360

Trailer: BioShock Infinite goes to the next level

With BioShock Infinite still months away, developer Irrational Games released a teaser trailer highlighting gameplay from the highly anticipated third installment of the series.

Previous BioShock games revolved around an underwater city called Rapture, but Infinite's story line -- set in the year 1912 -- takes place in a floating city names Columbia. We won't delve too much into the details, but the general synopsis is that the player "assumes the role of former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, who is sent to Columbia to rescue Elizabeth, a young woman imprisoned there since childhood," says the official Web site. … Read more

Amazon pushes Kindles for classrooms

Wednesday's CNET Update is syncing your reading assignment:

Amazon has launched a way for teachers to easily push out reading assignments through a Kindle. Today's tech news roundup looks at Whispercast, which allows organizations to manage books and documents synced to a group of Kindle accounts. Everyone the group doesn't need to own a Kindle, but they do need a device with a Kindle app. Classrooms can also order Kindles with custom profiles that block Web browsing or disable purchasing.

In other news, Best Buy is joining retailers like Barnes & Noble and Toys "R" … Read more

Xbox 360 to get Internet Explorer with Windows 8 release

It's official, users will soon be able to surf the Web on their Xbox 360. Microsoft announced today that the Internet Explorer browser will be included with a new update to the Xbox 360 dashboard. The update will come with the release of Windows 8 on October 26.

"Starting today Internet Explorer will begin being rolled out on Xbox LIVE and will be available to Xbox LIVE Gold members," Internet Explorer's General Manager Ryan Gavin wrote in a blog post today. "IE on Xbox enables you to view content on the web on your TV … Read more

Xbox Music service has its limits

Monday's CNET Update wants to keep rockin' in the free world:

Today's tech news roundup looks into the limitations of Microsoft's new music-streaming service, Xbox Music. It debuts on the Xbox 360 on Tuesday, but aside from a 30-day trial period, it won't come free. The streaming service, which syncs music across devices, costs $10 a month to be used on the Xbox 360 and on Windows Phone 8. There will be a free ad-supported version for Windows 8 PCs and tablets, but playback time is limited to 10 hours a month after the first six … Read more

Gaming's abysmal September: Sales down 24 percent

The video game industry had a rough time in stores last month.

During September, total U.S. video-game industry sales, including physical game discs, consoles, and accessories, hit $848.3 million, down 24 percent compared with the $1.1 billion the industry generated during the same period last year, research firm NPD Group announced yesterday.

The hardware sector of the industry suffered through a similarly troubling period as sales slumped 39 percent year-over-year to end the month at $210.9 million. Software sales were down 18 percent from $609.7 million last year to $497.4 million this year. Accessories … Read more

Crave giveaway: Crux360 iPad case with add-on keyboard

First off, a PSA: If you'd like links to the weekly Crave giveaway (plus other giveaway goodness such as hints and winners' names) beamed to your Facebook feed, please hit the shiny new Subscribe button at the base of my bio below this story. Pause for button press...

OK, now that you've done that, congrats to Stephanie D. of Saint James, Mo., for winning a custom-designed CNET-branded Timbuk2 bag in last week's giveaway!

For this week's prize: Have you ever looked at your iPad and wished it were a MacBook? Well, a Crux360 for iPad 3 … Read more

Free, full-featured disk cleanup and optimization utility

360Amigo System Speedup Free is, as the name suggests, the free version of a larger utility. And while the company hopes you'll like the Free version enough to buy the full-feature version, the free offering is still a good utility in its own right.

Installation is simple and fast, but it still offers to create a system restore point for you, which is a nice touch. Once launched the 360Amigo System Speedup Free is straightforward. Several options are grayed out (prompting you to upgrade to the paid version) but the basic utilities such as junk file cleanup and an … Read more

The technology behind NBA 2K13

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

You'll shoot and loot yourself silly in Borderlands 2

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

Play NBA Baller Beats, destroy a TV?

Game developer Majesco's newly released NBA Baller Beats attempts to revive the nearly extinct rhythm video game genre -- and it doesn't involve playing a mock musical instrument, but rather bouncing a ball in front of your television.

To play Baller Beats, you merely need to bounce a basketball (or any similar-shaped ball) to the rhythm of a chosen song. A crescendo of icons float down a virtual track, instructing you to perform up to 20 different moves, such as dribbling the ball with a certain hand, or between legs, or performing a pass fake.

The game also features an eight-player multiplayer mode, as well as various difficulty settings and unlocks. The $59 Baller Beats also includes a real full-size Spalding replica NBA basketball, perfect for losing control of and destroying something breakable in the living room. … Read more