The first of the year is marked by a flurry of awards shows rewarding supposedly extraordinary work in a chosen profession or field of endeavor. I find most of these shows to be self-serving and insincere. However, I have found one achievement award I can get behind fully — the Mackies! For those of you not in the know, the Mackie awards Machinima filmmakers for their work. The films are judged by the Academy of Machinima Arts and Sciences. The 2006 awards have been posted on the Machinima.org Web site.

Comedy was a major theme of the 2006 entries, which is amazing to me — not only have these creative people made short films using computer games, they actually achieved the comedic timing necessary to elicit a laugh or two. My favorite is Male Restroom Etiquette. Check them out.