I know this is just supposed to be a funny internet picture, but it sums up pretty well why button prompts/cutscene interaction don’t always work and why they often times do more to kill the mood entirely then they do to “immerse” you in a “cinematic experience”

This was a really emotional scene in MGS3 and a lot of peeps (myself included) teared up a bit here. Having a big fat “PRESS A TO BE SAD” really would have killed the mood.

Now granted, cutscene interaction can be done well. In this scene you can press R1 (If i remember correctly there’s no prompt for this one) to see out of Snake’s eye and see his vision is getting blurry and he’s starting to tear up as well. When I first did this on like my second play through and noticed this detail I honestly did cry a bit, and to this day when I get to this scene i always get a really heavy somber feeling.

Earlier in the game too, they force you to press square to fire The Patriot and kill The Boss. That’s another bit of cutscene interaction this game did that is extremely memorable and conflicting to a lot of people. The game does not progress unless you, the player, choose kill The Boss. It’s a simple thing, but they did it really really well. It stuck with you, it made you think, and it made you question your choices. And that was back in 2004.

I know I’m just yammering on and over analyzing a funny internet picture, but  I dunno. I think this image is an inadvertently a good sort of satire at the “evolution” of video games “cinematic” and “emotional” elements over the past decade….