MusicGiants and iTrax give Internet music downloads an audiophile makeover

Say what you will about the ethical and legal issues surrounding peer-to-peer music trading, but back in the good old days of Napster, Gnutella and other such illicit music download services, sound quality mattered.

Ahhh August. The summer's end looms, and tempering that disappointment, the start of another football season is eminent.

Capitalizing on the jittery excitement is Madden 09, the latest in the most storied (and most ancient) of football video game franchises.

Make your system sing with these great musical movie moments.

I’ve covered my fair share of music and movies here in Show-Offs over the years. Interestingly enough, as I look back over previous columns, I notice a distinctly never-the-twain-shall-meet approach to the cinematic and lyrical media.

(with contributions by Scott Wasser)

If you’re shopping for a new display, don’t leave home without these indispensable Blu-ray discs. 

Over the past six years worth of “Show-Offs” columns, I’ve devoted who knows how many thousands of words to one singular goal: giving you the tools you need to blow your hair back, tickle your retinas, and prove to your guests that you have the best home theater on the block.

That assumes, of course, that you actually do have the best home theater on the block.

The Not-so-Incredible Hulk

Our friends over at Gamervision.com have done a review of the Incredible Hulk game, available for seemingly every platform except the SNES.

What the designers apparently forgot to do while they were writing and re-writing all the code for every console, is design a decent game.

Sadly, our green friend doesn’t fair well in this movie-tie in game.

Our 10 Best Software Award winners.

Nothing less than our picks for the best demo material of the past year.

Why just listen when you can watch? Combining the musical with the visual enhances the experience far beyond what you get from CDs, and the better of the 5.1-channel surround mixes found on many DVDs make you and your guests feel like you're right there in the audience.