Telltale Games is known for working on some of the most revered point and click games in PC gaming, with many of its key contributors coming from the famed LucasArts team that created Tales of Monkey Island. Since splitting off from LucasArts, the team at Telltale was able to take their credentials and acquire more well known mass market properties like CSI, Jurassic Park and Back to the Future. Though this is the fifth Law & Order game to be released, Law & Order: Legacies it is the first to come from the team at Telltale.

Gameplay:

When talking about a point and click adventure game, many people recall instances of being left in a world where they must click on or pick up objects in a certain order to achieve a specific goal. Instead, the aspect of the point and click adventure that carries over to Law & Order: Legacies is that of a cerebral experience which players are carefully lead through, almost too carefully at times.

The focus of Law & Order: Legacies’ gameplay is on remembering the facts presented at crime scenes, interviews with witnesses and cutting off the tactics of defense attorneys.

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The world of video games and the world of toys have always had an interesting dynamic. Many people will remember the main outlet for purchasing their original NES games was from the cage at Toys R Us. Then, as gaming evolved and players matured along with the content of the titles, video games began getting their own stores and found their way into electronics superstores like Best Buy.

As that happened, many people began their arguments that video games were a form of art and not just simple boys. But… why can’t we have both? Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure works behind the concept of “Bring Your Toys To Life” where players blur the lines between their collectible figures and their gaming console experiences.

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NYCC this year saw the debut of one of the most nostalgia filled MMO gameplay trailers since Star Wars: The Old Republic. Though we can’t show you the trailer we can tell you about what we saw and what information we were able to get about the game. Transformers Universe is being developed by Jagex, the makers of the free to play fantasy MMO Runescape. Jagex promises an experience meant to appeal both to the masses as well as the Transformers hardcore fan.

Transformers Universe will be a browser based MMO for both the PC and Mac which means no downloads are necessary. It will take place using real world looking cars on a diverse landscape and will be a planet-based experience. So what does that mean? Don’t expect boats or planes just yet for this game. PR people were very careful to only mention driving and not piloting. It may be possible that they may exist in the future but the character creator screen we saw only gave options for cars, trucks and motorcycles thus far.

We have also been promised that Transformers Universe will be a constantly evolving world with huge character customization options. This means that when players pick their side as either Autobot or Decepticon, they will have a massive level of creative control over their character and that the world around them won’t be static. Areas, characters and missions will change and allow for new gameplay experiences instead of repetitive gameplay. Additionally, players will be granted the ability to play alongside iconic characters like Optimus Prime. Similar to the vein of DC Universe Online, players will fight with or against some of the recognizable faces from the Transformers Universe, helping make that individual’s story feel bigger and more important.

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Incredibly sad news today as Apple co-founder Steve Jobs has died. He was 56.

No words can adequately express our feelings about his passing as so much of what we do here, and in our personal lives, was made possible by his vision, talent and determination.

His life’s work touched so many people in such profound ways. He helped make it possible for dreamers to not only dream, but to dream big.

All we can say is “thank you” Mr. Jobs. The world is a lesser place without you in it. You will be sorely missed.

Rest in peace.

As expected, Apple today updated it’s best selling laptop, the MacBook Air, and its smallest Mac, the Mac Mini. In addition, the company released the latest version of its operating system, known as Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, for devices that are not iPhones, iPads or iPods.

The MacBook Airs now feature Intel i5 or i7 processors as well as better storage options, a Thunderbolt port and a backlit keyboard. The Mac Minis also feature i5 or i7, Thunderbolt and similar new specs bringing them in the line with the rest of Apple’s current hardware.

Here’s the specs on the new Mac computers:

• Mac mini Base model: 2.3GHz CPU with 2GB of RAM, and 500GB of storage
• Mac mini: 2.5GHz CPU with 4GB of RAM, and, 500GB of storage
• Mac mini server: 2.0GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, and two 500GB hard drives
• MacBook Air 11″: Base model: 1.6GHz CPU, 2GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage
• MacBook Air 11″: 1.6GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage
• MacBook Air 11″: Built to order model: 1.8GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage
• MacBook Air 13″: Base model: 1.7GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage
• MacBook Air 13″: 1.7GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, 256GB of storage
• MacBook Air 13″: Built to order: 1.8GHz CPU, 4GB of RAM, 256GB of storage

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Remember back when The Next Generation was a big deal, and everyone wished that those touch pads the medics like Beverly Crusher and engineers like Geordi had would be real? Well we basically live in that future, and to add an extra layer of this geeky meta sandwich, the official Star Trek app is showing us how.

Out from CBS Interactive, the app is called the Star Trek PADD (Personal Access Display Device), the same name those cool futuristic devices were called in the show. Here’s a breakdown on why this app is so cool for fans of the Trek anywhere:

Developed in conjunction with CBS Mobile by app development studio  ArcTouch, the STAR TREK PADD app transports fans back through the extensive 40-year history of the STAR TREK television franchise, including its amazing universe of characters, planets and technology spanning from STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES all the way to STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE.  The app also includes a recognizable computer voice as well as familiar STAR TREK-related sounds.

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If you use a Mac and have wished to take advantage of the new hotness from Verizon Wireless (aka the LTE/4G USB Modem) you were out of luck. That is, until now.

This week Verizon Wireless updated its “VZAccess Manager” software to add Mac support for the Pantech UML290 LTE modem. The new update, known by its short and not very sexy name VZAccess Manager version 7.2.4 (2534b), adds support for Apple computers running OS X 10.4 and later.

In case you’re not familiar, Pantech’s UML290 is a USB dongle that allows laptops to connect to Verizon’s 4G LTE network. Until now, the broadband modem could only be connected to Windows-based computers, which doesn’t really seem fair now does it?

The new software is available immediately from Verizon’s website as a free download. Go get it and let us know how it works for you.

It’s an historic day Apple fans as we look back 27 years ago at the first time Apple unveiled the Macintosh computer to the world. Steve Jobs introduced the revolutionary Mac on January 24, 1984 to a crowd of around 3000 people and, needless to say, they were quite enthusiastic about it.

The original Apple Macintosh was the first personal computer to run the Mac operating system, then known as System 1.0. It featured impressive (for the time) specs including a 9-inch greyscale monitor, an 8 MHz processor with 128 K of RAM and no internal hard drive, just a floppy. It did, however, feature a really cool rectangular mouse, which you can see in the photo above.

The price? $2495. Which seemed high then and seems really high now. Good thing prices have come down, at least a little. To celebrate, check out the video of Jobs revealing the new Mac after the jump.

As someone who uses a Macintosh every day (I’m writing this on one right now) I thank you Steve Jobs and the entire Mac team for inventing this great machine. Here’s to 27 more years.

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Today Apple announced that the much anticipated Mac App Store will open for business on Thursday, January 6 2011. The new service was announced back in October and offers developers a 70-30 split in revenues for applications sold. The new service looks to mimic the ease-of-use and utility of the iTunes-based App Store on the desktop. Let’s hope they succeed.

“The App Store revolutionized mobile apps,” said Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs. “We hope to do the same for PC apps with the Mac App Store by making finding and buying PC apps easy and fun.” Don’t worry, I’m sure by “PC” he means Mac OSX.

The store will be available in ninety countries at launch and will contain both free and paid applications. Click through for the full press release from Apple and start saving your pennies to buy all those great apps starting in January.

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We know, we know, these rumors have been swirling for so long now, you probably don’t believe anything anymore. But this time around, TechCrunch is reporting that a source intimately familiar with the hardware supply chain for Apple has noticed an order for millions of units of Qualcomm CDMA chipsets. Why is this unusual? Because Verizon’s wireless network requires CDMA chipsets to be present in the wireless devices that run on their network.

This can only point to one thing: Apple is revving up their supply chain for a Verizon-compatible iPhone. And because lead-times in the semiconductor market can be quite lengthy, sometimes as long as 26 weeks, we can start to forecast that a real-live Verizon iPhone looks to be a strong possibility in January 2011.

On its own, this latest bit of news is a strong prediction of AT&T’s expiring exclusivity arrangement with Apple, yet there’s more. In a SEC filing made by AT&T a few days ago, the company detailed what may happen to the company’s profitability in the wake of just such an event:

“We believe offering a wide variety of handsets reduces dependence on any single handset as these products evolve. In addition, offering a number of attractive handsets on an exclusive basis distinguishes us from our competitors. As these exclusivity arrangements end, we expect to continue to offer such handsets (based on historical industry practice), and we believe our service plan offerings will help to retain our customers by providing incentives not to move to a new carrier.”

And AT&T is even more clear in their final paragraph of their SEC filing:

“Although exclusivity arrangements are important to us, such arrangements may not provide a competitive advantage over time, as the industry continues to introduce new devices and services. Also, while the expiration of any of our current exclusivity arrangements could increase churn and reduce postpaid customer additions, we do not expect any such terminations to have a material negative impact on our Wireless segment income, consolidated operating margin or our cash from operations.”

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While the recent iPad and iPhone 4 devices have certainly hogged the spotlight when it comes to Apple product launches, the Cupertino company recently announced some much-needed updates to their Mac Pro and iMac lines that are sure to please power-users everywhere. First up? The Mac Pro gets a makeover.

Early 2009 was the last overhaul of the Mac Pro line we’ve seen from Apple, however starting next month (August 2010), the Mac Pro line will get a power bump. Drool over these specs: up to 12-cores in your system at up to 2.93GHz, an ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory standard (or, you can upgrade to an ATI Radeon HD 5870 with 1GB of GDDR5 memory) running on a PCI Express 2.0 16-lane bus.

New solid-state drive options are available with the option to add up to four 512GB solid-state drives — or any combination of solid-state and hard drives. These new Mac Pro’s will start at $2,499 and will be easily expandable and quite customizable indeed.

Apple’s newest iMac computers will have a starting price of $1,199 and include some upgrades as well including a 21.5-inch monitor (a 27-inch model is also available), 3.06 GHz Intel Core i3 processor, 500GB hard drive, and ATI Radeon HD graphics processor.

Hit the jump for all of the details on Apple’s ‘Magic Trackpad,’ new 27-inch LED Cinema Display and a rechargeable battery system. Did you read that last one right? Yes, yes you did. ‘Magic Trackpad.’ Say it with me.

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Apple’s iPhone has been making great strides to prove itself as a legitimate gaming platform. While many of the games for it are casual in nature, others such as Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars have shown the hardcore audience has a place on the platform as well. Activision, seeing this, has capitalized by introducing the Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies series to the iPhone.

Gameplay:

Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies II is a first person shooter using the touch screen of the iPhone. There is a dual “analog” setup with movement on the left and aim on the right. Players can zoom in by tapping the gun icon for more accurate aiming. Shooting is accomplished by tapping the screen on the aiming “analog” and grenades are tossed by tapping an icon on screen.

The controls work as well as one would expect for an iPhone. They are responsive but nowhere near as accurate as a mouse and keyboard or a control pad with actual analog sticks. Having your aiming analog act as the fire button as well prevents certain FPS standards like turning while strafing around enemies which ends up becoming more of an inaccurate zigzag attempt.

The gameplay starts out slow to let players get accustomed to the controls as a few zombies begin bashing their way past wooden barriers around the doors. Eventually, the number of zombies ramp up as well as the addition of Hellhounds. The first time I was hit with a sneak attack from two rabid Hellhounds that teleported into the room it was almost instant death.

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