1.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Video game
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A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device such as a TV screen or computer monitor. The word video in video game referred to a raster display device. Some theorists categorize video games as an art form, but this designation is controversial, the electronic systems used to play video games are known as platforms, examples of these are personal computers and video game consoles. These platforms range from large mainframe computers to small handheld computing devices, the input device used for games, the game controller, varies across platforms. Common controllers include gamepads, joysticks, mouse devices, keyboards, the touchscreens of mobile devices, and buttons, or even, with the Kinect sensor, a persons hands and body. Players typically view the game on a screen or television or computer monitor, or sometimes on virtual reality head-mounted display goggles. There are often game sound effects, music and, in the 2010s, some games in the 2000s include haptic, vibration-creating effects, force feedback peripherals and virtual reality headsets. In the 2010s, the game industry is of increasing commercial importance, with growth driven particularly by the emerging Asian markets and mobile games. As of 2015, video games generated sales of USD74 billion annually worldwide, early games used interactive electronic devices with various display formats. The earliest example is from 1947—a Cathode ray tube Amusement Device was filed for a patent on 25 January 1947, by Thomas T. Goldsmith Jr. and Estle Ray Mann, and issued on 14 December 1948, as U. S. Written by MIT students Martin Graetz, Steve Russell, and Wayne Wiitanens on a DEC PDP-1 computer in 1961, and the hit ping pong-style Pong, used the DEC PDP-1s vector display to have two spaceships battle each other. In 1971, Computer Space, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was the first commercially sold and it used a black-and-white television for its display, and the computer system was made of 74 series TTL chips. The game was featured in the 1973 science fiction film Soylent Green, Computer Space was followed in 1972 by the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home console. Modeled after a late 1960s prototype console developed by Ralph H. Baer called the Brown Box and these were followed by two versions of Ataris Pong, an arcade version in 1972 and a home version in 1975 that dramatically increased video game popularity. The commercial success of Pong led numerous other companies to develop Pong clones and their own systems, the game inspired arcade machines to become prevalent in mainstream locations such as shopping malls, traditional storefronts, restaurants, and convenience stores. The game also became the subject of articles and stories on television and in newspapers and magazines. Space Invaders was soon licensed for the Atari VCS, becoming the first killer app, the term platform refers to the specific combination of electronic components or computer hardware which, in conjunction with software, allows a video game to operate. The term system is commonly used
3.
Lisburn
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Lisburn is a city in Northern Ireland. It is 8 mi southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, Lisburn is part of the Belfast Metropolitan Area. It had a population of 71,465 people in the 2011 Census, formerly a borough, Lisburn was granted city status in 2002 as part of Queen Elizabeth IIs Golden jubilee celebrations. It is the third-largest city in Northern Ireland, Lisburn is one of the constituent cities that make up the Dublin-Belfast corridor region which has a population of just under 3 million. The town was known as Lisnagarvy after the townland in which it formed. This is derived from Irish Lios na gCearrbhach, meaning ringfort of the gamesters/gamblers, the origin of the towns current name is uncertain. The modern spelling Lisburn first appears in a January 1662 entry in church records, after February 1662, the name Lisnagarvy is no longer found in the records. It is commonly believed that the town was renamed after being burnt during the Irish Rebellion of 1641, there is evidence that the name existed even at the time of the rebellion. In the depositions concerning the rebellion, an English soldier stated on 9 June 1653 that the rebels entered the town of Lisnagarvy at a place called Louzy Barne. Carmody believes that, in the early days, there were two co-existing ringforts, Lisnagarvy to the north and Lisburn to the south. He suggests that both come from Irish and concludes, Lisburn, being shorter and more easily pronounced by the English settlers, became the familiar name. The original name is used in the titles of some local schools. Lisburns original site was a fort located north of modern-day Wallace Park, in 1609 James I granted Sir Fulke Conway, a Welshman of Norman descent, the lands of Killultagh in southwest County Antrim. During the 1620s the streets of Lisburn were laid out just as they are today, Market Square, Bridge Street, Castle Street and Bow Street. In 1628, Sir Edward Conway, brother to the now deceased Sir Fulke and this is still held in the town every Tuesday. The Manor House was destroyed in the fire of 1707 and was never rebuilt. Lisburn is also known as the birthplace of Irelands linen industry, an exhibition about the Irish linen industry is now housed in the Irish Linen Centre, which can be found in the old Market House in Market Square. In 1920, disturbances related to the ongoing Irish War of Independence saw almost all of Lisburns Catholic businesses burned out, the town was one of the first to recruit special constables, who went on to become part of Northern Irelands Ulster Special Constabulary
4.
Northern Ireland
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Northern Ireland is a constituent unit of the United Kingdom in the north-east of Ireland. It is variously described as a country, province, region, or part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the total population. Northern Ireland was created in 1921, when Ireland was partitioned between Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland by an act of the British parliament, Northern Ireland has historically been the most industrialised region of Ireland. After declining as a result of the political and social turmoil of the Troubles, its economy has grown significantly since the late 1990s. Unemployment in Northern Ireland peaked at 17. 2% in 1986, dropping to 6. 1% for June–August 2014,58. 2% of those unemployed had been unemployed for over a year. Prominent artists and sports persons from Northern Ireland include Van Morrison, Rory McIlroy, Joey Dunlop, Wayne McCullough, some people from Northern Ireland prefer to identify as Irish while others prefer to identify as British. Cultural links between Northern Ireland, the rest of Ireland, and the rest of the UK are complex, in many sports, the island of Ireland fields a single team, a notable exception being association football. Northern Ireland competes separately at the Commonwealth Games, and people from Northern Ireland may compete for either Great Britain or Ireland at the Olympic Games. The region that is now Northern Ireland was the bedrock of the Irish war of resistance against English programmes of colonialism in the late 16th century, the English-controlled Kingdom of Ireland had been declared by the English king Henry VIII in 1542, but Irish resistance made English control fragmentary. Victories by English forces in war and further Protestant victories in the Williamite War in Ireland toward the close of the 17th century solidified Anglican rule in Ireland. In Northern Ireland, the victories of the Siege of Derry and their intention was to materially disadvantage the Catholic community and, to a lesser extent, the Presbyterian community. In the context of open institutional discrimination, the 18th century saw secret, militant societies develop in communities in the region and act on sectarian tensions in violent attacks. Following this, in an attempt to quell sectarianism and force the removal of discriminatory laws, the new state, formed in 1801, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was governed from a single government and parliament based in London. Between 1717 and 1775 some 250,000 people from Ulster emigrated to the British North American colonies and it is estimated that there are more than 27 million Scotch-Irish Americans now living in the US. By the close of the century, autonomy for Ireland within the United Kingdom, in 1912, after decades of obstruction from the House of Lords, Home Rule became a near-certainty. A clash between the House of Commons and House of Lords over a controversial budget produced the Parliament Act 1911, which enabled the veto of the Lords to be overturned. The House of Lords veto had been the unionists main guarantee that Home Rule would not be enacted, in 1914, they smuggled thousands of rifles and rounds of ammunition from Imperial Germany for use by the Ulster Volunteers, a paramilitary organisation opposed to the implementation of Home Rule
5.
People of Northern Ireland
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For detailed information about Northern Irelands population, see Demographics of Northern Ireland. In Northern Ireland, national identity is complex and diverse, the three most common identities are British, Northern Irish and Irish. Most people of Protestant background consider themselves British, while a majority of people of Catholic background consider themselves Irish and this has origins in the 17th century Plantation of Ulster, when mainly-Catholic Ulster was colonized by Protestant settlers from Great Britain. In the early 20th century, most Ulster Protestants and Catholics saw themselves as Irish, in 1968 – just before the onset of the Troubles – 39% of Protestants described themselves as British and 20% described themselves as Irish, while 32% chose an Ulster identity. This shift has not been reversed, meanwhile, the majority of Catholics have continued to see themselves as Irish. From 1989, Northern Irish began to be included as an identity choice in surveys, some organizations have promoted Northern Irish identity as a way of overcoming sectarian division. In a 1998 survey of students, this was one of the reasons they gave for choosing that identity. However, surveys show that Northern Irish identity tends to have different meanings for Catholics, surveys also show that those choosing Northern Irish regard their national identity as less important than those choosing British and Irish
6.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
7.
Shiny Entertainment
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Shiny Entertainment, Inc. was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of titles including Earthworm Jim, MDK and Enter the Matrix. The company was founded by David Perry in October 1993, in 2007, Shiny Entertainment merged with The Collective to create Double Helix Games. In 1991, video game developer David Perry was working for Probe Software in London on the movie based video game The Terminator for the Mega Drive/Genesis. The game was to be published by Virgin Games in Irvine, after a proposal was made, Perry agreed to complete the work in the United States and moved over to join the Virgin Games USA development team. At this time Perry got a US green card, and formed the new company, to fund it, he signed a three-game distribution deal with Playmates Interactive Entertainment and Shiny Entertainment Inc. was formed in October 1993. The companys first release was Earthworm Jim for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and it was commercially successful and won the Sega Game of the Year award. Several merchandising deals followed which resulted in an Earthworm Jim TV show, comic books, toy lines, the game was later ported to more platforms and a sequel, titled Earthworm Jim 2, followed in 1995. Sega and Nintendo had also made offers to acquire Shiny Entertainment but were turned down because, according to Perry, in 1997 former Shiny employees Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson left to form the company Planet Moon Studios. Interplay co-published MDK with Playmates Interactive Entertainment, in 2000 Shiny Entertainment released two games from two different genres, the 3D action game Messiah and the 3D real-time strategy game Sacrifice. Neither became as successful as Shinys previous releases, Messiah was perceived by professional reviewers as a rushed release with technical problems and flawed gameplay. Sacrifice was well received by critics but still did not become a commercial success, in 2002 Shiny was acquired by Infogrames for $47 million along with its then current project Enter the Matrix. Despite poor critical reception, Enter the Matrix became a commercial success, Shiny created another game based on the same license, The Matrix, Path of Neo, which was released in 2005. Again the critical reception was mediocre and it did not become as successful as the previous game. Perry launched a new Earthworm Jim game for Sonys PlayStation Portable as well as a new fighting Game called Age of Elements at E32006, atari announced their interest in selling off all their development studios, and Perry resigned. On October 2,2006, Foundation 9 Entertainment acquired Shiny Entertainment, in October 2007, Foundation 9 merged Shiny Entertainment with The Collective to form Double Helix Games. Earthworm Jim Earthworm Jim 2 MDK Wild 9 R/C Stunt Copter Messiah Sacrifice Enter the Matrix The Matrix, Path of Neo The Golden Compass Official website at the Wayback Machine
8.
Gaikai
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Gaikai is a company which provides technology for the streaming of high-end video games. Founded in 2008, it was acquired by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2012, Gaikai was initially funded by Intel Capital, Limelight Networks, Rustic Canyon Partners, Benchmark Capital, TriplePoint Capital, NEA and Qualcomm. Its streaming service was embedded on game-related websites and microsites, social media such as Facebook. Users did not need to navigate to an online registration portal or download any software to access the games, Gaikai recommended an Internet connection of 5 Mbit/s or faster, and a 3 Mbit/s connection met the minimum system requirements. In May 2010, Gaikai demonstrated World of Warcraft running on the iPad using its game streaming technology. Gaikais technology officially came out of a public Beta test and launched internationally on February 27,2011, with Dead Space 2, The Sims 3, Spore, Gaikai operated two business models for its cloud gaming services before the acquisition, Ad Network and Open Platform. In the Ad Network model, at the end of the demo the customer was given the option to purchase the game or product from a local retailer, online store or direct-to-drive download service. The Ad Network included the Gaikai Affiliate Network which launched on June 2,2011 reaching over 10 million monthly users by late 2011. Gaikai-enabled games had been integrated into YouTube, EAs Origin, in April 2012, Gaikai launched its service embedded inside Facebook, allowing games to be streamed directly in the Facebook canvas. Meanwhile, the Open Platform model allowed streaming full games to PCs, digital TVs, tablets, the first mobile partnership came in May 2012, streaming games to the Wikipad tablet. In June 2012, Samsung announced a cloud gaming service powered by Gaikai to stream AAA games to its high end LED Smart TVs, Gaikai launched their revamped website in October 2012, teasing top PlayStation branded titles including God of War, Infamous and LittleBigPlanet among other titles. On February 20,2013, Gaikai was announced to be developing the next generation of Remote Play, Remote Play between the PS Vita and PS4 launched with the PS4 in November 2013. In late 2014, Share Play was launched, allowing users to play with a friend as if you were in the same room and this system enables users to play as they were watching the same screen remotely, and even virtually handing the controller to their friends. At the January 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, Sony announced the PlayStation Now game streaming service, at E32013, Sony had announced that the new game streaming service would launch in 2014. At CES it was revealed that in addition to PlayStation platforms, list of cloud gaming providers Official website Gaikai on Twitter Gaikai on Facebook Gaikai on Google+ Gaikais channel on YouTube
9.
Platform game
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A platform game is a video game which involves guiding an avatar to jump between suspended platforms and/or over obstacles to advance the game. The player controls the jumps to avoid letting the avatar fall from platforms or miss necessary jumps, the most common unifying element of games of this genre is the jump button, but now there are other alternative like swiping in touchscreen. Jumping, in genre, may include swinging from extendable arms, as in Ristar or Bionic Commando, or bouncing from springboards or trampolines. These mechanics, even in the context of genres, are commonly called platforming. Games where jumping is automated completely, such as 3D games in The Legend of Zelda series, Platform games originated in the early 1980s, with 3D successors popularized in the mid-1990s. The term itself describes games where jumping on platforms is an part of the gameplay and came into use after the genre had been established. While commonly associated with gaming, there have been many important platform games released to video arcades, as well as for handheld game consoles. North America, Europe and Japan have played major parts in the genres evolution, Platform themes range from cartoon-like games to science fiction and fantasy epics. At one point, platform games were the most popular genre of video game, at the peak of their popularity, it is estimated that between one-quarter and one-third of console games were platformers. No genre either before or since has been able to achieve a market share. Since 2010, a variety of endless running platformers for mobile devices have brought renewed popularity to the genre, Platform games originated in the early 1980s. Because of the limitations of the day, early examples were confined to a static playing field. Space Panic, a 1980 arcade release by Universal, is credited as being the first platform game. While the player had the ability to fall, there was no ability to jump, swing, or bounce, however, it clearly influenced the genre, with gameplay centered on climbing ladders between different floors, a common element in many early platform games. Another precursor to the genre released that year was Nichibutsus Crazy Climber. Donkey Kong, a game created by Nintendo and released in July 1981, was the first game that allowed players to jump over obstacles and across gaps. Donkey Kong had an amount of platforming in its first two screens, but its last two screens had a more pronounced platform jumping component. This game also introduced Mario, an icon of the genre
10.
Disney's Aladdin (Virgin Games video game)
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Disneys Aladdin is a platform video game developed by Virgin Games and Disney Software based on the 1992 film of the same name. The game was released for the Sega Genesis in November 1993, the NES and the Game Boy received a reworked port. It is one of video games based on the film. The game was a success, selling around 4 million copies since its release. The Sultans guards and also animals of the want to hinder Aladdin in his way. He can attack either close range with a scimitar, which can deflect certain projectiles, next to apples, Aladdin can also collect gems which can be traded for lives and continues from a traveling peddler. Finding Genie or Abu icons enables bonus rounds, the Genie bonus round is a game of luck played for apples, gems or extra lives, and continues until the player runs out of Genie tokens or lands on Jafar. In Abus bonus round, the controls the little monkey who has to catch bonus items that fall from the sky. Disneys Aladdin was developed for the Mega Drive by Virgin Interactives studio of Virgin Games USA, the game also featured some musical arrangements from the film, along with original tracks composed by Donald Griffin and Tommy Tallarico. The Amiga and PC versions were based on the Mega Drive/Genesis version, featuring enhanced music, the Nintendo Entertainment System received a port as well, which was later adapted into a Game Boy version, which was compatible with the Super Game Boy and Game Boy Color. A Game Boy Color port was developed by Crawfish Interactive and published by Ubisoft on November 7,2000, on release, Famicom Tsūshin scored the Genesis version of Aladdin a 35 out of 40. The game was awarded Best Genesis Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly and they also awarded it Best Animation. The game was reviewed in 1994 in Dragon #211 by Jay & Dee in the Eye of the Monitor column, both reviewers gave the game 5 out of 5 stars. Mega placed the game at #12 in their Top Mega Drive Games of All Time, the game sold 4 million copies at the time of its release, making it the third best-selling Sega Genesis game of all-time, after Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Disneys Aladdin at MobyGames Aladdin at the Internet Movie Database
11.
Cool Spot
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Cool Spot is a 1993 platformer video game developed by Virgin Games and published by Virgin Interactive for the Mega Drive/Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was ported by other teams to Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, Game Boy, Amiga. The title character is Cool Spot, a mascot for the soft drink brand 7 Up, the title is a single-player platformer in which the player controls Cool Spot, who can jump, and attack by throwing soda bubbles in any direction. Cool Spot can also cling to and climb various things by jumping up in front of them, in each level the player must rescue other cool spots, who look exactly alike, from their cages. In order to do so, the player is required to collect a number of spots that changes as the game progresses. Spots are placed around the level in large quantities, the players health is monitored by a humorous Cool Spot face that gradually bends forward and eventually falls from its position as damage occurs. Damage is taken by touching enemies and their projectiles and certain other obstacles, there is also a time limit for each level. The game has no feature but does include checkpoints in the form of flagpoles. If the player collects enough Spots to enter the Bonus Stage after defeating a level. Depending on the version of the game, all letters either spell UNCOLA, if a Continue letter is collected, Spot will be able to restart on the level he was on at the time of losing his last life, although his total points will be reset. In the European release, the 7 Up bottle was removed from the intro, the decision was made to avoid associating the 7 Up Spot with the 7 Up brand, in a region where Fido Dido has been considered the brands official mascot since the 1980s. While Cool Spot was a platform game, its sequel, Spot Goes To Hollywood, was more 3D in orientation. Despite excellent visuals, its perspective and unusual controls made it an exceedingly difficult game. This game, published again by Virgin Interactive, was developed by Eurocom. Spot, The Video Game Spot, The Cool Adventure Spot at MobyGames Seven Up Spot at Commodore Scene Database See Spot Go, in 1987, 7UP introduced Spot, a character derived from the red dot in the 7UP trademark
12.
The Walt Disney Company
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The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney, is an American diversified multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate, headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California. It is the second largest media conglomerate in terms of revenue. Disney was founded on October 16,1923 – by brothers Walt Disney, the company also operated under the names The Walt Disney Studio and then Walt Disney Productions. Taking on its current name in 1986, it expanded its operations and also started divisions focused upon theater, radio, music, publishing. In addition, Disney has since created corporate divisions in order to more mature content than is typically associated with its flagship family-oriented brands. The company is best known for the products of its studio, Walt Disney Studios. Disneys other three divisions are Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Disney Media Networks, and Disney Consumer Products. The company has been a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average since May 6,1991, Mickey Mouse, an early and well-known cartoon creation of the company, is a primary symbol and mascot for Disney. In early 1923, Kansas City, Missouri, animator Walt Disney created a film entitled Alices Wonderland. After the bankruptcy in 1923 of his previous firm, Laugh-O-Gram Studios, Disney moved to Hollywood to join his brother, Walt and Roy Disney formed Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio that same year. More animated films followed after Alice, in January 1926, with the completion of the Disney studio on Hyperion Street, the Disney Brothers Studios name was changed to the Walt Disney Studio. The distributor owned Oswald, so Disney only made a few hundred dollars, Disney completed 26 Oswald shorts before losing the contract in February 1928, due to a legal loophole, when Winklers husband Charles Mintz took over their distribution company. After failing to take over the Disney Studio, Mintz hired away four of Disneys primary animators to start his own animation studio, Snappy Comedies. In 1928, to recover from the loss of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Disney came up with the idea of a character named Mortimer while on a train headed to California. The mouse was later renamed Mickey Mouse and starred in several Disney produced films, ub Iwerks refined Disneys initial design of Mickey Mouse. Disneys first sound film Steamboat Willie, a cartoon starring Mickey, was released on November 18,1928 through Pat Powers distribution company and it was the first Mickey Mouse sound cartoon released, but the third to be created, behind Plane Crazy and The Gallopin Gaucho. Disney used Pat Powers Cinephone system, created by Powers using Lee De Forests Phonofilm system, Steamboat Willie premiered at B. S. Mosss Colony Theater in New York City, now The Broadway Theatre. Disneys Plane Crazy and The Galloping Gaucho were then retrofitted with synchronized sound tracks, Disney continued to produce cartoons with Mickey Mouse and other characters, and began the Silly Symphonies series with Columbia Pictures signing on as Symphonies distributor in August 1929
13.
7 Up
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7 Up is a brand of lemon-lime flavored, non-caffeinated soft drink. The rights to the brand are held by Dr Pepper Snapple Group in the United States, and PepsiCo in the rest of the world. The U. S. version of the 7 Up logo includes a red cherry between the 7 and Up, this red cherry has been animated and used as a mascot for the brand as Cool Spot. 7 Up was created by Charles Leiper Grigg, who launched his St. Louis–based company The Howdy Corporation in 1920, Grigg came up with the formula for a lemon-lime soft drink in 1929. The product, originally named Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda, was launched two weeks before the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and it contained lithium citrate, a mood-stabilizing drug, until 1948. It was one of a number of patent medicine products popular in the late-19th and early-20th centuries and its name was later shortened to 7 Up Lithiated Lemon Soda before being further shortened to just 7 Up by 1936. Westinghouse bought 7 Up in 1969 and sold it in 1978 to Philip Morris,7 Up merged with Dr Pepper in 1988, Cadbury Schweppes bought the combined company in 1995. The Dr Pepper Snapple Group was spun off from Cadbury Schweppes in 2008,7 Up has been reformulated several times since its launch in 1929. In 2006, the version of the product sold in the U. S. was re-formulated so that it could be marketed as being 100% natural. This was achieved by eliminating the chelating-agent calcium disodium EDTA, and this re-formulation contains no fruit juice and, in the U. S. is sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup. The manufacturing process used in the production of HFCS has led some public health, in 2007, after the Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened to sue 7 Up, it was announced that 7 Up would stop being marketed as 100% natural. Instead, it is now promoted as having 100% Natural Flavors, the controversy does not extend to other countries, such as the United Kingdom, where HFCS is not generally used in foods, including 7 Up. In 2011,7 Up began test-marketing a formula, called 7 Up Retro, container labels sport the caption, Made With Real Sugar. There exists a myth that the 7 Up name comes from the drink having a pH over 7. That would make it neutral or basic on the scale, however, coca-Cola and most other soft drinks were bottled in 6 ounce bottles, 7-Up was bottled in 7 ounce bottles. 7 Up Ten, Introduced in 2013, along with Ten variations for most of the major Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up brands and it is a blend using high fructose corn syrup along with aspartame and Acesulfame potassium to sweeten it. Tropical 7 Up, Introduced in 2014 for a time, as well as a return in 2015 with newer branding. 7 Up Retro, This 2011 formulation uses sugar rather than corn syrup as its sweetener
14.
McDonald's
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McDonalds is an American hamburger and fast food restaurant chain. It was founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard. In 1948, they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand, the first McDonalds franchise using the arches logo opened in Phoenix, Arizona in 1953. Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as an agent in 1955. Based in Oak Brook, Illinois, McDonalds confirmed plans to move its headquarters to Chicago by early 2018. Today, McDonalds is one of the worlds largest restaurant chains, McDonalds primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, french fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, wraps, and desserts. In response to changing tastes, the company has expanded its menu to include salads, fish, wraps, smoothies. A McDonalds restaurant is operated by either a franchisee, an affiliate, the McDonalds Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. According to a BBC report published in 2012, McDonalds is the second largest private employer,1.5 million of whom work for franchises. The business began in 1940, with a restaurant opened by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, the first McDonalds with the arches opened in Phoenix, Arizona in March 1953. The original mascot of McDonalds was a man with a hat on top of a hamburger-shaped head whose name was Speedee. In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the company symbol, a new mascot, Ronald McDonald was introduced in 1965. The clown-like man having puffed out costume legs served advertising aimed at children. On May 4,1961, McDonalds first filed for a U. S. trademark on the name McDonalds with the description Drive-In Restaurant Services, on September 13,1961, the company filed for a trademark on a new logo—an overlapping, double-arched M symbol. By September 6,1962, this M-symbol was temporarily disfavored, although the Golden Arches logo appeared in various forms, the present version as a letter M did not appear until November 18,1968, when the company applied for a U. S. trademark. Kroc later purchased the McDonald brothers equity in the company and led its expansion. Kroc was also noted for aggressive business practices, compelling the McDonald brothers to leave the fast-food industry, Kroc and the McDonald brothers feuded over control of the business, as documented in Krocs autobiography. The San Bernardino restaurant was demolished in 1976 and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo restaurant chain and this area now serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, as well as a McDonalds and Route 66 museum
15.
Orion Pictures
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It was formed in 1978 as a joint venture between Warner Bros. and three former top-level executives of United Artists. Although it was never a large motion picture producer, Orion achieved a high reputation for Hollywood quality. Woody Allen, James Cameron, Jonathan Demme, Oliver Stone, of the films distributed by Orion, four won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Amadeus, Platoon, Dances with Wolves, and The Silence of the Lambs. Two other Orion films, Hannah and Her Sisters and Mississippi Burning, were nominated for same category. In 2013, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer revived the Orion name for television, a year later Orion Pictures was quietly relaunched by the studio, in January 1978, three executives of Transamerica -owned studio United Artists – Arthur B. Krim, Eric Pleskow, and Robert S. Benjamin - quit their jobs, Krim and Benjamin had headed UA since 1951, and subsequently turned around the then-flailing studio with a number of critical and commercial successes. Change had begun once Transamerica purchased UA in 1967, and within a decade a rift formed between Krim and TA chairman Jack Beckett regarding the studios operations, Krim suggested spinning off United Artists into a separate company, which was rejected by Beckett. The last straw came for Pleskow when he refused to collect, Krim, Benjamin, and Pleskow quit United Artists on January 13,1978, followed by the exits of senior vice presidents William Bernstein and Mike Medavoy three days later. In February 1978, the five men forged a deal with Warner Bros, the executives formed Orion Pictures Company, named after the constellation, which they claimed had five main stars. The new company intended only to projects, giving the filmmakers complete creative autonomy. Orion held a $100 million line of credit, and its films would be distributed by the Warner Bros. studio, Orion, however, was contractually given free rein over distribution and advertising, as well as the number and type of films the executives chose to invest in. In late March 1978, Orion signed its first contract, a deal with John Travoltas production company. Orion also developed a co-financing and distribution deal with EMI Films, Orions first film, A Little Romance, was released in April that year. That year, Orion released Blake Edwards 10, which became a big critical and commercial success, other films released in that period included Caddyshack, The Great Santini, a critically praised but underpromoted adaptation of a Pat Conroy novel, and Promises in the Dark. Out of the 23 films Orion released between April 1979 and December 1981, only a third of them made a profit, Orion executives were conflicted over financing big-budgeted films and passed on Raiders of the Lost Ark for that reason. By early 1982, Orion had severed its ties with Warner. As part of the deal, the rights to Orions films made up to that point were sold to Warner, Orion was now looking to have its own distribution network by acquiring another company with such capabilities. The four partners looked into Allied Artists and Embassy Pictures before settling on Filmways, Orion subsequently purchased Filmways and reorganized the flailing company
16.
Warner Bros.
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Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
17.
Queen's University Belfast
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Queens University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university was chartered in 1845, and opened in 1849 as Queens College, Belfast, but has roots going back to 1810, the university forms the focal point of the Queens Quarter area of the city, one of Belfasts four cultural districts. It offers academic degrees at various levels and across a broad subject range, since 1 March 2014, Patrick Johnston has been the university’s 12th President and Vice-Chancellor. The university is associated with two Nobel laureates and one Turing Award laureate, Queens College, Belfast, opened in 1849. Its main building, the Lanyon Building, was designed by the English architect, at its opening, it had 23 professors and 343 students. Some early students at Queens University Belfast took University of London examinations, the university was one of only eight United Kingdom universities to hold a parliamentary seat in the House of Commons at Westminster until such representation was abolished in 1950. The university was represented in the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1920–1968. On 20 June 2006, the university announced a £259 million investment programme focusing on facilities, recruitment, the building has been named in honour of Sir Allen McClay, a major benefactor of Queens University and of the Library. In June 2010, the university announced the launch of a £7. 5m Ansin international research hub with Seagate Technologies. In addition to the campus not far from the centre of Belfast. Although offering a range of courses, these colleges primarily provide training for those wishing to enter the teaching profession. The university has formal agreements with colleges in Northern Ireland. The current chancellor is the businessman Thomas Moran, academics at Queens are organised into fifteen schools across three faculties. The three faculties are the Faculty of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, the Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences, each of the 20 schools operates as a primary management unit of the university and the schools are the focus for education and research for their respective subject areas. On Feb 18th 2016 BBC Northern Ireland reported that this Institute was to be closed, Institute of Cognition and Culture - Founded in 2004, this is one of the world’s first centres for research in the cognitive science of culture. It has brought together a range of cutting-edge cognitive scientists via a series of visiting fellowships, Institute of Irish Studies - The Institute of Irish Studies celebrated its 50th birthday in March 2015. Institute of Professional Legal Studies - The Institute of Professional Legal Studies was established in 1977 at Queens University Belfast and it provides an internationally recognised and unique one-year postgraduate course for trainee barristers and trainee solicitors who study together. In all five colleges teach any programmes with a emphasis on behalf of the university
18.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
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Sony Interactive Entertainment is a multinational video game company and is an owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products and Services Group of Sony. The company was founded and established on November 16,1993, as Sony Computer Entertainment, since the successful launch of the original PlayStation console in 1994, the company has since been developing the PlayStation lineup of home video game consoles and accessories. Expanding upon North America and other countries, the company soon became Sonys main resource for research and development in video games, in 1994, Sony Computer Entertainment America, began to produce the original PlayStation console in North America. The starting price for this console was originally listed at $299.99, in April 2016, SCE and Sony Network Entertainment was restructured and reorganized into Sony Interactive Entertainment, carrying over the operations and primary objectives from both companies. Sony Interactive Entertainment handles the research and development, production, alongside, it is also a developer and publisher of video game titles and is composed of several subsidiaries of Sonys largest markets, North America, Europe and Asia. As of September 30,2016, the company has sold more than 486 million PlayStation consoles worldwide. Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. was jointly established by Sony, the original PlayStation console was released on December 3,1994, in Japan. The companys North American operations, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, were established in May 1995 as a division of Sony Electronic Publishing. Located in Foster City, California, the North American office was headed by Steve Race. On August 7,1995, Race unexpectedly resigned and was named CEO of Spectrum HoloByte three days later and he was replaced by Sony Electronics veteran Martin Homlish. The PS console was released in the United States on September 9,1995, as part of a worldwide restructuring at the beginning of 1997, SCEA was re-established as a wholly owned subsidiary of SCEI. The launch of the second PS console, the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan on March 4,2000, on July 1,2002, chairman of SCEI, Shigeo Maruyama, was replaced by Tamotsu Iba as chairman. Jack Tretton and Phil Harrison were also promoted to vice presidents of SCE. The PlayStation Portable was SCEIs first foray into the handheld console market. Its development was first announced during SCEs E3 conference in 2003, the system was released in Japan on December 12,2004, in North America on March 24,2005, and in Europe and Australia on September 1,2005. On September 14,2005, SCEI formed Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, shuhei Yoshida was named as President of SCE WWS on May 16,2008, replacing Kazuo Hirai, who was serving interim after Harrison left the company in early 2008. On December 8,2005, video game developer Guerrilla Games, on January 24,2006, video game developer Zipper Interactive, developers of the Socom series, was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment as part of its SCE WWS. Sony also stated that the service would always be connected, free, the launch date for the PS3 was announced by Hirai at the pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo conference held at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, U. S. on May 8,2006
19.
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
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The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image – film, television and game in the United Kingdom. David Lean was the founding Chairman of the Academy, the first Film Awards ceremony took place in May 1949 and honouring the films The Best Years of Our Lives, Odd Man Out and The World Is Rich. In 2005, it placed a cap on worldwide voting membership which now stands at approximately 6,500. BAFTA has offices in Scotland and Wales in the UK, in Los Angeles and New York in the United States and runs events in Hong Kong, amanda Berry OBE has been chief executive of the organisation since December 2000. Many of these events are free to online at BAFTA Guru. BAFTA runs a number of programmes across the UK, US. Launched in 2012, the UK programme enables talented British citizens who are in need of support to take an industry-recognised course in film. Each BAFTA Scholar receives up to £12,000 towards their annual course fees, since 2013, three students every year have received one of the Prince William Scholarships in Film, Television and Games, supported by BAFTA and Warner Bros. These scholarships are awarded in the name of in his role as President of BAFTA, since 2015, BAFTA has been offering scholarships for British citizens to study in China, vice versa. BAFTA presents awards for film, television and games, including entertainment, at a number of annual ceremonies across the UK and in Los Angeles. The BAFTA award trophy is a mask, designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe. Todays BAFTA award – including the mask and marble base – weighs 3.7 kg and measures 27 cm x 14 cm x 8 cm. BAFTAs annual film awards ceremony is known as the British Academy Film Awards, or the BAFTAs, in 1949 the British Film Academy, as it was then known, presented the first awards for films made in 1947 and 1948. Since 2008 the ceremony has held at the Royal Opera House in Londons Covent Garden. It had been held in the Odeon cinema on Leicester Square since 2000, the ceremony had been performed during April or May of each year, but since 2002 it has been held in February to precede the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Academy Awards, or Oscars. They have been awarded annually since 1954, the first ever ceremony consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors, from 1968 until 1997, BAFTAs Film and Television Awards were presented together, but from 1998 onwards they were presented at two separate ceremonies. The Television Craft Awards celebrate the talent behind the programmes, such as working in visual effects, production
20.
Rod Humble
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He is currently the GM for the San Francisco studio of SGN. He has been contributing to the development of games since 1990, previously he worked at Sony Online where he worked on EverQuest and before that Virgin Interactives SubSpace. In his spare time, he continues to develop experimental games including The Marriage, Stars Over Half Moon Bay and his work was shown and played at the SFMOMA in 2016. On 7 October 2008, a press release noted that Electronic Arts Inc. had promoted Humble to Executive Vice President and Head of The Sims Label of EA. In this role, Humble was to be responsible for The Sims Label, the Sims is the best-selling PC franchise of all time. An NPC in The Sims 2 expansion pack, FreeTime, is based on Humble and he is seen delivering a gift to new home-owners, the gift always being a computer, the computer having a sneak preview of The Sims 3. On 23 December 2010, Linden Lab, the creators and operators of the virtual world Second Life, announced that he would become their new CEO as of January 2011. On 24 January 2014, Humble announced on his Facebook account that he would be leaving Linden Lab to pursue founding a new company that will make Art, Entertainment, on 29 January 2015, Humble announced his latest solo project Cults & Daggers, with his new company Chaphat. SimSect, Rod Humble Announces Cults & Daggers, lindenlab. com Rod Humble presentation at Inventing the Future of Games Symposium in 2011 Free Will and the Future of Games,15 April 2011 Cmpevents. com Thesims3. ea. com Biz. yahoo. com
21.
Louis Castle
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Louis Castle is an American video games designer. Castle co-founded Westwood Studios with Brett Sperry in 1985, Castle remained with Westwood when it was bought by Electronic Arts in 1998 and he was a vice president and General Manager of EAs Blueprint Studio. He was given the second annual Lifetime Achievement Award by the Computer Game Developers Association at the Spotlight Awards in 1999, from 2003 to June 2009, Castle was Vice President of Creative Development at the Los Angeles studio of Electronic Arts. On July 15,2009, it was announced that Castle would join InstantAction as the new CEO of GarageGames. After InstantAction was shut down in November 2010, Castle went on to become Senior Advisor for Premium FanPage in January 2011, on March 9,2017, he became the head of Amazon Game Studios Seattle. Castle lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his family, louis Castles rap sheet at MobyGames Adjunct faculty page at USC
22.
Brenda Romero
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Brenda Louise Romero, previously known as Brenda Brathwaite, is an American game designer and developer in the video game industry. She was born in Ogdensburg, New York and is a graduate of Clarkson University, Romero is best known for her work on the Wizardry series of role-playing video games and, more recently, the non-digital series The Mechanic is the Message. She has worked in development since 1981 and has credits on 49 game titles. For Wizardry, Romero provided game design, level design, system design and she also wrote the manuals and documentation for some products in the series. Romero provided writing and documentation for the award-winning Jagged Alliance series and she also worked on other notable franchises including games such as Def Jam, Icon, Playboy, The Mansion, Dungeons & Dragons, Heroes, and others. Romero began her career in 1981 at video game developer and publisher Sir-tech Software and she worked first as a tester, and moved up through the design and content creation ranks to lead designer for the award-winning series. While at Sir-tech, Romero also worked on the Jagged Alliance, romeros research for the game was ultimately published in a book, Sex in Video Games. In 2007, Romero was named one of the 100 most influential women in the industry by Next Generation magazine. Nerve magazine cited her as a New Radical — one of the 50 artists, actors, authors, activists, in 2009, Next Generation magazine identified her as the woman with the longest continuous service in video game development. Romero served as Chair of the Savannah College of Art and Designs Interactive Design and she moved to San Francisco to consult as Creative Director for social media company Slide, Inc. and then became Creative Director of social gaming company Lolapps, Inc. in May 2010. She co-founded the social game company Loot Drop with John Romero in November 2010, then left Lolapps, in 2013, Romero became the first game designer in residence at the Games and Playable Media Program of the University of California at Santa Cruz. She also served as the programs director, Brenda is currently the Program Director of the MSc program in Game Design and Development at the University of Limerick in Limerick, Ireland. Brenda has won awards in her long career. Romero married game developer John Romero on October 27,2012, together, they worked on Ravenwood Fair, with John as lead designer and Brenda as creative director and game designer. John and Brenda had become engaged on March 24,2012, Brenda has three children from a previous marriage. Brenda Romero was an member of the International Game Developers Association. In 2008, she was elected to the IGDAs Board of Directors, on March 28,2013, she resigned as co-chair of the IGDA Women in Games SIG. She had founded the International Game Developers Sex Special Interest Group in 2005, since working on Playboy, she has studied adult and sexual content in video games and is regularly interviewed about the subject in the media
23.
John Romero
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Alfonso John Romero is an American director, designer, programmer, and developer in the video game industry. He is best known as a co-founder of id Software and designer for many of their games, including Wolfenstein 3D, Dangerous Dave, Hexen, Doom and he is credited with coining the FPS multiplayer term deathmatch. Among his early influences, he credited Namcos maze chase arcade game Pac-Man as the title that had the biggest influence on his career and he also cited programmer Bill Budge as another influence. John Romeros first published game, Scout Search, appeared in the June 1984 issue of inCider magazine, Romeros first company, Capitol Ideas Software, was listed as the developer for at least 12 of his earliest published games. Romero captured the December cover of the Apple II magazine Nibble for three years in a row starting in 1987 and he entered a programming contest in A+ magazine during its first year of publishing with his game Cavern Crusader. The first game Romero created that was published was Jumpster in Uptime. Jumpster was created in 1983 and published in 1987, making Jumpster his earliest created, then published, Romeros first industry job was at Origin Systems in 1987 after programming games for 8 years. He worked on the Apple II to Commodore 64 port of 2400 A. D. which was scrapped due to slow sales of the Apple II version. Romero then moved onto Space Rogue, a game by Paul Neurath, during this time, Romero was asked if he would be interested in joining Pauls soon-to-start company Blue Sky Productions, eventually renamed Looking Glass Technologies. Instead, Romero left Origin Systems to co-found a game company named Inside Out Software, during this short time, Romero did the artwork for the Apple IIGS version of Dark Castle, a port from the Macintosh. During this time, John and his friend Lane Roathe co-founded a company named Ideas from the Deep and wrote versions of a game named Zappa Roidz for the Apple II, PC and Apple IIGS. Their last collaboration was an Apple II disk operating system for Infocoms games Zork Zero, Arthur, Shogun, Romero moved to Shreveport, Louisiana in March 1989 and joined Softdisk as a programmer in its Special Projects division. After several months of helping the PC monthly disk magazine Big Blue Disk, Romero hired John D. Romero and the others then left Softdisk in February 1991 to form id Software. Romero worked at id Software from its incorporation in 1991 until 1996 and he was involved in the creation of several milestone games, including Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, Doom II, Hell on Earth and Quake. He served as producer on Heretic and Hexen. He designed most of the first episode of Doom, most of the levels in Quake, half the levels in the Commander Keen, Wolfenstein 3D, during the production of Quake Romero clashed with John Carmack over the future direction of id. Although Romero relented on his vision and joined a death march effort to finish the game, this did not resolve the tensions within the company. In level 30 of Doom II, Icon of Sin, the boss is supposed to be a giant demon head with a fragment missing from its forehead
24.
Will Wright (game designer)
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William Ralph Will Wright is an American video game designer and co-founder of the former game development company Maxis, and then part of Electronic Arts. In April 2009, he left EA to run Stupid Fun Club Camp, the first computer game Wright designed was Raid on Bungeling Bay in 1984, but it was SimCity that brought him to prominence. The game was released by Maxis, a company Wright formed with Jeff Braun, Wrights greatest success to date comes from being the original designer for The Sims. The game spawned multiple sequels, including The Sims 2, The Sims 3, and The Sims 4 and expansion packs and his latest work, Spore, was released in September 2008 and features gameplay based upon the model of evolution and scientific advancement. The game sold 406,000 copies within three weeks of its release, after graduating at 16 from Episcopal High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he enrolled in Louisiana State University, transferring two years later to Louisiana Tech. Beginning with a start at a degree, followed by mechanical engineering, he fell into computers. He excelled in subjects he was interested in—architecture, economics, mechanical engineering, military history and his earlier dream of space colonization remained, and was joined by a love for robotics. After another two years at Louisiana Tech, in the fall of 1980, Wright moved on to The New School in Manhattan. He lived in an apartment over Balducci’s, in Greenwich Village, after one year at the New School, Wright returned to Baton Rouge without his degree, concluding five years of collegiate study. Wrights first game was the action game Raid on Bungeling Bay for the Commodore 64. In Raid on Bungeling Bay, the player flies over islands while dropping bombs, Wright found that he had more fun creating the islands with his level editor for Raid on Bungeling Bay than he had actually playing the game. He created a new game that would evolve into SimCity. The structuralist dynamics of the game were in inspired by the work of two architectural and urban theorists, Christopher Alexander and Jay Forrester. Together they formed Maxis the next year in Orinda, California, SimCity was a hit and has been credited as one of the most influential computer games ever made. Following the success of SimCity, Wright designed SimEarth and SimAnt and he co-designed SimCity 2000 with Fred Haslam and in the meantime Maxis produced other Sim games. Although none of these games were as successful as SimCity, they further cemented Wrights reputation as a designer of software toys—games that cannot be won or lost, in 1992, Wright moved to Orinda, California. All Maxis, and later games that Wright had a hand in designing, Maxis went public in 1995 with revenue of US$38 million. The stock reached $50 a share and then dropped as Maxis posted a loss, EA bought Maxis in June 1997
25.
Tim Schafer
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Timothy John Tim Schafer is an American computer game designer. He founded Double Fine Productions in July 2000, after having spent over a decade at LucasArts and he is well known in the video game industry for his storytelling and comedic writing style. He saw an offering at Lucasfilm Games, looking for programmers who could also write game dialog, during his application process for the job, he had a somewhat disastrous phone interview with David Fox in which he mentioned being a fan of Ballblaster. To make up for the interview, Schafer sent in a comic of himself applying for and getting the job at Lucasfilm Games. He, alongside Dave Grossman, helped to playtest Indiana Jones, Schafer and Grossman, along with two others, were taught by Ron Gilbert as part of a SCUMM University on how to use the engine to set up rooms and puzzles. Later, Gilbert approached Schafer and Grossman, offering them the chance to work on his new project, according to series creator Gilbert, Schafer and Grossman were responsible for about two thirds of the games dialogue. The Secret of Monkey Island became one of the most acclaimed games of its kind, the same team created the sequel, Monkey Island 2, LeChucks Revenge. In his first lead role on a project, Schafer co-designed Day of the Tentacle, a time-travel comedy adventure. Schafers first solo project, the biker adventure Full Throttle, was released in 1995, Grim Fandango won many awards, including GameSpots Game of the Year award of 1998. Schafer worked on an unannounced PlayStation 2 action-adventure game at LucasArts, prior to his departure, a number of other developers were leaving LucasArts as the studio shifted away from adventure games. He left the company in January 2000, to found Double Fine Productions, the game was first released on Xbox in North America on April 19,2005. It won much acclaim, including a Game of the Year award from Eurogamer. On March 7,2007, he hosted the annual Game Developers Choice Awards and he later hosted it again in 2009. In fall 2009, Schafer completed a new game called Brütal Legend, the game was released on October 13,2009, on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. In an April 2009 interview on The Jace Hall Show, Schafer had this to say about Brütal Legend, For Brütal Legend and you see heavy metal singers and theyll have like a brace around their arm and theyll be singing about Orcs. So lets just make a world where that all happens and that all gets put together, the heavy metal, and the rock, and the battling, actually does happen. Lets not flirt around with this, lets just do it, Schafer announced in July 2010 that EA had canceled the sequel to Brütal Legend. Instead of Brütal Legend 2, Double Fine had a period called Amnesia Fortnight, from these, four smaller games were made that for the first time in Double Fines history had project leaders other than Schafer, Costume Quest, Stacking, Iron Brigade and Once upon a Monster
26.
Chris Hecker
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Christopher Bryan Chris Hecker is an American video game programmer and commentator. He is the founder of the gaming company Definition Six and best known for his work on Will Wrights 2008 game Spore. Hecker is an advocate for the game industry and co-founder of the Indie Game Jam. He has written a number of articles on programming and has been an editor for Game Developer Magazine. Hecker studied fine arts at Parsons School of Design in New York City, along the way, he noticed an article in Byte Magazine about computer programming which piqued his interest. He switched career tracks and dropped out of school to work on graphics. Hecker obtained a job at Microsoft in Seattle, Washington around 1992 and he worked there for three years, becoming creator and leader of the WinG API project for the Windows operating system. After completing WinG, he moved to Microsofts entertainment division where he wrote the rendering engine for the real-time globe display in the Encarta World Atlas. In 1995, Hecker left Microsoft to form his own company in Seattle, Definition Six, the company focused on the development of physics technology for games and lobbied for the OpenGL standard for graphics display. The company never actually shipped a commercial title, but did produce a tech demo and he also spent several years working independently on a game based on rock climbing as a side project, though it was never completed. In 2004, Hecker took a job with Maxis where he worked with Will Wright on what became the 2008 game Spore and he led the development of many of the key technologies on Spore, including the core creature tessellation, painting, skinning, and animation technologies. Heckers research and development effort on Spore is widely regarded as a step forward in procedural character animation. Wright later claimed in an interview that Heckers work on Spore had advanced the state of the art in procedural animation by several years and this interpretation of the interview was discredited by Wright. Hecker was laid off from Maxis in late 2009, and is working on the indie game SpyParty. On December 4,2013, Microsoft announced that Heckers studio, Heckers other side projects have included acting as editor of Game Developer Magazine and serving on the editorial board for the Journal of Graphics Tools. As of 2008, he was the longest serving advisor of the Game Developers Conference, Hecker was awarded the Community Contribution award at the 2006 Game Developers Conference. During his time at Microsoft and Definition Six, Hecker wrote an influential programming column for Game Developer Magazine, two series of articles from this column still serve today as standard references on their respective subjects. The second was a series on rigid body simulation for games
27.
Templepatrick
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Templepatrick /ˌtɛm. pəl ˈpæt. rək/ is a village and civil parish in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is 9.2 miles northwest of Belfast, and halfway between the towns of Ballyclare and Antrim and it is also close to Belfast International Airport and the village has several hotels. Templepatrick is the site of historic Church of Ireland, Presbyterian and it had a population of 1,437 people in the 2011 Census. One side of the street in Templepatrick consists of the demesne wall of Castle Upton. A fortified gateway in the wall at the centre of the leads to the castle itself. The core of the house is a tower house with walls up to five feet thick, built in 1611 by Sir Robert Norton. The family mausoleum is in the care of the National Trust and is open to visitors, the Templeton Hotel in the village was named after Lady Elizabeth Templetown, an aristocrat and writer who lived in Castle Upton in the 18th century. Pattersons Spade Mill, now an industrial museum, is nearby. It is a National Trust property, for more information see The Troubles in Templepatrick, which includes a list of incidents in Templepatrick during the Troubles resulting in two or more fatalities. James Hope, weaver and United Irishman, was born in Templepatrick on 25 August 1765 and he fought at the Battle of Antrim on 7 June 1798. Sir Robin Kinahan and his son Danny Kinahan both politicians, of Castle Upton, Templepatrick railway station opened on 11 April 1848 and shut for passenger traffic on 21 February 1981. In the 2011 Census Templepatrick had a population of 1,437 people, Templepatrick is classified as a village by the NI Statistics and Research Agency. On Census day there were 1,556 people living in Templepatrick, List of civil parishes of County Antrim List of towns and villages in Northern Ireland
28.
Donegore
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Donegore is the name of a hill, a townland, a small cluster of residences, and a civil parish in the historic barony of Antrim Upper, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Donegore lies approximately 5 miles east of Antrim town,154 acres of the townland lies in the civil parish of Grange of Nilteen. The largest settlement in the parish is the village of Parkgate, Donegore Hill stands prominently above the Six Mile Water valley, enjoying panoramic views to the east, south, and most notably the west, where it overlooks Lough Neagh and the Sperrins beyond. The area was the site of main camp of the United Irishmen prior to the Battle of Antrim, weaver poet, James Orr wrote a poem entitled Donegore Hill on the subject. The parish contains fortified earthworks and other remains, both ancient and mediaeval. The Church of Ireland parish church, St. Johns, dates back at least to the 14th century, the churchyard is the burial site of poet and artist Sir Samuel Ferguson. Since 1922, the Church of Ireland parish has been united with the adjacent parish of Templepatrick, the parish is served also by two Presbyterian churches, First Donegore in Parkgate and Second straddling the boundary of Dunamuggy and Ballywee
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County Antrim
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County Antrim ) is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland and one of the nine counties of the province of Ulster, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 3,046 square kilometres and has a population of about 618,000, County Antrim has a population density of 203 people per square kilometer /526 people per square mile. The majority of Belfast, the city of Northern Ireland, is in County Antrim. It is currently one of two counties of Ireland to have a majority of the population from a Protestant background, according to the 2001 census. The other is County Down to the south, a large portion of Antrim is hilly, especially in the east, where the highest elevations are attained. The range runs north and south, and, following this direction, the most remarkable cliffs are those formed of perpendicular basaltic columns, extending for many miles, and most strikingly displayed in Fair Head and the celebrated Giants Causeway. From the eastern coast the hills rise instantly but less abruptly, all are somewhat exposed to the easterly winds prevalent in spring. It is partially arable, and supports a small population, islandmagee is a peninsula separating Larne Lough from the North Channel. The valleys of the Bann and Lagan, with the shores of Lough Neagh. These two rivers, both rising in County Down, are the ones of importance. The latter flows to Belfast Lough, the former drains Lough Neagh, the fisheries of the Bann and of Lough Neagh are of value both commercially and to sportsmen, the small town of Toome, at the outflow of the river, being the centre. Immediately below this point lies Lough Beg, the Small Lake, County Antrim has a number of air, rail and sea links. Northern Irelands main airport, Belfast International Airport, at Aldergrove is in County Antrim, Belfast International shares its runways with the Royal Air Force base RAF Aldergrove, which otherwise has its own facilities. It is the fifth-largest regional air cargo centre in the UK, there are regular services to Great Britain, Europe and North America. The region is served by George Best Belfast City Airport, a mile east of Belfast city centre on the County Down side of the city. Two of Northern Irelands main ports are in County Antrim, Larne, ferries sail from Larne Harbour to destinations including Cairnryan and Troon in Scotland, and Fleetwood in England. The Port of Belfast is Northern Irelands principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and it is a major centre of industry and commerce and has become established as the focus of logistics activity for Northern Ireland. Around two-thirds of Northern Irelands seaborne trade, and a quarter of that for Ireland as a whole, is handled at the port, the population of County Antrim was 615,384 according to recent census information, making it the most populous county in Northern Ireland
30.
Methodist College Belfast
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Located at the foot of Malone Road, in south Belfast, it possesses two preparatory departments, each with 280 pupils, aged 5 –11. There is a Pre-school on the site of Downey House catering for children aged 3 and 4 and it has also had considerable sporting success, especially in rugby, having won the Ulster Schools Cup a record 35 times and the Medallion Shield a record 35 times. Methodist College also has a reputation for music. Its choirs have won awards, such as Songs of Praise Choir of the Year, Sainsburys Choir of the Year. The Chapel Choir has performed in Westminster Abbey and the Carnegie Hall as well as during Queen Elizabeth IIs visit to the Republic of Ireland, the College has also sent several Choral Scholars and Organ Scholars to Oxford and Cambridge colleges in recent years. The College also has a past pupil sporting organisation in Belfast Harlequins, Methodist College Belfast was founded in 1865 by the Methodist Church in Ireland. But the College was not opened until 1868, shortly after, a decision was taken to relocate the site of the school to Dublin. Funds for this school were raised in 1845 and it was opened the year first as the Wesleyan Connexional School and later Wesley College, named after Charles Wesley. The school is operating to this day. It was only in 1855 that the idea was raised of founding a school specifically for the education of sons of ministers like the Methodist Church in England had at Kingswood School in Bath, funds were again raised with significant amounts coming from America and England. The original site for the school was to be in Portadown but the location was changed, land was acquired in Dublin but proceedings stalled. Several prominent Belfast Methodists began a campaign to have the school built in Belfast, a last attempt was made 1863 for the building to take place in Portadown but this failed. The necessary money had been raised by 1864 to satisfy the Conference’s stipulations, Further fundraising missions were made to the United States and England in 1866. These were led by Robinson Scott, the Rev Robert Wallace, Wallace would die on this mission in Cincinnati from Cholera. However an additional £10,000 was raised, several subsequent missions took place to fund building work. The present site of the college, near Queen’s University Belfast on the Malone Road, was purchased by James Carlisle, the site covered 15 acres all of which have been developed by the college to the present day. In addition to the school it was proposed that a strip on the North side be let for building and this would become College Gardens which is still owned by the college. The school originally had a foundation as a school and a theological college
31.
ZX81
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The ZX81 is a home computer produced by Sinclair Research and manufactured in Scotland by Timex Corporation. It was launched in the United Kingdom in March 1981 as the successor to Sinclairs ZX80 and was designed to be a low-cost introduction to home computing for the general public and it was hugely successful, and more than 1.5 million units were sold before it was discontinued. The ZX81 found commercial success in other countries, notably the United States. Timex manufactured and distributed it under licence and enjoyed a substantial, Timex later produced its own versions of the ZX81 for the US market – the Timex Sinclair 1000 and Timex Sinclair 1500. Unauthorised clones of the ZX81 were produced in several countries, the ZX81 was designed to be small, simple, and above all cheap, using as few components as possible to keep the cost down. Video output was to a set rather than a dedicated monitor. Programs and data were loaded and saved onto audio tape cassettes and it had only four silicon chips on board and a mere 1 KB of memory. The machine had no power switch or any moving parts and used a membrane keyboard for manual input. The ZX81s limitations prompted the emergence of a market in third-party peripherals to improve its capabilities. Such limitations, however, achieved Sinclairs objective of keeping the cost of the machine as low as possible and its distinctive case and keyboard brought its designer, Rick Dickinson, a Design Council award. The ZX81 could be bought by mail order in kit form or pre-assembled, in what was then a major innovation, it was the first cheap mass-market home computer that could be bought from high street stores, led by W. H. Smith and soon many other retailers. The ZX81 marked the first time that computing in Britain became an activity for the public, rather than the preserve of businesspeople. It inspired the creation of a community of enthusiasts, some of whom founded their own businesses producing software and hardware for the ZX81. Many went on to play a role in the British computer industry in later years. The ZX81s commercial success made Sinclair Research one of Britains leading computer manufacturers and earned a fortune, the ZX81 came with 1 KB of on-board memory that could officially be expanded externally to 16 KB. Its single circuit board was housed inside a plastic case measuring 167 millimetres deep by 40 millimetres high. The memory was provided by either a single 4118 or two 2114 RAM chips. There were only three other chips on board, a 3.5 MHz Z80A 8-bit microprocessor from NEC, an uncommitted logic array chip from Ferranti, the entire machine weighed just 350 grams
32.
BBC
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The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. It is headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, the BBC is the worlds oldest national broadcasting organisation and the largest broadcaster in the world by number of employees. It employs over 20,950 staff in total,16,672 of whom are in public sector broadcasting, the total number of staff is 35,402 when part-time, flexible, and fixed contract staff are included. The BBC is established under a Royal Charter and operates under its Agreement with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. The fee is set by the British Government, agreed by Parliament, and used to fund the BBCs radio, TV, britains first live public broadcast from the Marconi factory in Chelmsford took place in June 1920. It was sponsored by the Daily Mails Lord Northcliffe and featured the famous Australian Soprano Dame Nellie Melba, the Melba broadcast caught the peoples imagination and marked a turning point in the British publics attitude to radio. However, this public enthusiasm was not shared in official circles where such broadcasts were held to interfere with important military and civil communications. By late 1920, pressure from these quarters and uneasiness among the staff of the licensing authority, the General Post Office, was sufficient to lead to a ban on further Chelmsford broadcasts. But by 1922, the GPO had received nearly 100 broadcast licence requests, John Reith, a Scottish Calvinist, was appointed its General Manager in December 1922 a few weeks after the company made its first official broadcast. The company was to be financed by a royalty on the sale of BBC wireless receiving sets from approved manufacturers, to this day, the BBC aims to follow the Reithian directive to inform, educate and entertain. The financial arrangements soon proved inadequate, set sales were disappointing as amateurs made their own receivers and listeners bought rival unlicensed sets. By mid-1923, discussions between the GPO and the BBC had become deadlocked and the Postmaster-General commissioned a review of broadcasting by the Sykes Committee and this was to be followed by a simple 10 shillings licence fee with no royalty once the wireless manufactures protection expired. The BBCs broadcasting monopoly was made explicit for the duration of its current broadcast licence, the BBC was also banned from presenting news bulletins before 19.00, and required to source all news from external wire services. Mid-1925 found the future of broadcasting under further consideration, this time by the Crawford committee, by now the BBC under Reiths leadership had forged a consensus favouring a continuation of the unified broadcasting service, but more money was still required to finance rapid expansion. Wireless manufacturers were anxious to exit the loss making consortium with Reith keen that the BBC be seen as a service rather than a commercial enterprise. The recommendations of the Crawford Committee were published in March the following year and were still under consideration by the GPO when the 1926 general strike broke out in May. The strike temporarily interrupted newspaper production and with restrictions on news bulletins waived the BBC suddenly became the source of news for the duration of the crisis. The crisis placed the BBC in a delicate position, the Government was divided on how to handle the BBC but ended up trusting Reith, whose opposition to the strike mirrored the PMs own
33.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
34.
Virgin Interactive
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Virgin Interactive Entertainment was the video game publishing division of British conglomerate the Virgin Group. It was formed as Virgin Games Ltd. in 1983, initially built around a small development team called the Gang of Five, the company grew significantly after purchasing budget label Mastertronic in 1987. Virgin was home to renowned developers who went on to create successful franchises with other studios like Westwood Studios, as Virgins video game division grew into a multimedia powerhouse, it crossed over to other industries from toys to film to education. To highlight its focus beyond video games and on multimedia, the publisher was renamed Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1993, the VIE library and intellectual properties are currently owned by Interplay Entertainment as a result of its acquisition of Titus. A close affiliate and successor of Spanish origin, Virgin Play, was formed in 2002 from the ashes of former Virgin Interactives Spanish division, nick Alexander started Virgin Games in 1982 after leaving Thorn EMI. It was headquartered in Portobello Road, London, the firm initially relied on submissions by freelancer developers, but set up its own in-house development team in 1984, known as the Gang of Five. Early successes included Sorcery and Dan Dare, Virgin Interactives history spans two decades in which it was at the forefront of the home console revolution that spread video games to the masses. It evolved with an industry into a sophisticated interactive entertainment maker with the aid of its close ties with Hollywood. Virgin pioneered an era marked by increasingly sophisticated games that combined popular franchises with computer animations and these changes turned the video game industry from a small operation into a multimillion dollar business and weaved video games in popular culture. Virgin was home to many talented developers, including Brett Sperry, clardy, founder of Northwest Synergistic Software. Earthworm Jim creator David Perry got his start at Virgin before founding Shiny Entertainment,1987 marked a turning point for Virgin after its acquisition of struggling distributor Mastertronic. Branson stepped in and offered to buy 45 percent of Mastertronic stake, the subsequent merger created Virgin Mastertronic Ltd. in 1988 with Alper as its president which enabled Virgin to expand its business reach overseas. It was owned by Virgin Communications, Virgin Groups media subsidiary, Mastertronic had been the distributor of the Master System in the United Kingdom and is credited with introducing Sega to the European market, where they expanded rapidly. Hasbro, the worlds largest toy company, who had licensed some of its properties to Virgin. Hasbro wanted to create titles based on its brands, which include Transformers, the deal cut off competitors like Mattel and Fisher-Price who were interested in a similar partnership. It acquired 75 percent of VIEs stock later in 1994 and purchased the shares held by Hasbro in an effort to expand beyond its video store base. The partnership ended a year later when Blockbuster sold its stake to Spelling Entertainment, Viacom is the owner of Paramount Studios and MTV, which made Virgin Interactive part of one of the worlds largest entertainment companies. The technology was first released to the public in Disneys Aladdin for the Mega Drive/Genesis
35.
ZX Spectrum
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The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd. It was manufactured in Dundee, Scotland, in the now closed Timex factory, the Spectrum was among the first mainstream-audience home computers in the UK, similar in significance to the Commodore 64 in the USA. Licensing deals and clones followed, and earned Clive Sinclair a knighthood for services to British industry, the Commodore 64, Dragon 32, Oric-1 and Atmos, BBC Microcomputer and later the Amstrad CPC range were rivals to the Spectrum in the UK market during the early 1980s. Over 24,000 software titles have been released since the Spectrums launch, in 2014, a Bluetooth keyboard modelled on the Spectrum was announced. The Spectrum is based on a Zilog Z80 A CPU running at 3.5 MHz, the original model has 16 KB of ROM and either 16 KB or 48 KB of RAM. Hardware design was by Richard Altwasser of Sinclair Research, and the appearance was designed by Sinclairs industrial designer Rick Dickinson. Video output is through an RF modulator and was designed for use with contemporary portable television sets, the image resolution is 256×192 with the same colour limitations. To conserve memory, colour is stored separate from the bitmap in a low resolution, 32×24 grid overlay. In practice, this means that all pixels of an 8x8 character block share one foreground colour, Altwasser received a patent for this design. An attribute consists of a foreground and a colour, a brightness level and a flashing flag which. This scheme leads to what was dubbed colour clash or attribute clash and this became a distinctive feature of the Spectrum, meaning programs, particularly games, had to be designed around this limitation. Other machines available around the time, for example the Amstrad CPC or the Commodore 64. The Commodore 64 used colour attributes in a way, but a special multicolour mode, hardware sprites. Sound output is through a beeper on the machine itself, capable of producing one channel with 10 octaves, software was later available that could play two channel sound. The machine includes an expansion bus edge connector and 3.5 mm audio in/out ports for the connection of a recorder for loading and saving programs. The ear port can drive headphones and the mic port provides line level audio out which could be amplified, the machines Sinclair BASIC interpreter is stored in ROM and was written by Steve Vickers on contract from Nine Tiles Ltd. The Spectrums chiclet keyboard is marked with BASIC keywords, for example, pressing G when in programming mode would insert the BASIC command GO TO. The ZX Spectrum character set was expanded from that of the ZX81, Spectrum BASIC included extra keywords for the more advanced display and sound, and supported multi-statement lines
36.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES video game)
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a side-scrolling platform game for the Nintendo Entertainment System released by Konami in 1989. Alongside the arcade game, it was one of the first video based on the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series. The game was a success, selling over 4 million copies. The Ninja Turtles are on a mission to retrieve the Life Transformer Gun from Shredder, the Turtles first objective is to rescue their reporter friend April ONeil, who is being held captive by Bebop and Rocksteady somewhere in the city. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an action game. The player starts the game as Leonardo, but can switch to any of the other Turtles at any time by pressing the Start button to access the information screen. The information screen shows each Turtles health, whatever special weapon he has obtained, a map grid of the current area, each turtles unique primary weapon has different speed, power and reach. The player loses the game all four Turtles have been captured. There is an opportunity to rescue a captured Turtle once in each stage beginning in Stage 3, there are a total of six stages in the game. The player navigates the mission map in a view as they travel to doors, manholes or other entrances to the side-scrolling interior levels. In the overhead view, the player can move in the four cardinal directions, as the game progresses, more and more obstacles and enemies appear in the overhead maps. In the side-scrolling levels, the Turtles can jump or crouch and attack either with their primary weapons and these special weapons include single shurikens, triple shurikens, boomerangs, and the Kiai, a scroll that expands into a crescent-shaped beam and inflicts devastating damage on even boss characters. These items are dropped by enemies. The special weapons are obtained in limited quantities, although the boomerangs can be reused if the player catches them on the return, the primary weapon can be aimed upwards or downwards. In some levels, there is a specific objective, however, in most levels the goal is to reach the exit and return to the overhead map in a previously inaccessible location. The player encounters enemy characters, acquires weapons and special items, in the second half of Stage 2, the Turtles dive into the Hudson River. In this level, the Turtles must navigate a number of traps, the game was released for the Family Computer in Japan a few months earlier than the American NES version under the title of Geki Kame Ninja Den. Product released in the country, predating the Japanese dub of both the first film and the series, resulting in the unusual name change
37.
Sega Genesis
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The Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive in most regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit home video game console which was developed and sold by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The Genesis was Segas third console and the successor to the Master System, Sega first released the console as the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988, followed by a North American debut under the Genesis moniker in 1989. In 1990, the console was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, by Ozisoft in Australasia, in South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung and were known as the Super Gam*Boy, and later the Super Aladdin Boy. The system supports a library of more than 900 games created both by Sega and an array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM-based cartridges. It can play Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is inserted, the Genesis has benefited from several peripherals and network services, as well as multiple first-party and third-party variations of the console that focus on extending its functionality. Controversy surrounding violent titles such as Night Trap and Mortal Kombat led Sega to create the Videogame Rating Council, Sega sold 30.75 million units worldwide. The console and its games continue to be popular among fans, game music fans, collectors. As of 2015, licensed third party re-releases of the console are being sold by AtGames in North America and Europe. Many games have been re-released in compilations for newer consoles and offered for download on online services, such as the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network. The Genesis was succeeded by the Sega Saturn, in the early 1980s, Sega Enterprises, Inc. then a subsidiary of Gulf & Western, was one of the top five arcade game manufacturers active in the United States, as company revenues rose to $214 million. The company retained Segas North American R&D operation, as well as its Japanese subsidiary, Sega Enterprises, with its arcade business in decline, Gulf & Western executives turned to Sega Enterprises, Ltd. s president, Hayao Nakayama, for advice on how to proceed. Nakayama received permission to proceed with project, leading to the release of Segas first home video game system. The SG-1000 was not successful, and was replaced by the Sega Mark III within two years, Nakayama was then installed as CEO of the new Sega Enterprises, Ltd. In 1986, Sega redesigned the Mark III for release in North America as the Sega Master System and this was followed by a European release the next year. In 1987, Sega faced another threat to its business when Japanese computer giant NEC released the PC Engine amid great publicity. First announced in June 1988 in Beep, a Japanese gaming magazine, the developing console was referred to as the Mark V, but Sega management felt the need for a stronger name. After reviewing more than 300 proposals, the settled on Mega Drive. In North America, the name of the console was changed to Genesis, the reason for this change is not known, but it may have been due to a trademark dispute
38.
Global Gladiators
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A Super NES port was also in development but was never completed for undisclosed reasons, though a ROM image has since surfaced. The game is based on the McDonalds fast food chain and has a strong environmentalist message. The game is a successor to the NES game M. C. Kids, another McDonalds-themed game that also featured Mick and Mack as its playable characters, a Game Boy port of the title was also fully developed but was never released for the same legal reasons as the Super NES version. In the single-player game, the player controls Mick or Mack through four worlds, Slime World, Mystical Forest, Toxi-town, each world has several sub-stages where the character must collect a certain number of Golden Arches to advance. They are guided in their quest by Ronald McDonald, who appears at the beginning, the characters are armed with a Super Soaker-type gun that shoots gooey projectiles. TUME The Universal Map Editor, One of the used in the creation of Global Gladiators. Global Gladiators at MobyGames Mick & Mack as the Global Gladiators at Sega-16
39.
Sega CD
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The add-on was released on December 12,1991 in Japan, October 15,1992 in North America, and 1993 in Europe. The Sega CD lets the user play CD-based games and adds extra functionality, such as a faster central processing unit. It can also play audio CDs and CD+G discs, seeking to create an add-on device for the Genesis, Sega developed the unit to read compact discs as its storage medium. The main benefit of CD technology was greater storage capacity, which allowed for games to be nearly 320 times larger than their Genesis cartridge counterparts. This benefit manifested in the form of motion video games like the controversial Night Trap. Sega Enterprises in Japan partnered with JVC to design the add-on, Sega of America assembled parts from various dummy units to obtain a working prototype. While the add-on became known for several well-received games such as Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Lunar, Eternal Blue, its library contained a large number of Genesis ports. The Sega CD was redesigned a number of times, including once by Sega,2.24 million Sega CD units were sold by March 1996, after which the system was officially discontinued as Sega shifted its focus to the Sega Saturn. Released in 1988, the Genesis was Segas entry into the generation of video game consoles. By the early 1990s, compact discs were making significant headway as a medium for music. NEC had been the first to use compact disc technology in a game console with their PC Engine CD-ROM² System add-on in October 1988 in Japan. That same year, Nintendo announced a partnership with Sony to develop its own CD-ROM peripheral for the Super NES, commodore International released their CD-based CDTV multimedia system centered in early 1991, while long-in-waiting CD-i from Philips finally arrived towards the end of that year. The Sega CD was originally intended to equal the capabilities of the TurboGrafx-CD, but with twice as much random-access memory, however, two changes made later in development contributed to the final units higher than expected price. Because the Genesis Motorola 68000 CPU was too slow to handle the Sega CDs new graphical capabilities and this proved to be one of the greatest technical challenges during development since the Genesis access speed was initially too slow to run programs effectively. The cost of the device was now estimated at $370, Sega partnered with JVC, which had been working with Warner New Media to develop a CD player under the CD+G standard, to develop the Sega CD. Up until the middle of 1991, Sega of America had been kept largely uninformed of the details of the project, without a functioning unit to test. According to former Sega of America executive producer Michael Latham, When you work at a company, there are things that go well. They didnt want to send us working Sega CD units and they wanted to send us dummies and not send us the working CD units until the last minute because they were concerned about what we would do with it and if it would leak out
40.
RoboCop Versus The Terminator
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RoboCop Versus The Terminator is a video game released for a number of platforms and is based on the RoboCop and Terminator franchises. Set a few years after RoboCops invention, the story involves SAC-NORAD contracting Cyberdyne Systems on building Skynet, Cyberdyne used RoboCops technology in creating Skynet. When activated, Skynet becomes self-aware and launches a war against mankind, in the future, Skynet sends several Terminators back to the past to cripple the Resistance. After destroying one of the Terminators, RoboCop proceeds to Delta City, after RoboCain was destroyed, RoboCop battles his way to the OCP building, where he defeats all the Terminators. After defeating an ED-209 unit reprogrammed by the Terminators, RoboCop plugs himself into a console, unknown to him, RoboCop gave Skynet information it can use. This ends up with RoboCop falling into a trap, in the future, RoboCop assembles himself, where he battled in the Terminator-infested future and destroyed Skynet. In the future, human soldiers of John Connors resistance force against the machines are fighting a war against Skynet. However, Skynet learns of the time travel attempt and sends Terminators to stop Flo, RoboCop soon meets up with Flo and must engage in battle against Terminators, the forces of OCP and several obstacles. Upon discovering one of the Terminators has infiltrated the OCP building, RoboCop plugs himself into a console to reprogram the security, only to fall into a trap and he successfully destroys the Skynet CPU and prevails, and turns his sights to helping humanity rebuild from the devastation. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave the Super NES version a 5.8 out of 10, commenting The comic book-esque cinema sequences are innovative and new, but the intensity isnt there. They gave the Game Gear version a 6.8 out of 10, saying that it holds up pretty well, though commented that it suffers from slowdown, breakup. The Genesis version was awarded Bloodiest Game of 1993 by Electronic Gaming Monthly, gameFaqs script RoboCop Versus The Terminator at MobyGames RoboCop Versus The Terminator review RoboCop Versus The Terminator at the Internet Movie Database RoboCop Versus The Terminator at AllGame
