survive

Alive 4-ever is a top-down, double-joystick, zombie-themed shooter with strong RPG elements and rich, gritty visuals and sound. The interface will be familiar to fans of other games with twin "virtual joysticks": you push one joystick to move and the other joystick to shoot, and you can tap touch-screen buttons to reload and swap between your one- and two-handed weapons. The display tracks your score, health, ammo, and time elapsed as you traverse dramatically lit, gore-filled levels, gunning down a variety of zombies--from your generic lumbering brain-eaters to speedy zombie dogs and "special" zombies that many … Read more

Apple recently announced that September 9 will be the date of their 2009 iPod event. For the past four years, Apple has hosted these events in San Francisco to unveil its latest generation of iPods. This year, there has been much speculation at rumor sites that Apple will introduce camera capabilities to its iPod Nano and iPod Touch media players. Many sites are also posting that we will see iTunes 9 with rumored social networking features. As with all things Apple, you can never know what its going to announce at the event, but as we get closer to September … Read more

The March 13 release of Capcom's Resident Evil 5 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (actually something like the 12th game in the series) makes it easily the highest-profile new video game of 2009 so far, and marks the end of the typically dry post-holiday game season.

We've been playing through a preview version of the game for more than a month now, and found it to be a largely successful mix of familiar and new elements. Like all the Resident Evil entries, this is essentially an action game where a somewhat generic protagonist has to travel through creepy houses, compounds, cities, or secret bases, shooting zombies, madmen, and other monsters along the way.

Two key elements separate games of this genre (the awkward Japanese translation is "survival horror") from straight-up shooters. First, there are occasional brain-twisters to solve, such as deciphering a puzzle to open a door; secondly, ammunition for one's firearms is relatively scarce, so making every shot count is important. However, RE5, like its immediate predecessor, Resident Evil 4, tones down both of these gameplay factors, at least compared with earlier games in the series, opting for a more fast-paced (some would say mainstream) approach.

What distinguishes RE5 from its forbearers and imitators is a change of scenery, moving the action to Africa, and trading the traditional Resident Evil look--dark, shadowy nighttime tableaus--for brightly lit, outdoor villages, where sunlight offers no guarantee of safety. This change throws a wrench in the classic "fear of the dark" instinct that we automatically fall back on in movies, video games, and real life. … Read more

For some time now I've only been a two-console owner, the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. I received a lot of flack from co-workers and friends for not having an Xbox 360 and was even referred to as a "Sony fanboy."

Then Valve released Left 4 Dead and a group of us from the office downloaded the demo and had a little PC LAN party. From that moment I knew I had to add that game to my library; however, it was only available for the PC and Xbox 360. I was never a big PC … Read more

Ah, the Interwebs. Via the magic of e-mail from a secret source in parts foreign we've got our mitts on a copy of a iPhone 3G survival guide--which will no doubt be standard issue with every iPhone 3G sold in, you know, Asia or somewhere.

Unfortunately, the copy of the survival guide we've secured is written in a foreign tongue (Klingon? Vogon?), but thanks to a nifty online tool, we've been able to translate it and reveal its important tips. We can't, of course, guarantee that all the translations are perfect, but we hope you'll … Read more

Anybody can turn an iPod into a mini-disco with a variety of accessories, from flashing cases to pulsating cube (though we'd hope they would resist the urge for their own sake). But in the bathtub? We thought that was reserved for Craver Caroline McCarthy and her only-in-Japan discoveries.

The concept has apparently made its way west with the "Underwater Disco Lightshow" from those cheeky monkeys at Firebox, which Chip Chick says can turn the tub into an aquatic dance floor. Just slip an iPod into the waterproof case, and Donna Summer will magically appear for the last … Read more

In September, after the Survival Research Labs show at Amsterdam's Robodock festival, tragedy struck.

One of the group's crew members, Todd Blair, was involved in an accident, and ended up in a coma, where he lay for weeks.

Recently, he's had some improvement, according to a blog chronicling his recovery, but he still remains in very bad shape.

Additionally, his medical bills have added up, and so SRL is hosting a fundraising benefit Saturday in San Francisco.

Called the Blue + Green Ball, the benefit will be at 8pm at San Francisco's SOMArts gallery, the site of … Read more

Be warned, comrades, the diabolical feline is at it again. And it will stop at nothing in its quest for world domination. It will try bribing you with riches, providing a warm blanket or even shamelessly offering to make breakfast when you sleep in late.

And like any decent evil genius, it will try to convince you that it's only here to help. That's why Sanrio has come up with a branded emergency gadget as seen on the inspirational blog Hello Kitty Hell. The all-in-one survival device includes a hand-cranked phone charger, LED flashlight, AM/FM radio, compass … Read more

If there's one piece of computer equipment that is meant to survive extreme conditions, it's the USB drive. We've seen models that are shockproof, waterproof and weatherproof, so it's not surprising that the U.S. military would come up with one that's nuke-proof too.

R&D Electronics says its "IronDrive" has been "tested for high temperature, shock, vibration, caustic agents, submersion, EMI, and nuclear stresses," making it "the ideal USB drive for harsh military and commercial environments." As Everything USB notes, the chunky drive looks as if it … Read more