"Rock Band Blitz" lets you pull the strings on all the instruments
"Rock Band Blitz" in action.
/ Harmonix(CBS News) "Rock Band Blitz" is not an instrument game at all as one would expect from the series. Instead, developer Harmonix, has created a cleverly disguised rhythm beat game more along the lines of "Beat Agents" and "Rhythm Heaven."
"Blitz" allows you to play the whole band with one controller, switching from one instrument to another, as you please. The more you choose to switch, the faster your points and overall score will increase. The default controls are utterly unintuitive, but can thankfully be changed to the "shoulders" configuration allowing you to use the triggers to switch tracks and the bumpers to hit notes - giving a much more symmetrical feel to the experience.
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Does Deadlight get lost in the zombie shuffle?
Screenshot of the zombie video game
/ Tequila Works(CBS News) Since its release last month, developer Tequila Works' Xbox Live Arcade title "Deadlight" has seen a bag of mixed reviews. With IGN giving it an endorsing score of 8.5, Kotaku flat out telling readers not to waste their time and Gamespot settling on middle ground with a somewhat balanced 6.5, it can be tough to get a handle on this title without playing it for yourself.
It's a game that borrows heavily from other popular XBLA titles. Most commonly, it has been compared to "Limbo" and "Shadow Complex." Its style can easily be described as taking "Shadow Complex's" side-scrolling 3-D graphics and controls and sprinkling in "Limbo's" shadowy aesthetic and movingly desolate atmosphere.
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Should you buy Counter-Strike: Global Offensive?
Screenshot of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
/ Valve(CBS News) The story of "Counter-Strike" is like a video-game fairy tale. Coming from the humblest of beginnings - starting its life as a user created mod of "Half-Life" before being officially picked up by developer Valve - it has grown to legendary proportions in the hardcore gaming community as the shining example of an online, multiplayer first-person shooter.
"Counter-Strike: Global Offensive" is the latest incarnation of the popular title and - despite receiving only modest updates to its presentation and features - proves that many modern AAA titles could learn a thing or two from its decade old gameplay formula.
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Dawnguard delivers what fans want - more Skyrim
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Dawnguard
/ Bethesda Softworks(CBS News) In typical Bethesda fashion, Skyrim is a long game - very long game. According to the developer, the average player logs an average of 80 hours into their massively open-world game, though many dedicated adventurers have no doubt played past the 100-hour mark.
Skyrim Review: Get ready not to sleep for days
Then there is that elite group of Dragonborn who extend their time in Tamriel well beyond 300 hours - with multiple characters - having deep intellectual conversations with every inhabitant of that snowy country to the north...and yet we still want more. Finally, we have been given Dawnguard.
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Some LinkedIn, eHarmony passwords leaked online
CBS/AP Photo, file
(CBS/AP) LONDON - Business social network LinkedIn and online dating service eHarmony said Wednesday that some of their users' passwords were stolen and millions appear to have been leaked onto the Internet.
LinkedIn Corp. did not say how many of the more than six million passwords that were distributed online corresponded to LinkedIn accounts. In a blog post Wednesday, the company said it was continuing to investigate.
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Max Payne 3 brings noir back in gritty style
Rockstar
(CBS News) It's been nine long years since Max Payne last graced us with his particular brand of slow motion gunfights and melodramatic narration. Bringing any franchise back after such a time can be a hit or miss endeavor. Many fans were skeptical from the start, after the title's transition from developer Remedy Entertainment to Rockstar Games - particularly with the nightmare that was "Duke Nukem Forever" still fresh in mind.
Fans shouldn't worry though - Max is still the same guy he always was - just with a few more miles on the odometer. He's Jack Bauer, John McClane and Martin Riggs all rolled into one. He's self-loathing, has nothing to lose and is more than a little crazy with a possible death wish. The perfect hero for a dark noir tale about the worst of humanity and finding purpose in a life lost.
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Google adds feature to help China searchers
Google
(AP) BEIJING - Google has fired a new salvo in a censorship battle with Beijing by adding a feature that warns users in China who enter search keywords that might produce blocked results and suggests they try other terms.
Google's announcement Thursday described the change as a technical improvement and made no mention of Beijing's extensive Internet controls. But it comes after filters were tightened so severely in recent weeks that searches fail for some restaurants, universities or tourist information. Authorities were trying to stamp out talk about an embarrassing scandal over the fall of a rising Communist Party star.
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Jury to hear No Doubt's claims against game maker
A scene is shown from the game "Band Hero"
/ AP Photo/Activision(CBS/AP) LOS ANGELES - Lawyers for Gwen Stefani's band No Doubt can argue to a jury that the rock group was misled by gaming giant Activision Publishing Inc. about how its likeness would be used in the video game "Band Hero," a judge ruled Tuesday.
The ruling by Superior Court Judge Ramona See rejected a motion by Activision's lawyers to dismiss several claims from the case, including fraud, violation of publicity rights and breach of contract. See determined there were genuine disputes about evidence that a jury should consider.
Continue »Minecraft game only as good as your imagination
Mojang
(CBS News) Minecraft, the 2009 PC building block title by developer Mojang, has finally hit the Xbox Live Marketplace. Finally, the Microsoft console crowd can learn what PC gamers have known for three years - or what the rest of us have known for decades - that building blocks are fun!
Chances are that at some point in your life you've played with LEGOs. Maybe you haven't played with them since you were a kid, maybe you still take them out from time to time and engross yourself in some intricate new creation or maybe you just bought your own kids their very first LEGO set (and maybe you play with them a little more than you should).
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Jobs' 300+ patents to be featured in Smithsonian
Steve Jobs
/ AppleWASHINGTON (AP) - The Smithsonian Institution is preparing an exhibit featuring Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs' more than 300 technology patents on the National Mall with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
The exhibit opening May 11, entitled "The Patents and Trademarks of Steve Jobs: Art and Technology that Changed the World," will be on view through July 13 at the Smithsonian's Ripley Center.
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"I Am Alive" game delivers a unique experience
Ubisoft brings new survival adventure game to current-generation game consoles
/ Ubisoft(CBS News) "I Am Alive" is a game that saw a lot of attention during its development for its take on the post-apocalyptic action-survival genre. It's a game that has a lot of innovative ideas and interesting twists on modern game mechanics, but none get the attention and growth they deserve.
The result is a game that many seem unable to decide what to make of. Receiving review scores like 4.5 from IGN and a 8.0 from GameSpot, a CBS Interactive property, "I Am Alive" seems to be a game that is very much what you make of it.
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Mass Effect 3 lets you decide the fate of the galaxy
New video game lets you decide the fate of the galaxy
/ Electronic Arts(CBS News) Mass Effect 3 marks the epic conclusion to BioWare's apocalyptic space drama. Finally, all of the weighted decisions and hard calls you've made as Commander Shepard over the past two installments will pay off. And boy, do they in spades.
In fact, so much of the game is wrapped up in delivering the comeuppance of every decision (both large and mundane) your Shepard has made up to this point, that it becomes difficult to see how much of the story could actually be appreciated by a new player.
Continue »Simpsons Arcade finally makes it to Xbox 360, PS3
(CBS) - Following the footsteps of its Konami classic arcade brethren Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men: The Arcade, The Simpsons Arcade finally receives a port to home consoles.
Players control Homer, Marge, Bart or Lisa as you and up to three friends chase down the evil cape-wearing, diamond-thieving, baby-napping Smithers (what?) to save Maggie from the clutches of old Monty Burns.
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Nano quadrotor robots assemble and roll out
(CBS/CNET) In the future, a swarm of flying robots may do the work now done by human search teams.
PICTURES: 16 creepiest robots ever
A robotics research team at the University of Pennsylvania has designed a system to coordinate a number of small quadcopters, a step toward coordinating multiple robots for tasks such as surveillance or searching areas after a disaster.
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Amazon income down even as revenue grows
Kindle Touch
/ Sarah Tew/CNET(AP) SEATTLE - Amazon's fourth-quarter net income dropped sharply, weighed down by higher operating expenses even as revenue grew.
Amazon.com Inc. said Tuesday that its net income was $177 million, or 38 cents per share, in the three months that ended Dec. 31. That's down from $416 million, or 91 cents per share, a year earlier.
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