colossus

preGame 59: Rage; Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection

Today on preGame we've got an early look at Rage, hitting consoles and PC on October 4. Then we'll battle a giant colossus in our demo of the PS2 HD reboot for PlayStation 3, Shadow of the Colossus. Shadow makes up one half of the highly anticipated rerelease, the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection. For CNET's full take on the game, check out our review here.

Today's demo of Rage includes strong language and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Want to be a part of our live taping? Make sure you head to http://cnet.com/live/pregameRead more

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus make triumphant debuts on PlayStation 3

Ask any self-respecting PlayStation 2 owner about must-have titles for the console and just by default, Ico and Shadow of the Colossus will eventually come up. Not only were both brilliantly unique in their gameplay and style, but they were also pivotal steps in changing the way we think about and play games. Developed by the same team, the games aren't necessarily specifically related, but there is an undeniable spiritual connection between the two.

Fortunately for gamers, Sony has bundled the two critically acclaimed titles onto one Blu-ray disc as The Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection. It features HD remasters of the original games, trophy support, as well as the option to play the titles in stereoscopic 3D. There are even special video features that dive into the making of the games. It's available now for $40.

Jeff: For me it's easy to recall my favorite game on PlayStation 2. When Shadow of the Colossus debuted in October 2005, I was blown away at the game's ability to suck me into a larger-than-life tale. While the storyline was a bit ambiguous, I felt an undying need to wander the world in search of the 16 enormous bosses.

With its 2011 refresh, Shadow of the Colossus looks better than ever, beautifully rendered in high definition. It still holds up compared with current-generation efforts, but it's interesting to see where the generational divide has left us. While linear at its core, Shadow feels wide open in its design. The game is a relentless teacher, refusing to give any hints aside from a beam of light that points the way forward. The real genius of Shadow is that it expertly disguises "levels" as each colossus and the environments that surround each beast.… Read more

At Bletchley Park, breaking Enigma codes and winning WW II

BLETCHLEY, England--The list of important sites is endless: Omaha Beach, Dunkirk, London, Paris, Toulon. But if you're a real World War II aficionado, you may think of Bletchley Park with special fondness.

This nondescript town about 45 minutes outside London is where famed mathematician Alan Turing led a group of master code breakers in a successful battle against Germany and its once-unbreakable cipher codes.

Over the course of several years, the British government assembled a team and sequestered it here, working on various devices intended to break the codes. In the days prior to the war, the Germans rarely … Read more

Sony repurposing Team Ico games in HD, 3D

Last week's Tokyo Game Show brought with it plenty of new-game announcements, but also a reminder that Sony is very much interested in selling backward compatibility to PS3 owners who don't have the means to play PS2 games. If you purchased a PS3 with an internal hard drive larger than 80GB (including all PS3 Slims), odds are your system is one of these unfortunate pieces of hardware.

We already saw last year's God of War Collection prepare gamers for God of War III and Sony has just revealed that the highly anticipated holiday 2011 release, The Last … Read more

Colossus: How high tech helped defeat the Nazis

We're wowed by the innovations of today: nanotech, six-core chips, flash-drive notebooks. But the tech of yesteryear is awe-inspiring too.

Silicon.com has posted a video and photos of the reconstruction of the world's first electronic code-breaking computer: Colossus. The machine is housed in England's brand-new National Museum of Computing, which in turn is housed in northern England's Bletchley Park, the secret home to Britain's top code-breakers during World War II.

At the end of the war, Winston Churchill ordered the destruction of most of the Colossus machines and their blueprints. Tony Sale, a computer … Read more