Their reaction was pretty much the same reaction I have to a new Halo game. I think, "Hooray! I shall be at the same skill level as many other people for a short period of time!" Unfortunately that short period of time is around 15 minute, give or take, so the elation generally doesn't last long. After a half hour, the advanced players have already found out how to teleport directly into the game's code to attack the AI programming, while I am still trying to not sticky grenade myself.

The series revolves around the new Mission Architect being released in City of Heroes, with Captain Dynamic, whose superpowers include "super stuff", hiring a writing team to spice up his adventures. His demands are relatively simple. He just wants missions that level him up incredibly quick, with as little effort as possible. I don't see why saving a kitten from a tree isn't worthy of a crystal fortress.

Not Rooster Teeth's best work, but there are a few laughs to be had. Things pick up a little in episode 2, when we discover Captain Dynamic's amazing ability to make letters with his arms.

Now, clearly, these are production values in the upper 1 percentile, and we'd expect no less of Rooster Teeth, and I'm not gonna hate on it. But can I ask a question? How come any elected-office character in a military-genre movie has to have a condescending Southern accent?

It's like a British friend of mine once said about the stereotype of his accent: "If I am in a Star Wars movie, then I command the Death Star."

That said, I can't wait to see (and hear) where this is headed.

RVB: Reconstruction {Rooster Teeth, embedded video courtesy of Slackerchan at Gametrailers]

Before everone gets their panties in a bunch - THE VIDEO ABOVE IS NOT THE PSA THAT IS AVAILABLE ON XBOX LIVE. Instead, it's an example another video Rooster Teeth have done before with their Red Vs. Blue series for the New York Video Festival's Wild Wild Web Program. Equally as funny, but the walkthrough available on XBL is way funnier.

So sit back, relax, and enjoy. Kim Phu

Red Vs. Blue Halo 3 Beta PSA HD [Major Nelson]

Series co-creator Burnie Burns posted on the RvB forums this Sunday, making the announcement and hinting at what's to come.

One hundred is a great number, and it seems like the perfect place to call it a show. I am sure you have some questions about our plans for the series and beyond. We will be talking about all of that in the weeks and months to come, but I want to use this time to thank all of you for nearly half a decade of support. For now, it's back to work.

Is this really the end or just a much needed reboot prior to the release of Halo 3? We'll know more soon, I'm sure. Michael McWhertor

Thank You [Red Vs. Blue Rooster Teeth Forums]

Personally, I was a little slow as a kid, so until they start making stop-motion Duplo films I'm afraid I am missing out on the important nostalgia factor here. Michael Fahey

Oblong Pictures [Thanks Mr. Chunks!]

Now that video games are on the road to being considered an art form, perhaps they'll get an ostentacious awards ceremony complete with a red carpet and Joan Rivers. Ok, well maybe not Joan Rivers... no, make that definitely not Joan Rivers.

Machinima Festival Opening [Tra5hTa1k]

Simply put, machinima is making movies using video games. On Nov. 12 at the Museum of the Moving image in Astoria, New York, the 2005 Machinima Awards will be doled out.

With video games, developers are telling their own stories, but now, through machinima filmmakers are telling new stories within the game engine's parameters. The guys over at Red Vs. Blue have made a futuristic M.A.S.H.. Where popular mods for PC games modify the graphics and the experience, machinima allows users to modify and create their own storylines in their own universe.

Third Annual Machinima Film Festival Announced [Gamasutra]

Clive Thompson has a an interesting, though oddly dated, story in the New York Time Magazine this past weekend about machinima, the artistic blending of in-game footage and voice acting to create cinema.

The seven-page piece does a nice job of hitting some of the high-points of the art form, like Red Vs. Blue and Strangerhood, but still manages to feel like it's written in a vacuum. There's no sense of why it was written when it was written or where machinima is headed and there are some real mach gems that Thompson passes over. It is nice to see Rooster Teeth getting the Times treatement, I was just hoping for some sort epiphany.

The Xbox Auteurs [NYT Magazine]