From voyeur to overseer: Convergences between surveillance cinema and FMV games in the 1990s

The paper aims to explore the intersection of full-motion video (FMV) games and surveillance cinema, focussing on how FMV games rework and reference the conventions of surveillance films. FMV games, introduced in the 1990s as a blend of movies and interactive gameplay, offer a unique take on the surveillance motifs, aesthetics, and narratives commonly found in cinema. By incorporating interactive elements, these games extend the surveillance logic seen in films, offering players an active role in the surveillance process. The paper begins by examining how non-FMV games have integrated surveillance mechanics since the early days of gaming. Following this, a brief overview of surveillance-themed FMV games is presented, highlighting how they build on the surveillance tropes of cinema while introducing interactive elements. The focus then shifts to Voyeur (Philips Interactive, 1993), a seminal FMV game that exemplifies the convergence between surveillance cinema and gaming. The paper delves into how Voyeur draws from films like Rear Window (dir. Alfred Hitchcock, 1954), but with a crucial difference: the player’s agency. Unlike traditional surveillance films where the audience passively observes, FMV games like Voyeur allow players to actively engage in surveillance, altering the power dynamics between the observer and the observed.