combat

Death Rally is an iOS adaptation of (and homage to) the classic, much-loved top-down PC racer of the same name. Much like its predecessor, Death Rally has a gritty feel (although much more PG than on the PC) and some of the best racing gameplay and graphics on its platform.

At its most basic, Death Rally is a 2D arcade racer in which you duke it out for pole position in short, brutal races against multiple opponents, with some help from your guns. You control your car with a virtual left joystick (the lack of fancy controls means you need … Read more

A watchdog group that is also a longtime Google ally on copyright issues, has accused the company of being hypocritical when it recently removed a controversial music app from its app store.

Two weeks ago, CNET reported that Grooveshark, a music service that provides free access to songs by enabling users to post their own music to the site, had seen its app banned from the Android Market. It later came out that Google acted after receiving a complaint about Grooveshark from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group for the four largest record companies. The search … Read more

Atari's Greatest Hits lets you relive the early history of video gaming, giving you tons of old-school arcade and Atari 2600 hits on your iPhone. But it's not without flaws. Games like the original Asteroids, Tempest, Gravitar, Crystal Castles, and many more are available via in-app purchases packaged with their associated Atari 2600 games and some extras. In other words, the Atari Greatest Hits app itself is free, but if you want to play Tempest, for example, you'll need to buy the Tempest pack (99 cents), which comes with Tempest, Tempest for Atari 2600, Outlaw (2600), and … Read more

It's Tuesday, right? That means it's the perfect day to indulge my love of alliteration and toss out a twofer. Also, I couldn't decide which of these two items was the "winning" deal, so I'm giving them equal time.

First up: TV deals seem to be on the rise these days--meaning prices are falling. Today only, Dell has the Sharp LC42SB48UT 42-inch LCD HDTV for $444.99 shipped (plus sales tax in some states).

That's a crazy-good price on a 42-inch TV, especially when you consider that the average 32-incher still sells for … Read more

WASHINGTON--Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said they want Google to appear before them to discuss upcoming antipiracy legislation as well as accusations that the search company profits from illegal file sharing.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee's chairman, invited a Google, Verizon, the Authors Guild and other companies with a stake in the online copyright fight to appear to give their views about a controversial bill Leahy is preparing to reintroduce in the Senate this year. The legislation would hand the government sweeping powers to take down alleged pirate sites and attempt to cut off their revenue sources. … Read more

WASHINGTON, D.C.--Torrents and the founders of The Pirate Bay won't be anywhere near the marbled halls of the U.S. Capitol, but their influence will play a part during a hearing taking place here today before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the committee's chairman, has called the hearing to garner testimony from some of the companies that could be asked to accept greater responsibility in the government's antipiracy efforts. Leahy is expected to reintroduce legislation into the Senate this year called the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), and he's … Read more

Supporters of an antipiracy bill introduced into the Senate last year appear ready to put some pressure on one of the legislation's chief opponents.

Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, was instrumental in blocking the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) late last year. COICA was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and passed in that committee unanimously. But it was derailed when Wyden opposed it. Individual senators can place holds on pending legislation.

Since the legislation was introduced very late in the prior congressional session, Wyden's opposition forced supporters … Read more

The U.S. Senate judiciary committee will take another crack at arming the government with broad antipiracy powers.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the judiciary committee's chairman, said today that the government must take action against "online criminals" who harm American jobs by obtaining the nation's intellectual property without paying for it. Leahy made the statements as he laid out the committee's agenda for this session of Congress.

In September, Leahy introduced legislation called the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, which could boast bipartisan support and unanimously passed in the judiciary committee, but failed to … Read more

commentary For nearly a decade, major music and film companies have lamented the loss of revenue and jobs that they blame on illegal file sharing. During that time they have lobbied lawmakers and enforcement agencies for antipiracy help.

But after reading reports from the FBI and Department of Justice about efforts to protect the nation's intellectual property, I was stunned to find so few cases involving online file sharing. Among the "significant" prosecutions the DOJ listed in 2010, only one involved the illegal distribution of digital media over the Web. In April, the DOJ won a conviction … Read more