gaming

Leave it to Microsoft to turn the glitz factor up to eleven. The company that brought us interpretive dancers on bungee cords for its Vista operating system has brought in spotlights, prizes, NFL players, and rappers for the launch of Halo 3, the final installment of its hit first-person shooter trilogy, which launches at midnight on Tuesday.

They kind of need to do it. As Halo is a piece of software, not a harder-to-manufacture gaming console or handheld device, the way that Microsoft has drawn the crowds for this Xbox 360 release is with star power. If there weren't … Read more

It doesn't hold a candle to the lengthy queue that assembled a few blocks north for Apple's iPhone in June, but a handful of New Yorkers decided to sacrifice a full day's work (and then some) to wait in line for Halo 3, the highly anticipated title for Microsoft's Xbox 360 that hits stores at midnight on Tuesday.

First in line at the Best Buy on Fifth Avenue and 44th Street, the official launch site for the city, is 28-year-old Uche Nwachukwu, a Web designer from the neighboring borough of Staten Island. "I want the … Read more

The official announcement of the vibration-enabled Dual Shock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3 was the biggest news from Sony's otherwise lackluster Tokyo Game Show keynote address. Since the broad strokes of the original announcement, GameSpot was able to glean some additional details on the new controller--and get some hands-on testing of the unit as well. Here's what they found: … Read more

PC gamers would risk a lot for the sake of gameplay, even ignoring security warning signs or remaining coolly unconcerned.

Meet two young teens whose quest for the gamer's high set them on a collision course with a whole horde of Trojan malware scarier than anything they'd encounter in RuneScape or World of Warcraft.

Read of the duo's travails in "Fools for the game," and also pick up valuable security do's and don'ts from other Spyware Horror Stories.

The main competitor to Logitech's famed G5 gaming mouse, Razer's DeathAdder boasts better axial accuracy and greater customizability--differences which you may enjoy discovering in splendid detail over at sister site CNET Reviews. Please note, this mouse is made for right-handers, so lefties may have an issue with the thumb buttons. Check out the full review for information on system compatibility before you buy.

Not an avid gamer myself, I can only point out that the mouse sports an intimidating reptilian name and a neat glowing blue tri-snake-ular logo. Allow me to quote from colleague Rich Brown, who provides … Read more

Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are getting younger and younger. Take Arjun Mehta, a 6th grader who is 12. He started the company, called PlaySpan, last year in his garage, according to VentureBeat.

The company Web site, which features a photo of backpack-sporting, handheld game-playing Mehta, explains that it is the "game industry's first publisher-sponsored in-game commerce network." That means it enables video game publishers to sell products within the games.

The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company has raised $6.5 million from Easton capital, Menlo Ventures, South Korea-based STIC International and Hong Kong-based Novel TMT Ventures.

But just … Read more

Let me start with a disclaimer: I'm a console gamer. Always have been, since my friend down the street in Minneapolis got an Atari 2600 in 1979, and I trumped him a year later with Mattel's Intellivision. (Along with George Plimpton, we found Intellivision's Major League Baseball to be clearly superior to Atari's Home Run baseball. Intellivision baseball, hockey, and skiing were pretty much all I cared about in 1980.) Like Larry King with wives, there's long list of consoles that I traded in for newer models over the years: Intellivision to Intellivision 2, to … Read more

One of gamers' biggest beefs with the PlayStation 3 will soon be a thing of the past. At the kickoff press conference for the Tokyo Game Show, Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai confirmed longstanding rumors that a rumble-ized version of the PS3 Sixaxis controller is on the way. The Dual Shock 3--which looks essentially identical to the existing Sixaxis PS3 controller--will hit Japan in November, then make its way to North America and Europe early in 2008. Devil May Cry 4 and Metal Gear Solid 4 are two of the first 11 games that will support the new Dual Shock's vibration function, and existing titles can be retroactively updated to support rumble via online updates.

Other notable announcements from Hirai's keynote:… Read more

The New York Times has a new Facebook application it launched today. It's called The New York Times Quiz, and as you'd expect, there's some question-asking going on here, and if you're not up on current events, you're likely to make a fool of yourself in front of all your Facebook buddies. The quiz is composed of five questions about yesterday's news. Each question has five answers, and it's up to you to pick the right one. While Google may be one click away, you're urged to figure things out on your own.

After submitting your guesses, you'll find out how you did instantly. Your results are judged in three separate sections. The first is your Times IQ, which is an aggregate rating of your performance on each quiz you take. You also get ranked to your friends, and in comparison of Facebook users as a whole. It would be nice to have your results compared to how others did in each of your networks, although this is something that could be added later on down the line if The New York Times feels like doing some extra coding.

Along with the results section, you get a link to each related story on The New York Times for every question. Ideally this would create a scenario where users go to check their wrong answers and fill in the blanks, although the application is kind enough to let you know what the right answer was either way. You also get a list of five stories to read up on for tomorrow's quiz, which gives you a heads up--and a chance to avoid being embarrassed again if you did badly.

The New York Times is doing two things right here. The first is making your results public. There's nothing worse than having your lack of knowledge shown off to everyone, and while you can tweak what gets published in the news feed, people can still see your scores in the results page. The second is getting you to come back and visit the site--specifically The New York Times--to get ready. Assuming you're willing to put in the time, your quiz score will always be 100 percent and you can rule your friends--except those who use Google News to figure out the answers.

[via ReadWriteWeb]… Read more