Say goodbye to full-motion video, better known as FMV to gamers, in the next generation of videogame systems. It had its time in the limelight, and some people would say it was a major creative force in the 32-bit era. Nearly all gaming FMV was recorded footage of very high-quality computer-generated (CGI) graphics rendered on high-end development PCs. Although a few companies did employ the format impressively to convey complex emotions or portray significant plot developments, the segments rarely looked even close to the real-time graphics and were often exploited in advertising to make consumers think the entire game looked that good (see Final Fantasy VII for Playstation).

It's all but over now though. FMV is on its way out, and I seriously doubt it will ever make a comeback, save for the occasional half-assed "Choose Your Own Adventure" Japanese dating game that you'll play maybe twice and then never again. (And if you're in the US, you'll probably never play this type of game at all). Now don't get me wrong, FMV isn't going away tomorrow, and it won't be an overnight process, but the format's feasibility is dwindling rapidly. So what could cause this technology's demise? Who is the assassin we have to blame/thank?

None other than Shigeru Miyamoto, actually. Not that he did it single-handedly, but his work set up the framework, the possibility, for a superior alternative to really take the stage. In the summer of 1997, a little game called Star Fox 64 hit the stores. Star Fox wasn't just a sequel to a SNES classic, it introduced gamers to three very revolutionary principles. First, that force feedback could become a real and meaningful factor in a videogame's presentation. Since the time of Star Fox 64 with its packed-in Rumble Pak, it's clear that Nintendo's competitors agree wholeheartedly with this principle. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no?

Second, that you really could put high-quality voice samples on a cartridge...and lots of them too. Instead of just animal noises from the original Star Fox, SF64 featured tons upon tons of voice samples, a feat thought impossible on a cart.

Finally, and most importantly, Star Fox 64 showed the world was that real-time cutscenes could tell a story, show emotion, and get the player involved just as well as any FMV. Sure, SF64's cinemas weren't nearly as detailed as current FMV, but they had other advantages. They take up only a small amount of space, so they loaded instantly (okay, the carts helped out some here). Even better, real-time scenes are interactive and dynamic. Many of Star Fox 64's cinemas changed slightly depending on whether certain criteria were met during the stage. The real-time stuff also looked -obviously- just like the normal gameplay. While this meant blocky characters, it also meant no jarring switch between graphical styles, a problem that went on to plague Final Fantasy VII a few months later.

Miyamoto's shooter masterpiece set the tone for future N64 software, and real-time cutscenes quickly became standard practice on the system. Perhaps the best examples can be found in another Miyamoto gem, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Miyamoto innovated the medium again, this time with differing facial expressions for the polygonal characters, and one scene even rendered in gorgeous black-and-white. The newly released Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask takes real-time cinema even further, with Expansion Pak-powered motion blur and lighting effects, among other things. A good example of the technique's potential is evident in the mask salesman character; notice how the camera angles change frequently and abruptly to create a very creepy and mysterious mood. For real-time cinematographers, such tactics are easy to apply and are capable of striking results.

Despite all this, the truly critical aspects of this revolution lie in the technical and financial realms. There are just too many points against FMV that real-time solves. Take, for instance, space. FMV-heavy titles such as Wing Commander span several discs each, simply because these pre-recorded video files are monstrous in size. In contrast, real-time cutscenes require approximately the same amount of space as a segment of gameplay equal in length (although space required varies according to whether voice is used). Financially, real-time is the more attractive option simply because it can be done by the regular programmers and artists. In most cases, FMV clips are outsourced to professional CGI companies, meaning that not only are the cut-scenes created separately from the game itself, but that the developer/publisher has to pay for the services of this extraneous company. (Note that while a few very large companies do their own FMV production, such as Square, the practice is generally uncommon.)

Until now, many developers on disc-based platforms put up with FMV's shortcomings because they felt its one major advantage outweighed all else. That advantage, of course, is that FMV clips are almost always far better looking than 32-/64-bit real-time graphics. However, this point will become more or less moot in the upcoming generation of consoles. Some early Dreamcast and Playstation 2 titles are still using FMV, but I think this stems from developers' immature knowledge of the technology. As these systems are tinkered with more and more, it seems clear that GameCube, Playstation 2, Xbox, and even Dreamcast are capable or nearly capable of the type of visuals that were available only with FMV before. With this knowledge, it seems that developers will have little reason to stay with the old FMV method, unless they are too technically incompetent to draw adequate graphics power out of the system.

I know what many of you are thinking... "This guy must be crazy. Nintendo showed a bunch of FMV for GameCube games at Spaceworld!" I disagree. About half of what Nintendo displayed was real-time footage, and you can't tell me that the Zelda demo is clearly discernible as real-time compared to, say, the Wave Race demo. Zelda looks like Playstation FMV, and it's absolutely rendered in real-time on the GameCube hardware...as will be the Wave Race demo, and the Metroid demo, and most of the Rebirth demo. No, I'm not insane. Considering the system's abilities and the rush to get footage to Spaceworld, it is most likely that second-party developers didn't have full dev kits yet, or didn't have time to port their work over to the actual hardware. So, they just taped what they had going on their emulation software and sent it off. Mark my words, and if I'm wrong you can make fun of me to no end: these games will contain little or no FMV at all when they are complete and shipped.

Yep, it's not looking good for our old friend(?), Mr. Full-Motion Video. He served a considerable function to the Playstation and PC platforms, and arguably helped usher in an era of cinematic focus to the gaming industry. Now though, there's a newer, leaner, better fellow in town, and Dr. Real-Time is here to stay. Booyah!