We love video games. We love movies. Why shouldn't we love movies that are made within video games? That's exactly what machinima is, if you're unfamiliar with the term. Gamers across the world use every trick in the books to make films out of video games, from putting black bars over the UI, to simply pointing a camera at the television. Due to the growing popularity of machinima, recent games like Halo 3 and Half-Life 2 (with Garry's Mod) give directors many more tools to enhance their trade.

Full Life Consequences

Words can't really describe how awesome this movie is. Full Life Consequences is a rather creative look at the life of Gordon Freeman's brother, John Freeman. Using the incredibly popular Garry's Mod, Full Life Consequences will either leave you dying from laughter or scratching your head in confusion. Be sure to check out the sequel as well.

Ignis Solus

Ignis Solus is on the opposite end of the spectrum compared to most machinima films. Will the majority of pieces tend to be humor-related, Ignis Solus falls into the more "artsy" category. Though it'll manage to get a good chuckle out of you a few times, the story of a lone pyro on 2fort can have a much more profound impact thanks to its great cinematography and soundtrack.

Make Love Not Warcraft

South Park's episode entitled "Make Love Not Warcraft" is probably the best known machinima. By devoting an entire episode to the game, with a good portion using in-game graphics, South Park parodied World of Warcraft to a degree that hasn't been matched. Head over to www.southparkstudios.com and watch the full episode free of charge. You'll find it listed under season 10.

A Day in the Life of a Turret

If you've ever wondered what the life of a turret from Portal would be like, look no further. Who knew a simple machine designed solely to deal out death could inspire such creativity? The film even features a guest appearance by the fan favorite Weighted Companion Cube. If you don't get it, you should feel terrible about yourself and go play Portal right now.

Red vs. Blue

What would a machinima list be without Red vs. Blue, the series that introduced thousands of gamers to the art for the first time? Even if you're not a big fan of the Halo series, Red vs. Blue is a great example of directors working around the limitations of a game to make an entertaining film.