football

Hands-on with 10 3DS games and features

If you were following along with our live blog this morning, you know the big news: the Nintendo 3DS is coming March 27 for $250. But what about the games? A dozen or so titles were ready for some hands-on action this afternoon, and we got a chance to play the majority of them. Nintendo also showed us some of the built-in software that'll be on every 3DS, including the Mii Maker and AR Games.

The following titles will see launch-day or launch-window releases, between March 27 and E3 2011, according to Nintendo President Reggie Fils-Aime.

Mii Maker Miis are coming to the 3DS, and the Mii Maker app is preinstalled to allow for their creation. Better yet, the front-facing camera can be used in tandem to help make the process a bit more accurate. When we tried it out, the resulting Mii was a bit insulting, but after a few minor tweaks it actually did resemble our photo. Creating Miis from scratch is just like the Wii experience we're all used to.

AR Games AR Games (augmented reality games) will use a Nintendo playing card to manipulate the world through the 3DS' cameras. We had some time with a simple target-shooting game, and the effect is pretty impressive. Even better, the game requires the player to move around the virtual play space as well, adding a whole new dimension to the experience.

Steel Diver Once a tech demo, Steel Diver is getting the full game treatment at launch on the 3DS. Players control a submarine by using touch sliders that control height and acceleration. Torpedos can also be fired at oncoming obstacles, but the section of the game we played focused more on avoiding colliding with the ocean floor.

Kid Icarus Uprising After about 10 minutes with Kid Icarus Uprising--the very game Nintendo debuted the 3DS with at E3 2010--we're anticipating that the control scheme might be this title's biggest hurdle. We played two parts, one that felt like an on-rails shooter, the other a sort of modified third-person action segment.… Read more

Make the big play

Backbreaker Football 2: Vengeance ($2.99) is the sequel to Backbreaker Football (99 cents), a game that put you in the shoes of a football player running and dodging tackles to get to the end zone. Just like the original, beautiful 3D graphics and solid animations give you the feeling of powering your way down the field. But in BackBreaker Football 2: Vengeance, you now have the ability to play on the other side of the ball as a defender who needs to dodge blockers and ultimately tackle the ball carrier. You start off by customizing a player with a … Read more

Better HDR images and arcade football: iPhone apps of the week

When iOS 4.2 was released, I didn't update my iPhone right away. I waited until I was back from Thanksgiving vacation, where I could sync my iPhone on my home computer. Once I got home, like any responsible iPhone user, I backed up my iPhone first then hit the update button. From there it went through its usual process of downloading the update, some rebooting of the phone, and the rest of the updating procedure. Everything seemed to be running smoothly until the end. That's when I got an error (1013) and my iPhone went into recovery … Read more

Using your head

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Google launches Boutiques.com for highfalutin shoppers

Google creates Hotspot to help you discover your friends' favorite haunts

Hulu Plus is now $2 per month cheaper and available on the Roku set-top box

Yahoo launches Amazon Studios goes live in a quest for the next big thing in movies

Yahoo Clues lets you track trending search topics

The Emergency Broadcast System is coming to your cell phone

Intel wants to put computer chips in football helmets to measure head trauma

A New York University professor is going to live-stream his life from a … Read more

Intel tackles effort to create safer football helmets

Intel is using its technology know-how to pave the way for safer football helmets with the goal of reducing serious injuries on the field.

Working with football equipment designer Riddell and a host of universities, the chipmaker is tapping into its own supercomputers and workstations to simulate the effects of a football collision on the brain. Data from those simulations will then be used to help design safer football helmets.

Intel recently demoed the simulation at the SC10 conference in New Orleans. Simulated collisions on the football field are processed by groups of Intel Xeon-based workstations linked together. Using real-time … Read more

Cook with the pros and play ball as one: iPhone apps of the week

The big Apple iPhone news this week involved a new app approved in the iTunes App Store called Skyfire Web Browser (link will open iTunes). This new Web browser's claim to fame is that it can display Flash content by using an interesting workaround. The browser sends Flash content to its own server, converts it to HTML5, then streams the content back to your iPhone. Jessica Dolcourt wrote about Skyfire's shaky launch here.

Apparently, within 5 hours, Skyfire's servers were overloaded (imagine that!) as people swarmed to a new way to view Flash on the iPhone. To be honest, I haven't run into many problems with not having Flash, but I definitely hope that Apple and Adobe or someone can come to an agreement so any smartphone user can get ALL the Web content available.

As of right now, Skyfire is still available at the iTunes App Store, but I have to wonder how it could not know there would be an onslaught of traffic and prepare accordingly. It also makes me wonder if it's really worth the trouble.

What do you think? Are you content waiting for developers to convert everything to HTML5 (if that's even possible)? Should Apple just throw caution to the wind and make it so Flash works (and open the platform to those alleged dangers)? Let me know in the comments!

This week, get cooking with chefs from the Food Network and play a fun arcade baseball game.… Read more

Dress iPhones like baseballs (just don't toss 'em)

Downtown San Francisco, where CNET's headquarters are located, is utterly awash in orange and black today, as Giants fans fete their team following Monday's World Series victory (yippee).

We're talking thousands upon thousands of exuberant fans in Giants T-shirts, jackets, and caps; orange and black balloons and face paint; and even babies in festooned strollers and hats with orange pom-poms. A couple of dogs decked in Giants colors have even trotted by. It's insaaaane--in the best possible way.

This is why these Zagg SportLeather cases for iPhones and iPads caught our googly eyes. The accessory maker … Read more

Are you ready for some tailgating?

Fall may or may not be in the air in the part of the country where you happen to live, but another aspect of the season is definitely live no matter where you call home: football. From back yards to parks to stadium parking lots, the oddly shaped ball is being tossed back and forth, and the players are sure to be working up an appetite. Luckily, there is one thing (well, in addition to beer) that is the perfect accompaniment to football games everywhere. I speak of course, of tailgating.

If you are ready for some tailgating, the Cuisinart CCG-400 Charcoal Grill-On-The-Go … Read more

Android Atlas Weekly 15: One Bing to rule them all (podcast)

Android continues to surge, Bing replaces Google search on some Verizon phones, and using your phone to jailbreak your PS3. Plus we cover the CNET News app and dig into the world of Widgets and shortcuts. This week's special guest: Senior Associate Editor, Nicole Lee!

Subscribe: iTunes (MP3) | iTunes (320x180) | iTunes (640x360) | RSS (MP3) | RSS (320x180) | RSS (640x360) EPISODE 15 Android market share to surge over next four years Why Android Is Stealing Share from iOS Bing to be on some, not all Verizon Android phones Android Now at 80,000 Market Apps Samsung considering Android-based TVs Samsung Galaxy Tab: An Android contender Take that, Samsung: Apple could sell 28M iPads in 2011 Confirmed: HTC Droid Eris will not get Froyo Verizon's dual-mode HTC slider leaked by FCC T-Mobile G2 gets official, preorders starting soon Use Your Android Phone to "Jailbreak"Your PlayStation 3 … Read more

Yahoo makes its fantasy football more social

In the 2007 comedy "Knocked Up," Paul Rudd's character goes to great lengths to conceal his fantasy sports habit from his wife. Yahoo Sports is hoping that isn't a widespread phenomenon--it's just upped the social quotient in its fantasy football product thanks to its recent acquisition of software company Citizen Sports.

Updates from Yahoo-based fantasy football leagues will be pushed to Facebook for the first time (in addition to Yahoo's own Yahoo Updates), with teams and leagues now "like"-able using Facebook's ubiquitous button. That's pretty much a no-brainer for … Read more