You're In The Movies

Xbox 360

BY Brendan WillisPublished Feb 3, 2009

If you have an Xbox 360 but crave the inferior graphics and unresponsive game control of a low battery Wiimote, then You're In The Movies is the game for you. Using the Xbox Live Webcam (included with the game) you and three friends must participate in a series of mini-games that have you flailing around like you're suffering from St. Vitus' Dance. Recordings of your spastic performance will then be edited by the game and "green screened" into a short, funny movie trailer.

Other than the aforementioned inferior graphics and unresponsive game controls, You're In The Movies is riddled with issues. First, you'll need a good six-foot square area in front of your TV, so move that coffee table out of the way and don't even think about playing this game in a bachelor apartment or a bedroom. Next, in order to allow the camera to distinguish people from backgrounds you'll need to keep the background simple - I had to remove all the pictures from my wall and cover the couch in a sheet so that the camera could read my movements.

And last but not least, there is no fun to be had for a single player. Even having two players is less than entertaining, as all the "movie trailers" are designed to "star" four actors and if you don't have all four characters participating you will find yourself in a trailer with pre-recorded, stock actors. If you are really lonely and lame you can, of course, play by yourself, but the fun comes from watching your friends embarrass themselves.

If you're keen you can create your own trailer, editing together the game's stock scenes in your own way and recording your own voiceover using the Xbox headset. But in order to open this feature you must play half a dozen rounds of the regular game and by that time you'll likely be sick of running on the spot and waving your arms around.

It's amusing to see your friends on-screen for the first couple rounds of You're In The Movies but there just isn't a good enough game-to-gimmick ratio for any long-term fun. If you see this game on your friend's shelf then pull the pictures off the wall and play a round, but you don't need to waste your own shelf space with this one.
(Microsoft)

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