What ever happened to "live action" in games?

[Wuvlycuddles]

Ok, so i was bored and was browsing my old games for something to play and i spotted Wing Commander 3 sitting there, it got me thinking about full motion video in games, i mean, its pretty much par for the course in a lot of films these days, CGI backgrounds and greenscreen work. So why haven't we seen it in games for well over a decade?

Surely someone could do a pretty damn good job of it, hell, whatever you may think about Tron 2, it looked freakin fantastic, you can't deny that. So why not apply it to game?

 

[TastyCarcass]

The only game I've played that implemented real actors is Command and Conquer 3, which used Josh Holloway, and I thought it was awesome! The original Resident Evil used them too. The only problem is is that it feels like you're getting ready for Laser Quest or something, but that just made it better for me.

 

[ThatDaveDude1]

Brutal Legend had some FMV, which actually worked astoundingly well.

Other than that though, I hate FMV, and I'm glad it isn't used.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

Well FMV games have got a REALLY bad reputation because for every good one (or even half decent one) there were a dozen awful ones.

The thing is they sort of take you out of the game. Unless all the game is live action that means your character is switching between real and CGI between scenes, and a lot of live action sequences can be quite expensive to film.

 

[clint945]

If you look at C&C games, i loved the switch between live action to gaming. And the actors that they pulled in were all high flying people too.

As long as it's done well then i think live action can really enhance a game and perhaps even bring in a larger audience if it's used as part of the advertisement. Thing is, it's often easier and sometimes even cheaper to produce a CGI cutscene then it is to make the thing live.
Especially if the CGI uses the same graphic software as the game and isn't an outside system.

I don't think we'll see any mainstream live action cutscenes popping their heads up in new releases, save for a few well placed ones. (see Brutal Legend)
Sad times

 

[Alakaizer]

In Tron 2, no matter how many times you watch it, the characters will always do the same things at the same points regardless of what buttons you push on your remote. The amount of programming necessary to make real actors be our avatars in games is just not worth it yet. When the Holodeck is in full swing, maybe, until then, don't go looking for trouble.

Also, how many actors can you think of who can double jump? There you go.

 

[Trogdor1138]

It pretty much died along with lots of other things from the 90's.

This was mostly something to be rejoiced, but I do love paying out those terrible FMV games when CD's were all the rage. 100 bucks for Night Trap? Fuck off.

I have to admit games with live action give me a bit of nostalgia and it's a fun novelty, but the sacrifice was worth it to be done with.

I would enjoy seeing a game come out with HD live action footage as it's big focus point. I don't really know how they'd implement things properly though, so it would probably end up being shit.

 

[Wuvlycuddles]

The opening from Brutal Legend isn't quite what i had in mind, i'm talking integrated fmv, sure it looked crap 15 years ago in games like WC3 and Mortal Kombat, but today?

I think it could be awesome.

 

[TastyCarcass]

A lot of arcade games used to use it, such as Area 51 or the old Mortal Kombat games. I suppose it's much cheaper to not do that these days

 

[genamp]

You could always play Darkstar. It's a new-age version of the old FMV games; in fact, it's rather good and headed by the guys who did a lot behind Mystery Science Theater 3000. Other then that, however, I really don't know. You could always go back down nostalgia lane and grab a Genesis.

To answer your question, I believe that the appeal died out due to the simple campy-ness of live action videos in games. They seem out of place and don't always appeal to everyone, especially with their "amateurish" connotation.