soul

This week our Car Tech team was on-hand at the 2013 New York auto show, busily scouring the floors in order to bring you the best from the event, here in video format.

1. 2014 Kia Soul

The 2014 Kia Soul is the surprise of the 2013 New York auto show and a hit of the "box on wheels" movement, plus it comes stacked with some nifty tech.

The soul-selling industry used to be fraught with shady underground deals involving facing crossroads and meeting demons in dark alleys. A new site called Soul Compare is looking to bring the soul market out of the shadows.

Before you can sell your soul, however, you need to have a good idea of its worth. Soul Compare uses your Facebook presence to weigh your value. It looks at your friendships, photos, comments, and how many "Likes" you've spread around.

All your Facebook information is then translated into gigaMorgans. One gigaMorgan is equal to the value of television host Piers Morgan's soul. I ran the numbers and came in at 25.3 gigaMorgans. I'm guessing I should feel pretty good that I haven't sunk into negative gigaMorgans.… Read more

I like the Kia Soul more than its minibox rivals. It's cheap and cheerful, crisply styled in a way the doughy Nissan Cube should emulate. But I was disappointed in the newly revised power train. It's more advanced in terms of engine tech, output figures, and number of gears yet it all added up to a pretty gutless and vague driving experience. I don't recall that from the 2011 model. The automatic transmission is probably a poor choice for this car if you know how to shift.

It's also no small matter that Kia burdens the … Read more

LOS ANGELES--David Cage had a great E3. The French game director and the development team he leads up, Quantic Dream, are responsible for some of the industry's most ambitious interactive entertainment experiences like 2010's Heavy Rain. At an event where originality and innovation were the hottest of commodities, showing a game like Beyond: Two Souls was like hitting the jackpot.

I was lucky enough to attend a breakout session hosted by Cage where he dove a little deeper into the world he has created for Beyond: Two Souls. … Read more

Monster and Dr. Dre spearheaded the trend of celebrity-endorsed headphones, starting with the eponymous Monster Beats by Dr. Dre and Lady Gaga's own signature earbuds. But an increasing number of artists are partnering with other manufacturers for their own collaborations.

Signeo announced the Soul by Ludacris headphone series at CES 2011, and 50 Cent stopped by the CNET stage this year to demo his own wireless cans, but does a celebrity shout-out mean that those devices sound better than the competition?

Check out the following list to get the real scoop on all these new headphones supported by famous musicians.… Read more

LAS VEGAS--As the meme goes, "Yo dawg, I heard you like sports, so we put sports in your car so you can play while you drive."

Kia seems to have taken a page out of late '90s TV show "Pimp My Ride's" book when it commissioned the six custom models unveiled today at the 2011 SEMA Show. This selection of Optima Hybrids, Rios, and a Soul feature designs and accessories that are based on the golf, basketball, surfing, hockey, and, of course, motorsports.

The first model unveiled was a the Hole In One Soul built … Read more

Back in 2009 From Software's Demon's Souls made numerous game-of-the-year lists because of its innovative crowdsourced hinting system, but at the same time honoring the tough-as-nails mentality that seems to have been lost in modern gaming.

Dark Souls is the spiritual successor to Demon's Souls. It doesn't continue any sort of linear story, but most of the mechanics remain in tact, including the unforgiving difficulty of the game.

But in a landscape where regenerative health and multiple save points are the norm, can Dark Souls find a place amongst the mainstream?

Jeff: Part of the difficulty that inherently lies in games journalism is remaining indifferent even when a given product isn't something you'd normally want to play. A perfect example of this was my experience with 2009's Demon's Souls. Forcing myself to play such a difficult title wound up making me appreciate so much about what I didn't know. I became immersed in the universe the game was able to convincingly create, even though I had died a thousand deaths exploring the world.

Of course I knew what I was getting myself into with From Software's follow-up, Dark Souls, and the game's tagline of "Prepare to Die" isn't really an attempt to be something it isn't.

Dark Souls can be infuriatingly difficult, and for the gamer who thinks he or she can just march right in with a sword and shield drawn is in for a world of hurt. Not only does the game punish those who play nonchalantly, it basically offers no real explanation of the various items, powers, and hollowing abilities that are at a player's disposal. This lack of hand-holding will be jarring for those not hardened by the "good-old days" of gaming, but Dark Souls is a crash course for the inexperienced.… Read more

This week on preGame, Mark and Jeff will crawl through a dungeon or two in Dark Souls and then mess around with a gravity gun in Rochard.

But first we'll dive into instant reactions regarding the news that broke today about Xbox 360 bringing TV programming to Xbox Live. Beginning around the holiday season, Microsoft will partner with close to 40 content providers like HBO GO, Verizon, and Comcast and stream over Xbox Live.

All these demos, stories, the Xbox Wireless Speed Wheel, and chance to win a limited-edition Deus Ex: Human Revolution T-shirt on today's show!

preGame … Read more

Those hip hamsters of soul are back in a new ad campaign featuring "Party Rock Anthem," by the electro-pop group LMFAO.

The Kia hamsters have rolled through suburban neighborhoods and urban streets and are now in a dark, video game-inspired world to "Share Some Soul," in a new ad campaign.

The new campaign will feature 30- and 60-second TV spots as well as in-cinema, digital, and social media elements, Kia said in a statement.

The 60-second spot, available now on YouTube (check it out after the jump), will make its television debut on August 28 during … Read more