Little Big Planet

There's an interesting article over at 'Wired Online' about the new DIY game engine 'Little Big Planet'. In this new PS3 game players can design and build their own game levels, with unique objects and challenges. You can find the link to the article here.

Halo 3: Cinema Paradiso

The introduction of 'Halo 3' allowed access to a new Machinima creation tool called Forge. The clip below looks at the Forge engine in  more detail.

Halo 3 'Cinema Paradiso' vidoc HD

Interactive Movie: The Outbreak

In the mid 1980s Joe Denver production a series of role-playing books called 'Lone Wolf'. As Lone Wolf, you made choices at regular intervals throughout the story which then change the course, and the final outcome, of the book. This concept of interactive fiction has been adopted for the short zombie film 'The Outbreak'. You can watch/play/interact with the film by following this link.

Second Life: Travel Guide

There's an interesting article on 'Wired' about travel within Second Life. This online  article is written in a unique way, like a 'Rough Guide' travel book it's a refreshing alternative to the normal online guides. The article can be found by following this link.

Digital Molecular Matter

DMM is a new physics technology used in 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'. This technology simulates the substance of materials, allowing 'in game' objects behave in a similar manner to their real world counterparts: glass shatters, wood splinters, metal bends.

Avatars on the Xbox 360

Major Nelson has an interesting video to show you how easy it is to create your own online persona for the Xbox 360 dashboard.

Steampunk City in Second Life

New Babbage is a steampunk themed City in Second Life, this beautifully constructed city allows its residents to role-play and be creative in a Steampunk inspired environment. See the video clip below for 'Machinima' of the city:-

Euphoria Animation Engine

The new video game 'Star Wars: The Force Unleashed' is released this week. This game is the first to use the new 'Euphoria' animation engine, created by Natural Motion its proprietary technology animates 3D characters on-the-fly "based on a full simulation of the 3D character, including body, muscles and motor nervous system". A clip of the software in action can be seen below:-

User Created Gaming

Gamasutra has an interesting article about how technology is making DIY game creation easier. The article parallels the development of the Kodak 'Brownie', which in the early 1900 made photography viable for the masses. The article can be found by following this link.

The Cyberspace Real

"One can argue that the cyberspace hypertext is this new medium in which this life experience will find its "natural," more appropriate objective correlative, so that, again, it is only with the advent of cyberspace hypertext that we can effectively grasp what Altman and Kieslowski were effectively aiming at."

Slavoj Žižek (The Cyberspace Real)

Slavoj Žižek the Post-Marxist sociologist, philosopher, and cultural critic has written an interesting paper on 'cyberspace'. In the article he examines how new technology creates new forms of narrative. You can read the full paper by following this link.

American Football Goes Virtual

The American cable company ESPN is looking to extend its domain in virtual worlds by merging video game graphics with real-life sports anchors. Developing the new technology with 'Electronic Arts' it allows ESPN commentators to interact live with realistic-looking, three-dimensional virtual players. To read more about this technology follow this link.

Second Skin Documentary

The documentary 'Second Skin' takes an intimate look at computer gamers whose lives have been transformed by the emergence of MMOs. You can find out about the documentary and watch the trailer from this link.

Game & Movie Convergence

Reuters the online news agency has an interesting interview with Japanese game designer Hideo Kojima. The creator of the 'Metal Gear Solid' franchise talks about how the video game and movie industry is converging. Find the link to this article here.

Machinima Blog

Welcome to my Machinima blog
This blog is a study of the emerging film genre of 'Machinima', and an investigation - through the use of practice - as to whether the creation of films within virtual environments, Second Life, World of Warcraft et al, can offer new opportunities for access and creativity.