Games and gear

'Missile Command' gets new look on Xbox 360

In case you missed it--or don't own an Xbox 360--Missile Command is now available for download as an Xbox Live Arcade game (the full version is $5). The game includes both the old-school and the modern, "completely restylized version featuring evolved graphics and the newly introduced Throttle Monkey mode." If that Monkey Mode isn't enough for you, there's always a little wide-screen HD and Dolby Digital surround sound to amp up the action.

Train your face: A camera's included in a quirky new Nintendo DS game

If training your brain with the Nintendo DS just isn't enough, you'll soon be able to train your face with it, too. Wired recently reported that Nintendo has announced Otona No DS Kao Training, or Face Training for the Nintendo DS. It's designed to teach you exercises to help increase the elasticity of your facial muscles. While that alone sounds pretty interesting, it isn't the most important part of the news.

Face Training will come with a digital camera module you fit into the DS' Game Boy Advance cartridge slot. The camera tracks your face while … Read more

EA gets strangely political with 'Army of Two' E3 mailings

Since before the days of Contra, two-player cooperative gameplay has been a big draw for gamers. Violence is best when shared, and working with your best friend to blow up bad guys somehow just feels right. EA is trying to recapture that sense of cooperation with its upcoming Xbox 360 and PS3 title Army of Two. You play half of a mercenary duo that must work together to perform various paramilitary tasks, with your partner controlled either by a friend or by the game's A.I.

Like nearly every major publisher tries to do with nearly every major upcoming … Read more

MTV is getting the band back together

Jeff Yapp is an executive V.P. at MTV Networks. He's in charge of the cool stuff, including MTV's virtual worlds strategy and its video game products.

At Under the Radar, he showed off the latest innovations from both groups, including Rock Band, an XBox and PS3 game produced by Harmonix, the company that created Guitar Hero, and that MTV acquired in 2006.

In a demo video at UTR, Yapp showed how Rock Band lets four people team up on guitars, drums, and vocals. I think the drum kit is a new idea for video games, but conceptually … Read more

Is it worth donating your body to science?

Ever wonder if you are worth more dead or alive?

Someone dating you might, according to the dating site Mingle2.

While Mingle2's cadaver calculator won't do life insurance policies or tell you your carbon footprint, it will tell you how much your healthy body, or unhealthy body as the case may be, is worth to science.

If you don't mind anonymously answering personal questions such as the number of drinks you have in a week or whether you have elephantiasis, the bizarre quiz will calculate your worth in death.

Unfortunately, good health and normalcy is not necessarily … Read more

Zelda game voted best game of all time--WRONG

In a recent poll conducted by Edge Magazine, readers were asked to pick their favorite video games of all time. And while it didn't surprise me that Nintendo games dominated the top 10, I was appalled at what I learned: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time finished first.

As an avid video game purist, I consider some of the games from my storied youth to be the best ever. And while Ocarina of Time warrants a 9.5 out of 10 on my made-up scale, I can think of at least three games that warrant a 10 rating. … Read more

Sony, Nielsen collaborate on in-game advertising metrics

Sony Computer Entertainment America has joined forces with ratings mogul Nielsen to develop a measurement system for the nascent in-game advertising industry, according to a joint release from the two companies on Monday.

Sony will now share its game network data from the PlayStation 3 console as well as the PlayStation Network (which encompasses its new virtual world, PlayStation Home). Nielsen will then combine this with its game usage data, which currently encompasses the activities of more than 12,000 U.S. households. Then, beginning this fall, Nielsen will begin tracking audience statistics and user activity through its GamePlay Metrics system, … Read more

Wii virtual console releases for this week

As it does every Monday, Nintendo has released three new virtual console games to download via the Wii shop channel. They are:

Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988, NES, 500 Wii points) - Revisit this 1988 classic and play as Mario, Luigi, Toad, or the Princess, through seven different worlds. Dragon Spirit (1989, TurboGrafx 16, 600 Wii points) - This classic vertically scrolling shooter (they sure don't make 'em like they used to) takes you through eight levels on your mission to save Princess Alicia. Ecco: The Tides of Time (1994, Genesis, 800 Wii points) - The Tides of Time … Read more

Happy 20th birthday, 'NetHack'!

One of the biggest games you've never heard of is celebrating its 20th birthday this month. On July 28, 1987, Mike Stephenson released NetHack, a text-based RPG that would become one of the most influential open-source computer games ever coded. While the game itself wasn't new or unique, (it was based off of previous games like Rogue and Hack, that spawned the genre of "Roguelikes"), its development and license makes it an influential part of the annals of gaming history.

NetHack was one of the first games to adopt the open-source General Public License, a software … Read more