Games are Used for TV Productions
I had to read the article twice to really get the scope of what we are talking about here. What enthusiasts and gamers have been doing for a while under the machinima brand big TV corporations are starting to mimic and using footage from games to prep up there documentaries. So the days of realtime film creation without lenses, tapes weather conditions and acting up actors are nearing an end? I would say not yet - only in speciality films - but ask me again in five years and my answer will definitely different. Now if someone would make a "film" engine that I can load with my own character (with their own behaviours) and own environments an life like cameras and a focus on realism at 25p 720x576 rather then ultra high frame rate high res low poly - it would be a good start. More on the World War II discovery channel production on wired.com
Update: Just on the heals of this story comes anyother one via boingboing that apperently some french independent film makers have completed a whole film using Activisions "The Movie" - a game made to make movies. Sounds cool so far ONLY that Activision is claiming all rights to the finished pieces in their prohibitive Eula. Well there is hope that the open source crowd will come up with something similar soon.