gears

Quirky's DigiDude: The rare tripod you'll call cute

I'm a photographer. As a photographer I've owned a number of tripods and keep a mini tripod in my camera bag at all times. None of them, however, have ever qualified as "cute." These tripods, though, are exactly that.

Meet the DigiDudes. The portable camera tripod/keychain combos are little monsters most of the time, but when they need to do some work you twist off their heads and pull down their retractable legs and they're suddenly tripods. They have a standard screw mount that you put on the bottom of your camera. Now you … Read more

The 404 396: Where zombies are timeless

A heated discussion over which supernatural species is superior (zombies or vampires) leads us into a truly geeky episode of The 404. To help settle the controversy, we have on today's show CNET's own Scott Stein.

Also on today's show, we solve the mystery behind yesterday's Gawker DDoS attacks that flooded the blog network. It wasn't us, we swear. Next, we analyze a disturbing trend of Obama Joker posters popping up in California and whether or not they're making a statement or are just confusing.

We'll also find out if you can actually sue Amazon for losing your homework and whether or not a new Resident Evil movie is a good idea. All this, plus a special call from Jason Howell and some submissions for Justin Yu's new glasses!

...And to our Japanese astronaut friend, we're not sure deep space is the ideal venue to test out everlasting underwear.

EPISODE 396 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video

Google updates Gears for new Firefox 3.5

For those who use Firefox 3.5 but also want to use Gmail with no network connection, Google has an answer: a new version of its Gears plug-in.

Gears endows browsers with some new abilities, including accessing some Web applications even while a computer is offline and juggling multiple simultaneous tasks more effectively. And using Gears, Google last week began letting people see their location on Google Maps by clicking the small circle below the navigation controller and above the zoom controller.

Major updates to Mozilla's open-source browser often break add-on compatibility, and the earlier version of Gears wouldn'… Read more

Do new PS3 bundles mean Slim is coming soon?

Update: The PS3 MGS4/Killzone 2 bundle is now available online at Best Buy for $399.99.

You could call it a sign of things to come--or just one good PS3 bundle.

According to Kotaku, next Sunday (July 12) Best Buy will begin offering an 80GB PS3 with two of the best exclusives for the system--Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2--for the price of the PS3 ($400).

How does Kotaku know this? Well, a Best Buy employee apparently sent the gaming site a photo of the bundle and other Best Buy employees have confirmed that the photo … Read more

Father's Day special: Baby care and meaningful marketing

The $10 billion market for baby and young children’s furnishings (cribs, other case goods, layette, nursery decor, and the like) and accessories (car seats, strollers, baby monitors, diaper bags, etc.) is a lucrative market, and the baby stroller is one of its most competitive sectors. Hundreds of models vie for the attention of parents-to-be, and the level of detailed research, due diligence, and individual preferences may come close to the decision making process by an airline for the purchase of a Boeing 787. There are only few things – at least that’s what the industry makes you believe – that … Read more

Metal Gear needs better writing, not graphics

Metal Gear Solid Rising won't be using the Metal Gear Solid 4 game engine to help Kojima Productions save some cash. Instead, the game's developer plans to build the title "from scratch" to ensure that it's as beautiful as possible.

"We're redoing the engine from scratch, and it's going to look amazing," Sean Eyestone, the host of the Kojima Productions podcast, said in a recent episode. "It's going to be a big project like Metal Gear Solid 4. The entire team is serious about making it look as good as possible on every platform."

As a Metal Gear fan since the beginning, I really like the series. There's something enchanting about Solid Snake, Liquid Ocelot, Big Boss, and all the other characters that make up the story. But I'm deeply concerned by Kojima Productions' focus on the beauty of the Metal Gear series instead of the content of the games. For years now, the franchise's individual titles have been preachy and long-winded.

We don't need better graphics from Hideo Kojima and his team; we need better writing.… Read more

Budget shopping tips: Video games and gaming gear

Video games and gaming gear aren't necessarily among the cheapest gadgets you can own, but there are ways to get the most bang for your buck.

The cheapest consoles A Nintendo Wii is only $250 and comes with the ever-popular Wii Sports game bundled inside. For that flat price, you'll be set to play straight out of the box. However, extra Wii remotes and nunchuks are going to cost you extra.

Even cheaper, the Xbox 360 Arcade is only $200 but doesn't come with a hard drive. You'll need the HDD for downloading larger games and … Read more

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP

Announced at E3 2009 and coming in 2010, the Hideo Kojima-written and produced Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is a true sequel in the main Metal Gear Solid series, and looks like the portable Metal Gear experience fans have been looking for. Set in Latin America in the 1970s, it takes place years after events in Metal Gear Solid 3.

Check out the gallery of screenshots below.

PSP game lineup announced: Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and more

Gran Turismo, launching October 1 with the PSP Go, was the headlining PSP game during Tuesday's E3 Sony press conference. It wasn't the only ammo Sony had. However, it seems like the biggest in terms of holiday 2009 impact. Polyphony Digital announced a "full game" with 800 cars, 35 tracks, 60 track layouts, and four-player play over local ad-hoc along with car trading, almost like Pokemon.

The other big announcment, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, was called a "true sequel" to the Metal Gear Solid series by Hideo Kojima, who appeared onstage to show … Read more

Microsoft's Project Natal: What does it mean for game industry?

LOS ANGELES--For those of you who have been waiting for some really big news to come out of the video game industry, Microsoft answered your call Monday with its innovative "Project Natal," a hands-free motion-sensitive controller system.

Announced during Microsoft's annual E3 press conference, Project Natal seems almost certainly to be the culmination of several years of work by an Israeli start-up called 3DV Systems, which Microsoft recently acquired.

The technology, as demonstrated (see video below), appears geared toward allowing users to control games, movies, and anything else on their Xbox system with their hands alone, and … Read more