A "full motion video" ("FMV" for short) is a video game term, used back in The '90s for cutscenes which use pre-rendered or live-action video, as opposed to playing in-engine.
Today, however, the term is mainly associated with a particular type of video game which are entirely based around video clips. Gameplay consists mostly of pressing buttons at the right time, choosing the correct sequences of clips, or playing other games that just use the video as a backdrop.
Nowadays, FMV games have a poor reputation, and it isn't hard to see why. Beyond the minimal amount of actual gameplay, during the height of the genre, most of them were badly written and poorly acted - the task of programming a whole new genre of a game had to be balanced with hiring scriptwriters and actors. Naturally, quality suffered and audiences were treated to camp movies, hammy actors, cliché plots, or just a lousy game.
In arcades, the genre really began in 1983 with the release of Dragon's Lair, a laserdisc-based game with animation by Don Bluth. The games typically cost twice as much to play as any other game, and gameplay consisted of pressing a button or direction at the appropriate point, but it was very popular and inspired countless imitators. The fad died after a year or so because of the sameness of the gameplay and the difficulty in maintaining expensive laserdisc players. Plus, laserdisc games were prone to skipping and even suffering outright malfunctions, due to factors such as the disc or reader wearing out after extensive play. Regardless, arcade laserdisc games were sporadically produced even through the 1990s. There were also attempts to bring laserdisc games into the home in the 1980s with the Palcom PX-7 MSX computer and the incredibly obscure RDI Halcyon console, and in the 1990s with the Pioneer LaserActive. Many old laserdisc games were simple enough that they can be played nowadays on an ordinary DVD player.
Full motion video games really became common on home computers with the introduction of CD-ROM drives in The '90s, and CD-equipped console systems like the Sega CD, 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, and Philips CD-i rushed to exploit the trend. Gameplay on home systems was no better than in the arcade however, with the extra problem that early CD-based home systems, especially the Sega CD, weren't powerful enough to produce good quality video.
Not every FMV game was bad, of course. Some, especially the Tex Murphy series, are considered classics of the adventure genre. But these are generally the exception, and for every Tex Murphy, Phantasmagoria, or Gabriel Knight, there were ten Double Switch or Johnny Mnemonic-level games. At $60 a pop, the consumer soon decided they'd get more entertainment from either watching a real movie or playing a real video game.
Thus, FMV has never really caught on, even with better quality and capacity as Technology Marches On. Of course, many people still enjoy the lesser-quality games for the camp value. The video game industry moved on to other ways of putting graphics over gameplay.
Though the genre is nowhere near as common as it once was, it did see something of a resurgence in The New '10s, with several new titles such as Her Story, Erica, and even a new Tex Murphy game (Tesla Effect). New entries in the genre continue to be released to this day.
See also: Pre-Rendered Graphics, Live-Action Cutscene, Press X to Not Die, Point-and-Click Game, Rail Shooter, Visual Novel.
Examples of this genre:
- The 7th Guest (1993)
- 428: Shibuya Scramble (2008)
- Albegas / Cybernaut (Canceled)
- American Hero (2021)note
- Astron Belt (1983)
- Asura's Wrath (2012) note
- At Dead of Night (2020)
- Bad Mojo (1996)
- Badlands (1984)
- Battlestar Galactica (Canceled)
- The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (1996)
- Bega's Battle (1983)
- Blackout (1997)
- Bloodwings: Pumpkinhead's Revenge (1994)
- Brain Dead 13 (1995)
- Bram Stoker's Dracula (1993)
- The Bunker (2016)
- Burn:Cycle (1994)
- Casebook Trilogy (2009 — 2010)
- The Centennial Case (2022)
- Cliff Hanger (1983)
- Closed Nightmare (2018)
- Cobra Command (1984) note
- The Complex (2020)
- Contradiction (2015)
- Corpse Killer (1994)
- Cosmos Circuit (1984)
- Crime Patrol (1993)
- Crime Patrol 2: Drug Wars (1994)
- Critical Path (1993)
- Cube Quest (1984)
- D (1995)
- Enemy Zero (1996)
- D2 (1999)
- The Daedalus Encounter (1995)
- Dancing Blade: Katte ni Momotenshi! (1999)
- Darkstar: The Interactive Movie (2010)
- Double Switch (1993)
- Dracula Unleashed (1993)
- Dragon's Lair (1983)
- The Driver (1979) note
- Dust: A Tale of the Wired West (1995)
- Erica (2019)
- Esh's Aurunmilla (1984)
- EVR Race (1975) note
- Fast Draw Showdown (1994)
- Fate By Numbers (2007)
- Firefox (1984)
- Five Dates (2020)
- Fox Hunt (1996)
- Freedom Fighter (1984 — 1987) note
- Gadget: Past as Future (1998)
- Gallagher's Gallery (1992)
- GP World (1984)
- Ground Zero: Texas (1993)
- Gundam 0079: The War for Earth (1996)
- Guitar Hero Live (2015)
- Henry Stickmin Series (2008 — 2020)
- Her Story (2015)
- The Horde (1994)
- Hysteria Project (2009)
- IMMORTALITY (2022)
- Inca (1992)
- In the 1st Degree (1995)
- The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker (2017)
- Interstellar Laser Fantasy (1983)
- It Came from the Desert (1992)
- Japanese Rail Sim series (2014 — 2019)
- Johnny Mnemonic: The Interactive Action Movie (1995)
- The Journeyman Project (1993)
- Judge Dredd (1997)
- Jump Raven (1994)
- Kids on Site (1994)
- Knight Rider (Canceled) note
- Laser Grand Prix (1983)
- The Last Bounty Hunter (1994)
- Late Shift (2016)
- The Lawnmower Man (1993) note
- Ø Story (2000)
- Lunicus (1993)
- Maabus (1994)
- M.A.C.H. 3 (1983)
- Machi (1998, 1999 and 2006)
- Mad Dog McCree (1990)
- Mad Dog II: The Lost Gold (1992)
- Make My Video trilogy (1992)
- Man Enough (1994)
- Mansion of Hidden Souls (1993)
- The Masked Rider Kamen Rider ZO (1994)
- Master Detective Archives: Rain Code (2023)
- Mc Kenzie And Co (1995)
- Metron (2004)
- Microcosm (1993)
- Nova Storm (1994)
- Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (Sega) (1994) note
- [MODE] (1995)
- Murderous Muses (2023)
- The Museum of Anything Goes (1995)
- Night Book (2021)
- Night Trap (1992)
- Ninja Hayate (1984) note
- Not for Broadcast (Early access on 30 January 2020; full release on 25 January 2022)
- Obduction (2016)
- Phantasmagoria (1995)
- Plumbers Don't Wear Ties (1993)
- Police Quest: SWAT (1995)
- Policenauts (1994) note
- Psycho Killer (1992)
- Quarter-Horse (1981) note
- Realms of the Haunting (1997)
- Rebel Assault (1993)
- Redjack: Revenge of the Brethren (1998)
- Ripper (1996)
- Road Blaster (1985) note
- School Days (2005) note
- Sewer Shark (1992)
- The Shapeshifting Detective (2018)
- Dark Nights with Poe & Munro (2020)
- Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective series (1991 — 1993)
- Snatcher (1988) note
- Space Ace (1984)
- Space Pirates (1992)
- Star Blazer (1984) note
- Star Rider (1984)
- Star Strike (1995)
- Star Trek: Klingon (1996)
- Star Trek: Borg (1996)
- Steins;Gate Elite (2018) note
- There are plans to make a Steins;Gate 0 Elite as well, but it hasn't received a release date as of this writing.
- Strahl (1993) note
- Street Fighter II: The Interactive Movie (1995) note
- Street Viper (1993)
- Super Adventure Rockman (1998)
- Super Don Quixote (1984)
- Surgical Strike (1993)
- Telling Lies (2019)
- Tex Murphy series (1989 — 1998; 2014)
- Thayer's Quest (1984)
- Time Gal (1985)
- Time Traveler (1991)
- Titanic: Adventure Out of Time (1996)
- Toonstruck (1996)
- Us vs. Them (1984)
- Virtual Nightclub (1997)
- Voyeur (1993)
- Voyeur II (1996)
- Who Pressed Mute on Uncle Marcus? (2022)
- Who Shot Johnny Rock? (1991)
- Wild Gunman (1974) note
- Wirehead (1995)
- The X-Files Game (1998)
- Yarudora series
- Double Cast (1998)
- Kisetsu o Dakishimete (1998)
- Sampaguita (1998)
- Yukiwari No Hana (1998)
- Scandal (2000)
- Blood: The Last Vampire (2000)