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EA announces free downloadable content for Fight Night Round 4

Later this summer, owners of EA Sports' highly rated and enjoyable boxing game, Fight Night Round 4, will get a shot at some free downloadable content.

EA says the first "DLC" pack will be available for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users by early August, and will include a new training gym, new gameplay sliders, and "a host of new equipment that can be used for outfitting boxers." Xbox 360 users get a bonus: an alternate version of Sugar Ray Leonard courtesy of Pizza Hut (we're not sure what "alternate" means, but … Read more

The 404 349: Where it sucks to be back...but we're baaaaaack

After a very relaxing three-day weekend, we're back for a fresh start and a hilarious show. Today, we recap our appearance on Fox News and our weekend exploits, debut a few excellent logo submissions, and reveal Wilson's secret shame.

Welcome back, everyone! Hopefully your weekend was as relaxing as ours was, although sometimes a three-day weekend can be more tiring than a whole week of work! Let's just say that seeing the sunrise as you go to bed can be beautiful and tragic at the same time. We kicked off our Memorial Day weekend with an appearance on Fox News' "Strategy Room" with our buddy Clayton Morris. Most of you have already seen it, but check it out if you haven't and let us know what you think. Were we too serious for our own good? More bathroom humor, perhaps? I'll try harder next time.

In related 404 news, Wilson discovers that Dave Matthews Band is using the REMIXED version of our theme song in a promotion on its Pandora channel. What the crap is that all about, DMB? We're calling you guys out on stealing the song from our buddy Jamie Lewis, and we're extra protective since we consider him the unofficial voice of the show, so expect that subpoena in the mail immediately. And Jamie, if you're reading this...we'll be looking for our commission check soon, too.

Aside from us tearing apart some d-bag that broke the Rock Band 2 world record, we also have a hilarious call from the public and show off more submissions for our "Design The 404 Logo" competition. Watch the video for today's show to check them out, or see the slideshow below for high-res shots. Send your high-res submissions to the404[at]CNET[dot]com and we'll show them on the air for the chance to win a gigantic prize package that includes a copy of "The Back Book," Anna David's "Bought," and more!

EPISODE 349 Download today's podcast Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS VideoRead more

Six video game trailers you should be watching

Last week we gave gamers plenty of reasons to be excited about the month of May's anticipated releases. Now we're providing video sneak peeks at some of the latest in digital interactive entertainment.

We've got the latest trailer from The Conduit, a first-person-shooter built from the ground up exclusively for the Nintendo Wii. Also for the Wii is Let's Tap, a title that offers a brand-new way of interacting with games. You control Let's Tap by doing just that, tapping right in front of your Wii remote.

The unbelievably realistic graphics in Fight Night Round 4Read more

What'd he say? How to improve home theater dialogue intelligibility

Some of today's DVD and Blu-ray soundtracks are so densely mixed that dialogue can be hard to understand.

When actors' lines are obscured by onscreen mayhem, you may miss important plot details. The dialogue intelligibility problem is even worse for people who are hard of hearing.

Here's a simple fix to improve intelligibility that also works like a charm for quiet, late-night movie watching.

Turn up the center channel volume level. Please understand, that's not the same thing as cranking up your receiver's volume control. Raising the center channel volume relative to the left/right and surround channels makes dialogue louder than the music and sound effects, so it's easier to understand what the actors are saying.

The easiest way to make the adjustment is with your receiver or home theater-in-a-box system's remote control. Check and see if your remote has a button marked "Channel Select." My Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver's remote has such a control, marked "CH SEL". It toggles through left, right, center, etc., and once I got to the center I used the "Level -" and "Level +" buttons to adjust the center channel volume.

Experiment to figure out how much louder you want the center channel speaker to be, but start with turning it up by three decibels. That might be enough, but don't hesitate to turn it up higher if that's what you need.

Of course, you can also use the CH SEL feature to boost subwoofer volume to taste whenever you switch movies or CDs. Or adjust the surround channels volume. … Read more

The 404 297: Where Caroline McCarthy is Asian for a day

Ace reporter Caroline McCarthy joins the show today to give us a little preview of South by Southwest, while we ream Justin Yu for totally being a pushover on our competing podcast "Bore Out Loud." Caroline says there isn't really much scheduled that will be ground-breaking this year, but that's because The 404 isn't there.

McCarthyism says that she's got the connection to get us on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." We think we can get on if Diggnation can get on. Letterman ain't having us after a week with U2.

Jeff and Caroline have a pale-off. It's pretty damn close, but we've got to say Jeff wins this one. He temporarily blinded Wilson yesterday when he sat underneath a light when shooting the brand new Nintendo DSi. Speaking of which, CNET gets an exclusive first look at the device, and we think Jeff is a believer now. It only took 100 million Nintendo DSs to get it done. Also, check out Jeff on Loaded today, where he gives his first impressions of the new Resident Evil 5.

Finally, we end the show on a classy note. A man has managed to get a USB flash drive installed on his prosthetic finger. The jokes ensue when Justin comments that he'd love to get a USB drive attached to a certain peripheral on his body. This is truly the home of the "Nerdy dirty."

Our contest is still going on. Send in your suggestions to the show. We love hearing them, especially the international ones. Much praise goes to brisebanelistener for quite possibly one of the funniest voice mails ever!

EPISODE 297 Download today's podcastRead more

The 404 287: Where our mouths are agape with a mixture of pleasure, longing, and duck meat

Jeff, Justin, and Wilson start the show off right today with a SNL Christopher Walken reference. Always a great way to start the day. Getting into actual stories, we chat about ways to actually sleep. Tip No. 1: Sleep when you are tired. iTunes launches an indie music store. Gore Verbinski decides to make a video game based on "Clue." And yes, people stalk their exes online.

EPISODE 287 Download today's podcastRead more

TV on the Radio suffers from a bad mix

There was all sorts of buzz earlier this week about TV on the Radio's apparently abysmal performance on Saturday Night Live. If you like the band, as I happen to, you have to wonder what happened: their recordings are immaculate, and they have a solid live reputation.

Today, music blog Idolator performs an interesting experiment, embedding the band's performance of "Dancing Choose" on SNL directly above the same song performed on last night's edition of The Colbert Report. The difference is immediately noticeable.

So what the heck happened on SNL? Idolator jokes that they're … Read more

Sundance opens film fest by breaking the mold

PARK CITY, Utah--The Sundance Film Festival broke the mold--so to speak--when it kicked off Thursday night with a feature-length clay animation film, Mary and Max, which innovated on many levels.

Robert Redford's annual opening night speech, which preceded the screening, was the perfect prelude to the Australian-made film. After assuring the packed auditorium that "even when times are bad (economically and politically)...it can be good for artists," Redford assured the audience that Sundance would continue to be a showcase for work that's diverse, unique, and often full of "surprise."

And when it … Read more

Late night comfort clock

Night Stand is a free app that makes the screen on your iPhone or iPod Touch look like a classic, late '70s/early '80s LED clock. If you keep your device plugged in or docked near your bed, this can be a fun and easy way to have a bedside clock that can also play songs from your iTunes playlists (via iPod playback). Night Stand comes with three themes (red, green, and blue), vertical and horizontal mode, and options for displaying seconds and days of the week. Battery consumption is relatively modest, but you'll want to keep your device … Read more

Podcast: Night vision for your Jetta

LAS VEGAS--You've seen the grainy "night vision" thermal imaging pictures from Baghdad, and now you can see them on the dashboard of passenger cars. At the Consumer Electronics Show, Larry Magid talks with Andrew Teich, the president of Flir Systems, which makes thermal imaging devices for both military and personal automotive use.

Listen now: Download this podcast

See our complete news coverage from CES here