Let's try and clear up the difference between a FMV cutscene and an ingame cutescene for those who cant tell the difference:
Here are some examples of FMV Cutscenes:
Final Fantasy 12
Gears of War 2
And here are ingame cutscenes:
The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
So as you can see cut scenes that are streamed from a video file referred to as full motion video or FMV. In-game cut scenes are rendered on-the-fly using the same game engine as the graphics in the game proper:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cut_scene
So what the point? Every cutscene in MGS4 is in game being rendered by the PS3. The cutscenes and game play look almost exactly the same and seamlessly connect. A quote from an interesting article:
"Most of the characters that are animated on the console, including the main character, Snake, have been restricted to a data size (including the face model) of about 5,000 to 10,000 polygons. Further, characters are used that have the same polygon resolution in both the game action and the event demos. This means that the game screens and video clips are seamlessly connected, making it easier for players to become emotionally involved.
As mentioned above, with the exception of crowds, characters are used that have the same polygon resolution in both the game action and the event demos. Separate from the resolution model used on the console, high resolution data are also simultaneously modeled for generating the normal map."
http://www.softimage.com/products/xsi/customer_stories/metal_gear_4/default.aspx
So for some out there who question the graphics capabilities of PS3 take a look at some of the 10 (!!!) hours worth of cutscenes. Or take a look at the 10 hours of gameplay- they are virtually the same. And that's why MGS4 is one of the best looking games of all time.
