ
You seem unware that other people MAY IN FACT have differing views than you. What seems to you unimportant, may be extremely important to other people. And what makes /. so great, is NOT the stories themselves, but instead the further discussion of them -- while articles of news are definitely informative, they remain the perspective of one, possibly one group of people. Through /. there are many thousands of different viewpoints, and THIS is what makes /. a worthy site for so many users' attention.
games journalism blog
Just see the way starcraft cinematics were done.
They are superb, funny, and even today they look nice.
However, if you skip them, you don't lose much from the history, and the game is just as good.
We are Turing O-Machines. The Oracle is out there.