Games and gear

Chances are it'll be quite a few months before most of us have a chance to go hands-on with the Xbox One. Until then, you can at least get a very in-depth look at what to expect, thanks to this rotatable 3D model from Microsoft.

You'll see the full Xbox One kit -- console, Kinect 2.0, and new-look controller -- and you can zoom in and out on any part of it to your heart's content.

It's embedded below, or you can click here for a full-size version. … Read more

GamePop will continue to hand out free gaming consoles for the next month in the hopes that it will spur preorder interest for the upstart game system that plays Android games on your TV, its maker announced on Thursday.

BlueStacks, which also makes an eponymous desktop Android app player, has extended the GamePop console giveaway, saying in a prepared statement that "...due to the high demand of preorders it is extending its offer of giving the console itself away free to the end of June." You can preorder the console for free at GamePop.tv. … Read more

What a week it's been, amirite? Microsoft held an hour-long event where it introduced the next-generation Xbox, called the Xbox One, and we're left with as many questions as when we started.

The most important question on everyone's lips, however, is whether the Xbox One will play used games. What do you think? If it doesn't play used games, would that be a deal breaker? Leave a comment below.

We revisit some colorful iPhone rumors, for no other reason than that they just keep popping up. Google might do something awesome across the world, and iOS … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Simpsons theme park "Springfield" will serve duff beer, Krusty Burgers.

- 12 obsolete technologies Americans are still using.

- The Weird Stuff Warehouse where old tech goes to retire.

- Amazon greenlights 5 new shows.

- Why Amish teens love using Facebook.… Read more

Superman is getting a fresh reboot in the upcoming film "Man of Steel." The third teaser trailer for the film is a shot-by-shot remake of the official trailer, done in the style of the Minecraft video game -- complete with square planets and a blocky Russell Crowe with a pixelated mustache.

Superman's chunky cape makes for some particularly amusing moments as it blows awkwardly around in the wind. Plus, we get Clark Kent as a Minecraft super-baby.… Read more

We're taking a different approach to the show today with a story from Memorial Day that takes the entire episode, but trust us--it's worth it. It's a tale of survival, of tech failure and success, the power of nature, and a tightrope walk above surefire doom. What's the closest you've ever come to the end? This is mine.

After you're done with the story, this is the Fenix LED flashlight that got me through the night and this is the SLX Extreme Snow Lizard case that kept me safe.… Read more

We missed the official anniversary by a couple of days -- mark the calendar for May 22 -- but let's not close the week without taking a moment to mark Pac-Man's remarkable status as a cultural icon. In the 33 years since the game's creator, Toru Iwatani, saw his invention make it into the market for the first time, Pac-Man has become a part of our cultural lexicon, appropriated as a symbol by the likes of professional boxers as well as political protesters.

It hardly seemed that would be the outcome given Iwatani's rather modest ambitions … Read more

We're very proud to have Tony Hale on the show today. You probably know him as Buster Bluth on "Arrested Development" and most recently as Gary Walsh on "Veep." We get him on Skype today to talk about this weekend's long-anticipated fourth season return of "Arrested" and the moment he learned that Netflix would release all 15 episodes at once.

We'll also go back to the beginning and get the story about the audition process, the steps that led up to creating the Buster character, and the suggestion that perhaps the … Read more

Microsoft's policy concerning used Xbox One games has proven a bit confusing, but a new report may have spilled more concrete details.

Citing information from "retail sources," gaming news site MCV claims that Microsoft and gaming publishers will take a bite out of the sale of each used Xbox One game. In the process of selling a used game, original owners would also see the game wiped from their online accounts so they no longer can play it.

Microsoft has already confirmed that Xbox One users who install a game on the console's hard drive will no longer need the disc … Read more