Lengthier Machinima

Hmmm...just noticed some longer productions coming out (note, I have not seen most of these):

• Stolen Life by Nanoflix (total run time is?). Trailer d/l here.
• China Tracy: i.mirror (via NWN - part #1, #2, #3 - approx. 30 min.).
• Garry's mod mentions the upcoming release of War of the Servers DVD? (80 min. - have not heard about this till now - site).
• Simanticus's Apocalypse Syndrome Ep. 1 (25 min. - it has caused a lot of controversy lately - site).

Of course there were others before this. RvB and Bloodspell come to mind as long running productions (and there are probably others). But what is interesting is that some of these new machinima productions are being released immediately on DVD, and others are available as lengthier chunks to either view or download.

This is both a blessing and a problem. On the one hand the fact that we are seeing lengthier productions that mirror the length of feature films means that the movement is maturing. On the other hand there are significant barriers to the distribution of these longer films. Of course this is the same problem that is happening to film in general on the web, but film has a long history of theatrical releases first and then secondary releases in other media whereas machinima has grown up during the maturation of the internet that has let this burgeoning art form grow and mature (ie. many avenues for downloading/viewing the typical short machinima clip).

Will this time point be a significant one wherein machinima hits its stride right at the exact moment that the capabilities of feature length film distribution on the web come in to play or will it prove to be a barrier as the floodgates open and what was once a barren wasteland of mentos/diet coke fountains and "look at me" videos now becomes saturated with high quality professional productions that will soak up the netizen's eyeballs?

The competition is about to get fierce.