Depends on the file formats, I guess. Different people recorded different videos, so they're not like all the others (encoded in mpeg4). Most are DivX avi, so just get the DivX player with DivX codec to play those... some others are wmv, which is crappy Windows Media Video. *shrug*
And then there's others that I've found that just plain don't work.
There is also VLC Player, which has never failed on me. It's also great if you don't want to worry about downloading codecs even for files that Media Player could read if it had the proper codec. It's just more convenient with a program that already has every flickerbatting one preinstalled. Don't know how it stacks up against what you mentioned, DZ, but I am a VLC whore, so I have therefor pimped it.
Don't worry, I use VLC too. :P But I prefer to use Media Player Classic with every codec on the face of earth, all of which are included with the K-Lite Mega Codec Pack.
In short:
VLC + K-Lite Mega Codec Pack = Never have to worry about codecs EVER again.
Depends on the file formats, I guess. Different people recorded different videos, so they're not like all the others (encoded in mpeg4). Most are DivX avi, so just get the DivX player with DivX codec to play those... some others are wmv, which is crappy Windows Media Video. *shrug*
And then there's others that I've found that just plain don't work.
If you check the front page, you can see the software requirements I added a while ago. You need Windows Media Player if you have a Mac, QuickTime if you have a Windows machine, and you need DivX. You just do. Either platform, get DivX.
Or you could go the VLC route and bypass this whole mess.