Entertainment

We've still got about five months before the new Xbox One and PlayStation 4 launch in North America, and already blood has been spilled.

From Microsoft gathering an arguably more impressive stable of exclusive games, to Sony revealing the lack of restrictions on PS4 games and a $100 lower price -- effectively, not only kicking the Microsoft brand when its down, but also knocking out a few teeth.

This next console launch may be one of the most exciting and brutal yet, and I can't wait to comfortably watch from the sidelines, praising Thor I'm not in either of their shoes.… Read more

The PlayStation 4 was originally announced at an event in New York City back in February, during which we heard plenty of details about features and strategy but didn't glimpse the system itself -- just its new controller.

Sony didn't make the same mistake twice. At the E3 gaming show in Los Angeles, the PS4 finally showed its face -- and its price: $399, which undercuts Microsoft's Xbox One by $100.

Now that it's been revealed, we know that it's: a black box. In fact, it not only looks like a PlayStation 2 on steroids, … Read more

There are heaps of RPG miniatures available. It's easy to find muscled warrior dudes, cloaked wizard guys, armor-clad knights, and masculine beasts. It's less easy to find the ladies, especially ones wielding mighty weapons.

The RPG miniature options for women players (or anyone playing with a woman character) are about to explode with the overwhelming funding response to the Raging Heroes: The Toughest Girls of the Galaxy Kickstarter project. The miniatures come from an experienced French company and are geared for science fiction war game scenarios.… Read more

LOS ANGELES -- So, the Xbox One does play games after all.

After enduring criticism from the gaming community that the Xbox One launch last month was light on the gaming news, Microsoft responded on Monday at a pre-E3 press conference with a torrent of game announcements, including a handful of key exclusive titles, such as Dead Rising 3, and a tease of the next game in the Halo franchise, which will land next year.

In running through a marathon of announcements, Microsoft's message to the gamers was simple: We haven't abandoned you. The company also said the Xbox One would launch in November and sell for $499. … Read more

After more than a year of negotiations with the music labels and publishers, Apple Monday unveiled its much-talked about free, streaming radio service -- called iTunes Radio -- at WWDC in San Francisco.

"It is the best music player we have ever done," said Apple iTunes chief Eddy Cue, who showed off the product.

Apple's product aims most squarely at Pandora, which has more than 70 million active monthly listeners but is available only in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. iTunes Radio will launch in the U.S. this Fall, but Cue said it will roll out in other countries soon after. … Read more

It was first spotted in Houston. But then so many strange phenomena are.

Now it's heading your way, regardless of where you might be keeping safe in these excitable United States.

It might seem to you as if it's had a few drinks. But no amount of offering it your Jack or your Bacardi will keep it from one thing it really wants in its mouth.

Yes, your S4, iPhone 5 or, indeed, anything that smacks of electronica.

Nylanderia fulva is its name. But you, at least as far as scientists are concerned, can call it the "crazy ant."… Read more

Although you may not be there in person, Apple is giving you a way to watch the keynote from the comfort of your home.

Apple said Monday that it will broadcast its WWDC 2013 keynote address starting at 10 a.m. PT. To view the live stream, you'll need the Safari browser on iOS 4.2 or later on an iPhone, iPad, iPad Mini or iPod Touch; or Safari 4 or later on Mac OS X® v10.6 or later. Streaming via Apple TV, meanwhile, requires a second- or third-generation Apple TV with software 5.0.2 or … Read more

Last week, Microsoft finally provided some additional information on how the "game licensing" policy will work for the company's newly introduced Xbox One. It was our first peek behind the curtain on how discs, digital downloads, game sharing, and Xbox Live accounts will work and interact on the upcoming game console.

The new policy explicitly states that the new system was designed so that "game publishers can enable you to trade in your games at participating retailers." But reading between the lines of that lawyery language, most gamers took that to mean that the aftermarket … Read more

Editor's note: We had originally planned to run this feature on Saturday, June 1, but found out the day before that Andrew Scott Reisse, a co-founder of Oculus VR, had just been killed in an accident. We are running the story now as a tribute to the product Reisse helped create, and we offer our condolences to the family, friends, and co-workers mourning his loss.

The Oculus Rift headset differs from most other wearable displays by adding the extra benefit of highly accurate head-tracking. This means that when a Rift wearer looks left in real life, the virtual view turns to that direction as well. This sense of realness is often a major surprise for those unfamiliar with the tech. … Read more