There’s a phenomenon sweeping the web. While it’s not new, it’s only now starting to garner real attention. Machinimas, or movies created using in-game footage from today’s graphically advanced gaming platforms and Web 2.0 social games (like Second Life) are gaining popularity amongst the general public. Machinimas have been around in one form or another since the time of the original Quake videogame from ID Software Studios. But these largely consumer-made mini-cinemas are now starting to show up in the main stream. Remember the Toyota Tacoma/Worlds of Warcraft commercial? That wasn’t a mash up; it was a Machinima.