Games and gear

Good news for all you BlackBerry users out there, as Gameloft announced today it will be bringing its mobile games to everybody's favorite thumb-straining devices. The games will cost about $7 a piece, and covers a range of categories from King Kong to golf.

The New York Times said this is the latest move in the BlackBerry line becoming more mainstream. With the release of the mainstream-friendly BlackBerry Pearl and the increased graphical prowess of devices like the BlackBerry 8800, mobile games seem like a natural step. But with users already willing to pay hotels to lock up their devices, … Read more

If you're going to be in New York City this Saturday, you might want to swing by the Nintendo World Store at Rockefeller Center. Majesco will be holding the Cooking Mama: Cook Off Challenge at Nintendo World on March 31 from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Like most P.R. events, this promises to have free food, prizes, and other cool reasons for Nintendo fanboys, bored gamers, and shameless mooches to attend.

The event will have an on-site chef (read: caterers with hats) offering snacks to hungry gamers while they play Cooking Mama: Cook Off … Read more

The spring thaw has begun, and with that, video game publishers make their annual pilgrimages out to the East Coast to show off the latest builds of upcoming games. We got a chance to get hands-on with several high-profile titles (and some fairly obscure ones) that are sure to eat up many hours of your leisure time later this year.

John Woo's Stranglehold, from Midway, is a buzz-heavy game, bringing together the talents of not just the famed Hong Kong director, but also his action star muse Chow Yun-Fat. It's full of HK-style slow-motion gunfights and is reminiscent, … Read more

Hey, I heard about a new advertising campaign that's giving away free Guinness, Jose Cuervo, Captain Morgan, and more...to your Second Life avatar. There are a lot of companies turning to the Linden Labs virtual world as a new means of marketing, and most of them seem a little bit gimmicky. The one that TheBar.com has just launched seems to have a bit more promise, though. Basically, they've worked with Second Life gurus Millions Of Us (who, by the way, also constructed CNET Networks' virtual office space) to develop a virtual "bar kit" for … Read more

As one the main staples of Wii Sports, Wii Bowling might soon have some competition from a new bowling game that purports to have a more realistic look. According to Crave Entertainment (no relation to this CNET's Crave.com blog), "Brunswick Pro Bowling will give players a detailed, realistic bowling-center experience, complete with authentic sights and sounds, and official Brunswick bowling gear. Brunswick Pro Bowling will be highly customizable, allowing players to choose everything from their character's appearance and accessories to ball styles." In addition to being made for the Wii, the game will be available … Read more

It always weirds me out a little bit when companies come up with "traditional" toys based on video games. You know, like that Nintendo Monopoly board game from a few months back. Now, according to Kotaku, Nintendo has officially licensed a Mario Kart race track. I suppose this is the company's way of reaching out to an audience that might be too young for video games, so that it can indoctrinate them into the Cult of Nintendo.

I suppose a parallel example would be if Apple released a toy iPod for little kids. That'd be weird, … Read more

... at least for the next six weeks. By then, the Xbox 360 "version 2" may finally be available. It seems that Game Informer magazine is reporting in its April issue that an upgraded 360 will soon be hitting store shelves, with at least some of the long-rumored goodies: 120GB hard drive (six times the current model's capacity), HDMI output, and a sweet black paint job. Kotaku (where we snagged the Game Informer page scan shown here) has confirmed with the magazine's editor that the story is legit, not an April Fool's joke. And Engadget followed … Read more

Sony will be releasing a software upgrade (1.60) to its PlayStation 3 console on Thursday, and it essentially consists of some convenience tweaks as well as a cool tie-in with a medical research project at Stanford University. Basically, Sony's taking a few more steps toward its vision of the PS3 as a living room media center rather than a gaming console. Unfortunately, it still has to deal with the Wii.

With regard to the convenience upgrades, you'll be able to connect Bluetooth peripherals, like keyboards and mice, to your PS3. You'll also be able to queue … Read more

If not for this photograph, the intersection of music, film, interactive entertainment, and celebrity sightings that is Austin's South by Southwest (SXSW) festival may have remained inadequately documented.

Comedian David Cross plays a game of Guitar Hero at SXSW, while fellow comedian Aziz Ansari enjoys the rock show.

In the photo, both showcase the Stage I Guitar Hero face.

In a perfect world, Titannica and Three Times One Minus One songs will be part of the upcoming Guitar Hero II for Xbox 360, or even the mythical Guitar Hero III. If that's the case, Cross could shred his … Read more