fugue_life

So this is a nerdy debate with no real answer me and some friends have argued, who is better at cinematics, Blizzard or Square-Enix and why? I happen to be a fan of both companies but gotta give the edge to Square

__________________
ba-weep=gra=na-weep-nini-bon?

Da Munk

Blizzard has done some amazing stuff, but the cinematics from the Final Fantasy series are in a league of their own.

Pellaz

No contest. Square is one of the leaders in the industry as far as cg animation, while Blizzards goal is just to put something moderately neat and expressive in.

__________________
" ' Big Mouth.
Remember it took three of you to kill me.
A god, a boy, and, last and least, a hero.' "

Munku

Pellaz, Have you seen the intro cinematic to WoW? It's pretty f'ing awesome..

joeshoe

Square is great, but Blizzard has style and grit

hulk

Hell, where's the 'tie' option?

__________________
"'There's a tendency among the press to attribute the creation of a game to a single person,' says Warren Spector, creator of Thief and Deus Ex."
-- From an IGN game review.

joeyaz

I've always enjoyed the square cinematics more, I think its because I feel more attached to the characters though I have not seen the intro to wow just yet.

Destrox

Mostly because I generally dont like games that Blizzard puts out, I voted Square.

__________________
You bore me.... next.

Irishsean

Square hands down, Blizzard has some good stuff, but its got nothing on Square.

__________________
There are no absolute rules of conduct, either in peace or war. Everything depends on circumstances.
Leon Trotsky

Nefir

I voted Square, but honestly I like both equally... I just wish Blizzard put out a full-feature movie based on the Warcraft universe, using their rich and colorful style of animation. But I'd settle for a *real* Final Fantasy movie from Square as well.

__________________
You do not use a Macintosh, instead you use a Tandy
Kompressor break your glowstick, Kompressor eat your candy
Kompressor open jaws, Kompressor release ants
Kompressor watch you scream, Because Kompressor does not dance

shadowalker

square all the way. But its more than just the final fanstay line. You have to remember Kingdom Hearts, Parasite Eve, Sword of Mana. Thay just do an out standing job on all that thay do. Sorry Blizzard, I like you and all, But Square has my vote in this poll.

__________________
I'll make ya famous!

Pellaz

Nope, no time for WoW on top of everything else gaming right now. I still feel 100% ok in making that statement, though, because I've seen most other cg that blizzard has produced. *If* the intro to WoW somehow matched "Flight of the Osiris", I still wouldn't be swayed, as Flight is several years old now. Also, one cg clip that's on par or even surpasses the industry leader isn't enough to wrest that title away from them. They have to show that they're going to be doing it consistantly at that level for that to happen.

With Blizzards schedule, I'm not even sure they have releases close enough together to be able to reach the top of the heap and stay there. And frankly, it would be foolish for them to devote the resources to do so. Square has made a name for itself in recent years largely based on it's stunning animation, while Blizzard games are known for their amazing gameplay. If they release, on average, say one game every two years, it just doesn't make sense for them to make something that most of it's target audience will go "Hey neat, and btw, can I hit esc to skip this everytime after the first?".

For the record, I've liked a fair number of Blizzard games a lot more than the average drivel Square produces, I just don't see how a valid argument can be made for Blizzard to be better at cg than Square.

__________________
" ' Big Mouth.
Remember it took three of you to kill me.
A god, a boy, and, last and least, a hero.' "

Scorps

I never heard of Square so I have to go with Blizzard, the newest War Craft game(Frozen Throne) has some killer movies in it!

Dirty

i voted Square because you have to earn most of their CGs and it also takes a hell of a lot longer to complete Square games..but the WoW intro was quite impressive!

glytch

Square (formerly SquareSoft) makes the Final Fantasy series, most notibly.

My vote went to Square as well. The WoW opening cinematic was great, but nothing like watching a FF in game movie.

__________________
If you're flammable and have legs, you are never blocking a fire exit. - Mitch Hedberg

Hirare

Seeing as how Bilzzard is on PC and Square is PS/PS2 it doesn't even seem like a contest. Square's videos kick ass even though they are limited by the hardware of the system.

Square's FMVs are amazing and they only get better with each new game.

dbc

Square wins easily. I've played every blizzard game and every nearly every square game. Blizzard's are great but I say that square's are more polished overall.

LeviticusMky

Blizzard's cinematics are usually pretty good, but they're never THAT good. I have yet to see a Blizzard cine that doesn't look overly cartoony and unrealistic.

Square's Final Fantasy stuff is just the best that there is out there. I mean hell, if they had done the facial expressions in the "Spirits Within" movie correctly, I think that everyone would be worshipping them.

Blizzard does cut scenes that contribute to the storyline, Square makes art. It's like Japanese Anime VS American Cartoons.

The Magic

I have to admit, I don't have a Playstation two so I have not played any Square games past the Playstation one, but my vote would probably still go to Blizzard.

Warcraft 3 and Diablo II had some very amazing cinematics. The music, the detail -- everything was great about them.

Square cinemas always seemed like they really had no purpose, that they developers were like "hay guys, lets put some nice graphics here."

aa1037

I disagree - the cartoony visuals that you see in Blizzard's vids ARE the art. Square's style is obviously more anime based while Blizzard's is fantasy based - you can make a case for both, but I'm partial to Blizzard because it's not JUST the graphics that are important - their vids have some of the best music in any game I've ever played.

Gortexfogg

As cool as Blizzard's CG is, Square does their stuff in higher quantities a lot more often, thus I'd have to give them the edge.

Mantus

In my opinion the only place Blizzard are lacking is with their scripts and direction. While many of their clips have cool concepts and ideas they are often executed in an amateurish fashion.

Yet all things considered, whichever studio does those CGIs for Blizzard is very good. If you keep in mind the fact that Square has so much more experience in making movies then they do.

RogueHunter65

blizard has done some amazing stuff but nothing can top the large battle cut scene in FFX. Hands down one of the best clips, that and the opening at the stadium.

__________________
I suffer from amnesia and deja vu at the same time... I think I have forgotten this before

Mantus

While on the topic of movies. Has any one seen the intro for Dawn of War? That was probably the coolest clip I ever saw.

Orodinn

Square easily. While they both are very good, reason why I give the edge to square is that its much harder to animate photorealistic characters than stylized (thus disproportionate) characters. Since we encounter hundreds of 'real' human beings everyday in our lives, we have a very keen perception of what a human being should look like. Thus, any difference there is that we see on screen be it the proportions, the shape or the movement will be easily noticed. When you use a more stylized form of animation like blizz, those 'innacuracies' can go unoticed since its not made to look realistic.

Stompy

Blizzard has good cut scenes, but they're seriously nothing compared to Square, both technologically and content wise.

Of course, Square has more practive and experience with em seeing as how their games are more centralized on these movies where Blizzard just makes short cutscenes.

The Lunar Cry in FF8 (god I hated that game) was probably the most bizarre cut scenes I've ever seen.

__________________
I love lamp.

RAGEAngel9

Tie because they are both good at parts.
Animation and look wise Square is just unbeatable. However, their scripts and acting suck. This could just be because of the translation (most square is in Japanese first right?), but it's still their problem.
Blizzard I have always found to be a little better acted and scripted (at least in Starcraft and Diablo).

So it's just a matter of which you prefer more.
Oh and both do the movies well just they each have different strengths.

kd4

Blizzard, sure, their previous games, IE SC and BW the cinematics weren't all that great, but D2 and War3, you must agree that all the cinematics were pretty awesome. The one that stands out to me the most, is in War3 when Archimonde destroyed that city? Wow....

Locobot

I don't have WoW yet but I'd have to give it to Square Enix on this one catagory. Many of the cinematics in WC3 were simply in-game movies with dialogue added. I prefer Blizzard for everything else though.

CityOfAngels

They both have AMAZING FMV's. I like Blizzard's overall when it comes to complete detail and ambience, while I am more connected to Square's games overall, whether it be their characters or storylines. Square's FMV's better fit the emotional feel of the game, while Blizzard's better fit the style and darkness of the game.

Tie.

__________________
The words "love" and "life" go together. It is almost as if they are one. You must love to live, and you must live to love, or you have never lived nor loved at all.

tupacalypse1622

BLiZZ....I always felt like the cinematics and story behind Diablo II would be a nice major motion picture...of course they'd have to include elements of the original Diablo and what happened in Tristram.

__________________
"I do not propose to discuss my love life. I will say that I still can't get over how women are shaped, and that I will go to my grave wanting to pet their butts and boobs." -Kurt Vonnegut