Geek culture

Batman: Arkham City turns Hollywood into Gotham

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.--To celebrate today's release of the eagerly awaited Batman: Arkham City, Rocksteady Studios and Warner Brothers Interactive last night transformed the GameStop store on the outer fringes of Hollywood into a mini Gotham City where bleary eyed fans could snag a late-night copy of the PS3 and Xbox 360 title.

About 200 fans of varying ages (some in event-appropriate costumed attire) waited patiently outside the store until the doors opened and the store welcomed them into a mock-up of the game's seedy urban world. Those in attendance had a chance to meet game writer Paul Dini, and they could win prizes (such as two life-size Batman statues on display). … Read more

Mask of you the creepiest Halloween costume yet

Forget shot-in-the-head Osama bin Laden or this really weird clown. The creepiest costume out there this Halloween hits closer to home--it's you.

Japan's Real-f can make you a mask of yourself that's so realistic it's more unsettling than a trip through the Uncanny Valley--it's like buying a condo there. They're called "The Realface" mask and Real-f creates them using a technology it calls Three-Dimension Photo Form, or 3DPF.

The basic concept behind 3DPF is to take a photo and physical impressions of the face and combine all that shape and coloring data into a detailed 3D model.… Read more

Super Mario theme levels up 8-bit wedding

Geek love manifests itself in many ways. You can have a computer conduct the ceremony or beam a bridesmaid in on an iPad. Or you can choose a romantic Super Mario Brothers theme for your special day.

Mario's dedicated quest to find his princess has emerged as a metaphor for real-life nerd love before. We know of at least one guy who proposed to his lady through Super Mario.

More recently, designer and artist Larry Quach was pressed into service for his friends' video game-inspired wedding. Bride Esther Tanouye specifically wanted to kick it old school with an 8-bit Super Mario theme. … Read more

Meet the new Tetris world champs

Make sure you watch where you point your bricks, because there are some new Tetris sheriffs in town.

The annual Tetris World Championships, held on the University of Southern California campus over the weekend, crowned several new kings of the classic puzzler. Hundreds of players competed on Sony's PlayStation 3 and the classic Nintendo NES console for an official Tetris trophy and more than $5,000 in cash and prizes.

The matches were decided by whoever faltered first by accumulating a game-ending tower of bricks; the tournament bracket had several interesting stipulations to make the epic brick battle more adventurous. … Read more

The 404 926: Where Siri ratted us out (podcast)

We didn't think it would take this long, but somebody finally exploited the iPhone 4S to catch a cheater using the new Find My Friend app on iOS 5.

The scary part of this story, though, is how easy it is to use GPS to lurk on your S.O. using Google Latitude or any one of these mobile spy apps.

In that same vein, today we're chatting about our favorite tech pranks along with the latest news headlines that include BlackBerry freebies, iPhone record breaking, cell phone bill shock, and a fishy story out of Sesame Street.

… Read more

Dress up your iPod Touch for Halloween

You've already gotten yourself an Angry Birds green pig Halloween costume. Now your poor iPod Touch feels left out of all the festivities. Bring it into the fold with the new Faces case from Griffin.

The silicone Faces case makes your device look like it stepped out from an episode of "Ren & Stimpy." It is available in either hot pink or bright blue with interchangeable mouths and eyes.

… Read more

Grand Theft Auto III beats its way onto tablets, phones

You've filled your smartphone and tablet with everything from social apps to multimedia packages to games featuriing disgruntled ornithology.

You can take photos, play music, tweet, make phone calls, and reserve a table for dinner.

But, until you can steal a late-model sports car while abusing a woman of ill repute, you may not be entirely complete as a gadget owner. Enter Grand Theft Auto III: The 10th Anniversary Edition for your iOS and Android devices. … Read more

preGame 61: Batman: Arkham City, Sonic Generations

Today on preGame we venture into the dark and ominous world of Batman: Arkham City. It'll be tough following up one of 2009's games of the year, but from what we've been able to play, we think the team at Rocksteady Studios nailed it.

Next, we'll be showing off an incredible amount of gameplay we were recently treated to for the upcoming game Sonic Generations. In this veritable Sonic all-star game, players can play as "new" and "old" Sonic in a collection of 2D and 3D levels. We've got Sega's Aaron Webber in the studio to explain the process involved in creating such an epic Sonic experience for fans new and old.

Got an idea for preGame? E-mail us! pregame [at] cnet [dot] com.

Be sure to subscribe to the show: RSS (video) | iTunes (video)… Read more

The 404 925: Where Justin is a son of a beach (podcast)

Bridget Carey just got back from the launch of the iPhone 4S at the Apple store here in Manhattan, so we pull her into the studio to tell us about all the kooks lined up for first dibs.

Despite all the problems users are experiencing with iOS 5 updates, everyone in line at the store left with a 4S, though Bridget tells us not many users were anxious to test out Sprint or Verizon's network. Where's Wilson today? Guess.… Read more