I've mentioned it before, but I'm really enjoying this renaissance of FMV in gaming, as we're at a point now where the technology has reached an equilibrium with the concept. What used to be a fairly janky way to include photo-realistic graphics in a game, has since become a viable and high resolution solution. In fact, I would argue that a lot of the modern FMV games wouldn't be half as interesting if they had gone with an all-CG cast instead.
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fmv
I remember one of the first video games I ever played was an educational one in school, which was built to teach the difference between verbs and adjectives. It might have been primitive 1980s technology of the time, but I was fascinated by it and ever since, I wished that every subject could be delivered in the same way. After all, each of us learn through many different methods, and I've always been better when I can see and interact with the subject matter.
As much as I love a short little game that tells a personal story from the developer's own experience, I'm often left wondering if it can actually work in a meaningful way. Sometimes it seems that unless I've had the exact same experience, I'll find it hard to connect and understand the story I'm being told, which only ends up confusing me a little. Is it simply the case of niche experiences not relating to many people, or does it indicate a lack of story-telling skill, when your audience is unable to connect?
In recent times, Bithell Games have been making a name for themselves as an indie developer to watch. Of course Mike Bithell is someone that's been on my radar since I first played the brilliant Thomas Was Alone, and I suspect I'm not the only one. However, what's really excited me about his company's recent work, is that they've released a series of "Bithell Shorts". These are short, but high quality games, that explore a unique mechanic or system and tell a succinct story. Needless to say, this is a winning combination for me, as I often prefer to play smaller games with nothing but quality content, as opposed to bloated hundred hour grinds that never truly satisfy.
Of all the crazes and gimmicks that have had their time in video game history, full-motion-video (FMV) has never been one that I expected to make a comeback. There was a time when it seemed like the greatest invention of all, as the implementation of FMV in games meant that we could finally witness the combination of a digital world with our own. After all, what's more realistic than actual footage of real people?