NEW YORK (CNN) -- Being a Hollywood power player may be glamorous, but today it's anything but. Your studio is deeply in the red. Your most bankable actor is throwing a tantrum, your most bankable actress is drinking away the very big raise you just gave her. You're thinking of putting her in rehab; too bad your most bankable director is already there.Such is life in "The Movies," the new PC game from Activision and Lionhead Studios. "The Movies" is a simulation game in which you build and guide your own fictional studio to fame and fortune -- or failure and bankruptcy. Like the best-selling "Sims" simulation games, "The Movies," which retails for $49.99, puts you in charge of a vibrant virtual world in which you control the destinies and moods of somewhat free-thinking characters -- in this case, actors, directors and crew members. You commission your own scripts. You cast, shoot and release the movies. And you cross your fingers on opening weekend and hope that the reviews are kind and the box office numbers are big."The Movies" starts you off in the silent-film era of the 1930s. You have to literally build your studio from the ground up. You decide the layout, from the placement of your production offices and sets right down to the details of the landscaping.But make your building decisions carefully; you're going to be stuck with them for a few virtual decades. You have to steer your studio through years of changing audience tastes, economic turmoil, and advances in moviemaking technology.With a few clicks and drags of the virtual people who show up at your new studio, you hire actors, directors and screenwriters to make your movie magic. They each come to the table with his or her own talents, abilities and personality quirks, which are represented by status meters you can easily check by clicking on each character. Some characters are moody. Some are bored easily. And some have a taste for drink. Whatever the particular quirk, you have to manage it carefully because it can affect that person's performance -- and ultimately your bottom line.Before you know it, you're cranking out movies with DreamWorks-like efficiency. Over time, you'll find yourself charting a creative direction for your studio.Because "The Movies" really is all about the movies, this game eventually gives you the option of making them yourself. In the game's moviemaking mode, you can have total control of your films, right down to the weapon your serial killer uses in your horror blockbuster. When you're done, you can post your movies online for the world to see.As close as "The Movies" comes to emulating real-life Hollywood, it isn't 100 percent accurate. Mild alcoholism is the worst actor-related scandal you'll have to deal with. And you don't have to worry about being fired because your last few movies bombed. Still, as real-life Hollywood -- and "The Movies" -- prove, make-believe can be more fun than the real thing.