2k

In this week's episode of Hooked Up, Kevin Frazier hangs out with Grammy Award winner and multi-Platinum recording artist Nelly. He talks about all the tech he can't live without, and how he co-founded Vatterott College in St. Louis and the Extreme Institute to teach students skills for making music.

Nelly also talks about his MacBook Pro, Canon EOS 7D that he uses for shooting videos, and the Monster Diamond Tears headphones that surprised him with their sound.

I'll break down the best dSLR cameras for shooting video with Kevin that broadcast professionals are using today. And … Read more

Sid Meier is not a fan of "freemium."

The model of giving a game away only to charge for extras such as new levels, features, or power-ups, has swept up the mobile gaming industry, much to the chagrin of gamers who would prefer to pay once for the complete experience.

Meier, a legend in the gaming business thanks to his beloved "Civilization" franchise, couldn't agree more.

"It's about designing unhappiness," Meier told CNET in an interview on Friday. "You have to design a game so not fun that people will pay … Read more

We first got a taste of the XCOM shooter back in 2010 and even got to see it in action at E3 2011. Unfortunately, the game got delayed numerous times and eventually went dark. In fact, it got lapped by XCOM: Enemy Unknown -- its turn-based-strategy counterpart -- which turned out to be one of 2012's best titles of the year.

2K Games is ready to lift the curtain on XCOM once again, complete with a live-action trailer, a trio of screenshots, and best of all a release date. Newly titled and packaged, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is set … Read more

For years, when it came to basketball video games, the 2K series of NBA titles has been at the top. On consoles it has consistently ranked among the best sports games on the market, and now, with a full featured mobile edition of the game, it is taking on the tablet and phone space on the App Store. While NBA 2K13 cannot live up to the full potential of the series as realized on a living room gaming console, it is still very compelling and fun to play on a tablet or iPhone.

After installation, you'll notice most of … Read more

President Barack Obama took questions via Twitter today during a short Q&A related to ongoing negotiations in Washington, D.C. over the so-called fiscal cliff.

Over about an hour, the president answered seven questions on the topic -- as well as one about which Chicago sports team will be next to win a championship -- demonstrating the ability to stay on (political) message in under 140 characters, and an understanding of Twitter conventions used to best broadcast a tweet.

Although it's virtually certain that Obama was not writing his responses entirely on his own, the White House … Read more

Sharp will begin sales of an ultrathin IGZO 4K LED display from early next year.

The Japanese display maker said Wednesday that it will launch sales of a Full HD 3,840x2,160 resolution 32-inch LED-backlit display starting on February 15, 2013.

Including the chassis, the model PN-K321 display is 35mm thick and compatible with DisplayPort and HDMI connectors.

Probably its most salient feature is the use of IGZO technology -- something Apple has had its eye on for the iPad because IGZO can yield very-high-resolution yet thin displays.

Sharp has a production target of 1,500 units a month. … Read more

Ares is a graphical strategy and action game that takes place in the far reaches of the galaxy. Your mission is to reclaim the planet Earth from alien invaders, but to do that you have to handle manufacturing and resources, as well as be handy with your trigger finger to blow the enemy to little pieces. You can try Ares for free, but the full game will set you back $25.

The Ares interface is laid out with controls and status reports in a pane to the left, and the graphics in a much larger pane to the right. A … Read more

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 been nearly three years since the team at Gearbox Software released a new open-world RPG franchise with a unique art style and curiously addictive gameplay. Borderlands went from a sleeper hit to blockbuster seemingly overnight; since its release, it has seen sales in the range of 5 million copies.

Borderlands' looting-focused formula encouraged and rewarded exploration, which helped ease the otherwise intimidating undertaking that some RPG titles can endure.

With Borderlands 2, Gearbox Software has tweaked and refined the genre -- mind you, a hybrid that it seems to have invented -- and has unquestionably topped itself.… Read more