POP CULTURE: EMINEM TO APPEAR ON ONLINE VIDEO GAME

MARSHALL MATHERS IS BACK, & HE’S GOT HIS HANDS IN MULTIPLE VENTURES. NOT ONLY IS HIS ALBUM DROPPING IN A WEEK & A ½, BUT HE’S APPEARING ON A NEW VIDEO GAME. CHECK IT OUT. BACK TO THE MUSIC, I DON’T KNOW ABOUT ANYONE ELSE, BUT I’M READY FOR ANOTHER MNM LP. ENJOY THE ARTICLE

Eminem Gets Bloody In New Online '3 A.M.' Game

Game even includes snippet of forthcoming Eminem/ 50 Cent song 'Crack a Bottle.'

By James Montgomery

Well, now we know why Eminem checked himself into the (fictional) Popsomp Hills Rehabilitation Center: He planned on murdering everyone in the place.

It seems the rather elaborate viral campaign he launched late last month — which included being admitted to a faux-rehab facility (complete with working phone numbers and e-mail addresses) run by a mysterious Swiss therapist named, uh, Dr. Balzac — was just the first step in promoting his grisly, blood-soaked new video, for the track "3 A.M."

On Thursday (May 7), we entered the second step.

That's when Eminem posted a vaguely creepy message on his Twitter account ("They will never find me ...") with a link to the Popsomp Hills Web site, which had undergone a rather drastic face-lift, turning into a graphics-heavy interactive game that takes Em fans inside the "3 A.M." video. With a few clicks of the mouse, visitors can wander the dark hallways of the Center, poke and prod around Eminem's blood-spattered room and watch disturbing footage on security monitors of the rapper offing his victims, all while "3 A.M." blares in the background.

If fans dig a bit deeper, they'll also find a cell phone left open at the security desk, (with a text message from Dr. Balzac, plus a new phone number which allows fans to leave messages for patients — like Em and Ken Kaniff, a character who appears on Emimen's albums), a wall clock that automatically sets itself to 3 A.M. (and sends a half-naked Em running by a window), a severed finger in a bag and, hidden in a desk drawer, a bottle, which when broken, reveals a snippet of the Eminem/ 50 Cent track "Crack a Bottle."

There's also the blood-filled bath tub from the "3 A.M." video and the creepy mannequin Em kisses in the clip. Oh, and alternate angles of the slayings — a nurse, a security guard — from the video, too.

It's all pretty scary, and rather genius (and sort of like the "Alone in the Dark" video game, too), and it appears that there's still more horror to come: Fans will notice that there is a door to the left of the Popsomp Hills security desk rattles a bit when clicked on, but remains locked ... until a "No Access" sign pops up, along with a note

SOURCE: MTV. COM

POP CULTURE: XBOX MAKING A PRIMETIME PLAY

COOL ARTICLE ON XBOX’S LATEST VENTURE. IT INVOLVES INTERACTIVITY. ENJOY.

Xbox makes Primetime play First offering is interactive version of '1 vs. 100' By David Ward SAN DIEGO -- Microsoft is moving closer to its goal of bringing the worlds of TV and video games closer together. The long-awaited first offering for its Xbox Live Primetime initiative is an interactive version of the popular Endemol TV game-show format "1 vs. 100" that will air Friday and Saturday nights in North America throughout the summer and fall. Manuel Bronstein, director of Primetime's "100," said execs expect as many as 200,000 Xbox Live Gold members to play either the live versions of the game on Fridays and Saturdays or quick-play versions on other days of the week. Microsoft also said Tuesday that it has lined up the support of such major advertisers as Honda and Sprint for the show. What the company didn't specify is an exact launch date, though execs estimate "100" will begin sometime in the next six weeks. Microsoft also will have a sweepstakes tied to the show, giving Xbox Live members the chance to win home theater systems and other goods. Microsoft is strategically positioning "100" as a small-screen, family-friendly alternative by launching during the summer -- traditionally the slowest time for television -- and on weekend nights, when lower viewer levels are the norm. "We definitely started this with the big picture in mind and the belief that there's this crossover between TV and gaming," Bronstein said. "We feel we can provide a very compelling experience by bringing the high production values, the scheduling and the anticipation that happens around TV and combine that with the stickiness and social interaction that happens with gaming." Other major differences are the absence of Bob Saget as host, of course, as well as a different prize structure. Players of "100" can win up 10,000 Xbox Live points, which can be redeemed for game, movie and episodic TV show downloads as well as other content. Bronstein and Microsoft were vague on what comes after "100" runs through its two 13-week seasons and whether this marks the beginning of a strategy to produce an entire slate of regularly scheduled primetime programming for different nights during the week. Independent gaming analyst Billy Pidgeon said that games in general -- especially those on platforms like Xbox Live -- are beginning to compete for eyeballs with television. "The addition of synchronous programming that gets people to come to a game platform at a specific time is a great next step," he said.

Find this article at: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3i30b29365238b365230bcc43a6a2cecbf