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Gaming pretty much died for a while in my book when these games got popular. Thanks to games' inferiority complex and desire to look "more like movies", we tem

Gaming pretty much died for a while in my book when these games got popular. Thanks to games' inferiority complex and desire to look "more like movies", we temporarily ditched most of the things that made games unique in favor of a bunch of laughable full motion video. Calling these games "interactive" was an extra kick in the teeth, as they were so much less "interactive" than even an early video game like Frogger, Pac-Man, or Robotron where you had multiple (or perhaps over a hundred, in Robotron's case) objects moving around the screen, in real time, at 60fps, each behaving according to its own rules. Luckily, the industry eventually corrected itself and swung back to creating the kinds of highly kinetic experiences that are unique to the medium.

laurieg 8y ago
It's a shame because games can be so much more than movies. Her Story[1] manages to pair an interesting mechanic with with an engaging story. I really recommend setting aside an evening to try it if you haven't already. It's a shame that the games industry seems to be allergic to using video in games. You can have video with interactivity and story-telling all in one package. [1] http://www.herstorygame.com/ http://www.herstorygame.com/
- JohnBooty 8y ago
  I'll take your advice! That looks cool!
- ric2b 8y ago
  Really neat short game! It's much better than L.A. Noire at making you feel like a detective and that moment when you figure out what happened is amazing. The mechanics are limited so it only works a short experience, thankfully it doesn't overstay it's welcome.
darren_ 8y ago
> Thanks to games' inferiority complex and desire to look "more like movies", we temporarily ditched most of the things that made games unique in favor of a bunch of laughable full motion video. FMV is barely relevant to Myst at all. And 'highly kinetic' is hardly the only unique experience videogames bring - Myst brings the experience of exploring an unknown environment and uncovering the puzzles/narratives within, in a way you can't do in other media. I don't even think it's that good, to be honest, but decrying it as just 'laughable full motion video' is straight up inaccurate.
PhasmaFelis 8y ago
There were a lot of pointless "interactive movie" shovelware titles in the early CD-ROM era, but Myst was not one of them. Gameplay-wise, it was a direct descendant of the classic Infocom/Sierra/LucasArts adventure games, just with a strong focus on atmosphere that the genre hadn't really seen before. It had some FMV, but not a lot, and only ever in small windows. And, honestly, saying that the only good games are "highly kinetic" is just ridiculous. Some of the best games in history have been turn-based or very deliberately paced. If you only like twitch games, there's nothing wrong with that, but don't project your preferences onto the rest of us. Re: "Gaming pretty much died for a while", Myst came out in the same year as Doom. The FMV-shovelware era was pretty cringey, but at the same time there was an explosion of high-octane action games on the PC.
- JohnBooty 8y ago
  And, honestly, saying that the only good games are "highly kinetic" is just ridiculous. I didn't say that. I called full-motion video of that era "laughable", and I said that video games can create kinetic experiences that are unique to the medium. There are lots of fine examples of classic games that aren't "highly kinetic" - strategy games like XCom and Civilization, RPGs, etc.
The_suffocated 8y ago
Myst is not a FMV game (it has some short motion videos, but it doesn't use FULL motion videos) and computer games of other genres (such as the 1985 racing game Road Avenger) had long been using FMVs before the release of Myst. I don't see how your comment is relevant to Myst. Some FMV adventure games were actually quite well received. E.g. I remember that there were some very positive reviews on The Dark Eye (1995), an adventure game based on some short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe, but I don't know if the game is really good or not because I haven't played it.
shemtovo 8y ago
Like that, but exactly the opposite. I loved Myst and that era of games, can't care less about anything that came since.
paulie_a 8y ago
Fmv was a factor in my teenage gaming years. Lacking suitable bandwidth and the fact at the time those videos were a pointless waste of time, the pirated copies without it was nice. I didn't grow up poor, I could have actually bought the game. But a pirated copy that removed those videos was a better experience. I am not a heavy gamer but I really don't want to go through the 10 minutes of intros and bullshit me backstory, I simply want to play damn game. I want to skateboard, or play an adventure, shoot villians. I don't want to watch videos. If I can't start actually playing the game in less then 30 seconds, I'm probably not going to actually ever play it. On topic: The modern remake of Myst is visually stunning.

laurieg 8y ago

It's a shame because games can be so much more than movies. Her Story[1] manages to pair an interesting mechanic with with an engaging story. I really recommend setting aside an evening to try it if you haven't already. It's a shame that the games industry seems to be allergic to using video in games. You can have video with interactivity and story-telling all in one package. [1] http://www.herstorygame.com/ http://www.herstorygame.com/

JohnBooty 8y ago
I'll take your advice! That looks cool!
ric2b 8y ago
Really neat short game! It's much better than L.A. Noire at making you feel like a detective and that moment when you figure out what happened is amazing. The mechanics are limited so it only works a short experience, thankfully it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

darren_ 8y ago

> Thanks to games' inferiority complex and desire to look "more like movies", we temporarily ditched most of the things that made games unique in favor of a bunch of laughable full motion video. FMV is barely relevant to Myst at all. And 'highly kinetic' is hardly the only unique experience videogames bring - Myst brings the experience of exploring an unknown environment and uncovering the puzzles/narratives within, in a way you can't do in other media. I don't even think it's that good, to be honest, but decrying it as just 'laughable full motion video' is straight up inaccurate.

PhasmaFelis 8y ago

There were a lot of pointless "interactive movie" shovelware titles in the early CD-ROM era, but Myst was not one of them. Gameplay-wise, it was a direct descendant of the classic Infocom/Sierra/LucasArts adventure games, just with a strong focus on atmosphere that the genre hadn't really seen before. It had some FMV, but not a lot, and only ever in small windows. And, honestly, saying that the only good games are "highly kinetic" is just ridiculous. Some of the best games in history have been turn-based or very deliberately paced. If you only like twitch games, there's nothing wrong with that, but don't project your preferences onto the rest of us. Re: "Gaming pretty much died for a while", Myst came out in the same year as Doom. The FMV-shovelware era was pretty cringey, but at the same time there was an explosion of high-octane action games on the PC.

JohnBooty 8y ago
And, honestly, saying that the only good games are "highly kinetic" is just ridiculous. I didn't say that. I called full-motion video of that era "laughable", and I said that video games can create kinetic experiences that are unique to the medium. There are lots of fine examples of classic games that aren't "highly kinetic" - strategy games like XCom and Civilization, RPGs, etc.

The_suffocated 8y ago

Myst is not a FMV game (it has some short motion videos, but it doesn't use FULL motion videos) and computer games of other genres (such as the 1985 racing game Road Avenger) had long been using FMVs before the release of Myst. I don't see how your comment is relevant to Myst. Some FMV adventure games were actually quite well received. E.g. I remember that there were some very positive reviews on The Dark Eye (1995), an adventure game based on some short stories written by Edgar Allan Poe, but I don't know if the game is really good or not because I haven't played it.

shemtovo 8y ago

Like that, but exactly the opposite. I loved Myst and that era of games, can't care less about anything that came since.

paulie_a 8y ago

Fmv was a factor in my teenage gaming years. Lacking suitable bandwidth and the fact at the time those videos were a pointless waste of time, the pirated copies without it was nice. I didn't grow up poor, I could have actually bought the game. But a pirated copy that removed those videos was a better experience. I am not a heavy gamer but I really don't want to go through the 10 minutes of intros and bullshit me backstory, I simply want to play damn game. I want to skateboard, or play an adventure, shoot villians. I don't want to watch videos. If I can't start actually playing the game in less then 30 seconds, I'm probably not going to actually ever play it. On topic: The modern remake of Myst is visually stunning.