fantasy

Decent-sounding records are becoming increasingly rare, so I'd like to point out the great-sounding ones that have come my way in recent months. For more good stuff, check out my previous "Top 10 must-have CDs" lists from 2009.

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, The Live Anthology

First, I have to admit I'm not a big TP fan, but I love this four-disc live collection culled from a database of 3,500 songs, including 169 takes of "American Girl" performed between 1980 and 2007. The tunes aren't arranged in chronological order, but the sound quality remains high from start to finish. Vocals are clear, dynamic range kicks butt, and you hear the fans whooping it up to good effect. Petty does a lot of covers, my favorites run from "Goldfinger" to the old Fleetwood Mac tune, "Oh Well."

Drive By Truckers, "Live From Austin, TX"

This show, from September 26, 2008, has something for everyone: it rocks, it smokes, and it's very easy on the ears and eyes. You can buy the CD or the CD packed with a DVD of the same show. That's what I have, and the band really does put on a terrific show. Sound is clean and clear; I don't think they mucked around with it very much, though I do prefer the CD's sound.

Owen Pallett, "Heartland"

Owen Pallett, aka Final Fantasy, isn't exactly your average rock musician. For starters he plays violin, and if you're a fan of Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, or Beirut, you've heard his sound. "Heartland" is an expansive work, with densely orchestrated tunes, but don't get nervous; it still appeals to an indie rock crowd. Sound quality, on CD and 45 RPM LP, is spectacularly good. You're going to see "Heartland" on a lot of best-of-2010 lists in December, but why wait?

The Doors, "Live in New York"

The Doors' "Live in New York" contains all of the Doors' performances at the Felt Forum in New York in 1970. All four shows were recently mixed and mastered by the band's longtime engineer, Bruce Botnick. Sound quality is, and not just for a 40-year-old recording, exceptional. It's very dynamic and totally vivid. This six-CD set ain't cheap, but Amazon is listing a "Live in New York" LP that'll come out in March for a lot less than half the price of the CD set. … Read more

This week on preGAME, hosts Jeff Bakalar and Mark Licea take a look back at all of the big announcements from last week's Microsoft X10 conference in San Francisco. Today's show is chock-full of debut trailers, announcements, and first look game play video of some of 2010's most anticipated Xbox 360-centric games.

But before we get into the big announcements, we'll chat about the death of local multiplayer. Long gone are the days of local four-player split screen action like Goldeneye 64. Now more than ever, game developers are overlooking the game play element that defined the "party game." Why is this upsetting trend so popular? And why do game developers choose to leave it out?

All this plus the week's headlines and releases on preGAME!

Want to be a part of our live taping? Make sure you head to http://cnet.com/live/pregame every Tuesday at 4 p.m. Eastern. If you missed any of the stories we talk about on today's preGAME, make sure to check out our links below.

Now, we're always a fan of strange promotional materials here at CNET, but Square Enix offered up something both odd and, oddly, cool in today's mailing. In a thick envelope, which we first thought was a very, very advanced copy of Final Fantasy XIII, came an invitation to a San Francisco launch event, with nary a disc or box in sight.

But wait, what's this? In a second Mylar envelope was the source of all the bulk: these thick acrylic faux-tablets. It looks like Square Enix is trying to get in on tablet-mania, too.

What are they, … Read more

Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II are on their way to the iPhone and iPod Touch, game maker Square Enix said Wednesday.

"Over 20 years since the original releases, Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II are coming to iPhone [and] iPod Touch," the company announced on its Facebook page.

Square Enix didn't divulge much more information, such as when they will be released or if it plans to change the games at all. Still, it has launched a Web site dedicated to the iPhone and iPod Touch versions of the games.

It's a major announcement, especially … Read more

In recent years, the U.S. role-playing game landscape has become decidedly dominated by Western-based games, like Mass Effect 2 and the recently released Dragon Age: Origins. But according to Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of role-playing game company BioWare, Japanese developers might have only themselves to blame.

Speaking in an interview with Destructoid, Zeschuk said "the fall of the Japanese RPG (JRPG) in large part is due to a lack of evolution, a lack of progression." Zeschuk added that developers "kept delivering the same thing over and over. They make the dressing better, they look prettier, but it'… Read more

Playing fantasy sports can be as addictive as watching "The Biggest Loser."

My own lowest point was when I went to see the Golden State Warriors play the Los Angeles Clippers and cheered when the Clippers' Michael Olowakandi snagged his 10th rebound. I am a Warriors fan, but Olowokandi was in my NBA fantasy team.

It took a team of bullish psychiatrists and several wily girlfriends to remove me from this iniquitous pursuit, which is why I have some sympathy with Cameron Pettigrew and three of his fellow Fidelity Investments employees.

Actually, they are former Fidelity employees, as, … Read more

Square Enix announced at a press event Tuesday in Japan that Final Fantasy XIII, the next installment in the venerable franchise, will be coming to Japanese stores on December 17, according to the company's site and a Reuters report. It will be offered exclusively on the PlayStation 3 for about $95.

Final Fantasy XIII will also be used to help Sony sell consoles. At the event, Square Enix said its game will come bundled with the PlayStation 3 Slim in Japan. It wouldn't divulge any more details on when it will be made available or at what price … Read more

After several months of waiting, fantasy football is finally back. Football fans all over the U.S. are gearing up to take on friends as they compete to find out who has what it takes to capture this year's crown.

To achieve that goal, you'll need the right tools. That's where we come in. Check out these tools for the fantasy football player.

League creation

CBS Fantasy Football If you're looking for a full-featured fantasy product, check out CBS Fantasy Football.

After you sign up for CBS Fantasy Football, you can either join a public league or create your own private league for free. The app makes it easy to find players, you have the option of online and offline drafting, and customizing your league takes just seconds. When you finally create your league, you'll find everything from expert advice to draft kits. The service has some really nice features. (Disclosure: CNET News is published by CBS Interactive, a unit of CBS.)

ESPN Fantasy Football ESPN Fantasy Football features everything you'd want from a fantasy service.

After you sign up for the free Fantasy Football on ESPN, you can opt to join a public or private game. From there, you can rank you players, research those that will provide the best chances of helping your team, and more. Thanks to ESPN's wealth of information, you can research any stat you want. Playing in the ESPN league is simple and fun. But I had one issue with ESPN's service: the company's "Insider" offering, which provides the best information on players, will cost you $3.33 per month for access to it. That's a bummer.… Read more