Have you ever dreamed of becoming a famous movie producer? With The Movies, a new game released by Activision, players experience what it is like to run a multi-million dollar studio, answer the demands of celebrities, build a movie empire from the ground up, and deal with everything else a "real" Hollywood producer deals with.
The Movies is a simulation game, much like that of The Sims series, where players start with a basic movie lot and $100,000 in the 1920s. You must hire actors, crew, scriptwriters, janitors, directors and more before you can start making films. Of course, you need to build facilities to keep the celebrities happy. As time goes on, you have access to more contemporary facilities, such as cool sets and nicer trailers.
Of course, you always have to deal with the attitudes of your celebrities. Like modern celebrities, some have massive problems with temper and addiction, while others are laid back and easy going. As the producer, you control the money. Controlling the money means you are in charge of how much you pay your actors and exactly what you spend that money on.
Every five years, an Awards Ceremony is held. All of the films that you create with your scriptwriters, actors, directors, crew and set are entered into the competition. Whenever you win an award, you win a sweet bonus that will give you an advantage with making more movies, and winning more awards at the next ceremony. Once you attend the 2006 Awards Ceremony, you try to make as many quality movies as you can in order to achieve the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wait, it gets better! You can even go online, to www.themoviesgame.com, and share your movies with other players. When you make your movies in your game, you have the ability to use ready-made films, or you can customize your own. Of course, customizing the film makes it better – and more likely to win awards. You can dub in your own voice, write subtitles, do virtually anything you want, with the exception of starring in your own movie.
While The Movies is single player, you can save several different games so that your friends and family can play on one computer without disrupting each other. However, you might want to encourage them to install it on their own computer… The Movies can become very addictive. Don't be surprised if you end up bailing when your friends go see the latest blockbuster, just to stay home and make a blockbuster of your own!