I grew up with titles like Warcraft 2, Baldur's Gate, and Starcraft/SC-Brood War. All of these titles featured a slew of cinematics. As a young kid I enjoyed playing these games, but didn't always master the mechanics well enough to actually finish them. With the lack of Youtube, I cheated my way through all of these games just so I could actually see every cinematic and make it through the story. These short, but awesome scenes would help capture my imagination and gave further imagery into these respective universes. These scenes give the player an opportunity to see these wonderful universes actually in motion, which I believe ultimately makes for an increased amount of immersion.
However, this was back when graphic fidelity had a greater disparity between the game and the cut-scenes themselves. As far as where these modern-era cut-scenes are concerned, it's almost become a case by case basis. I still believe they can hold a place within video games, but to see developers delve away from working them into the actual plot of the game. Whether it's an opening cinematic or a marketing tool both of these can help capture the audiences into these universes. But like anything it can be done wrong as well. They can stray too far from the actual game (a lot of these scenes are generally outsourced), which can confuse the consumer about whether or not mechanics presented within these scenes are actually in the finished product. The other detrimental factor would be spending too many development resources on these beautifully rendered scenes and releasing a broken or unfinished product. However, if the developer has a sizable marketing budget and doesn't do more than exaggerate present mechanics within the game that makes it A-OK in my mind.
Neo.
However, this was back when graphic fidelity had a greater disparity between the game and the cut-scenes themselves. As far as where these modern-era cut-scenes are concerned, it's almost become a case by case basis. I still believe they can hold a place within video games, but to see developers delve away from working them into the actual plot of the game. Whether it's an opening cinematic or a marketing tool both of these can help capture the audiences into these universes. But like anything it can be done wrong as well. They can stray too far from the actual game (a lot of these scenes are generally outsourced), which can confuse the consumer about whether or not mechanics presented within these scenes are actually in the finished product. The other detrimental factor would be spending too many development resources on these beautifully rendered scenes and releasing a broken or unfinished product. However, if the developer has a sizable marketing budget and doesn't do more than exaggerate present mechanics within the game that makes it A-OK in my mind.
Neo.