sword

Every Sunday morning, my squire helps me put on a full suit of chain mail before I head into the kitchen to do battle with cranberry muffins and eggs over easy. Now all I need is some Combat Kitchenware to truly force my hash browns into submission.

Combat Kitchenware is the melding of a sword with a pan. It swaps out the pan handle with a pommel, grip, and guard from a sword that could have been plucked off the set of "Game of Thrones." These pans would add a new dimension to Iron Chef battles, especially if the combatants were allowed to fight to the death. … Read more

Disclosure up front: we've played and been addicted to Fruit Ninja for a couple of years now! The goal of Fruit Ninja sounds weird: you get a bunch of fruit tossed up on the screen and you have to slice each one in half with a swipe of your finger (which represents a blade). Miss three fruits and you die. Slice a bomb instead of a fruit, and you die. Successfully slice enough fruit and you get one mistake wiped off your record. Very simple. And fiendishly addictive fun.

Fruit Ninja installs quickly. The paid app is very reasonable … Read more

I just slayed a nasty-looking giant spider in the Skyview Temple. I got there thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. It came out last year, but I'm a little behind the times with my gaming. Maybe that's why I'm still enjoying the Wii when so many have consigned it to collecting dust.

Wii sales have slowed to a crawl, leaving Nintendo in a tough financial position. When the Wii first came out in 2006, it was next to impossible to track one down. It was the Cabbage Patch Doll of game consoles that holiday season.… Read more

Spellsword is an excellent and almost blindingly fast-paced arena-combat arcade game with addictive RPG elements, super-cute 16-bit fantasy art, and often hypnotic chiptune sound.

At first glance, Spellsword shares some similarities with another great game, Super Crate Box: Both have you dodging enemies and chasing powerups around a satisfyingly cramped playscreen--but Spellsword adds a couple of twists, with a mini RPG-style purchasing system (you collect "rupees," which you can then use between levels to buy equipment and make your powers more effective) and a unique take on power-ups with "spell cards." As you bounce around the (… Read more

Hero Academy is a fun and addictive fantasy-themed combat-strategy game in which you play short, asynchronous turns against friends (through GameCenter or Facebook) or randomly matched opponents.

Each game is a face-off between two teams trying to advance and destroy the other team's fragile "crystals," with combatants moving horizontally or vertically across a small, chessboard-style grid. You have a "hand" of six tiles that you draw from a limited deck -- including new units, such as knights and wizards, and temporary and permanent power-ups, such as shields and healing potions. Each turn, you have to … Read more

The FBI must prepare its agents for most things.

However, it might have been a first when special agent Jonathan MacDonald and colleagues forced their way into the Palm Coast, Fla., home of Kamil Mezalka, whom they suspected of being involved in child pornography.

For their report claims that Mezalka, standing in his underwear, began stabbing his computer with a samurai sword.

I am grateful to The Smoking Gun for making my Friday more complete by relating this detail.

MacDonald's affidavit presents a moving description of the proceedings.

He says the FBI executed a "mechanical breach of the … Read more

Wait a second, you ask; why am I discussing buying a Wii in 2011? Your skepticism is justified: this holiday season, Nintendo feels like a shadow of its former self.

Still, seeing an ad for a $99 Wii this Black Friday has made me wonder: would I still recommend buying a Wii this year?

It's complicated. Check out my list of the best Wii games ever made, and see if you agree.

The recent release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has turned attention once again on the Nintendo Wii, a console that's largely felt left for … Read more

It became painfully obvious back in June at Nintendo's E3 2011 press conference that The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword would be the console's last blockbuster title. Come to think of it, Skyward Sword was the only Wii game the company even mentioned.

So does Skyward Sword deliver the precision sword controls that Wii owners have been dreaming of since day one? Or is it the final chapter of an era of clunky motion control? We've dusted off our Wii consoles to find out.

Jeff: First, a very happy 25th anniversary to The Legend of Zelda franchise. Thank you for making me feel really old.

Nintendo is justifiably proud to share the milestone with everyone who's picking up Skyward Sword for the Wii, as all copies come with a 25th anniversary music CD featuring all kinds of Zelda tunes.

It's safe to say that Skyward Sword marks the Wii's last hurrah, and thankfully, the latest Zelda game certainly ranks up there with some of the console's best offerings.

For starters, Skyward Sword looks as good as any game can ever hope to on the Wii. The art direction has been brilliantly conceived, taking full advantage of the system's specs, and using a few blurring tricks to make things appear like a gorgeous watercolor painting. … Read more

Crafted lets you play a 2D version of the megapopular game Minecraft, using many of the same sounds and graphics--so much so that we're surprised it's still available in the iTunes App Store.

Mojang's Minecraft has achieved a huge following for its open, sandbox style of gameplay, letting you manipulate every block in the world. Once you've gathered the right materials, you can make picks for mining, axes for chopping down trees, torches so you can see at night, and a whole laundry list of other items.

Crafted offers a similar experience, but all in 2D. … Read more