Even amongst fans of video games, the term “Full Motion Video”, often referred to as FMV, remains a relatively unknown concept. Full Motion Video refers to cutscenes in video games that have been pre-recorded and are not rendered in real-time. This was typically done in order to overcome the hardware limitations at the time and provide visuals that the hardware could not produce.
Since the term “Full Motion Video” simply refers to any cutscene that has been pre-recorded, FMVs can be surprisingly diverse. 2D animation is sometimes used to supplement games with an animated aesthetic such as Dragon’s Lair or some Japanese games. FMVs can also refer to games that use CGI for their cutscenes with a famous example being Visual Works, a subsidiary of Square Enix that work to create CGI cutscenes for video game franchises such as Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider, Dragon Quest etc. Some games even have pre-rendered in-game cutscenes although these are quite often frowned upon.
However, when I think of the term “Full Motion Video”, I specifically think of games that use live-action cutscenes. In the 90s, hardware for both PC and consoles finally reached a point where live-action cutscenes could be displayed which saw games such as Mad Dog McCree, Phantasmagoria and, most infamously, Night Trap. Night Trap was originally released in 1992 and was published by Sega for the Sega CD, an accessory for the Sega Mega Drive, known as the Sega Genesis in North America. The game was controversial, saw congressional hearings and, eventually, led to the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), the company that assigns age ratings to video games in North America, which is hilarious since the game now and even back then was quite tame in terms of content.
However, as you might imagine, many of these games that relied so heavily on FMVs struggled when it came to gameplay. Taking Night Trap as an example, the gameplay sees the player switching between cameras, hitting a button when prompted and listening for some audio cues to recalibrate your signal. Mad Dog McCree sees you shooting outlaws while avoiding innocents and, while arguably more interactive than Night Trap in that you must aim, the technical limitations really begin to show when a jarring delay occurs between shooting an outlaw and the cutscene of them being shot.
As video game hardware has become more robust, live-action FMVs have steadily fallen out of fashion with real-time in-game cutscenes generally being preferred. This allows for player-controlled aspects such as character creation and your character’s equipment to stand at the forefront.
However, it’s worth noting that live-action FMV games have seen a mini-renaissance recently. One of the most well-received video games of the past decade has been “Her Story”, a game which sees the player go through a database of clips of police interviews with a (live-action) woman and use the information provided by these clips to solve the case. Another well-received live-action FMV game was “The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker” which sees you play as a psychiatrist interviewing (live-action) patients of the recently deceased Doctor Dekker to figure out the mystery surrounding his death. These games see you start with a very limited amount of information and, by interacting with these clips, you start to gain more and more information that you can eventually use to figure out the mystery. This interpretation is quite different to the older FMV games of the 90s and is an excellent example of how seemingly outdated technology can be reinterpreted to create fresh, new experiences.
The world of FMVs in video games can be quite strange but a new generation of developers are looking at this format and finding ways to create engaging, interesting content. As ever, I’m fascinated by this interpretation of what it means to be a video game and I hope to see more and more FMV games in the future. Let me know your thoughts on Full Motion Video in video games, what FMV games you have played, your thoughts on this format and any additional information you might have on the topic.
Thanks for reading and if you wish to seek any of the titles I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs! Also feel free to follow my curator page on Steam “JRPG Reviews” for thoughts and opinions on any JRPGs that I play and my YouTube channel “Victory Achieved Gaming” where I guide my friend through challenging games.