Carey DeVuono's Hollywood Mogul is a computer game released in 1993 that allows players act as entrepreneurs to take charge of a movie studio. It was conceived, designed and published solely by Carey DeVuono. An economic simulation game, players can choose movie plots to use for a movie, set production budgets and select the talent as well. The game's goal is to create movies that sell well. Players must juggle the added concerns of movie budgets, cost over-runs, and irritable actors and directors in order to succeed. The original DOS version was written in Visual Basic. A Microsoft Windows version was released in 1997. A sequel, Hollywood Mogul 3, was released in late 2006. A pre-release was given to message board members and long-term fans on September 26, 2006.
Game mechanics
Hollywood Mogul has five difficulty levels to choose from, each with higher annual budgets. A higher annual budget causes higher monthly expenses, making it more difficult to keep the studio profitable, which provides a greater challenge to the player.
Movies come in fifteen set genres, ranging from comedy to drama to science fiction, as well as six subgenres such as "farce" or "slapstick". Movies can rise and fall depending on what genre they are and what time of year they are released. Acting, screenwriting and directing talent also play a great role in the success of a film. More popular talent costs more to hire, but have the benefit of raising the noticeability of a film. Likewise, production budget, special effects budgets and advertising play a big role as well.
Recognition
Computer Gaming Worlds reviewer in April 1994 said that despite Hollywood Moguls "crude visual look... I have found myself spending dozens of hours as a Hollywood bigwig rather than playing dozens of more expensive and graphically sexy games". Despite the lack of limited or award season-oriented releases, he concluded that it "is a fascinating exercise for the detail-oriented gamer" preferring statistics over action or visuals. The magazine ranked Hollywood Mogul as one of the top three strategy games of all time in the magazine's 20th anniversary issue. In February 2002, it was inducted to the Hall of Belated Fame by Home of the Underdogs.
