The envelope tears open, and the actress gives a big smile before reading the teleprompter … “and the Academy Award for best computer-generated short goes to …”

Incredible! Unbelievable!! And to think, it all began with Lionhead Studios collaboration with Activision in releasing The Movies on PC.

In a nutshell, The Movies is a simulation that is akin to the Tycoon series of games, but one that takes the base concept and elevates to new heights, creating a deep game that challenges creativity while providing a whole lot of fun.

Players take over a movie studio, with a starting date that embraces all the technology available at the time, and then build the studio up through hiring the right people, creating worthwhile scripts (properties), developing the studio lot and keeping track of trends while developing new technologies for the edge needed to garner awards.

The years roll past like in other games (take Tropico, for example), and as you progress from 1920s to the turn of the century, you have the capability to unlock or even pioneer cinematic techniques, as well as unlocking new set designs and costuming.

There are two modes of play, the story mode and sandbox. In story mode you begin with a budget, finicky stars and a studio that needs to be designed from the ground up. This mode also serves as a tutorial, with a narrative that explains what you need to do and offers guidance in doing it. The sandbox is more of a free-form arena for players to make movies and guide their studio with a host of options built in – such as having no problems with the actors, picking the starting year, setting a huge economic base and have movies, buildings and sets all instantly made.

Let’s look at the Sandbox mode to give an overview of the game. You can begin with the essentials of a studio – a large lot, and employment offices for the various studio members you will need. You need to hire actors, directors, extras, janitors, research scientists, film crew, writers and builders. The interface is very easy to use, allowing gamers to pick up and drop the different people into the areas where they are needed.

You hire (aka drag and drop) scientists into the different areas of the research building, and they begin to develop movie-making technologies, star technologies (which can lead to implants, nip and tucks and liposuction), cult packs and the like. The writers are dropped into either the script pool or to set the type of script they are working on, you drop them into five categories – comedy, action, sci-fi, romance or horror.

Of course, you can also build a custom script office and create your own scripts from the opening sequence and then take them into post-production to add your own musical tracks and even your own voices. The movies you make can be exported to be e-mailed and even posted on the game’s official Web site for viewing by the world.

After you have a script in hand, you take it to the casting office, where you select your stars and director and the movie goes into rehearsal. Selecting the right stars for the genre is important, as is the chemistry between the actors and director. You can also take your stars into the Makeover Department to change out their clothes and personal appearance items, like hair, hair color, makeup schemes, and jewelry. A good fashion sense can improve star appeal, and even the little things – like assigning your stars to trailers on the lot and improving the accoutrements of the trailers – can raise your star’s power.

Once rehearsals are done, if you have the set built, the movie will shoot. After that, you can either take it into post-production to add your own customized touches, or release it. A released movie gets its share of good and bad reviews and will generate cash for the studio.

Keep in mind that so many elements come into play, and stars will age as the game progresses. Paparazzi milling about the studio can also help improve a star’s ratings and if you allow the stars to have a certain amount of free will, you may be forced with drug or alcohol addictions that need to be dealt with.

The interface allows players to visit any personnel area of the studio quickly and easily and you can grab personnel from the menu (rather than find them on the studio lot) and move them around. If you need to reassign a janitor, for instance, because you need extra’s this is easily done.

With such depth of play, The Movies is the type of game that can turn a 30-minute gaming window into two hours of entertainment.

Your movies can be serious or just plain wacky. Want to create the lost episodes (the ones George Lucas planned and then decided against making) of Star Wars, you can. Or if you want to recreate your favorite film classics, that too is possible. And certain film types fit certain decades and technologies are also tied to the passage of time as well.

Graphically the game is not anything that will light up the world, but the graphics here are not only very serviceable but also do have some appeal. Think of it on par with The Sims, with zoom in features to focus on individual people, the ability to rotate the camera and even the option to watch the actual movie being made (you can also view it after the filming is over). The films you make do have a few clipping problems but nothing that is that big. And in creating your own films, there a finite series of set scenes, but depending on the costuming, stars and locations, you can make a wide variety of scenes.

The sound of the game is solid, with a very nice musical score, a great running dialogue from a Communist-hating radio broadcaster, and appropriate theme music for each film made. Of course, there is also the studio announcer who will tell you what is needed and where it is needed.

The control scheme for this game could not be easier considering the depth of the gameplay. Drag and drop is the predominate action here, and while the game is about micro-managing, you will find the interface very accommodating. The actual post-production editing is a simple process, and players should not expect in-depth functionality, but rather a player-friendly component that will allow creative writing skills to shine.

The Movies is a deep game. There is much to do here, and not only does it evolve and challenge players to keep up the times, but the game is amazingly addictive.

Gameplay: 8.7
There is micro-management here, and technologies only become available with the passage of time, but the interface provides for an intuitive, challenging and entertaining time.

Graphics: 8.7
Movies filmed in the 20s and 30s will look grainy. There are some clipping issues with movies made but overall the graphical quality of this game is very good. The sets are well designed and there is enough flexibility to create the right setting (or silliest setting) for the movies being made.

Sound: 8.8
The audio tracks in the game are well done, but you can also add your own musical score and own vocal soundtrack to really bolster this element.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium
Not hard to learn to play, but once you get more involved with the scriptwriting and post production, the game moves from easy to a medium challenge.

Concept: 9.2
This is, top to bottom, a great idea that elevates the sim/tycoon genre to new heights.

Multiplayer: N/A
You can share the efforts of your movie-making with the online community and even e-mail

Overall: 9.0
Addictive, entertaining and just plain fun, The Movies gives players creative freedom no other sim has offered. This is a game that will appeal to gamers of all ages and with the ability to share movies made, the creative juices will keep flowing as productions become grander and more intricate. Sure, there is micromanagement and you may find yourself paying attention to the same details, but when a game can turn a 30-minute sit-down into several hours of silly fun, that is the hallmark of a very good game. The Movies is that game.