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The Movies (video game)

The Movies is a business simulation game created by Lionhead Studios for Microsoft Windows and ported to Mac OS X by Feral Interactive. Players run a Hollywood film studio, creating films that can be exported from the game. The Movies was released in November 2005 to positive reviews and several awards, but sold poorly. An expansion, The Movies: Stunts & Effects, was released in 2006.

The Movies
Developer(s)Lionhead Studios
Publisher(s)Activision
Sega
Feral Interactive (Mac)
Designer(s)Adrian Moore[1]
Programmer(s)James Brown
Artist(s)Joe Rider
Wilfried Ayel
Writer(s)Martin Korda
Composer(s)Daniel Pemberton
EngineRenderWare
Platform(s)Windows, Mac OS X
ReleaseWindows
  • NA: 8 November 2005
  • EU: 11 November 2005
Mac OS X
20 December 2006
Genre(s)Business simulation
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

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The Movies allows players to run their own movie studio, including designing the studio itself and managing the careers of film stars. The game starts at the birth of cinema and continues into the future.

Players can create their own movies using in-game assets and at one time could upload them to the game's website The Movies Online.[2]

Development

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The Movies was developed by Lionhead Studios, a studio created and led by the game's executive designer, Peter Molyneux. Lead designer Mark Webley recounted that the game had been suggested by Molyneux as early as December 2001,[3] who then brainstormed a one-page concept for a film-themed management game one morning in January 2002.[4] Development of The Movies commenced in February 2002, starting from a three-man team including Webley and Lionhead colleagues Adrian Moore as lead designer and James Brown as lead programmer.[3][5] An early version of the game was ready to show to journalists at the European Computer Trade Show in September 2002.[5]

The soundtrack for the game was composed by Daniel Pemberton.[6]

Release

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Sales

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The Movies was released in November 2005 and by the end of the year had sold above 50,000 copies in the United Kingdom, a number that Eurogamer's Kristan Reed called "relatively minor".[7] The game ultimately received a "Silver" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the region.[8][9]

Peter Molyneux assessed the sales performance of the game as influenced by the rise of the console market, competition with other titles over the Christmas period, and the increasing number of casual gamers in the market.[10]

Stunts and Effects

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In June 2006, Lionhead studios released the expansion pack The Movies: Stunts and Effects. Feral Interactive ported the expansion to Mac OS in 2008. The expansion added stunts and stuntmen, new special effects, fewer camera placement restrictions, and expanded environments and clothing options.[11][12]

Reception

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Review aggregator Metacritic gave the PC version a score of 84 out of 100 ("Generally favorable reviews") based on 62 reviews from critics.[26] The first review was published by GameSpy, which gave the game a 3.5 out of 5.[27] Metacritic gave the expansion, The Movies: Stunts & Effects, a score of 78 out of 100 based on 37 reviews from critics.[28]

Computer Games Magazine gave The Movies their 2005 "Best Utility" and "Best Original Music" awards.[29] The game won the best simulation award at the 2006 BAFTA Video Games Awards[30]

Accolades

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The Movies received several accolades as the best simulation title of the year. The game received the "Simulation" award and was nominated for "Original Score" by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts at the 2006 3rd British Academy Games Awards.[31][32] At the 9th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards held by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, The Movies received the "Simulation Game of the Year", along with nominations for "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming" and "Computer Game of the Year".[33]

Retrospective reception

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Several publications have retrospectively praised The Movies for its innovative design, whilst remarking that the game did not fully meet its ambitions. Edge describing the game as "arguably ahead of its time".[34] In 2012, Hugh Milligan of IGN stated The Movies was a "daring experiment", highlighting the game's movie-making tools and online integration as facilitating an "astonishing level of creativity" and turning what he considered a "solid but unspectacular simulation game into an incredible social experience".[35] In 2015, Graham Smith of Rock, Paper, Shotgun described the game as failing to deliver on its "interesting" concept, stating that its "creative suite is limited in terms of what you can make, and the management game splits your time between the fantasy of heading studio and the tedium of nannying people".[36] In 2016, The Guardian called The Movies's online service "[p]erhaps the most forward-thinking feature" because it pre-dated YouTube by a year.[2]

Legacy

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Using The Movies, Alex Chan, a French resident with no previous filmmaking experience, took four days to create The French Democracy, a short machinima political film about the 2005 civil unrest in France.[37]

A spiritual successor, Blockbuster Inc., was released in June 2024 for the PC.[38][39]

References

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  1. ^ Lionhead Studios (22 November 2016). The Movies. Activision. Scene: Credits sequence. Adrian Moore, Lead Designer
  2. ^ a b Stanton, Rich (20 May 2016). "Lionhead: the rise and fall of a British video game legend". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b "Life Under the Satellites". Game Developer. August 2003. p. 12.
  4. ^ "Inside...Lionhead Studios". Edge. No. 111. June 2002. pp. 70–75.
  5. ^ a b Molyneux, Peter; Moore, Adrian (21 July 2004). "GameSpy: The Beginnings of The Movies - Page 1". GameSpy. IGN. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Daniel Pemberton Talks Composing Music for Ridley Scott, Danny Boyle & Guy Ritchie". Billboard. 6 July 2016.
  7. ^ Reed, Kristan (5 May 2006). "2005 UK Sales Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 26 August 2011.
  8. ^ "ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver". Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009.
  9. ^ Caoili, Eric (26 November 2008). "ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017.
  10. ^ "Q&A: Lionhead's Molyneux roars". GameSpot. 14 August 2006. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  11. ^ McNeilly, Joe (15 June 2006). "The Movies: Stunts & Effects Review". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  12. ^ Dan, Adams (17 May 2012). "The Movies: Stunts & Effects". IGN. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  13. ^ "The Movies for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  14. ^ Edge (December 2005). "The Movies". Edge. No. 156. Future Publishing. p. 86.
  15. ^ Dave 'Fargo' Kosak (8 November 2005). "The Movies". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  16. ^ Mike Reilly (16 December 2005). "I laughed, I cried..It was better than Cats!". GameRevolution. GameRevolution. Archived from the original on 20 December 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  17. ^ Matt Keller (15 December 2005). "The Movies Review". Palgn. Palgn. Archived from the original on 26 June 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  18. ^ Computer Gaming World (December 2005). "The Movies". Computer Gaming World. No. 257. Future Publishing. pp. 6–7.
  19. ^ Mr. Marbles (11 September 2005). "The Movies Review". GamePro. GamePro. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  20. ^ Garnett Lee (11 November 2005). "The Movies Review". 1UP. 1UP. Archived from the original on 27 January 2006. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  21. ^ "The Movies". GameSpot. GameSpot. 23 May 2019. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  22. ^ Dan Adams (9 November 2005). "The Movies". IGN. IGN. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  23. ^ PC Gamer (January 2005). "The Movies". PC Gamer. PC Gamer. p. 66.
  24. ^ Michael Lafferty (8 November 2005). "The Movies Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 25 November 2005. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  25. ^ Tony "OUberLord" Mitera (1 December 2005). "The Movies". Worth Playing. Worth Playing. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  26. ^ "The Movies". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 3 September 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  27. ^ Kosak, Dave 'Fargo' (8 November 2005). "The Movies". GameSpy. IGN. Archived from the original on 13 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  28. ^ "The Movies: Stunts & Effects". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 4 September 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  29. ^ "The Best (and Worst) of 2005: The 15th Annual Computer Games Awards". Computer Games Magazine. March 2006. pp. 42–47.
  30. ^ "Simulation in 2006". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  31. ^ Cocker, Guy (5 October 2006). "GRAW gets GOTY at BAFTA". GameSpot. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  32. ^ "Games in 2006". BAFTA. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  33. ^ "D.I.C.E. Awards By Video Game Details The Movies". interactive.org. Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  34. ^ "Studio Profile: Lionhead". Edge. No. 264. March 2014.
  35. ^ Milligan, Hugh (9 April 2012). "Romancing the Sim: Bringing the Genre Back". IGN. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  36. ^ Graham, Graham (6 February 2015). "Have You Played... The Movies?". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  37. ^ Musgrove, Mike (1 December 2005). "Game Turns Players Into Indie Moviemakers". The Washington Post. D01. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 12 September 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  38. ^ Handley, Zoey (21 March 2024). "Blockbuster Inc, spiritual successor to The Movies, releases in June". Destructoid. Gamurs Group. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  39. ^ Bell, Alice (21 March 2024). "Another new The Movies-like is coming this summer to fulfil the promise of your nostalgia". Rock Paper Shotgun. Gamer Network. Retrieved 12 June 2024.

Bibliography

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Kramer, Greg (2005). Sara Wilson (ed.). The Movies: Prima Official Game Guide. Prima Games. ISBN 0-7615-4445-3.

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