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Images: Microsoft readies 'Halo 3' beta

For fans of the hit Halo video game franchise, San Francisco is the place to be Friday. That's because Microsoft is hosting a hands-on press event where invitees will be able to play the game (click here for screenshots) for the first time.

Microsoft said it wouldn't be making any announcements at the event, but those in attendance will have a chance to get an advance look at the game before the company opens up its beta on May 16.

A god in the palm of your hand

In case you missed the announcement, Sony is bringing its phenomenal God of War series to mobile phones with an original adventure, God of War: Betrayal.

The Playstation 2 games were tremendous hits because of amazing graphics, over-the-top gore, and the utterly satisfying combat engine. Can those really translate to a mobile phone?

From the looks of things, it can. The graphics obviously can't be the same, but Betrayal looks like a pretty, Super Nintendo-style, side scroller. And don't think Kratos will ease up on his enemies just because he's on a cell phone; there's blood-splattering … Read more

Turn your living room into a Jedi battlefield

Just ignore those Jedi wannabes and their toy Lightsabers, not to mention the irritating cubicle-mate who wants to show off his Darth Vader umbrella every chance he gets. The true Star Wars aficionado will reveal himself with this, to the awe of all: Atari's original arcade cockpit.

Voyager Arcade, a U.K. company that specializes in retro arcade machines (obviously), is offering this vintage 1983 cockpit refurbished to its former glory. (We didn't know there was such a thing as an arcade refurb.) And the price on this machine has even been slashed to 3,995 pounds, or … Read more

Homer gets a custom Xbox, sans doughnut

News of the Electronic Arts "Simpsons" video game has barely rolled off the presses, but the product merchandizing juggernaut has long been in high gear.

Microsoft is coming out with a Homer-yellow Simpsons Xbox 360 to coincide with this summer's movie, though CrunchGear says there will be only 100 of them made for promotional events. We'll be starting an office pool to see how quickly they end up on eBay, not to mention how high the bids will go.

The only thing missing is a doughtnut accessory like the one dangling from the strap for Samsung'… Read more

Electronic Arts announces 'Simpsons' game

Electronic Arts on Wednesday announced that it will release this fall a new Simpsons video game.

The announcement, by the world's-largest video game publisher, came just minutes before an invite-only press event in San Francisco where it was expected to make a "special announcement." It's not yet clear if the two announcements are one and the same.

The game, which is expected to be released this fall in conjunction with Gracie Films and Twentieth Century Fox, will feature the familiar Simpsons characters, and presumably, the storyline. It will also feature the voice actors from the TV … Read more

HP Labs gives a peek at its location-based interactive software

Hewlett-Packard is giving the public a chance to try out one of the experimental technologies it's cooking up. HP Labs is expected to announce Wednesday the open beta of Mscapes, a suite of software applications that let anyone create interactive location-based games or tours.

The Mscapes online authoring wizard can be used to design digital overlays on a map using photos, videos, graphics, text, or audio. Anyone with a GPS-enabled mobile device running Windows Mobile can use the Mscapes client to play any of the created games as they move through the physical world.

For example, HP Labs partnered … Read more

Real-world buying for the 'World of Warcraft' crowd

The notion of "frequent gamer rewards" has been tossed around by trend specialists and pundits (like MAKE Magazine's Philip Torrone) for some time now as online gaming becomes more and more profitable and increasingly entrenched in mainstream culture. Now, it's a reality with the World of Warcraft Visa credit card.

You can apply for it now. With your first purchase on the card, according to the World of Warcraft site, you'll earn a free month of game time.

But you won't be able to buy yourself new weapons by using this card. The WoW … Read more

Retro handheld relives ancient games

With all these ultra-violent games everywhere, do you ever pine for the more innocent days of Frogger and Q-bert? OK, maybe not. But if you do have other favorites from an old Sega or Nintendo console, South Korea's Plezo says you can play them on the new PMG-250 handheld and its 2.5-inch color LCD.

This gadget may not have all the bells and whistles of its better-known counterparts, but it will let you pretend to be a real gamer as long as people can't see what you're playing. And it's an MP3 player too, so … Read more

Nvidia's latest 3D card sets records, breaks banks.

We know that some of you won't balk at the $829 price tag of Nvidia's new highest-end GeForce 8800 Ultra 3D card, as long as it's the fastest thing around. With ATI's next-gen Radeon cards right around the corner, though, we'd definitely wait and take a few more laps around the money bin before springing for any high-end 3D cards today. The 8800 Ultra doesn't hit the street until May 15th, so you have a few days to think it over. But even if the Ultra card beats its soon-to-be-released competition, we have to … Read more

Never miss a game again

The NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing, and baseball season has just begun. A sweet time of the year it is indeed. But how can we keep track of all the schedules?

Enter the "Game Time" sports watch, which is programmed to alert you when your favorite team is about to play, and if you're running late it sounds a tune to let you know when the game is starting. And for the OCD fans out there--and we know there are a ton of you--it also includes schedules of future games, venues and start times … Read more