An interactive movie is a video game that features highly
cinematic presentation and heavy use of scripting, often through the use of
full-motion video of either animated or live-action footage.
This genre came about with the invention of laserdiscs and
laserdisc players, the first nonlinear or random access video play devices. The
fact that a laserdisc player could jump to and play any chapter instantaneously
(rather than proceed in a linear path from start to finish like videotape)
meant that games with branching plotlines could be constructed from
out-of-order video chapters in much the same way as Choose Your Own Adventure
books could be constructed from out-of-order pages, or the way an interactive
film is constructed by choosing from a web of linked narratives.
Thus, interactive movies were animated or filmed with real
actors like movies (or in some later cases, rendered with 3D models), and
followed a main storyline. Alternative scenes were filmed to be triggered after
wrong (or alternate allowable) actions of the player (such as 'Game Over'
scenes).
The first commercial interactive movie game to be released
was the 1983 arcade game Dragon's Lair, featuring a full-motion (FMV) cartoon
by ex-Disney animator Don Bluth, where the player controlled some of the moves
of the main character. When in danger, the player was to decide which move or
action, or combination to choose. If they chose the wrong move, they would see
a 'lose a life' scene, until they found the correct one which would allow them
to see the rest of the story. There was only one possible successful storyline
in Dragon's Lair; the only activity the user had was to choose or guess the
move the designers intended them to make. Despite the lack of interactivity,
Dragon's Lair was very popular and addictive, and has since received a remake
on modern day gaming consoles (except with a complete genre change).
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