2K

2K Sports recently announced that Michael Jordan will grace the cover of the company's acclaimed basketball game, but now we know that Jordan will not just be another typical cover athlete.

In fact, NBA 2K11 will offer an entire Michael Jordan-focused gameplay mode called The Jordan Challenge. We got a chance to speak with Jason Argent, vice president of marketing for 2K Sports, who explained that this addition to the traditional game will allow players to relive 10 of the most legendary games and moments from Jordan's illustrious career.

These historic game scenarios will task players with matching the hall-of-famer's mind-bending stats. A few of these just-announced scenarios include moments like "The Shrug," where on June 3, 1992, Michael gave the now infamous "I'm not even sure how I'm doing this" shoulder shrug after draining his sixth three-pointer in the first half of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

Better yet, these throwback games will feature the look of the era in which they were played, including accurate uniforms, court paint, and even Jordan's specific appearance from the actual game. Players will also be able to take control of the classic Chicago Bulls teams from '85-'86, '89-'90, '90-'91, '94-'95, '95-'96, '96-'97, and '97-'98 seasons.

NBA 2K11 hits stores on October 5 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2, and PSP, though the Jordan Challenge will only be available on the 360, PS3, Wii and PC versions of the game.

Be sure to check out the full list of 10 Jordan Challenge game scenarios.… Read more

One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware's reputation is well-justified. The latest version continues the publisher's tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns, but flaws remain.

Building on the improvements made in version 8, former Ad-Aware users should be glad to hear that the program installs faster than before. This version of Ad-Aware offers two new features to users of the free version that had previously been restricted to the paid upgrades: antivirus protection, and a long-awaited scheduler. The AV protection comes courtesy Sunbelt, makers of Vipre. Ad-Aware 8.3 loads faster … Read more

Thought 1080p video on YouTube was big? Think bigger.

YouTube on Friday announced that its player now supports 4k, a standard resolution for films that measures 4096x3072 pixels. As YouTube Engineer Ramesh Sarukkai explained in the announcement on YouTube's official blog, "4K is nearly four times the size of 1080p," and it dwarfs even Imax, which projects films in the slightly smaller 2k format, with its 2048?1080-pixel resolution.

Of course, the proof of 4k's merits is in the pudding, which is why YouTube has a special playlist of five films that can be played back … Read more

LOS ANGELES--Streaming video game service OnLive, which will launch June 17 on Tuesday announced its initial lineup of 23 games here at E3.

Among those titles--from publishers including Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Take-Two, THQ, and Square Enix--but not Activision, notably--are hit games like Assassin's Creed, NBA 2K10, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 2, Borderlands, and others.

The initial list of publisher partners also includes Sega, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and 2K Sports.

OnLive promises its users console-like speeds over broadband, as long as they have a fast enough Internet connection and are within a limited distance from a hub. The … Read more

Last year, Take-Two Interactive secured Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Kobe Bryant to be the cover athlete of its annual installment in the NBA 2K series of basketball sims.

So how does the company top having arguably the best current basketball player in the world on its cover? It goes out and gets perhaps the best player of all time, a 14-time All-Star with six championship rings and five league MVP awards on his resume.

There go the last bragging rights NBA 2K5 cover star Ben Wallace had on Jordan.

Take-Two on Thursday officially announced that Chicago Bulls legend Michael … Read more

Who knew video games could be so profitable? An Alabama man is $1 million richer because of his skillful pitching--in MLB 2K10.

Two months ago, Wade McGilberry, 24, of Semmes, Ala., entered a contest to be the first person to pitch a perfect baseball game in the video game.

McGilberry told CBS "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith he didn't play video games for hours at a time before the contest. He said he only played about a half-hour to an hour every day--"until his wife (got) home."

And he didn't play sports games. He said he previously played only first-person shooter games, such as Halo 3 and Call of Duty. But that changed when he learned about the contest by video game company 2K Sports.

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After he got his wife Katie's permission to compete, McGilberry said, he even talked with her about missing work to devote his time to the game. As it turns out, he didn't have to miss work at all.

McGilberry tried several times to pitch the perfect game, getting stuck repeatedly on the fifth inning. In addition to the stress of playing online, McGilberry had to verify he was playing the game by videotaping his play.

However, after five tries and finally reaching the seventh inning, he knew he was onto something. … Read more

We just got an early look at the latest chapter in one of the most storied PC game franchises of all time, Civilization V. Originally created by industry legend Sid Meier, the series is known for its mix of diplomacy and military combat, and for the vibrant community of modders who continually create new content for the game.

If you're a Civ fan, you're no doubt waiting to hear how this new entry changes things from the award-winning Civilization IV. While it looks as if the core of the game remains mostly unchanged, the main difference we were … Read more

There is no shortage of games that follow the stylistic lead of the classic Grand Theft Auto series, taking an urban crime action/adventure and setting it in a free-roaming sandbox city. One of the variations on this theme we've been most excited about is the 1940s-1950s-set Mafia II -- itself a sequel to an earlier cult favorite. After seeing the game demoed a few times over the past year, we finally got a chance to sit down and play it ourselves.

All the hallmarks of the genre are there, from stealing cars to period music playing on a … Read more

Just as spring training arrives, so do the year's two Major League Baseball games. Though this season always reminds us of the gone-but-never-forgotten MVP franchise, we're happy to report that both offerings do the sport justice.

Jeff: PS3 owners will have to make the decision between MLB 2K10 and MLB 10: The Show, as the latter is a PS3-exclusive title. That said, Xbox 360 owners won't be shut out of a good game, as 2K10 has finally broken the streak of disappointing baseball titles. In fact, this year's effort is the one of the best improvements year over year we've seen in a very long time.

Pitching in 2K10 remains the most difficult to master (pitching is done via two-step gestures with the right stick), but it only took us about five full games before we felt comfortable with our delivery. Where 2K has transferred most of the game's action (hitting and pitching) to the right thumb stick, MLB 10 remains traditional with more conventional button-based mechanics. We're not sure either way is the "right" way, but we definitely had an easier time making contact with the ball in The Show. Check swings in MLB 10 were also a nice advantage in the batter's box, as the game offers three different types of animations for doing so.

More so than in years past, both MLB 2K10 and MLB 10 allow the batter to see the ball fairly well, as we found ourselves taking pitches as often as we swung. The Show lets you guess an incoming pitch--ultimately giving you a better idea what's coming even if you're wrong--and 2K10 flashes the name of a pitch if it's not delivered perfectly.… Read more