Michael Jackson New Video Game Details

Release Date: November 2010
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Genres: Music, Dancing, Singing
Mode(s): Single-player, Multiplayer
Platform(s): Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS
(new motion technology on the Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, which captures gamers movements.)



XBOX Version

The Xbox version will utilize the forthcoming Kinect software, which projects an image of the player onto the screen.

Ubisoft's Tony Key said: "Your goal is to dance like Michael. Do what the guy on the screen is doing and you're there. It'll score you based on the quality of your performance."

The Xbox 360 version will use Kinect in the same way that another Ubisoft title, Your Shape, employs the technology, that is by projecting an image of the player in game to get rid of the usual avatars. Furthermore, there will be no need for a microphone, as the one incorporated in Kinect will do just fine, letting Michael Jackson fans dance and sing at the same time without the need of other peripherals.

PS3 version

The PlayStation 3 version will be compatible with Move and will also need a microphone for the vocals, according to Eurogamer.

Wii version

On the Wii, it will have the same game play mechanics as the popular Just Dance, in which players use the Wii Remote with Wii Motion Plus attached and attempt to mimic the on-screen silhouette dancer.

Nintendo DS and the PSP versions

The Nintendo DS release will behave like Elite Beat Agents, apparently, with the player using the stylus to tap circles or follow pathways between various points, keeping the rhythm of the song.

The game play is suggested as taking the form of a traditional Rhythm-Action title, with the players asked to press the corresponding face button to that which is presented on-screen. As players progress, new venues will be available alongside the new tracks, leading to some of Michael Jackson’s most famous performances.

In addition to the Rhythm-Action game play, Michael Jackson: The Experience on PSP will feature a series of mini-games and a quiz mode. Few details are available on how these extras will be offered within the package (whether they’ll be available form the start or unlockable rewards)

Stress, paranoia and pain: Michael Jackson's inner circle of bodyguards lift the lid

He was one of the world's most famous performers, and being in the limelight had quite an effect on Michael Jackson as his bodyguards explained on U.S. TV today.

The three men - Mike Garcia, Bill Whitfield and Javon "BJ" Beard - revealed that the late star's life was full of "stress, paranoia and pain."

They also said the star had two girlfriends during the time they worked for him and insisted he was NOT a child abuser.

Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America the security team, referred to as The Inner Circle, were asked if they believed Jackson was a paedophile, to which all three emphatically replied 'No.'.


Bill Whitfield said: 'Being a man, men know men, and we [were] around him long enough to know he was a man.'

While Mike Garcia added: 'He had desires of women like we do. He had lovers.

'In the cars that we had, we had a curtain that covered the back seat. You couldn't see in the back seat. They talked back there, they didn't do nothing out of bounds.

'You can hear the kissing.'

The men said the pop superstar had at least two girlfriends during the two year period they were employed to look after him, and they chaperoned Jackson and his lovers like a pair of teenagers.

The threesome also said that Michael Jackson was an "awesome" father, who did all he could to shield his three children, Prince Michael, Paris and Blanket from the media glare.

Jackson gave them the task of protecting his children from seeing images of their father on magazine covers.

Whitfield said: 'I'll be ahead of him, because I know he's coming this way, and I'm looking at magazine racks that may have something about him on them and I'll turn it around.

'Sometimes he's seen them, and you would actually see him take it and turn them around so the kids didn't see them.'

Garcia added: 'The kids were constantly saying, "I love you, Daddy." They were like four buddies

And Whitfield said the children were very "polite" and "well mannered."

But they recounted "sad" moments too - such as the time Jackson held a birthday party for one of his children, and only Jackson, the teacher, the nanny and the three bodyguards were there with no other children present.

In the two-part interview, the men also claimed that he took out his financial frustrations on them.

'We were asked to leave hotels because the credit card on file was denied,' Bill Whitfield said.

'The bill wasn't paid,' added Garcia.

And they said Jacko - who died on June 25, 2009 at the age of 50 following a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and propofol - would often fly into fits of rage.

'He got so frustrated he threw my cell phone out the window, through the window and broke the glass,' Whitfield said.

'And he looked at me and said, "Bill, you're going to need a new phone."'

SOURCE

Magazines' Best-Selling Covers Of 2009

If Barack Obama was the magazine world's top cover subject in 2008, Michael Jackson proved to be his successor in 2009. The King of Pop's death was the subject of many leading magazines' top covers of 2009. But he wasn't the only cover subject to draw big sales. Below, see various magazines' top-selling covers of 2009 (according to magazine industry publication Min Online):


People's Michael Jackson special issue was its best-selling cover of 2009.


If not for Michael Jackson's death, this cover featuring Kate Gosselin would have been People's best-selling cover of the year (excepting perennial issues).


Predictably, Time magazine also saw its best sales numbers of the year on its Michael Jackson cover...


...as did Newsweek...


...and Us Weekly.


Bernie Madoff as monster was NYMag's best-selling cover of the year.


One of the most buzzed-about magazine covers of the year, ESPN's The Body Issue, featuring Serena Williams, also drove sales.


Adam Lambert was a cover idol for the music magazine.


Rio Olympics fever drove this Economist cover to the top of its sales charts for 2009.


But 2008's magazine sales magnet, Barack Obama, came in at #2 for the Economist in a cover about his health care plan.

SOURCE

Doubts about purported Michael Jackson 911 tape

A recording purported to be a call from the ambulance rushing Michael Jackson to a hospital the day he died was not "typical" of paramedic procedure, according to a Los Angeles Fire Department official.

A British tabloid posted the recording online, suggesting it was evidence that Jackson had no pulse at that time -- contrary to what his personal doctor said.

The Sun newspaper did not reveal the source of the recording, but characterized it as a "911 tape."

Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said he was skeptical about the authenticity of the audio, adding that it "did not come from our agency."


A male -- who says he is a paramedic in an ambulance -- is heard speaking to a female, who supposedly is at the UCLA Medical Center emergency room.

"We have a male, 50. Pop star Michael Jackson. Unresponsive, no pulse. Tried to resuscitate him. Unsuccessful. We are en route," the male voice said.

"OK. We'll have doctors standing by," the female voice replied.

"We've done everything we can here in the ambulance. Hopefully, when we get there -- we should be there in five minutes," the male said. "It doesn't look good."

Humphrey said it is routine for paramedics to use a cell phone or a two-way radio to talk to an emergency room as they rush to a hospital, but they "don't normally speak like this in a medical response."

Specifically, the paramedic would not be likely to use a patient's name in the conversation, even if it is a celebrity, Humphrey said.

It would be routine for the hospital to record the conversations for legal reasons, he said.

UCLA Medical Center spokesman Dale Triber Tate said, "There is no way we could authenticate it even if we had patient/estate authorization, which we do not have."

The fire department released an authenticated recording of the 911 call for help from Jackson's Holmby Hills, California, home the day after the pop icon's death.

A Jackson bodyguard, who was in the room as Murray tried to revive him, spoke to the 911 operator:

"He's not breathing and we're trying to pump him, but he's not breathing," the bodyguard said. "He's not responding to CPR or anything,"

"We're less than a mile away and we'll be there shortly," the operator said.

Hoax recordings have emerged since Jackson's death, including a video produced by a German TV show that purported to show a living Jackson stepping out of a coroner's van.

A spokeswoman for RTL, the leading private broadcaster in Germany, later said it was an experiment to show how easy it is to spread rumors online.


Source

Autopsy Confirms Michael Jackson Had Vitiligo, Wore Wig, Among Other Things

LOS ANGELES - Michael Jackson's full autopsy report was released following the filing of involuntary manslaughter charges on Monday against the singer's personal doctor. Following are some notable or new highlights of the Los Angeles County Coroner's report into Jackson's June 25 death.

--Jackson died of "acute propofol intoxication" administered at a level equivalent to that used during anesthesia for "major surgery". A consultant anesthesiologist said there were "no reports of its use in insomnia relief."


--None of the recommended monitoring, precision dosing or resuscitation equipment was present in Jackson's room.

--Jackson had the skin pigmentation disorder vitiligo, with white patches particularly on his chest, abdomen, face and arms.


--The hair on Jackson's head was described initially by police as "sparse and connected to a wig." The autopsy revealed "frontal balding".


--A bandage was present on the tip of Jackson's nose.


--A closed bottle of urine was found on a chair in the bedroom where the singer died, along with a box of catheters, disposable needles, alcohol pads, several empty orange juice bottles, a string of wooden beads and a green oxygen tank.


--On Aug 6, a month before his burial, police went to the mortuary where his body was being held to collect hair samples for toxicology tests. The casket was described as yellow with a blue lining and Jackson was wearing a long, dark wig. "Moving the wig revealed short, dark, curly natural hair...measuring approximately one and a half inches in length."


--Jackson's body was covered with small scars on his nose, knee, shoulder, neck, wrists, and behind both ears.


--He had dark tattoos near both eyebrows and a small pink tattoo near his lips.


--His body weighed 136 pounds, was 69 inches long, and was described as "thin."

SOURCE

Michael Jackson Estate to Joe: No, No, No

Lawyers for Michael Jackson's estate have filed legal papers opposing Joe Jackson's attempt to get his son's UCLA medical records -- records Joe wants in order to file a wrongful death lawsuit.

Estate lawyers say there are three reasons why Joe is not entitled to medical records.

1. Joe was not a dependent of Michael Jackson and therefore not legally entitled to sue for the wrongful death of his son.

2. Joe has filed his request for medical records in connection with his attempt to get an allowance from the estate, and an allowance has nothing to do with wrongful death.

3. There is a physician-patient privilege that bars Joe from getting the medical records.

SOURCE

Michael Jackson dolls to hit UK shops

Standby for the great new hit toy for Christmas 2010 - Michael Jackson dolls. At least that's what The Character Group, which has previously had hits with Dr Who, Peppa Pig and Go Go Pets, is hoping.

It has won the UK licence to distribute the four Jackson dolls "in some of his most memorable iconic poses" made by Playmates Toys.

The dolls, two of which will launched in August and two more before Christmas, will be primarily aimed at the collectors' market. Each doll will be individually numbered and sold in commemorative packaging.

Richard King, chairman of The Character Group added: “Michael Jackson's persona and performances were legendary and it is fantastic to be involved with an inspirational figure who entertained millions with the great music he created.

“We are confident that the dolls will be highly sought after by fans and collectors alike, and we look forward to launching the full range in time for Christmas sales this year. These sales will be mainly reflected in our 2011 financial year.”

SOURCE