The
Movies
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Incredible
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Creative |
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User
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Could
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In
a world...where games become movies and movies become
games, would anyone ever expect "The Movies: The
Movie" or the inevitable "The Movies: The
Movie - The Official Game of the Movie Based On the
Blockbuster Game"? . by
Cole Smith
November
29, 2005 - The
Movies is a combination economic sim and movie creator/editor.
If you're familiar with the Tycoon series PC games
you'll feel right at home here.
Creating
your own movies is a whole lot of fun but it's not
imperative to complete the game. The gameplay has
a economic sim core in which you oversee the day-to-day
operations of a movie studio, much the same way you
would manage an amusement park, zoo, mall, resort
or casino as in the Tycoon series of economic strategy
games. In The Movies you will be responsible for hiring
actors, crews, writers and other employees to assist
you with the movie-making process. The game begins
in the 1920s and follows the development of filmmaking
through the silent film to talkies, color, 3D and
beyond. The bottom line is always to turn a profit
so when things aren't looking too rosy, it's time
to shake things up.

Before
you begin making a movie you have to develop a screenplay.
You can choose to write it yourself or you can hire
professionals. It will of course cost you money to
hire someone. You must do some research to see what
genre of movie is popular at the time. It's hard to
be innovative as the gameplay is based on perceived
market trends and your ability to manipulate them
to your advantage.
A
crew must be hired to take care of everything from
cleaning toilets to constructing sets. You will also
have to hire actors and a director. Actors with high
profiles are likely to do better box office than unknowns
but you also run the risk of dealing with incredibly
inflated egos. Popular actors are in a position to
ask for more money, a better trailer and may even
end up arguing with the director causing unnecessary
tension on the set. This trouble manifests itself
as stress and can be damaging to the production as
it may send some of the talent to seek chemical solace
which can mean a lengthy stay in rehab which will
really cause the budget to soar. Bet you didn't think
that making a movie could be such a pain in the ass?
Fortunately
the game will give you assistance with many of your
projects at the outset until you get the hang of all
of it. There are lots of things to remember and the
situations that occur in one department can have serious
repercussions in another area of production. The pace
is all up to you. You can do one movie every virtual
year or try to cram in five or six to make more money
faster. You can't always afford to tie up all your
capital in every project so you'll have to juggle
employees around to tend to various movies and sets
which will require different production schedules
for each movie. You can cut a few corners here and
there but if you end up using the same sets for too
many movies you will begin to lose your audience in
the theaters. Sometimes all you have to do to turn
a dud into a blockbuster is add some expensive-looking
sets. Hey, if you can't sell a turd, try wrapping
a shiny bow around it. Don't forget to "Alan
Smithee" it.

Movie-making/editing
software is included and although it's not a required
component of the gameplay it will give you hours of
entertainment. First of all you don't have to go out
and shoot your own scenes. Pre-rendered scenes are
included and there are lots of them. You can pick
and choose the characters that appear in each scene
and then choose the background so that it will fit
into the genre, whether it be horror, sci-fi, comedy
or Western. Various emotions and actions can be assigned
to your characters to act out the scene according
to your direction. You can even use your own voiceovers
to create your own dialog.
All
you have to do is drag and drop each scene on a timeline
in any order you choose and then access the interface
for a variety of command options. As you might expect
most of the movies will have a generic, amateur quality
to them but practice makes perfect. Movies can be
uploaded online to be viewed and reviewed by other
potential Spielbergs. This should give you the incentive
you need to be creative. +

The
musical selection is vast, spanning more than three-quarters
of a century. You'll hear ragtime, big band, rock
and roll, symphony and even a little porno-tinged
background music complete with requisite 70s wah-wah
pedal.
Having
originally covered this game back in 2002, we were
wondering if such an ambitious sim would ever see
the light of day. As it turns out The Movies is a
flexible and fun experience which can be overwhelming
at times but always manages to entertain. You can
play through all of the missions which attempts to
tie in the movie-making software or you can just freestyle
it with either component, letting your imagination
be your guide. I wish the two elements could have
been more strongly linked, but as it is this is arguably
one of the most entertaining and educational economic
sims of it kind.
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