The Role of CGI in Video Games By: Des Manttari
February 5, 2005.
Editor-in-Chief, Phoenix Genesis
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Video games have always strived to push the limits of technology. 2D worlds soon moved aside to 3D worlds with high-reolution textures and pre-rendered GCI movies. Not only were the worlds carefully modeled, but the characters who inhabited them. The birth of Sony's Playstation home entertainment system soon gave rise to complex 32-bit graphics as seen in Eidos Tomb Raider and Squaresoft's Final Fantasy VII (1997). 3D Studio Max was the game designers choice of 3D computer modeling software and would eventually give way to the more powerful software package known as Maya.
 Sephiroth in "Final Fantasy VII" |
Final Fantasy VII was revolutionary for its time, a massive role-playing game with fully modeled 3D characters. It took 200 animators two years to complete the game, but it was a financial success upon its release and continues to be a greatest hit title for Sony even today. Not only did it have these memorable, yet blocky 3D polygon characters, but it used computer generated images in cinematic cutscenes to enhance the storyline. Who could forget the scene of Cloud on his motorcycle, massive sword in hand, riding down the stairs of Shinra's genetics lab or the evil Sephiroth engulfed in flames? |
Go to: Final Fantasy VII Illustrated Script
(Courtesy of Des Manttari and Phoenix Genesis / MBS LP).
As the Sega Dreamcast and Sony Playstation 2 ushered in the 128-bit era, the power of
3D graphics grew to the point that the visuals or the cinematic cutscenes are often
indistinguishable from the actual gameplay graphics. Just look at Silent Hill 3
for proof. But visual effects are not just mere "eye candy" in games as developers understand
that characters with realistic movements and facial expressions are crucial in the
believability of the game world and its storyline.
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The rest of the video game industry soon jumped on the GCI bandwagon understanding the importance of computer animation to enhance the gameplay with cinematic cutscenes and realistic character and world models. The budgets of large flagship francises such as Square-Enix's Final Fantasy soon paralled the budgets of box office blockbuster films. Square-Enix will release their feature DVD only movie, Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children in the near future. |
 Sephiroth vs. Cloud: "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" |
But Square-Enix is not the only game developer pushing the limits of CGI technology. Nintendo has spent tremendous amounts of money to update Capcom's Resident Evil franchise and Konami's Metal Gear Solid franchise for its GameCube entertainment system. Even Microsoft has seen the importance of CGI in its X-Box games with franchises such as the Halo series. CGI trailers has become the norm to sell upcoming games such as the joint venture between Square-Enix and Disney as seen in the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts 2 (see screenshots below).
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