Ehh i guess it depends on the game and the scene they are used for. The Final Fantasy series is probably the best example of CG/Pre-rendered scenes done right.

I generally prefer in-game because it preserves the style, but in the end, I don't really care much. Pre-rendered cutscenes are fine when you really want to put emphasis on something, but they should be used sparingly. Final Fantasy for example works just fine.

Depends on what they are going for.. of course they look nicer if they are cgi, but even if it's not, it can still work out well

I heard that the reason why most PS1 games were seperated into 2 or 3 discs is because of that.

S.Peelman said: I liked it back when they made cutscenes using live actors.

FMV? Really?

CGI cutscenes that are separated from the engine (as opposed to pre-rendered cut scenes made in the engine and saved as video file) are just waaay too expensive

they had their place back when development costs were much lower and ingame graphics not enough to convey emotion or amazement for a new area you reached

When I mean in-engine, I mean something like what the Metal Gear series has always done. Not like the CGIs that plague Square Enix's games.

Doesn't matter. I mean FF series has a habit of using both, CGI for the big epic scenes (or in the case of FF13 confusing stuff you don't understand) then in engine for the more localised personal talky stuff. Both work in the context, the main key is to get the feel and flow right, else it'll just seem out of place.

Doesn't really matter to me. I liked pre-rendered cutscenes before, like in old Final Fantasy games, it allowed you to see what the characters really looked like and they were glorious in their crazy, over-the top presentation.
Now, I don't really care much, I find myself wanting less cutscenes and more actual gameplay instead, if a game needs pre-rendered custscenes to wow me, they're doing something wrong, in my humble opinion.

I love CGI cutescenes.

Real time all the way. More cohesion between cutscenes and gameplay, less file size bloat, customization, etc. Prerenders for games still have a little merit here and there, but I'm glad real time rendering is more common these days. The more games aspiring for "real time all the time" the better.