Ozzy Osbourne celebrates Maddenoliday in Times Square
"I can't hear you!" shouted Ozzy atop the Hard Rock marquee. "I wanna fucking hear you!" he spat, as several onlookers chuckled at the sound of the massive F-bomb amplified throughout Times Square. A few cheers followed, but mostly silent bemusement. "What are we standing here for?" somebody wondered aloud.
Just the day before, we'd received a last-minute invitation from Microsoft PR inviting us to "Maddenoliday," a public celebration of the Xbox 360 version of Madden 08. (A Microsoft representative insisted that we not blog about the event prior to its start -- though sister site X3F gave late word by way of Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog.) With little publicity beforehand, the event mostly preyed on the droves of tourists who spend these comfortable summer nights in crisp 'I ♥ NY' tees, shuffling up and down Broadway and 7th Avenue. Set up a few iron blockades, blow some smoke, and they'll stop and linger.
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Opposite the Hard Rock stage, and just north, was a meager line outside of Toys "R" Us, which hadn't grown much since the first fans -- actual Madden fans -- gathered there about seven hours earlier, waiting to buy their game when the doors opened at midnight. Pinned between storefront and barrier, this half-block clump was the only evidence that this grandiose staging, complete with a virtual game cover drop (à la the New Year's Eve Ball), had a tangible purpose. But, after Ozzy had disappeared backstage and the Vince Young cover had traveled down the Reuters building, as the crowds began to thin, it became apparent that this spectacle had a second purpose.
These foreigners, whether from near or far, flock to Times Square hoping to stumble upon just this: fleeting pomp and pageantry that's so uniquely American. So excessive and so errantly pointless is Maddenoliday that it instantly dissolves into historic evidence of a wavering society that continues to hemorrhage global resources to make a buck. Who wouldn't want to be a part of that celebration? See you next year, Madden.
[Video filmed and edited by Andrew Yoon]
