Post from Cody Brown:
Historians of the phenomenon generally refer to 1996 as the birth of machinima, a date coinciding with the release of Quake. The original Quake engine was released with a feature that allowed players to record a demo file of their multiplayer matches. 
At first these movies were just recordings of the exact screen data witnessed during play. Early Quake machinimas were created by players performing various actions while being directed and recorded by another player. Eventually software was developed that allowed recamming. Recamming made it possible to change camera positions and set key frames within the recorded demo files. Ultimately this software allowed for cuts and fades, titling, and even audio dubs. The constant evolution of game engines, recording software, and the rise of desktop non-linear video editors have all contributed to machinima as we know it today.
The medium received a popular spike of interest in 1999 when The Red Hot Chili Peppers released the music video for Californication directed by Jonathan Dayton and produced at/by Pixel Envy Studios. The video depicted digitalized versions of the band members rendered in typical video game situations. The video was completely CGI with a video game-like aesthetic using DV footage of the band members as reference points. The game was not machinima. However, it was in reference to this video that I heard the word machinima for the first time on MTV.
If youre interested getting into the machinima scene, there are two websites with which to start. They both offer links to ongoing machinima series online--articles, helper apps, tutorials, and even contests. The first one is Machinima.com which has a great recommended viewings section complete with links. The second is The Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences located at Machinima.org. The Academy is a fledgling professional organization so the site has noticeably less meaty content than Machinima.com. If youre just curious and want to check out a series on the fly, you need to watch Red Vs. Blue. It is an ongoing series (currently on active hiatus while the second season is in production) based on the Bungie game Halo.
Machinima will soon be brought to the masses courtesy of Lionhead Studios' The Movies Game, which is expected to be release for the PC, PS2, Gamecube, and Xbox sometime in the first half of 2004. The Movies is a simulation game where you build and manage your own movie studio. At first the game just sounds like another Zoo Tycoon or Sims expansion, but The Movies is much more. In The Movies, you can reportedly choose scripts, hire cast and crew, block and direct action, and then you actually film the project and save it as a mini-movie. Additionally players will be able to post these machinima mini-movies on the net and participate in on-line film festivals. If it is pulled off, the scope of this game will be astounding. You really need to go to the site and read about all the features they are including. This could seriously blown open some doors; especially if a future version incorporates online multi-player functions.
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