The original Pac-Man lives in a two-dimensional world.  Up, down, left, right — that's all he can do.  Perhaps that's why he's so iconic: his simple pizza-pie face (body?) and crisply-defined universe stick with us long after more elaborate worlds and characters have been forgotten.

But 3D pavement artist Leon Keer decided to bust Pac-Man out of his dimensional prison.  An accomplished illusionist whose works have appeared on sidewalks from Amsterdam to Abu Dhabi, Keer recently produced an anamorphic Pac-Man maze on a street in Venlo, Netherlands:

Diablo III (Blizzard)If you're just now getting around to Diablo III, you might want to buy a retail copy instead of downloading one.

In its most recent patch of the game, Blizzard Entertainment has capped how far players who purchase a digital copy of the game can advance in the first 72 hours. Despite inevitable protests to the contrary, it doesn't look like the company is planning to change its mind about the decision.

Click through to see the hottest games of the coming months!

Burn easy? Out of sunblock? Whatever your reason is for staying indoors this summer, the video game industry has you covered. Over the next three months, these 15 games will do their darnedest to keep you away from those harmful UV rays.  Note: All games are set for release between June 20 and September 22. Go now >>

Ryan Seacrest (Getty Images)Doodling on your iPhone could lead to big money and big prizes.

CBS is developing a primetime game show based on Zynga's popular Draw Something app. The network won a bidding war for the rights to the game and is reportedly fast-tracking the show as a possible mid-season replacement to step in when one of its new series ultimately fails.

'American Idol' host Ryan Seacrest will be executive producer of the show, though he's not expected to host the program. As for the format, the specifics are still being kept under wraps, but the game will focus on the Pictionary-like gameplay of the popular app. And show runners aren't planning on ignoring the huge mobile player base.

Civilization V: Gods & Kings (2K Games)If you've got a Civilization fan in your life, you might want to say goodbye for a little while.

This week's release of Civilization V: Gods & Kings is being heralded as a terrific add-on to the much loved strategy series, adding a wealth of new content and ensures that the franchise's well-known "one more turn" gameplay is as addictive as ever.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (Credit: CNET)Company announces pair of Microsoft-branded "Surface" tablets running Windows 8 and Windows RT at long-awaited product unveiling in Los Angeles.

By Mary Jo Foley, CNET

It's the end of an era. Or maybe the start of a new one.

Microsoft -- a company that traditionally has relied exclusively on its PC partners to provide hardware powered by its Windows operating system -- is trying out a new business model with next Windows release.

The company is going to offer two Microsoft-branded tablets of its own, both of which are branded as Microsoft Surface.

Microsoft isn't actually manufacturing these new tablets itself -- just as it doesn't actually "make" the Xbox or the now defunct Zune media player. But it will be putting the Microsoft name on these devices. And this, many have speculated, will set up Microsoft as a head-to-head competitor with its own PC maker partners.

Microsoft left a lot of people hungry for details about its next-generation console system at this year's E3. This past weekend, however, those people had plenty to chew on, courtesy of a leaked document that purports to offer plenty of previously unannounced details on the system.

The 56-page document, which first surfaced in the popular NeoGAF forums, presents itself as a road map for the Xbox system through 2015, including alleged details on the so-called Xbox 720, a unique glasses display, and a focus on cloud gaming.

Web surfers tend to be pretty loyal to their browsers. Once you figure out the shortcuts and placement of everything, it's kind of a pain to upgrade to a dramatically revamped interface -- or a new browser altogether.

The problem is, programming sites for those antiquated browsers can be a major headache. Now one online retailer is fighting back, announcing plans to add a 6.8 percent "tax" onto the purchases of anyone who visits their site using Internet Explorer 7.