Moonwalker

Arguably the most memorable feature, Sega takes the concept of the "smart bomb" or "screen zapper" and changes it to the form of dancing, in a special attack termed "Dance Magic". Once activated, a heavenly spotlight shines on the player, and the player starts to dance several of the high-energy moves that have become Jackson's hallmarks. All of the standard enemies - henchmen, gangsters, guards, robots - start dancing with the player and are destroyed at the end of the dance routine (ostensibly because they cannot keep up with Jackson's dance moves). However, bosses do not dance, but do take a significant amount of damage. Any captive children on-screen at the time Dance Magic is activated are not harmed.

- Wikipedia

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Back in the days of console games, I used to spend the weekend in my aunt's place somewhere down south. There, my cousin and I would indulge ourselves with video games we could play on his Sega Console. Sonic the Hedgehog and Golden Axe were our favorites and as the early evening turns to late night, the only breaks we had were dinners (which were served at past seven) and the mandatory bedtime for my cousin which fell at nine.

Occasionally, boredom kept us from playing the same game over and over again. Even when my cousin had around thirty cartridges which his surgeon mom brought for him over the years, it wasn't enough to keep us busy. Resolving this monotony required that we swap games which the other kids in the neighborhood had. My cousin lives in a posh subdivision so finding someone who owned the same console he had was never a problem.

One video game that we found highly entertaining was Michael Jackson's Moonwalker. It was a kind of game where the goal was to beat up as many thugs as possible. Giving justifications to MJ's signature kicks and magical "stars" being thrown at the enemy was to rescue the children from the big boss. Every level also plays an instrumental version of MJ's popular songs from his Bad and Thriller albums.

The game wasn't really one of ours, but something we had acquired from a video game swap from one of my cousin's neighbors. We were able to finish all levels and even witness the Moonwalker transforming into a spaceship (or robot) to face the final boss. It maybe hard to recall the video game without the aid of Wikipedia now, but I still remember how my cousin and I laughed at MJ whenever he shouts "Woo" while performing an attack move against an enemy.

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I woke up this morning having five text messages waiting to be read on my phone inbox. The first message was from a friend asking if the rumor about Michael Jackson was true. Apparently, someone from the internet started spreading news about him collapsing from a Heart Attack. The second, which was sent a few hours later was from another friend announcing MJ's death. The third, fourth and last merely echoed what the second text message wrote.

Reaching for the remote control lying on the floor, I turned on the television which is placed across my bed. Tuning to CNN revealed a developing story. On the Breaking News tab below the screen wrote the King of Pop is dead. The screen splashed images of people singing Michael Jackson's songs as the news anchor read reactions from other celebrities about the pop icon's sudden passing.

It's now seven in the evening. As Michael Jackson's death slowly sinks in the consciousness of everyone, his songs found their way into the sounds speakers on the floor. Such phenomenon, which I believe doesn't just happen in my office but on other workplaces as well must be the collective expression of sadness of a generation who basked at his stardom.

This must be their way of honoring a legend.

And like how I recall a nearly obscure Sega Genesis video game from my childhood, this is my way of mourning.

The King is dead. Long Live the King.

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Reclusive pop icon Michael Jackson will perform 10 concerts in London in July in what he described Thursday as a "final curtain call."

The summer shows, Jackson's first major live performances in 12 years, will take place at the 20,000-capacity O2 Arena from July 8.

Jackson, 50, appeared in front of fans and media at the venue Thursday to announce the "This Is It" shows.

"These will be my final shows performing in London. "This Is It" really means this is it," said Jackson, wearing a trademark black military-style jacket with sparkling embroidery and black sunglasses. Jackson blew kisses and saluted his fans as they chanted "Michael! Michael!"

"I'll be performing the songs my fans want to hear. I'll see you in July and I love you so much."


- cnn.com, Michael Jackson announces "curtain call" concerts
March 6, 2009