User:Antonwh

--Antonwh (talk) 21:06, 28 January 2009 (UTC)ANTON

Hello i am antonwh who lives in barnsley.UK England. I enjoy playing on my xbox 360.GEARS OF WAR ROCKS!! I suppose i started going on here when i was 10 just to upgrade the left and untreated info that was not changed.

GAMES THAT ROCK
The ODST Soldier (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper), also known as the Helljumpers, are an elite organization of the UNSC Military in the Halo Universe. This section of the human race military are known for their lethal effectivness and ability. "ODST Soldiers" play the role of modern-day Paratroopers. Instead of parachutes they are dropped in black, metal pods. They use Infantry Tactics such as "Vertical Invelopment" to secure positions and hold them until reinforcements arrive. This can be seen in the "Delta Halo" level of Halo 2. In Halo 3 they fight alongside normal soldiers due to apparent man shortages. HALO 3 ODST

Call of Duty: World at War is a first-person shooter video game developed by Treyarch and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. It is the fifth installment in the Call of Duty series excluding expansion packs. The game's setting returns to World War II, after the previous title Modern Warfare's modern settings. It focuses on the Pacific Theater and Eastern Front of World War II in the Microsoft Windows, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 version. The title, game details and estimated release date were announced on June 23, 2008 and the game was released worldwide between November 11, 2008 and November 14, 2008. A Windows Mobile version was also made available by Glu Mobile and different storyline versions for the PS2 and Nintendo DS were made, but remain in the World War II setting. The game uses an enhanced version of the Modern Warfare's game engine with increased development in audio effects.

The story for the PC, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 focuses on the initial battles of World War II in the Pacific and Eastern Europe involving the United States, the Empire of Japan, the Soviet Union, and Nazi Germany. It is told from the perspectives of a Marine Raider and a Red Army soldier and is based on several historical battles, including the raid on Makin Island, the Battle of Stalingrad, the Battle of Peleliu, the Battle of Seelow Heights, the Battle of Okinawa, and the Battle of Berlin. The multiplayer portion of the game contains various game modes and a leveling system that allows the player to unlock additional weapons and rewards as they progress, which was originally implemented in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. A new feature to the Call of Duty series is the cooperative mode, which can support up to four players online and two offline.

The game was the second best-selling game for November 2008 in the United States selling over 1.41 million units and sold twice as many units in the UK in its first week compared to Modern Warfare becoming the third fastest-selling video game in the UK. It received a mixture of reviews. Some criticized the game for returning to World War II and not building upon Modern Warfare, whereas others praised its portrayal of the gritty, dark side of the war. It was also criticized for jumping years ahead during the plot, but was also praised for the new co-operative mode introduced.Gameplay Call of Duty: World at War, the fifth installment of the Call of Duty series,[3] features a more mature theme than previous installments in the series.[13] The game is also open-ended, as there are multiple ways to complete objectives.[14] The gameplay of World at War shares features with previous iterations of the franchise. Players fight alongside AI-controlled teammates, who help during the game's missions by providing cover fire, shooting enemies, and clearing rooms for entry.[15]

Gameplay on the Wii version of the game can be controlled with a gun-like expansion controller known as the Wii Zapper. The Zapper, or Wii Remote and Nunchuk, can be used to aim at targets to simulate marksmanship.[16]

The game's return to World War II-era warfare reintroduces weapons and technology that have been seen in other games in the Call of Duty franchise, including the Thompson submachine gun, the Mosin-Nagant rifle, and the Panzerschreck anti-tank rocket launcher. The player gains access to these over the course of the game, but may only carry up to two weapons in addition to hand grenades. Weapons from dead enemies can be picked up to replace weapons in a player's arsenal. Players can also find weapons with additional attachments, including guns equipped with rifle grenades, telescopic sights, and bayonets.[15]

A character can be positioned in one of three stances: standing, crouching, or prone; each affecting the character's rate of movement, accuracy, and stealth. Using cover helps the player avoid enemy fire or recover health after taking significant damage, as there are no armor or health power-ups. After the character has taken damage, the edges of the screen glows red and the character's heartbeat increases. If the character stays out of fire, the character can recover. When the character is within the blast radius of a live grenade, a marker indicates the direction of the grenade, helping the player in deciding whether to flee or throw it back at the enemy.[15]

World at War includes a similar multiplayer experience to Call of Duty 4. All versions of the game use a similar perk and ranking system[4] and feature six different multiplayer modes, including team deathmatch and capture-the-flag.[17]

The game also features a cooperative gameplay mode with up to two players via split screen on consoles, or four players online, for the first time in the franchise. The Wii version of the game does not include online co-op, but two players can play through a "squadmate co-op" mode which allows both players to experience the game through the same screen and point of view.[4]

Nazi Zombies If the player waits for the credits after the campaign to end, Nazi Zombies starts. The game takes place on the map called Nacht der Untoten (German for "Night of the Undead"). It consists of 1-4 players fighting an unlimited number of waves of Nazi zombies. Players can work together to kill the zombies either offline with two players or online with 2-4 players. The players gain points by injuring or killing the zombies or repairing boarded-up windows, which are used to remove blockages such as couches or doors inside the bunker and to gain access to more useful weapons than the starting handgun. Guns are bought from outlines on the walls or the Mystery Box, which gives a weapon at random. Zombies continually break the boards on the windows or certain walls to gain entrance and to find and kill the players; when all players die the game is over. Downed players can survive if another player revives them or will respawn at the end of a round, with only a handgun.[18]

On March 19, 2009, Treyarch released map pack 1 which contained a new Nazi Zombies level. The new map is called Verrückt, which is German for "insane".

A second map pack is scheduled for release in June 2009 with a new Nazi Zombies level entitled Shi No Numa (a.k.a. The Zombie Swamp), focusing on the Imperial Army, who have now become the new undead. New features include a misty swamp environment, perk machines, flaming undead hellhounds, the Wunderwaffe DG-2, and traps.[19][20]

Synopsis

Characters During the single-player campaign of the Microsoft Windows, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 version, the player controls three different characters from a first-person perspective. Only two characters, Private Miller and Private Petrenko are available on the Wii. The player assumes the role of Private Miller of the United States Marine Corps' 1st Division and Private Dimitri Petrenko of the Soviet Red Army. Private Miller's campaign starts as he is captured by the Japanese while scouting Makin Island and is rescued by Corporal Roebuck and his men from the Marine Raiders squad. He then continues through the Pacific campaign and ends at Shuri Castle on Okinawa Island.[21]

Private Petrenko's campaign starts when he is part of the 62nd Army in a water fountain where he pretends to be dead and watches German soldiers execute the rest of his unit in Stalingrad. Along with an injured comrade, Sergeant Reznov (voiced by Gary Oldman), he seeks revenge on the Germans and the "architect" behind the attack, Nazi General Heinrich Amsel. Three years later, they meet again on the Eastern Front, alongside a third character, Pvt. Chernov and in, in Reznov's words "their land, their people, their blood." They advance towards Berlin with the 3rd Shock Army under the command of Commisar Markov, where they capture the Reichstag and Petrenko plants the Soviet flag after being shot by a hidden German that is then quickly killed by Reznov.[21]

The third playable character in the campaign is Petty Officer Locke, a weapons operator on a PBY Catalina flying boat, who is only playable in the mission "Black Cats." This character is not available in the Wii version. Locke's squadron makes a raid on a Japanese merchant fleet in the Pacific and later rescues the survivors of a destroyed U.S. fleet.[22] Other non-playable characters in the game include Corporal/Sergeant Roebuck (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland), Sergeant Sullivan, and Private Polonsky (voiced by Aaron Stanford), who are in Private Miller's U.S. squadron.

CALL OF DUTY WORLD AT WAR

Halo Wars is a real-time strategy video game developed by Ensemble Studios for Xbox 360. The game is set in the Halo science fiction universe, 20 years before the 2001 video game Halo: Combat Evolved. Halo Wars was released in Japan on February 26, PAL territories on February 27, and in North America on March 3, 2009. It is the last project to be developed by Ensemble.

Ensemble first hinted that their next project was a console real-time strategy game in mid 2006. The game was officially unveiled on September 27 at Microsoft's X06 Xbox show. Acknowledging that previous console real-time strategy games often fell short, Ensemble built Halo Wars specifically for the Xbox 360's limited controller. The game was an attempt to bring together Halo shooter fans to play a real-time strategy title, and experienced strategy players to play a Halo game.

On release, Halo Wars was met with generally positive reviews from the gaming press. Critics lauded the game's attention to capturing the detail of the Halo universe, and the intuitiveness of the simple controls. On the other hand, publications found that seasoned RTS players would not find the amount of depth they wanted in a strategy game and wished that the Covenant or Flood had been playable in the game's campaign mode.

 HALO WARS 

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear is a tactical first-person shooter computer game developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Rainbow Six game based on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name.

Rogue Spear is based on the same game engine and features gameplay and presentation similar to that of the original Rainbow Six. The game pits the counter-terrorist unit, RAINBOW, against global terrorist organizations that in some cases have taken hostages or have armed themselves with weapons of mass destruction. Rogue Spear focuses on realism, planning, strategy, and teamwork. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear was released for the PC on September 22, 1999, with versions for the Mac OS (2000), Dreamcast (2000), PlayStation (2001) and Game Boy Advance (2002) released later.

Although a good deal of the game consists of "stand-alone" missions with no connection to each other, Rogue Spear does feature several missions revolving around a central plotline concerning a Russian organized crime boss named Maxim Kutkin and international arms dealer Samed Vezirzade. Together, they manufacture and distribute nuclear weapons on the international black market, aided by Kutkin's acquired ownership of a nuclear power plant following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The term "Rogue Spear" refers to the possession of nuclear weapons by a non-state entity.

Multiplayer Rogue Spear's multiplayer mode consisted of three main playing fields: GameSpy Arcade, MSN Gaming Zone and MPlayer.com. MPlayer.com was later purchased by Gamespy. The multiplayer game achieved a certain degree of success boasting several thousand players playing at once. After the acquisition of MPlayer.com by GameSpy Arcade, MSN Games became the more popular of the two until Microsoft shut down the MSN Gaming Zone's CD-ROM match-making service on June 19, 2006.

As well as pick up games, a higher level of play was reached by players who participated in ladder play. Several websites throughout the game's lifespan provided this service with the two most notable being Clanladder (CL) and Xtreme Gaming Network (XGN). While both of these websites provided a ranking system, they also provided anti-cheat applications. As is true in most online video games, cheating was a consistent problem.

These ladder systems provided both one on one deathmatch as well as team deathmatch where players banded together in clans and fought matches which ranged anywhere from two-on-two to eight-on-eight. However, eight-on-eight often posed lag problems due to the way game hosting worked. One player would act as the host of the game (rather than a designated third party server) and all others would connect to the host's one computer over a specified port. This format caused two problems. Firstly, it was prone to causing lag, a delay in the sending and receiving of packets, which caused for time and spatial distortion in game physics. Secondly, in the opinion of many players, the host had an advantage because of this. Many times a player would be shot and killed without ever seeing his enemy due to high latency times. It was noticed that the hosts of the game were much more prone to do this. This was referred to as "hosting" or "getting hosted." Often, teams would take turns, allowing a member from each team to host their team's map. Sometimes, especially during tournament matches, a neutral host would be called upon to host the entirety of the match. A neutral host would be a person hosting the game with a good connection and this person would not be a player in the match, when the round began the neutral host would kill his or her character with a grenade.

Add-ons

[edit] Urban Operations Rogue Spear Mission Pack: Urban Operations, released on April 4, 2000, was the first expansion for Rogue Spear. It was developed and published by Red Storm Entertainment. It added eight new maps and five classic Rainbow Six maps from the original game, as well as three new weapons.

Urban Operations was re-released by KAMA Digital Entertainment in South Korea - this new edition included two exclusive missions and two new weapons.

Mod system With the release of Urban Operations, a built-in mod system was added to manage user-made "mods" or modifications. Previous releases of the Rainbow Six series did not have this system, and using a mod required overwriting existing game content. With the mod system, mods could be used without overwriting, as they were installed into a separate folder within the installation and could be turned on or off. When a mod was activated, its content would take priority over the default game content. This allowed the addition and/or customization of all game content, allowing new operatives, weapons, maps, missions, etc. to be added.

Red Storm also released "unsupported" plugins for 3D Studio MAX and Photoshop, to aid in the creation of new content. This enhanced the popularity and replay value of the series for some time, as hundreds of modding teams within a large modding community released new mods constantly. Police and military organizations also sought the customizable game engine for training purposes, due to the realism of planning and mission strategy.

Because of these effects, a mod management system was later added to Red Storm's Ghost Recon series as well, although it was somewhat more restrictive.

Covert Ops Essentials Rainbow Six: Covert Ops, is a stand-alone expansion pack of Rogue Spear. The training simulator was developed by Magic Lantern Playware, six of the levels were done by Zombie Studios and three of the levels were done by Red Storm Entertainment. It was published by Red Storm Entertainment. It was released on September 28, 2000. It included nine new missions, because the product was primarily developed as an educational program on real life counter-terrorism history and tactics.

Black Thorn Rogue Spear: Black Thorn was developed by Red Storm Entertainment, published by Ubisoft, and released as a stand-alone add-on on December 15, 2001. Black Thorn featured nine new single-player maps. Mission eight was edited in the US release after the September 11, 2001 attacks.[5] This delayed the release. Six new multiplayer maps, 10 new weapons, and a new multiplayer variation on the "Lone Wolf" game type in which one player takes on everyone else; the winner of the round then becomes the new "Lone Wolf". The plot features a mentally disturbed ex-SAS operative challenging Team Rainbow with reenactments of real-life terrorist attacks, such as the Entebbe raid and the Japanese embassy hostage crisis.

CLANCYS LAS VEGAS 2'''

BANDS
Guns N' Roses is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985. The band, led by frontman and co-founder Axl Rose, has gone through numerous line-up changes and controversies since their formation. The band has released six studio albums, two EPs and one live album during their career.

Guns N' Roses has sold an estimated 100 million albums worldwide,[1][2] including over 43 million in the United States.[3] The band's 1987 major label debut album Appetite for Destruction has sold in excess of 28 million copies and reached number one on the United States Billboard 200. In addition, the album charted three Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100, including "Sweet Child O' Mine" which reached number one.[4] The 1991 albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II debuted on the two highest spots on the Billboard 200 and have sold a combined 14 million copies in the United States alone. After over a decade of work, the band released their follow-up album, Chinese Democracy, in 2008. Their mid-to-late eighties and early nineties years have been described by individuals in the music industry as the period in which "they brought forth a hedonistic rebelliousness and revived the punk attitude-driven hard rock scene, reminiscent of the early Rolling Stones."[6][edit] Appetite for Destruction, G N' R Lies (1987–1989) Main articles: Appetite for Destruction and G N' R Lies The band's first album, Appetite for Destruction was released on July 21, 1987. In the US, "Welcome to the Jungle" was issued as its first single with an accompanying music video. Initially, the album and single lingered for almost a year without performing well, but when Geffen Records founder David Geffen was asked to lend support to the band, he obliged by personally convincing MTV executives to play "Welcome to the Jungle" during their after hours rotation. Even though the video was initially only played one time at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, rock and punk fans took notice and soon began requesting the video and song en masse.[7]

"Welcome to the Jungle" Sample of "Welcome to the Jungle" from Appetite for Destruction.

Problems listening to this file? See media help. Overseas, countries were often treated to material that never saw release to the US market, and went unexposed to US fans. The original UK "Welcome to the Jungle" single was backed with a Marquee Club performance of AC/DC's "Whole Lotta Rosie" and a 12-inch (300 mm) single included live renditions of "It's So Easy" and the Bob Dylan classic "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (which would later be covered by the band in the studio on Use Your Illusion II). In Japan, an entire EP entitled Live from the Jungle was issued, containing the album version of "Sweet Child o' Mine" along with a selection of numerous Marquee Club recordings.

The album underwent an artwork change after the original Robert Williams cover design (a surrealist scene in which a dagger-toothed monster vengefully attacks a robot rapist) spawned complaints from religious groups and caused some record stores to brown bag, obscure, or refuse to sell the album.[8] The revised cover was a design by Bill White, a tattoo artist, who originally designed it for Axl's tattoo on his right forearm. It was a picture of a cross with each of the five band members featured on it. Axl's head was in the middle with Izzy Stradlin' above and Slash below, Steven Adler and Duff McKagan were on either side of Axl. Rose later insisted that the Gold and Platinum plaques issued by the RIAA be set using the original cover. The artwork from the original cover can be found in the booklet of the CD release.

"Sweet Child O' Mine" was the album's second US single co-written by Axl Rose as a poem for his girlfriend and future wife, Erin Everly. Due to the growing grassroots success of the band and the cross-gender appeal of the tune, the song and its accompanying music video received heavy airplay on both radio and MTV, and became a smash hit during the summer of 1988. Slash stated on VH1's 100 Greatest songs of the 80's "it was actually my least favorite song we ever wrote..I hate it, but it turns out to be our greatest song ever". "Welcome to the Jungle" was then re-issued as a single, with new pressings of records and tapes and new artwork. The UK re-release was backed with an acoustic version of "You're Crazy", recorded much earlier than the one featured on the G N' R Lies EP.

By the time "Paradise City" and its video reached the airwaves, the band's touring success and fame had catapulted the album to #1 on the Billboard charts. "Welcome to the Jungle", "Sweet Child o' Mine" and "Paradise City" were all top ten singles in the U.S. To date, Appetite for Destruction has sold over 28 million copies.[9]

Guns N' Roses began opening shows for major acts, but as their fame began to take hold, a world tour in support of Appetite for Destruction was scheduled. The band traveled across the United States, and in spring 1988 were invited to the notorious Monsters of Rock Festival at Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England, where they shared the bill with groups like KISS and Iron Maiden. At the start of the Guns N' Roses set, the capacity crowd of over 100,000 began jumping and surging forward. Despite Rose's requests that the crowd move away from the stage, two fans were trampled to death. The media largely blamed the band for the tragedy, and reported that the band had continued playing even when there were dangerous crowd conditions. In fact, the final report on the Donington incident filed by the head of security at the venue noted that the band had not been aware of the extent of fan injuries, had immediately halted their set when requested to do so, and had attempted to calm the crowd.[10] Nonetheless, events such as these during the Appetite for Destruction tour earned the group the title of "the world's most dangerous band". In addition, the behavior of the band members also garnered negative attention from the media. Duff, Slash, Izzy and Adler were often seen intoxicated both on and off stage.[11]

The band's next release was G N' R Lies in 1988, which reached #2 in the Billboard music charts. The album included the four Live ?!*@ Like a Suicide recordings on one side and four acoustic songs on the other. The song "One in a Million", which included the words "niggers" and "faggots" among other such obscenities, led to controversy in which critics accused the band, and specifically Axl Rose, of racism and homophobia.[12] Rose responded (in a 1990 interview with MTV) by saying the claims were unfounded, particularly considering Slash himself is half black. He went on to explain that the words were those of a protagonist and not a personal statement, and that the lyrics reflected racial and prejudicial problems within society rather than promoting them. Rose also cited that he idolized gay/bisexual singers like Freddie Mercury and Elton John. The band had played gigs alongside the all-black metal band Body Count, and lead singer Ice T wrote in his book, The Ice Opinion, that Axl had been "a victim of the press the same way I am".[13]

Even after the release of GN'R Lies, Appetite for Destruction continued to be popular for the rest of 1988 and 1989, which resulted in them winning both Favorite Heavy Metal Artist and Favorite Heavy Metal Album (Appetite for Destruction) at the nationally televised 1990 American Music Awards, where Slash and McKagan appeared visibly intoxicated and used profanities on the air. The members finally took steps to deal with their addictions after Rose threatened to end the band if they continued with their heavy drug abuse. He even spoke publicly about the situation, specifically the heroin addictions, while opening for The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1989 by stating "If certain members of the band don't stop dancing with Mr. Brownstone, Guns N' Roses was finished," mainly referring to Slash.[14]

[edit] Fame and fortune (1990–1993)

[edit] Use Your Illusion Main articles: Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II Guns N' Roses in Israel, 1993In 1990, Guns N' Roses returned to the studio to begin recording their most ambitious undertaking yet. During the recording session of "Civil War", drummer Steven Adler was unable to perform well due to his struggles with cocaine and heroin addiction—his difficulties in the studio caused the band to do nearly 30 takes.[15] As a result, Adler was fired in July 1990, and was replaced by former Cult drummer Matt Sorum, who Axl credited for saving the band. A few months prior, keyboardist Dizzy Reed became the sixth member of the group when he joined as a full time member. The band fired their manager, Alan Niven, in May 1991, replacing him with Doug Goldstein. According to a 1991 cover story by Rolling Stone magazine, Rose forced the dismissal of Niven (against the wishes of some of his bandmates) by refusing to complete the albums until he was replaced.[16]

With enough music for two albums, the band released Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II on September 17, 1991. The tactic paid off when the albums debuted at #2 and #1 respectively in the Billboard charts, setting a record as they became the first and only group to date to achieve this feat. The albums spent 108 weeks in the chart.

Guns N' Roses accompanied the Use Your Illusion albums with many videos, including "Don't Cry", "November Rain" and "Estranged"—some of the most expensive music videos ever made. The hit ballad "November Rain" became the most requested video on MTV, eventually winning the 1992 MTV Video Music Award for best cinematography. During the awards show, the band performed the song with Elton John accompanying on piano.

Both prior to and after the release of the albums, Guns N' Roses embarked on the 28-month-long Use Your Illusion World Tour. It became famous for both its financial success and the many controversial incidents that occurred at the shows, and is still currently the longest tour in rock history.

[edit] Use Your Illusion World Tour Main article: Use Your Illusion Tour The Use Your Illusion World Tour included a Slash guitar solo incorporating The Godfather theme, a piano-driven Axl Rose cover of "It's Alright" by Black Sabbath and an extended jam on the classic rock-inspired "Move to the City" where Rose showcased the ensemble of musicians assembled for the tour.[17]

Many of the successful performances during the tour were equally matched, and often overshadowed in the press, by riots, late starts and outspoken rants by Rose. While the band's previous drug and alcohol issues were seemingly under control, Axl was often agitated by lax security, sound problems and unwanted filming or recording of the performances. He also used the time in-between songs to fire off political statements or retorts against music critics or celebrity rivals.

Main article: Riverport Riot On July 2, 1991, at the Riverport Amphitheater in Maryland Heights, Missouri, just outside of St. Louis during a performance of "Rocket Queen", Rose jumped into the audience and tackled a fan who was filming the show with a camera. He had a heated confrontation with the fan before physically assaulting him. After being pulled out of the audience by members of the crew, Rose said: "Well, thanks to the lame-ass security, I'm going home!", slammed his microphone on the ground and left the stage. The sound the microphone made caused some fans to think he shot someone, so Slash quickly told the audience, "He just slammed his mic on the floor. We're outta here." The angry crowd began to riot and dozens of people were injured. The footage was captured by Robert John, who was documenting the entire tour for the band. Rose was charged with having incited the riot, but police were unable to arrest him until almost a year later, as the band went overseas to continue the tour. Charges were filed against Rose but a judge ruled that he did not directly incite the riot. In his defense, Rose stated that the Guns N' Roses security team had made four separate requests to the venue's security staff to remove the camera, all of which were ignored, that other members of the band had reported being hit by bottles from the audience and that the venue's security had been lax, allowing weapons into the arena and refusing to enforce a drinking limit.[18] Consequently, Use Your Illusion's artwork featured a hidden message amidst the Thank You section of the album insert: "Fuck You, St. Louis!"

After a repeat of the St. Louis incident nearly unfolded during a concert in Germany,[19] rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin abruptly quit the band, citing a combination of Rose's personal behaviour (he would consistently delay the start of shows by hours at a time) and his mismanagement of the band[19] and difficulties being around Slash, Sorum, and McKagan due to his new-found sobriety and their continuing alcohol and substance addictions.[20] Axl Rose originally wanted Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro to replace Stradlin, but Stradlin was eventually replaced by Los Angeles-based guitarist Gilby Clarke whom Slash credited for saving the band. During many shows throughout the tour, Rose introduced Clarke and had him play "Wild Horses", a Rolling Stones cover with Slash. Clarke also plays the opening guitar part of "Don't Cry" as well as part of the infamous "Nightrain" riff again with Slash. In late 1991, Rose added a touring ensemble to the band which included a horns section and several background vocalists despite the rest of the band's refusal.

In 1992, the band appeared at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performing a two-song set. Slash later performed "Tie Your Mother Down" with the remaining members of Queen, while Axl Rose performed "We Will Rock You" and duetted with Elton John on "Bohemian Rhapsody". Their personal set included "Paradise City" and "Knocking on Heaven's Door". When they returned to the U.S. for the second leg of the Use Your Illusion tour, Queen guitarist Brian May opened the shows with a band that included Cozy Powell on drums. Axl had originally wanted the grunge band Nirvana to open their Use Your Illusion tour but frontman Kurt Cobain refused. He also made some negative comments about Guns N' Roses infuriating Rose and started of one of his many feuds other than the ones with his bandmates.

Later in the year they went on the mini-GNR-Metallica Stadium Tour with American Metal band Metallica. During a show in August 1992 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Metallica frontman James Hetfield suffered severe burns after stepping too close to a pyrotechnics blast. Metallica was forced to cancel the second hour of the show, but promised to return to the city for another show. After a long delay, during which the audience became increasingly restless, Guns N' Roses took the stage. However, the shortened time between sets did not allow for adequate tuning of stage monitors, resulting in musicians not being able to hear themselves. In addition, Rose claimed that his throat hurt,[21] causing the band to leave the stage early. The cancellation led to another riot by audience members, reminiscent of the rioting that had occurred in St. Louis one year earlier. Rioters overturned cars, smashed windows, looted local stores and set fires. Local authorities were barely able to bring the mob under control. This can be seen on video in A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica. On MTV's Rockumentary about Metallica, the band spoke about this tour and how they learned from Guns N' Roses what not to do.

The historic tour ended in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 17, 1993. The tour set attendance records and lasted for 28 months, in which 192 shows were played. The show in Buenos Aires marked the last time original members Slash and McKagan as well as newcomers Clarke and Sorum would play a live show with Rose.

[edit] "The Spaghetti Incident?" Main article: "The Spaghetti Incident?" On November 23, 1993, Guns N' Roses released a collection of punk and glam rock covers entitled "The Spaghetti Incident?". Despite protests from Rose's bandmates, an unadvertised cover of the Charles Manson song "Look at Your Game Girl" was included on the album at his request. Years later, Rose said he would remove the song from new pressings of the album, claiming that critics and the media had misinterpreted his interest in Manson. Axl can be seen wearing a black Manson shirt in the video for "Estranged" from Use Your Illusion II. He also can be seen wearing a red Manson shirt in footage from thier show in Milton Keynes, England in 1993. This version of the shirt had addional text on the back, "Charlie Don't Surf'. "Look at Your Game Girl" is still on the album. The Spaghetti Incident? did not match the success of the Illusion albums and tension increased within the band.

[edit] Deterioration (1994–1998) Interviews with Guns N' Roses band members suggest that between 1994 and 1996, the band sporadically began to write and record new material, most of which, according to Slash, had been written by Axl.[22] At the time, the band had intended to release a single album with 10 or 12 songs.[23]

Regarding the dysfunction of the band's recording at that time, Axl is quoted as saying "We still needed the collaboration of the band as a whole to write the best songs. Since none of that happened, that’s the reason why that material got scrapped."[24]

Slash and Duff McKagan later left the group, and as such all of the original members (aside from Axl Rose) had departed from the band. 1994 was the last year Axl held a press conference or performed until the 2002 MTV awards with his new cast. Axl's only performance in 1994 was a duet with Bruce Springsteen on a cover of the Beatles song "Come Together". An actual break-up of Guns N' Roses never occurred, as new players were brought in as the old ones left. (For more information on the personnel changes over the years see the article: "List of Guns N' Roses band members")

McKagan was the last of Rose's original bandmates to leave; in 1997 he was replaced by Tommy Stinson (formerly of The Replacements.) By the end of 1998, a new version of Guns N Roses had emerged: many musicians have come and gone from the new band, but the core group has included Rose, Stinson, keyboardist Dizzy Reed, multi-instrumentalist Chris Pitman, and guitarist Robin Finck.

[edit] Chinese Democracy (1999–2008) Main article: Chinese Democracy In 1999, the band released one new song, "Oh My God", which was included on the soundtrack of the film End of Days. The track featured additional guitar work by Dave Navarro and Gary Sunshine, Rose's personal guitar teacher. The song's release was intended to be a prelude to their new album, now officially entitled Chinese Democracy. Geffen also released Live Era: '87-'93, a collection of live performances from various concerts during the Appetite for Destruction and Use Your Illusion tours. Also in 1999, during an interview with Kurt Loder for MTV, Axl said that he had re-recorded Appetite for Destruction with the then-new band, apart from two songs which he had replaced with "Patience" and "You Could Be Mine".[25]

Chinese Democracy had reportedly been in the works since 1994, with Rose the only original member still in the band. According to a report published in 2005 by The New York Times, Rose had allegedly burned through $13 million in the studio by that point.[26]

In 1999, guitarist Robin Finck departed the band in order to rejoin his former band, Nine Inch Nails, on tour. In 2000, avant-garde guitarist Buckethead joined Guns N' Roses as a replacement for Finck. Drummer Josh Freese was replaced with Bryan Mantia (formerly of Primus). Robin Finck returned to Guns N' Roses in late 2000, to complement Buckethead on lead guitar.

[edit] The New Guns N' Roses The revised lineup finally made a public appearance in January 2001, with two well-received concerts, one in Las Vegas and one at the Rock in Rio Festival in Rio de Janeiro. The band played a mixture of old hits as well as new songs from their forthcoming album. During their Rock in Rio set, Rose made the following comment regarding former members of the band:

“ I know that many of you are disappointed that some of the people you came to know and love could not be with us here today. Regardless of what you have heard or read, people worked very hard (meaning my former friends) to do everything they could so that I could not be here today. I say fuck that. I am as hurt and disappointed as you that unlike Oasis, we could not find a way to all get along.[27] ”

The new lineup played a further two shows in Las Vegas at the end of 2001. In 2002, rhythm guitarist Paul Tobias left the band because of his frustrations with life on the road. He was replaced by Richard Fortus (formerly of The Psychedelic Furs and Love Spit Love). The band then played several shows in August 2002, headlining festivals and concerts throughout Asia and Europe. They made their way to New York for a surprise appearance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.

In 2002, the band's first North American tour since 1993 was organized to support Chinese Democracy, with CKY and Mix Master Mike supporting. However, the opening show in Vancouver was cancelled by the venue when Rose failed to turn up (having remained in Los Angeles), and a riot ensued. This tour was met with mixed results. Some concerts did not sell well, while shows in larger markets such as New York sold out in minutes. Due to a second riot by fans in Philadelphia when the band failed to show up again, tour promoter Clear Channel cancelled the remainder of the tour.

The band went on hiatus until they were scheduled to play at Rock in Rio IV in May 2004. However, Buckethead left the band in March of that year, causing the band to cancel. Also in March 2004, Geffen released Guns N' Roses' Greatest Hits, since Rose had failed to deliver a new studio album in more than ten years. Rose expressed his displeasure with this album as its track listing was established without his consent and went as far as trying to block its release by suing Geffen. This failed, however, and the album went triple platinum in the USA.

In February 2006, demos of the songs "Better", "Catcher in the Rye", "I.R.S.", and "There Was a Time" were leaked on the internet through a Guns N' Roses fan site. The band's management requested that all links to the MP3 files and all lyrics to the songs be removed from forums and websites. Despite this, radio stations began adding "I.R.S." to playlists, and the song actually reached #49 on the Radio & Records Active Rock National Airplay chart in the final week of February—the first time an internet leak has done so.

On May 5, 2006, Axl Rose appeared on the Friday Night Rocks with Eddie Trunk radio show (during an interview with Sebastian Bach) and said that the new Guns N' Roses album would be released before the end of the year. Later in May, the band launched a European tour, headlining both the Download Festival and Rock In Rio - Lisbon. Four warm-up shows preceded the tour at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City and became the band's first live concert dates since the aborted 2002 tour. The shows also marked the debut of guitarist and composer Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal, replacing Buckethead. During the tour, former bandmate Izzy Stradlin and ex-Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach made frequent guest appearances.

Five warm-up shows before a 2006 North American tour were held in September 2006. The tour officially commenced on October 24 in Miami. Drummer Frank Ferrer replaced Bryan Mantia, who took a leave of absence to be with his wife and newborn child. Coinciding with the tour, the song "Better" was featured in an internet advertisement for Harley-Davidson beginning in October 2006.[28] That same month, Rolling Stone published an article revealing that Andy Wallace would be mixing the final album.

In December 2006, Axl Rose released an open letter to fans announcing that Merck Mercuriadis had been fired as the band's manager. He revealed that the last four dates of the North American tour would be cut so the band could work on postproduction for Chinese Democracy. He also set a tentative release date for the album for the first time since the album's announcement: March 6, 2007.

On February 8, 2007, the band played a two-song set at the Rodeo Drive's Walk of Style ceremony, held in Beverly Hills, California. The band, with Chris Pitman on bass, blazed through "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" and "Sweet Child o' Mine" to close the event, which honored Gianni and Donatella Versace.

On February 23, 2007, Del James announced that Chinese Democracy's recording stage was finished, and the band had now moved onto mixing the album. However, this proved that the March 6 release date would be impossible to achieve, and the album once again had no scheduled release date.[29]

[edit] Recent events On May 4, 2007 three more tracks leaked from Chinese Democracy; an updated version of "I.R.S.", "The Blues" and the title track. All three tracks had previously been played live. Guns N' Roses embarked on the 2007 leg of the Chinese Democracy World Tour in Mexico on June, followed by dates on Australia and Japan. The songs "Nice Boys" and "Don't Cry" were played for the first time since the Use Your Illusion Tour. The tour ended on the twentieth anniversary of Appetite for Destruction's release date, in Osaka. During this tour, the band featured Axl Rose, Robin Finck, Ron Thal and Richard Fortus on guitars, Tommy Stinson on bass, Dizzy Reed and Chris Pitman on keyboards and Frank Ferrer on drums. .

Rose appears as a guest performer on three of the tracks on Sebastian Bach's album, Angel Down, which was released on November 20, 2007.[30]

On March 26, 2008, Dr Pepper announced a plan to give everyone in America—except the band's former guitarists Slash and Buckethead—a free can of Dr Pepper if the band released Chinese Democracy before the end of 2008. Rose added, "As some of Buckethead's performances are on our album, I'll share my Dr Pepper with him."[31][32] With the announcement from GNR in regards to a release date in November, Tony Jacobs, Dr Pepper's vice president of marketing for Dr. Pepper, announced a free soda coupon campaign for 24 hours on Sunday, November 23, 2008.[33]

"Chinese Democracy" Sample of "Chinese Democracy" from Chinese Democracy. "Chinese Democracy" was the first single released by Guns N' Roses since 1999.

Problems listening to this file? See media help. The next day, on March 27, 2008, the band announced that they had hired a new management team, headed by Irving Azoff and Andy Gould.[34]

On April 5, 2008, a picture of Robin Finck appeared on Nine Inch Nails web page,[35] under the title "Welcome Back!" starting the rumour of his possible reunion with Trent Reznor. Later, on April 11, 2008, Robin Finck expressed his happiness on playing again with NIN.[36] On April 20, 2008, on Guns N' Roses official website, Axl Rose expressed his surprise about Robin Finck's latest news but assure that the band was working with its management on the release of Chinese Democracy and thanked the fans for the continuous shows of support.[37]

Nine tracks purported to be from Chinese Democracy were leaked to an online site on June 19, 2008 and quickly removed due to a cease-and-desist letter from the band's label. Six of the leaked tracks had surfaced previously in some form, while three were new. The leaked songs were fleshed out more than previously heard tracks.[38][39] On July 14, 2008, Harmonix, in conjunction with MTV Games, officially announced the release of a new song from the upcoming Chinese Democracy album, called "Shackler's Revenge", through their new game Rock Band 2. Also the song "Chinese Democracy" is being played on the bands website.

In late August, speculation about the impending release of the album resurfaced, further fueled by separate reports from both Rolling Stone[40] and Billboard[41] about a November 25 release date as a Best Buy exclusive. This was finally confirmed October 22 when band management, Best Buy, and Interscope Geffen A&M Records officially issued a joint press release confirming the much anticipated release of the album in the US on November 23 as a Best Buy exclusive. By November 13, 2008, ten days before the official release of the Chinese Democracy album, the Chinese Democracy single topped the general iTunes Music Store chart in Greece, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Finland. In addition to being the No. 1 song and No. 1 rock song in the above countries, it became the No. 1 rock song on iTunes in the U.S., Canada, France and the U.K.[42]

Chinese Democracy was released on November 22, 2008 in Germany and Australia, in North America on November 23, 2008 and in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2008[40], becoming the band's sixth studio album and their first since 1993's "The Spaghetti Incident?".

[edit] Future (2007-Present) In a 2007 interview, Rose's friend Sebastian Bach stated that Chinese Democracy will be the first installment in a trilogy of albums. Bach also remarked that Rose had told him the third, as yet untitled, album has been slated for 2012.[43] As of yet, no member of Guns N' Roses has confirmed this. During his time over at several of his Internet forums, Rose has made hints towards new albums and new songs, revealing several working titles.[44]

In another 2007 interview, with the Artisan News Service on YouTube, Sebastian Bach also stated that Chinese Democracy will be the first of four new albums.[45]

In recent years, there have been persistent rumors that the original lineup of Guns N' Roses would reunite. However, on February 6, 2009, Axl Rose effectively put to rest any rumors of the original lineup reuniting, in an interview with Billboard's Jonathan Cohen (his first in nine years)[46], "I could see doing a song or so on the side with Izzy [Stradlin] or having him out [on tour] again. I'm not so comfortable with doing anything having more than one of the alumni. Maybe something with Duff [McKagan], but that's it, and not something I'd have to really get down into, as I'd get left with sorting it out and then blamed on top of it. So, no, not me." [47]. Rose would go on state in the same interview that there is absolutely no chance of him ever reuniting with Slash, former lead guitarist of Guns N' Roses: "What's clear is that one of the two of us will die before a reunion and however sad, ugly or unfortunate anyone views it, it is how it is. Those decisions were made a long time ago and reiterated year after year by one man."[48].

Rose told Billboard that Guns N' Roses, in its current guise, could tour in the near future. Rose was evasive, saying only that there were "no plans, but there's talk. Management and our promoters are really excited with the offers coming in both here and worldwide."

In March 2009 DJ Ashba was announced to replace Finck for an upcoming tour.[49]

[edit] Musical style The music of Guns N' Roses is a fusion of punk rock, blues-rock, heavy metal and classic rock and roll. In the 1990s, the band integrated keyed instruments (played by either Rose or Reed, and accompanied on tour by Teddy Andreadis) into the band, and for roughly half of the Use Your Illusion tour, added a horn section to the stage. While Reed has remained on some of the Chinese Democracy demos, tours since 2000 have not included wind instruments, though the band has employed synthesized horns on some of their new songs.

A heavy influence on both the image and sound of the band was Finnish band Hanoi Rocks (singer Michael Monroe and Rose have collaborated on various occasions). Rose has stated that the band was massively inspired by bands like Queen,[50] AC/DC[citation needed], The Rolling Stones[citation needed], and Rose Tattoo[citation needed] and also that the sound of Appetite for Destruction was influenced by AC/DC, Aerosmith, The New York Dolls and Hanoi Rocks.[51]

[edit] Legacy This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

Guns N' Roses signed with a major label within eight months of their inception and topped national sales charts weeks after garnering late hours airplay on MTV. Appetite for Destruction was the second highest-selling debut album of all time, behind Boston's self-titled debut album.

Their peers in the music industry often spoke highly of the band: Ozzy Osbourne called Guns N' Roses "the next Rolling Stones." In 2002, Q magazine named Guns N' Roses in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die". Also, the television network VH1 ranked Guns N' Roses ninth in its "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock" special, and also ranked 11th on "Top 50 bands". Appetite for Destruction appeared in the Rolling Stone Magazine special issue "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Guns N' Roses #92 on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". "Welcome To The Jungle" had also been voted "Best Rock Song".[52]

The band has not been free of criticism by the media. The flagrant alcohol and drug abuse by some members of the group, and Axl's fondness of Charles Manson T-shirts, were used by the media to portray Guns N' Roses as a poor example and negative influence on their young fans. The long periods of time that the band took to release albums were also a source of heavy criticism (the band's second album, GN'R Lies, was actually an EP and an old EP packaged together, and one of the songs was an acoustic cover of one from the band's debut album, it took from 1987 to 1991 to come up with a proper follow up to Appetite for Destruction, and it took over 15 years to release Chinese Democracy).

Frontman Axl Rose has become a source of both controversy and criticism since the other founding members left the group. His constant elusiveness, such as the fact that he has not held a press conference since 1994, has led to several stories claiming he is suffering from bipolar disorder. Music critics have blamed Rose for the break-up of the original group, have criticized him for continuing the band after the original members had departed and have questioned the constant change in band members. They also cite his neurotic behavior and sense of perfectionism as a cause of personal conflict and the long delays between albums.

AND ROSES'''

Slipknot is an American heavy metal band from Des Moines, Iowa, formed in 1995. Slipknot consists of nine members, the current band members are Sid Wilson, Joey Jordison, Paul Gray, Chris Fehn, Jim Root, Craig Jones, Shawn Crahan, Mick Thomson, and Corey Taylor. Each member of the band wears a unique mask.

Slipknot formed in 1995 and underwent several line-up changes following the independent release of their first demo Mate. Feed. Kill. Repeat. in 1996. That album featured original lead vocalist, Anders Colsefini. Their self-titled, major label debut, Slipknot, was released in 1999, featuring permanent new lead vocalist, Corey Taylor, and was followed by Iowa in 2001 and Vol. 3: (The Subliminal Verses) in 2004. On August 25, 2008, the band returned to release their fourth studio album, All Hope Is Gone, which debuted at the top spot on the Billboard 200 charts. The band has released three DVDs, including Welcome to Our Neighborhood, Disasterpieces, which was certified quadruple-platinum in the United States, and Voliminal: Inside the Nine.



Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in Hanna, Alberta by Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger, Ryan Peake and then-drummer Brandon Kroeger (the current drummer of Nickelback being Daniel Adair).

The band is now based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Its name originates from the nickel in change that band member Mike Kroeger gave customers at his Starbucks job—he would frequently say, "Here's your nickel back".[11]

The band is signed to EMI at home and Roadrunner Records for the rest of the world. In July 2008, the band signed with Live Nation for three touring and album cycles, with an option for a fourth cycle. The contract includes recordings, touring, merchandise and other rights.[12]

NICKLEBACK

WEBSITES
RuneScape is a Java-based MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) operated by Jagex Ltd. Recognised by Guiness World Records as the world's most popular free MMORPG,[1] RuneScape has approximately fifteen million active free accounts and is a graphical browser-based game with a large degree of 3D rendering.

RuneScape was created by Andrew Gower, the creator of DeviousMUD, the forerunner to RuneScape, in 1998. Rewritten and renamed, the first version of RuneScape was released to the public on 4 January 2001 in beta form. It has a free-to-play option, and a simple interface that is accessible on most web browsers.

RuneScape takes place in the fantasy-themed realm of Gielinor, which is divided into several different kingdoms, regions, and cities.[2][3] Players can travel throughout Gielinor on foot, by using magical teleportation spells and devices, or mechanical means of transportation.[4] Each region offers different types of monsters, materials, and quests to challenge players. Unlike many other MMORPGs, there is no linear path that must be followed. Players appear on the screen as customisable avatars, setting their own goals and objectives. Players can combat both monsters and other players, complete quests, or increase their experience in any of the available skills.[5] Players interact with each other through trading, chatting, or playing combative or cooperative mini-games.

RUNESCAPE

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six is a media franchise created by Tom Clancy about a fictional counter-terrorist unit called "Rainbow". The name is in reference to the many different nationalities that make up the team (like the diversity of colors in the optical phenomenon). The franchise began with Clancy's novel Rainbow Six, which was adapted into a successful series of tactical first-person shooter computer and video games, and is a planned future film tentatively set for release in 2010.[citation needed]

Tom Clancy also features Rainbow in his 2000 novel The Bear and the Dragon.

TOMCLANY RAINBOW SIX

Gears of War 2 is a tactical third-person shooter video game, developed by Epic Games and published by Microsoft Game Studios for Xbox 360.[4] It is the sequel to Gears of War, and was announced by lead designer Cliff Bleszinski during the February 20, 2008 Game Developers Conference. The game uses a heavily upgraded version of the Unreal Engine 3.[5] During E3 2008, a worldwide[6] release date for the game was set for November 7, 2008.[1]

In Gears of War 2, the Locust have found a way to make giant emergence holes capable of sinking entire cities at once. Marcus Fenix and the rest of the COG Delta Squad are now drilling underground to "take the fight to the Locust." In a teaser of the first scenes of gameplay of Gears of War 2, COG soldiers engage in battle with a large army of Locust as they travel to drill into the underground region. Comic book writer Joshua Ortega says, "The stakes are raised. This is humanity's last stand. Nothing is safe. Everything is at risk."[7]

Since its release, Gears of War 2 has been received with critical acclaim,[8] and in its opening weekend the game sold over two million units.[9] GEARS OF WAR

YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload, view and share video clips. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005.[1] In November 2006, YouTube, LLC was bought by Google Inc. for US$1.65 billion, and is now operated as a subsidiary of Google. The company is based in San Bruno, California, and uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos. Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS and the BBC and other organizations offer some of their material via the site.[2]

Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Accounts of registered users are called "channels".

Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users over the age of 18. The uploading of videos containing defamation, pornography, copyright violations, and material encouraging criminal conduct is prohibited by YouTube's terms of service.[3]

YOU TUBE



MSN (The Microsoft Network) is a collection of Internet services provided by Microsoft. The Microsoft Network debuted as an online service and Internet service provider on August 24, 1995, to coincide with the release of the Windows 95 operating system.[1]

The range of services offered by MSN has changed a bit since its initial release in 1995. MSN was once a simple online service for Windows 95, an ambitious experiment at interactive multimedia content on the Internet and one of the most popular dial-up Internet service providers.

Microsoft used the MSN brand name to launch and promote numerous popular web-based services in the late 1990s, most notably Hotmail and Messenger, before reorganizing many of them in 2006 under a new brand name, Windows Live. MSN's Internet portal, MSN.com, still offers a wealth of content and is currently the 6th most visited domain name on the Internet.[2]

The concept for MSN was created by the Advanced Technology Group at Microsoft, headed by Nathan Myhrvold. MSN was originally conceived as a dial-up online content provider like America Online, supplying proprietary content through an artificial folder-like interface integrated into Windows 95's Windows Explorer file management program.

Then officially known as "The Microsoft Network," the service launched along with Windows 95 on August 24, 1995. MSN was included with Windows 95 installations and promoted through Windows and other Microsoft software released at the time. Product support and discussion was offered through the MSN service, as well as information such as news and weather, basic e-mail capabilities, chat rooms, and message boards similar to newsgroups.

Open access to the World Wide Web was not originally included in the classic MSN service, but Internet access was quickly offered through Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser, which was available as a download from the MSN service or as part of the Windows 95 Plus! package. In 1996, in response to the increasing relevancy and rapid growth of the Internet, Microsoft renamed its existing MSN service to "MSN Classic" and created a new version, called "MSN 2.0," which combined access to the Internet with web-based multimedia content in a new program known as the "MSN Program Viewer." The service was promoted to existing MSN subscribers beginning October 10, 1996; the general release followed on December 10, 1996.[3][4]

Microsoft promoted MSN 2.0 with a series of advertisements and promotional materials describing the service with the phrase, "Every new universe begins with a big bang." The company offered the initial release of the new MSN 2.0 service on a CD-ROM that it sent to MSN subscribers in the fall of 1996. When inserted, the CD-ROM opened to the ambitious and flashy MSN Preview, an interactive video-based experience that introduced current and prospective subscribers to the new version of MSN and described the features of the MSN 2.0 software.[citation needed]

The "MSN Preview" was formatted as a guided tour of a mock premiere event for the new MSN. It was hosted by a witty and sarcastic character named "Michael" who welcomed viewers outside of a theatre and then guided them through the theatre to meet several other characters, each of whom represented one of the channels of MSN 2.0's "On Stage" area, which was designed as the main platform for interactive multimedia content in MSN 2.0.[citation needed]

A handful of uncredited actors appeared in the MSN Preview, including then-unknown actress Anna Faris,[5][6] who represented "Channel 5," which was described as "media, zines, attitude"; it was targeted at college-age members. The preview also included its own jazz and pop music loop that played during the installation process.[citation needed]

Once installed, members accessed MSN content through the MSN Program Viewer, which was essentially an animated, stylized and streamlined interface on top of an Internet Explorer 3.0 web browser. When members signed in, they would be presented with a several different "Channels," which were essentially categories for the various types of content available on MSN. These channels included new services such as msnbc.com, a news web site that began as a partnership between Microsoft and NBC; and Slate, an online magazine focused on politics and current events; both were available to all Internet users, and both are still active, many years later.[3]

Interactive multimedia content was presented in a TV-like format, dubbed MSN shows, as part of the "On Stage" section. The many shows and sites included an interactive online nightly game show called "Netwits," a snarky web site addressing women's issues called "UnderWire," and a regular celebrity interview and web-surfing session called "One Click Away." These new destinations supplemented web-based MSN services such as CarPoint and Expedia, which were branded as "Essentials." An additional "Communicate" section was based around e-mail, chat rooms, and news groups, while a "Find" section was dedicated to searching MSN content and the rest of the Internet; it also provided a calendar of upcoming events and new shows on MSN.[3]

The new content made extensive use of multimedia and interactive features, including Visual Basic scripting and early implementations of Macromedia Shockwave Flash (originally called "FutureSplash") for animations.[7]

While the MSN shows approach was unique and innovative, the content was not easily accessible by members with low-end computers and slower dial-up connections. High-speed Internet access was not widely available at the time, and some users subscribed to monthly dial-up plans that limited the number of hours during which they were allowed to access the service. The MSN 2.0 software was also unstable and would often quit unexpectedly.[8]

In addition to MSN 2.0's speed and stability issues, existing MSN subscribers were concerned the transition to MSN 2.0 would break up communities that were established via the MSN Classic message boards and chat rooms.[9] Their concerns were confirmed when Microsoft announced plans to close the entire MSN Classic service. As a result of all these issues, a web site called The Official msNOT Hate Site originated as a negative response to the new MSN 2.0 software. The site claimed Microsoft patently ignored feedback from concerned members and censored anyone who spoke out against the upgrade; it further charged the company's handling of the transition to MSN 2.0 was "insensitive and ethically questionable."[8] Microsoft denied it attempted to silence those who expressed concern about the upgrade.[10] The site also mocked the music loop that played during the MSN 2.0 installation process because it repeated the phrase "too stupid to stop."[8]

Ultimately, the ambitious use of web-based and interactive multimedia content on the Internet during 1996 and 1997 proved to be ahead of its time, and the MSN 2.0 service was not as successful as Microsoft initially hoped. The company returned to the drawing board for its next MSN release.[11][12]

[edit] Less ambitious attempts In 1997, after abandoning the interactive multimedia format, the MSN service was again re-focused, this time as a more traditional Internet access service. With the release of MSN 2.5 in late 1997, some exclusive MSN branded content was still offered through the MSN Program Viewer, but the service mainly directed members to normal, text-based web sites that anyone on the Internet could access, instead of interactive shows.[13]

Accompanying the MSN Program Viewer in MSN 2.5 was "MSN Quick Launch," an icon inside the Windows notification area. Like the MSN Program Viewer in MSN 2.0, the menu in MSN Quick Launch could be dynamically updated to guide members to updated MSN content and services.

With the MSN Internet Access 2.6 release in 1998, the MSN Program Viewer was abandoned entirely in favor of the more familiar Internet Explorer. Another new version of the service, MSN Internet Access 5.0, was released along with Internet Explorer 5.0 in 1999. MSN 5.0 was largely identical to MSN 2.6.

Around this time, MSN began to focus on being an Internet portal to users of other Internet service providers. Building on the success of MSN's web-based e-mail service, Hotmail, which was acquired by Microsoft in December 1997, the MSN Messenger Service for instant messaging was launched in 1999.

By the release of Windows XP in 2001 (which also brought with it Internet Explorer 6.0), content for MSN Internet Access subscribers was offered through a program called MSN Explorer (MSN 6.0). This was similar to the MSN Program Viewer in that it provided MSN web sites and content through a customized interface on top of Internet Explorer. The program was rebranded as simply "MSN" for versions 7, 8, and 9, which were released throughout the next few years. MSN 9 was the last version of MSN's special software for dial-up Internet access.

[edit] In recent years In the United States and Canada, MSN is still a dial-up Internet service provider. MSN remains the second largest Internet service provider in the United States, behind dial-up leader AOL, which had retained about 10 million subscribers by the end of 2007.[14] MSN bundles its dial-up service with an e-mail account at MSN.com and security software such as firewall and anti-virus programs.[15]

For customers with high-speed, broadband Internet access, MSN has partnered with Verizon, Qwest, and Bell Sympatico. Verizon, Qwest and Bell Canada provide the broadband connection and directly bill their customers. The included MSN software, known as "MSN Premium," offered a customized interface similar to the MSN 9 dial-up software and security features similar to the newer Windows Live OneCare security package. The broadband Internet package from Microsoft has since transitioned to the Windows Live brand name. New customers of Verizon broadband Internet access may only subscribe to Windows Live, not MSN Premium. Existing customers of MSN Premium who change to Windows Live may not revert back, because Microsoft has phased it out.[16]

[edit] MSN, the Internet portal Internet Start From 1995 to 1998, the MSN.com domain was used to promote MSN as an Internet service provider. At the time, MSN.com also offered a custom start page and an Internet tutorial, but Microsoft's major Internet portal was known as "Microsoft Internet Start," located at home.microsoft.com. It served as the default home page for Internet Explorer and offered basic information such as news, weather, sports, stocks, entertainment reports, links to web sites on the Internet, articles by Microsoft staff members, and software updates. Microsoft's popular news web site, msnbc.com, which launched in 1996, was also tied closely to Microsoft Internet Start.

[edit] MSN.com In 1998, the largely underutilized MSN.com domain name was reinvented as both an Internet portal and as the brand for a family of sites produced inside Microsoft's Interactive Media Group. The new site put MSN in direct competition with sites such as Yahoo! and Go Network. Because the new format opened up MSN's content to the world for free, the Internet service provider and subscription service was renamed "MSN Internet Access" at that time.

The relaunched MSN.com contained a whole family of sites, including original content, channels that were carried over from web shows that were part of the "MSN 2.0" experiment (although none of the actual shows remained), and new features that were rapidly added. MSN.com also became a successor to the default Internet Explorer start page, as all of the previous "Microsoft Internet Start" web site was merged with MSN.com.

Since then, MSN.com has remained a popular destination, launching many new services and content sites. MSN's Hotmail and Messenger services were promoted from the MSN.com portal, which provided a central place for all of MSN's content. MSN Search, a dedicated search engine for the portal, launched in 1999. The MSN.com portal and related group of services under the "MSN" umbrella remained largely the same throughout much of the next decade.

Many of MSN's services were reorganized in 2006 under a new brand name, Windows Live. This move was part of Microsoft's strategy to improve its online offerings using the Windows brand name. The company also overhauled its online software and services due to increasing competition from rivals such as Yahoo! and Google. The new name was introduced one service at a time. Windows Live uses "Web 2.0" technology to offer features and functionality through a web browser that were traditionally only available through dedicated software programs.

Some of the MSN services affected by the rebranding included MSN Hotmail, which became Windows Live Hotmail; MSN Messenger, which became Windows Live Messenger; MSN Search, which became Live Search; MSN Virtual Earth, which became Live Search Maps; MSN Spaces, which became Windows Live Spaces; MSN Alerts, which became Windows Live Alerts; and MSN Groups, which became Windows Live Groups. Some other related services, such as MSN Direct, have remained a part of the MSN family without transitioning to Windows Live.

Following the launch of Windows Live, the MSN brand took on a different focus. MSN is now primarily an online content provider of news, entertainment, and common interest topics through its Internet portal, MSN.com, while Windows Live now provides most of Microsoft's online software and services.

[edit] Other services known as "MSN" In addition to the Internet service provider and the Internet portal, the name "MSN" has been used for a number of related services. The two most popular of these are Hotmail and Messenger. For further information, see List of MSN services.

[edit] Hotmail Main article: Hotmail Hotmail is a free web-based e-mail service by Microsoft. Originally started as an independent service in 1996, it became part of the MSN family in 1997. Since 2006, it has been part of Microsoft's Windows Live group of online services. Hotmail has over 380 million users worldwide and is available in 35 languages.[17]

[edit] Messenger Main article: .NET Messenger Service MSN launched an instant messaging service in 1999 to compete with AOL Instant Messenger, which was originally known as "MSN Messenger Service" and was later shortened to simply "MSN Messenger." Currently, the underlying technology is known as ".NET Messenger Service," while Windows Live Messenger is the name of the main program used to access the service. Regardless, the term "MSN" has come to be synonymous with the service in Internet slang.

[edit] Affiliated services

[edit] Cross-branded services Microsoft has collaborated with many other service providers, as well as other Microsoft departments to expand the range of MSN's services. Some examples include Microsoft adCenter, MSN Shopping (affiliated with eBay, PriceGrabber and Shopping.com), and the MSN Encarta encyclopedia with various levels of access to information. In addition, MSN Internet Access subscribers have also received MSN Firewall and MSN Virus Guard provided by McAfee, and the Webroot Spy Sweeper for MSN. These services are similar to those offered by other Internet service providers.[citation needed]

[edit] International services Globally, MSN has good reception, partnering with local TV stations and telecommunications companies to provide service in some areas. In Canada, MSN has partnered with Bell Sympatico (the ISP division of Bell Canada) creating "Sympatico / MSN." In Australia, the Nine Network has partnered with MSN to create "ninemsn." In Mexico, MSN has partenered with Telmex' Prodigy creating "Prodigy / MSN." An affiliation with Xtra, Telecom New Zealand's Internet provider ended in 2006 (see XtraMSN).[18]

MSN has many offices worldwide for customer support. It utilizes the service of call centers around the world. Among the countries are Philippines (technical and customer service), El Salvador (Spanish - technical and customer support), and India (customer service). Currently, MSN sees the Philippines as having the most competitive customer support for customers, awarding Philippine BPOs the "MSN Universal Project," which agents support combined technical, customer service, and billing support.[citation needed]

In 2007, Microsoft set up a research and development center for MSN services in Hong Kong, China. It will be the company's first center of such kind situated outside of the United States. Being based in Shanghai's Zizhu Science Park, the research and development center will develop Internet software. Its set up is estimated at $20 million. Microsoft, in the new center, will have a technical support team for its MSN service. In the future, the company hopes MSN Messenger will play an important role in everyday life of Chinese teenagers and young professionals. Several setbacks caused Microsoft to create its own facility for MSN service. One such setback is the resignation of Luo Chuan, who headed the Windows Live unit in China and who was also responsible for Chinese MSN portal.[19]