E3 2008: You're in the Movies Hands-On

Have you ever wanted to create your own movie without worrying about plot, dialogue, or doing your own stunts? You're in the Movies is a pretty funky concept that works surprisingly well. You control the game by dancing around with the Vision Camera, which makes it feel almost like a game of hardcore charades. We went hands-on with this movie-making, often-exhausting party game today and came away impressed by just how ridiculous it can be.

Movies is composed of a number of minigames, and though a score is kept and a winner is ultimately declared, it's not a very competitive experience. Instead, it is about being as much of a ham as possible in front of your friends. There are some sedate games, such as a match puzzle where we flung our hands toward corresponding Japanese characters, but the more outrageous demands are where the goofiness starts to hit.

In one mode that we did not have to participate in but were privy to watch unfold, the game commanded the player to unleash an improvisational dance. Though the game does supply a few sporadic arrows to keep players moving, it encourages you to move around widely, causing the people watching you to cover their eyes in embarrassment. Clearly, if you don't enjoy making a fool of yourself in public, you should stay clear of Movies.

There were a couple of other clever games in there as well. One has you manning a minibike, leaning to avoid obstacles and raising your hands when you shoot off ramps. Another has you mimicking common events, such as walking casually down a street or pushing a shopping cart. It's clear that competition isn't the main focus of this game, as many of these experiences are impossible to rank against one another. How can you score someone trying to look down a well?

When everything was done, the videos were cobbled together into a B-movie-caliber movie trailer called Cold Blooded. It showed the transformation of a small lizard into a giant terror and mixed the scenes people performed in the game into a movie. For instance, the improv dance number was turned into a shower scene of terror. Though it didn't make sense all the time (dancing in the shower is dangerous), it was pretty amusing seeing it play out.

If you're particularly proud of your acting, you can upload your completed movies to your PC and share them with friends. You can also direct your own movie if you wish or let the game decide what wacky scenes to build around your actions. This is a full retail release, and it will be bundled with the Vision Camera this fall.