FMV Origins: Tom Zito and hough full-motion games tend to be Zito’s team had to invent the In hindsight, Digital Pictures’s CLUBCLUB O’O’ FUNFUN NEWSNEWS Tsidelined by the medium’s historians, genre; adventure and shooter work through the ’90s is clearly a creatively they’ve actually been an instrumental, influ- led the way. Unfortunately, and socially important part of the medium’s July/August Issue 2020 ential force. According to Tom Zito, the for- NEMO never actually made it to market. As history. Zito acknowledges the great cura- mat’s key innovator and mastermind behind its launch loomed, Hasbro shied away from tion work that partners like Tyler Hogle and $0.00 classics like Night Trap, FMV games are the the long odds involved. Zito acknowledges William Mesa have done in bringing games industry’s Forrest Gump: Present for some of the stakes: “It was truly a bet-the-company like and Night Trap to modern the most important events in its history. proposition,” he says. Still, it wasn’t the end platforms—a process that has proven to be FMV gaming traces its origins to of the road for those pioneering creations. surprisingly difficult. “It’s been frustrating for For Physical Media Enthusiasts! the early 1980s when Zito (then a journalist “Everything got locked up,” he says, “and I Tyler to fundamentally have to reinvent the for The New Yorker) profiled Atari founder bought the rights to those two games, just wheel in order to make the games work,” Nolan Bushnell, who invited him to join a because we’d done so much work on them.” says Zito. new venture called Axlon. Zito moved to Several years later, Zito’s sentimen- He also says the inconsistent California to join Bushnell, but his holiday tal impulse paid off when Nintendo and digital archiving standards of gaming’s early travels soon placed him directly at a cross- began work on what would have been years can be an issue: “There were pieces of roads in game history: Nintendo’s tentative one of the biggest collaborations in video footage for Sewer Shark that somehow had attempt to restart the U.S. console industry. game history. “Around 1990, Sony wanted gotten lost. I spent a lot of time with Tyler “I went back to New York over the Thanks- to acquire Sewer Shark, because they were and with Bill trying to figure out some way giving break of 1985,” says Zito, “and went working with Nintendo on this new product we could recreate those parts from other to a camera store. I saw giant mob of kids— called the ‘Play Station’. They wanted games pieces of the game that were still intact.” the store was one of the retailers picked for that were like movies and wanted to put For the most part, Zito has taken the trial launch of the NES. Sewer Shark in the box with this product; a hands-off approach to the restoration of “I bought an NES and set it up could I put together a group of people to the Digital Pictures catalog, as it’s largely in the meeting room at Axlon to show to convert that title into a pack-in?” technical work best left to programmers. But FMV Interactive Movie Blowout! people, and I said, ‘Look. If video games are Zito was more than happy to he admits that it can be difficult returning back, who better to get back into the video oblige and began working closely with the to a body of work that caused so much un- game business than Nolan?’” Though retail- Sony product development team to convert warranted controversy; Night Trap famously How Wales Interactive Puts ers had been wary of Nintendo’s console, Sewer Shark from VHS to CD-ROM. Not became a proxy in ’90s political battles. Zito and Bushnell immediately recognized everyone was thrilled with the feedback Zito Both sides treated Zito like a punching bag. the “Emotion” Into “” that console games were about to return in offered, however. “My colleagues and I re- “To be candid with you, this is a big way. They realized Axlon should be at ally rubbed [PlayStation lead engineer] Ken also a very painful part of my life,” he the forefront, but not as an NES licensee. Kutaragi the wrong way,” he says. “He didn’t admits. “From the outside, it looks like, ‘You Screaming Villains Speaks Calmly “Nolan had this idea that if we like that we were fundamentally telling innovated all this stuff. Isn’t that exciting?’ could figure out a way to put data for video Sony how they ought to design a product.” Pioneers are guys who get a lot of arrows About Their Heroic Preservation Work games on VHS cassettes, it would solve the Any friction between Zito and Ku- in their asses. I remember the arrows a lot huge manufacturing costs associated with taragi turned out to be less of a deal-breaker more than all the stuff we accomplished.” making cartridges,” says Zito. “He wanted a than the friction that developed between Still, Zito is able to take some Journey Back to the Beginning game system that was very similar to every Nintendo and Sony. Nintendo backed out solace in the fact that his work does with Dragon’s Lair other system, except it would store its data of the partnership, leaving Sony to lick remain genuinely beloved by fans, and on tape.” While this idea wasn’t outland- its wounds and settle for being merely a that software that faced such turbulence ish—a more powerful take on the audio software company (at least for a little while). before it ever became a reality has proved cassette drives commonly found in the era’s Zito and his newly minted company Digital so enduring. “I’m surprised that so many home computers—Zito envisioned a differ- Pictures suddenly went from working with people still feel really strongly one way or ent approach. “If we were going to use a Nintendo to working with their rival, . the other about these titles,” he says. “That’s VCR, it should be filmed images, not bitmap “Sony had sunk quite a bit of always one of the amazing things about graphics,” he says. “That would set us apart money into helping us get Sewer Shark on being an entrepreneur or creator, when you from everything else that was out there.” disc, and they’d become aware of the Sega see how people react to what you’ve done: Bushnell hated the idea, but toy CD,” Zito recalls. “I said, ‘Not only can we That these games have such a big impact on giant Hasbro loved it. They greenlit a VHS- make product for you, but we have a title some people. based game system code-named NEMO we could make pretty quickly: Night Trap.’” “What doesn’t surprise me is that and asked Zito to head it up. “I left Nolan’s Digital Pictures became one of people who grew up on these things would company to start Hasbro Electronics and Sega’s key partners for the remainder of want to have something that was emotion- develop this game system,” says Zito. “That the 16-bit generation, publishing nearly 20 ally meaningful to them now be a focus of Plus: Tom Zito on the was how the NEMO system came to be, FMV-based games for Sega CD and . collecting. The notion that people could be Dawn of FMV Games and how I wound up being in this world of As a new generation emerged, however, spending six or seven figures to buy really full-motion video games… even though we real-time polygons quickly replaced FMV rare NES games, instead of investing their didn’t really know what full-motion video for telling in-game stories. FMV faded and money into baseball cards or art—that games were.” has largely been forgotten. doesn’t surprise me in the least.”LR

What’s your role at Limited Run? eryone to bake their own treats!! (FYI, my I’m Director of Communications... or Lord favorite introductory recipe is Milk Bar’s ‘Wales’ of a Tale: Modernizing the FMV Genre of the Tweets, whichever you prefer. compost cookie. It’s super easy and avail- How did you get your start here? able on their website. Give it a shot!) I’m he term “FMV game” may suggest old, to reach this point, and Banner acknowl- our locality!” Banner says. I actually came over sight-unseen from currently trying to crack the savory side of grainy, “B-movie” material, but Wales edges the studio has learned hard lessons Another advantage: The studio T California, where I had been working at baking with more bread loaves, and yes... Interactive has found success by pushing along the way and scrambled to adapt. “We has become adept at balancing its roster of Telltale when it closed. Josh had tweeted that means a sourdough starter is in my fu- back against that image. The studio’s inno- needed to teach some of the writers we games, with small-scale creations like The about an open position that sounded up ture. But I want to make a good bagel first, vative video adventures have won awards work with not how to tell stories, but how Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker—es- my alley and I was familiar with LRG so that’s the current short term goal! on modern consoles by striving to match to tell non-linear stories,” he says. “And sentially an FMV-based visual novel—prop- through a friend who had bought Night What’s your all-time favorite game? contemporary film standards. According to how to plan them. The Bunker was planned ping up more ambitious works like The Trap. A few weeks after I reached out to This question is so hard and I feel like my co-founder David Banner MBE, Wales Bunker (which plays like a classic Josh, I had moved across the country and answer changes daily with my mood.... Interactive shies away from the term LucasArts adventure) or (a started working here! but Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, FMV. glossy interactive heist movie). Any non-gaming hobbies? probably. I was a GameCube kid for sure! “Even if FMV was entertain- Banner aims to bring something Like many people my age who sit at a What’s your dream Limited Run ing,” says Banner, “it seemed to be new to the Netflix era of media con- computer all day, I am really into baking. release? camp and tongue-in-cheek. When we sumption. “We’re a happy medium Profiles in Limited Greatness: American-style sweets are my wheel- I’m going to cheat and say either a Sly first started making these, we fought of being able to binge but equally Caroline Liddick house—I make lots of cakes and cookies Cooper or Humongous Entertainment that war—people thought it was going being able to engage,” he says. “You to share with the office. I encourage ev- collection. I can’t pick between them! to be exactly the way it was before.” get to change the story as it happens, Still, Banner says there’s much then enjoy watching it again the to be admired about vintage FMV ad- next day with a friend—they’ll make ventures, made by “people who wanted different choices and you’ll see a to make cinema and would experiment on on paper! It was all just wads and wads of different outcome and different scenes you Prez Says: Fully in Motion nyone who was alive in the ’90s games my rich friend had for his 3DO. I a budget.” That spirit, he feels, lives on in A4 paper. So we started making a tool that, didn’t.” should remember the multimedia couldn’t get enough! By the time I actu- his games. “We try to up the quality of the before filming begins, creates a script that In other words, he says, FMV A revolution, when CD-ROM drives became ally had equipment that could play these writing, production values, and acting. For you can play through.” games movies have potential to transcend commonplace. Once my family finally got games, the genre had faded into obscurity. instance, The Complex was written by an It helps that Wales itself has both games and film, and Wales Interac- a Packard-Bell capable of running some I forgot about it as quickly as I had fallen in Emmy-winning The Handmaid’s Tale writ- emerged as a hot spot of film and TV tive leads the charge in defining this new decent games, Mega Race quickly became love with it. er, Lynn Renee Maxcy. It’s an indie project, production, with the likes of Doctor Who artform. “We think interactive films have a a favorite of mine. I was fascinated with the Flash-forward nearly 20 years but the ambition is much higher.” and His Dark Materials filmed in Cardiff. “It chance of becoming mainstream and not possibilities of how full-motion video could and I’ve found myself in the middle of the It’s taken Wales Interactive years would be stupid for us not to use what’s in looked on as ‘just’ games,” Banner says.LR integrate with gaming. genre’s renaissance. It’s been incredible to In 1995, I finally got to play Sega help re-release Night Trap, Double Switch, Flash Film Works Sets a New Definition for Low-Rez Vintage FMV Footage CD, and the first game I tried was Night and many other great FMV games. I know ounded during the heyday of the FMV Yasmine Bleeth) reached completion. Killer is a huge sort of undertaking—we had Trap. I was blown away. It was a movie I my younger self would be impressed. Fboom by Hollywood effects supervisor Shelved midway through production, it to recreate almost all the visual effects in the could control the outcome of! From there, As always, thank you for your sup- William Mesa, Flash Film Works has played remains one of the era’s most intriguing lost whole game. I played The 7th Guest and whatever FMV port. And don’t forget: Physical is forever!LR an essential role in bringing classic FMV works. Unlike most lost produc- “On another one that we’ve been creations up to snuff for modern systems. Yet tions, though, Maximum Surge could see working on—they knew it was going to be MV (full-motion video) is a blast from Mesa says he never intended make gam- the light of day eventually, because Mesa super low-resolution, so they didn’t care Fgaming’s past: A technology from the days How the Sausage is Remade: Screaming Villains ing part of his career. He fell into the role acquired the rights to it (and several other about rigs and wires, because they knew when computers could barely render enough s a kid drawing fan art of Mortal Kom- Hogle, the one-man team behind remas- when Digital Pictures told him his knack Digital Pictures creations) when the studio those wouldn’t show up. Once you’ve gone polygons to make human figures look like Abat, Tyler Hogle longed for a career in tering house Screaming Villains: “I recreate for effects work made him a perfect fit for folded—though he admits his ambitions up to high-definition, though, it looks really LEGO figurines. Back then, the most convinc- video games. Little did he realize that the each game from scratch and try to make elaborate projects like Double Switch and aren’t strictly limited to games. bad. We’ve had to go in on hundreds and ing way to bring human emotion and nuance Sega CD FMV games a friend introduced it as close to the original as possible,” he Corpse Killer. “One of my goals in getting these hundreds of shots and remove all the rigs into virtual spaces was to film actual humans him to after Christmas one year would be says. “I wouldn’t say these projects aren’t After more than a decade of work- games was to make a movie out of Corpse and wires out of the game. There were also and insert that footage into the game. The what got him there. difficult, but they don’t take long to make. ing on traditional Hollywood productions, Killer,” he says. “It’s a comedic sort of game, a lot of [effects] like lightning and low-res tech got its start with LaserDisc games like “It was usually the rich kid in All the hard work—filming the footage—is Mesa found FMV gaming an interesting and I was visual effects supervisor on a explosions that were really sort of poorly Dragon’s Lair in the early 1980s and prop- school that had a Sega CD,” Hogle says. already done.” challenge. Shooting an interactive produc- number of Sam Raimi movies, including done.” erly took off in the ’90s once CD-ROM tech “I just happened to be best friends with Tyler says he sees himself as an tion works differently shooting for the big Army of Darkness. I wanted to make Corpse In some extreme cases, Flash Film became widely available. A few years later, him.” Titles like Night Trap and Double archivist. “I treat games like a special edi- screen, he says. “You have to spend time Killer in that light. And Maximum Surge—I Works has even had to create all-new mate- it all but vanished as gamers and developers Switch drew him in with intriguing covers tion Blu-ray release. I’m big on the historic understanding the game and how it’s going wanted to try making that as a television rial to help patch over issues in the original decided that polygonal actors were finally and Hollywood stars. They stuck with him. aspect of it. We get documentaries on to work. Normally, if we’re creating a shot series.” games, as with Corpse Killer. “We had to good enough to use instead. But FMV games Years later, as an adult with time to kill, movies, so why not on FMV games?” At the for a feature film, those are usually about For now, his work with the Digital create a new area in which to play the never really went away. In fact, they’ve made Hogle idly converted a few to iOS, ripping same time, rather than simply republishing nine seconds long. But when we’re doing it Pictures catalog is focused on bringing that game,” he says. “We knew that there were a comeback in recent years! This issue of Club FMV files from the original CDs and re- them as-is, Hogle also adds subtle tweaks for these type of things, they’re two or three old material up to current standards. “The problems with Corpse Killer and complaints O’ Fun News celebrates our lineup of classic building the games around them. and improvements, whether that means minutes.” games were created in low resolution so about the shooting gallery, so we upgraded and modern-day FMV games with insights “We were trying to troll gam- rebalancing the scoring system in Night Mesa even had the opportunity to they could play on Sega CD,” he explains. the gameplay. We changed out a lot of the from the people responsible for making them ing websites,” Hogle says, ‘It got back to Trap or revamping the combat mechanics direct his own Digital Pictures production, “We’ve had to go back and recreate all of zombies from what they were originally in happen—both then and now! [Digital Pictures founder] Tom Zito, and in Corpse Killer. He’s not simply bringing though the FMV boom ended before that these different files and composite them the game—they’re actually 3D characters Text/layout: Jeremy Parish he called me the next day.” An idle joke back the classics; he’s celebrating and game (Maximum Surge, starring Baywatch’s from original imagery. A game like Corpse now, not live-action characters.” LR Printed by: Millennium Print Group soon blossomed into full-time work for improving them.LR The FMV Lineup! Collect Them All! More to Come!

The Bunker Night Trap Late Shift PlayStation 4 (#067) PlayStation 4 (#074) | Vita (#193) | Switch (#008) | PC PlayStation 4 (#178)

Dragon’s Lair Trilogy Double Switch: 25th Anniversary Edition The Infectious Madness of Doctor Dekker PlayStation 4 (#183) | Switch (#036) PlayStation 4 (#194) | Switch (#041) | PC PlayStation 4 (#266)

Corpse Killer: 25th Anniversary Edition The Shapeshifting Detective Star Wars: Rebel Assault PlayStation 4 (#279) PlayStation 4 (#301) Sega CD

Full-Motion Rumors Dragon’s Lair Trilogy: Revisiting FMV’s Primal Form s always, the Limited Run newsletter isn’t just here to entertain! ragon’s Lair! The game that started the disappoint fans, we release it. Dragon’s Lair down to the exact frame numbers things are AIt’s also here to intrigue. That’s the entire purpose of this column. DFMV genre before the term “FMV” even has been on almost every home console since supposed to operate at.” These 100% true rumors were sustainably grass-fed before being existed. Boasting the considerable talents of 1984. Why stop now?” As steward of a piece of gaming ethically slaughtered to be served to you on a silver (well, magenta) former Disney animator Don Bluth, Dragon’s Unlike many game preservation history, Gold takes his role seriously, and platter. Please enjoy, and remember: Whatever news you think these Lair was the centerpiece of every arcade in projects, keeping Dragon’s Lair relevant he values feedback from fans when minor rumors hint at is definitely correct, probably. the early ’80s: A literal interactive cartoon. involves more than just slapping it into an inconsistencies creep into a release. “Fans • There are so many letters in “FMV”! F! M! V! And... D?! Hmm. It spooled gorgeous, hand-drawn animation emulator. The process amounts to proper film will call me directly and say, ‘I can’t believe • Limited Run has published a few newly created games for the clips from LaserDisc, slightly randomized restoration. “The original video for the games you messed up the video jump in the Under- Nintendo Entertainment System, and a couple of classic NES games and overlaid with digital markers to instruct were transfers from the [standard definition] ground Rivers scene. You know that jump isn’t as well. But it sounds like our customers may be jammin’ to some players which buttons to press to keep heroic LaserDiscs,” says Gold. “We knew we’d need supposed to cut off that many frames!’ And modern-day releases made for the console’s Japanese counterpart, Dirk the Daring from dying one of dozens of to go back to the original film negative to then I’ll actually load it up, look at it and… the Famicom, in the near future. Stay “tune”d! hilarious ways. produce an HD master. So we reached out well…yeah, they are right.” • Miss out on an issue of the Club O’ Fun News? Shipping hiccups For years, playing Dragon’s Lair at directly to creators Don Bluth and Gary Gold- Gold says he’s especially mind- due to the worldwide COVID-19 shutdown scrambled things, we home meant dealing with the grainy, downs- man to let us create fresh transfers. When we ful of the fact that he isn’t just preserving a know. But worry not: If you’ve missed an issue, you’ll be able to ampled Sega CD version—or worse, dealing saw the first images, we were floored—they game—he’s maintaining both an art form and catch up this holiday season with an omnibus collection of all 2020 with some alternate take that bore no resem- were so rich and clean compared to the memories. “We tend to place video games newsletters—and then some! In fancy hardcover form! blance to the arcade original. That changed washed-out LaserDisc! Even the retransferred outside of traditional arts and entertainment • Every Limited Run shipment beginning this fall will come with a in 1999, when Digital Leisure acquired the audio revealed things barely heard in the experiences,” he says. “Somehow, video sourdough starter! That’s right, we’re “baking” bad. game and began republishing it not only on LaserDisc versions.” games haven’t shared that same place, but • Will there be more Limited Run FMV releases? You betcha, pard- home consoles but also on more primitive And while the actual gameplay of I believe that’s beginning to change. When ner! Y’all may wanna git on over to the local haberdashery and pony devices, like DVD players. Dragon’s Lair (and its sequels Space Ace and you speak with fans of the series, they can up the cash for a 10-gallon hat before our next releases make their Digital Leisure general manager Paul Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp) amounts to sim- pinpoint exactly what their emotions were way to your collection. Gold says he’s driven to keep Dragon’s Lair ple Simon Says button-pressing, the shift to the first time they played. To be able to load • The Scott Pilgrim saga continues! Now it sounds as though a in circulation, as befits its legacy. “We joke modern technology demands careful attention up a game of your youth and maybe share famous developer is in talks to remaster the long sought-after brawler internally that we’re the ‘keepers of the Lair’,” due to differing system speeds and frame that story and emotion with your own child, as an FMV adventure featuring footage from the 2010 film. “Cera” it he says. “People email and say, ‘When are rates. “We try to ensure the game is as ar- spouse, friend—whomever—that is worth isn’t so, Universal Pictures!LR you releasing on [platform]?’ Not wanting to cade-accurate as possible,” Gold says, “right preserving.”LR