fantasy

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Google compiles pre- and post-earthquake images of Japan

AT&T allows U.S. customers to call and text to Japan for free through the end of March

Rumors circulated over the weekend of a new Google social network called Circles

Sony temporarily shuts down Final Fantasy MMO games to help Japanese utility companies save power

Netflix is not interested in selling movies

GPS manufacturers protest the LightSquared broadband spectrum

The iPad 2 sold like gangbusters this weekend

Today on preGame, we'll take an early look at God of War: Ghost of Sparta on the PSP and sample the many faces of Spider-Man in the web slinger's latest adventure, Shattered Dimensions.

But before we get to the demos, we must take time to talk about one of the biggest game releases of the year, Halo: Reach. We were fortunate enough to get an exclusive advance look at the game back in June, so be sure to check out preGame episode 19 when we had Bungie Community Director Brian Jarrard live in the studio!

Believe it or … Read more

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!

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

Electronic Arts has launched Madden NFL Superstars, which lets players create a fantasy football team and compete with others on Facebook.

The game, developed by EA Sports and EA-owned Playfish, features 1,500 current players from all 32 NFL teams.

I checked out the game this morning. When I first loaded it up, I was given 10,000 points to buy less-capable real-life players. Upon doing so, they were added to my team, which allowed me to play with others.

Aside from playing games, I was also able to "practice" with my players to improve their abilities. It … Read more

Recent rumors have suggested that the Xbox 360 version of Square Enix's wildly anticipated Final Fantasy XIV has been canceled.

It hasn't, according to the game's producer.

In an interview with video game publication VG247, Square Enix's Hiromichi Tanaka said that though the Xbox 360 version of the massively multiplayer online role-playing game hasn't been nixed, the company has decided to "pause" its development until some issues with Xbox Live are sorted out.

"We're still talking with Microsoft at the moment, so there is no update as to when we'll … Read more

Logitech is ready to indulge your deepest fantasies--if, that is, those fantasies involve a pink or blue computer mouse with a pattern on it. The device maker is out with a new Fantasy Collection, a series of peripherals including mice, keyboards, portable lap desks, and Webcams, in various colors and designs.

The Blue Swirl motif, for example, features asymmetric, overlapping rings inspired by the ripple effect from a raindrop on a still pond. The Pink Balance design, described as "daring, exciting, flirty, playful, and spirited," shows an artful leaping acrobat. All offerings in the Fantasy Collection (more than … Read more

Though Google CEO Eric Schmidt and seemingly everyone else is telling publishers they should place some bets on potential new business models, The Philadelphia Inquirer's new venture may not be exactly what they had in mind.

Philly.com, the online unit of the Inquirer and sister newspaper the Philadelphia Daily News, has launched a legal online betting service called Instant Fantasy Games. The papers said last week that they are the first in their industry to make a foray into online betting, according to a report in Editor & Publisher, a newspaper trade journal.

"We're trying to … Read more

An exercise in taking yourself out of, well, yourself is to follow William Shatner on Twitter.

It's not merely that he tries to end each of his tweets with the touching personalized sign-off, "My best, Bill." It's that Twitter.com/William Shatner is so darned revelatory.

A few days ago, the Kirk with the smirk offered this tweet: "Help us build www.MYOUTERSPACE.com to be the best that it can! Your feedback is priceless; you don't want to miss this. My best, Bill."

Good Lord, I thought. Has the captain bought himself … Read more