Billy "Wicked" Wilson dead at 33

Billy "Wicked" Wilson died at age 33. Most of you probably have no idea who he was, but he was the creator of Voodoo Extreme, a gaming site that, as he would say, "kicks more ass than Gary Coleman on a crack binge." It was essentially a blog site, back in the days when no one knew what the hell a blog even was. He linked you to the good stuff, every day, and gave you his opinion the way few people could. I think he coined the term "thimble dick," which to this day makes me giggle.

VE eventually got too big in that era where great sites got expensive to run and the advertising dollars just couldn't cover the expense. I don't know the specifics, but apparently he nearly lost everything, got divorced and the domain was eventually sold to IGN. Some of the stuff I've found indicates he was too proud to ask his audience for money. He fairly recently co-founded Gaming Groove, where you'll find several postings about his death.

Billy's version of VE really inspired me, and honestly it was the reason that I started CoasterBuzz. This site would not exist if it weren't for his. He demonstrated that you didn't have to be a corporate tool or follow traditional media conventions to attract, entertain and retain an audience. It was editorial-journalism about the journalism and the gaming industry.

Details on his death aren't clear, but he was apparently sick in the hospital for a few days. Regardless, it sucks. He is survived by his ex-wife and son.

Wow thats interesting and sad at the same time..

Jeff, I just realized you have a book out. Congratulations. According to the amazon reviews it looks like it's doing great!

That's too bad :(. I remember using VE; between Blues News and VE, very few events in gaming went unrecorded.