We've seen so many machinima that we've come to expect them to be funny or parodying other games. The Strange Company has made a machinima from the World of Warcraft that just oozes social consciousness.

Well, it was intended to be that way. The Strange Company is part of a project called Fair Game, which features machinima ads from popular games for Fair Trade products. What's it about? In the video, we see a farmer who sells Runecloths for a measly price. The orcs in suits horde the Runecloths and well, get rich with by selling it at steeper prices. It's the same thing with Third World coffee and cocoa farmers and the big corporations.

With this machinima, let's hope that Fair Trade gets more support. Which reminds me of WoW economy as well, is there still hording at the AH?

Since the new year is here (or has come and gone for you), it's time to have a bit of fun. Instead of talking about Saddam Hussein's hanging or the impending zombie apocalypse, I've decided to come up with a short list of my favorite game-related vids.

I've always had a penchant for picking up videos. For the most part, I find videos of games here and there, and sometimes, some of those videos just stick in your head long after you've seen them.

Here are my top five game-related bits of weirdness, which anyone with a degree in googling can hunt down and download for themselves. In no particular order...

Street Fighter Salsa

I do some ballroom dancing myself, so this was funny to watch. As you can see, this is a Korean salsa competition where the contestants are playing Ryu and Chun Li. Definitely weird, but you can see some of the obvious Street Fighter references in their routine, giving this a definite spot in my top 5.

Less ballroom, more weirdness if you click on "Full Article".

Ed Wood, Jr. is an old B-movie director who made films that were so bad, they were good - if you're the B-movie type. On All Hallow's Eve, Alt-Zoom and the denizens of Second Life will celebrate the spirit of Ed Wood with a user-created film festival dedicated to machinima that's so bad, they're good. Or at least worth a Razzie.

Time to screw up the production value, boys and girls.

All the machinima to be submitted for this Ed Wood Machinima Festival, the second to be held by Alt-Zoom, revolve around the theme of "A Zombie Stole My Heart."  At stake is 60,000 Linden dollars of prize money for:

• Worst Film
• Worst Story
• Worst Acting
• Worst Costumes, and
• Most Disturbing Film

All the nominees will be screened in Second Life, at Alt-Zoom's theater in Lukandia. They'll most definitely qualify, since Alt-Zoom only gave them the weekend to complete their projects - haste and a low budget make sucky machinima. (And falling in love with zombies just happens to be the perfect formula for a B-machinema waiting to happen).

Not long ago, the art of "machinema" - creating movies using video games - was an experimental hobby practiced by a few gamers looking to do something different. Machinema film-making seems to be catching on in a big way, however, as game manufacturers have raised the quality of demo videos to the level of cinematic art.

Not surprisingly, we're starting to see increasing interest on the part of various MMORPG communities in films using their particular games.  The Saga of Ryzom forum member Kibs has invited all interested parties to an Atysian film-makers conference on the Zora Stage this coming Saturday, 22 July at 8 PM UTC (that's 4 PM EDT). Open to people from all shards, this conference will be an opportunity for budding directors to get acquainted and exchange ideas.

The Zora Stage is located on the Arispotle Shard. Kip says if you don't have an Arispotle character and would like to attend, create a new Zorai character on Arispotle and talk to Chiang about coming to the mainland. Topics that will be covered at the conference:

• What film-making software is used
• Good resources for free music
• Exchanging ideas about genres
• Mutual support in making videos
• Hosting/promoting videos to the Ryzom community and the world beyond Atys
• Selection of a central host site for Atysian videos

The discussion thread is available at the Ryzom forum in English and German. It is hoped that someone will be able to translate the posts into French as well. TSOR is published by the French gaming company Nevrax, and is unique in that the gamers are able to shape and determine the direction of the game to a much larger degree via the "Ryzom Ring."

More and more gaming fans who are also film buffs are finding that their games are more than just a pleasant diversion - they're virtual movie studios, complete with actors, sets and cameras. The "virtual actors" can be as temperamental and unpredictable as their real-life Hollywood counterparts - but that's another subject. Suffice it to say that "machinema" filmmakers encounter many of the same challenges as "real life" film makers.

This little gem was discovered on an Everquest II forum. At over six minutes, its a fairly good length for a machinema film. As such, one can figure that they probably had at least an hour of footage. This music video has some wonderfully done cinematography, and tells a vivid story with nothing but images - making it one of the best examples of machinema art.

As a frustrated Hollywood filmmaker wannabe, I find "machinema" films just about the most exciting new development in recent years. A great "democratizer," low-cost, high-powered PCs and cutting edge game animation now allow nearly anyone willing to learn a few "modding" tricks to realize that Hollywood dream.

And there's great stuff out there, too - you've seen a lot of it right here at QJ. Most of the promotional gaming videos we bring you are wonderful examples of machinema art. This particular one is a mock news story about one of the features of World of Warcraft - The Burning Crusade. The subject is a hard-drinking, overgrown Dwarven warrior with a bad Scottish accent and a bad hairstyle as he takes his dragon out for a spin.

It's good to know that WoW fans don't take themselves or their game too seriously. In any event, whether or not you're a hard-core WoW gamer or not, check out the video and enjoy a funny - and very well done - example of machinema art.


Download: [WoW Flying Mount]

For any of you gamers who Hate Their Jobs working in a fast-food kitchen, dealing with loud, obnoxious, rude customers, putting up with a supervisor who is little more than a tin-plated dictator with delusions of godhood, working long, high-pressure hours in a steaming hot kitchen on weekends when you've made other plans - all this for the bargain price of $5.15 an hour...you may just want to check this out.

"Machinema" is the art of making original films using game figures, models and animations. While this particular 90 seconds of hilarity was made using the "stop action" method" (similar to "Claymation," using 3d models instead of clay), it's hard to tell this isn't a session of FF that slipped out of its "normal" setting and into a bizarre world of deep-fat fryers and paper hats. Created by Cartoon Network's Robot Chicken, Final Fantasy VII: With Burgers and Fries, can be viewed below.