1.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
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Counter-Strike, Global Offensive is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Hidden Path Entertainment and Valve Corporation. It is the game in the main Counter-Strike franchise. Counter-Strike, Global Offensive was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox 360 and it features classic content, such as revamped versions of classic maps, as well as brand new maps, characters and game modes. The gameplay in Global Offensive is similar to that of previous games in the Counter-Strike series in the sense that it is an objective-based multiplayer first-person shooter. At the start of every round players get the opportunity to purchase weapons, winning rounds results in more money than losing, and completing objectives such as killing enemy players results in more money. Negative actions, such as killing teammates, will result in a penalty, Matchmaking is supported for all online game modes through the Steam software, and because it is a Valve game, it runs Valve Anti-Cheat to prevent hackers. In the competitive modes, players are encouraged to act more strategically in CS, when playing competitively, each player has a rank based on their skill level and will be paired up with and against players of around the same skill level. Prime Matchmaking is available to players who have verified their account by inputting their phone number and these servers may be heavily modified and in turn, can be completely different from the base game. There have been many community made mods for CS, GO, there are six different game modes in CS, GO. These consist of Competitive, Casual, Arms Race, Demolition, Deathmatch, all of these options have both online or offline options except the Weapons Course, which is offline only. Competitive mode is the most serious, with players being put into a 5v5 match that takes around 45 minutes to complete, Arms Race mode is similar to the Gun Game mod for other games in the series. It consists of racing to upgrade their guns via killing enemies. Casual mode is a version of the Competitive mode as it has both team damage and collision disabled. In Deathmatch mode, there is no real objective except to kill the enemy players, players instaspawn after death, meaning the action is almost continuous. It is most popularly used to practice and learn how all of the guns function, the Weapons Course is an offline practice mode designed to help new players learn how to use the basic items, such as grenades and guns. CS, GO added new weapons and equipment not seen in previous installments and these temporarily cover a small area in fire, dealing damage to anyone passing through. The game also saw the introduction of the Zeus taser and a range of new guns, including shotguns, pistols, two new game modes, Arms Race and Demolition, were added, along with a total of eight new maps for said game modes. Both of these modes are variations of mods for the other games in the Counter-Strike series
2.
Dota 2
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Dota 2 is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Valve Corporation. The game is the sequel to Defense of the Ancients. Dota 2 is played in matches between two teams that consist of five players, with both teams occupying their own base on the map. Each of the ten players independently control a character, known as a hero. During a match, a player and their team collects experience points, a team wins by being the first to destroy a large structure located in the opposing teams base, called the Ancient. Development of Dota 2 began in 2009 when IceFrog, the lead designer of the original Defense of the Ancients mod, was hired by Valve to create a modern sequel. Dota 2 was officially released on Steam in July 2013 for Microsoft Windows, OS X, despite some criticism going towards its steep learning curve and complexity, the game was praised for its rewarding gameplay, production quality, and faithfulness to its predecessor. The game initially used the original Source game engine until it was ported over to Source 2 in 2015, since its release, Dota 2 has been the most played game on Steam, with peaks of over a million concurrent players. The popularity of the game has led to merchandise being produced for it, including apparel, accessories. The game also allows for the community to create custom game modes, maps, and cosmetics for the heroes, Dota 2 has a widespread and active competitive scene, with teams from across the world playing professionally in various dedicated leagues and tournaments. Premium Dota 2 tournaments often have prize pools totaling millions of US dollars, the largest of them is known as The International, which is produced by Valve and held annually at the KeyArena in Seattle. Valve also sponsors smaller, but more frequently held tournaments known as the Majors, for larger tournaments, media coverage is done by a selection of on-site staff who provide commentary and analysis for the ongoing matches, similar to traditional sporting events. Broadcasts of professional Dota 2 matches are streamed live over the internet, as in Defense of the Ancients, the game is controlled using standard real-time strategy controls, and is presented on a single map in a three-dimensional isometric perspective. Ten players each control one of the games 113 playable characters, known as heroes, with each having their own design, benefits, Heroes are divided into two primary roles, known as the carry and support. Carries, which are also called cores, begin each match as weak and vulnerable, supports generally lack abilities that deal heavy damage, instead having ones with more functionality and utility that provide assistance for their carries. All heroes have a basic damage-dealing attack, in addition to powerful abilities, each hero has at least four abilities, all of which are unique, which are the primary method of fighting. The most powerful ability for each hero is known as their ultimate, in order to prevent abilities from being spammed without consequence, a magic system in the game exists. Activating an ability costs a hero some of their mana points, using an ability will also cause it to enter a cooldown phase, in which the ability can not be used again until a timer counts down to zero
3.
FIFA (video game series)
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FIFA, also known as FIFA Football or FIFA Soccer, is a series of association football video games or football simulator, released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. When the series began in late 1993, it was notable for being the first to have a licence from FIFA. The latest installments in the series contain many exclusively-licensed leagues including leagues and teams from around the world, in addition, internationally popular clubs from around the world, including some teams from Greece and South Africa, without those nations entire leagues. As of FIFA17, Marco Reus of Borussia Dortmund, is the face of the franchise, appearing on the front cover of the series and in promotional campaigns and he replaced Lionel Messi, who appeared on four straight covers from FIFA13 to FIFA16. As of 2011, the FIFA franchise has been localised into 18 languages, the series has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling sports video game franchise in the world, and one of the best-selling video game franchises. Also, FIFA12 holds the record for the fastest selling game ever with over 3.2 million games sold. The franchises latest release is FIFA17, released on September 27,2016 in North America and it is available for multiple gaming systems, including the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, among others. While FIFA95 did not add other than the ability to play with club teams. FIFA97 improved on this with polygonal models for players and added an indoor soccer mode and this version featured much improved graphics, a complete World Cup with qualifying rounds and refined gameplay. Months later, World Cup 98, was EAs first officially-licensed tournament game, FIFA games have been met with some minor criticism, such as improvements each game features over its predecessor. As the console market is expanding, FIFA is being challenged directly by other such as Konamis Pro Evolution Soccer series. Both FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer have a following but FIFA sales is rising as much as 23 percent year-on-year. In 2010, the FIFA series had sold over 100 million copies, making it the sports video game franchise in the world. With FIFA12 selling 3.2 million copies in the first week after its September 27 North American debut in 2011, in 2012, EA Sports signed Lionel Messi to the FIFA franchise, luring him away from the competitor Pro Evolution Soccer. Messis likeness was then placed on the cover of FIFA Street. In 2013, the Spanish professional womens footballer Vero Boquete started a petition on Change. org, the petition attracted 20,000 signatures in 24 hours. FIFA16, released on 25 September 2015, included female national teams, tagline, FIFA International Soccer has it all. This greatly hyped football title broke with traditional 16-bit era games by presenting an isometric view rather than the more usual top-down view, side view and it only includes national teams, and real player names are not used
4.
Hearthstone (video game)
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Hearthstone, originally known as Hearthstone, Heroes of Warcraft, is a free-to-play online collectible card video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. Having been released worldwide on March 11,2014, Hearthstone builds upon the already existing lore of the Warcraft series by using the elements, characters. It was first released for Microsoft Windows and macOS, with support for iOS, the game features cross-platform play, allowing players on any device to compete with each other, restricted only by geographical region account limits. The game is a card game between two opponents, using constructed decks of thirty cards along with a selected hero with a unique power. Players use mana points to cast spells or summon minions to attack the opponent, winning matches can earn in-game gold, rewards in the form of new cards, and other in-game prizes. Players can then buy packs of new cards through gold or microtransactions to customize, the game features several modes of play, including casual and ranked matches, as well as daily quests and weekly challenges to help earn more gold and cards. In contrast to games developed by Blizzard, Hearthstone was an experimental game developed by a smaller team based on the appreciation of collectible card games at the company. Many of the concepts as well as art assets were based on previously published in the physical World of Warcraft Trading Card Game printed around 2008. The game has been reviewed by critics and proven successful for Blizzard. By April 2016, Blizzard has reported more than 50 million Hearthstone players, the game has become popular as an eSport, with cash-prize tournaments hosted by Blizzard and other organizers. Hearthstone is a collectible card game that revolves around turn-based matches between two opponents using pre-made decks of cards from their collection. Players can choose from a number of modes, with each offering a slightly different experience. Blizzard has added new cards sets through Expansions and Adventures, roughly three times a year, to increase the pool of available cards, Hearthstone is set within the Warcraft universe, with its characters, spells and locations drawing from existing lore. Each player is represented by a hero, a character from Warcraft lore representing one of nine specific classes. The classes are defined by their unique power that can be used during a players turn. The game features modes of gameplay. The standard Play mode allows players to other players or computer opponents. Solo Adventures allow players to complete challenges against computer opponents, often with unique conditions, cards, or powers, the boss encounters feature unique dialogue elements
5.
Heroes of the Storm
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Heroes of the Storm is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment for Microsoft Windows and macOS. The game features heroes from Blizzards franchises including Warcraft, Diablo, StarCraft, The Lost Vikings, the game uses both free-to-play and freemium models and is supported by micropayments, which can be used to purchase heroes, visual alterations for the heroes in the game, and mounts. The game was released on June 2,2015, Heroes of the Storm revolves around online 5-versus-5 matches, operated through Blizzards online gaming service Battle. net. Players can choose from three modes, which include playing with/against computer-controlled heroes or other players. Four additional free hero slots are available to players who have reached level 15, as of March 2017, there are currently 64 heroes in the game, divided into 4 separate roles, Assassin, Warrior, Support and Specialist. Varian Wrynn from the Warcraft universe, added in November 2016, is the first multiclass hero, he can be either a Warrior or Assassin depending on his talent choices. Of the currently released maps, nine of the 12 have the three main lanes where players can fight, while the others have only two main lanes, but a separate objective-based area. Killing computer-controlled enemy/neutral units and the opposing sides heroes grants experience points, when a certain experience point threshold is reached for a team, every hero on that team levels up, acquiring slightly amplified powers and gaining a talent point upon reaching certain levels. Talent points allow players to customize and empower their heros abilities and this leveling system emphasizes the importance of teamwork and planning, since a players action can affect the whole team. Players can also mount different animals, such as horses, lizards, or unicorns, to increase their movement speed, minions at neutral camps can be defeated to gain experience points, and become mercenaries that fight for the players team. Each map has a different side-objective that will help either team, in non-draft modes, players choose their heroes in a party before entering the game or knowing what map they are playing. In draft modes, teams play the same heroes as the opposing team. However, they can base their decision around the map that is announced during the draft period, draft mode allows each team to ban two heroes each, removing them from the match. Tutorials - The tutorials are composed of three scripted levels that are aimed at new players with the intent of teaching them movement, use of abilities and other basic controls. The player controls Jim Raynor, who is teleported from the StarCraft universe into the Nexus, training - A reduced XP mode where a player plays with four AI teammates against five AI opponents set at the Beginner difficulty. - Players face off against five AI opponents, before beginning, the player can choose to have human-controlled or AI allies. Like in StarCraft II, the AI difficulty can be chosen prior to initiating a match, quick Match - This mode sets two teams of five human-controlled heroes against each other on one of the twelve maps in Player-Versus-Player style combat. These teams are selected based on the players past performance to create a playing field
6.
League of Legends
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League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and macOS. The game follows a model and is supported by microtransactions. In League of Legends, players assume the role of an unseen summoner that controls a champion with unique abilities and battle against a team of other players or computer-controlled champions. The goal is usually to destroy the opposing teams nexus, a structure which lies at the heart of a protected by defensive structures. Each League of Legends match is discrete, with all champions starting off fairly weak but increasing in strength by accumulating items, the champions and setting blend a variety of elements, including high fantasy, steampunk, folklore, and Lovecraftian horror. League of Legends was generally well received at release, and has grown in popularity, by July 2012, League of Legends was the most played PC game in North America and Europe in terms of the number of hours played. As of January 2014, over 67 million people played League of Legends per month,27 million per day, and over 7.5 million concurrently during peak hours. League has among the largest footprints of any game in streaming media communities on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. tv, in September 2016 the company estimated that there are over 100 million active players each month. The games popularity has led it to expand into merchandise, with toys, accessories, apparel, as well as tie-ins to other media through music videos, web series, documentaries, League of Legends has an active and widespread competitive scene. In North America and Europe, Riot Games organizes the League Championship Series, located in Los Angeles and Berlin respectively, similar regional competitions exist in China, South Korea, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, and various other regions. These regional competitions culminate with the annual World Championship, the 2016 World Championship had 43 million unique viewers and a total prize pool of over 6 million USD. League of Legends is a 3D, third-person multiplayer online battle arena game, the game consists of 3 current running game modes, Summoners Rift, Twisted Treeline, and Howling Abyss. Another game mode, The Crystal Scar, has since been removed, players compete in matches, lasting anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes. Ultimate abilities are more powerful than regular abilities and thus have much longer cooldowns. A champions full set of abilities is referred to as its kit, the use of champions abilities is limited by cooldowns and a resource. If a champion runs out of their resource, they cannot cast spells, even if they are off cooldown, some champions do not have a resource, being limited only by cooldowns, and others have ways of restoring their respective resource. The rate at which a champion can basic attack is determined by their attack speed, some champions additionally use ammo and must reload after enacting a certain number of basic attacks. Champions begin every match at one, and then gain experience over the course of the match to achieve a maximum level of 18
7.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
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StarCraft II, Wings of Liberty is a military science fiction real-time strategy video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. The game is set four years after the events of 1998s StarCraft, Brood War, the game includes both new and returning characters and locations from the original game. The game was met very positive reviews from critics, receiving an aggregated score of 93% from Metacritic. Similar to its predecessor, StarCraft II was praised for its gameplay, as well as its introduction of new features. The game was criticized for lacking features that existed in the original StarCraft game including LAN play, at the time of its release, StarCraft II became the fastest-selling real-time strategy game, with over three million copies sold worldwide in the first month. StarCraft II features the return of the three species from the game, Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. In a departure from previous Blizzard games, the campaign is non-linear, with Raynor taking jobs for money and using money to buy additional units. Although each play through will vary, the end result remains consistent, Blizzards Vice President Rob Pardo stressed that each campaign will function very differently. The Terran campaign, Wings of Liberty, places players in a mercenary-style campaign, the second release, Heart of the Swarm, is Zerg-focused and has role-playing elements. Kerrigan is the focus of the campaign, and the story revolves around the possibility of her redemption, the Protoss-themed Legacy of the Void will be the final expansion, with the Protoss Artanis attempting to reunite the Protoss tribes in order to stop Amon, a fallen XelNaga. Wings of Liberty has 29 playable campaign missions, but only 26 of them are playable in a single playthrough since three missions are choice-related alternates. There is one secret mission named Piercing the Shroud, which can be unlocked on the Media Blitz mission, There is also a series of four missions in which the player plays as the Protoss in reliving the memory of Zeratul. In another mission, enemy units will attack the player at night. Finally, in one mission, the player must use a unit to influence the tide of an AI-controlled battle. The single player missions are highly customizable and are featured in the StarCraft II Community Zone, between missions, players can choose units, buildings, and upgrades that are not available in the multiplayer missions. A major new addition to the community is the StarCraft II Arcade. Lead Designer Dustin Browder has mentioned that even maps like player-created Defense of the Ancients in Warcraft III would not meet the quality requirements to be branded as a premium map, Wings of Liberty features approximately the same number of units as the original StarCraft. Some units from the game have returned, some featuring new upgrades and abilities
8.
Street Fighter
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Street Fighter, commonly abbreviated as SF or スト, is a fighting video game franchise by Capcom. The second game in the series is credited with establishing many of the conventions of the fighting genre. The games playable characters originate from different countries around the world and it is Capcoms second best-selling franchise, having had significant success worldwide. The first game in the series was released in 1987, Street Fighter, designed by Takashi Nishiyama and Hiroshi Matsumoto, made its debut in arcades, in 1987. In this game, the player control of martial artist Ryu. A second player can join in at any time and take control of Ryus American rival, the player can perform three types of punch and kick attacks, each varying in speed and strength, and three special attacks, the Hadouken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. These are performed by executing special button combinations with the controls, Street Fighter was ported to many popular home computer systems of the time, like the PC. In 1988, it was released on the NEC Avenue TurboGrafx-CD console under the name Fighting Street, Street Fighter was also later included in Capcom Classics Collection, Remixed for the PlayStation Portable and Capcom Classics Collection Vol.2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Street Fighter II, The World Warrior was released in 1991 and this release followed an unsuccessful attempt to brand the 1989 beat em up game Final Fight and the officially commissioned spin-off Human Killing Machine as Street Fighter sequels. It was one of the earliest arcade games for Capcoms CP System hardware and was designed by Akira Nishitani and Akira Yasuda, Street Fighter II is the first one-on-one fighting game to give players a choice from a variety of player characters with different moves. The choice of available characters allows for more varied matches. As in the original, a player could join in at any point during single player mode. The original Japanese version of Street Fighter II introduced an African-American boxer boss character, sharing the physical characteristics, in order to avoid a likeness infringement lawsuit from Tyson, Capcom rotated the names of three of the boss characters for international versions of the game. Street Fighter II eclipsed its predecessor in popularity, eventually turning Street Fighter into a multimedia franchise, the release of the game had an unexpected impact on gaming and was the beginning of a massive phenomenon. By 1993, sales of Street Fighter II exceeded $1.5 billion in revenue, by 1995, Street Fighter II and Street Fighter II, Champion Edition arcade machines had exceeded $2.312 billion in gross revenue. In addition, the game console ports sold more than 14 million copies for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The first official update to the series was Street Fighter II, Champion Edition, pronounced Street Fighter II Dash in Japan, in this game, players are allowed to play as the four computer-controlled boss characters and two players are able to choose the same character. In this case, one wears a alternate color pattern
9.
Super Smash Bros.
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Super Smash Bros. is a series of crossover fighting games published by Nintendo, that primarily features characters from franchises established on its systems. All five games have been directed by Masahiro Sakurai, the gameplay objective differs from that of traditional fighters by aiming to knock opponents off of the stage instead of depleting life bars. The original Super Smash Bros. released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64, had a budget and was originally a Japan-only release. The series achieved even greater success with the release of Super Smash Bros, Melee, which was released in 2001 for the GameCube and became the best-selling game on that system. A third installment, Super Smash Bros, Brawl, was released in 2008 for the Wii. Although HAL Laboratory has been the developer of the first two titles, the game was developed through the collaboration of several companies. The fourth and fifth installments, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, were released in 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the 3DS installment was the first series title to be released on a handheld platform. The series features characters from Nintendos most popular franchises, including Mario, Fox McCloud, Link, Kirby, Samus Aran. The original Super Smash Bros. had 12 playable characters, and the count has risen to 26 characters in Melee,39 in Brawl. Some characters are able to transform into different forms that have different styles of play, the games also feature non-playable Nintendo characters, like Ridley and Petey Piranha. In Brawl, two third-party characters were added, Solid Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog, additional third-party characters Mega Man, Pac-Man, Ryu, Cloud Strife and Bayonetta appeared in 3DS and Wii U, while Solid Snake was removed from the line-up. Every title in the series has been received by critics. The Super Smash Bros. games have spawned a large community and have been featured in several high-profile gaming tournaments. Super Smash Bros. was introduced in 1999 for the Nintendo 64 and it was released worldwide after selling over a million copies in Japan. It featured eight characters from the start, with four unlockable characters, in Super Smash Bros. up to four players can play in multiplayer mode, with the specific rules of each match being predetermined by the players. This games one-player mode included one adventure mode that always followed the series of opponents although the player could change the difficulty. Other single player modes exist such as Training and several mini-games, including Break the Targets, all of these were included in the sequel, with the exception of Board the Platforms. Melee was released November 21,2001, in Japan, December 3,2001, in North America, May 24,2002, in Europe, and May 31,2002, in Australia for the GameCube video game console
10.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege
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Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Siege is a first-person tactical shooter video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. Considered as a successor to the now cancelled Tom Clancys Rainbow 6, Patriots, unlike previous entries in the series, the title has no campaign and only offers an online mode. Tom Clancys Rainbow Six Siege is a tactical shooter, in which players take control of an operator from the Rainbow team. Different operators have different nationalities, weapons, and gadgets, the game features an asymmetrical structure whereby the teams are not always balanced in their ability choices. The Counter Terrorism Units available for play include FBIs Hostage Rescue Team, players also have access to a Recruit operator who can choose from a more flexible assortment of equipment at the expense of having no unique gadget. Players pick an operator from any unit before a round starts, an in-game shop allows players to purchase operators using the in-game currency Renown, which is earned at the end of matches from actions performed in-game. The different gameplay modes award renown at different rates, with ranked matches offering the most renown multiplier potential per match, Renown can also be affected with the addition of boosters which give the player a 100% increase in all renown earned for 24 hours. Renown can also be purchased using real world currency, each successive operator that is purchased from a single counter-terrorist unit costs an additional 500 Renown, with DLC operators costing 25,000 renown each. In ranked, when a round begins, the attackers choose one of several points from which to launch their attack. Maps in the game are designed to close quarters combat. This is aimed at encouraging players to utilize teamwork and tactics, matches generally last only a few short minutes. Teamwork and cooperation is encouraged in Siege, and players need to take advantage of their different abilities in order to complete the objective, communications between players are also encouraged. The game features heavy emphasis on environmental destruction, a procedural destruction system is featured in the game. Players can break structures by planting explosives on them, or shoot walls to make bullet holes, the environments of the game feature a layered material system, in which environmental objects of different materials show different reactions to players attack. Players may gain tactical advantages through environmental destruction, and the system aims at encouraging players to utilize creativity, in order to create a realistic gameplay, a bullet penetration system is featured, in which bullets deal less damage when they hit enemies through structures. In order to stop attackers advance, defenders can place traps like barbed-wire, vertical space is a key gameplay element taken into account when designing the games maps. Players can destroy ceilings and floors using breach charges and can ambush enemies by rappelling through windows, powerful weapons like grenades and breach charges are valuable, as only limited numbers can be used in a round. At launch, the game featured 11 maps, and 5 different gameplay modes, with the addition of the four maps from season one as well as the first map from season two there are currently 16 maps with three more slated for release by January 2018
11.
Utrecht
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Utrecht is the capital and most populous city in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the corner of the Randstad conurbation and is the fourth largest city in the Netherlands with a population of 330,772 in 2014. Utrechts ancient city centre features many buildings and structures several dating as far back as the High Middle Ages and it has been the religious centre of the Netherlands since the 8th century. It lost the status of prince-bishopric but remains the religious center in the country. Utrecht was the most important city in the Netherlands until the Dutch Golden Age, Utrecht is host to Utrecht University, the largest university in the Netherlands, as well as several other institutions of higher education. Due to its position within the country, it is an important transport hub for both rail and road transport. It has the second highest number of events in the Netherlands. In 2012, Lonely Planet included Utrecht in the top 10 of the world’s unsung places, a series of such fortresses was built after the Roman emperor Claudius decided the empire should not expand north. To consolidate the border the limes Germanicus defense line was constructed along the branch of the river Rhine. These fortresses were designed to house a cohort of about 500 Roman soldiers, near the fort settlements would grow housing artisans, traders and soldiers wives and children. In Roman times, the name of the Utrecht fortress was simply Traiectum, Traiectum became Dutch Trecht, with the U from Old Dutch uut added to distinguish U-trecht from Maas-tricht. In 11th-century official documents it was Latinized as Ultra Traiectum, around the year 200, the wooden walls of the fortification were replaced by sturdier tuff stone walls, remnants of which are still to be found below the buildings around Dom Square. From the middle of the 3rd century Germanic tribes regularly invaded the Roman territories, around 275 the Romans could no longer maintain the northern border and Utrecht was abandoned. Little is known about the next period 270–650, Utrecht is first spoken of again several centuries after the Romans left. Under the influence of the realms of the Franks, during Dagobert Is reign in the 7th century. In ongoing border conflicts with the Frisians this first church was destroyed, by the mid-7th century, English and Irish missionaries set out to convert the Frisians. The pope appointed their leader, Willibrordus, bishop of the Frisians, the tenure of Willibrordus is generally considered to be the beginning of the Bishopric of Utrecht. In 723, the Frankish leader Charles Martel bestowed the fortress in Utrecht, from then on Utrecht became one of the most influential seats of power for the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands
12.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
13.
Alienware
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Alienware is an American computer hardware subsidiary of Dell. Their products are designed for gaming and can be identified by their alien-themed designs, Alienware was founded in 1996 by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila. The companys corporate headquarters is located in The Hammocks, in Miami, established in 1996 as Sakai of Miami, Inc. by Nelson Gonzalez and Alex Aguila, Alienware assembles desktops, notebooks, workstations, and PC gaming consoles. In 1997, it changed its name to Alienware, Dell had considered buying the Alienware company since 2002, but did not agree to purchase the company until March 22,2006. The new subsidiary retains control of its design and marketing while benefiting from Dells purchasing power, economies of scale, and supply chain, which lowered its operating costs. Initially, Dell maintained its competing XPS line of gaming PCs, often selling computers with similar specifications, due to corporate restructuring in the spring of 2008, the XPS brand was scaled down, and the Desktop line was eliminated leaving only the XPS Notebooks. Product development of gaming PCs was consolidated with Dells gaming division, on June 2,2009, The M17x was introduced as the first Alienware/Dell branded system. This launch also expanded Alienware’s global reach from 6 to 35 countries while supporting 17 different languages, Alienware announced that it will be releasing a series of video game consoles starting in 2014, aiming to compete with the Sony PlayStation, Nintendo Wii U, and the Microsoft Xbox. The first version in this series, the Alpha, will run Windows 8.1, the operating system and ability to play PC games is what separates the Alpha from the eighth generation of video game consoles. At E32016, Alienware announced the second rendition of the Alpha, the R2 adds 6th generation Intel processors, a choice of either the AMD Radeon R9 M470X or Nvidia GeForce 960 graphics cards, and support for Alienwares proprietary Graphics Amplifier. It also ships with Windows 10, the Graphics Amplifier allows an Alienware laptop to run most full length desktop GPUs. Shipped with Intel Sandy Bridge processors and the option of single or dual AMD Radeon 6870M/6970M/6990M Radeon HD6000 Series GPU, factory CPU overclocking was also an available option. Marketed as Alienware 18 but listed in some countries as M18XR3 Viking, the name and some of the design is based on the Alienware 17 inch laptop, the Alienware M17. M17x-R2 -2010 Revision of the M17x, adding support for Intel i5 and i7 processors, m17x-R3 -2011 Revision of the M17x, changes from aluminium chassis to a simplified plastic design, 3D Ready through a 120 Hz screen. M17x-R4 -2012 Revision of the M17x, updated with Windows 8, Intel Ivybridge Processors, Alienware 17 -2013 refresh of the M17x, updated with Intel Haswell Processors and Nvidia GeForce 700 Series GPUs or the AMD R9 M290X with new facelift and body design. Marketed as Alienware 17 but listed in some countries and order details as M17XR5 Ranger, updated with Nvidia GeForce 800 Series in 2014 Alienware 17 R2 -2015 revision of the Alienware 17, updated with Nvidia GeForce 900 Series. Features FHD matte display or FHD touch display, a port on the rear for Graphics Amplifier. This model introduced BGA mounted CPU and GPU, removing the ability to replace the CPU or GPU without changing the entire motherboard, Alienware 17 R3 -2015 refresh of the Alienware 17, Windows 10 available
14.
Crunchyroll
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Crunchyroll is a subsidiary of Ellation, which belongs to Otter Media owned by AT&T and The Chernin Group. Crunchyroll has offices in San Francisco and Tokyo, and is a member of the Association of Japanese Animations, Crunchyroll offers over 800 anime shows, more than 200 Asian dramas to users, and 50 manga titles, although not all programming is available worldwide due to licensing restrictions. Crunchyroll is the worldwide digital distributor for Kadokawa anime titles. In February 2017, Crunchyroll passed one million paid subscribers, Crunchyroll started in 2006 as a for-profit video upload and streaming site that specialized in hosting East Asian video content. Some of the content hosted on Crunchyroll included fansubbed versions of East Asian shows, in 2008, Crunchyroll secured a capital investment of $4.05 million from the venture capital firm Venrock. The investment drew criticism from anime distributors and licensors Bandai Entertainment, however, Crunchyroll eventually began securing legal distribution agreements with companies, including Gonzo, for an increasing number of titles. In 2010, Crunchyroll announced its acquisition of the North American DVD rights to 5 Centimeters Per Second and this was the first DVD release licensed by Crunchyroll. On December 2,2013, The Chernin Group, former News Corp. president Peter Chernins holding company, a person with knowledge of the transaction said the price for the acquisition was close to $100 million. The Chernin Group said that Crunchyroll management and existing investor TV Tokyo will maintain a significant stake in the company, on April 22,2014, AT&T and The Chernin Group announced the formation of a joint venture to acquire, invest in and launch over-the-top video services. Both companies committed over $500 million in funding to the venture, the new company was named Otter Media and became the majority owner of Crunchyroll. On August 3,2015, Variety reported that Otter Media will unveil Ellation, ellations services included VRV, to debut in 2016 and described as targeting geeks, gamers and lovers of comedy, fantasy and technology. On October 22,2015, the Anime News Network reported that Crunchyroll has 700,000 paying subscribers, in addition, the company announced that Crunchyroll and Sumitomo Corporation had created a joint venture to produce and invest in anime productions. It also granted Crunchyroll the right to co-finance Kadokawa anime titles to be produced in the future, on July 1,2016, Crunchyroll announced plans to dub and release a number of series on home video. On September 8,2016, Crunchyroll announced a partnership with Funimation, Crunchyroll will stream selected Funimation titles, while Funimation will stream selected Crunchyroll titles, as well as their upcoming dubbed content. In addition, Funimation and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will act as distributors for Crunchyrolls home video catalog, on February 9,2017, Crunchyroll announced that it had reached one million paid subscribers. On March 30,2017, Crunchyroll began to distribute anime through Steam, access to Crunchyroll is available on desktop browsers, and devices with Windows 10 mobile and PC, Windows Phone, iOS and Android that are connected to a Wi-Fi source. The service also includes two apps available for download, some content requires a paid subscription service, while other content becomes free after a delay, usually a week after availability for the paid members. Some titles are only, based on licensing agreements
15.
HTC
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HTC Corporation is a Taiwanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Xindian District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Founded in 1997, HTC began as an original design manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer, designing and manufacturing such as mobile phones. The HTC Dream, marketed by T-Mobile in many countries as the T-Mobile G1, was the first phone on the market to run Android, HTC later shifted to marketing its own devices, including the HTC One series. In 2011, HTC ranked as the 98th top brand on Interbrands Best Global Brands report, a September 2013 media report stated that HTCs share of the global smartphone market is less than 3 percent. While rising back to 7.2 percent in April 2015 due to its sales of recent devices, its stock price had fallen by 90 percent since 2011. In 2016, HTC expanded into virtual reality hardware with the release of HTC Vive, Cho, and Peter Chou founded HTC in 1997. Initially a manufacturer of computers, HTC began designing some of the worlds first touch. The company is credited with creating the first Android smartphone, the first Microsoft-powered smartphone and their first major product, one of the worlds first touch-screen smartphones, appeared in 2000. As an ODM for HP and Palm, HTC built the HP iPAQ, in 2007 HTC acquired the mobile-device company Dopod International. In October 2010, HTC launched the brand tagline quietly brilliant, in June 2010, the company launched the HTC Evo 4G, the first 4G-capable phone in the United States. In July 2010, HTC announced it would begin selling smartphones in China under its own name in a partnership with China Mobile. In 2010 HTC sold over 24.6 million handsets, up 111% over 2009, in 2011, HTC starting working with Luxgen. Luxgen vehicles are engineered to Think Ahead for their drivers, armed with advanced technology designed by Taiwans global smart phone leader HTC, Luxgen vehicles are equipped with a suite of advanced features to preempt road conditions and potential hazards. All Luxgen vehicles feature a state of the art onboard computer system, dubbed the Think+, at the Mobile World Congress on 16 February 2011, the GSM Association named HTC the Device Manufacturer of the Year for 2011. In April 2011, the market value surpassed that of Nokia, making HTC the third most highly valued smartphone-maker in the world behind Apple. On 6 July 2011, it was announced that HTC would buy VIA Technologies stake in S3 Graphics, on 6 August 2011, HTC acquired Dashwire for $18. 5M. In August 2011, HTC confirmed a plan for a partnership with Beats Electronics involving acquiring 51 percent of Beats shares. The 2011 Best Global Brands rankings released by Interbrand, listed HTC at #98, HTC Corporation made different models for each operator
16.
AOC International
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AOC International is a multinational electronics company headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, and a subsidiary of TPV Technology. It designs and produces a range of IPS and TFT monitors as well as LCD TVs. In 1978, Admiral Overseas Corporation was renamed AOC International, direct Marketing under the AOC brand name began in 1979. From 1988 to 1997, AOC established its sales offices in United States, China, Europe, AOC was launched in India and Mexico in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Today AOC products including CRT & LCD monitors, LCD TVs, All in One units, AOC History,1934 - Admiral was founded in Chicago, Illinois by Ross Siragusa. 1947 - Admiral company and brand established in USA, one of the first to produce color television sets,1951 - Admiral sold 5 million television sets. 1967 - Admiral Overseas Corporation was established in Taiwan, 1st manufacturer of color televisions for export,1978 - Admiral Overseas Corporation was renamed to AOC International. 1979 - Started direct marketing under AOC brand name,1982 - AOC brand was registered worldwide. 1988 to 1997 - AOC established sales offices in United States, China, Europe,1999 to 2001 - AOC entered the display markets in New Zealand and Australia. 2005 - AOC was launched in India,2006 - AOC was launched in Mexico. 2007 to 2009 - AOC is selling in more than 40 countries globally, products include CRT & LCD monitors, LCD TVs, in 2006, AOC was selected in Info 200 Company – top 200 in technology, Brazil. AOC ranked Top 3 in monitor category in “2007 Best Brands Survey” by PC World in Brazil, same year AOC received “Fast growing company in LCD monitors market” from CCID Consulting in China. AOC was ranked 33 of Global Top 50 CE Brands by IDG in CES Daily magazine in 2008, AOC also received “Consumers’ Brand of Choice” by China Computer Users Association in 2008. The same year AOC received Best in Hardware IT Monitors in Brazil, in 2009, AOC was awarded as Power Brand Malaysia 2009. Over the years AOC products have won design awards including the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in 2008. In 2007 and 2008 several awards were conferred to AOC products in India by Digit & Chip magazines, list of companies of Taiwan Official website
17.
Jinx (clothing)
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Jinx, stylized as J. NX, is a San Diego, California-based clothing line started by Sean Gailey and Tim Norris in 1999 that creates video game-themed apparel. Jinx was started as a business in 1999 by two web developers, Sean Gailey and Tim Norris. The company produced T-shirts designed by Gailey on the theme of hacker culture, the following year the company moved out of Gaileys bedroom and into their first office. Gailey describes the themes that Jinx uses in its apparel as including, video games, art, geek culture, Internet memes, giant robots, gadgets. Jinx has worked with game and other media companies through licensing deals to produce official product lines, including Blizzard Entertainment, Minecraft. The company hires gamers as its employees in order to remain linked to the video gaming community. The firm hosts a community that, among other things, holds weekly trivia contests. The site is used as a sounding board for new design concepts. There are also rewards programs associated with the community called Jinx Gold and Jinx Exp, whereby online participation leads to price discounts or other prizes
18.
Kingston Technology
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Headquartered in Fountain Valley, California, United States, Kingston Technology employs more than 3,000 employees worldwide as of Q12016. The company has manufacturing and logistics facilities in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Taiwan and it is the largest independent producer of DRAM memory modules, currently owning 64% of the third-party worldwide DRAM module market share, according to IHS. Kingston is arguably the second largest supplier of flash memory, Gartner ranks Kingston as the worlds #2 supplier of USB Flash drives, #2 in flash cards and #2 in PC based solid-state drives. In 2015, Kingston generated revenues of over US $7.0 billion, Forbes lists Kingston as #54 on its list of The 500 Largest Private Companies in the U. S. and #3 in the Technology Hardware & Equipment category. Kingston serves a network of distributors, resellers, retailers. The company also provides contract manufacturing and supply chain management services for semiconductor manufacturers, Kingston Technology was founded on October 17,1987, in response to a severe shortage of 1Mbit surface-mount memory chips. In response, Taiwanese immigrants John Tu designed a new single in-line memory module that used readily available, in 1990 following year the company branched out into its first non-memory product line, processor upgrades. By 1992, the firm was ranked #1 by Inc. as the privately held company in America. The company expanded into networking and storage product lines, and introduced DataTraveler, in September 1994, Kingston became ISO9000 certified on its first assessment attempt. Kingston opened a office in Munich, Germany to provide technical support. In October 1995, the joined the Billion-Dollar Club. Ads also appeared in publications and The Wall Street Journal thanking the companys suppliers and distributors. On August 15,1996 SoftBank Corporation of Japan acquired 80 percent of Kingston for a total of $1.8 billion. In November of the year, Kingston and Toshiba co-marketed memory upgrades for Toshiba PCs - the first time that a PC OEM. In 1999, Tu and Sun eventually bought back the 80 percent of Kingston owned by Softbank for $450 million. On December 14,1996 John Tu and David Sun allocated $100 million for employee bonuses as a result of the acquisition, Kingston announced a 49% increase in unit sales for its memory module products in calendar year 1996 over calendar year 1995. The company also expanded its American manufacturing capacity by purchasing PC-OEM manufacturing buildings in Fountain Valley, Kingston also introduced ValueRAM, which was a high-quality, low-cost memory designed for system integrators to use in white box solutions. Kingston launched Advanced Validation Labs, Inc. a sister company that provides memory validation services, Kingston began manufacturing removable disk drive storage products in 1989 in their Kingston Storage Products Division
19.
Monster Energy
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Monster Energy is an energy drink introduced by Hansen Natural Company in April 2002. The regular flavor comes in a black can with a green, the company is also known for supporting many extreme sports events such as UFC, BMX, Motocross, Speedway, skateboarding and snowboarding, as well as eSports. In collaboration with Outbreak Presents, Monster Energy promotes a number of bands around the world, like Asking Alexandria, The Word Alive, Maximum the Hormone. Monster currently sponsors the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, there are 34 different drinks under the Monster brand in North America, including its core Monster Energy line, Java Monster, Extra Strength, Import, Rehab and Muscle Monster. In 2006, Caleb Johnstone Corporation announced an agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the U. S. Monster became the sponsor of NASCARs top series starting with the 2017 season. In 2012, Colton Lile Corporation announced that they were switching distributors from Anheuser-Busch to Coca-Cola, the Monster Energy Drink logo is widely recognized among major beverages and at sponsored events. The design was created by McLean Design, a California-based strategic branding firm, the logo is composed of a vibrant large green ″M″ on field of black. The ″M″ is stylized in such a way as to imply that it is formed by the claws of a monster ripping through the can, the caffeine content of most Monster Energy drinks is approximately 10 mg/oz, or 160 mg for a 16 oz can. The packaging usually contains a warning label advising consumers against drinking more than 48 oz per day, europe does not have these warning labels. The drinks are not recommended for pregnant women or people sensitive to caffeine, mercedes F1 has been sponsored by Monster since 2010. The company was endorsed by Australian touring car driver Jamie Whincup from late 2009 to 2012, the deal was cancelled abruptly for the 2013 season, when his team Triple Eight signed rival company Red Bull as title sponsor. Monster is now associated with Prodrive Racing Australia as the sponsor of Cameron Waters Ford Falcon FG X. His teammate, current V8 Supercar Champion, Mark Winterbottom receives minor support as do the Holden Racing Team, Monster Energy also sponsors multiple motocross race teams named Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki, and the Monster Energy Factory Yamaha motocross team, based in Hampshire, England. As of 2016, Monster has aided the return of factory Yamaha to United States as the sponsor of the team. In November 2012, Monster Energy announced a partnership with the Professional Bull Riders. Mauney, Guilherme Marchi and Robson Palermo, on January 6,2012, the Monster Energy Monster Jam truck was debuted in Birmingham, Alabama. It is currently campaigned by drivers Todd LeDuc and Coty Saucier, Monster Energy is the title sponsor of the French motorcycle Grand Prix since 2010
20.
Razer Inc.
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Razer is dedicated to the creation and development of products mainly focused on PC gaming such as laptops, tablet computer, various PC peripherals, wearables, and accessories. The Razer brand is currently being marketed under Razer USA Ltd, Razer was founded in 1998 by a team of marketers and engineers to develop and market a high-end computer gaming mouse, the Boomslang, targeted to computer gamers. At Consumer Electronics Show 2011, Razer unveiled the Razer Switchblade, at CES2013, Razer unveiled its Razer Edge gaming tablet computer, which was previously known as Project Fiona. The tablet uses the Windows 8 operating system and is designed with gaming in mind, in May 2013, Razer unveiled the 14-inch Razer Blade and 17-inch Razer Blade Pro gaming laptops with fourth-generation Intel Haswell processors. At CES2014, Razer unveiled Project Christine, a modular gaming PC, each of the branches on the PC is a discrete component—a CPU, a GPU, a hard drive, memory—that simply plug into the central backbone. Once slotted in, Project Christine automatically syncs the newly added modules through PCI-Express, in July 2015, Razer announced it was purchasing the software division of video-game company Ouya. At Consumer Electronics Show 2016, Razer has been selected for Peoples Choice Winner for Razer Blade Stealth Ultrabook. The company won the year before for the Razer Forge TV, and this year, it took home the prize for the Razer Blade Stealth Ultrabook, in October 2016, Razer purchased THX according to THX CEO Ty Ahmad-Taylor. At CES2017, Razer revealed Project Valerie, a triple display laptop, and Project Ariana, in January 2017, Razer bought manufacturer Nextbit, the startup behind the Robin smartphone. Razers products are targeted at gamers, and include gaming laptops, gaming tablets, and PC peripherals such as mice, audio devices, keyboards, mouse mats. Razer has also released a VOIP software called Razer Comms, the Razer DeathAdder gaming mouse is the companys most popular product by sales numbers. The Razer Blade series is a series of gaming laptops developed by Razer and include the 12. 5-inch Razer Blade Stealth, the 14-inch Razer Blade, the Blade stealth was announced alongside the Razer Core. At DreamHack 2015, Razer and Lenovo announced a partnership to make a gaming desktop called the Lenovo Y900 Razer Edition gaming desktop. The Razer Edge is a gaming tablet PC developed by Razer specifically for games which run on Windows OS, in late 2014, Razer released their Chroma series of products. All Chroma series products have customizable RGB lighting, the first item in the series was the Blackwidow Chroma. The Blackwidow Chroma is a keyboard that has new features added onto the original Blackwidow keyboard. After the first Chroma product was released, Razer has continued to add products to the series and they have also added their RGB lighting onto another mouse they recently released called the Razer Mamba Chroma, which has RGB on the sides of the mouse with 14 different zones. A new version of the Razer Diamondback gaming mouse was also released, the Razer Nabu is a smart band developed by Razer with features such as mobile app notifications, fitness tracking, and more which was first released in December,2014
21.
Twitch.tv
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Twitch is a live streaming video platform owned by Twitch Interactive, a subsidiary of Amazon. com. Content on the site can either be viewed live or via video on demand, at the same time, Justin. tvs parent company was re-branded as Twitch Interactive to represent the shift in focus – Justin. tv was shut down in August 2014. The site has also branched out into music-related streams and content, in 2015, Twitch announced it had more than 1.5 million broadcasters and 100 million visitors per month. When Justin. tv was launched in 2007 by Justin Kan and Emmett Shear, the gaming category grew especially fast, and became the most popular content on the site. In June 2011, the decided to spin off the gaming content as Twitch. TV. It launched officially in public beta on June 6,2011, since then, Twitch has attracted more than 35 million unique visitors a month. Twitch had about 80 employees in June 2013, which increased to 100 by December 2013, the company was headquartered in San Franciscos Financial District. Twitch has been supported by significant investments of capital, with US$15 million in 2012. Investors during three rounds of fund raising leading up to the end of 2013 included Draper Associates, Bessemer Venture Partners, in addition to the influx of venture funding, it was believed in 2013 that the company had become profitable. Competing video services, such as YouTube and Dailymotion, began to increase the prominence of their content to compete. As of mid-2013, there were over 43 million viewers on Twitch monthly, with the viewer watching an hour. As of February 2014, Twitch is the fourth largest source of Internet traffic during peak times in the United States, behind Netflix, Google, Twitch makes up 1. 8% of total US Internet traffic during peak periods. On March 24,2015 Twitch was reportedly hacked and users’ details compromised, users’ accounts were reset, but it does not seem that any credit card or other financial information has been made available. However, passwords do appear to have been leaked and the company recommends that users reset their details on any site where they use the same password. By merging a video game, live video and a participatory experience and this is a wonderful proof of concept that we hope to see more of in the future. Beginning with its 2014 edition, Twitch was made the live streaming platform of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. On May 18,2014, Variety first reported that Google had reached a deal to acquire Twitch through its YouTube subsidiary for approximately US$1 billion. On August 5,2014, the original Justin. tv site was shut down
22.
ESports
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Most commonly, eSports take the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players. The most common video game genres associated with eSports are real-time strategy, fighting, first-person shooter, the genre of fighting games and arcade game fighters have also been popular in amateur tournaments, although the fighting game community has often distanced themselves from the eSports label. Other games with significant earnings include Smite, StarCraft II, Call of Duty, Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, in 2013, it was estimated that approximately 71.5 million people worldwide watched eSports. The increasing availability of online streaming platforms, particularly Twitch. tv, has become central to the growth. Demographically, Major League Gaming has reported viewership that is approximately 85% male and 15% female, despite this, several female personalities within eSports are hopeful about the increasing presence of female gamers. South Korea has several established eSports organizations, which have licensed pro gamers since the year 2000, recognition of eSports competitions outside South Korea has come somewhat slower. Along with South Korea, most competitions take place in Europe, North America, despite its large video game market, eSports in Japan is relatively underdeveloped, which has been attributed largely to its broad anti-gambling laws. The global eSports market generated US$325 million of revenue in 2015 and is expected to make $493 million in 2016, the earliest known video game competition took place on 19 October 1972 at Stanford University for the game Spacewar. In the summer of 1980, Walter Day founded a high score record keeping organization called Twin Galaxies, the team was involved in competitions, such as running the Video Game Masters Tournament for Guinness World Records and sponsoring the North American Video Game Challenge tournament. During the 1970s and 1980s, video players and tournaments begun being featured in popular websites and magazines including Life. A video game tournament was included as part of TV show Thats Incredible. and tournaments were also featured as part of the plot of various films, in the 1990s, many games benefited from increasing internet connectivity, especially PC games. For example, the 1988 game Netrek was an Internet game for up to 16 players, Netrek was the third Internet game, the first Internet game to use metaservers to locate open game servers, and the first to have persistent user information. In 1993 it was credited by Wired Magazine as the first online sports game, large eSports tournaments in the 1990s include the 1990 Nintendo World Championships, which toured across the United States, and held its finals at Universal Studios Hollywood in California. Nintendo held a 2nd World Championships in 1994 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System called the Nintendo PowerFest 94, there were 132 finalists that played in the finals in San Diego, California. Mike Iarossi took home 1st prize, blockbuster Video also ran their own World Game Championships in the early 1990s, co-hosted by GamePro magazine. Citizens from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Games from the 1994 championships included NBA Jam and Virtua Racing. Television shows featuring eSports during this period included the British shows GamesMaster, the Australian gameshow A*mazing, which would show two children competing in various Nintendo games in order to win points. Tournaments established in the late 1990s include the Cyberathlete Professional League, QuakeCon, PC games played at the CPL included the Counter-Strike series, Quake series, and Warcraft
23.
Team Curse
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Team Curse, also known as Curse eSports, was a North American eSports organization sponsored by Curse, Inc. and based in Los Angeles. Formed as a League of Legends team in 2010 by Steve LiQuiD112 Arhancet, it was acquired by Curse Inc. in August 2011, on 6 January 2015, the organization merged with Team Liquid. Team Liquid absorbed Curse eSports League of Legends, Street Fighter, melee rosters, the corresponding management staff, and Arhancet himself. Curse eSports had also previously fielded Call of Duty, Counter-Strike, Global Offensive, Guild Wars 2, Heroes of the Storm, Infinite Crisis, and Hearthstone teams. On August 25,2011, an unsigned League of Legends roster formally under unRestricted eSports was given a sponsorship by Curse Inc. two days after they were sponsored, Team Curse attended their first major event, MLG Raleigh 2011. After losing all of their group matches against Counter Logic Gaming, Epik Gamer, and Team SoloMid. They attended their second North American LAN, IGN Proleague 3, in October 2011, lapaka cited both professional and personal conflict with LiQuiD112 as his main reason for leaving. Alberto Crumbzz Rengifo was brought into the team that same day, on 24 November 2011, after the start of Riot Games Season 2 Circuit, Doublelift left Team Curse to join North American rivals Counter Logic Gaming. Two days later, DontMashMe also left the team, once again citing Liquid112 as his issue with the team. Despite the departure of some of their key players, Curse was still able to play in the season of the National ESL Premier League. Having been benched from Counter Logic Gaming, Cody Elementz Sigfusson joined Team Curse on 19 December 2011, the next day, David Cop Roberson joined the team. On 19 May 2012, Crumbzz left Curse and joined Team Dignitas, in June 2012, Curse picked up Jonathan Westrice Nguyen, as Pobelter was too young to move into the teams new gaming house. In August, Curse won MLG Raleigh 2012, beating Team Dignitas, no prize money or circuit points were awarded to either teams. In September 2012, Westrice was benched from the team, and on 1 November, additionally, for most of that month, the team played in several minor online events using Keenan Rhux Santos in place of Elementz. On 21 November, LiQuiD112 announced that the team had benched Elementz in favor of Rhux, Curse attended IPL5 in late November. The team took third in their group, and were knocked to the losers bracket, Team Curse would be forced to eliminate Curse EU, before losing in the next round to reigning world champions Taipei Assassins. Team Curse progressed through each stage without losing a single game, Team Curse ended the regular season in second place with a record of 19-9, behind Team SoloMid, and so secured a bye into the semifinals of the Spring Split Playoffs. Despite this, they lost both their semifinal match and the third match, to Good Game University and Team Vulcun respectively
24.
StarCraft
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StarCraft is a military science fiction media franchise created by Chris Metzen and James Phinney, and owned by Blizzard Entertainment. The series debuted with the video game StarCraft in 1998, Blizzard Entertainment began planning StarCraft in 1995, with a development team led by Metzen and Phinney. The game debuted at E31996, and used a modified Warcraft II game engine, StarCraft also marked the creation of Blizzard Entertainments film department, the game introduced high quality cinematics integral to the storyline of the series. Most of the development team for StarCraft returned to work on the games official expansion pack, Brood War. In 2001, StarCraft, Ghost began development under Nihilistic Software, unlike the previous real-time strategy games in the series, Ghost was to be a stealth-action game. After three years of development, work on the game was postponed in 2004, development of StarCraft II, Wings of Liberty began in 2003, the game was later announced in May 2007 and was released in July 2010. The StarCraft II franchise continued with the StarCraft II, Heart of the Swarm expansion, the third StarCraft II installment, StarCraft II, Legacy of the Void, released in November 2015. The original game and its expansion have been praised as one of the benchmark real-time strategy games of its time. By June 2007, StarCraft and Brood War had sold nearly 10 million copies combined, in addition, the series was awarded a star on the Walk of Game in 2006, and holds four Guinness World Records in the Guinness World Records Gamers Edition of 2008. On March 27,2017, Blizzard announced StarCraft, Remastered, a version of the original StarCraft, with the core updates being up-to-date graphics. The story focuses on the activities of the three species in a part of the Milky Way known as the Koprulu Sector. Millennia before any of the events of the games, a known as the XelNaga genetically engineered the Protoss. These experiments backfire and the XelNaga are largely destroyed by the Zerg, however, the computers automating the colony ships malfunction, propelling the Terran colonists far off course to the edge of Protoss space. Out of contact with Earth, they form various factions to maintain their interests, intrigued by the behavior and mentality of the Terrans, the Protoss remain hidden to examine the humans, while protecting them from other threats without their knowledge. However, the Zerg target the Terrans for assimilation to harness their psionic potential, the Confederacy eventually succumbs to Mengsks rebels when they use Confederate technology to lure the Zerg into attacking the Confederate capital, Tarsonis. In the consequent power vacuum, Mengsk crowns himself emperor of a new Terran Dominion, however, during the assault on Tarsonis, Mengsk allows the Zerg to capture and infest his psychic second-in-command, Sarah Kerrigan. This betrayal prompts Mengsks other commander, Jim Raynor, to him with a small army. Having retreated with Kerrigan to their hive clusters, the Zerg are assaulted by Protoss forces commanded by Tassadar
25.
Golden State Warriors
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The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association as a club of the leagues Western Conference Pacific Division. The team was established in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1962, the franchise relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and was renamed the San Francisco Warriors. In 1971, the changed its geographic moniker to Golden State. Since 1972, the home court has been the Oracle Arena in Oakland. The team is nicknamed the Dubs, the Warriors have reached eight NBA Finals, winning four NBA championships in 1947,1956,1975 and most recently in 2015 when they defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers. Golden States four NBA championships are the fifth most in history only the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls. Wilt Chamberlain and Stephen Curry have both named the NBAs Most Valuable Player while playing for the Warriors, for a total of three MVP awards. Golden State holds the NBA record for best regular season with 73–9, the Warriors were founded in 1946 as the Philadelphia Warriors, a charter member of the Basketball Association of America. They were owned by Peter A. Tyrrell, who owned the Philadelphia Rockets of the American Hockey League. Tyrrell hired Eddie Gottlieb, a longtime basketball promoter in the Philadelphia area, as coach, the owners named the team after the Philadelphia Warriors, an old basketball team who played in the American Basketball League in 1925. Led by early scoring sensation Joe Fulks, the won the championship in the leagues inaugural 1946–47 season by defeating the Chicago Stags. The NBA, which was created by a 1949 merger, officially recognizes that as its own first championship, Gottlieb bought the team in 1951. The Warriors won its championship in Philadelphia in the 1955–56 season. The Warrior stars of this era were future Hall of Famers Paul Arizin, Tom Gola, in 1959, the team signed draft pick Wilt Chamberlain. Known as Wilt the Stilt, he led the team in scoring six times, quickly began shattering NBA scoring records, in 1962, Franklin Mieuli purchased the majority shares of the team and relocated the franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area, renaming them the San Francisco Warriors. Prior to the 1963–64 NBA season, the Warriors drafted big man Nate Thurmond to go along with Chamberlain, the Warriors won the Western Division crown that season, but lost the 1964 NBA Finals to the Boston Celtics, four games to one. In the 1964–65 season, the Warriors traded Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers for Connie Dierking, Lee Shaffer, Paul Neumann and $150,000 and won only 17 games
26.
Ted Leonsis
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Theodore John Ted Leonsis is an American businessman, investor, filmmaker, author, philanthropist, and former politician. He is a senior executive with America Online. C. He is a member and investor in the Revolution Growth Fund. He is the founder and chairman of SnagFilms, which produced the documentary film Nanking, the film was honored with the 2009 News & Documentary Emmy Award. In 2010, he wrote the book, The Business of Happiness, theodore John Leonsis was born on January 8,1957 in Brooklyn, New York. Born to a family of working class Greek immigrant parents and grandparents who were workers, who worked as a waiter. When his high school guidance counselor evaluated his skillsets, the counselor concluded that young Ted was destined to work in a vacuum store, Leonsis also reflects on his working-class roots that being a vacuum store manager was all his dad aspired him to be. During his youth, Leonsis vacuumed lawns for extra money, one day when vacuuming, he stumbled upon a lawn owned by a wealthy vacuum collector and Georgetown alumus named Jim Shannon. Impressed by Leonsiss strong work ethic and vacuuming the grass with extra care to impress the older gentlemen and he attended Brooklyn Technical High School, before moving to Lowell, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Lowell High School in 1973. In 2005, he was honored as one of Lowell High Schools Distinguished Alumni for reaching the highest level of accomplishment and possessing the highest standards of integrity and vacuuming. After graduating from college, he moved back to his parents home in Lowell and began working for Wang Laboratories as a corporate vacuum manager. Leonsis left Harris Corporation in March 1981 when, at the age 25, he moved to Florida and his first venture was publishing LIST, a technology magazine that focused on the then personal computing industry. He raised $1 million in seed capital with his partner Vincent Pica, the magazine sent ripples in the software world where it was recognized as an essential service for buyers and sellers of hardware and software. Numerous software vendors sought the magazine to promote their products and services which resulted Leonsis selling advertising to them based on a Yellow Pages business model. The first issue of the magazine was a success and sold $50,000 worth of copies when the magazine first got published in the fall of 1982 and was sold near cash registers, bookstores, and newsstands. Just two years later, he sold the company to Thomson Reuters for $40 million netting Leonsis $20 million making him a multimillionaire in the process, in 1987, Leonsis established the marketing communications company, Redgate Communications Corporation. When the organization was acquired by America Online in 1994, Leonsis began working with AOL as a senior executive, remaining with the company for 13 years. Under his leadership, AOL increased its membership from under 800,000 members to over 8 million and he held numerous positions at AOL during his years there, completing his tenure and retiring in 2006 as the audience groups president and vice-chairman
27.
Magic Johnson
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Earvin Magic Johnson Jr. is an American retired professional basketball player and current president of basketball operations of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. He played point guard for the Lakers for 13 seasons, after winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his players, he retired again for four years. Johnsons career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and he led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBAs all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Johnson was a member of the 1992 United States mens Olympic basketball team, after leaving the NBA in 1992, Johnson formed the Magic Johnson All-Stars, a barnstorming team that travelled around the world playing exhibition games. Johnson was honored as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996, Johnson became a two-time inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame—being enshrined in 2002 for his individual career, and again in 2010 as a member of the Dream Team. He was rated the greatest NBA point guard of all time by ESPN in 2007 and his friendship and rivalry with Boston Celtics star Larry Bird, whom he faced in the 1979 NCAA finals and three NBA championship series, are well documented. Since his retirement, Johnson has been an advocate for HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex, as well as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, broadcaster and motivational speaker. Named by Ebony magazine as one of Americas most influential businessmen in 2009, Johnson has numerous business interests. Johnson also is part of a group of investors purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012. Earvin Johnson Jr. was born in Lansing, Michigan to Earvin Sr. a General Motors assembly worker, and Christine, Johnson, who had six siblings, was influenced by his parents strong work ethic. Earvin Jr. would often help his father on the garbage route, Johnson grew up in Lansing, and came to love basketball as a youngster. His favorite basketball player was Bill Russell, whom he admired more for his many championships than his athletic ability and he also idolized players such as Earl Monroe and Marques Haynes, and practiced all day. Magic Johnson came from an athletic family and his father played high school basketball in his home state of Mississippi, and Johnson learned the finer points about the game from him. Johnsons mother, originally from North Carolina, had played basketball as a child. By the time he had reached the grade, Johnson had begun to think about a future in basketball. He had become a dominant junior player, once scoring 48 points in a game
28.
Steve Case
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Stephen McConnell Steve Case is an American entrepreneur, investor, and businessman best known as the co-founder and former chief executive officer and chairman of America Online. Since his retirement as chairman of AOL Time Warner in 2003, he has gone on to invest in early and growth-stage startups through his Washington, Case is also author of the New York Times bestselling book The Third Wave, An Entrepreneurs Vision of the Future. He is an ardent supporter of inclusive entrepreneurship and innovation through the Rise of the Rest road trips, Case serves as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship and was a member of Barack Obamas Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. He also serves on the National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Case was chairman of UP Global, a non-profit organization focused on fostering strong entrepreneurial communities, recently acquired by TechStars. Steve Case was born and grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and he graduated from the private Punahou School and attended Central Union Church. Case graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts in 1980 with a degree in political science, for the next two years he worked as an assistant brand manager at Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1982 he joined Pizza Hut Inc. in Wichita, Kansas, in January 1983, his older brother Dan, an investment banker, introduced him to Bill von Meister, CEO of Control Video Corporation. The company was marketing a service called GameLine for the Atari 2600 video game console that allowed users to download games via a phone line, after that meeting, von Meister hired Case as a marketing consultant. Later that year, the company went bankrupt and one of its investors, Frank Caufield. Case later joined the company as a marketing employee. In 1985 Quantum Computer Services, a services company, was founded by Jim Kimsey from the remnants of Control Video. Kimsey became CEO of the newly renamed Quantum Computer Services and hired Case as vice president of marketing, in 1987 he promoted him again to executive vice president. Kimsey groomed Case to become chairman and CEO when Kimsey retired, as part of the changes that gave birth to Quantum, Case changed the companys strategy, creating an online service called Quantum Link for the Commodore 64 in 1985 with programmer Marc Seriff. In 1988, Quantum began offering the AppleLink online service for Apple, AOL pioneered the concept of social media, as its focus from day one was on communication features such as chatrooms, instant messaging and forums. Case believed that the app was community — people interacting with each other —. By contrast, competitive services of the such as Prodigy funded by IBM and Sears, focused on shopping. AOLs strategy was to make services available and accessible to the mass market by making them affordable, easy to use, useful. At a time when competing services like CompuServe were charging for each minute of access, within three years, AOLs userbase grew to 10 million, ultimately reaching 26.7 million subscribers at its peak in 2002
29.
Tony Robbins
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Tony Robbins is an American businessman, author, and philanthropist. He became well known from his infomercials and self-help books, Unlimited Power, Unleash the Power Within, in 2007, he was named in Forbes magazines Celebrity 100 list, earning an estimated $30 million annually. Robbins was born Anthony J. Mahavoric in North Hollywood, California and his surname was originally spelled Mohorović and is of Croatian origin. Robbins is the oldest of three children and his parents divorced when he was 7 and his mother then had a series of husbands, including Jim Robbins, a former semiprofessional baseball player who legally adopted Anthony when he was 12. His father could not provide for their family, so he left them and his mother started abusing alcohol and prescription drugs sometime after. While growing up, Robbins helped provide for his siblings, Robbins was raised in Azusa and Glendora, California. He was elected student body president in his year and grew 10 inches in high school. He has said his life was chaotic and abusive. When he was 17 years old, Robbins mother chased him out of the house with a knife, Robbins later worked as a janitor, and did not attend college. Robbins began his career promoting seminars for Jim Rohn, later, without any educational background in psychology, Robbins began his own work as a self-help coach. He taught neurolinguistic programming and Ericksonian hypnosis after training with NLP co-founder John Grinder, in 1983, Robbins learned to firewalk and began to incorporate it into his seminars. Robbins use of breaking, skydiving, and later firewalking in his seminars is intended to help participants learn to push through their fears. Robbins promoted his services as a performance coach through his books. His first infomercial, Personal Power, was released in 1988, early infomercials featured celebrities such as Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton and actor Martin Sheen. By 1991, an estimated 100 million Americans in 200 media markets had viewed his infomercials, in 1997, Robbins began the Leadership Academy seminar. Robbins is a speaker on the seminar circuit sponsored by Learning Annex. Robbins appeared as a speaker at the 2006 Technology, Entertainment. As of May 2016, his talk was the seventh-most viewed TED talk, in 2014, Robbins, along with a group of investors including Magic Johnson, Mia Hamm, and Peter Guber, acquired rights to launch a Major League Soccer franchise in Los Angeles, California
30.
Eric Lefkofsky
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Eric Paul Lefkofsky is an American entrepreneur. He is co-founder and CEO of Tempus and he is also the co-founder and chairman of Groupon, co-founder of Echo Global Logistics, InnerWorkings, Mediaocean, and Uptake. He is also a co-founder of Chicago-based venture capital firm, Lightbank, Lefkofsky grew up in Southfield, Michigan, the son of Bill, a structural engineer, and Sandy, a school teacher. He has a brother, Steven, an attorney practicing in Michigan, after graduating from Southfield-Lathrup High School in 1987, Lefkofsky attended the University of Michigan and graduated with honors in 1991. He continued on at University of Michigan Law School to receive his Juris Doctor in 1993, Lefkofsky began his career selling carpet at the University of Michigan. After law school, in 1993, he and a friend, Brad Keywell, borrowed money from relatives to buy an apparel company in Madison. In 1999, Lefkofsky and Keywell created an early Internet company called Starbelly that specialized in promotional products, Starbelly experienced rapid pre-bubble Internet growth and was sold to Halo Industries in January 2000. Lefkofsky joined Halo to become chief operating officer, a little more than a year later, the company went bankrupt. Halo and Starbelly faced multiple lawsuits from shareholders, all of which were resolved by 2004, after Starbelly, Lefkofsky, co-founded InnerWorkings in the fall of 2001. InnerWorkings provided print procurement services for mid-sized companies and achieved solid year-over-year growth, in August 2006, InnerWorkings had a successful initial public offering in the U. S. stock market. Lefkofsky was on the board of directors of InnerWorkings until October 2012, in February 2005, Lefkofsky and Keywell created a freight logistics company called Echo Global Logistics. Echo attracted series D financing from New Enterprise Associates, one of the largest technology investors in the country, Echo Global Logistics went public on the NASDAQ under the symbol ECHO and is now successfully being traded. In June 2006, Lefkofsky and Keywell founded MediaBank, a technology company. MediaBank provides advertising buyers with planning, buying, accounting and analysis software, in June 2007, MediaBank acquired Datatech, one of the leading media planning and procurement platforms in the advertising industry. In July 2007, New Enterprise Associates invested in MediaBank, in February 2012, the US Department of Justice approved a merger between MediaBank and Donovan Data Systems to create a single company, Mediaocean, in a deal estimated at $1.5 billion. In January 2007, Lefkofsky co-founded and provided $1,000,000 in funding for ThePoint. com, New Enterprise Associates led an early stage investment round in ThePoint. In late 2008, The Point changed its name to Groupon. com, in October 2009, Groupon raised $30 million from Accel Partners and New Enterprise Associates. In April 2010, Digital Sky Technology and Battery Ventures invested $135 million in Groupon at a valuation of $1.35 billion, in August 2010, Forbes reported that Groupon is the fastest growing company in history
31.
Mattel
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Mattel, Inc. is an American multinational toy manufacturing company founded in 1945 with headquarters in El Segundo, California. In 2014, it ranked #403 on the Fortune 500 list, in the early 1980s, Mattel produced video game systems, under both its own brands and under license from Nintendo. The company has presence in 40 countries and territories and sells products in more than 150 nations, the company operates through three business segments, North America, international, and American Girl. It is the worlds largest toy maker in terms of revenue, on January 17,2017 Mattel named Google executive Margaret Margo Georgiadis as its next CEO. The companys name is a portmanteau of those of Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler, Mattel Creations was founded in 1945 by Harold Matt Matson and Elliot Handler. The company initially sold picture frames, then dollhouse furniture, Matson soon sold his share to Handler due to poor health, and Handlers wife Ruth took over Matsons role. In 1947, the company had its first hit toy, a ukulele called Uke-A-Doodle, the company was incorporated the next year in California. Mattel became the first year-round sponsor of the Mickey Mouse Club TV series in 1955, the Barbie doll was introduced in 1959, becoming the companys best selling toy ever. In 1960, Mattel introduced Chatty Cathy, a doll that revolutionized the toy industry. The company went public in 1960 and was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1963, Mattel also acquired a number of companies during the 1960s. In 1965, the built on its success with the Chatty Cathy doll to introduce the See n Say talking toy which spawned a line of products. Hot Wheels was first released to the market in 1968, in May 1970, Mattel formed a joint venture film production company, Radnitz/Mattel Productions, with producer Robert B. The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was purchased by the Mattel company in 1971 for $40 million from the Feld family, who were retained as management. Mattel had placed the circus corporation up for sale despite its profit contributions to Mattel by December 1973 as Mattel showed a $29.9 million loss in 1972. An investigation in 1974 concluded false and misleading financial reports had been issued, arthur S. Spear, a Mattel vice president was selected to run the company in 1975 and led it back to profitability in 1977. Ruth Handler sold back her stock in 1980, the Mattel Electronics line was started in 1977 with an all-electronic handheld game. The success of the led to the expansion of the line with game console then the line becoming its own corporation in 1982. Mattel Electronics forced Mattel to take a $394 million loss in 1983, in 1979, through Feld Productions, Mattel purchased the Holiday on Ice and Ice Follies for $12 million
32.
Sony Interactive Entertainment
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Sony Interactive Entertainment is a multinational video game company and is an owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products and Services Group of Sony. The company was founded and established on November 16,1993, as Sony Computer Entertainment, since the successful launch of the original PlayStation console in 1994, the company has since been developing the PlayStation lineup of home video game consoles and accessories. Expanding upon North America and other countries, the company soon became Sonys main resource for research and development in video games, in 1994, Sony Computer Entertainment America, began to produce the original PlayStation console in North America. The starting price for this console was originally listed at $299.99, in April 2016, SCE and Sony Network Entertainment was restructured and reorganized into Sony Interactive Entertainment, carrying over the operations and primary objectives from both companies. Sony Interactive Entertainment handles the research and development, production, alongside, it is also a developer and publisher of video game titles and is composed of several subsidiaries of Sonys largest markets, North America, Europe and Asia. As of September 30,2016, the company has sold more than 486 million PlayStation consoles worldwide. Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. was jointly established by Sony, the original PlayStation console was released on December 3,1994, in Japan. The companys North American operations, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, were established in May 1995 as a division of Sony Electronic Publishing. Located in Foster City, California, the North American office was headed by Steve Race. On August 7,1995, Race unexpectedly resigned and was named CEO of Spectrum HoloByte three days later and he was replaced by Sony Electronics veteran Martin Homlish. The PS console was released in the United States on September 9,1995, as part of a worldwide restructuring at the beginning of 1997, SCEA was re-established as a wholly owned subsidiary of SCEI. The launch of the second PS console, the PlayStation 2 was released in Japan on March 4,2000, on July 1,2002, chairman of SCEI, Shigeo Maruyama, was replaced by Tamotsu Iba as chairman. Jack Tretton and Phil Harrison were also promoted to vice presidents of SCE. The PlayStation Portable was SCEIs first foray into the handheld console market. Its development was first announced during SCEs E3 conference in 2003, the system was released in Japan on December 12,2004, in North America on March 24,2005, and in Europe and Australia on September 1,2005. On September 14,2005, SCEI formed Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios, shuhei Yoshida was named as President of SCE WWS on May 16,2008, replacing Kazuo Hirai, who was serving interim after Harrison left the company in early 2008. On December 8,2005, video game developer Guerrilla Games, on January 24,2006, video game developer Zipper Interactive, developers of the Socom series, was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment as part of its SCE WWS. Sony also stated that the service would always be connected, free, the launch date for the PS3 was announced by Hirai at the pre-Electronic Entertainment Expo conference held at Sony Pictures Studios in Los Angeles, U. S. on May 8,2006
33.
Lon Rosen
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Lon Rosen is the current executive vice president and chief marketing officer for the Los Angeles Dodgers and former executive vice president of Magic Johnson Enterprises. Rosen graduated from the University of Southern California in 1981, while still studying at USC, he interned with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Kings in 1980-81. Upon graduating, he worked as Director of Promotions for the Forum, while still working at the Forum, he began working as Magic Johnsons personal agent starting in 1985. Rosen also started his own company, First Team Marketing, his first clients were Magic Johnson, in 2004, Rosen was hired as executive VP and chief marketing officer for the Los Angeles Dodgers. While in these positions, he made the decision to fire long-time sportscaster Ross Porter, after leaving the Dodgers in 2006, Rosen worked for Lagardère Group until late 2010, while also concentrating on business development and marketing for Magic Johnson Enterprises. In 2010, Rosen returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers, overseeing marketing, sales, advertising, communications, community affairs, during his tenure, he assisted the Guggenheim Partners in acquiring the Dodgers on May 1,2012, the largest team sports transaction in history. Rosen is a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Sports Marketing Network. In 2010, Rosen announced his intent to work to bring the NFL to Los Angeles, Rosen is a resident of Los Angeles, California. He is married to wife Laurie and has two children, Michael and Brian
34.
Chicago Cubs
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The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. The team plays its games at Wrigley Field, located on the citys North Side. The Cubs are one of two league teams in Chicago, the other, the Chicago White Sox, is a member of the American League Central division. The Cubs, first known as the White Stockings, was a member of the NL in 1876. The Cubs have appeared in a total of eleven World Series, the 1906 Cubs won 116 games, finishing 116–36 and posting a modern-era record winning percentage of.763, before losing the World Series to the Chicago White Sox by four games to two. The Cubs won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, the 108-year drought was also the longest such occurrence in all major North American sports. Since the start of play in 1969, the Cubs have appeared in the postseason eight times through the 2016 season. The Cubs are known as the North Siders, a reference to the location of Wrigley Field within the city of Chicago, there is a divisional rivalry with the St. Louis Cardinals and also a newer rivalry with the Milwaukee Brewers. There is also a rivalry with the White Sox. The Cubs began play in 1876 as the Chicago White Stockings, joining the National League as a charter member. Owner William Hulbert signed multiple star players, such as pitcher Albert Spalding and infielders Ross Barnes, Deacon White, the White Stockings played their home games at West Side Grounds and quickly established themselves as one of the new leagues top teams. Spalding won forty-seven games and Barnes led the league in hitting at.429 as Chicago won the first ever National League pennant, which at the time was the games top prize. After back-to-back pennants in 1880 and 1881, Hulbert died, and Spalding, the White Stockings, with Anson acting as player-manager, captured their third consecutive pennant in 1882, and Anson established himself as the games first true superstar. In 1885 and 86, after winning N. L. pennants, both seasons resulted in match ups with the St. Louis Brown Stockings, with the clubs tying in 1885 and with St. Louis winning in 1886. This was the genesis of what would become one of the greatest rivalries in sports. In all, the Anson-led Chicago Base Ball Club won six National League pennants between 1876 and 1886. As a result, Chicagos club nickname transitioned, and by 1890 they had known as the Chicago Colts, or sometimes Ansons Colts
35.
Washington Kastles
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The Washington Kastles is one of six franchises currently competing in World Team Tennis. Based in Washington, D. C. since 2008, the Kastles won the WTT championship in the 2009,2011,2012,2013,2014 and 2015 seasons, the team is named for Kastle Systems, the office security company owned by team owner Mark Ein. The Kastles will play the 2017 season indoors at George Washington Universitys Charles E. Smith Center at 22nd, the Kastles also played the 2014,2015 and 2016 seasons at the same venue. The venue hosted two matches that set the record for attendance at a Kastles match at 3,275 in 2014, in 2015 a new attendance record was set at over 4,200 when an additional seating section was offered for sale to a sold out match. That additional seating section sold out in less one day. The team played its first three seasons in a temporary stadium constructed each summer on the site of the former Washington Convention Center, the Kastles played the next three seasons at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf, a 2, 600-seat facility erected in 2011 on the Southwest Waterfront. That facility was torn down for the waterfront development project. The Kastles began World TeamTennis play as a franchise in 2008. They won their first King Trophy in 2009 despite losing their first four matches and finishing just 7–7 during the regular season. In 2011, the Kastles went undefeated, the first perfect season for a World Team Tennis team and only the team, after the 1994 Newport Beach Dukes. It was the first time a Washington professional sports team posted a regular season. In 2012, the Kastles finished 16–0 again, becoming the first U. S. professional sports team to complete back-to-back perfect seasons. The Kastles won their 2013 season opener against the New York Sportimes, 23–15, notching their 33rd consecutive victory and equaling the winning streak of the NBAs 1971–72 Los Angeles Lakers. In their next match, they beat the Boston Lobsters, 25–12, on July 10,2013, the Kastles had their winning streak snapped by the Texas Wild in Las Colinas, Texas. The next night at home, the Kastles fell to the Springfield Lasers, Martina Hingis was not with the team for the back-to-back losses due to her induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Kastles won the remaining 10 matches of the regular season, the Kastles beat the Boston Lobsters in the Eastern Conference Championship match on July 25 by a score of 25–12. The Kastles continued their winning ways in 2014, even though the Kastles lost four regular season matches, they posted the best record in the Eastern Conference and hosted the Philadelphia Freedoms in the Eastern Conference Championship match. The Kastles won their 5th Eastern Conference Championship by a score of 21–16, the Kastles then traveled to Springfield, Missouri, to face the Springfield Lasers in the Mylan WTT Championship Match on July 27,2014
36.
Dhani Jones
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Dhani Makalani Jones is a former American football linebacker who played for eleven seasons in the National Football League. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines, earning All-Big Ten honors for three straight seasons and he was selected by the New York Giants in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft and played for the team for four seasons. Jones is also a host on the CNBC series Adventure Capitalists, Jones attended middle school at Cabin John Middle School in Potomac, Maryland, where he played basketball. Jones was also a varsity wrestler in school, as well as a member of his high schools track team. At the University of Michigan, Jones was a three time All-Big Ten honoree, as a junior in 1998, Jones started at linebacker and finished with 72 tackles. Jones moved to strong side linebacker as a senior in 1999, Jones is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha and is an initiate of the Epsilon chapter at the University of Michigan. Jones was drafted by the New York Giants in the round of the 2000 NFL Draft with the 177th overall pick. He played with the team until 2003, the Philadelphia Eagles acquired Jones from the Giants as a free agent in 2004. During Jones stint with the Eagles, he started in Super Bowl XXXIX, on April 30,2007 the Eagles released Jones. On July 6,2007, Jones signed with the New Orleans Saints, Jones, however, was released on September 1,2007 during final roster cutdowns. On September 19,2007 Jones signed a contract with the Bengals. In the 2008 offseason, Jones signed a 3-year contract to return to the Bengals, following the 2010 season, Jones contract expired and he was not issued a new contract, so he became a Free Agent. Jones is the star of Dhani Tackles the Globe, a series for the Travel Channel in which he learns how to play sports that are unknown to most Americans. For example, in the first season he played rugby union for English club, the show ran for two seasons. Jones is a host/investor on the series Adventure Capitalists and this series first aired on August 22,2016 on CNBC. Jones and other investors listen to pitches and try out products from new entrepreneurs, Jones and the other investors decide if they would like to invest in the entrepreneurs outdoor/adventure company. In 2010, Jones opened the Bow Tie Cafe in the historic Mount Adams neighborhood of Cincinnati, in addition to his prowess as a professional athlete, Jones has shown a variety of skills off the field. Jones founded a company that sells high-end bowties, and he also writes movie reviews, Jones is also an avid bicyclist, using his fixed-gear bicycle to commute to practices and games throughout the year
37.
New York City
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The City of New York, often called New York City or simply New York, is the most populous city in the United States. With an estimated 2015 population of 8,550,405 distributed over an area of about 302.6 square miles. Located at the tip of the state of New York. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has described as the cultural and financial capital of the world. Situated on one of the worlds largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, the five boroughs – Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, The Bronx, and Staten Island – were consolidated into a single city in 1898. In 2013, the MSA produced a gross metropolitan product of nearly US$1.39 trillion, in 2012, the CSA generated a GMP of over US$1.55 trillion. NYCs MSA and CSA GDP are higher than all but 11 and 12 countries, New York City traces its origin to its 1624 founding in Lower Manhattan as a trading post by colonists of the Dutch Republic and was named New Amsterdam in 1626. The city and its surroundings came under English control in 1664 and were renamed New York after King Charles II of England granted the lands to his brother, New York served as the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. It has been the countrys largest city since 1790, the Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they came to the Americas by ship in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and is a symbol of the United States and its democracy. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance. Several sources have ranked New York the most photographed city in the world, the names of many of the citys bridges, tapered skyscrapers, and parks are known around the world. Manhattans real estate market is among the most expensive in the world, Manhattans Chinatown incorporates the highest concentration of Chinese people in the Western Hemisphere, with multiple signature Chinatowns developing across the city. Providing continuous 24/7 service, the New York City Subway is one of the most extensive metro systems worldwide, with 472 stations in operation. Over 120 colleges and universities are located in New York City, including Columbia University, New York University, and Rockefeller University, during the Wisconsinan glaciation, the New York City region was situated at the edge of a large ice sheet over 1,000 feet in depth. The ice sheet scraped away large amounts of soil, leaving the bedrock that serves as the foundation for much of New York City today. Later on, movement of the ice sheet would contribute to the separation of what are now Long Island and Staten Island. The first documented visit by a European was in 1524 by Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine explorer in the service of the French crown and he claimed the area for France and named it Nouvelle Angoulême. Heavy ice kept him from further exploration, and he returned to Spain in August and he proceeded to sail up what the Dutch would name the North River, named first by Hudson as the Mauritius after Maurice, Prince of Orange
