dunk

Whether you're a sports fan or not, basketball games are often some of the best-made games on any platform. The latest news in the ongoing NBA lockout (which began July 1) is that the owners have decided to skip the preseason entirely, and if the players and owners don't come to an agreement by the end of the day on Monday, they may start to cancel regular season games.

Whichever side of the argument you're on, the iTunes App Store has more than enough basketball-type games to keep you occupied. What's particularly interesting is how developers have come up with clever ways to use the touch screen to play basketball-like games.

This week's collection of apps is all about basketball. The first lets you slam-dunk a basketball with a swipe of your finger. The second lets you shoot baskets and challenge others online against a sci-fi backdrop. The third is the iOS version of a megapopular console basketball game.… Read more

You don't have to have a pair of Marty McFly sneakers to wear your geek cred on your feet. Google co-founder Larry Page is the subject of an unusual tribute, the Google x Nike Dunk Low. This variation on the Nike Dunk Low shoe incorporates Google colors, the Google logo, and Page's signature.

To keep you on your toes, the sneakers also feature Page's face on each tongue. Two Larry Pages smiling from just under your pant legs should be a great way to freak people out.

The Google x Nike Dunk Low was designed by Evan Steinberg, Google community manager for Android and mobile. He refers to it as the "Shoegler" edition.… Read more

NBA Jam is an updated and faithful recreation of probably the most popular standup arcade basketball game of all time. For those who never went through several dollars in quarters at the local arcade playing this fun classic many years ago, NBA Jam is not your standard five-on-five simulation you see on consoles. This game is all about two-vs.-two high-flying dunk basketball, where just about every play is worthy of a highlight reel.

The control system for NBA Jam on offense includes a directional pad on the lower left part of the screen, and pass, shoot, and speed boost … Read more

I grew up playing video games and was part of the era of going to arcades and dropping quarter after quarter into my favorite games. Back then, if you would have told me that one day I could play the same games on a mobile phone I would probably have said, "I doubt it, and who would want to lug one of those giant things around anyway?" In the '80s, mobile phones were huge. In other words, I would never have believed it.

Now, there are hundreds of games in the iTunes App Store that bring old classics to your touch screen. Not all of them are perfect, certainly. Sometimes the controls don't translate well to the touch screen, for example. But even with mediocre controls, it's still fun to be able to play a game you loved as a kid while you're commuting to work or in between classes.

This week, two games were released that were favorites of mine in the arcades, and both work relatively well on the touch screen. My question to you is, What games from the old days should be made for iOS? What games should not? Let's talk about it in the comments.

This week's apps are a classic gory fighting game and an arcade basketball remake that might already be one of my favorite games of 2011.… Read more

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

As a reformed sneakerhead, I understand the mentality behind getting the latest gear, but my mind was officially blown after seeing a pair of custom Xbox Nike Dunks sell for $4,000 on eBay this weekend.

It should be noted that this isn't an official collaboration between the two companies, but rather a special one-off pair made by Sole Junkie, an online company specializing in custom sneakers.

The sneaker is a hi-top version of the popular Nike Dunk basketball shoe, but Sole Junkie snuck fiber optic wiring into the patent leather in the shape of the popular Xbox logo … Read more

It's too bad us Cravers are spread all over the country, because if we were all in the same location and we had one of these Easy Dunks in our possession, it'd make Crave czar Mike Yamamoto's job a lot easier. You see, he's like our camp counselor, and we're all the naughty little kids from Cabin 14 who are always starting food fights in the mess hall, catching squirrels and dying their fur pink, making dirty pictures during arts-and-crafts, and refusing to stop singing "99 Bottles of Beer On the Wall."

In other words, Camp Crave is a handful. But imagine how much more obedient and productive we'd all be if there were a dunk tank on the premises. All Mikey would have to do is punish our unsavory habits by making us take a turn in the seat while our co-workers greedily swarm around us, baseballs in hand, eager to hurl them at the target and get us soaked.

Consider the possibilities:… Read more