Crave

LAS VEGAS--Halloween is descending in an orange and black fog of fun-size candy bars and store-bought costumes of everything from The Avengers to Skylanders.

To keep folks in chills before their epic trick or treating, every community across the U.S. has a haunted house or two. Usually, it's an old empty house or warehouse transformed into a realm of nightmarish evil -- or at least a joint full of plastic skeletons and employees in rubber masks.

That quaint, amateur-hour stuff won't fly in The Entertainment Capital of the World, however. The Las Vegas Strip demands a big-budget denizen of the damned, like the new, $10 million Eli Roth Goretorium. … Read more

Too busy being peeved about the fourth-generation iPad this week to keep up with Crave? These stories will catch you up -- and lower your blood pressure.

- The blood brain barrier has never looked so beautiful.

- Best home decor ever: Iron Man stained glass windows!

- Ever seen a bipedal robot walk a tightrope? Now you have.

- Robot Hall of Fame: Wall-E, BigDog, Nao, PackBot, come on down!

- A hoodie jacket with built-in goggles: Nope, that's not creepy at all.

- Full bladder? App pinpoints the best time to go mid-movie.

- "Star Wars" and My Little Pony, together at last! … Read more

Despite the realistic 3D graphics of today's first-person shooters, RPGs, and other games, platform games continue to thrive on iOS. There's something about jumping through levels, solving puzzles, and collecting coins that keeps gamers entertained. Also, the capability to play through a single level while on the go makes platformers perfect for short bursts of play on your iOS device.

While a console controller is probably the ideal way to play these sometimes precise running and jumping games, iOS game developers have come up with unique ways to make them work.

This week's collection of iOS apps is all about modern platform games. The first is the most traditional platformer, but adds an interesting twist for passing levels. The second has an uncommon control system, but a unique art style and fun, varied gameplay make it a great option. The third is the most polished of the collection, with challenging puzzles and a somewhat grotesque storyline.

Note: There are no Android versions for any of these games.… Read more

Microsoft officially launched Windows 8 today, and with it comes a choice for those who use its predecessors: do I stay, or do I go?

My Crave colleague Eric Mack touches on the subject in an opinion piece today titled "The Windows 8 question: To adopt early or not?" Eric owns a perfectly capable Windows 7 laptop and would rather wait for a Surface tablet with Windows 8 Pro to debut before considering new hardware.

Personally, I feel a slight temptation to upgrade to Windows 8. In his review of Microsoft's Surface, CNET Senior Editor Eric Franklin praises Metro -- the primary interface of Windows 8 -- saying it's "innovative, elegant, powerful, and versatile," the last set of words I would use to describe my cluttered Windows 7 desktop. Maybe a new layout would feel like a breath of fresh air. … Read more

Windows 8 is finally here, and if you've ever started with a brand-new operating system, you know that one of the first things you do is download the apps that make your life easier and maybe even a little more fun while you're at it.

The Windows Store is pretty new and is not stocked with everything you might want just yet (frankly, it's pretty anemic at this early stage), but we've hand-picked a collection of apps that will be useful for new users of Microsoft's latest OS. All are highly rated and come from … Read more

Seeking to modernize the staid "Baron Von Sitting Down" and "Madame Miss No Emotion" portrait genre of yore, a couple of London creatives have launched an initiative to get as many Facebook profile pics as possible into the world's leading museums.

"Each one of our profile pics is a statement about who we are," says the video for The Profile Picture Exhibition project, which I won't embed here due to its generous use of a word that starts with the same letter as Facebook does. "It's finally time we claimed our space in art history." … Read more

Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime stopped by CNET's New York office on Thursday to talk about the company's upcoming console launch, the Wii U. The system marks the first new home gaming hardware introduced to the U.S. market in six years.

The Wii U also represents a major shift in strategy for Nintendo, deviating from the strict games-only design of previous systems. The Wii U will not only be just for playing games, but also controlling your TV and discovering and streaming other content from the Internet.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Anthropologist says Apple is definitely a religion.

- Google brings Street View to the Grand Canyon.

- Apple now owns the trademark to The Beatles' Apple Corps Logo.

- What I learned while live-tweeting a friend's funeral.

Video voice mail: Mossimo has a positive update on a previous video voice mail.… Read more

Anyone who has played Grand Theft Auto: Vice City -- set in a fictional representation of Miami -- is familiar with its eclectic mix of '80s music and style. Personally, when I played it eight years ago, I loved getting on a motorcycle and cruising the mean streets, either looking for a killer jump or just someone to mow down.

On the heels of the game's 10th anniversary, developer Rockstar Games announced the upcoming release of GTA: Vice City for "select" iOS and Android smartphones and tablets "featuring native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements." … Read more