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"I was a total gamer when I was a kid. My parents actually worried about me, I was playing video games so much. [Our] game is a massively multiplayer game. It's an RPG, it's a scrolling format, there's a heavy community component to the game, and as you play, you beat missions, you can talk to your friends."

-Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda, discussing his video game-based past, present and future. The rapper/producer spoke to MTV News about "Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion," the new game for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad that went on sale today via Apple's App Store and iTunes. The game pays tribute to the low-fi Nintendo games of yore and features the members of Linkin Park wading their way through unique adventures. Along the way, players are treated to tinny Nintendo-ized versions of Linkin Park hits like "One Step Closer," "Faint" and "New Divide."

But the real treat for fans comes upon completion of the adventure, as the victors have access to "Blackbirds," a new Linkin Park song recorded exclusively for "Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion." "It's exclusive to the game," Shinoda said. "It's not going to be on an album, it's not going to be on anything else."

Shinoda said the band was hands-on through all aspects of development (he designed most of the characters, and each band member was responsible for designing his own level), and they hope that they can expand on "Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion" in the future. "We're definitely hoping to continue to add to the game," Shinoda said. "That's one thing that's nice about the way the Apple app store is set up that you can, whether for an extra charge or for free, you can upload new content for your game. It's really easy. We intend to keep it moving."

Tags Linkin-Park, Quote

Every day a multitude of stars wander through the halls of MTV News to talk about their latest projects and goof around with our intrepid correspondents. But sometimes we catch stars elsewhere, and that's why we put together Spotted!, a daily compendium of stars in the wild.

You wouldn't think it just by looking at him, but Justin Bieber is a bit of a lightning rod for controversy. Earlier this morning, Bieber was supposed to play a brief show on Australian morning show "Sunrise," but the event had to be scrapped when a throng of screaming fans stampeded toward the stage and created a dangerous environment for other attendees. "Everybody was just shoving and pushing forward. They had two massive screens out, and they started to play Justin Bieber songs and everybody started cheering and pushing forward more," 13-year-old eyewitness Sophie Kelly recounted for the Sydney Morning Herald. "But [the host] was acting like the whole thing was a joke, and he kept on adding Justin Bieber things in there and so people just kept on screaming and pushing forward more." As many as 4,000 fans were involved in the melee, with a handful treated for injuries and taken to a local hospital. The police pulled the plug before any more damage could be done. These types of crowds tend to follow Bieber wherever he goes, as other events had to be canceled in Paris and on Long Island, New York last year after crowds created dangerous situations.

Bieber wasn't the only star thrilling the public, as "The Hills" star Kristin Cavallari paid a visit to the poll at CityCenter in Las Vegas and Jennifer Lopez hopped around Paris while supporting "The Back-Up Plan." Click here for these photos as well as the entire "Spotted" archive, which features over 400 candid shots of stars like Britney Spears, Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Justin Timberlake, Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Lady Gaga and 50 Cent!

Tags Jennifer-Lopez, Justin Bieber, photo, Spotted!

While her Twitter isn't updated as often as it used to be, Taylor Swift makes up for it with video blogs that represent some of the best insider video on the Internet. In her latest dispatch, culled together from video taken during the past few weeks (including her two-night run at the Staples Center in Los Angeles), she shows off her athletic prowess, gets excited about birthday cake, visits at least one aquarium and generally seems like she is enjoying the ideal life among her friends and family.

The video (hosted at Taylor TV) teaches us at least one thing about Swift: She is a game but underachieving athlete. The clip opens with her on a basketball court (in a short skirt and wearing high-heeled boots — hardly regulation sportswear) dribbling and draining a shot. "Did you get that?" she asks her camera operator. "That never happens!" Later, she is spotted bowling with pal Selena Gomez (though she only manages to knock down a single pin). Coupled with her assertion that "I'm not a good runner" during an Easter egg hunt, it seems like Swift is a willing participant who is often curtailed by her natural ability (or lack thereof). Still, she plays a mean guitar, so that makes up for it.

Elsewhere in the video, Swift visits the Las Vegas wedding of "You Belong With Me" co-writer Liz Rose (only a few hours after the Academy of Country Music Awards) and later features footage from the Los Angeles show that featured a guest appearance from Katy Perry (the pair tag-teamed on Perry's "Hot N Cold"). Check out the whole video blog below.

What do you think of Taylor Swift's basketball skills? Let us know in the comments!

Tags Taylor Swift

Every morning, MTV News delivers the top news stories in music, movies and pop culture hot and fresh for your reading and watching pleasure. We then bring together a trio of the biggest headlines for "Three to See," the daily digest of the top stories making noise on our site and across the Internet. This morning, stories on Bret Michaels, Justin Bieber and the weekend box office lead the way.

Bret Michaels Remains In Intensive Care
Poison frontman Bret Michaels remains in an intensive care unit under constant medical supervision following a brain hemorrhage suffered last Thursday (April 22). According to his official Web site and his Facebook page, doctors are still trying to find the source of the bleeding, which has lead to blurred vision, slurred speech and dizziness for the rock star and current cast member of "The Celebrity Apprentice."

Justin Bieber Show In Australia Called Off
A free Justin Bieber concert on an Australian morning show had to be called off because of near-rioting by fans. In an incident that echoed similar events in New York and Paris last year, thousands of fans camped out overnight to see the singer but rushed forward past police barricades and began hurting those near the front of the stage, so officials canceled the event because of the unruly crowd.

"How To Train Your Dragon" Tops Box Office Again
In an unlikely run, the animated film "How to Train Your Dragon" topped the box office chart again over the weekend, out-earning the likes of "The Back-Up Plan" (starring Jennifer Lopez) and "The Losers" (the comic book adaptation that fell short of expectations). To date, "How to Train Your Dragon" has earned over $178 million.

Tags Bret Michaels, Justin Bieber, video

For many late night fans, the countdown is on until the debut of Conan O'Brien's new show, which is set to appear on cable station TBS at 11 p.m. some time this fall. When the still-untitled show debuts, you'll really see some fireworks and one-upsmanship not only between O'Brien and former rival Jay Leno but also between O'Brien and David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert as they all struggle for late night dominance. But before those fireworks start blazing, we still have plenty of comedy, music and interviews to enjoy during the time when we should be climbing into bed, and this week offers up a bevy of excellent diversions from slumber.

Letterman has a particularly explosive week ahead of him, as he'll talk to recent "American Idol" reject Tim Urban on Monday (April 26) and will welcome the always-unpredictable Courtney Love for an interview and performance on Tuesday (April 27). The rest of the week is just as packed, with OK Go stopping by on Wednesday (April 28), the cast of "American Idiot" performing on Thursday (April 29) and the always-rocking Hold Steady on Friday (April 30). That is one loud week of late night rock.

Leno counters with a quieter but more eclectic batch of musical guests, featuring Melissa Etheridge on Monday and Laura Bell Bundy on Thursday. He'll also chat with Jessica Simpson on Tuesday and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday. Across town, Kimmel will turn the amps on for Dr. Dog (Wednesday) and another visit from Courtney Love and Hole (Thursday).

In the extra-late hour, Jimmy Fallon will welcome the likes of Gogol Bordello (Monday), Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (Wednesday) and Paramore (Thursday) during another music-centric week for him. Meanwhile, "The Colbert Report" has been inching farther into awesome music territory (they had Gorillaz on last week) with visits from Sharon Jones and OK Go on Monday and Thursday, respectively.

The daytime shows don't offer as much in music this week, though Courtney Love will be on Wednesday's edition of "The View," which should be a good time. And be sure to tune in to "Ellen" on Wednesday for a sit-down and performance with Shakira.

What guest are you most looking forward to on the last night shows this week? Let us know in the comments!

Tags American Idiot, Courtney-Love, hole, Late Night, OK Go, Talk Shows, the-hold-steady

By Ben Collins

The third episode of "Treme" — titled "Right Place, Wrong Time" — began to zero-in on the deception and empty promises offered up by a rebuilding city. All of the characters attempted to accept New Orleans for exactly what it was before Hurricane Katrina hit: Antoine Batiste assumes that gigs will forever be plentiful and that no place will be home for jazz but New Orleans; Davis assumes that the Treme would be culturally uprooted if it began to gentrify; Albert Lambreaux assumes the Indian tradition can live on in peace, uninterrupted by outside influence.

But all of these things have changed. Antoine learns the money for jazz has flowed out with the flood. Gentrification might help Davis curate and create jazz better than ever before. And Albert is deceived in the most personal way possible — his way to mourn has now been perverted and marginalized to a tourist attraction. And it's all set to music.

Dr. John, "Right Place, Wrong Time"
The episode's title track comes from a relatively innocuous scene early on. Sonny is using some fronted busking money to buy Annie a relatively luxurious bottle of wine for her birthday. At the counter, he pours out 30 or 40 quarters in front of a cashier, but he doesn't care about how uncouth the behavior appears, especially considering he has greater concerns: He feels like his relationship is somewhat at-risk. New Orleans jazz pianist legend Tom McDermott stopped to hear some of Annie and Sonny's street performance. He was particularly impressed by Annie, who he asks to perform with him at a black-tie event later that night. A clearly peeved Sonny wants in, and though he is put on the guest list, he's offered no chance to perform.

Sonny stays for part of the event, mingling with someone in a different tax bracket who strains to even imagine his quarter-to-quarter lifestyle, but bolts to drink his gifted wine alone in his apartment under a noisy train. "Just need a little brain salad surgery/ Got to cure this insecurity/ I've been in the wrong place/ But it must have been the right time," Dr. John sings, piping out of the speakers of the wine cellar, but it seems like he's singing it only to Sonny.

Sonny (Huisman), Annie (Micarelli) and Antoine (Wendell Pierce), "Ghost of a Chance"
Sonny and Annie are starting up "Ghost of a Chance" (a tune made most famous by Billie Holiday) when Antoine joins in to sing. Read more...

Tags Dr. John, Treme

There was a time back in 1995 or so when you couldn't turn on your radio or MTV without hearing a TLC song. Their smash album CrazySexyCool was a juggernaut of epic proportions that sold millions of copies around the world, spawned at least three gigantic singles ("Creep," "Red Light Special" and the absolutely massive "Waterfalls") and turned Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, Rozonda "Chilli" Thomas and Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes into household names. They were destined to become one of the greatest R&B acts of all time until their story suddenly became unwritten on April 25, 2002, when Lopes died in a car accident in Honduras at the age of 30.

Lopes was in Honduras doing missionary work, setting up a school for Honduran children on some land that she owned in the Central American country. She was driving a car and swerved to avoid hitting an oncoming truck, which flipped the vehicle over and threw several passengers clear. Though there were several injuries, Lopes was the only fatality. She had been recording video diary entries for the duration of her trip, and the passenger of the car had the camera rolling during the accident, so everything was caught on film. That footage was later turned into the affecting documentary "The Last Days of Left Eye," which aired on VH1 back in 2007.

She left behind incomplete work on a second solo album as well as a new TLC album, which would later become 3D. The TLC album was going to be especially important, as Lopes had fallen out a bit with Watkins and Thomas (she had famously suggested that they break up and release simultaneous solo albums to see whose would do the best). But the trio had reconciled enough to get back into the studio. Lopes ended up appearing on four tracks on 3D and was called out on several other tribute songs. Following a brief promotional run for 3D and an ill-advised reality show that sought to replace Lopes, TLC called it quits, though T-Boz and Chilli began talking about getting back together to record new material at the Justin Timberlake and Friends concert last October. Still, the group will never be the same without Left Eye, who provided a bit of danger, some forward-thinking fashion concepts and a whole lot of hip-hop swagger to the proceedings. She did that best on TLC's 1999 hit "No Scrubs," from their smash album Fanmail.

Tags Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, TLC, video

Over the weekend, "The Celebrity Apprentice" became intriguing in a way that the show never could have anticipated. The news of Bret Michaels health scare threw an interesting curveball at the show. Even though it has been in the can for months, would they mention on air that even though Michaels was having a ball on the most entertaining episode of the season, in reality he was in a hospital bed unable to watch said episode? And would they run into an unfortunate scenario that would see Michaels get kicked off the show while he was fighting for his life?

Through some sort of cosmic good luck, "The Celebrity Apprentice" managed to get the best of all possible worlds on Sunday night (April 25). There was no mention of his illness (save for a vague post-script that wished him a speedy recovery) and even though Michaels theoretically could have been canned after last night's challenge, Donald Trump ultimately decided not to fire anybody, leaving both teams in tact and keeping Michaels on the show (perhaps just so Trump can learn the secret of the bandanna).

The show opened with Trump re-shuffling the teams, with the new configuration pitting Curtis Stone, Cyndi Lauper, Summer Sanders and Holly Robinson-Peete (Tenacity) against Michaels, Sharon Osbourne and Maria Kanellis (RockSolid). There were doubts that Osbourne would actually show up, but she seemed revitalized by the new challenge, which had the teams designing some sort of exercise class for 24 Hour Fitness. It was another "Who can call their famous friends to donate the most money?" challenges, which are usually entertaining if only because it forces more famous people into awkward photo ops. But this time around, the celeb pals only acted as check books, and the people taking the class were little more than charity ringers.

Tenacity ended up dreaming up a vaguely uncomfortable concept called "Buns and Guns," which was meant to be an arm and butt workout but sounded like it could have been an alternate title for that movie where Steven Seagal is a killer cook. Meanwhile, RockSolid decided to focus on something they called "The Groupie Thrust," which was basically a pelvic thrust and not an actual workout. (The less said about "Pump Up the Weiner," which was pretty shocking for network television, the better.) Michaels was in full Poison mode last night, flirting with every woman in a five mile radius (especially Maria) and referring to himself as a "gynecological expert" (yes, that actually happened).

In fact, RockSolid seemed so distracted by innuendo and Michaels extra-curricular exploits (including a woman who told him that he was on her list of men she was allowed to sleep with without her husband getting mad at her) that they ended up getting pounded in the money department, losing big time to Robinson-Peete's cadre of rich athlete pals. Still, Trump seemed so entertained by the whole thing that he didn't really give anybody the going over, nor did he condemn anybody for their mistakes. Thus, nobody was fired, even though Michaels theoretically would have been the most logical victim this week. It seemed like a selfish move on Trump's part, as he really seemed to have a good time during this episode and just wanted his famous pals to hang around a little bit longer. Considering the number of people who have fired themselves this season, it makes sense that there would have to be a save tossed in there somewhere. The show will have to remain on its toes in the face of Michaels' ill health, but for perhaps the first time in the show's history, "The Celebrity Apprentice" did everything right.

Tags Bret Michaels, The Celebrity Apprentice

If the New York Mets win two out of three against the visiting Atlanta Braves this weekend, they can climb out of the basement and into a .500 record this season. That's the sort of optimism that the weekend brings. Are they Mets good enough to beat the Braves twice in three days? Maybe, but probably not. But since there are two straight days of sleeping in, walking in the park and seeing "The Losers," all sorts of potential miracles suddenly seem possible. The weekend is a powerful thing — so powerful that it leads Mets fans to delusion.

But before you spend your weekend watching baseball, checking out the NBA playoffs or just lying in a hammock, check out everything you might have missed this week on the MTV Newsroom Blog, which featured a multitude of hits about Justin Bieber, Insane Clown Posse, "American Idol" and much more.

» This week belonged to Crystal Bowersox, who delivered a killer performance of "People Get Ready" that was so intense that there was talk that it was the best ever on the show.

» However, it was David Archuleta who took home the prize for the best "American Idol" performance of all time with his version of "Imagine" from a few seasons back.

» In other "American Idol" news, recent reject Katie Stevens finally got to put Connecticut on the map.

» The weeks started exactly how it was supposed to: With a "Saturday Night Live" parody of Insane Clown Posse's still-awesome "Miracles" video.

» Green Day's "American Idiot" premiered on Broadway this week, and MTV was there live on the red carpet and in the audience after the show. We also took a look back at their long career, from Berkeley to Broadway.
Read more...

Tags American Idol, Ben Gibbard, Crystal Bowersox, green-day, Insane Clown Posse, Justin Bieber, kristen-stewart, Lady Antebellum, Susan Boyle, Wu-Tang Clan

By Shirt King Phade

I have only good memories of Guru. I first saw that "Manifest" video and was amazed at the flow over he laid down over the "A Night in Tunisia" sample that Premier chopped up. Not many could handle a jazz beat — only Rakim or Large Professor or A Tribe Called Quest, who showed an appreciation for jazz fused with hip-hop, what was amazing.

I used to see Guru (aka "Keithy E") on Fordham Road in the Bronx. I believe he moved up there for some time. I knew of his Brooklyn ties and Boston start. He was a hard MC who did not come from New York but respected the craft and got with Premier and formed the illest team on the planet. With hit after hit, he became a force to reckoned with and someone to follow just to see what he would cook up next. The move to get with French MCs made us realize the endless possibilities of our culture and enlightened us to our direct influence on the world.

Last time I saw Keithy E was in 1998. He was headlining a show with Biz Markie and I went there with Smooth B. We were in the back of the building and I challenged him to get into a cipher with some young and hungry kids. He paused a while and listened to me rant about how MCs get too big to rap in a cipher, but he shut me up by jumping in and releasing a rhyme off the top of the dome. As far as I was concerned, his rep was solidified as someone who is realer than real. I had to respect that and I salute my brother, who has graduated to the next level of existence. Smooth B and Lil Dap both said, "This body is just a shell," and I believe that. Thanks for the fearlessness, the trailblazing path and the amazing back catalogue. We will sorely miss the voice

In memory of Guru, I will be doing shirts to raise funds so I can do a proper memorial on canvas and a mural on wall in New York or Los Angeles.

Tags Gang Starr, Guru