Crave

Today's show covers Wilson's ever-growing locks of hair and Google ads catering to stupid people. We also take a look back at the original Sony Walkman and examine the best-selling video games of the '90s. Finally, stick around for our weekly Audio Draft Pick sponsored by Beck's Beer in conjunction with Last.fm!

Sony Walkman turns 30

(Credit: Flickr/MaureenLD)

The first segment of the show is dedicated to Wilson's beautiful head of hair. I think I met Wilson's hair long before I ever met the man, and while I've always loved its golden highlights and butter-soft touch, I can't help but think of the Herculean Kevin Sorbo every time I glance in its general direction. Maybe it should start introducing itself with us at the beginning of the show.

Lots of nostalgia on today's show! After a long examination of the way Google is marketing ads to stupid people, we run down the top 50 best-selling video games of the '90s. Most of the picks are no-brainers, but there are a few surprises in there, including Frogger for PS1 coming in at No. 46. Did people really pay money to buy FROGGER on a DISC?! Scary to think about now.

Next, we launch into a story about 13-year old Scott Campbell swapping his Apple iPod for the original Sony Walkman. Fresh on the heels of the gadget's 30-year anniversary, this leads us to reminisce about the influence of the Walkman on all subsequent mobile audio products. We all had them (at least those of us born prior to 1990) and absolutely loved making mixtapes and mixtape art for our friends and significant loved ones. Unfortunately, we get so nostalgic that both Jeff and I reveal humiliating stories that you won't want to miss.

Long live the Sony Walkman! You were there with us through good and bad times, my friend--we'll never forget you.

Matt Pond PA

(Credit: Last.fm/Matt Pond PA)

We're also very psyched today, not only because the date is 7/8/9, but also for the Weekly Audio Draft, brought to you by Beck's Beer and Last.fm! Also, big thanks to Dylan Swart for sending in a poster for the segment. It's my pleasure to introduce today's band, Matt Pond PA.

Like everyone, the transition from middle school to high school wasn't easy for me, but music like this, among others, helped me push through it and I'm proud of these guys for continuing to put out such heartfelt records after 12 years of lineup changes, relocation, and subtle changes to their sound.

The sample song on today's show is called Several Arrows Later from the album "Several Arrows Later." The music combines smooth, gentle vocals with beautiful instrumentation for a unique sound that refuses to be pigeonholed into today's genres. The word "emo," although thrown around a lot in describing Matt Pond PA, is a cringing understatement for this band. Granted, all of the band's music is emotional by nature, but what I like the best about Matt Pond PA is that each of its songs strikes a different chord--each one means something different to the listener. Check out Matt Pond PA and get hooked!

(Last.fm is a part of CBS Interactive, which also publishes CNET News and Reviews.)

Violated by a lightgun.

Thanks to this Dunt Hunt tribute shirt from the folks at NerdyShirts, you'll always have your trusty lightgun by your side. Actually, it's not so much by your side as it is in the crack of your butt, sort of like a mash-up between The Wizard and Boyz n the Hood. It won't save you from bullies at school or a burglar trying to break into your parents' basement, but you'll certainly be safe from hordes of flying ducks attacking your screen. And you can definitely use it to cap that slobbering fool the next time he tries to laugh at your game.

On June 6, Wizards of the Coast plans to release the fourth edition of 'Dungeons & Dragons.' The latest edition of the iconic game, the first since version 3.5 was released in 2003, will simplify some things for players, such as what roles they play, and the company hopes that that will mean that more people will play the game than ever. Pictured here is the forthcoming fourth-edition 'Monster Manual.'

(Credit: Wizards of the Coast)

SAN FRANCISCO--This is not your big brother's Dungeons & Dragons.

On June 6, Wizards of the Coast will officially roll out the fourth edition of the D&D franchise, as well as a new suite of digital tools, and the world-famous game will never be the same.

And this time, it won't require the death of the game's inventor, Gary Gygax, to get D&D into the news.

I got a preview of what's new on Monday, and while I'm certainly no D&D expert, I'll try to spell out what I saw for you here.

To start with, the digital initiative, which is called Dungeons & Dragons Insider, will, for the first time, make it feasible to play a game of D&D with your friends over the Internet and without having to pull out the thick, iconic, hardcover books that have for so long been an essential element to the experience.

This is the fourth-edition 'Player's Handbook.' Among the new innovations that will be released with the fourth edition of 'Dungeons & Dragons' on June 6 is a new Web-based suite of tools known as D&D Insider. This will allow players to play the game online against friends from anywhere, but is based entirely on the paper game. It is not, in other words, a video game, but rather a Web interface for the regular game.

(Credit: Wizards of the Coast)

The basic idea behind Dungeons & Dragons Insider is that it will allow players to create their characters using an online avatar maker and then import those creations to a digital game table where they can they wage campaigns online with their friends.

And while the idea is not to turn D&D into an MMORPG--a massively multiplayer online game--like World of Warcraft or EverQuest, there can be no doubt that Wizards of the Coast has taken some cues from those games.

One of the sets of tools included in the D&D Insider is a complete collection of the items, classes, races, and spells from the books, as well as any of the official D&D magazines.

Then, once players have gone through the character creator--which allows them a pretty high degree of customization within all the various classes and races of their characters--they can then begin playing.

But those who are taking on the role of dungeon master can also use the character creator to build non-player characters that they can then put inside the dungeons that players will use as part of their campaigns.

One nice thing about using these online tools is that it is likely, I was told, that the entire process of getting ready to play will be much faster than it has always been to use the hard copy books. That's because, D&D Web specialist Chris Youngs told me, everything is organized in the online tools in such a way that players and dungeon masters alike will be able to find what they need without being required to flip around through the books. Which for anyone who ever played D&D knows is a seriously time-consuming part of the experience.

One of the major features of D&D Insider is the character creator, which allows players to make highly-detailed characters, which can then be imported into a digital instance of the game.

(Credit: Wizards of the Coast)

And while the online tools can automate the process of "rolling" a character, players can choose the option to still roll real dice and then input the results into the Web interface.

The last major element of the D&D Insider is the so-called "dungeon builder," a tool that allows dungeon masters to craft the environments where their players will carry out their campaigns.

One nice thing about this is that dungeon masters can set certain areas of the dungeons they're building as off-limits to players until the campaign leads naturally to them entering those areas. Then the DMs can toggle the access to allow the players in.

Practically speaking, this means that DMs can see the entirety of their newly-created dungeons while players can only see what the DMs want them to see.

One other nice element of the dungeon builder is that as DMs add more features--pits, fireballs, monsters, and the like, they can put dynamic lighting effects on those features. This is a nice little design choice and looks great.

As for the digital game table itself, it starts out two-dimensional, but can be rotated into being 3D.

Besides being digital, however, the upshot of all this is that the online version is designed to allow players and DMs to do anything digitally that they could previously do in the analog version of the game.

Yet, in keeping with this still being D&D, the digital setup does not set the rules or enforce them. Rather, the dungeon master is still in control of campaigns and gets to run things his or her way.

This is the fourth-edition 'Dungeon Master's Guide.'

(Credit: Wizards of the Coast)

"It's not a video game experience," Youngs said. "It's a D&D experience."

Of course, even as Wizards of the Coast makes playing D&D digitally something to change the game forever, it is also preparing to launch an entirely new version of the game itself.

On June 6, the company plans to unveil the fourth edition of D&D, the first version since 3.5 was released in 2003.

Andy Collins, a member of the fourth-edition design team, told me the major idea behind the new edition is to streamline D&D so that there is less abstraction for players to absorb as they set out to create characters. That means all players will fit into four roles: Defenders, Strikers, Leaders, and Controllers.

The idea is that by pigeon-holing all classes of character into the four main roles, every player will have a sense of what they're doing in the game. Previously, Collins said, some players had been able to choose roles that didn't quite end up having any real place in a campaign.

Or, as James Wyatt, the lead story designer on the fourth edition, put it, "We didn't have the language before to tell you what (all the) classes were doing."

That problem is effectively solved in the fourth edition, Collins and Wyatt said.

"We rebuilt all the character classes from the ground up," Collins said, "to reduce to the core of what made...D&D exciting."

One thing I was curious about was how the emergence of games like World of Warcraft has affected D&D.

Wyatt said that such MMOs--and the ways that they have advanced the fantasy game genre--can help the D&D design team see elements of their game that they can refine.

Dungeon masters will be able to create non-player characters in the character creator for use in digital campaigns.

(Credit: Wizards of the Coast)

But mainly, he added, he doesn't see MMOs being a major influence on the D&D team so much as an adjunct to find more depth in how to make D&D richer.

"We're not learning from (MMOs)," Wyatt said, "so much as looking in the mirror."

Finally, while Wizards of the Coast is still aiming D&D at its core players, it is also hoping that the fourth edition can reach many new players, especially those for whom the old versions of the game were effectively off-limits.

What that really means, Collins said, is that the fourth edition does away with some of the complexity of the game that was, effectively, a barrier to entry for many people.

That's possible, he, Wyatt, and associate D&D brand manager Sarah Girard said, because the new edition of the game boils down some of the complexity of the game and makes it simpler for players to find answers to questions that might previously have required spending a long time flipping around through the various books that make up the rule sets for answers.

"We've chosen to spend our complexity capital on things to do," Wyatt said. "Our books are full of options rather than nitty gritty details" that slow the game down and chase away many would-be players.

For now, players excited about the release of the fourth edition are going to have to bide their time. But, on May 20, Wizards of the Coast will release a single adventure, known as Keep on the Shadowfell, that will give players a taste of the fourth edition.

Then, on June 6, the company plans on rolling out the new edition. The following day, game stores around the country and the world will host D&D games so that players can get an instant taste of what's new.

(Credit: PolyVision)

There's good news and bad news about the popularity of something like the "RoomWizard " scheduling system: One one hand, it means companies are apparently growing and hiring enough to demand a product like this; on the other, it means they're having more meetings.

The RoomWizard is kind of a digital referee that can avoid inter-office fisticuffs by keeping track of schedules for conference rooms that are always in high demand. Spaces are booked with touch screens outside the rooms or online through the system's Web server, according to OhGizmo, and information can be downloaded to personal calendars.

All this seems to be a definite step up from the old sign-up sheet, which can be subject of abuse by an unscrupulous eraser. But we suspect the real reason that management would buy this system is its tracking feature, which can keep tabs on usage patterns. That's a tough break for meeting mavens who are always hogging rooms instead of doing real work; now they'll have to look for other ways to justify their jobs.

(Credit: Discovery Communications)

Acknowledging our generational biases, we've noted our partiality to the lava lamp in its original form, or at least as close as possible. Although we've tried to keep an open mind about more contemporary equivalents, few can even approach the volcanic icon of our wasted youth (so to speak).

But Discovery has managed to come close with a USB swirling vortex that looks good enough to keep us mesmerized even without artificial enhancements. This LED-illuminated item has a practical use beyond its entertainment value as well, housing four USB ports in a 180-degree revolving hub. With any luck, it'll be the closest we ever get to experiencing a tornado, with or without hallucinogens.

Nothing says class like a levitating photo of a graduate.

(Credit: Urban Junkie Ltd.)

Levitating TVs are nice, if a bit nerve-wracking. Levitating globes are great if you're planning world domination.

But what about in-home object levitation for the rest of us television-boycotting, non-geography-loving types?

It's not new, but the IFO 3000 fills in that gap nicely, offering desktop (actual desktop, not computer desktop) levitation for such items as picture frames, Mini Coopers, and alarm clocks. And, yes, globes. For good measure.

The IFO 3000 does not come with a wizard who makes objects levitate via witchcraft. Instead, magnetic fields are to blame for all the levitation action.

Again, it's nothing new, but I'm working around the clock to bring you all the levitation news, not just the latest. You're welcome.

[Via Chip Chick.]

Not all games need a computer or a video game system. Long ago, before the Internet and broadband and (one assumes) wheels and indoor plumbing, gamers played games on tables. Card games, role-playing games, and strategy games were all played with pens, paper, cards, dice, and figurines. Plenty of gamer geeks still play those games today. I count myself as one of them.

(Credit: Wizards of the Coast)

Wizards of the Coast owns Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, respectively the largest tabletop RPG and collectible card game franchises ever. WotC recently announced the strangely named Gleemax, a social site focused specifically on the pen/paper/dice/card gamer crowd. Gleemax will bring together tabletop gamers of all stripes with game reviews, game blogs, friend lists, local event calendars, and other handy services. You'll be able to hunt for players/hosts for various role-playing, card, and miniature strategy games, and even find out if any game stores nearby are hosting tournaments or campaigns.

Computer gamers will be able to get in on the action, too. If you're not a fan of tabletop games, you can use WotC's new video game portal to find new independent strategy games and WotC's own online games, like Magic Online and the upcoming Uncivilized: The Goblin web game.

You can check out Gleemax.com for a preview of the site, though it won't really get going until its social networking features get rolled out in August.