The thing about camp, i.e. the utter failure of seriousness, is that it's often difficult to judge whether it's intentional or not. The live-action cutscenes populating EA's (and Westwood's before that) Command & Conquer games have always had an aura of sincere goofiness about them, the source of which can be traced to somewhat respected actors playing all-too-silly roles all too seriously. But is this done on purpose, or did the director read about "tongue-in-cheek storytelling" in a review somewhere and just decide to go with that?

Either way, we're more than happy to see EA unveil a "star studded" cast (complete list after the break) for Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, which includes George Takei, Tim Curry and J.K. Simmons, who plays the "anti-communist U.S. President." Simmons, who doesn't give a wooden nickel about your legacy, thinks video games "are one of the new frontiers for actors" and thought of the role as a "great opportunity for a character actor like me to have some fun."

Also allowed to open her mouth in the press release: Jenny McCarthy, who plays Allied commando Tanya. "What I realized is Red Alert 3 is not just a video game, it's absolutely an interactive movie. This is where the people at home get to move the story forward, and where seeing the plot thicken is a reward for a job well done." In case you weren't aware, "that's really cool."

Red Alert 3 is out on Xbox 360 and PC this fall in both regular and Premier editions.

Sci-fi sex alien Natasha Henstridge of Species fame will join the cast of Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath, as will former Alias star Carl Lumbly, better known around these parts as the voice of J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter on the Justice League animated series.

The pair will join veteran C&C actor Joe Kucan, a.k.a. Kane, as the central characters in the upcoming expansion, which will cover 20 years of in-game history, from the rebirth of the Brotherhood of Nod following the second Tiberium War to events beyond that of the most recent game.

The use of digitized actors is something of a ghost of gaming past, but Command & Conquer has nonetheless continued to embrace tradition in using live actors in its games, and any news that gives us an excuse to (go)ogle Natasha Henstridge is just fine by us.

If you're the sort that hungers for the golden age of the adventure game, you may find what you're looking for in Fate by Numbers, a free, episodic FMV adventure that had its first episode released recently. The futuristic noir is not just unique because of its genre but also for the way it came to fruition, the end result of a graduate school project. We asked director Paul van der Meer to tell us a bit more about how he and his team created their game for just a hair over $2,000.

First off, maybe you can tell us a bit about the inception of the game, how did this all get started?

The game was made by four students. Rudi Nagelhout (programming), Roy Heijdra (video composite), Winne Willems (producing) and me (game design). We started thinking about the game in our third year of our study, called Communication and Multimedia Design (Breda, the Netherlands). It's a creative study that combines technology with art and creativity.

We knew we had to make a personal project at the end of it. But we thought we could make something bigger when we combined our forces. We couldn't do a film, since it wasn't a film school. But we're also gamers and we love games like Gabriel Knight, Monkey Island, Broken Sword and Blade Runner. We also liked FMV adventures and wondered if we could do something similar.

Today's most-popular GameTrailers video is a trailer for Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. RTS fans hope that the third C&C title lives up to the classic original, and the early word is that the March (PC) game should be fun.

RTS aside, we're most excited about the return of full-motion videos with real actors. Bring on the emotion.

Watch the FMV-free trailer after the break, and take a peak at a bonus video from last year that shows Joe Kucan as Kane.