You're in the Movies

Having virtually ignored the Vision Cam's gaming potential for the last year, Microsoft finally release a game that really utilises the device. Although not breaking the mould for camera-controlled videogames, You're in the Movies certainly brings a sense of Hollywood to proceedings and contains some inventive ideas.

The game's basic premise is to get a group of friends and family together in front of the 360 (and the bundled-in Vision Camera peripheral). The title then takes your group through a series of mini-games - nothing unusual there. But then it uses footage from the games they have just played to a unique B-movie.

It's a simple premise, but this use of replays (so central to other genres) really incentivises the gameplay. Not only can you clock up an impressive score, but you also get to see you and your friends flailing around at the end of it all. The results certainly won't be winning any Oscars but are suitably impressive enough to have most groups giggling at each other's exploits.

Before playing, you need to select the type of movie you want to make from a list of classic genres. If there is nothing that takes your fancy you can also put together a unique creation from the cutting room floor of different clips and sequences. This option also enables you to tailor parts to different players - something that can be useful in a family group of mixed abilities.

To start off you are likely to want to pick something off the shelf to get the gist of how things fit together. The first time I played with the kids I picked a superhero theme. The game then scans your play area (without you in it) so it can better identify your movements. You then get back in front of the camera (at the right height) to have your face captured and select your character - in our case, hero, villain or heroine.

Once this is done - and you do need to allow for a good ten minutes of shuffling around and adjusting the camera - you are all set to shoot your movie. The lights go down, the camera rolls and each player is called to the stage in turn to play their mini-game. Some activities have more than one player on screen at a time - but the majority of the tasks in this example were a one player affair.

As we said, each game is carefully selected to produce the required performance. Maybe you have a mini-game where you have to run on the spot as fast as you can. This is then used in the movie to show the player escaping a burning building or evading a massive rolling boulder. Or maybe you are told to hold your hand up to catch falling crockery in the mini-game. This is then used to hold back an avalanche or molten lava in the film. It's a simple device but one that works surprisingly well.

Once you have played through all the games for each player, you are awarded a final score and can sit back and watch your footage. This can then be saved for later viewing, or simply thrown away to start again. Either way - seeing you and your loved ones up there in lights is more than enough motivation for a few plays each session.

Having read the back of the box I had a rough idea of what the game involved, and I have to admit I wasn't sure how my family was going to react. I needn't have worried though, from the moment they saw themselves on TV the kids in particular were transfixed.

Usually they need a little bit of persuasion to share and play together - particularly when it comes to videogames where you take turns. But here again they were more than happy to sit and watch their siblings do their performances. They responded well to the way the game "calls the players to the stage" for their turn. In fact we ended up using this technique to get them seated for dinner that night - even though no camera was involved.

The time it takes to play can be something of a downside. Because of the relationship between each mini-game and the end footage, there is a prescribed set of games you have to play. Most of these collections took a good 30 minutes - by which time the youngsters were flagging despite their fascination with the process. Perhaps a shorter kids version of some levels would have suited better. The movie customisation features can be used to create shorter movies, although this itself requires quite a time investment to setup.

As a family game with a really low barrier of entry this game is a reasonable success. It does a great job of involving everyone in the room, as a part of the scenery if not in a starring role. Hopefully this isn't a flash in the pan and is a sign of a more healthy supply of games using the 360's previously dusty camera peripheral.

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By Paul Govan