playstation

2K Sports' critically acclaimed NBA 2K franchise is no stranger to best sports video game lists. The CNET TV team recently went behind the scenes at 2K Sports' headquarters in Novato, Calif., just days before NBA 2K13 hits store shelves. The goal: to find out what's in their secret sauce.

I had the opportunity to jump into the company's motion capture studio, and suited up with markers placed strategically on my body. Lights surrounding the perimeter of the studio hit the markers, and the reflections allow them to be identified and processed by computers to capture wireframe animations … Read more

It's not easy being a hockey fan these days. But honestly, has it ever been? With an all-but-official lockout looming over the NHL like a dark cloud, there's not much to be excited about. Sure, the optimistic puck-faithful seem to agree a deal will be reached before Christmas, but what's there to do in the meantime?

As luck would have it, NHL 13 hits the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles just a few days before the NHL's collective bargaining agreement is set to expire. Whether or not the team owners and players association decide to … Read more

Those hoping to see a PlayStation Vita hack could have their wishes answered in a few months. Some anonymous programmers announced they discovered an exploit allowing them application-level (userland) access into the Sony gaming device.

Before you get all excited about the idea of illegally downloading full PS Vita games, you should know that this purported hack can't grant such abilities. However, if the group of developers creates a loader, the hack could open the door for homebrew, and more importantly, emulation. Which means that one day the Vita could play Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Nintendo DS, Sega, and many other games, similar to a hacked PSP. … Read more

Late August doesn't usually mean much for video gamers...unless you're playing Madden. Like the swallows of Capistrano, the arrival of the next Madden has become inextricably associated with the start of football season for us...and, the start of Scott's endless obsession over the NFL Team We Shall Not Name. Madden as an actual game doesn't really merit much to talk about year in and year out...new rosters, slight tweaks that only a veteran player would appreciate, or game modes that few might spend the time to discover. Still, the NFL fans buy it, … Read more

Sony representatives couldn't stop talking about the Vita during the Gamescom gaming expo today in Cologne, Germany, ushering in the most announcements ever in one day for the handheld since its debut. In fact, most of the first half of the press conference spoke exclusively of new Vita games and features coming before the end of the year.

The event introduced new games for the Vita such as Tearaway (from Media Molecule, creator of LittleBigPlanet) and Killzone Mercenary, both of which look visually stunning. We also learned about some new features coming down the road for the Vita, including … Read more

Despite Sony's focus on mobile games via the PlayStation Vita, there's been a second, parallel path in the mobile game front taken via PlayStation Suite. That initiative, now called PlayStation Mobile, was detailed with additional hardware partners and promises of indie-friendly openness at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.

PlayStation Mobile aims to take small-scale gaming to a wider variety of devices: Sony Xperia phones and tablets, select Android devices, and the PlayStation Vita. These games will download on all formats and be cross-compatible, in an attempt to build an ecosystem that can extend beyond traditional handheld game systems like … Read more

I know I've used this tired cliche a few too many times, but the summer really does suck if you're a gamer. It used to be that the summer was reserved for indie titles on Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network to rise to the top in, but in 2012 it's seemed that's not necessarily the case.

With just about a month to go before the industry begins to pick up again, Vigil Games' Darksiders II may just be the piece of software that saves your gaming summer. The follow-up to 2010's sleeper hit, Darksiders II delivers a lot of what I'd expect to see in a proper sequel.… Read more

Since its relatively impressive launch last February, there's been a disconcerting lack of quality software titles available for Sony's powerful portable. Sure, there's a few notable games on the horizon including LittleBigPlanet, Call of Duty, and Assassin's Creed, but it's the downloadable efforts that really hold the true potential of the system.

Sound Shapes first debuted at E3 2011, where it headlined Sony's debut of the Vita. Since then it has slipped under the radar, quietly being developed by Queasy Games and Santa Monica Studio.

Now with the game ready to go, we're wondering if Sound Shapes is the shot in the arm that the Vita needs or if it's a disappointing casualty of its own hype machine.… Read more

For most gamers, the summer is a time for self reflection on the busy season ahead. It's a time for us to gather our thoughts, to compose ourselves, and perhaps venture out to what most normal humans refer to as "outside."

Today we're reminded of what awaits us this holiday season with a first-ever multiplayer mode trailer for the highly anticipated Call of Duty: Black Ops II, due out on November 13.

Arguably the most sought-after element of Call of Duty games are their online modes, and the trailer above certainly packs in plenty of drool-worthy … Read more