Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2008 August 18

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August 18

why guitar hero is famous or selling so much if the guitar freaks (and problably others) game existed before guitar hero?

why guitar hero is famous or selling so much if the guitar freaks (and problably others) game existed before guitar hero? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.78.239.4 (talk) 01:04, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

I believe it's because Guitar Hero focusses on the music culture and contains more popular songs that everybody knows, which is vastly different to, say, Gitaroo Man.Avnas Ishtaroth _{drop me a line} 01:44, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Those are some of the reasons for it, sure. I mean, the number of people who want to play a classic Jimi Hendrix song is probably going to be a lot bigger than the number of people who want to play a song by some Japanese guy they've never heard of, regardless of whether the Japanese guy's song is good. Additionally, Guitar Hero was simply marketed very well; it was represented as a new cool thing, whereas games like Guitar Freaks -- even in their home console incarnations -- were pretty much curiosities that were rarely spoken of, and even the peripheral used to play the game was often a kind of an afterthought, a bonus of sorts. Guitar Hero, by comparison, really took a stance: it declared itself to be awesome and declared its custom peripheral to be the whole point of the experience. It made no bones about being more expensive than your average game; it was a non-issue. It was easy to be convinced that you got value for your money. And, of course, it's a pretty fun game. That didn't hurt things any. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 05:34, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

It has also rose to prominenace at a time when 'interactive' (or at least physically interactive) gaming has really taken off - thanks in part to the popularisation of the Wii. I'd say it falls into the 'casual gaming' area of gaming. Having famous-tracks will help too. Often the break-through version of a technology/product isn't the first on the scene, rather the one that manages to get the mix right so as to make it mainstream. The MP3 player existed for a good while before the iPod, yet it was the iPod that made the MP3 player 'mainstream' and (in the process) made the iPod a household name. I suspect Guitar Hero is the same thing - the technology/idea existed before but it was never sold to the mainstream/integrated in the same was Guitar Hero was. 194.221.133.226 (talk) 15:32, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

What is the name of this song?

I can't seem to find the name of this song in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muibPAUvOXk&feature=related --Devourer09 (talk) 05:58, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

You might want to try Shazam (service). This is a free program/service you can download for your PC (or Mac?) or iPhone. It takes a twelvish-second sample of the song (on the iPhone, merely by listening to the song via the phone's microphone) and comes back a few seconds later with the song's identity. It works amazingly well.

Atlant (talk) 13:17, 23 August 2008 (UTC)

What sports is Great Britain NOT competing in at this Olympics?

I'm just wondering how many events, and what type, Great Britain has chosen not to, or been unable to find a competitor for at this Olympics Can someone point me in the direction of a simple list, or even a complete list of Olympic events as I can probably get the list of events that they are competing in from the team GB website. Also anyone direct me to an article on the entry criteria for the Olympics, can't find anything from the search. Thanks AllanHainey (talk) 07:42, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

See Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

195.218.15.112 (talk) 12:58, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Looks like Baseball, Basketball, Football, Handball, Softball, Table tennis, Volleyball, and Wrestling. Rmhermen (talk) 13:42, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Those are the sports the UK isn't participating in, but there are also events it's not involved in in other sports, the men's doubles badminton for example. Algebraist 13:53, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Some of the stories are pretty interesting. A UK football team, for example, has been a point of great contention -- see United Kingdom national football team. The UK team simply couldn't afford to make the trip to the final qualifiers in baseball. --jpgordon^∇∆∇∆ 14:26, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

For entry requirements, each international federation sets their own qualification rules for the Olympics. I don't know if the IOC publishes these in one place or not - I haven't been able to find it. You can find the rules for each individual sport on the relevant IFs web site. - Eron^Talk 14:39, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

It's worth noting that has chosen not to, or been unable to find a competitor for in the original question omits the case failed to qualify for, which may be the case in some of the team sports. The GB team has a special situation since Eng/Wal/Sco/NI teams may be the ones competing in competitions that double as Olympic qualifiers, but the fact that there isn't a team in Beijing does not mean that there was never one that tried to get there. It does seem that the Great Britain national basketball team is such a case./Coffeeshivers (talk) 15:47, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Names of actors/actresses wanted

Please, could anybody tell me the names of the actors/actresses appearing in these spots for the IFC here and here. The ones I know: Jena Malone, Jason Schwartzman, Rosanna Arquette, Christian Slater, Anne Heche. 195.218.15.112 (talk) 12:58, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

I saw Eric Roberts and Laura San Giacomo in the first one. --Elliskev 01:46, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

First one also has Kevin Corrigan, Leon Robinson, and Kip Pardue. Second one has Judah Friedlander. --Joelmills (talk) 02:07, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Keirin Relegated

In Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Men's Keirin certain competitors are listed as being relegated. Elsewhere I understood that to mean that in the next round, the player relegated played in a lower division. How can you be relegated from an opening heat? What does it mean here? -- SGBailey (talk) 13:30, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

According to this, to be relegated is to be punished for an infringement by being placed last. It differs from disqualification in that the rider is still in the event and can (in the case of the Keirin) take part in the Repechage. Algebraist 13:50, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I added a footnote to this effect. -- SGBailey (talk) 15:57, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

All-ages equivalent to Second Life

I'm intrigued by the concept of Second Life but put off by its 18-and-over nature (with a separate kiddie world for those 13-17). Is there a virtual world type thing that approximates Second Life in its breadth and degree of interactivity but is all ages (or rather 13+)? -- 192.206.151.130 (talk) 14:42, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Habbo Hotel? PlanetSide....um...World Of Warcraft. However, I suggest you ask your kids what they want to play. --mboverload@ 15:41, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

I don't have any kids; I'm talking about myself. (I'm a little over 18 but as a youth rights supporter am uncomfortable in age-restricted environments.) I'm interested in something like Second Life but without the age restriction. -- 192.206.151.130 (talk) 16:26, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

There is really nothing comparable to Second Life out there. It's a pretty unique environment both in terms of size and complexity. -- Captain Disdain (talk) 18:53, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

query about ext link

Hi there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Party_(band)

I was on this link as they were like a band I loved as a kid.. I was on as I would like to buy their albums, however they no longer seem available. However, at the end of the Wikipedia page there is an External Links page with MP3s.... is it legal for me to download these as I NEVER download illegally as I consider it stealing, could you let me know?

Thanks

Samantha Bailie

[email address redacted] —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.242.216.228 (talk) 17:18, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

The two external links are from TV.com and IMDB. I couldn't find any songs available for download in them. Where did you find it? Zain Ebrahim (talk) 18:21, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

The page history shows that a link to a site called 50megs.com was removed recently. That site seems to be for personal web pages. I can't be sure, but I'd guess that any MP3s hosted there were not legit. --LarryMac | Talk 18:34, 18 August 2008 (UTC)