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The 404 228: Where Shaun White helps us verbally abuse Wilson

Big thanks to snowboarding and skateboarding phenom Shaun White for dropping into the studio to help us beat up Wilson...verbally. He sticks around to introduce his new video game and tells us what it's like to wear a skin-tight motion-capture suit. He also spills about the perks of being a pro athlete, considers the possibilities of Olympic skateboarding, and recalls fond memories of massive 26 ounce steaks.

Everything that we've accomplished before today's show is total garbage, and now that Shaun White has left the studio, it can only go downhill from here, but we're satisfied to hit our peak at 228 episodes. Just kidding, folks, but we are super psyched to welcome Shaun White to the show! He kicks off the show talking to us about his new video game Shaun White Snowboarding. Jeff actually had a chance to play the game and he definitely gives it his seal of approval, so be sure to check it out! It's not very often we have a professional snowboarder at the CNET offices, so we ask Shaun a few pressing questions: What's his favorite hill? Did he choose the music for the game? Why doesn't he hate Sublime? These are just a few of the hard hitting bangers we throw at Mr. White.

Unfortunately, Shaun's a busy guy so he jets during the break, but we had a great time with him today, as evidenced by our total broner for him after the interview. Keep listening to the show for a chance to win a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding signed by the man himself. After all the dust settles, we finally get into the weekend box office with a lot of talk about the new Bond and the Resident Evil movie. Note that Jeff Bakalar will not be present throughout next week's shows, so prepare yourself for lots of weird Asian news and maybe even a special appearance from THE V.*.G.!

Be sure to stream or download the podcast below for the entire show!

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Even roulette tables may get touch screens

If Microsoft's "Surface" becomes a casino fixture next to the slot machines, the touch-screen table computer will find plenty of company. Not only are digital poker tables being developed--complete with "peel up" card corners so players can read their hands discreetly--but even touch-sensitive roulette games are on the way.

The "MultiPlay Roulette" system is the latest from Sweden's TouchTable, featuring a 56-inch touch LCD with 3,840 ? 2,160 resolution. The table can accommodate up to seven players and, thanks to the company's proprietary technology, it can identify each person's … Read more

The future of multi-player casino gaming

Thanks to cues from the game industry, certain areas of today's casinos can sometimes resemble arcades. But most of the digital advances to slot machines and the like so far have been limited to the individual units, not elaborate networks.

That doesn't make a whole lot of sense, given the boom in multi-player popularity for online games involving wagers or otherwise. So casino gaming developer IGT wants to cross that bridge with its M-P Series of multi-player table games, which would link 12 machines for communal competitive play, according to BornRich.

We're not sure how popular this … Read more

WMS Gaming: bringing slot machines into 21st century

How to bring an $86 billion older-than-old-school industry into the present? WMS Gaming, a company that makes 80 slot machine games for casinos a year is mixing mechanical slots with digital tech. At DemoFall they showed off a new Monopoly Money Grab game.

Most of the thousands of slots on casino floors with old-school handle, which has basically remain unchanged since late 19th century. Mechanical slots are more trustworthy to people, says WMS. So they decided to combine the two--transparent display technology over traditional mechanical slots. The benefit is there are more mathematical outcomes with digital reels.

The company is … Read more

'Casino Royale' Blu-ray cracks Amazon top 10; HD DVD slipping?

Say what you will about PS3 sales, but it seems clear that the game console is having an impact on the next-gen DVD war. This week the Blu-ray version of Casino Royale broke into the Amazon top 10 for DVD sales and four other Blu-ray titles sit in the top 100. On the other hand, the top title on HD DVD, Happy Feet, is currently ranked at No. 117.

In a recent column, I suggested to readers that they should keep an eye on The Departed--it's a Warner release and therefore available on both HD DVD and Blu-ray--to get … Read more