gaming

AUSTIN, Texas--Professional video gaming could be the next great sport--and the one that will be the choice of the digital generation.

That was the prediction of a panel on the future of the sport at the South by Southwest Interactive (SXSWi) conference here Friday.

Speaking with video game instant-messaging company Xfire's CEO, Adam Boyden, an impressive cross-section of the professional video game industry talked at length about why their chosen sport could join football, baseball, soccer, and basketball at the top of the athletics heap in the future.

Joining Boyden on-stage were Jason Lake, a former property attorney, and … Read more

If you're looking for a fun and retro way to kill a few minutes this weekend, The Tetris Game offers up a simple freeware version of the classic game. There's no frills here, but anybody who's got a craving for that four-block goodness will probably find this rendition instantly satisfying.

The controls are mapped to your keyboard's arrow keys. Up rotates the piece, left and right shift it in one direction or another, and down accelerates the rate of descent. Pieces come in red, green, gray, yellow, and blue. You can save your high scores or … Read more

The long-awaited iPhone software development kit, which will be released in June, was finally unveiled Thursday.

And with it came a few applications, developed in a couple weeks by some very high-profile names in tech. Apple demonstrated seven new applications in a variety of categories: business, communications, and games.

• Touch FX: Adds Photo Booth-style effects to a photo using your finger on the iPhone touch screen. Pinch or tap to introduce fun-house mirror style effects.

• Touch Fighter: The first official game for the iPhone, developed by Apple engineers over two weeks. You fly through space and steer by … Read more

Whether we're bracing for a major meltdown or shrugging off a minor slump, everyone wants to know what "recession" will mean for each industry. Here's an analysis of one sector in particular--video games. Are games poised to survive a downturn or take a nosedive?

Read the full report on MSNBC: "Is the video-game industry recession-proof?"

For anyone who follows alternate-reality games (ARGs), it should come as no surprise that the latest entry in the genre, The Lost Ring, is the brainchild of, among others, Jane McGonigal.

Until now, it was only suspected--though with extremely high levels of confidence--that the game, which is centered on helping a fictional amnesiac woman named Ariadne discover her identity, was a promotional vehicle for this summer's Beijing Olympics.

But McGonigal, who is keynoting at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin on Tuesday, confirmed to me that the game was in fact designed in collaboration with the International … Read more

If you want to feel the action in your gaming chair but don't feel like dropping $22,500 for a racing simulator, you can at least get some old-school kinetics from the "BoomPod."

The latest game seat from LumiSource doesn't rely on artificial stimulants from the likes of a "ButtKicker Gamer" or "D-Box." Instead, you have to do most of the work yourself by rocking on its "rounded bottom for multi-directional tilt"--in other words, it's like trying to play while balancing on an exercise ball.

It does appear … Read more

Some people will go to great lengths to conceal their gaming activities, even going so far as to purchase an elaborate workstation that's obviously meant to facilitate their addiction. But for those who aren't ashamed to flaunt their virtual prowess, especially on the digital raceway, something like this is more in order.

The "Virtual GT Personal Racing Simulator" takes its genre to the extreme, securing you behind the wheel with a high-performance gaming computer, built-in speakers, MasterCraft racing seat, force-feedback steering wheel, and four "vibration transducers" that, if working properly, could make you sick … Read more

Gary Gygax helped keep me out of trouble when I was in junior high school.

I was saddened earlier Tuesday to hear that Gygax, the co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and the father of modern role-playing games, has died. He was 69 years old. My CNET Reviews colleague Will Greenwald has already written about Gygax's role in the gaming community.

For many of us who grew up before PCs became ubiquitous and long before it was cool to be a geek, Gygax's creation meant Friday nights spent playing games with your friends, not wishing you were someone else. … Read more

Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons & Dragons and one of the fathers of tabletop role-playing games, died on Tuesday at the age of 69. He had suffered from heart problems.

The news was first announced on the message board of Troll Lord Games, the publisher of Gygax's most recent works. It has since been directly confirmed by the company, which will post an announcement on its Web site later Tuesday.

Gygax was best known for helping create Dungeons & Dragons and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. He also pioneered tabletop role-playing games. The first D&D rulebooks were released … Read more