December 07 2004 - World of Warcraft (PC) - By Allen Rausch, GameSpy, Blizzard succeeds in streamlining and refining the massively multiplayer game, creating an MMO for the "rest of us" -- as well as an instant classic. When Blizzard first announced that it was working on a massively multiplayer online game (MMO), the first thought that ran through my mind was "Why? Blizzard has no experience in this area. What can they bring that's going to be fresh, new, or different?" It's not until I began seriously playing the final version of World of Warcraft, though, that I realized just how foolish a question that was. Blizzard's particular genius has never been in breaking new ground; it's watching the mistakes other people make and learning from them. Blizzard games have the cache they do because they're polished and refined until they gleam. That, in a nutshell is the essential brilliance of World of Warcraft. It takes the essence of the MMO experience, breaks it down into its component parts, and plays up all the fun elements while actively minimizing the boring or tedious aspects. World of Warcraft is the MMO that nearly everybody can enjoy, and is a shining example of the game developer's art...

March 30 1998 - A Boy, His Dog, and Charlie Chaplin - by Peter Ford, The NewAmerican, March 30 1998, It was early in 1952, I was seven years old, and silent screen legend Charlie Chaplin lived around the corner from my family in a big house on Summit Drive in Beverly Hills, California. Mr. Chaplin had recently been under investigation by the FBI for suspected communist activities. He had also suffered under three trials for violations of the Mann Act for immoral conduct with teen-age girls, and had felt the pressure of other charges of moral turpitude when he left the U.S. for England to attend the premier of his latest film, Limelight. My first — and only close — encounter with the actor the world knew as the "little tramp" occurred one rainy winter night shortly before his departure for England, a departure that was to mark the beginning of his life-long exile from the United States. The encounter is etched keenly in my memory, partly because my parents convinced me that the tragedy that happened that night was directly connected to Chaplin’s exile from America. But I am getting ahead of my story...

September 19 2003 - Browne Remembers Zevon - Warren's earliest champion pays tribute, By David Fricke, RollingStone, The first time I ever heard a Warren Zevon song, it was sung by Jackson Browne -- in September, 1975, at the Main Point, a small, legendary coffeehouse in the suburbs of Philadelphia. I worked there as a publicist -- my first, big gig in the music business. Browne was there to bring some saving grace. He had been a regular and favorite performer at the club for years, and he was back, with guitarist David Lindley, to play a week of benefit nights to help the Point's ailing finances. Browne also took the opportunity to tell his fans about one of his best friends and favorite songwriters. The night I was there (which happened to be broadcast on local radio -- and bootlegged), he made a point of spelling Zevon's last name, for everyone's future reference, and then spelled out the dimensions of Zevon's gifts by playing three of his songs: the warm, mysterious "Mohammed's Radio"; the rip-roaring "Werewolves of London"; and the sweet, blue heartbreaker "Hasten Down the Wind." "What do you think? Do you think we got a hit?" Browne asked us during the sing-along howl of "Werewolves." We agreed. He was right, of course. Browne would go on to produce Zevon's acclaimed 1976 Asylum debut, Warren Zevon, and co-produce "Werewolves," the only Top Thirty hit Zevon ever had...

January 24 2004 - TV's 'Captain Kangaroo,' Bob Keeshan, dead - (CNN) -- Television's Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan, died Friday morning in Vermont, a family friend told CNN. He was 76. He died after a long illness, his family told The Associated Press...

September 23, 2004 - Britain complains to U.S. about Cat Stevens’ detention - Islam convert calls U.S. deportation ‘ridiculous’ Yusuf Islam, formerly known as the rock star Cat Stevens, arrives at London's Heathrow airport on Thursday after being refused entry to the United States. The Associated Press, WASHINGTON - The singer formerly known as Cat Stevens returned to Britain Thursday, saying he was “totally shocked” that he was barred from entering the United States.  The singer, who changed his name to Yusuf Islam more than 25 years ago, was met by a swarm of reporters as he came through the arrivals area at Heathrow airport...

December 23 2003 - UK gamers suffer in winter heats - BBC, UK pro-gaming team Four-Kings has finished eighth in the prestigious Cyberathlete Professional League winter tournament. The result is a surprise because the team's Counter-Strike squad was seeded fifth before the Dallas event started. However, the team was struck down by illness before a key match, which meant they did not live up to their ranking. But the team did not come away empty handed and picked up a $2000 (£1,135) prize for their efforts. $130,000 in prize money...

March 19 2004 - On Location With DOOM 3 - We catch up with Activision and id Software in a southern California sound studio as they record voiceovers for id's upcoming horrorfest. By Sal "Sluggo" Accardo, GameSpy, ABOUT TWENTY FEET in front of me, there's a man seated in a small booth. Watching through a glass window, we can see him talking to no one in particular, first in imperative tones, and then groaning and screaming at the top of his lungs in abject terror.

"DON'T YOU LEAVE ME HERE!!!"

Soon, the cries subside, and he emerges from the room to the sound of... applause.  The location is Salami Studios in North Hollywood, California, and the man in question is actor Phil LaMarr. Originally gaining fame as a cast member on Mad TV, LaMarr has become a much sought-after voice actor, with prominent roles in animated series such as Futurama, Justice League, Static Shock, Family Guy and Samurai Jack. He's also become one of the busiest names in videogame voiceovers, and there aren't many games bigger than the one he's recording for today: DOOM 3...

July 25 2004 - Moore: $100 million man - Gabriel Snyder, STAFF, AP, Michael Moore took the unusual step of hosting a Sunday morning conference call to trumpet the $100 million milestone crossed by "Fahrenheit 9/11." As the dozen or so journalist checked in to the call, he helpfully suggested, "While we're waiting, can everyone please sing their favorite Linda Ronstadt (news) song?" While "Fahrenheit" is the first documentary ever to cross this threshold, Moore also used the occasion to thump the underperforming slate at Walt Disney Co., which blocked subsidiary Miramax from distributing the scathing critique of President Bush...

July 16 2004 - Online Games a Massive Pain - By Daniel Terdiman, WiredNews.com, Electronic Arts' decision to shut down development of Ultima X: Odyssey -- the sequel to its long-running online game Ultima Online -- may force the game industry to re-examine what it takes to be a successful developer of massively multiplayer online games. Electronic Arts joins a growing list of companies -- Cyan Worlds, Games Workshop, There Inc. -- that invested millions of dollars in online games, only to see disappointing sales or unfinished projects. But what's surprising about EA's setback is that it is the world's biggest video-game software company, with plenty of cash, talent, marketing muscle and patience to develop a franchise. Despite that, it pulled the plug on UXO...