Assassin's Creed Lineage

[Freya]

I watched the first short movie thing. IT'S AWESOME COOL! It's like the precursor to Assassin's Creed 2.

It's 14 mins long. Check it out!

What do you guys think about these short movies for video games?

I think it's neat, video games are turning less into well games and more into interactive entertainment for all!

[*Devore*]

I'd rather three, 5 minute movies spaced out than one 15 minute movie. When they are short, they keep the game fast paced will adding to the story. But when they are long, it's just a bit of a drag, everything feels drawn out and slow.

Cool video though.

[Freya]

Well this is before the game not part of it if I remember correctly. Like urm webisodes for a series you like!

[Shiny]

This just reminds me how much I want this game.

[JKTrix]

Ubisoft mentioned during E3 that they are shifting their focus more towards bridging the gap between games and movies. I don't think it's about making 'games more like movies' or vice versa, but more about when you have a movie about a game or a game from a movie, the process is handed more carefully/seriously. We have many, many examples of 'video game movies' that have very little resemblance to the game they come from. Ubi wants to change that--at least with the products they are involved in.

Ubisoft is working on both the Avatar movie and the corresponding video game, so that will be one of the first real tests of their philosophy. This Assassin's Creed video looks like a pretty darn good indicator of just what they intend to do to 'bridge the gap'. Whether it's good or not is subjective, but they certainly made it *feel* like Assassin's Creed.

I remember when the first Yakuza game came out in the US, Sega had a series of live-action short films that went into the backstory of the games. I thought it was really interesting, and got me hooked into the world before I even had a chance to touch the game. Check it out here - that's the European site. It's on the US site as well, but the Euro site lets you download a higher-res version. (There was also a theatrical movie, but I haven't seen it.)

If handled well, this could definitely enhance the entire experience. But I don't necessarily think it would work for all games.

[Shiny]

I've noticed Ubisoft and Konami have been producing much more cinematic games where a lot of focus is put on the camera angles and FMV's. S'all gud.

[JKTrix]

I think what Freya is talking about, though, is having a 'cinematic experience' *outside* of the video game itself.

[Shiny]

This is the first short movie I've seen for a video game aside from that horrible one in the beginning of Resident Evil. The rest have been features and most of them were pretty bad. This one was decent. The cinematography was pretty good, but I don't think I could get into it as a mini series. It's misses the whole, running away from the scene of the crime action. Needs more chase sequences.