Michael Jackson
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The Notorious B.I.G. might be going on tour in hologram form
ARHT (Augmented Reality Holographic Technology) Media announced on Monday that it has acquired the digital rights to Biggie Smalls' likeness and will resurrect the famed rapper as a hologram. He (it?) is expected to appear in a new music video before potentially going on tour. "What we're gonna start with is a video with the first single from [Faith Evan's upcoming duets compilation] The King & I then I think Faith wants to do a little tour," ARHT Media founder Rene Bharti told Billboard.
Billie Holiday's hologram is slated to play the Apollo theater
Joining the ranks of Tupac, Selena, Liberace and Michael Jackson, Billie Holiday's posthumous hologram is slated to play the Apollo over the holidays. And she won't be the last. The famed theater, one of the country's first racially integrated clubs, announced on Wednesday that it also plans to be the first venue in America to routinely feature holographic performances.
The Perfect Ten: The evolution of /dance
I recall when I was a wee... teenager and C+C Music Factory would blast through our Walkmans to demand that everybody (1) dance and (2) dance now. It was commanding, enthralling and extremely dorky, but the dance could not be denied. Dancing is in the soles of our souls as humans; we simply must boogie to a good beat. I'm not quite sure when or where dancing in MMOs became all the craze, but these days it seems as though every game (except the dour ones with bears, bears, bears) prides itself on a good set of /dance emotes. For some players, it's the perfect way to unwind after a long raid or chew up a bit of time while one waits for SgtCuddlyMonkey to return from his refreshing bio break. For others, it's a legitimate career path with a long and distinguished history of gyrating on top of mailboxes while annoyed postal recipients long for a day when a pelvis will not be gesturing at eye level. So this week, let's loosen up, let our hair down, and samba across the ballroom floor as we count down (up?) 10 incredible MMO dances.
SEE buys Planet Calypso for $6 million, talks with Massively for an encore
For $6 million you could buy a heck of a lot of tacos -- or one virtual planet. Wisely, SEE Virtual Worlds went the latter route, snapping up Planet Calypso from MindArk and saving itself massive heartburn. The sci-fi-themed Planet Calypso operates under the umbrella of Entropia Universe and boasts 950,000 registered accounts since coming online in 2003. As part of the deal, SEE Virtual Worlds also acquired all of the assets of First Planet Company, a former subsidiary of MindArk, which has been transformed into SEE Digital Studios. Under this reorganization, SEE Digital Studios is now responsible for developing and operating Planet Calypso, Planet Michael and Universal Monsters. The company is expected to hire on additional team members for these projects. Fresh from the champagne celebration, SEE Virtual Worlds President Corey Redmond sat down with us to discuss this deal and the future of these three titles. Hit the jump to boogie with Michael Jackson, scream in terror at the Wolfman, and navigate the economy of virtual worlds.
Ping gets exclusive posthumous Michael Jackson song
While some people think Ping is a flop (including me), Apple did score one little victory with its iTunes-centric social media network: its secured the exclusive rights to stream a new Michael Jackson song for the next week. Visitors to Ping's Michael Jackson page can listen to the song, titled "Much Too Soon" for free until next Thursday. As noted on Michael Jackson's Ping page: "Much Too Soon" was written at the time of Thriller. Michael always liked the song but never found the right home for it; here it finds its place as the bittersweet closing to the stellar collection. "Much Too Soon" is the tenth song on the upcoming Michael Jackson album, Michael, which goes on sale on iTunes on December 14th.
Michael Jackson planet coming to Entropia Universe
We're having a very real panic attack right now. It started when we read the press release posted after the jump, which announces that Entropia Universe, an MMO with a real-world economy and not much else, would play host to "Planet Michael" in late 2011. In this upcoming Michael Jackson-themed world -- not to be confused with the Micahel Jackson experience -- fans of Michael Jackson can congregate and talk about how much they love Michael Jackson. We're not sure what else one does on Planet Michael, but it will seemingly cost real money, and we're sure there will be people who spend money to do it -- hence the panic attack. Here's an idea! How about the Michael Jackson fans of the world just use the comment section of this post as a forum to discuss their love of Michael Jackson's music and cinematic works? We certainly won't charge you anything, nor will we creepily approach you for digital sex! Here, we'll start things off: "Man in the Mirror" is the greatest song ever written by humans, and "Dirty Diana" isn't far behind. Discuss.
Michael Jackson virtual world planned for 2011 launch
"The Ultimate Michael Jackson Online Game" may not be a virtual world you expected, but it's a very real project coming to us late next year, via Entropia Universe. SEE Virtual Worlds approached Michael Jackson's estate about producing Planet Michael, and the company is planning to focus on the King of Pop's positive impact on our culture: "Planet Michael will offer fans around the globe an innovative, first-of-its-kind interactive gaming and social experience that truly celebrates Michael Jackson's extraordinary life as an artist and humanitarian." Planet Michael will be a free-to-play themed planet created specifically for Entropia Universe with "gameplay monetization" that allows players to take on different occupations and sometimes contribute to real-world charities at the same time. The site is currently live and taking signups.
Experience the Michael Jackson game's first song list
Ubisoft today announced the first set of tracks licensed for Michael Jackson: The Experience, the multiplatform dance-n'-sing-along game coming this holiday. Only seven cuts deep, the list was accompanied by the publisher's assurance of "many more" -- eh HEE HEE! -- songs to be revealed: "Bad" "Beat It" "Billie Jean" "Earth Song" "The Girl Is Mine" "Who Is It" "Workin' Day And Night" The Wii Experience is indeed playable for the first time this week at Gamescom, but Ubisoft is focusing its marketing efforts on the company's so-called "proprietary Player Projection" technology -- sham on! -- featured in the Kinect version of the game. As it sounds, and demonstrated in the promo shot above, Player Projection superimposes the player into the game screen via the image captured by the Kinect camera. (It's not be specified whether this common effect will also be featured in the camera-equipped PlayStation Move version of the game.) If you're hoping to avoid the rather unpleasant experience of falling flat on your face while watching yourself fall flat on your face, then you had best study up on some of MJ's dance tricks. Thankfully, the game will include -- eh hee-hee-hee -- the "Michael Jackson School" mode. %Gallery-99711%
Talkcast reminder: 10pm ET, new gear and new month
It's the first of August -- already? -- and we're back live tonight on Talkshoe, so call in and chat with us about the biggest Apple stories of the past week. On the docket this evening, we'll be talking about what iPad owners (and the iPad's detractors) are like, the revised iMacs and Mac Pro, Apple's new battery charger and the Magic Trackpad, running iOS 4 on an older iPhone, and what exactly happened to the Michael Jackson zombie. To participate on TalkShoe, you can use the browser-only client, the embedded Facebook app, or the classic TalkShoe Pro Java client; however, for maximum fun, you should call in. For the web UI, just click the "TalkShoe Web" button on our profile page at 10 pm Sunday. To call in on regular phone or VoIP lines (take advantage of your free cellphone weekend minutes if you like): dial (724) 444-7444 and enter our talkcast ID, 45077 -- during the call, you can request to talk by keying in *8. If you've got a headset or microphone handy on your Mac or your PC, you can connect via the free Gizmo or X-Lite SIP clients or using the Talkshoe client's ShoePhone tool; basic instructions are here. We'll kick things off at 10pm ET/ 7pm PT. See you there!
Dear Aunt TUAW: Where's my Michael Jackson Zombie?
Dear Aunt TUAW, PopCap Games recently released an update to Plants vs. Zombies boasting "multiple performance enhances and bug fixes" (sure, but I never had an issue on my 3GS). Now, the King of Pop Zombie is nowhere to be found! He's replaced with a zombie with an orange Afro, white 70s leisure suit and orange shoes. Why? Why remove the King of Pop? Was there a threatening lawsuit? Can you all find out for us and get the scoop? I won't be updating anytime soon now. Thank you from your loving nephew, Alejandro
PopCap removes Michael Jackson lookalike from Plants vs. Zombies
A recent update for the iPhone version of PopCap's floral tower-defense title, Plants vs. Zombies, makes a significant change to a prominent member of the game's undead roster: Dancing Zombie. The red leather jumpsuit-clad ghoul formerly resembled Michael Jackson in his seminal, super-lengthy 1983 music video "Thriller." After the update, the shambling fiend now has much more generic disco attire. PopCap explained the reason for the update to MTV Multiplayer, stating, "The Estate of Michael Jackson objected to our use of the 'dancing zombie' in Plants vs. Zombies based on its view that the zombie too closely resembled Michael Jackson." Rather than risk a legal kerfluffle, PopCap has decided to "replace it with a different 'dancing zombie' character for future builds" of the title. Unfortunately, the update seems to be causing the game to crash on iPhone 4. Keep an eye peeled for an update update, which will still leave the title King of Pop-less, yet delightfully functional.
Michael Jackson game subtitled 'The Experience,' coming November
Following its bare-bones announcement at Ubisoft's E3 press conference, "Michael Jackson: The Game" has been dubbed Just Michael Jackson Michael Jackson: The Experience. The Experience will place players in the shiny shoes of Jackson himself, reliving some of his most iconic performances using the Wii, PlayStation Move or Xbox 360's Kinect motion tech to dance along with an on-screen prompt. The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions will also include an option to sing along, using Kinect's built-in mic or a standalone microphone. Additionally, DS and PSP versions of the game will feature Ouendan-esque rhythm-tapping gameplay. According to Eurogamer, The Experience is due out in November, which should give us enough time to figure out the meaning of the name. Is it because we're getting the full Michael Jackson "experience?" Or, is it possible that the game includes an experience-based character progression system? If so, we're putting all our points in the Toe Stand specialization tree.
Michael Jackson game being developed by Ubisoft
How does Ubisoft follow up on its multi-million unit selling Just Dance? By making an "interactive performance-based" game about the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. The E3 presentation featured a few dancers on stage moving in front of a Kinect camera. However, other than a short musical number and a logo, Ubisoft hasn't presented much else (not that it'll stop hardcore fans from pre-ordering the game now). We first heard of a possible deal for a Michael Jackson game last year. The original concept promised "recent voice recordings by the singer." It's unclear if Ubisoft's game is the same project, but it will feature classics, like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean." According to a press release, fans will be able to not just dance, but sing along as well. In spite of not being shown at the press conference in any playable form, Ubisoft's Michael Jackson game will be available for Kinect for Xbox 360, PlayStation Move for PS3, PSP, Wii and Nintendo DS. %Gallery-95223%
Samsung's S2 Portable gets Michael Jackson makeover, promises to heal the world
You know, something deep, deep inside of us knew that this was going to happen, but with Michael Jackson's untimely departure of Planet Earth back in the news thanks to Mr. Conrad Murray's arraignment, it seems like the glut of This Is It-related gear is even touching the typically straightforward tech industry. The drive you're weeping at above is the February 22nd-bound 500GB S2 Portable, complete with a paint job that can only be described as overkill. Jackson's final film is pre-loaded on here (and likely entangled in DRM), as well as Samsung's own Auto Backup feature that'll keep your aged concert photos safe for a few more decades. Of course, the inclusion of a "SecretZone" service -- which encrypts specific files while requiring a password to access -- seems a bit tasteless given the subject matter here, but leave it to Samsung to Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'. %Gallery-85015%
This is It Blu-ray release debuts movieIQ Sync, brings more Michael Jackson info to your iPhone or PC
Unfortunately, the most telling element of this Blu-ray news is that it didn't merit a mention during Sony's CES keynote, but a new BD-Live feature will be included on This is It. movieIQ Sync updates the original by allowing users to pull up additional movie info on a PC or iPhone synchronized with the movie -- we're guessing the recently released FBI files won't be included -- without it popping up on the television. The other new feature is the ability to create & share customized playlists of the songs featured in the flick. We've been waiting for an event that would change both the reality and perception of internet connected features on Blu-ray -- and there's still some hope -- but this probably isn't it.
Is this it? Michael Jackson 'This is It' PS3 Japan bundle
Corporate synergy keeps the late "King of Pop" alive, as various divisions of Sony conspire for a special This Is It PS3 bundle. The ¥33,500 ($365) Japan-only set releases January 27 and comes with a Blu-ray movie of Michael Jackson's behind-the-scenes concert film, along with a 120GB black PS3 Slim. No word if this bundle will come with a white PS3 later. So, let's get this straight: Japan gets a Michael Jackson PS3 bundle, while the US is "blessed" with a Hannah Montana PSP pack? That's bad, come on, you know that's bad. And the whole world has to answer right now, just to tell us once again: that's bad! [Via Engadget]
Michael Jackson 'This is It' PS3 bundle makes it a better place for you and me
This is it! And by "it" we, of course, mean corporate synergy, as Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Computer Entertainment Japan reach across the cultural divide to bring America's late King of Pop to the island of Japan in the form of a bundled Blu-ray and "Special Pack" PlayStation 3 SKU. But this bundle isn't as off the wall as you may imagine. It won't heal the world or rock with you, but if MJ fans wanna be startin' somethin' with the PS3, you really can't beat it. Your ¥33,500 nabs you a Blu-ray of last year's behind-the-scenes cash-in and a 120GB PS3 Slim in a "limited offer" package beginning January 27 – sorry, no choice of black or white. Oof, that last one was bad.
French magazine reportedly confirms MJ's involvement with Sonic 3 soundtrack
[OCRemix] One of the longest running rumors of the video game community is the claim that Michael Jackson contributed to the soundtrack for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 to some degree -- a claim bolstered by a number of similarities between the game's tunes and Jackson's own body of work. Now, more than 15 years after the game's release, we might have confirmation that the late King of Pop was responsible for the threequel's incredibly catchy ditties. According to a forum post on gaming music enthusiast site VGMdb.net, the latest issue of French Michael Jackson fan magazine Black & White contains an interview with composer Brad Buxer, who explains that he and Michael "did compose music for the game." However, due to the Genesis' less-than-mindblowing sound quality, Jackson reportedly asked that his name not appear on the game, as he "did not want to be associated with a product that devalued his music." According to poster's transcript of the interview, Buxer also confirmed that we weren't imagining the aforementioned melodic similarities -- Jackson and Buxer apparently managed to adapt some of their work on the game for later use in their own music. Specifically, Buxer mentioned the melody for the game's closing credits were "used as base for Stranger in Moscow." Also, "Man in the Mirror?" Totally written about Doctor Robotnik.
This Is It: a movie being released on UMD in 2010
We fully expected Sony Pictures to release This Is It, the blockbuster Michael Jackson concert film, on both DVD and Blu-Ray. However, Sony has taken its plans to put this movie on discs a step further, with the surprising announcement that the movie will also be released on UMD. All three versions will be in stores January 26, 2010. Both the Blu-Ray and DVD versions will include exclusive bonus material not found on the UMD. Notably absent from the Blu-Ray release is a digital copy of the movie, which would enable it to be watched on any PSP, including the PSP Go. Also notably absent is any mention of the UMD on the site for the home release. Sony must believe that UMD movies sell themselves. Michael Jackson's This Is It will retail for $24.94 on UMD ($28.96 on DVD; $39.95 on Blu-Ray).
Blinged out Michael Jackson phone is fashionably late
Michael Jackson may never take the stage again, but that doesn't mean you can't commemorate him in your pocket, right? This special, "limited edition" mobile phone appears to have been dipped in gold and diamonds, and, if we're not mistaken... it's basically a Vertu KIRF that's dressed like a headless MJ? We're pretty light on specs and pricing information here, but rest assured that unless you live in China, you'll probably never be able to get your be-gloved hand on one of these. Nothing like cashing in on the dead. [Via Shanzhai]
