games

In Tokyo, arcade games use real cars

Imagine that you're strapped down in a full-scale Toyota Trueno, Subaru Impreza WRX or Mazda RX7, sweaty palms glued to the steering wheel. Your eyes are fixated on what's beyond the windshield, desperately trying to "drift" your way through the narrow Japanese countryside roads. Yes, we are referring to the Japanese cult anime Initial D. Now Sega is redefining the arcade gaming experience with its life-sized Initial D Arcade Stage 4 Limited system.

This giant motion simulator has all three of the aforementioned vehicles lined up in front of a movie projection screen and installed with … Read more

Ferrari finally puts its logo on a racing product

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Ferrari's latest marketing creation is that it actually involves cars, albeit virtual ones. Until the racing legend came out recently with a co-branded Segway, many of the products bearing its storied stallion logo--from binoculars to boomboxes--had nothing to do with transportation at all.

Appearing first on the U.K. market is the "Thrustmaster Ferrari GT Experience, which can work with the PlayStation 3, PS2 and PCs. In addition to various features that are sure to open up gamers' throttles the world over, Shiny Shiny says it has realistic gear shift levers … Read more

Skype rolls the dice with Facebook games

Facebook is quickly becoming a way for established software publishers and services to gain new market share. Today Skype (for Windows and Mac) slipped an app launcher for 18 games into Facebook's app directory. I might mention that the games already exist as Skype Extras. Not only will the new app advertise this content to a fresh audience, the third party developers who provide Skype their games can also win new followers.

The single- and multiplayer games include bowling, Sudoku, Russian checkers, and backgammon. I launched the bowling game from Facebook, which opened the Extras Manager on Skype's app (which must be running in order to use the service) and it instructed me to choose an opponent from my buddy list.

The match proceeded as it would have had I plucked it from Skype's interface, which is to say it was a fun, engaging experience that took full advantage of Skype's all-in-one services to chat while "rolling," speak over VoIP, interact with a friend, and send screen shots via file transferring. But did I really need the Facebook app?… Read more

'Rock Band' set list is hit heavy

If you're one of the millions of people who have shed your dignity to rock out to Guitar Hero and you've been waiting to find out what songs would be included in Harmonix Music System's forthcoming Rock Band, wait no more. I've got you covered.

We're talking dozens of hit songs here, and mostly not the sound-alike covers included in many of these kinds of games.

The track list starts with the Rolling Stones' Gimme Shelter, continues on with David Bowie's Suffragette City, the Clash's Should I Stay or Should I Go, Metallica'… Read more

Hot cell phone software from CTIA

Cell phones weren't the only items giving off heat on the CTIA conference showroom floor this week. There was also the sizzling of a virtual mobile world, a preview of Guitar Hero Mobile, and really neat motion-sensor games.

Take a look at what was new and interesting in the latest video.

A guitar controller even Ozzy could love

The guitar wars just got kicked up a notch. The craze fueled by Guitar Hero and Rock Band has led some big bands to lend their names to custom controllers made by ArtGuitar.

KISS, Ozzy Osbourne, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Pantera will have their images and logos emblazoned on the "AG RiffMaster Guitar Controller," which Slippery Brick describes as a full-size Peavy guitar that's been turned into a game controller. The limited editions are going for $399, so these aren't for the kids. For them, there are other, less dangerous alternatives.

'Guitar Hero Mobile' sneak peek: It rocks

Conference-goers flocked around the Guitar Hero station at Motorola's mammoth tent on the CTIA Wireless conference floor, but it was Hands-On Mobile's modest booth where Guitar Hero Mobile is best experienced. There the game's product manager, JJ Leichleiter, walked me through the mobile version of the popular console game.

Let me dispel all doubt by assuring you that this is the real thing, deputized by Activision, Guitar Hero's console publisher. Loosely based on Guitar Hero 3, the 3D mobile version offers two characters (Axel Steel and Judy Nails), four guitars, and 15 songs. Subscription holders will … Read more

Are kids getting dumber thanks to TV and video games?

As someone who had hoped that Tivo and the internet were going to raise my child, I have to say that I am disappointed by this SF Gate article that says kids today are dumber than ever and may in fact be getting dumber as we go on.

As for the rest, well, the dystopian evidence seems overwhelming indeed, to the point where it might be no stretch at all to say the biggest threat facing America is perhaps not global warming, not perpetual warmongering, not garbage food or low-level radiation or way too much Lindsay Lohan, but a populace … Read more

Gaming laptops: The bold and the beautiful

The Dell XPS M1730 we just reviewed took home an Editors' Choice award. This massive, 11-pound laptop is about as good as it gets for mobile gaming. It serves up a most powerful mix of components, from a Core 2 Extreme CPU to Nvidia SLI graphics. The M1730 even finds room for Ageia's PhysX processor. While we liked what we saw from the M1730 in our labs, what helped it score so highly was a number of new features absent from previous XPS models. There's a gamer-friendly, 10-key number pad, a useful status LCD above the keyboard, and … Read more