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wonders

Top 10 music Blu-ray discs

I've received so many great-sounding Blu-rays over the past couple of months, I had to put together a Top 10 list.

A lot of them didn't make the cut; just because a Blu-ray has a high-resolution soundtrack doesn't automatically mean it sounds great; the variables of the original recordings and mixing can make or break the sound. For example, Tom Petty's "Mojo" Blu-ray doesn't sound much better than the CD version of the same music, but it does have an uninspired 5.1 surround mix. All of the following discs are distinctly better … Read more

Ads galore

We love puzzle games, and we frequently have trouble tearing ourselves away from them. We have to admit, though, that we were happy to stop playing 7 Wonders II. The game itself isn't so bad, but the obtrusive advertising it comes with annoyed us thoroughly.

To install 7 Wonders II, users must first download the Free Ride Player, which then allows users to download the actual game. Although the player is a mere 720K, 7 Wonders II is 25MB. We didn't love the fact that Free Ride Player downloaded three additional games without asking for our permission, either. … Read more

Easy image conversion

We see a lot of photo conversion programs, and most of them are of approximately the same quality, neither outstanding nor awful. JPG/JPEG Photo Converter is another such program, solidly in the middle of a pack of programs that neither impress nor disappoint.

The program's interface is quite basic, consisting of one screen that contains all of the program's features. This application does allow for a fair amount of customization, and is perhaps a bit more feature-intensive than other photo converters. Users can set the output width and size, adjust the quality, and rotate and flip the … Read more

Flashback 1989--Gaming 20 years ago

I found an old issue of Video Games & Computer Entertainment magazine in an ancient cardboard box filled with stuff I somehow saved from my years at summer camp. Dated July 1989, it's more than 20 years old--and it's an incredible reminder of how quickly things can change.

Besides the god-awful layout by modern standards, I found a few notable shocks when thumbing through the issue:

Game ads have addresses to write to and phone numbers to call, since there were no Web links yet. The TurboGrafx-16 preview, featured on the front cover, boasts how the $199 console … Read more

DSiWare, WiiWare, and Virtual Console releases for this week

This week brings Dr. Mario to the DSi and Wonderboy to the Virtual Console. DSiWare Dr. Mario Express (Nintendo, 500 DSi Points): The classic color-matching puzzle game makes its way to the Nintendo portable in Dr. Mario Express. Play alone or against the computer in the race to fight off viruses. Master of Illusion Express: Deep Psyche (Nintendo, 200 DSi Points): Continuing the series of magic tricks for your DSi, Deep Psyche will ask you a number of questions in order to reveal a startling truth. WiiWare Crystal Defenders R1 (SQUARE ENIX, 800 Wii points): See how many encroaching monsters … Read more

WonderCon: Where Droids, cosplayers, and authors collide

WonderCon 2009 might've had a smaller crowd than in previous years--it certainly felt that way walking the convention floor at San Francisco's Moscone Center. Just don't tell anyone who was there.

From lectures on superhero physics, to an impressively diverse display of costumes, to discussions with Pulitzer Prize-winning authors and fan-favorite writers, San Francisco was the place to be for fanboys and fangirls last weekend. There were even deals on Obama comics.

While fans combed the floor for deals, CNET's Eric Franklin was there to document even more WonderCon action.

Inside CNET Labs 32: And then he left. That's it.

Don't panic! The title is actually in reference to Dong's idea of what a punch line for a joke should be. Yeah, Dong attempts to tell an elaborate joke that, honestly, falls flat; however, this does not mean the joke wasn't hilarious. Oxymoron? Only someone who has not heard the episode would think that. So start listening!

At some point during this episode, I actually get Dong to talk about comics and comic book movies, without him turning into an ignorant, negative Nancy. Speaking of comics, I'm writing this having just seen the "Wonder Woman&… Read more