Metal

It used to be just 3D TVs, Blu-ray players, and video cameras. Now, even arcade machines are jumping on the bandwagon. Konami is showcasing a special Metal Gear arcade this week at Japan's Arcade Operator Union 2010 that merges 3D with head-tracking technologies for motion control.

Players do have to don a pair of 3D glasses with an attached camera to enable these functions, though the game realism is further enhanced with a full-size rifle replica, plus enveloping surround sound. If that's not enough, there's even a built-in mic for some serious multiplayer and squad action.

This … Read more

Hewlett-Packard's efforts to be more socially and environmentally sustainable have taken it to an unexpected--and uncomfortable--place: the war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo.

Concerned that purchases of metals could be financing armed conflict in the West African country, HP and a handful of other companies are turning their attention to its suppliers of metals, including tin, gold, tantalum, and tungsten, which are used in everyday computing products and mobile phones.

At HP, it's an extension of an initiative that started over a decade ago to ensure that supply chain partners adhere to certain environmental and social standards. The near-term … Read more

We love getting (scheduled) visits from fans of The 404, especially when they come with treats for us! Henry Chu, aka Charlie Chu, aka Tapchus in the chat room, stopped by this morning to pick up some stickers and ended up joining us in the studio for the first segment of the show. If you're watching the video, that's Henry taking some flicks of the CNET podcast studio. Be sure to send us those pictures, Henry, and thanks for the delicious pastries!

Plenty of stories to talk about today, including a kooky wedding stunt courtesy of Gizmodo. Instead of a traditional flower girl, an S.F. bride commissioned her robot-crazed sister to build a flower-bearing bot instead! We're all nerds here, but unfortunately Jeff tells us that there will be no robots in attendance at his wedding in October 2010.

Next up, we have some very exciting news, albeit three years too late, about the "Arrested Development" movie starting to unfold. The movie starts production this year, and despite rumors about Michael Cera, the entire cast will reprise their roles in the movie. Can't wait!

If you were ever a fan of the Mega Man series, get ready for Mega Man 10! We take a special look at Mega Man's eight new enemies (with eight painfully uncreative names, like Sheep Man) in the downloadable title, available for all three platforms this March.

Humans have a nasty habit of producing and accumulating garbage, but Gabriel Dishaw, a junk-metal genius from Carmel, Ind., turns trash into artwork. His most recent pieces were inspired by his love of Nike shoes, as he fashioned five different kicks, including dunks and high tops.

Dishaw's shoes are collages of otherwise potentially useless hardware salvaged from computers, typewriters, and metal scraps. His work is meticulous, as it takes him up to several weeks to complete one pair of shoes and an accompanying carrying case for storage.

Though the sculptures are aesthetic replicas of real Nike shoes, they are … Read more

Start-up ReVolt Technology is developing rechargeable zinc air batteries, a technology it says promises longer runtime for consumer electronics and plug-in vehicles.

The Switzerland-based company, which was spun out of a Norwegian research institute five years ago, anticipates commercializing a rechargeable coin-size batteries next year. But the technology has the potential to be a cheaper and more energy-dense alternative to lithium ion batteries in consumer electronics, grid storage, and transportation, according to CEO James McDougall.

Zinc air batteries, which are already used in hearing aids, create an electrical current through a chemical reaction between zinc and the oxygen in air. … Read more

I am all about making more and more of the things I used to buy. I never buy bread, I make all our waffles, I try to make a lot of my kids school snacks and so on--but I'm still buying taco shells for our weekly fajita/taco night.

Maybe that'll change if I get these tortilla/taco shell pans. Made of heavy gauge a aluminumized steel, the nonstick pans let you bake your taco shells--so you don't have to deal with grease and extra fat. Cleanup is easy--the nonstick pans are dishwasher safe and won't … Read more

Medalists at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will celebrate with circuit boards hanging from their necks.

That's right. Gold, silver, and bronze medals for the upcoming games will contain metal from recycled TVs, computers, and keyboards that might have otherwise ended up as e-waste. Vancouver metals giant Teck Resources is producing and supplying the medals along with the Royal Canadian Mint.

To acquire the metal for the medals (with great mettle, no doubt), Teck is recovering materials from cathode ray tube glass, computer parts, and circuit boards through smelting. The process involves shredding, separating, and heating … Read more

We've written before about Brutal Legend, the just-released video game starring big-screen funnyman Jack Black. Produced by Tim Schafer, who has several cult classics (from Grim Fandango to Psychonauts) under his belt, the game has built up a lot of positive industry buzz, but is also in danger of being overshadowed by a flood of fall 2009 blockbusters, from Uncharted 2 to The Beatles: Rock Band.

Does Brutal Legend--a wide-ranging action/adventure about a foul-mouthed heavy metal band roadie who gets smacked on the head and wakes up in a D&D-style fantasy land--have what it takes to rock gamers this holiday season?

Dan: Having seen and played a few segments of the game at different times over the past eight months, I was eager to have a chance to spend a weekend playing through a bigger chunk of the main campaign. Several hours in, Brutal Legend has done an overall excellent job of treading the very fine line between comedy and gameplay--but not without some serious stumbles along the way.

I'd be the first to say I'm not a Jack Black "fan," but this is clearly a role he was born to play. He's apparently into it as well, and shows up as himself for a clever live-action intro video. The game's writing is sharp, even if much of it is clearly constructed from contextual one-liners that Black's character, Eddie Rigg, spouts off in a semi-random fashion.

But we ended up having more fun listening to the dialog than playing the game itself. Brutal Legend doesn't seem to know if it wants to be a hack-and-slash action game, an open-world exploration RPG, or a squad strategy game--as Eddie picks up small armies of head-banging locals to order around with basic follow/stay/attack D-pad commands.

Perhaps trying to mash all these genres together caused a few of the rough, unfinished edges we saw. Cut scenes and in-game dialog crashed awkwardly into each other, cutting off characters mid-sentence. Transitions between dialog and action scenes were abrupt and sometimes disorienting.

But despite some muddled ideas, we kept going back for more, drawn in by the Frank Frazetta-style art (think '70s metal album covers) and inside baseball music biz jokes--and as someone who has spent some time in a self-parodying heavy metal band, that's high praise.

Jeff: It's tough to name a game that has as much hype this. It's probably because of the talent involved in the game; Jack Black has sported a Brutal Legend T-shirt everywhere he's gone for the last year and voice work comes from rock legends like Lemmy Kilmister (Motorhead) and Ozzy Osbourne.

Brutal Legend is unique, in that you'll experience a variety of gameplay genres mashed up together inside. The game incorporates open-world driving, action/adventure, real-time strategy, and elements of role-playing.

If there's one thing the game does right, it's establishing the metal atmosphere.… Read more

Velcro's great, but for when you need that extra hold, there's a new hook and loop fastener made from spring steel in Germany that can pinch together loads of up to 35 metric tons, according to researchers.

The uber-Velcro, dubbed Metaklett, is also chemical-resistant and can withstand temperatures of nearly 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, according to developers at the Institute of Metal Forming and Casting, Technical University Munich (TUM).

Although Velcro and its knockoffs have been used on everything from shoes to space shuttles since its invention by Swiss engineer George de Mestral 60 years ago, it has … Read more