Game Review: Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action
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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this game is based on the Scene
It? brand of DVD-based board games. But while several editions
of that version are appropriate for younger children, this
video game isn't. It features clips from and trivia about
movies geared for older audiences. Since many of the clips
include things like light doses of drinking, smoking,
profanity, sexuality, and violence, playing the game feels a
lot like watching a PG-13 movie. Mature content aside, it would
be difficult for younger players to enjoy the game, since
success depends heavily on your knowledge of a broad spectrum
of films, most of which kids probably aren't familiar with.
Families can talk about popular culture and the film industry's place within it. How will new media's continued rapid growth affect Hollywood? How will it affect viewers? Are iconic movie stars -- a staple of our popular culture for nearly a century -- in danger of fading away as the popularity of various forms of online entertainment increases?
Common Sense Media Review
An
Xbox
360 exclusive, SCENE IT? LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION is a movie
trivia game based on the successful line of DVD-based board
games. It's composed of nearly two dozen short trivia
challenges that pop up in random order throughout the game;
each challenge is simple enough that its fundamentals can be
grasped in a matter of seconds.
Scene It? veterans will recognize several of the featured trivia games, including "Movie Clip" -- in which players watch a scene from a well-known film and then answer questions based on what they saw -- and "Distorted Reality", in which players try to identify actors whose fragmented images are slowly pieced together. But there are plenty of fresh games as well, like "Props" -- which challenges players to name a movie based on seeing a picture of one of its famous props -- and "Child's Play", which tasks players to identify films based on simple crayon drawings of famous scenes.
These trivia tests flow at a steady pace and require next to no player intervention, ensuring that gaming rookies can enjoy the experience without worrying about what to do next or how to do it. You don't even need any experience with the original DVD game. Just plug the disc in, select how long you want the game to last, and follow the simple, single-sentence instructions. The only things players have to do is buzz in when necessary and press colored buttons that correspond with the multiple-choice answers shown on screen.
Lights, Camera, Action ships with four of Microsoft's wireless Big Button Pad controllers, which the company expressly designed to be less-intimidating than the standard joystick-, trigger-, and bumper-laden controllers used for most Xbox 360 games.
There are only three issues that have the potential to make Lights, Camera, Action a bust in your house. First, at least a passing interest in cinema is mandatory. Players who don't watch movies will be at significant disadvantage. Second, the game comes with 1,800 questions, which, by our calculations, is enough for only 35 matches of the shorter variety. That might sound like a lot, but even if you only play for an hour every other night for a month, you'll have squeezed the game dry. Third, unlike the DVD board games, this version isn't a good fit for younger children because the bulk of the questions are about films that aren't appropriate for little kids (just a sampling of titles: Meet the Parents , Kill Bill Vol. 1 , A Fish Called Wanda , and Brokeback Mountain ).
These three stumbling blocks aside, Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action is a great movie trivia game for teens and up.
If you don't have an Xbox 360 but want in on the trivia action, try PlayStation 2's Buzz! The Mega Quiz, which, like Lights, Camera, Action, comes with a quartet of remote control-style controllers. Wii owners can try Electronic Arts' Smarty Pants , which has a great selection of general-knowledge questions suitable for kids 8 and up. For the PC, consider Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
