>> ^Offsajdh:
>> ^BillOreilly:
...noone wants to buy a 4 year old game with horrible graphics and a monthly fee...

Apparently over 11 million people pay that monthly fee, and the latest expansion sold (a record breaking) 2.8 million copies during the first 24 hours of launch. Love it or hate it, doesnt really matter, World of Warcraft will still go down as the defining game of this generation.


And yet it's such a shame to better games that it was just a fluke of circumstance, imo. It was made to be very accessible with scatter gun tactics.. attract as many mmo fans as you can by putting as many elements of mmo games as possible into it, whether it worked correctly or not.

Though i hate to do it, i have to admit lich king was excellently done, at least from a solo-questing/storyline standpoint. I got some of the best storylines and emotional feeling from it since baldur's gate and that's saying a lot. However if we forget lich king for a minute and pretend it isn't out yet, 50% of the wow community would probably tell you that the game isn't particularly good, enjoyable, well done, and 75% would almost certainly tell you that blizzard treat the community like groupies to be shat on at will and they feel that they're cheated with the price they pay against the service they recieve. Still pay it though.

I think most of the popularity of the game came about because it was released at the right time. A time which will never happen again. The internet became huge. People will tell you the internet became huge before that, but it didn't become REALLY huge. 5-10 years before that a lot of people had the internet but if you played games on it as a schoolkid, at school you were still a nerd. Nowadays even the cool people at school do it. (god that sounds crap, but it's the best way to get my point across)

I'll tell you i thought everquest was the be-all and end-all of mmo's - but perhaps it's because i was really young when i played it and i was more susceptible to mystery and fantasy.

To summarize, i'm amazed the game became as big as it did, because it really isn't good enough, isn't maintained well enough, etc. etc. I'm sure someone will argue this point with me, but they won't be able to argue that half the people playing it think all this, and that's really the point - half the people playing it (11 million? at £9.99/$xx.xx per month) don't think it's good enough. (again, all pre-expansion, it's too early to speak averages otherwise)

And furthermore obviously i haven't spoken to 5.5 million wow players, i've spoken to/heard from thousands and thousands whilst playing and at least half were of this opinion.

Nerdspeech over.

>> ^Offsajdh:
>> ^BillOreilly:
...noone wants to buy a 4 year old game with horrible graphics and a monthly fee...

Apparently over 11 million people pay that monthly fee, and the latest expansion sold (a record breaking) 2.8 million copies during the first 24 hours of launch. Love it or hate it, doesnt really matter, World of Warcraft will still go down as the defining game of this generation. ... for me to poop on!

http://www.videosift.com/video/Drugs-My-Anti-World-of-Warcraft-1

so true

>> ^BillOreilly:
...noone wants to buy a 4 year old game with horrible graphics and a monthly fee...

Apparently over 11 million people pay that monthly fee, and the latest expansion sold (a record breaking) 2.8 million copies during the first 24 hours of launch. Love it or hate it, doesnt really matter, World of Warcraft will still go down as the defining game of this generation.

Not the first unlikely cover of this song on the sift.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'ozzy, osbourne, music' to 'ozzy, osbourne, music, 1995, 90s, Ozzmosis' - edited by schmawy

funny shit. it looks like they are having a lot of fun. you might also enjoy the Ozzy Osbourne version here
http://www.videosift.com/video/Ozzy-Osbourne-sings-Stayin-Alive-by-the-Bee-Gees

Differences of opinion are good, but honestly, I have a much harder time dealing with people I otherwise like saying yes to this gratuitous, disgusting, nauseating, hurtful image than I do dealing with people who think the war in Iraq is rightious or who otherwise espouse political values I abhor: I see the reason for that. I see no reason at all for this. It isn't real. It isn't cautionary. It isn't in context. It's just pathetic.

So let me get this straight: It's much easier for you to deal with a guy like Dick Cheney who sold our nation a bill of goods so we could go to war in which over 5000 Americans and countless Iraqis have actually DIED because he believes the war is righteous, rather than a guy like me who happens to think that the gruesome portrayal of suicide might be realistic enough to persuade certain people to seek help or find help for others that they care about? There's not only no gray area for you, but I'm actually a worse human being because I don't see this clip in the same way that you do? I mean, solely because YOU find it gratuitous, offensive, and unrealistic and yet I don't, this somehow places me on a lower moral plane than the fucking war pigs in Washington because at least they think their cause is "righteous"? Wow, if Cheney ever has to face charges for war crimes he better pray to have you as a judge. All his attorney would have to say is, "Well your honor, at least he's not as bad as that guy who defended a suicide scene from a movie!"

No, you most certainly are NOT alone in experiencing a loss from suicide, but let's spare each other our sob stories because that's really besides the point. Could a scene like this possibly encourage someone to commit suicide? Certainly it's possible. But could a scene like this also dissuade others from taking their own lives? Certainly that's possible too, and unless you somehow have insight into the thinking of every suicidal person on the planet I doubt you'll convince me otherwise. And even more importantly, could people who have friends or loved ones who they know are depressed be moved enough to be more active in finding help for this depressed person after seeing this scene? That is a DEFINITE possibility too. Suicidal people react to the world in ways that aren't entirely predictable anyway, so we can't go making everything they see and hear safe just to protect them, unless you think that the parent of those kids who sued Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest because they blame them for their kids suicide have valid cases.

How realistic is this scene? Most persons don't walk this calmly into their own suicides, but as KOMMIE stated this woman already had other mental health issues to begin with so it's not outside the realm of possibilities. Not every suicide is a person standing on a ledge for hours while police, firemen, and family members all try to talk them down. There is a subset of persons just like her who remain calm and collected during the entire process. I know.

To restate, this scene is not at all romanticized or completely unrealistic, nor does it promote suicide, but that makes no difference to you because your opinion is the one that matters most, right? I'm just the devil, worse than Rumsfeld and Cheney because at least they think their cause is righteous while I must be some sick fuck who likes watching snuff scenes. The worst thing I said about this scene's detractors was that they don't like seeing things that make them uncomfortable, while you say that you have a harder time with me than with deluded war criminals.

Congratulations, oxdottir. You've pissed me off as bad as I used to get when I read political blogs on a regular basis and trolls would stop in to say that we liberals deserved to be waterboarded because we dared to question the President. "Differences of opinion are good", you say, but then you say I'm worse than a megalomaniacal war criminal because my opinion is different than yours. Just cut to the chase and say "Differences of opinion are good, but you're a sick piece of shit because you don't find this abhorrent just like me."

Thanks for letting me know where you stand.

PS: I have no problem with anyone else who's disagreed with me on this thread because no one besides oxdottir has implied I'm a sick bastard for defending this. Everyone on VideoSift can downvote this and I won't care, but I don't take remarks like oxdottir's lightly, obviously.

this is my favorite ozzy cover PURPLE HAZE. zakk totally shreds on this one

http://www.videosift.com/video/Ozzy-Osbourne-sings-Purple-Haze-by-Jimi-Hendrix-1

qruel

In reply to this comment by kronosposeidon:
OMG, that is so disturbing. I don't know how I missed this video when it came up almost two weeks ago, but I'm glad you pointed me to it now. Big, disturbed upvote.

In reply to this comment by qruel:
i just voted fo ryour ozzy video, considering you might be a fan, check out this

http://www.videosift.com/video/Ozzy-Osbourne-sings-Stayin-Alive-by-the-Bee-Gees

Heavy Metal god, Ozzy Osbourne rocks the house with his version of the disco anthem, STAYIN ALIVE, by the bee gee's.
this is a remix mashup of Ozzys version of Stayin Alive with old Sabbath video footage.
Here is a link to the REAL HEAVY version (audio only on youtube :-(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_D4QhevNPw

i just voted fo ryour ozzy video, considering you might be a fan, check out this

http://www.videosift.com/video/Ozzy-Osbourne-sings-Stayin-Alive-by-the-Bee-Gees

Heavy Metal god, Ozzy Osbourne rocks the house with his version of the disco anthem, STAYIN ALIVE, by the bee gee's.
this is a remix mashup of Ozzys version of Stayin Alive with old Sabbath video footage.
Here is a link to the REAL HEAVY version (audio only on youtube :-(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_D4QhevNPw

Abba Badly Drawn Boy The Beatles Black Eyed Peas Chemical Brothers Christina Aguilera Daft Punk The Darkness David Bowie Elton John Eminem The Flaming Lips Franz Ferdinand Goldie Lookin Chain Guns N' Roses Har Mar Superstar The Hives Ice T INXS Jackson Five Jimi Hendrix Kiss Kraftwerk Led Zeppelin The Libertines Marliyn Manson Missy Elliott Morrissey New Order Nirvana Oasis Ozzy Osbourne Prodigy Public Enemy Queen Queens Of The Stone Age Red Hot Chili Peppers Rolling Stones Scissor Sisters Stevie Wonder The Stone Roses Tatu Tupac Shakur U2 Usher The Velvet Underground The Village People Wham! The White Stripes X-ecutioners Xzibit Yeah Yeah Yeahs Yoko Ono Frank Zappa

With the original graphics on the creators blog.. nice sift
http://www.flipflopflyin.com/portfolio/omm.html

I really can't stand Beckham, overrated as a footballer, dim as a 5W light bulb and with an unhealthy fixation on celebrity. Even in this clip he struggled to say what was on the autocue. It does confirm what a media circus this sad event has become. As Farhad states there are plenty of kids who go missing and die each month.
In the UK about 1000 young people die each month, mainly down to accidents and disease. Incidents like this are incredibly rare, maybe there are 5-10 cases in one year in the UK. Some years there are even less. Still because of the rarity the event becomes an obsessive point of interest for the media.

At this point I have to speculate, somewhat cynically, as to why Beckham has become involved. Beckham watchers will know the man is a seasoned publicity seeker now on the verge of a another money-making move to America. What does his involvement in this really achieve? Is there anyone who doesn't already know about the girl's disappearance? What was the thinking behind Beckham's appeal? If it's the power of celebrity then I don't know why Elton John and Ozzy Osbourne aren't being miked up as we speak. I don't doubt the man cares but there is always an element of self-interest in everything he does I'm afraid.

funny note, that scream at the end is done by none other than his highness, the prince of darkness, ozzy osbourne.

Reminds me I had to post this interview Were he says this woman in Boston stops him and goes "

-Ozzy fuckin Osbourne! what are you doing in Boston
-I'm doin' a show
-Oh, what kind of a show?
-A fuckin rock and roll show.."
and she goes
-Oh, you do that as well, do ya?"

This is from the Ozzy Osbourne and Randy Rhoads album entitled, "Tribute." Great guitar playing. Now . . . Black Sabbath anyone?

1949

* Harry Truman is inaugurated as US president after being elected in 1948 to his own term; previously he was sworn in following the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
* Doris Day enters the public spotlight with the films My Dream Is Yours and It's a Great Feeling as well as popular songs like "It's Magic"; divorces her second husband.
* Red China as the Communist Party of China wins the Chinese Civil War, establishing the People's Republic of China.
* Johnnie Ray signs his first recording contract with Okeh Records, although he won't become popular for another two years.
* South Pacific, the prize winning musical, opens on Broadway on April 7.
* Walter Winchell is an aggressive radio and newspaper journalist credited with inventing the gossip column.
* Joe DiMaggio is injured early in the season but makes a comeback in June and leads the New York Yankees to win the World Series.

1950

* Joe McCarthy, the US Senator, gains national attention and begins his anti-communist crusade with his Lincoln Day speech.
* Richard Nixon is first elected to the United States Senate.
* Studebaker a popular car company, is beginning its financial downfall.
* Television is becoming widespread (in black and white format) and becomes the most popular means of advertising.
* North Korea, South Korea engage in warfare as North Korea attacks on June 25, beginning the Korean War.
* Marilyn Monroe soars in popularity with five new movies including The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve, and attempts suicide after death of lover Johnny Hyde. Monroe would later (1954) briefly marry Joe DiMaggio (the rhyme in the previous verse).

1951

* Rosenbergs were convicted on March 29 for espionage.
* H-Bomb is in the middle of its development as a nuclear weapon, announced in early 1950 and first tested in late 1952.
* Sugar Ray (Robinson) the boxer obtains the world's Middleweight title.
* Panmunjeom, the border village in Korea, is the location of truce talks between the parties of the Korean War.
* Brando (Marlon) is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for the first time for his famous role in A Streetcar Named Desire
* The King and I opens on Broadway on March 29.
* and The Catcher in the Rye is a controversial novel by J. D. Salinger.

1952

* Eisenhower (Dwight D.) is first elected as U.S. president by a landslide.
* Vaccine for polio is privately tested by Jonas Salk.
* England's got a new Queen as George VI passes away and Elizabeth II succeeds to the throne of United Kingdom and the Commonwealth Realms.
* Marciano (Rocky) defeats Jersey Joe Walcott, becoming the world Heavyweight champion.
* Liberace has a popular 1950s television show for his musical entertainment.
* Santayana, good-bye as philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist George Santayana dies on September 26.

1953

* Joseph Stalin dies on March 5, yielding his position as leader of the Soviet Union.
* Malenkov (Georgy Maksimilianovich) succeeds Stalin for six months following his death.
* Nasser (Gamal Abdel) acts as the true power behind the new Egyptian nation as Muhammad Naguib's minister of the interior.
* and Prokofiev (Sergei) the composer, dies on March 5, the same day as Stalin.
* Rockefeller (Winthrop) moves to Arkansas, the state where he will be elected governor.
* Campanella (Roy), a baseball catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers, receives the National League's Most Valuable Player award for the second time.
* Communist bloc is a group of communist nations dominated by the Soviet Union at this time.

1954

* Roy Cohn resigns as Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel and enters private practice with the fall of McCarthy.
* Juan Perón spends his last full year as President of Argentina before a September 1955 coup.
* Toscanini (Arturo) is at the height of his fame as a conductor, performing regularly with the NBC Symphony Orchestra on national radio.
* Dacron is an early artificial fiber made from the same plastic as polyester.
* Dien Bien Phu falls as Viet Minh forces under Vo Nguyen Giap take over the Vietnamese village, leading to the creation of North Vietnam and South Vietnam.
* "Rock Around the Clock" is a hit single released by Bill Haley & His Comets in May, spurring worldwide interest in rock and roll.

1955

* Einstein (Albert) dies on April 18 at the age of 76.
* James Dean achieves success with East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, gets nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, and dies in a car accident on September 30.
* Brooklyn's got a winning team as the Brooklyn Dodgers win the World Series for the only time. (There is cheering in the background of the song during this line.)
* Davy Crockett is a Disney television series about the legendary frontiersman of the same name.
* Peter Pan is broadcast on TV live and in color from the 1954 version of the stage musical starring Mary Martin on March 7.
* Elvis Presley signs with RCA Records on November 21, beginning his pop career.
* Disneyland opens on July 17 as Walt Disney's first theme park.

1956

* Bardot (Brigitte) appears in her first mainstream film And God Created Woman and establishes an international reputation as a French "sex kitten".
* Budapest is the site of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
* Alabama is the site of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
* Khrushchev (Nikita) makes his famous Secret Speech denouncing Stalin's "cult of personality" on February 23.
* Princess Grace (Grace Kelly) releases her last film High Society and marries Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
* Peyton Place, the best-selling novel by Grace Metalious, is published.
* Trouble in the Suez boils as Egypt nationalizes the Suez Canal on October 29, beginning the Suez Crisis.

1957

* Little Rock is the site of an anti-integration standoff as Governor Orval Faubus stops the Little Rock Nine from attending Little Rock Central High School, and President Eisenhower deploys the 101st Airborne Division to counteract him.
* Pasternak (Boris), the Russian author, publishes his famous novel Doctor Zhivago.
* Mickey Mantle is in the middle of his career as a famous New York Yankees' outfielder and American League All-Star for the sixth year in a row.
* Kerouac (Jack) publishes his first novel in seven years, On the Road.
* Sputnik is the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviet Union on October 4.
* Chou Enlai is in the middle of his reign as Premier of the People's Republic of China.
* Bridge on the River Kwai is released as a film adaptation of the 1954 novel and receives seven Academy Awards.

1958

* Lebanon is engulfed in a political and religious crisis.
* Charles de Gaulle is elected first president of the French Fifth Republic following the Algerian Crisis.
* California baseball begins as the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California and become the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. They are the first major league teams west of Kansas City.
* Starkweather homicide captures the attention of Americans as serial killer Charles Starkweather kills eleven people before he is caught in a massive manhunt in Douglas, Wyoming.
* Children of thalidomide are born with birth defects caused by the sleeping aid and antiemetic, used to treat morning sickness as well (although not in the USA).

1959

* Buddy Holly dies in a plane crash on February 3 with Ritchie Valens and J. P. Richardson, "The Big Bopper". (As an intro to this stanza, Billy Joel mimics Buddy Holly's trademark "hiccup" style, singing a-UH-uh-oh...).
* Ben-Hur wins eleven Academy Awards as a film based around the New Testament starring Charlton Heston.
* Space monkeys Able and Miss Baker are the first living beings to successfully return to Earth from space aboard the flight Jupiter AM-18.
* Mafia are the centre of attention for the FBI and public attention builds to this organized crime society with an historically Sicilian/American origin.
* Hula hoops reach 100 million in sales as the latest toy fad.
* Castro (Fidel) comes to power after a revolution in Cuba and visits the United States later that year on an unofficial twelve-day tour.
* Edsel is a no-go as production of this car marketing disaster (Ford spent $400 million developing it) ends after only two years.

1960

* U-2: an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union, causing the U-2 Crisis of 1960.
* Syngman Rhee: was rescued by the CIA after being forced to resign as leader of South Korea for allegedly fixing an election and embezzling more than twenty million U.S. dollars.
* Payola: was publicized due to Dick Clark's testimony before Congress and Alan Freed's public disgrace.
* and Kennedy (John F.): beats Richard Nixon in the November 8 general election amongst allegations of vote fraud.
* Chubby Checker: popularizes the dance The Twist with his song of the same name.
* Psycho: an Alfred Hitchcock thriller, based on a pulp novel by Robert Bloch and adapted by Joseph Stefano, which becomes a landmark in graphic violence and cinema sensationalism. The screeching violins heard briefly in the background are a trademark of the film's soundtrack.
* Belgians in the Congo: The Democratic Republic of the Congo was declared independent of Belgium on June 30, with Joseph Kasavubu as President and Patrice Lumumba as Prime Minister.

1961

* Hemingway (Ernest): commits suicide on July 2 after a long battle with depression.
* Eichmann (Adolf): is captured by Mossad agents in Argentina and tried for crimes against humanity.
* Stranger in a Strange Land: written by Robert A. Heinlein, is a breakthrough best-seller with themes of sexual freedom and liberation.
* Dylan (Bob): after a New York Times review by critic Robert Shelton, Dylan is signed to Columbia Records.
* Berlin: The Berlin Wall, which separates West Berlin from East Berlin and the rest of East Germany, is constructed.
* Bay of Pigs Invasion: failed attempt by United States-trained Cuban exiles to invade Cuba and overthrow Fidel Castro.

1962

* Lawrence of Arabia: the Academy Award-winning film based on the life of T. E. Lawrence starring Peter O'Toole premiers in America on December 16.
* British Beatlemania: The Beatles gain Ringo Starr as drummer and Brian Epstein as manager, and join the EMI's Parlophone label.
* Ole Miss: James Meredith integrates the University of Mississippi.
* John Glenn: flew the first American manned orbital mission termed "Friendship 7" on February 20.
* Liston beats Patterson: Sonny Liston and Floyd Patterson fight for the world heavyweight championship on September 25, ending in a round-one knockout.

1963

* Pope Paul (VI): is elected to the papacy.
* Malcolm X: makes infamous statements about agreeing with the Kennedy assassination, thus causing the Nation of Islam to censure him.
* British Politician Sex: the Profumo Affair.
* JFK blown away, what else do I have to say?: President Kennedy is assassinated on November 22.

1965

* Birth control: in the early 1960s, oral contraceptives, popularly known as "the pill", first go on the market and are extremely popular. Griswold v. Connecticut in 1965 challenged a Connecticut law prohibiting contraceptives. In 1968, Pope Paul VI released a papal encyclical entitled Humanae Vitae which declared most birth control a sin.
* Ho Chi Minh: a Vietnamese Communist, who served as President of Vietnam from 1954–1969.

1968

* Richard Nixon back again: Nixon is elected in the 1968 presidential election of the United States.

1969

* Moon shot: refers to the Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing.
* Woodstock: famous rock and roll festival of 1969 that came to represent the epitome of the counterculture movement.

1974

* Watergate: political scandal involving a hotel break-in, eventually leading to President Nixon's resignation in 1974.
* Punk rock: the Sex Pistols and their new sound become popular.

1977 (Note that these two items, while later chronologically than the two 1976 items, come immediately before them in the song)

* Begin (Menachem): becomes Prime Minister of Israel in 1977 and negotiates the Camp David Accords with Egypt's president in 1978.
* Reagan (Ronald): President of the United States from 1981 to 1989; attempted to run for president in 1976

1976 (Note that these two items, while earlier chronologically than the two 1977 items, come immediately after them in the song)

* Palestine: the Palestine Liberation Organization is admitted as a member of Arab League; see history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
* Terror on the airline: Numerous aircraft hijackings took place, specifically, the Palestinian hijack of Air France Flight 139 and the subsequent rescue at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, 1976.

1979

* Ayatollahs in Iran: during the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the West-backed and U.S.-installed Shah is overthrown as the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gains power after years in exile.
* Russians in Afghanistan: Soviet forces fight a ten-year war in Afghanistan, from 1979 to 1989.

1983

* Wheel of Fortune: a hit television game show which has been TV's highest-rated syndicated program since 1983.
* Sally Ride: in 1983 she becomes the first American woman in space.
* Heavy metal, suicide: Billy Joel himself had previously stated on his website that even though the two terms are separated by a comma they are collectively one item (like "North Korea, South Korea" above). In the 1980s Ozzy Osbourne and the bands Metallica and Judas Priest were brought to court by parents who accused the musicians of hiding subliminal pro-suicide messages in their music.
* Foreign debts: Persistent US trade deficits lead to substantial foreign debt in the eyes of the 1980s period, particularly to Japan.
* Homeless vets: Veterans of the Vietnam war are homeless and impoverished.
* AIDS: A collection of symptoms and infections in humans resulting from the specific damage to the immune system caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). It is first detected and recognized in the 1980s, on its way to becoming a pandemic.
* Crack: Refers to crack cocaine, a popular drug in the mid-to-late 1980s.

1984

* Bernie Goetz: On December 22, Goetz becomes a vigilante after being mugged four times; he shoots four young men who he believed to be threatening him on a New York City subway. Goetz was charged with attempted murder, but was acquitted of the charges.

1988

* Hypodermics on the shore: medical waste was found washed up on beaches in New Jersey after being illegally dumped at sea.

1989

* China's under martial law: On May 20, China declares martial law, enabling them to use force of arms to end the Tiananmen Square protests.
* Rock and roller cola wars, I can't take it anymore!: soft drink giants Coke and Pepsi each run marketing campaigns using popular music stars to reach the young adult demographic.