The use of pre-rendered scenes in a game is really highly dependent on the game content. I think Square is most known for their elaborate pre-rendered cutscenes, but they know how to choose the usage as weel. For the FF series of games, your equipment doesn't usually affect your character's appearance, which is why they can use alot of pre-rendered cutscenes. However, for Kingdom Hearts where the different Keyblades used is the biggest variable in the cut scenes, they've stayed almost completely away from pre-rendered stuff and stayed with the in-game models, which is pretty darn good for Kingdom Hearts 2.

I feel that using in-game models for real time cutscenes does not mean you'll have to completely sacrifice polygon count. Given the right resource budgeting, you should still be able to use a fairly decent detailed character model for real time cutscenes.

For me, it doesn't really matter if the cutscenes are pre-rendered or not as they serve mainly one of a few purposes in the game. They either reveal more of the back story as exposition, give the players a breather after some intense action, or to get players ready for the the next dramatic portion of the game (build up). They can also serve as a combination of these purposes. Of course, there are those cutscenes that don't really let you take a break. I think it was Resident Evil 4 that had cutscenes that required player interaction at certain points, which initially surprised many players, while creating a much more immersive gameplay.

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Original post by hplus0603 Because CG uses higher polycounts, etc, it can often be more expensive to model than "just" making animations and scripts for an in-game cut-scene.

this is why id prefer a in game cut scene, i dont mind the slightly lower quality but if i buy a game a want something thats fun to play, not to watch

Just so you all know, pre-rendered sequences and the actual game are RARELY handled by the same studio, and (almost) never by the game studio. Blizzard has an in-house department for that stuff, as AFAIK Square does as well. Creating film CG and game CG is almost an entirely different process. There are trends beginning to integrate the two (such as LucasArts and ILM), but the actual production of the two is almost entirely different. In fact, a game studio and the production studio it outsources the CG content to are probably not even using the same software.
So as far as CG goes, CG costs are barely effected if there is a game or not... the only reason the game matters is for the pre-production (which is actually quite a sizeable reason). Otherwise, (almost) everything is from scratch for each.

We are still a LONG way away from cinema-quality graphics. If not an entire hardware generation, then at least till the end of this one. Once we can run full rigid, fluid, soft, and cloth simulations, have larger amounts of SSS, higher resolution models, better binding, animation solvers, etc., a whole host of things, we aren't at real cinema quality... a single frame can an entire day on a computer in a render farm for the more intensive shots. It'll be a while until we reach Advent Children type game graphics.

That said, I enjoy in-game CG MUCH more than pre-rendered, especially in the late current-gen and all upcoming titles. There is definately more immersiviness and continuity in it. FF7 benefited from CG cutscenes, as did Resident Evil and a host of other games. But for the most part, I don't feel its needed, especially with lip-sync and facial animation game technology. I cringe during E3 whenever I see people get excited over pre-rendered trailers (Call of Duty 3, Fable, etc).

It depends on the game and it's camera.

For a first person game, the developer obviously wanted you to feel like you were in that situation. They make you feel immersed. In this type of game, using in-game cutscenes (ala Half-Life 2) is much better because it keeps the immersion there.

For a third person game, the developers usually were aiming to give a movie type feel. They want you to see the main character (or the star of the movie) so using pre-rendered movies usually fits as long as there isn't a drastic change in graphical quality.

Personally I prefer first person games (except vehicle games) and the in-game cutscenes over anything else. It gives me that sense of actually living this alternate life which I enjoy about games.

Out of curiosity, how do i unsubscribe from this thread? :P I have it bookmarked but i had like 5-8 e-mails about replies and such.

If I understood you correctly, I think this article adresses at least some of your enquiries.