1.
Nintendo
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Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is one of the worlds largest video game companies by market capitalization, founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small businesses, such as cab services. The word Nintendo can be translated from Japanese to English as leave luck to heaven. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also the majority shareholder of Major League Baseballs Seattle Mariners, as of 31 March 2014, Nintendo has cumulative sales of over 670.43 million hardware units and 4.23 billion software units. The company has created and released some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand, in 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo Karuta Co. Ltd. doing business as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. outside Japan. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes its own contract bridge tournament called the Nintendo Cup. In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U. S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company and he found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchis realization that the card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales, in 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Co. Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital during the period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi company called Daiya. However, Nintendo was forced to sell it because problems with the unions were making it too expensive to run the service. It also set up a hotel chain, a TV network. All of these ventures failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, playing card sales dropped. In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new Nintendo Games department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester
2.
Universal Studios Japan
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Universal Studios Japan, located in Osaka, is one of four Universal Studios theme parks, owned and operated by USJ Co. Ltd. which is wholly owned by NBCUniversal. The park is similar to the Universal Orlando Resort since it also contains selected attractions from Universal Orlando Resort, the park opened on March 31,2001. Over 11 million guests visited the park in its opening year, since then, Universal Studios Japan has had approximately 8 million visitors every year. Most visitors are Japanese tourists and tourists from other Asian countries such as South Korea and it is also very popular among Western tourists and expatriates. In 2005, Goldman Sachs became the largest shareholder in Universal Studios Japan, various events were held in the year 2011 to celebrate the parks tenth anniversary, by which time a total of 88 million guests had cumulatively attended the park. There were 700,000 annual passport holders in June 2012, during the 2013 fiscal year, Universal Studios Japan received 10.5 million guests. The family area Universal Wonderland which opened in March 2012 also attracted many families, on July 15,2014, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a themed area based on the blockbuster Harry Potter film series, opened to the public. On Monday, October 29,2012, Universal Studios Japan greeted its 100 millionth visitor since its opening in 2001, like other Universal parks, Universal Studios Japan does not limit itself to attractions based Universals owned-library, it licensed other franchises from the rivals as attractions. A tenth area, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, opened on July 15,2014 with its flagship attraction, Harry Potter, the area was modeled on the areas of the same names at Universal Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood. There are also attractions that are not in the U. S. and are unique to Universal Studios Japan, such as Black Lake, the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man T2 3-D, Battle Across Time Themed to Hollywood. Stage 22, Hollywood Behind The Scenes Mainichi Broadcasting System Monster Make-Up Universal Re-BOOOOOOOORN, Space Fantasy – The Ride Fantastic World Based on the city of San Francisco. Backdraft Inspired by Steven Spielbergs blockbuster film franchise of the same name, jurassic Park, The Ride The Flying Dinosaur Inspired by Illuminations Despicable Me franchise. Despicable Me, Minion Mayhem Universal Wonderland is a section aimed at children, opened in March 2012, it contains three themed zones including Snoopy Studios, Hello Kittys Fashion Avenue, and Sesame Street Fun Zone. Based on the Peanuts comic strip, snoopys Great Race The Flying Snoopy Themed to Sanrios Hello Kitty franchise. Hello Kittys Cupcake Dream Hello Kittys Ribbon Collection Based on childrens television series Sesame Street, Hollywood Magic A lake that surrounds the park. Peter Pans Neverland Based on Universals 1995 film of the same name, waterworld, A Live Sea War Spectacular Inspired by the Jaws trilogy. Rowlings original Harry Potter books and as well as Warner Bros. hit film franchise, flight of the Hippogriff Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey Ollivanders Universal Parks & Resorts announced a partnership with Nintendo in May 2015 to build new Nintendo-themed attractions. In March 2016, Universal Studios Japan and Nintendo announced that a new Nintendo-themed area is coming to the park in 2020, ¥40 billion is being invested for the project, and the area will feature many attractions themed on Mario, as well as other Nintendo characters
3.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
4.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
5.
Home video game console
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A home video game console or simply home console is a video game device that is primarily used for home gamers, as opposed to in arcades or some other commercial establishment. Below is a timeline of each generation with the top three home video consoles of each based on worldwide sales. For a complete list of video consoles released in each generation please see the respective article of each generation. Legend – Unit with the highest sales of its generation, – Unit with the second highest sales of its generation. – Unit with the third highest sales of its generation, – Manufacturer released a home video console during this generation but did not sell the most units. – – Manufacturer didnt release a video game console during this generation. † – Indicates the current generation consoles on the market, although the first video games appeared in the 1950s, they were played on massive computers connected to vector displays, not analog televisions. Ralph H. Baer conceived the idea of a video game in 1951. In the late 1960s while working for Sanders Associates he created a series of game console designs. In 1972 Magnavox released the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home game console which could be connected to a TV set. Magnavox replaced the switch design with separate cartridges for each game, by autumn 1975, Magnavox, bowing to the popularity of Pong, cancelled the Odyssey and released a scaled-down version that played only Pong and hockey, the Odyssey 100. A second, higher end console, the Odyssey 200, was released with the 100 and added on-screen scoring, up to four players, almost simultaneously released with Ataris own home Pong console through Sears, these consoles jump-started the consumer market. All three of the new consoles used simpler designs than the original Odyssey with no board game pieces or extra cartridges, in the years that followed, the market saw many companies rushing similar consoles to market. Most of the consoles from this era were dedicated consoles playing the games that came with the console. These video game consoles were often just called video games, because there was reason to distinguish the two yet. While a few companies like Atari, Magnavox, and newcomer Coleco pushed the envelope, Fairchild released the Fairchild Video Entertainment System in 1976. The VES, however, contained a programmable microprocessor so its cartridges only needed a single ROM chip to store microprocessor instructions, RCA and Atari soon released their own cartridge-based consoles, the RCA Studio II and the Atari 2600, respectively. Both Bally and Magnavox also brought their own programmable cartridge-based consoles to the market, however, it was not until Atari released a conversion of the golden age arcade hit Space Invaders in 1980 for the Atari 2600 that the home console industry took off
6.
Fourth generation of video game consoles
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In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation of games consoles began on October 30,1987 with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics PC Engine. This generation saw strong console wars, Nintendo was able to capitalize on its previous success in the third generation and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation as well. Sega was extremely successful in this generation and began a new franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, several companies started to take notice of the maturing video game industry. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004 and it launched in North America during August 1989, under the name TurboGrafx-16. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format, NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo. In the United States, NEC used Bonk, a caveman, as their mascot. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make an impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system, the Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. In Japan, a number of adult titles were also available for the PC Engine, such as a variety of strip mahjong games. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29,1988, the console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14,1989 under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30,1990 under its original name and their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as Genesis does what Nintendont and the SEGA. scream. Segas version of Mortal Kombat received generally favorable reviews in the gaming press. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II, the Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan, but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide, by late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue the Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn. Nintendos fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21,1990, the machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23,1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Later titles such as Star Fox and Donkey Kong Country would keep the Super Famicom/SNES relevant well into the fifth generation era of 32-, the CD-i format was announced in the late 80s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Phillips CD-i main selling point was that it was more than a game machine, due to an agreement between Nintendo in Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES, Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo franchises
7.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
8.
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
9.
Republic of Ireland
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Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying about five-sixths of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the part of the island. The state shares its land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint Georges Channel to the south-east, and it is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President, the state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the European Union, after joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by a financial crisis that began in 2008. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index and it also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a member of the Council of Europe. The 1922 state, comprising 26 of the 32 counties of Ireland, was styled, the Constitution of Ireland, adopted in 1937, provides that the name of the State is Éire, or, in the English language, Ireland. Section 2 of the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 states, It is hereby declared that the description of the State shall be the Republic of Ireland. The 1948 Act does not name the state as Republic of Ireland, because to have done so would have put it in conflict with the Constitution. The government of the United Kingdom used the name Eire, and, from 1949, Republic of Ireland, for the state, as well as Ireland, Éire or the Republic of Ireland, the state is also referred to as the Republic, Southern Ireland or the South. In an Irish republican context it is referred to as the Free State or the 26 Counties. From the Act of Union on 1 January 1801, until 6 December 1922, during the Great Famine, from 1845 to 1849, the islands population of over 8 million fell by 30%
10.
Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
11.
Australasia
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Australasia, a region of Oceania, comprises Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. Charles de Brosses coined the term in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes and he derived it from the Latin for south of Asia and differentiated the area from Polynesia and the southeast Pacific. The bulk of Australasia sits on the Indo-Australian Plate, together with India, physiographically, Australasia includes New Zealand, Australia, and Melanesia, New Guinea and neighbouring islands north and east of Australia in the Pacific Ocean. The designation is applied to all the lands and islands of the Pacific Ocean lying between the equator and latitude 47° south. Most of Australasia lies on the portion of the Indo-Australian Plate, flanked by the Indian Ocean to the west. Sometimes the term encompasses the island of New Guinea. Many organisations whose names include the prefix Australasian Society of, limit their scope of operation to just Australia and New Zealand. In the past, Australasia has been used as a name for combined Australia/New Zealand sporting teams, examples include tennis between 1905 and 1915, when New Zealand and Australia combined to compete in the Davis Cup international tournament, and at the Olympic Games of 1908 and 1912. From an ecological perspective the Australasia ecozone forms a region with a common geologic and evolutionary history. In this context, Australasia is limited to Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, New Caledonia, the Wallace Line marks the biological divide from the Indomalaya ecozone of tropical Asia – Borneo and Bali lie on the western, Asian side. These three land masses have been separated from other continents, and from one another, for millions of years, all of Australasia shares the Antarctic flora, although the northern, tropical islands also share many plants with Southeast Asia. Mainland Australia, New Guinea and Tasmania are separated from one another by shallow continental shelves and they share a similar fauna which includes marsupial and monotreme mammals and ratite birds. Eucalypts are the predominant trees in much of Australia and New Guinea, New Zealand has no extant native land mammals aside from bats, but also had ratite birds, including the kiwi and the extinct moa. Media related to Australasia at Wikimedia Commons
12.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
13.
Japanese yen
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The yen is the official currency of Japan. It is the third most traded currency in the exchange market after the United States dollar. It is also used as a reserve currency after the U. S. dollar, the euro. Before the Meiji Restoration, Japans feudal fiefs all issued their own money, hansatsu, in an array of incompatible denominations. The New Currency Act of 1871 did away with these and established the yen, the former han became prefectures and their mints private chartered banks, which initially retained the right to print money. To bring an end to this situation the Bank of Japan was founded in 1882, following World War II the yen lost much of its prewar value. To stabilize the Japanese economy the exchange rate of the yen was fixed at ¥360 per $1 as part of the Bretton Woods system, when that system was abandoned in 1971, the yen became undervalued and was allowed to float. The yen had appreciated to a peak of ¥271 per $1 in 1973, then underwent periods of depreciation and appreciation due to the 1973 oil crisis, arriving at a value of ¥227 per $1 by 1980. Since 1973, the Japanese government has maintained a policy of intervention. The Japanese government focuses on an export market, and tries to ensure a low yen value through a trade surplus. Since that time, however, the yen has greatly decreased in value, the Bank of Japan maintains a policy of zero to near-zero interest rates and the Japanese government has an extreme anti-inflation policy. Yen derives from the Japanese word 圓, which is cognate with the Chinese yuan, originally, the Chinese had traded silver in mass called sycees and when Spanish and Mexican silver coins arrived, the Chinese called them silver rounds for their circular shapes. The coins and the name appeared in Japan. While the Chinese eventually replaced 圓 with 元, the Japanese continued to use the same word, the spelling and pronunciation yen is standard in English. This is because mainly English speakers who visited Japan at the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji period spelled words this way, ゑん /wen/ in historical kana orthography. In the 16th century, Japanese /e/ and /we/ both had been pronounced and Portuguese missionaries had spelled them ye, some time thereafter, by the middle of the 18th century, /e/ and /we/ came to be pronounced as in modern Japanese, although some regions retain the pronunciation. In the early Meiji era, James Curtis Hepburn, following Medhurst, spelled all es as ye in his A Japanese and that was the first full-scale Japanese-English/English-Japanese dictionary, which had a strong influence on Westerners in Japan and probably prompted the spelling yen. Hepburn revised most of yes to e in the 3rd edition in order to mirror the contemporary pronunciation and this was probably already fixed and has remained so ever since
14.
United States dollar
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The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its insular territories per the United States Constitution. It is divided into 100 smaller cent units, the circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars. The U. S. dollar was originally commodity money of silver as enacted by the Coinage Act of 1792 which determined the dollar to be 371 4/16 grain pure or 416 grain standard silver, the currency most used in international transactions, it is the worlds primary reserve currency. Several countries use it as their currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency. Besides the United States, it is used as the sole currency in two British Overseas Territories in the Caribbean, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands. A few countries use the Federal Reserve Notes for paper money, while the country mints its own coins, or also accepts U. S. coins that can be used as payment in U. S. dollars. After Nixon shock of 1971, USD became fiat currency, Article I, Section 8 of the U. S. Constitution provides that the Congress has the power To coin money, laws implementing this power are currently codified at 31 U. S. C. Section 5112 prescribes the forms in which the United States dollars should be issued and these coins are both designated in Section 5112 as legal tender in payment of debts. The Sacagawea dollar is one example of the copper alloy dollar, the pure silver dollar is known as the American Silver Eagle. Section 5112 also provides for the minting and issuance of other coins and these other coins are more fully described in Coins of the United States dollar. The Constitution provides that a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and that provision of the Constitution is made specific by Section 331 of Title 31 of the United States Code. The sums of money reported in the Statements are currently being expressed in U. S. dollars, the U. S. dollar may therefore be described as the unit of account of the United States. The word dollar is one of the words in the first paragraph of Section 9 of Article I of the Constitution, there, dollars is a reference to the Spanish milled dollar, a coin that had a monetary value of 8 Spanish units of currency, or reales. In 1792 the U. S. Congress passed a Coinage Act, Section 20 of the act provided, That the money of account of the United States shall be expressed in dollars, or units. And that all accounts in the offices and all proceedings in the courts of the United States shall be kept and had in conformity to this regulation. In other words, this act designated the United States dollar as the unit of currency of the United States, unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U. S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the form is significantly more common
15.
South America
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South America is a continent located in the western hemisphere, mostly in the southern hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the northern hemisphere. It may also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas, which is the used in nations that speak Romance languages. The reference to South America instead of other regions has increased in the last decades due to changing geopolitical dynamics. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east by the Atlantic Ocean, North America and it includes twelve sovereign states, a part of France, and a non-sovereign area. In addition to this, the ABC islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, South America has an area of 17,840,000 square kilometers. Its population as of 2005 has been estimated at more than 371,090,000, South America ranks fourth in area and fifth in population. Brazil is by far the most populous South American country, with more than half of the population, followed by Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela. In recent decades Brazil has also concentrated half of the regions GDP and has become a first regional power, most of the population lives near the continents western or eastern coasts while the interior and the far south are sparsely populated. Most of the continent lies in the tropics, the continents cultural and ethnic outlook has its origin with the interaction of indigenous peoples with European conquerors and immigrants and, more locally, with African slaves. Given a long history of colonialism, the majority of South Americans speak Portuguese or Spanish. South America occupies the portion of the Americas. The continent is delimited on the northwest by the Darién watershed along the Colombia–Panama border. Almost all of mainland South America sits on the South American Plate, South Americas major mineral resources are gold, silver, copper, iron ore, tin, and petroleum. These resources found in South America have brought high income to its countries especially in times of war or of rapid growth by industrialized countries elsewhere. However, the concentration in producing one major export commodity often has hindered the development of diversified economies and this is leading to efforts to diversify production to drive away from staying as economies dedicated to one major export. South America is one of the most biodiverse continents on earth, South America is home to many interesting and unique species of animals including the llama, anaconda, piranha, jaguar, vicuña, and tapir. The Amazon rainforests possess high biodiversity, containing a proportion of the Earths species. Brazil is the largest country in South America, encompassing around half of the land area
16.
ROM cartridge
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ROM cartridges can be used to load software such as video games or other application programs. The cartridge slot could also be used for additions, for example speech synthesis. Some cartridges had battery-backed static random-access memory, allowing a user to save data such as game progress or scores between uses, an advantage for the manufacturer was the relative security of the software in cartridge form, which was difficult for end users to replicate. However, cartridges were expensive to manufacture compared to making a floppy disk or CD-ROM, as disk drives became more common and software expanded beyond the practical limits of ROM size, cartridge slots disappeared from later game consoles and personal computers. Cartridges are still used today with handheld gaming consoles such as the Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, due to its widespread usage for video gaming, ROM cartridges were often colloquially referred to as a game cartridge. ROM cartridges were popularized by early home computers which featured a special bus port for the insertion of cartridges containing software in ROM. Notable computers using cartridges in addition to magnetic media were the Commodore VIC-20 and 64, MSX standard, the Atari 8-bit family, the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A, some arcade system boards, such as Capcoms CP System and SNKs Neo Geo, also used ROM cartridges. The modern take on game cartridges was invented by Jerry Lawson as part of the Fairchild Channel F home console in 1976, the cartridge approach gained more popularity with the Atari 2600 released the following year. From the late 1970s to mid-1990s, the majority of video game systems were cartridge-based. As compact disc technology came to be used widely for data storage, Nintendo remained the lone hold-out, using cartridges for their Nintendo 64 system, the company did not transition to optical media until 2001s GameCube. SNK still released games on the cartridge based Neo Geo until 2004, ROM cartridges can not only carry software, but additional hardware expansion as well. Examples include the Super FX coprocessor chip in some Super NES game paks, micro Machines 2 on the Genesis/Mega Drive used a custom J-Cart cartridge design by Codemasters which incorporated two additional gamepad ports. This allowed players to have up to four gamepads connected to the console without the need for an additional multi-controller adapter, the ROM cartridge slot principle continues in various mobile devices, thanks to the development of high density low-cost flash memory. For example, a GPS navigation device might allow user updates of maps by inserting a memory chip into an expansion slot. An E-book reader can store the text of several books on a flash chip. Personal computers may allow the user to boot and install a system off a USB flash drive instead of CD ROM or floppy disks. Digital cameras with flash drive slots allow users to exchange cards when full. Storing software on ROM cartridges has a number of advantages over other methods of storage like floppy disks, software run directly from ROM typically uses less RAM, leaving memory free for other processes
17.
Central processing unit
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The computer industry has used the term central processing unit at least since the early 1960s. The form, design and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of their history, most modern CPUs are microprocessors, meaning they are contained on a single integrated circuit chip. An IC that contains a CPU may also contain memory, peripheral interfaces, some computers employ a multi-core processor, which is a single chip containing two or more CPUs called cores, in that context, one can speak of such single chips as sockets. Array processors or vector processors have multiple processors that operate in parallel, there also exists the concept of virtual CPUs which are an abstraction of dynamical aggregated computational resources. Early computers such as the ENIAC had to be rewired to perform different tasks. Since the term CPU is generally defined as a device for software execution, the idea of a stored-program computer was already present in the design of J. Presper Eckert and John William Mauchlys ENIAC, but was initially omitted so that it could be finished sooner. On June 30,1945, before ENIAC was made, mathematician John von Neumann distributed the paper entitled First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC and it was the outline of a stored-program computer that would eventually be completed in August 1949. EDVAC was designed to perform a number of instructions of various types. Significantly, the programs written for EDVAC were to be stored in high-speed computer memory rather than specified by the wiring of the computer. This overcame a severe limitation of ENIAC, which was the considerable time, with von Neumanns design, the program that EDVAC ran could be changed simply by changing the contents of the memory. Early CPUs were custom designs used as part of a larger, however, this method of designing custom CPUs for a particular application has largely given way to the development of multi-purpose processors produced in large quantities. This standardization began in the era of discrete transistor mainframes and minicomputers and has accelerated with the popularization of the integrated circuit. The IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured to tolerances on the order of nanometers, both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of digital devices in modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines. Modern microprocessors appear in electronic devices ranging from automobiles to cellphones, the so-called Harvard architecture of the Harvard Mark I, which was completed before EDVAC, also utilized a stored-program design using punched paper tape rather than electronic memory. Relays and vacuum tubes were used as switching elements, a useful computer requires thousands or tens of thousands of switching devices. The overall speed of a system is dependent on the speed of the switches, tube computers like EDVAC tended to average eight hours between failures, whereas relay computers like the Harvard Mark I failed very rarely. In the end, tube-based CPUs became dominant because the significant speed advantages afforded generally outweighed the reliability problems, most of these early synchronous CPUs ran at low clock rates compared to modern microelectronic designs. Clock signal frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 4 MHz were very common at this time, the design complexity of CPUs increased as various technologies facilitated building smaller and more reliable electronic devices
18.
Ricoh 5A22
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The Ricoh 5A22 is a microprocessor produced by Ricoh for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The 5A22 is based on the 16-bit CMD/GTE 65c816, itself a version of the WDC 65C816 and it has a 16-bit accumulator, a 24-bit address bus, and is based on the MOS Technology 6502 family of processors. The bus runs at 3.58 MHz for non-access cycles and when accessing Bus B and most internal registers and it runs at 1.79 MHz only when accessing the controller port serial-access registers. It works at approximately 1.5 MIPS and has a peak of 1.79 million 16-bit adds per second. Super Nintendo Entertainment System technical specifications
19.
Nintendo S-SMP
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The Nintendo S-SMP is the audio processing unit of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The S-SMP audio processing unit consists of an 8-bit SPC700, a 16-bit DSP,64 kB of SRAM shared by the two chips, and a 64 byte boot ROM and it was designed by Ken Kutaragi and was manufactured by Sony. The Sony SPC700 is the S-SMPs integrated 8-bit processing core manufactured by Sony with a set similar to that of the MOS Technology 6502. It is located on the side of the sound module. It shares 64 KB of PSRAM with the S-DSP and runs at 2.048 MHz and it has six internal registers, and can execute 256 opcodes. Other applications of the SPC700 range from sound chip to the CXP82832/82840/82852/82860 microcontroller series, the Proson A/V receiver 2300 DTS uses an CXP82860 microcontroller that utilizes the SPC700 core. The S-DSP is capable of producing and mixing 8 simultaneous voices at any relevant pitch and it has support for voice panning, ADSR envelope control, echo with filtering, and using noise as sound source. S-DSP sound samples are stored in RAM in compressed format, communications between the S-SMP and the S-DSP are carried out via memory-mapped I/O. The RAM is accessed at 3.072 MHz, with accesses multiplexed between the S-SMP and the DSP and this RAM is used to store the S-SMP code and stack, the audio samples and pointer table, and the DSPs echo buffer. The S-SMP operates in an unconventional manner for a sound chip. A boot ROM is running on the S-SMP upon power-up or reset, since the module is mostly self-contained, the state of the APU can be saved as an. SPC file, and can be emulated in a stand-alone manner to play back all game music. Custom cartridges or PC interfaces can be used to load. SPC files onto a real SNES SPC700 and DSP. An SPC700 sound file is a game music file consisting of scores. This sound data is obtained from a console emulator and not from the system itself. The S-DSP chip produces 16-bit sound at 32 kHz, but S-DSP emulators generally can be reconfigured to output at a different sampling rate, SPC plugins are available for media player software such as VLC and portable MP3 players running Rockbox. Some SPC players offer support for complex sound interpolation methods to attempt to sound quality. Several programs exist to produce MIDI files from the blocks of SPC files. Programmers sometimes use a technique to overcome the 64KB limit of the SPC700/DSP, of swapping samples in, the file format does not support sample swapping and thus musical scores that use this trick will be played back incorrectly
20.
Satellaview
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The Satellaview is a satellite modem peripheral for Nintendos Super Famicom system that was released in Japan in 1995. Available for pre-release orders beginning February 13,1995, the Satellaview retailed for between ¥14,000 and 18,000 and came bundled with the BS-X Game Pak and an 8M Memory Pak. The Satellaview system was developed and released by Nintendo to receive signals broadcast from satellite TV station WOWOWs satellite radio subsidiary, St. GIGA was responsible for file server management, maintenance, and vocalization for SoundLink games. As a subscription-based station for ambient and New Age music, St. GIGA listeners were already equipped with BS tuners prior to St. GIGAs contract with Nintendo. Satellaview owners who lacked a BS tuner had to purchase one separately from St. GIGA at a price of ¥33,000, as well as sign up for Nintendos and St. GIGAs monthly joint membership fees. Alternatively, users could rent BS tuners from St. GIGA for a 6-month period at a price of ¥5,400. Even at this price, St. GIGA reported subscriptions peaking at 116,378 households by March 1997. The name Satellaview is a portmanteau of Satellite and view, BS stands for Broadcast Satellite, a common name of one of the direct broadcast satellites in Japan. Because the Satellaview was only released in Japan, there has been confusion among English-speaking enthusiasts as to what the BS prefix means. As a result, a number of mistranslations have been introduced into use today and are prevalent on English-speaking fan sites. Another common mistake that can be found on English-speaking fan sites is the application of the BS prefix to all Satellaview titles, while it is true that a number of Satellaview titles do employ the BS prefix, the majority of them do not. The most standard method used to title Satellaview games used three formats for three different purposes, The BS prefix was used for the Satellaviews SoundLink Games. All BS- titles are SoundLink games, but not all SoundLink games bear the BS prefix, the BS version suffix was used solely for non-SoundLink Satellaview-original releases. Although all BS Version games are Satellaview originals, not all Satellaview originals bore the BS Version suffix, the original title was used for Satellaview ports and conversions. A fourth variety of title using the Satella- prefix is common for Satellaview games and these games are Satellaview originals that often take the form of Satellaview-themed quiz games or that relate to the world of the BS-X BIOS, BS-X, The Story of The Town Whose Name Was Stolen. As the Broadcast Satellite system was in use in Japan prior to the release of the Satellaview, the basic Satellaview system comprises this, Satellaview adapter, attached to the bottom of Super Famicom and plugged into the expansion port. L-shaped bracket, supplied power to the Super Famicom via the Satellaview, AC Adapter, an AC power cord. 8M Memory Pak, plugged into the BS-X application cartridge allowing players to save game data, Memory paks were rewritable and could be used in conjunction with a handful of other compatible application cartridges
21.
XBAND
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XBAND was the first online console gaming network, and was available for Super NES and Genesis systems. It was produced by Catapult Entertainment, a Cupertino, California-based software company and it is the only modem released in America to have been officially licensed by Nintendo. It debuted in various areas of the United States in late 1994 and 1995, online console gaming networks were eventually stabilized in the sixth and later generations of video games, such as Xbox Live, PlayStation Network, and Nintendo Network. The Genesis version of the XBAND was released in November 1994, initially, Catapult Entertainment had a limited staff and virtually no advertising. By January 1996, XBAND network playability had reached practically every metropolitan area, the actual XBAND modems were carried by a handful of software and video rental chains across the United States. com. The concept of playing online was fairly new at the time, arcades were still quite popular, and online gaming was not yet a household idea. The XBAND modem was widely available at Blockbuster Video branches during its time and it retailed for $19.99, with additional charges based on usage. One had a fee of $4.95 and allowed the user to connect to the service up to 50 times a month with each additional connection costing 15 cents. The other had a fee of $9.95 and granted the subscriber an unlimited number of connections per month. Players were also assessed a fee of $3. 95/hour for connecting to opponents outside their local calling area, the modem features built-in storage for up to four users. Text entry is either through an on-screen keyboard or an optional XBAND keyboard add-on released later in the networks lifespan. The client-side system worked by manipulating the memory in a way similar to Game Genie. A problem of most online services of the time was that the connection would be lost whenever a phone on the line was picked up. XBAND had a website where a member could check any other players statistics, along with other information. At its height, XBAND had 15,000 subscribed members, a 1995 article in Next Generation stated that the XBAND modems ultra-low latency is the key to its successful handling of realtime videogaming. The modems data transfer rate was 2,400 bits per second, when the network matched two players up, one players telephone would ring once and the XBAND modem would answer. At that point the players would see the XBAND logo slide together, followed by the screen, which displayed each players codenames, avatars, locations. In December 1995 XBAND launched its first national tournament and this is the first modem to modem tournament ever to be held over a console
22.
Nintendo Power (cartridge)
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The Nintendo Power flash RAM cartridge is a Japan-only peripheral which was produced by Nintendo for the Super Famicom and the Game Boy. The now defunct service allowed owners to download Super Famicom and Game Boy games onto a flash memory cartridge for a lower price than that of the full cartridge. A similar system of rewritable kiosk distribution had previously used with the Famicom Disk Writer kiosks of the 1980s. In 2003, Nintendo launched another game delivery kiosk network for the iQue Player in China, the system was relatively popular, but suffered from issues of limited capacity. However, Nintendo did see the market for an economical rewritable medium due to the popularity of the Disk System. The limited capacity issue was addressed by maximizing the size of the memory in the cartridge to 4 megabytes. Each cartridges flash RAM is divided internally into eight blocks, unless an 8-block game is loaded onto the cartridge, however, one block is reserved for the game selection menu, leaving only seven blocks for games. In addition, each cartridge has an amount of SRAM for game saves. The system does have one limitation, games that utilize a special chip cannot be placed on the Nintendo Power cartridge, a user would first purchase the RAM cartridge itself, then bring it to a store which had a Nintendo Power copier. The player would select games to be copied to the cartridge, in addition, the store would provide the purchaser with a printed copy of the manual for the game. Game prices varied, with titles being relatively cheap, and newer titles. Nintendo Power website at the Wayback Machine
23.
Super Mario World
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Super Mario World, subtitled Super Mario Bros.4 for its original Japanese release, is a 1990 platform video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Development was handled by Nintendos Entertainment Analysis and Development division, led by producer Shigeru Miyamoto and it also features 2D graphics with linear transformations. Super Mario World centers on the quest of Mario and Luigi to save Dinosaur Land from Bowser, the two brothers must travel across seven worlds to restore order to Dinosaur Land. It built on the gameplay of previous Mario games, introducing new power-ups that augment character abilities, the game also marked the first appearance of Yoshi, Marios dinosaur sidekick. Super Mario World was a critical and commercial success, selling over 20 million copies worldwide and it was later re-released as a Virtual Console title for the Wii, Wii U, and New Nintendo 3DS consoles. Super Mario World is a platform game in which the player controls the on-screen protagonist from a side view. The game shares gameplay mechanics with previous titles in the series—Super Mario Bros. In addition to the running and jumping moves found in past games, the player navigates through the game via two game screens, an overworld map and a sidescrolling playfield. The overworld map displays a representation of the current world and has several paths leading from the worlds entrance to a castle. Paths connect to action panels, fortresses, ghost houses and other map icons, moving the on-screen character to an action panel or fortress will allow access to that levels playfield. The majority of the takes place in these levels, populated with obstacles and enemies, with the player traversing the stage by running, jumping. The player is given an amount of lives, which are lost when Mario is attacked by an enemy while small, falls into a pit or lava. If all lives are lost at any point in the game, in addition to special items from previous games like the Super Mushroom and Fire Flower, new power-ups are introduced that provide the player with new gameplay options. In addition, the Spin Attack jump is initiated with the A button, the spin attack allows Mario or Luigi to break blocks beneath him. The new suit in the game is the cape feather, which gives Mario a cape, however, the Super Leaf, Tanooki Suit, Frog Suit, and Hammer Suit power-ups from Super Mario Bros.3 did not return. The game also introduced the ability to store an extra power-up in a box located at the top center of the screen, for example, if Super Mario obtains a Fire Flower or Cape Feather or picks up another Super Mushroom, a Mushroom is stored in the box. If Cape Mario finds a Fire Flower, a Cape Feather will be stored in the box, the power-up can be released by pressing the Select button or will automatically deploy if Mario is hit by an enemy. The game introduces Yoshi, a dinosaur companion whom Mario can ride and who is able to eat most enemies
24.
Donkey Kong Country
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Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platforming video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It was first released in November 1994, and under the name Super Donkey Kong in Japan, the game was later re-released for the Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Wii Virtual Console, Wii U Virtual Console, and New Nintendo 3DS with a perfect pixel mode. The game is set on Donkey Kong Island and centres around Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong, who must recover their stolen hoard of bananas from King K. Rool and the Kremlings. Development of the game first began shortly after Rares Tim and Chris Stamper ran experiments with a Silicon Graphics workstation, rendering realistic 3D sprites. Nintendo became interested in Rares work and soon acquired 49% of the company which culminated in the production of a new title using Alias and SGI technology for the SNES console. The Stamper brothers expressed an interest to create a standalone Donkey Kong game, Donkey Kong Country is the first Donkey Kong game that was not produced or directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, the characters original creator. It was directed by Tim Stamper instead, although Miyamoto was still involved with the project, following an intense marketing campaign, Donkey Kong Country received critical acclaim and more than nine million copies were sold worldwide, making it the second-best-selling SNES game. Donkey Kong Country is a game where players must complete forty different side-scrolling levels and recover the Kongs banana hoard. Each level is themed and consists of varying tasks such as swimming, riding in mine carts, launching out of barrel cannons. The player begins with a minimum of six lives, Players lose a life if they get hit by any enemy or fall off the screen. To defeat an enemy, players can execute a roll. However, some enemies cannot be taken down in this manner, enemies vary in difficulty, usually becoming tougher to take down as the game progresses. When the player has lost all their lives, the game is over, there are also many secret passages that can lead to bonus games where the player can earn additional lives or other items, as well as gain possible shortcuts through the level. Players of Donkey Kong Country control one of two characters, Donkey Kong or his nephew Diddy, the player can switch between characters if they are both on the screen. Donkey is the larger of the two, and can defeat enemies more easily while Diddy is faster and more agile, in several levels, players can gain assistance from various animals, who are found by breaking open crates. These helpers include Rambi the Rhino, Expresso the Ostrich, Enguarde the Swordfish, Winky the Frog, each animal can be found in an appropriately themed level, for example, Enguarde can only be found underwater, and Squawks is found in one cave level. Some animals can give players access to bonus games. The game offers single-player and multiplayer game modes, multiplayer allows two players to play alternatively in one of two different modes, the competitive Contest mode or the cooperative Team mode
25.
Super Mario Kart
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Super Mario Kart is a 1992 go-kart racing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console. The first game of the Mario Kart series, it was launched in Japan on August 27,1992, in North America on September 1,1992, selling nine million copies worldwide, the game went on to become the third best selling SNES game of all time. Super Mario Kart was re-released on the Wiis Virtual Console in Japan on June 9,2009, North America on November 23,2009, and in Europe on April 2,2010. Super Mario Kart was re-released again on the Wii Us Virtual Console in Japan on June 19,2013, Europe on March 27,2014, Super Mario Kart was released once more on the New Nintendo 3DSs Virtual Console. In Super Mario Kart, the player control of one of eight Mario series characters. In single player mode players can race against computer-controlled characters in multi-race cups over three difficulty levels, during the races, offensive and speed boosting power-ups can be used to gain an advantage. Alternatively players can race against the clock in a Time Trial mode, in multi-player mode two players can simultaneously take part in the cups or can race against each other one-on-one in Match Race mode. In a third multiplayer mode – Battle Mode – the aim is to defeat the players by attacking them with power-ups. Super Mario Kart received positive reviews and was praised for its presentation, innovation and use of Mode 7 graphics. It has been ranked among the best games of all time by several organizations including Edge, IGN, The Age and GameSpot and it is often credited with creating the kart-racing subgenre of video games, leading other developers to try to duplicate its success. The game is seen as having been key to expanding the Mario series into non-platforming games. This diversity has led to it becoming the best-selling game franchise of all time, several sequels to Super Mario Kart have been released, for consoles, handhelds and in arcades, each enjoying critical and commercial success. While some elements have developed throughout the series, the experience from Super Mario Kart has remained intact. Super Mario Kart is a racing game featuring several single. During the game, players control of one of eight Mario franchise characters. In order for them to driving, Lakitu will come in with the traffic light hanging on a fishing pole. When the light green, the race or battle officially begins. During a race, the viewpoint is from behind his or her kart
26.
Street Fighter II: The World Warrior
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Street Fighter II, The World Warrior is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in 1991. It is the entry in the Street Fighter series and the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in 1987. It is Capcoms fourteenth title that runs on the CP System arcade hardware and it was then ported to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System platform, for which it became a long-lasting system-seller. Its success led to a sub-series of updated versions, each offering additional features and characters over previous versions, by 1994, the game had been played by at least 25 million people in North America, at home and in arcades. By 1995, gross revenues of Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II′, Street Fighter II follows several of the conventions and rules already established by its original 1987 predecessor. The player engages opponents in close quarter combat in a series of best-two-out-of-three matches. The objective of each round is to deplete the opponents vitality before the timer runs out, in the first Street Fighter II, a match could last up to ten rounds if there was no clear winner, this was reduced to four rounds in Champion Edition and onward. If there is no clear winner by the end of the final round, after every third match in the single player mode, the player will participate in a bonus stage for additional points. Between the matches, a Pacific-centered world map is seen, showing the participants home stages, when the upcoming match and its location have been chosen, an aeroplane moves across the map. Like in the original, the games uses a configuration of an eight-directional joystick. The player uses the joystick to jump, crouch and move the character towards or away from the opponent, there are three punch buttons and three kick buttons of differing strength and speed. The player can perform a variety of moves in any position, including grabbing/throwing attacks. Like in the original, the player can perform special moves by inputting a combination of directional, Street Fighter II differs from its predecessor due to the selection of multiple playable characters, each with distinct fighting styles and special moves. According to IGN, the concept of combinations, linked attacks that cant be blocked when theyre timed correctly, Street Fighter IIs designers didnt quite mean for it to happen, but players of the original game eventually found out that certain moves naturally flowed into other ones. This combo system was adopted as a standard feature of fighting games. The original Street Fighter II features a roster of eight characters that could be selected by the player. The roster initially included Ryu and Ken—the main characters from the original Street Fighter game—plus six new characters of different nationalities, playable characters, Ryu, a Japanese karateka seeking to hone his skills. E. Honda, a wrestler from Japan
27.
Nintendo Entertainment System
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The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer on July 15,1983, and was released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics and it was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN and it was judged the second greatest console behind the Sega Dreamcast in PC Magazines Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time. Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a console called the Famicom. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer, meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors. Original plans called for the Famicoms cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, the controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. There were concerns regarding the durability of the design and that children might step on joysticks left on the floor. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use, ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. Uemura added an eject lever to the slot which was not really necessary. He also added a microphone to the controller with the idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker. The console was released on July 15,1983 as the Family Computer for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendos successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum, a bad chip set caused the release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983
28.
Nintendo 64
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The Nintendo 64, stylized as the NINTENDO64 and often referred to as the N64, is Nintendos third home video game console for the international market. It was the last major home console to use the cartridge as its primary storage format until Nintendos seventh console, while the Nintendo 64 was succeeded by Nintendos MiniDVD-based GameCube in September 2001, the consoles remained available until the system was retired in late 2003. Codenamed Project Reality, the the N64 design was complete by mid-1995, but its launch was delayed until 1996. It launched with three games, Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64, released worldwide, and Saikyō Habu Shōgi, as part of the fifth generation of gaming, the system competed primarily with the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn. The suggested retail price at its United States launch was US$199.99, the console was released in a range of colors and designs over its lifetime. In 2015, IGN named it the 9th greatest video game console of all time, as of 2016, the system remains a popular retro console in North America. At the beginning of the 1990s, Nintendo led the game industry with its Nintendo Entertainment System. Although the NES follow-up console, the Super NES, was successful, competition from long-time rival Sega, and relative newcomer Sony, emphasized Nintendos need to develop a successor for the SNES, or risk losing market dominance to its competitors. Further complicating matters, Nintendo also faced a backlash from third-party developers unhappy with Nintendos strict licensing policies, the company created a design proposal for a video game system, seeking an already well established partner in that market. James H. Clark, founder of SGI, initially offered the proposal to Tom Kalinske, the historical details of these preliminary negotiations were controversial between the two competing suitors. Tom Kalinske said that he and Joe Miller of Sega of America were quite impressed with SGIs prototype, the engineers from Sega Enterprises claimed that their evaluation of the early prototype had uncovered several unresolved hardware issues and deficiencies. Those were subsequently resolved, but Sega had already decided against SGIs design, Nintendo resisted that summary conclusion, arguing that the reason for SGIs ultimate choice of partner is due to Nintendo having been a more appealing business partner than Sega. While Sega demanded exclusive rights to the chip, Nintendo was willing to license the technology on a non-exclusive basis, michael Slater, publisher of Microprocessor Report said, The mere fact of a business relationship there is significant because of Nintendos phenomenal ability to drive volume. If it works at all, it could bring MIPS to levels of volume never dreamed of, james Clark met with Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi in early 1993, thus initiating Project Reality. This announcement coincided with Nintendos August 1993 Shoshinkai trade show, as with most of the computing industry, Nintendo had limited experience with 3D graphics, and worked with several outside companies to develop the technology comprising the console. Some chip technology was provided by NEC, Toshiba, and Sharp, SGI had recently acquired MIPS Computer Systems, and the two worked together toward a low-cost realtime 3D graphics hardware system. SGI and its subsidiary MIPS Technologies were responsible for the R4300i microprocessor and that software-based console prototype platform was later supplanted by a workstation-hosted console simulation board, representing the finalized console hardware. SGIs performance estimates based upon their RealityEngine supercomputing platform were ultimately reported to be accurate to the final consumer console product
29.
Oceania
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Oceania, also known as Oceanica, is a region centred on the islands of the tropical Pacific Ocean. The term is used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia. The term was coined as Océanie circa 1812 by geographer Conrad Malte-Brun, the word Océanie is a French word derived from the Latin word oceanus, and this from the Greek word ὠκεανός, ocean. Natives and inhabitants of this region are called Oceanians or Oceanicans, as an ecozone, Oceania includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand. New Zealand, along with New Guinea and nearby islands, part of the Philippine islands, Australia, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, in geopolitical terms, however, New Zealand, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia are almost always considered part of Oceania. Australia and Papua New Guinea are usually considered part of Oceania along with the Maluku Islands, puncak Jaya in Papua is often considered the highest peak in Oceania. Oceania was originally conceived as the lands of the Pacific Ocean and it comprised four regions, Polynesia, Micronesia, Malaysia, and Melanesia. The area extends to Sumatra in the west, the Bonin Islands in the northwest, the Hawaiian Islands in the northeast, Rapa Nui and Sala y Gómez Island in the east, and Macquarie Island in the south. Not included are the Pacific islands of Taiwan, the Ryukyu Islands and the Japanese archipelago, all on the margins of Asia, and the Aleutian Islands of North America. The islands at the extremes of Oceania are Bonin, a politically integral part of Japan, Hawaii, a state of the United States. There is also a geographic definition that excludes land on the Sunda Plate. Biogeographically, Oceania is used as a synonym for either the Australasian ecozone or the Pacific ecozone, Oceania is one of eight terrestrial ecozones, which constitute the major ecological regions of the planet. The Oceania ecozone includes all of Micronesia, Fiji, and all of Polynesia except New Zealand, New Zealand, New Guinea, Melanesia apart from Fiji, and Australia constitute the separate Australasian ecozone. The Malay Archipelago is part of the Indomalaya ecozone, related to these concepts are Near Oceania, that part of western Island Melanesia which has been inhabited for tens of millennia, and Remote Oceania which is more recently settled. The term is used to denote a continent comprising Australia. New Zealand forms the corner of the Polynesian Triangle. Its indigenous Māori constitute one of the cultures of Polynesia. It is also, however, considered part of Australasia, the history of Oceania in the medieval period was synonymous with the history of the indigenous peoples of Australasia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia
30.
SK Hynix
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SK hynix Inc. is a South Korean memory semiconductor supplier of dynamic random access memory chips and flash memory chips. Hynix is the worlds second-largest memory chipmaker and the worlds fifth-largest semiconductor company, founded as Hyundai Electronic Industrial Co. Ltd. in 1983 and known as Hyundai Electronics, the company has manufacturing sites in Korea, the US, China and Taiwan. In 2012, when SK Telecom became its major shareholder, Hynix merged to SK Group, the companys shares are traded on the Korea Stock Exchange, and the Global Depository shares are listed on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. Hynix memory is used by Apple in some of their iMac, apples latest A9 chipset is onboard together with a SK Hynix RAM module believed to be likely the same 2 GB LPDDR4 mobile DRAM found in the iPhone 6s. Hynix memory is used by Asus in their Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet, an OEM provider for IBM System x servers. Dell and Hewlett-Packard have also used Hynix memory as OEM equipment, other products that use Hynix memory include DVD players, cellular phones, set-top boxes, personal digital assistants, networking equipment, and hard disk drives. It is one of the earliest PC clones marketed toward consumers instead of business, in January 2010, Hynix Semiconductor Inc was put up for sale in an auction valued at close to $3 billion. On August 31,2010, HP announced collaboration with Hynix to bring memristor to high volume manufacturing step,2012 SK Group, the third-largest conglomerate in South Korea, acquired a 21. 05% stake in Hynix. 2013 Fab 1 and Fab 2 in China both suffered a fire which took the factories offline temporarily
31.
Sega
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Nonetheless, Sega remains the worlds most prolific arcade producer, with over 500 games in over 70 franchises on more than 20 different arcade system boards since 1981. Sega, along with their sub-studios, are known for their multi-million selling game franchises, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Yakuza, Segas head offices are located in Tokyo. Segas North American division, Sega of America, is headquartered in Irvine, California, Segas European division, Sega Europe, is headquartered in London. After the war, the founders sold that company and established a new distributor called Service Games and this company provided coin-operated slot machines to U. S. bases in Japan and changed its name again to Service Games of Japan by 1953. David Rosen, an American officer in the United States Air Force stationed in Japan and this company eventually became Rosen Enterprises, and in 1957, began importing coin-operated games to Japan. On May 31,1960, Service Games Japan was closed, Three days later, two new companies were established to take over its business activities, Nihon Goraku Bussan and Nihon Kikai Seizo. By 1965, Rosen Enterprises grew to a chain of over 200 arcades, Rosen then orchestrated a merger between Rosen Enterprises and Nihon Goraku Bussan, becoming chief executive of the new company, Sega Enterprises, which derived its name from Service Games. Within a year, Sega began the transition from importer to manufacturer, with the release of the submarine simulator game, the game sported light and sound effects considered innovative for that time, eventually becoming quite successful in Japan. It was soon exported to both Europe and the United States, becoming the first arcade game in the US to cost 25 cents per play, in 1969, Rosen sold Sega to American conglomerate Gulf and Western Industries, although he remained as CEO following the sale. Under Rosens leadership, Sega continued to grow and prosper, and in 1974, Gulf and Western made Sega Enterprises, a subsidiary of an American company renamed Sega Enterprises, Inc. allowing them to take the companys stock public. Sega prospered heavily from the gaming boom of the late 1970s. In 1982, Segas revenues surpassed $214 million and that year they introduced the first game with isometric graphics, Zaxxon, the industrys first stereoscopic 3D game, SubRoc 3D, and the first laserdisc video game, Astron Belt. Astron Belt wasnt released in the U. S. until 1983, other notable games from Sega during this period are Head On, Monaco GP, Carnival, Turbo, Space Fury, Astro Blaster, and Pengo. In 1983-4, Sega published Atari 2600 versions of some of its arcade games, Carnival, Space Fury, Turbo, and Zaxxon were licensed to Coleco as launch titles for the ColecoVision console in 1982. Some of these and other titles were licensed to different companies for 8-bit computer versions, the Atari 8-bit computer port of Zaxxon is from Datasoft, for example, while the Commodore 64 port is from Synapse. An overabundance of games in 1983 led to the game crash. Seeking an alternate source of revenue from the arcade market, Sega designed and released its first home video game console. G&W sold the U. S. assets of Sega Enterprises that same year to pinball manufacturer Bally Manufacturing, nakayama became the new CEO of Sega, Robert Deith chairman of the board, and Rosen became head of its subsidiary in the United States
32.
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
33.
Fifth generation of video game consoles
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The fifth-generation era refers to computer and video games, video game consoles and video game handhelds from approximately 1993 to 2001. For home consoles, the console was the PlayStation by a wide margin, followed by the Nintendo 64. Both were discontinued before the other made their debut. The Neo Geo Pocket was released in 1998, but was dropped by SNK in favor of the fully backwards compatible Neo Geo Pocket Color just a year later, Nintendos Game Boy Color was the winner in handhelds by a large margin. There were also two updated versions of the original Game Boy, Game Boy Light and Game Boy Pocket, there was considerable overlap between this and the sixth generation of consoles, which began with the launch of the Dreamcast in Japan on November 27,1998. The fifth generation officially ended with the discontinuation of the PlayStation in March 2006, early efforts from then-industry leaders Sega and Nintendo saw the introduction of the 32X and Super FX, which provided rudimentary 3D capabilities to the 16-bit Genesis and Super NES. Prime examples of this trend include Virtua Fighter 2 on the Saturn, Tomb Raider on the PlayStation and Saturn, Tekken and Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation, and Super Mario 64 on the N64. Their 3D environments were widely marketed and they steered the industrys focus away from side-scrolling and rail-style titles, as well as opening doors to more complex games and genres. 3D became the focus in this era as well as a slow decline of cartridges in favor of CDs, due to the ability to produce games less expensively. Publicly, Nintendo defended this decision on the grounds that it would give games shorter load times than a compact disc, however, it also had the dubious benefit of allowing Nintendo to charge higher licensing fees, as cartridge production was considerably more expensive than CD production. Many third-party developers like EA Sports viewed this as an attempt to raise more money for Nintendo. Nintendos decision to use a cartridge based system sparked a small scale war among gamers as to which was better, a Nintendo magazine ad placed a Space Shuttle next to a snail and dared consumers to decide which one was better. Almost every other system used the new CD-ROM technology. Consequent to the storage and cost advantages of the CD-ROM format, there was much confusion over which console was superior to the others. Also, console makers routinely boasted theoretical maximum limits of each systems 3D polygon rendering without accounting for real world in-game performance, the FM Towns Marty is considered the worlds first 32-bit console, being released in February 20,1993 by Japanese electronic company Fujitsu. Never released outside Japan, it was marketed as a console version of the FM Towns home computer. It failed to make an impact in the due to its expense relative to other consoles. While using a 32-bit word length, however, the Intel 80386SX CPU only supports 16-bit bus addressing, despite massive third party support and an unprecedented amount of hype for a first-time entrant into the industry, the 3DO Interactive Multiplayers $700 price tag hindered its success
34.
Retrogaming
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Retrogaming, also known as classic gaming and old school gaming, is the playing or collecting of older personal computer, console, and arcade video games in contemporary times. Usually retrogaming is based upon systems that are obsolete or discontinued, retrogaming has three main activities, vintage retrogaming, retrogaming emulation, and ported retrogaming. Vintage retrogaming includes games that are played on the original hardware, emulation involves newer systems simulating old gaming systems, while ported retrogaming allows games to be played on modern hardware via ports or compilations. Additionally, the term could apply to a game, but with features similar to those of older games, such as an retro RPG which features turn-based combat. Participants in the hobby are known as retrogamers in the United Kingdom. Similarly, the games are known as retrogames, classic games, retrogaming has existed since the early years of the video game industry, but was popularized with the popularity of the Internet and emulation technology. Retrogaming and retrocomputing have been described as activity and as aspects of the remix culture. Arcade games are popular, especially early games by Konami, Sega, Atari, Taito, Williams Electronics, Namco, Nintendo, Technos, Capcom. Some games are played on the hardware, others are played through emulation. Some retro games can still be played using just the internet browser via DOS emulation. In some cases, entirely new versions of the games are designed, as well as playing games, a subculture of retrogaming has grown up around the music in retro games. In the wake of increasing nostalgia and the success of retro-compilations in the sixth and seventh generations of consoles, retrogaming has become a motif in modern games, as well. Modern retrogames will impose limitations on color palette, resolution, and these may be based on a general concept of retro, as with Cave Story, or an attempt to imitate a specific piece of hardware, as with La Mulana and its MSX color palette. Modern retrogaming began to gain traction thanks in part to the independent gaming scene, vintage retrogaming involves players collecting the original hardware, cartridges, and discs the video games were originally released on. The hardware collected includes arcade systems, old home consoles, and their cartridges, some of these collectables can be fairly expensive and hard to find, limiting the access to these old games. Retrogaming emulation involves older gaming systems being emulated on new hardware and it bypasses the need to collect old consoles and original games. ROMS, read only memory files, are directly from the original cartridge or disc from third parties. They are then put online through file sharing sites and played via emulators on modern hardware
35.
Homebrew (video games)
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This can include games developed with official development kits, such as Net Yaroze, Linux for PlayStation 2 or Microsoft XNA. Many homebrew games are offered as freeware, although others are offered for sale, one popular type of homebrew game is the fangame. In Japan, these games are usually called Dōjin soft, Homebrew games for older systems are typically developed using emulators for convenience, since testing them requires no extra hardware on the part of the programmer. Development for newer systems typically involves actual hardware given the lack of accurate emulators, efforts have been made to use actual console hardware for many older systems, though. Atari 2600 homebrew developers use various methods, for example, burning an EEPROM to plug into a custom cartridge board or audio transfer via the Starpath Supercharger, Game Boy Advance homebrew developers have several ways to use GBA flash cartridges in this regard. The Atari 2600 and NES use the 6502 instruction set, likely familiar to people who have programmed 8-bit home computers, all major sixth generation consoles enjoy some popularity with homebrew developers, but less so than earlier generations. Homebrew developers must often exploit loopholes to enable their software to run, homebrewing is not only limited to games – there are numerous demos that have been released for most systems with a homebrew scene. In 2009 the release of Odball ended the longest game drought on any console, the Magnavox Odyssey, the worlds first home console, saw no new releases since 1973. It was produced by Robert Vinciguerra, on July 11,2011 an Odyssey game called Dodgeball was published by Chris Read. On July 16,2012 Vinciguerra published Mentis Cohorts for Magnavox Odyssey, on July 19,2012 Vinciguerra released Red vs. Blue through RevRob. com as a homebrew for Odyssey fans to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Odyssey. A handful of games have been programmed for the Channel F. The first known release is Sean Riddles Lights Out that was released with instructions on how to modify the SABA#20 Chess game into a Multi-Cartridge, there is also a version of Tetris and in 2008 Videocart 27, Pac-Man became the first full production homebrew for the Channel F. The Atari 2600, released in 1977, is a platform for homebrew projects. Games created for the Atari can be executed using either an emulator or directly when copied onto a blank cartridge making use of either a PROM or EPROM chip, unlike later systems, the console does not require a modchip. Although there is one high-level compiler available, batari Basic, most development for the Atari 2600 is still done in 6502 assembly language, homebrews written in assembly are typically considered programming challenges. The Atari 2600 lacks video memory, and programs run simultaneously with the television screen, for each scan line, the systems Television Interface Adapter can only draw two custom, eight-bit graphical objects, a twenty-bit playfield, and three solid pixels, two missiles and one ball. Timing is critical in this environment, if a program takes too long to update the registers, the television will update the screen before the graphics are properly initialized, resulting in glitches or other video problems
36.
ROM image
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ROMs can be copied from the read-only memory chips found in cartridge-based games and many arcade machines using a dedicated device in a process known as dumping. For most common video game systems, these devices are widely available. Dumping ROMs from arcade machines, which in fact are highly customized PCBs, while ROM images are often used as a means of preserving the history of computer games, they are also often used to facilitate the unauthorized copying and redistribution of modern games. For instance, the Nintendo GameCube used non-standard 8 cm DVD-like optical media which for a time prevented games from being copied to PCs. It was not until a security hole was found in Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II that GameCube games could be copied to a PC. Many thought that this would mark the end of Neo Geo emulation, however, as early as 2000, hackers found a way to decrypt and dump the ROMs successfully, making them playable once again in any Neo Geo emulator. Another company which used to protect their games was Capcom which is known for its CPS-2 arcade board. This contained a copy protection algorithm which was not broken until 7 years after the systems release in 1993. The original crack by the CPS2Shock Team was not a true emulation of the protection because it used XOR tables to bypass the original encryption and their stated intent was to wait until CPS-2 games were no longer profitable to release the decryption method. The full decryption algorithm was cracked in 2007 by Nicola Salmoria, Andreas Naive, another copy protection technique used in cartridge-games was to have the game attempt to write to ROM. On an authentic cartridge this would do nothing, however, emulators would often allow the write to succeed, pirate cartridges also often used writable chips instead of ROM. By reading the back to see whether the write succeeded. Alternatively, the game may simply attempt to overwrite critical program instructions, some games, such as Game Boy games, also had other hardware such as memory bank controllers connected to the cartridge bus. The game would send data to hardware by attempting to write it to specific areas of ROM, thus, if the ROM were writable. Capcoms latest arcade board is the CPS-3 and this was resistant to emulation attempts until June 2007, when the encryption method was reverse-engineered by Andreas Naive. It is currently implemented by MAME and a variant of the CPS-2 emulator Nebula, video game console emulators typically take ROM images as input files. ROM images are used when developing for embedded computers, software which is being developed for embedded computers is often written to ROM files for testing on a standard computer before it is written to a ROM chip for use in the embedded system. The lifespan of digital media is rarely great, while black-and-white photographs may survive for a century or more, many digital media can become unreadable after only 10 years
37.
NEC
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NEC Corporation is a Japanese multinational provider of information technology services and products, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC provides IT and network solutions to enterprises, communications services providers and to government agencies. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited and its NEC Semiconductors business unit was one of the worldwide top 20 semiconductor sales leaders before merging with Renesas Electronics. NEC is a member of the Sumitomo Group, kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda established Nippon Electric Limited Partnership on August 31,1898 by using facilities that they had bought from Miyoshi Electrical Manufacturing Company. Iwadare acted as the partner, Maeda handled company sales. Western Electric, which had an interest in the Japanese phone market, was represented by Walter Tenney Carleton, Carleton was also responsible for the renovation of the Miyoshi facilities. It was agreed that the partnership would be reorganized as a company when treaty would allow it. On July 17,1899, the treaty between Japan and the United States went into effect. Nippon Electric Company, Limited was organized the day with Western Electric Company to become the first Japanese joint-venture with foreign capital. Ernest Clement and Carleton were named as directors, Maeda and Mototeru Fujii were assigned to be auditors. Iwadare, Maeda and Carleton handled the overall management, the company started with the production, sales and maintenance of telephones and switches. NEC modernized the facilities with the construction of the Mita Plant in 1901 at Mita Shikokumachi. It was completed in December 1902, the Japanese Ministry of Communications adopted a new technology in 1903, the common battery switchboard supplied by NEC. The common battery switchboards powered the subscriber phone, eliminating the need for a permanent magnet generator in each subscribers phone, the switchboards were initially imported, but were manufactured locally by 1909. NEC started exporting telephone sets to China in 1904, in 1905, Iwadare visited Western Electric in the U. S. to see their management and production control. On his return to Japan he discontinued the system of sub-contracting and replaced it with a new system where managers. Inefficiency was also removed from the production process, the company paid higher salaries with incentives for efficiency. New accounting and cost controls were put in place, and time clocks installed, between 1899 and 1907 the number of telephone subscribers in Japan rose from 35,000 to 95,000
38.
Mega Drive
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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
39.
Third generation of video game consoles
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In the history of computer and video games, the third generation began on July 15,1983, with the Japanese release of both the Family Computer and SG-1000. The best-selling console of this generation was the NES/Famicom, followed by the Master System, although the previous generation of consoles had also used 8-bit processors, it was at the end of this generation that home consoles were first labeled by their bits. This also came into fashion as 16-bit systems like the Mega Drive/Genesis were marketed to differentiate between the generations of consoles, in Japan and North America, this generation of gaming was primarily dominated by the Famicom/NES, while the Master System dominated the European and Brazilian markets. The end of the 3rd generation of video games comes as 8-bit consoles become obsolete in graphics, some features that distinguished third generation consoles from most second generation consoles include, D-pad game controllers. Screen modes with resolutions up to 256×240 or 320×200, 25–32 colors on screen, from a palette of 53–256 colors. Tile-based playfields with smooth multi-directional hardware scrolling, advanced hardware scrolling, including multi-directional scrolling, diagonal scrolling, and line-scrolling. 64–100 sprites on screen, each with 4–16 colors and 8×8 to 16×16 pixel sizes, up to five channel mono PSG audio. The Family Computer became very popular in Japan during this era, the Famicoms Western counterpart, the Nintendo Entertainment System, dominated the gaming market in North America, thanks in part to its restrictive licensing agreements with developers. The company had an estimated 65% of 1987 hardware sales in the market, Atari Corporation had 24%, Sega had 8%. Nintendo sold seven million NES systems in 1988, almost as many as the number of Commodore 64s sold in its first five years, as Computer Gaming World reported in 1992, No matter how fast your 486 is, you still cant play Super Mario XVII on it. The kids who dont have access to videogames are as culturally isolated as the kids in our own generation whose parents refused to buy a TV, Nintendos market domination, while overwhelming in sheer number of units sold, was not global. Although the NES dominated the market in Japan and North America, Segas Master System made large inroads in Europe, Oceania and Brazil, the Atari 7800 also had a fairly successful life in the United States. Sega was Nintendos main competitor during the era in terms of market share for console units sold, in the following generation, Nintendo would also introduce the Game Boy, which almost single-handedly solidified and then proceeded to dominate the previously scattered handheld market for 15 years. Since the Game Boys release, Nintendo had dominated the handheld market, additionally two popular 8-bit computers, the Commodore 64 and Amstrad CPC, were repackaged as the Commodore 64 Games System and Amstrad GX4000 respectively, for entry into the console market. This era contributed many influential aspects to the history of the development of video games, the third generation saw the release of many of the first console role-playing video games. Editing and censorship of video games was used in localizing Japanese games to North America. During this era, many of the most famous video game franchises of all time were founded that outlived the third generation, some examples are Super Mario Bros. Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest, Metroid, Mega Man, Metal Gear, Castlevania, Phantasy Star, Megami Tensei, Ninja Gaiden, the third generation also saw the dawn of the childrens educational console market
40.
Yakuza
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Yakuza, also known as gokudō, are members of transnational organized crime syndicates originating in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan, the yakuza are notorious for their strict codes of conduct and organized fiefdom-nature. They have a presence in the Japanese media and operate internationally with an estimated 102,000 members. Tekiya were considered one of the lowest social groups in Edo, as they began to form organizations of their own, they took over some administrative duties relating to commerce, such as stall allocation and protection of their commercial activities. During Shinto festivals, these peddlers opened stalls and some members were hired to act as security, each peddler paid rent in exchange for a stall assignment and protection during the fair. The Edo government eventually formally recognized such tekiya organizations and granted the oyabun of tekiya a surname as well as permission to carry a sword—the wakizashi and this was a major step forward for the traders, as formerly only samurai and noblemen were allowed to carry swords. Bakuto had a lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at the edge of towns, most of these gambling houses ran loan sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their own security personnel. The roots of the yakuza can still be today in initiation ceremonies. During the formation of the yakuza, they adopted the traditional Japanese hierarchical structure of oyabun-kobun where kobun owe their allegiance to the oyabun, in a much later period, the code of jingi was developed where loyalty and respect are a way of life. The oyabun-kobun relationship is formalized by ceremonial sharing of sake from a single cup and this ritual is not exclusive to the yakuza—it is also commonly performed in traditional Japanese Shinto weddings, and may have been a part of sworn brotherhood relationships. However, after the war, the yakuza adapted again, prospective yakuza come from all walks of life. The most romantic tales tell how yakuza accept sons who have been abandoned or exiled by their parents, many yakuza start out in junior high school or high school as common street thugs or members of bōsōzoku gangs. Perhaps because of its lower status, numerous yakuza members come from Burakumin. Yakuza groups are headed by an oyabun or kumichō who gives orders to his subordinates, in this respect, the organization is a variation of the traditional Japanese senpai-kōhai model. Members of yakuza gangs cut their ties and transfer their loyalty to the gang boss. They refer to other as family members - fathers and elder and younger brothers. The yakuza is populated almost entirely by men, and there are few women involved who are called ane-san
41.
Capcom
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Capcom Co. Ltd. or Capcom, is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. Originally established in 1979, it has become an international enterprise with subsidiaries in North America, Europe. Capcoms first predecessor, I. R. M Corporation, was founded on May 30,1979 by Kenzo Tsujimoto, Tsujimoto named I. R. M after his other company Irem Corporation which he founded earlier in 1974 and remained with until 1983. In January 1989, the old affiliate company Capcom Co. Ltd. merged with Sambi Co. Ltd. resulting in the current Japanese branch. While Capcoms first product was the coin-operated Little League from July 1983, its first real video game, since then, Capcom has created 15 multi-million-selling game series, the most successful of which is Resident Evil. Capcom has been noted as the last major publisher to be committed to 2D games, the companys continued commitment to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as its platform of choice caused them to lag behind other leading publishers in developing 3D-capable arcade boards. In 1994, Capcom adapted its Street Fighter series of fighting games into a film of the same name, while commercially successful, the production received almost universal criticism. A2002 adaptation of its Resident Evil series faced similar criticism but was successful in theaters. The company sees films as a way to build sales for its video games, Capcom partnered with Nyu Media in 2011 to publish and distribute the Japanese independent games that Nyu localized into the English language. In August 27,2014, Capcom filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Koei Tecmo Games at the Osaka District Court for 980 million yen in damage, Capcom claimed Koei Tecmo Games infringed a patent it obtained in 2002 regarding play feature of the video games. Later, games developed internally used to be created by several numbered Production Studios, in addition to these internal teams, Capcom also commissions outside development studios to ensure a steady output of titles. It also has the Ueno Facility, an office in Iga. The international Capcom Group currently encompasses 15 subsidiaries in Japan, North America, Europe, affiliated companies include Koko Capcom Co. Ltd. in South Korea, Street Fighter Film, LLC in the United States, and Dellgamadas Co. Ltd. Suleputer, a marketing and music label established in cooperation with Sony Music Entertainment Intermedia in 1998, publishes CDs, DVDs. Capcom also owns numerous arcade game known as Plaza Capcom, including one in Narita, Futtsu. An annual private media summit called Captivate, renamed from Gamers Day in 2008, is used as a platform for new game. Capcom launched its Street Fighter franchise in 1987, the series of fighting games are among the most popular in their genre, and have sold over 30 million units. That same year,1987, the company introduced its Mega Man series, selling nearly 30 million units, the series serves as Capcoms flagship franchise
42.
Konami
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Konami Holdings Corporation is a Japanese entertainment company. It operates as a distributor, which produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and arcade cabinets. It also operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan, Konami is the twentieth-largest game company in the world by revenue. The company was founded in 1969 as a rental and repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan, by Kagemasa Kōzuki. The name Konami is a conjunction of the names Kagemasa Kozuki, Yoshinobu Nakama, Konami is currently headquartered in Tokyo. In the United States, Konami manages its video game business from offices in El Segundo, California and its casino gaming business from offices in Paradise and its Australian gaming operations are located in Sydney. As of March 2016, it owns 21 consolidated subsidiaries around the world, March 21,1969 - Kagemasa Kozuki founded a jukebox rental/repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka. March 19,1973 - Kozuki transformed the business into Konami Industry Co. Ltd. and their first actual game machine was not created until 1978, and they began exporting products to the United States the following year. May 1980 - Konami moved their headquarters to Toyonaka, Osaka, March 1981 - The Konami logo was established. A new logo with the name in italics was released in 1986 and was altered in 1998 from italics to Roman text, in 2003, Konami introduced a new logo for the companys 30th anniversary. The company also introduced the new tagline, Bikkuri, which is marketed as Be Creative, October 1982 - Konami began manufacturing and selling PC games. November 1982 - Konami of America, Inc. was established in Torrance, in 2003, Konami of America closed down their arcade division due to heavy losses, the entire Buffalo Grove, Illinois location was shut down along with it. All machine inquiries and new machines would thereafter be handled by Betson Enterprises, as of 2007, Konami Corporation of America has moved its U. S. head office once again from Redwood City to Konami Digital Entertainments office in El Segundo, California. November 1983 - Konami began producing MSX games and they would go on to become one of the most prolific game developer to support the platform during the next seven years, releasing a total of 70 titles on both, the original MSX and the MSX2. Their MSX games included such as Antarctic Adventure, the Knightmare trilogy. Most notably Hideo Kojimas earliest games, the original Metal Gear, Snatcher and Metal Gear 2, may 1984 - Konami Ltd. was established in the United Kingdom. In October 1984, Konami was listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Securities Exchange, subsequent stock listings include Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and the Nikkei Stock Average. In December 1984, Konami GmbH was established in Germany, April 1985 - Konami began manufacturing and selling Family Computer video games
43.
Tecmo
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Tecmo Co. Ltd. was a Japanese video game corporation founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Tecmo is known for the Star Force, Dead or Alive, Ninja Gaiden, Deception, Monster Rancher, Rygar, Tecmo Bowl, Fatal Frame, Tōkidenshō Angel Eyes and Gallop Racer video game series. When it was still called Tehkan, the company released arcade games such as Bomb Jack, the company was founded on July 31,1967 as a real estate company of yachts but with roots dating three years earlier as a supplier of cleaning equipment. In 1969, it started to sell amusement equipment, in 2009, Tecmo merged with Koei to form the holding company Tecmo Koei Holdings and was operated as a subsidiary until its disbandment in early 2010. In April 2010, Tecmo was dissolved and its game franchises are now published by Koei Tecmo Games. Tecmo is also the name of a video game development company that was established in March 2010. As of 2014, the Tecmo brand continues to be used on Koei Tecmo Games video games, the origins of Tecmo dates to September 1964 as The Empire Trustee Corporation, a company specialized in the management of building maintenance including the supplying of cleaning equipment. In July 31,1967, a company, the Nippon Yacht Corporation was established to handle the real estate of ships. In July 1969, the company started to sell entertainment amusement equipment, in October 1977, the Empire Trustee Corporation was renamed Tekhan Ltd, with the trade name changed as well to Tekhan. Tekhan derives from the name Teikoku Kanza, in March 1981, a U. S. division was inaugurated in Los Angeles as U. S. Tehkan, Inc. A month later, on April 1981, Tehkan released in Japan its first internally developed video game titled Pleiads. In December 6,1982, Nippon Yacht Co, Ltd was renamed Tekhan Electronics Corporation, on January 8,1986, Tehkan Ltd officially changed its name to Tecmo Co, Ltd. Tecmos first internally developed video game Mighty Bomb Jack was released for the Family Computer in April 1986. On April 1,1987, Tekhan Electronics Corporation merged with sister company Tecmo, although Tekhan Electronics Corporation was the surviving company, it was the Tecmo name that was retained. The company exited the real estate of buildings and ships, by the turn of the decade, Tecmo was firmly in the camp of video game consoles. Though still involved in the industry, much of the success was achieved on the Nintendo Entertainment System with titles such as Ninja Gaiden, Tecmo Bowl. When Sony released its PlayStation in the 1990s, Tecmo joined the endeavor which set the tone for such as Dead or Alive, Monster Rancher, Deception
44.
Square (company)
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Square Co. Ltd. was a Japanese video game company founded in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto. It merged with Enix in 2003 and became Square Enix, the company also used SquareSoft as a brand name to refer to their games, and the term is occasionally used to refer to the company itself. In addition, Squaresoft, Inc was the name of the companys American arm before the merger, after which it was renamed to Square Enix, Square was founded in Yokohama in September 1983 by Masafumi Miyamoto after he graduated from Waseda, one of Japans top universities. Back then, Square was a game software division of Den-Yu-Sha. Squares first two titles were The Death Trap and its sequel Will, The Death Trap II, both designed by part-time employee Hironobu Sakaguchi and released on the NEC PC-8801. Despite an initial reluctance to develop for video game consoles, Square entered the Nintendo Famicom market in December 1985 with the porting of Thexder, in September 1986, Square spun off from Den-Yu-Sha and became an independent company officially named Square Co. Ltd. Sakaguchi then became an employee as the Director of Planning. With 400,000 copies sold, Final Fantasy spawned multiple sequels over the years, by late 1994 they had developed a reputation as a producer of high quality role-playing video games. Final Fantasy VII was one of games, and it sold 9.8 million copies. On February 8,2001, due to its first quarterly loss since going public, three key figures have been moved around in the company ranks, resigning from their current positions in order to take responsibility for the losses, and have been reassigned to different positions. Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of the Final Fantasy series, will no longer be vice president, additionally, company president Tomoyuki Takeshi will become a contractual consultant for the company, with director Masahi Hiramatsu now taking the role of executive consultant. With the company in its year of financial loss, Square approached Sony for a capital injection and on October, 8th 2001. In an interview with GIA. com in 2001, when asked Are you ever worried that Square will become too dependent on the Final Fantasy name. Hironobu Sakaguchi responded that Avoiding that has actually been one of Squares goals for a long time and it is our aim to try and develop a few more major franchises for the company, that has always been on our minds. Source codes and resources will be shared for efficiency, and employees will receive varying bonuses depending on the profit of their division, by settling developers into groups, Square also aims for the developers to re-use the titles they have developed, making game development more cost efficient. Development costs- originally 2-3 Billion yen, are expected to fall to 1 Billion yen, in addition, the company revealed plans to release two Final Fantasy X spinoffs that would later become Final Fantasy X-2. Following the success of both Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts, the company recovered to stability and the company recorded the highest operating margin in its history in fiscal year 2002. It was announced on November 25,2002 that Square and Enixs previous plans to merge were to officially proceed, as described by Yoichi Wada Square has also fully recovered, meaning this merger is occurring at a time when both companies are at their height
45.
Koei
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Koei Co. Ltd. is a Japanese video game publisher, developer, and distributor founded in 1978. The company is known for its historical simulation games based on the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Koei also owned a division known as Ruby Party, which focused in dating sim games. On April 1,2009, Koei merged with Tecmo to form the Tecmo Koei Holdings holding company, Koei changed its name to Tecmo Koei Games on April 1,2010 by absorbing Tecmo, and again on July 1,2014 to Koei Tecmo Games. As of 2017, Koei Tecmo Games continues to use the Koei brand, Koei was established in July 1978 by Yōichi Erikawa and Keiko Erikawa. Yoichi was a student at Keio University, and when his familys rural dyestuffs business failed he decided to pursue his interest in programming, the company to this day is located in the Hiyoshi area of Yokohama along with Erikawas alma mater. The company initially focused on personal computer sales and made-to-order business software, in 1983 it released Nobunagas Ambition, a historical strategy game set during the Sengoku period of Japanese history. In 1988, Koei established a North American subsidiary, Koei America Corporation, after Hedlunds departure, this subsidiary ceased game development in 1995, focusing instead on localization, sales and marketing. A Canadian subsidiary, Koei Canada, Inc. was established in early 2001, Koei also maintains subsidiaries in mainland China, Korea, Taiwan and Lithuania. Recently, Koei created a Singapore branch for game development such as Sangokushi Online, all Koei operations in English in turn ceased in 2012, with the previously unannounced closing of Koeis North American support forums and website. They resumed in 2016, with the English language PC release of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII, Koeis Ruby Party division specializes on games labeled as Neoromance, GxB dating sims, usually with extra side-quests. Out of the three Neoromance series, the best known is Angelique, which has been in production since 1994, harukanaru Toki no Naka de is a newer Neoromance hit, with many sequels and an anime TV series based on it. The newest game in the series, Kiniro no Corda, is gaining popularity partially because the series it was based on, has been recently licensed by Viz for English language publishing. It gaining more popularity though, and a television series based on it began airing in October 2006. A sequel was released on the PlayStation 2 in March 2007. On September 4,2008, Koei announced that it was in talks to purchase ailing competitor Tecmo and they agreed in November 2008 to merge on April 1,2009 to form Tecmo Koei Holdings. On January 26,2009 the two companies approved the merger, the company formed on April 1,2009 as planned. On April 1,2010, Koei absorbed Tecmo and renamed itself Tecmo Koei Games, Koeis subsidiaries in the United States, Europe and Korea already had their names changed months before the Japanese parent. Koei continues as a brand within Tecmo Koei Games, Koei has built a large base of franchises, and has developed on various consoles and computers
46.
Enix
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Enix Corporation was a Japanese video game publisher that produced video games, anime and manga. Enix is known for publishing the Dragon Quest series of role-playing video games, the company was founded by Yasuhiro Fukushima on September 22,1975, as Eidansha Boshu Service Center and renamed Enix in 1982. The name is a play on the phoenix, a mythical bird that is reborn from its own ashes, and ENIAC. The company absorbed Square in 2003 and renamed itself Square Enix, in 2008, Square Enix became a holding company known as Square Enix Holdings and transferred its video game operations to a new subsidiary. Enix was founded on September 22,1975 as Eidansha Boshu Service Center by Japanese architect-turned-entrepreneur Yasuhiro Fukushima, the company initially published tabloids that advertised real estate. After a failed attempt to go nationwide in 1982, the newly renamed Enix began its foray into the market by holding a personal computer game programming contest. One of the winners was Love Match Tennis, created by Yuji Horii and it would go to become one of the companys first PC releases. Another winner was the puzzle game Door Door by Koichi Nakamura, the game was subsequently ported to the Nintendo Family Computer, but never saw any form of release outside Japan. Nakamura would stay on board as one Enixs key programmers, over the next few years, Enix published several video games for various Japanese home computer systems. Rather than developing games within its own company, Enix would continue to outsource the production of its games to other developers through the use of royalties, Enix is perhaps most famous for publishing the Dragon Quest series of console games developed by Chunsoft. Key members of the staff consisted of director Koichi Nakamura, writer Yuuji Horii, artist Akira Toriyama. The first game in the Famicom-based RPG series was released in 1986, in 1991, Enix registered its stock with the Japan Securities Dealers Association, later known as JASDAQ. Enix soon began publishing manga from its shonen magazine Monthly Shōnen Gangan, the company established ties with more video game developers and would go on to publish several games for fourth, fifth, and sixth generation game consoles. This caused a significant rise in stock for both Enix and Sony, by November 1999, Enix was listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchanges 1st section, indicating it as a large company. In June 2001, Enix expressed interest in partnering with both Square and Namco in online ventures to deal with mounting development costs. That same month, Enix invested in the company Game Arts, despite Enixs marketing of Dragon Quest VII in 1999, the game was delayed numerous times and not released until 2000. As a result, the game didnt contribute to the fiscal year 1999, cutting the companys previous profit-to-sales ratio in half, Enix was further hurt by a delay of Dragon Quest Monsters 2 in Japan in 2001, dropping its first-half 2001 fiscal year profit by 89. 71%. Enixs competitor Square also suffered financially in 2001, mainly from the box office failure of its feature film Final Fantasy and this made Enix hesitant to join with the company
Super NES Programming at Wikibooks
