Actually, if I judged the CSA correctly, cutscenes don't even necessarily happen at all. You just do a special move by pressing a certain button at a certain time (LIKE in a QTE, but the game actually goes on, and it's not a cutscene.)

Does anyone have a link for this?

I can't see all the difference... QTE look like chains of CSAs to me, with fancy camera panning and zooming. Unless the distinctive trait of QTEs is that the required button press is random...

 And the complete removal of any way to interact with the game other then waiting for a button prompt. I can't beleive people are trying to compare the parry move from Wind Waker to quick time events. In Wind Waker the entire game doesn't stop and the only thing I can is wait for that A prompt. I can still control my character and his items. In a quick time event, all you can do is wait for your button prompt.

But that's because QTEs are usually chained. You control Kratos normally in GOW before you start the QTE chain to rip a cyclop's eye off, and you can choose not to start it if you want and keep hitting him normally. Once you start the chain yes, you don't control him normally anymore, but one could say that each QTE is just a CSA where the context is the result of the previous QTE :)

So basically a CSA is just a QTE chain made only of one event?

Or another question: are special attacks in RE4/5 QTEs or CSAs? :)

Special attacks in RE4/5 are CSAs. If I recall correctly, the zombies (or whatever they're called in RE4/5) still move around and try to attack you while you do them. You're not stopping the game. There's no cutscene. You're just doing a move. But I might be remembering wrong.

ummmmm...

In Twilight Princess.... werent there some king of QTE?

-the sumo match.

-catching a gordon/goat

-The bridge duel

and in Wind Waker, a surprise attach wasn't a QTE where you can parry and counter the attack?

You're never interrupted in your move nor attacked while performing them... I'm not even sure if they keep walking, but I think they don't.

So, hmm, the difference would be if the "normal" flow of the game is suspended or not?

Then they’re not context sensitive if there's only one possible context, and there are plenty of games where you MUST perform QTE's or die and retry until you do.

The special attacks in RE4/5 are context sensitive because the game moves on normally, but the context (in this case, a zombie is stunned) grants me a different ability from my normal moveset. I can choose to use or not, I can simply keep shooting, or just run forward past them, it doesn't stop the game, it doesn't change the game's fundamentals.

The first knife fight with krauser however is a QTE. I can't move, shoot, or do ANYTHING at all. Only press the right button at the right time or die and retry until I do.

If you want to get technical you could call the both quick time events. But when I refer to QTE’s, I’m referring to instances of being completely locked out of the game with only the option of pressing the certain buttons and certain times without any context to what they normally do.

The whole branching QTEs or CSAs thing is all Heavy Rain's mechanics is about, btw. I suppose we'll see there first how it works out.