Kombat

Artist Andrew Golden lives in a world where famous video game characters have escaped from their consoles, signed up for Facebook accounts, and posted photos from their everyday lives.

Golden's imaginings run the gamut from Uncharted Drake's family vacation at the Grand Canyon to Goro from Mortal Kombat showing off his 12-pack stomach and four arms at the gym.

The images don't stop at snapshots. They also include snarky or admiring comments from video game characters' Facebook friends. Mario from Super Mario Brothers hoists a beer at a bar while his sibling Luigi announces his photobomb in the comments section.… Read more

Today on preGame we've got an early look at Rage, hitting consoles and PC on October 4. Then we'll battle a giant colossus in our demo of the PS2 HD reboot for PlayStation 3, Shadow of the Colossus. Shadow makes up one half of the highly anticipated rerelease, the Ico and Shadow of the Colossus Collection. For CNET's full take on the game, check out our review here.

Today's demo of Rage includes strong language and violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Want to be a part of our live taping? Make sure you head to http://cnet.com/live/pregame … Read more

Back in the 1970s, '80s, and '90s, one of the favorite destinations for kids after school and on weekends was the local video arcade. Many readers will probably remember changing dollars for tokens, stacking up tokens and quarters on machines to indicate you "had next," and how quickly you could blow your money by playing game after game. Sadly, arcades slowly died out as home gaming consoles improved and stand-up arcade cabinets--for the most part--became a thing of the past.

When iOS devices and the iTunes App Store came along years later, the developers of those old games (… Read more

On today's preGame we'll interview Mr. Mortal Kombat himself, the co-creator of the entire franchise, Ed Boon. It's been a few weeks since the latest iteration of Mortal Kombat hit store shelves, and we'll ask Mr. Boon all about the game as well as the series' history.

But first we'll run down the hottest gaming news of the week including word that a new Alan Wake game will be hitting the Xbox 360, hopefully this year.

We'll also discuss what Microsoft buying Skype means for Xbox 360 owners and then run through a new … Read more

On today's 50th episode of preGame we'll round up all of the PSN news, including the highs and mostly lows of the now weeks-long outage.

Would you rent games from a box? For $2 a day, Redbox is doing just that. In addition to DVD and Blu-ray rentals, Redbox will start renting video games in 21,000 out of their 27,000 locations. We're encouraging our preGame audience to write to us about this experience when the rollout begins next month.

Today's demo is MotorStorm: Apocalypse, the latest in the PlayStation 3 exclusive racing franchise. Apocalypse … Read more

What a week for video game news! As PSN outages continue to plague PlayStation 3s, Sony has finally declared the incident a "compromise of personal information" and a "malicious act." Does this mean our credit card info has been tossed into the Internet void? Nevermind that, we just want to be able to play Mortal Kombat online again.

Last night's Tribeca Film Festival screening of L.A. Noire marked the first time a video game was spotlighted at the big event. Jeff was there for the screening and Q&A that preceded; plus he'll give us some thoughts on an entire case he played a few weeks ago.

Since Nintendo has confirmed that the successor to the Wii will debut at E3 2011 and go on sale next year, we'll play an interesting voicemail that speculates on how players will interact with the new console.… Read more

It's not uncommon for the average dweller to have thousands of dollars worth of technology in his or her home, so we spend the first part of today's episode talking about what you can do to ensure the safety of your gaming consoles, HDTVs, computers, and other gear. On a related note, there's a lot of video game news to get to, including the indefinite closure of Sony's PlayStation Network, the new Mortal Kombat, and speculation about the next Nintendo Wii.

Does the most iconic fighting franchise of all time come back with a vengeance? Or is this one resurrection better left letting the coin credit countdown run out?

Jeff: If isn't broke, don't fix it. We've all heard the tired cliche, but now more than ever game developers are reaching back to a game's roots as inspiration for franchise reboots. The most recent example is the latest incarnation of Mortal Kombat.

The 2D fighting is back, along with the series' genre-defining iconic finale, fatalities. Mortal Kombat is a gift to the loyal MK fan. Anyone who grew up playing one of the classic Mortal Kombat arcade cabinets in the '90s will instantly feel right at home. The nostalgia is laid on thick at times with handfuls of inside jokes, references, and other "-alities."

We were also impressed to find that Mortal Kombat packed in a significantly deep story mode. While most fighting games go light on the narrative, MK successfully thickens the experience with in-game cinematics and dialogue beyond the trivial character intros. There are also hours upon hours of challenges here, including new "Test Your" modes including "Might, Sight, Luck," and more, not to mention the new double and triple tag team versus modes.

Graphically speaking, the character design in Mortal Kombat is nothing short of spectacular, with each unique fighter sporting a painstaking amount of detail. Speaking of pain, the new Mortal Kombat is more brutal than ever, properly taking advantage of current-generation hardware that delivers each gruesome blow, crunch, splat, and thud. Characters bleed and swell over the course of a match and their wardrobes rip and burn.… Read more

Editors' note: Today's demo of Mortal Kombat features intense scenes of violence. Viewer discretion is advised.

Two blockbuster titles highlight this week's episode of preGame as we demo Portal 2 and Mortal Kombat--we're calling it Portal Kombat!

To celebrate the release of Portal 2, we're also giving away two Portal 2-themed hoodies courtesy of ThinkGeek.com. For your chance to win, follow the show's new Twitter account, @CNETpreGame, and follow the directions found in the video above! The winners will receive direct messages before next week's show.

For more on Portal 2, please stick around at the end of this week's episode for our full interview with one of the game's writers, Erik Wolpaw. Or if you want to jump right to that video, press the play button to the right.

As if these two massive games weren't enough, we've also sneaked in a look at Uncharted 3's multiplayer experience. Check out the newest trailer that gives a taste of what's to come in Drake's latest adventure, due out this November.… Read more