Blog Posts by Chris Morris

iDes of March?The rumors about the next iPad have been growing for a while now — and it may be just a matter of weeks before we find out which are true.

AllThingsD is reporting that Apple plans to host an event the first week of March to launch the new iPad — which is largely expected to be called the iPad 3 (though keep in mind we all expected the company to unveil the iPhone 5 last year, so the name may be different).

Getty ImagesThe joystick generation is growing fast.

A new report finds that the video game playing population of the United States now totals 135 million -- a 140 percent increase over the amount recorded in 2008.

Those players put in over an hour a month on a wide variety of titles, according to research firm Parks Associates. The biggest draws are free-to-play and social network games, titles that spread beyond consoles and hefty PC rigs and onto the web and smartphones, among other platforms.

Nearly 80 percent of all U.S. gamers play either free-to-play online games or Facebook games, the study found.

On the surface, you can't beat free-to-play games. After all, having access to titles people used to pay $15 a month for without ever having to open your wallet? It sounds too good to be true.

Unfortunately, it often is.

While some free-to-play games live up to the billing, too many take advantage of our inherent desire to save a buck. Instead of paying cash up front (whether it's $60 for a retail game or $1 for an app), you'll often end up paying much, much more on the back end. Or worse, you'll wind up playing a cut-rate version of the game while others have all the bells and whistles. After all, you get what you pay for.

Jedi wannabes will finally have a chance to join the Rebellion this spring.

Kinect Star Wars (LucasArts)After a series of delays, Kinect Star Wars will hit store shelves on April 3...and Microsoft is rolling out all the stops to promote it.

In addition to the game -- which lets players live out their Luke Skywalker fantasies through the Kinect motion capture peripheral -- Microsoft will begin selling a Kinect Star Wars Xbox 360 bundle for $449. The package will include an R2-D2 themed Xbox, a C-3PO gold controller, and an unlockable C-3PO for the game's, ahem, dance mode.

Madden NFL 12 (EA Sports)Next time you're about to bet on a football game, run a simulation on the latest version of EA's Madden franchise first. You might make a bundle.

The reigning football video game champ accurately called the winner of Super Bowl XLVI two days before the game -- and was pretty close on the point spread, to boot.

Madden had predicted the Giants would edge the Patriots, 27-24. In reality, the Giants won by a score of 21-17.

It really doesn't matter if you're a Giants fan or a Patriots fan when it comes to this week's Super Bowl. Heck, if you're a dedicated geek, you don't even have to like football at all to throw a good shindig.

The big game is often secondary at Super Bowl parties. Instead, the event marks the informal end to those insane New Year Resolutions and offer a chance to show off some of your latest and greatest tech gadgets.

If you're planning on hosting this year's bash, here are a few essentials that will ensure your man cave is the go-to destination for all future sports-related parties.

Gamers at internet cafe in China (Getty Images)It's easy to get absorbed in a game, but it's another thing entirely to be so absorbed that you don't notice the guy next to you has died.

Gamers in a Taipei internet café failed to notice the newly deceased for a staggering amount of time earlier this week. Officials estimate that 23-year-old gamer Chen Rong-yu had been dead up to nine hours before anyone realized it.

Rong-yu entered the café to play popular online game League of Legends on Tuesday evening, and was there for quite a while. Witnesses saw him on his cell phone around noon on Wednesday (still playing), but on Wednesday evening a waitress found his corpse, sitting rigidly in the chair with his hands still stretching toward the computer.

THQ is taking some drastic measures after a string of sales disappointments.

Saints Row The Third (THQ)The game publisher, once the industry's third largest, has laid off 240 employees and cut its CEO's salary in half for a year, according to an SEC filing. This follows a recent announcement that the company's stock might be removed from the NASDAQ stock exchange.

It seems THQ's restructuring efforts have been going on for a while now. The company has cut over 700 jobs since 2008 and vowed several times to back away from the children's licensed game market.