Tag Archives: FMV

The first thing Dragon’s Lair asked you to do was watch. That was strange for an arcade game in 1983. Most machines made their case with a few seconds of sprites racing across a screen. This one had a knight charging through a castle drawn by professional animators. People gathered behind the player to see what came next. Then the player died. Dirk the Daring’s death could be quick, elaborate, and expensive.… Read more

The television shows a woman trapped in a house. You switch camera feeds, wait for intruders to enter a room, and spring a trap. Then you miss one. On the box, Night Trap looks like the movie games were finally going to become. In your hands, it is an awkward game about watching several grainy screens at once. A few months later, politicians would discuss it as though the machine under the… Read more

Introduction In the early 1990s a red book sized disc promised to change everything about home gaming. The Sega CD arrived with glossy full motion video, big stereo sound, and enough storage to make cartridges look quaint. It was marketed as the bridge between arcade energy and living room cinema. For a moment it worked. You could spin compact discs in your console, watch grainy actors run through a haunted house, and… Read more