Ozzfest add Metallica to Ozzfest tour this year
April 30, 2008
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Ozzfest add Metallica to Ozzfest tour this year
Ozzy gets big name added to two day festival…
According to Blabbermouth.net, this summer’s Ozzfest will consist of two separate two-day (Saturday/Sunday) events — one of which will be held in Dallas — in late July/early August, with Ozzy Osbourne headlining one day and Metallica headlining the next.
Not only are these two bands been announced for the Dallas show, but so has recently re-united thrash metalliers Rigor Mortis. The band has announced that they will play in the Dallas Ozzfest on August 9th, with Metallica rumored to close that show out.
http://www.411mania.com/music/news/74225/Dallas-Ozzfest-To-Feature-Ozzy-Osbourne-and-Metallica.htm
Van Halen tour still got it but it feels different
April 30, 2008
Van Halen tour still got it but it feels different
Rarely has a major concert come to the Bradley Center as fraught with questions as Monday night’s rescheduled Van Halen gig.
Van Halen
Review
Photo/Gary Porter
David Lee Roth (left) and Eddie Van Halen rock to "You Really Got Me" with the band Van Halen during a performance Monday night at the Bradley Center.
Would guitar god Eddie Van Halen be able to remain upright for the entire event?
Could Eddie resist the temptation to smack David Lee Roth over the head with his guitar?
These were not small issues. This is a band that for much of its history and especially its recent history has overdosed on bile and booze. Aside from an abortive reunion 12 years ago, Roth and the Van Halens hadn’t really played together since Roth checked out in 1985.
Given the possibly dire expectations, things went remarkably well. You got most of the early hits - "Oh, Pretty Woman," "Jump," "Hot For Teacher" and "Running With the Devil" among them. Eddie looks fit if different - tanned with close-cropped blond hair. His guitar solo near the end of the regular set - a blend of "Women in Love," "Cathedral" and "Eruption" - was both stunning and downright gorgeous. The Van Halen reunion tour is attracting a crowd that tilts heavily toward middle-aged white guys, which would seem to infer an exercise in guitar god worship.
If you thought guitar pyrotechnics was the evening’s first priority, you probably went home happy.
As for Roth, he, too, looks fit but different. That famous mane of blond hair is now cut short, and rock’s hairiest heavy metal chest is now shaved smoother than the Gerber baby’s butt. That said, Roth appears remarkably fit for 52, still tight and chiseled across the middle. Indeed, the fitness slacker in the band is probably Eddie’s teenage son Wolfgang, who has taken over at bass for Michael Anthony. The musical logic of that move remains elusive.
Among its accomplishments, Van Halen was credited with being the first metal band that smiled while they played and the first metal band that made girls want to take off their clothes. Both distinctions could probably be credited to Roth. In his prime, Roth was the classic swashbuckler, a gaudy blend of rock ‘n’ roll pirate and heavy metal burlesque queen. He was glam and hammy and sexy and fun.
He’s still an over-the-top, one-man carnival, preening and posing and cavorting bare-chested with a sequined top hat.
But . . . and I realize this is perhaps an odd thing to say about an act built on theatricality, it now feels contrived more than exuberant. Maybe it’s that there’s no longer a small army of rock ‘n’ roll mamas screaming and clawing their approval. Maybe it’s the incongruity of men in their 50s singing "Hot For Teacher."
Maybe it’s the dubious camaraderie of the band, but the Dave and Eddie show feels somehow hollow, like two middle-aged men doing their best to impersonate their youth for money.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=744698
Buckle Up! Mario Kart Wii Puts Everyone in the Driver’s Seat For WII
April 30, 2008
Buckle Up! Mario Kart Wii Puts Everyone in the Driver’s Seat For WII
New Wii Wheel Brings Motion Controls to Nintendo’s Racing Franchise
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Since the invention of the automobile, kids have pantomimed driving with pretend steering wheels. Since the dawn of the video game age, people of all ages playing racing games have twisted and turned their controllers to steer their vehicles, even though it had no effect on the action on the screen. Now, Mario Kart® Wii makes these fantasies a reality and brings a new level of immersion and interaction to video games.
The raucous driving game, which launched Sunday, comes packaged with the Wii Wheel™ steering wheel accessory that houses the Wii Remote™ controller and lets players steer just as though they were driving a real car. The accessory has been specifically designed and engineered so that even someone who has never played a video game before can pick up the Wii Wheel and start racing instantly.
“Just like Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii will have everyone in the household playing together, laughing and having fun,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “With the Wii Wheel and ability to race with Mii caricatures, Mario Kart Wii literally puts players directly into the game.”
While newcomers will find it easy to hop into a race, Mario Kart Wii holds plenty of challenges to keep veterans busy. Mario Kart Wii features 16 new tracks, as well as 16 retro tracks from previous Mario Kart games. Dozens of characters from the Mushroom Kingdom are present, and each has his or her own collection of customized vehicles to race.
For the first time in the Mario Kart series, racers can compete on either motorbikes or karts as they find shortcuts, grab power-ups and take down other racers in a frantic free-for-all. In addition to the Wii Wheel, players can also choose from three other control configurations, such as the Nunchuk™ and Wii Remote controllers, Nintendo GameCube™ controller or the Classic Controller™, so everyone will find a suitable setup.
Four people can compete on a single Wii™ system, or up to 12 people near or far can race via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo’s online gaming service. A new Mario Kart Channel on the Wii Menu lets players compete in tournaments, check rankings, see when their friends are playing and download ghost data.
For more information about Mario Kart Wii, visit www.mariokart.com. Remember that the Wii console features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.7 billion video games and more than 460 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario™, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda™ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.
Buckle Up! Mario Kart Wii Puts Everyone in the Driver’s Seat For WII
April 30, 2008
Buckle Up! Mario Kart Wii Puts Everyone in the Driver’s Seat For WII
New Wii Wheel Brings Motion Controls to Nintendo’s Racing Franchise
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Since the invention of the automobile, kids have pantomimed driving with pretend steering wheels. Since the dawn of the video game age, people of all ages playing racing games have twisted and turned their controllers to steer their vehicles, even though it had no effect on the action on the screen. Now, Mario Kart® Wii makes these fantasies a reality and brings a new level of immersion and interaction to video games.
The raucous driving game, which launched Sunday, comes packaged with the Wii Wheel™ steering wheel accessory that houses the Wii Remote™ controller and lets players steer just as though they were driving a real car. The accessory has been specifically designed and engineered so that even someone who has never played a video game before can pick up the Wii Wheel and start racing instantly.
“Just like Wii Sports, Mario Kart Wii will have everyone in the household playing together, laughing and having fun,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “With the Wii Wheel and ability to race with Mii caricatures, Mario Kart Wii literally puts players directly into the game.”
While newcomers will find it easy to hop into a race, Mario Kart Wii holds plenty of challenges to keep veterans busy. Mario Kart Wii features 16 new tracks, as well as 16 retro tracks from previous Mario Kart games. Dozens of characters from the Mushroom Kingdom are present, and each has his or her own collection of customized vehicles to race.
For the first time in the Mario Kart series, racers can compete on either motorbikes or karts as they find shortcuts, grab power-ups and take down other racers in a frantic free-for-all. In addition to the Wii Wheel, players can also choose from three other control configurations, such as the Nunchuk™ and Wii Remote controllers, Nintendo GameCube™ controller or the Classic Controller™, so everyone will find a suitable setup.
Four people can compete on a single Wii™ system, or up to 12 people near or far can race via Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo’s online gaming service. A new Mario Kart Channel on the Wii Menu lets players compete in tournaments, check rankings, see when their friends are playing and download ghost data.
For more information about Mario Kart Wii, visit www.mariokart.com. Remember that the Wii console features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.
About Nintendo: The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.7 billion video games and more than 460 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario™, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda™ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.
Why do Rammstein and Marilyn Manson albums still get blamed for the Columbine High School shooting?
April 30, 2008
Why do Rammstein and Marilyn Manson albums still get blamed for the Columbine High School shooting?
Columbine High School shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were noted for being fans of two bands in particular: Marilyn Manson and Rammstein. Manson answered for himself in Michael Moore’s 2002 documentary Bowling for Columbine, but I’ll give Rammstein a closer look.
German industrial/metal band Rammstein formed in 1993, and over its decade-and-a-half history has faced numerous accusations of promoting violence and Nazism. In one instance pertaining to the 1999 Columbine High shooting, Christian author Johanna Michaelsen, in an interview on The 700 Club, attributed the massacre to Rammstein’s influence.
However, accusations of rock bands influencing violent behavior were nothing new in 1999.
The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), formed in 1985 by, among others, Tipper Gore, warned parents about the dangers of exposing children to the violent or sexually explicit music of such artists as Judas Priest and Cindy Lauper.
