1.
DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000
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The DG Flugzeugbau DG-1000 is a glider of the Two Seater Class built by DG Flugzeugbau. It first flew in July 2000 at Speyer in Germany, there are four models, with 18- and 20-metre wings of HQK-51 profile. The 1001 replaced the DG-505 in production, with an 18-metre span it is fully certified for aerobatics, with a 20-metre span it is certified for limited aerobatics. The retractable engine is mounted on a pylon aft of the double cockpit, there is a reduction gear between the engine and the two-blade carbon-fibre composite propeller. The propeller was designed and is produced by the DG factory, in 2011, the DG-1000 was selected by the USAF as a replacement for the Blanik TG-10. It will serve as a basic soaring trainer for cadets at the United States Air Force Academy and it also serves as the primary competition platform for the USAF Academy Aerobatic Demonstration Team. Used to train cadets in soaring at the United States Air Force Academy
2.
Kanye West discography
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American rapper and music producer Kanye West has released seven studio albums, two live albums, three video albums, four mixtapes, one hundred and ten singles and ninety-three music videos. West has sold over 21 million albums and 66 million digital downloads worldwide, as of May 2012, six of his songs have each exceeded three million digital downloads. Six of his seven studio albums have been certified at least platinum in the United States, in 2003, West collaborated with rapper Twista and singer Jamie Foxx on the song Slow Jamz, which became Wests first single to top the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2005, West released his studio album Late Registration. Late Registration produced five singles, including Touch the Sky, Heard Em Say and Gold Digger, the critically acclaimed album has sold over three million copies and has attained five multi-platinum certifications, including a triple-platinum certification from the RIAA. In 2007, Wests third studio album Graduation debuted at one on the Billboard 200 and shipped over 957,000 units in its first week. Graduation held the one spot on the Billboard 200 for over a month. It supported by five singles, including the Billboard Hot 100 number one single Stronger, in 2008, Wests fourth album 808s & Heartbreak was released and became his third consecutive number one release on the Billboard 200. It featured two top three singles, Love Lockdown and Heartless, from 2008 to 2009, West collaborated with artists on multiple Hot 100 top ten singles, including American Boy by singer Estelle, Swagga Like Us by rappers Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and T. I. Knock You Down by singer Keri Hilson, Run This Town by Jay-Z and Rihanna, in 2010, West released his fifth studio album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, continuing a streak of number one albums for West. Four singles were released from the album, all of which reached the top 25 on the Billboard Hot 100, Power, Monster, Runaway and All of the Lights. In 2011, West collaborated with American singer Katy Perry on a remix of her song E. T. which hit one on the Billboard Hot 100. Watch the Throne, a collaboration with Jay-Z, was released as Wests sixth studio album in August 2011, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200, Watch the Throne produced seven singles, including the Billboard Hot 100 top 25 singles H•A•M, Otis and Niggas in Paris. Wests sixth studio album Yeezus was released in June 2013 and debuted at one in the United States. It included three singles including Fade, the album was met with positive reviews. Official website Kanye West at AllMusic Kanye West discography, forum, and marketplace at Discogs Kanye West discography at MusicBrainz
3.
NEC
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NEC Corporation is a Japanese multinational provider of information technology services and products, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC provides IT and network solutions to enterprises, communications services providers and to government agencies. The company was known as the Nippon Electric Company, Limited and its NEC Semiconductors business unit was one of the worldwide top 20 semiconductor sales leaders before merging with Renesas Electronics. NEC is a member of the Sumitomo Group, kunihiko Iwadare and Takeshiro Maeda established Nippon Electric Limited Partnership on August 31,1898 by using facilities that they had bought from Miyoshi Electrical Manufacturing Company. Iwadare acted as the partner, Maeda handled company sales. Western Electric, which had an interest in the Japanese phone market, was represented by Walter Tenney Carleton, Carleton was also responsible for the renovation of the Miyoshi facilities. It was agreed that the partnership would be reorganized as a company when treaty would allow it. On July 17,1899, the treaty between Japan and the United States went into effect. Nippon Electric Company, Limited was organized the day with Western Electric Company to become the first Japanese joint-venture with foreign capital. Ernest Clement and Carleton were named as directors, Maeda and Mototeru Fujii were assigned to be auditors. Iwadare, Maeda and Carleton handled the overall management, the company started with the production, sales and maintenance of telephones and switches. NEC modernized the facilities with the construction of the Mita Plant in 1901 at Mita Shikokumachi. It was completed in December 1902, the Japanese Ministry of Communications adopted a new technology in 1903, the common battery switchboard supplied by NEC. The common battery switchboards powered the subscriber phone, eliminating the need for a permanent magnet generator in each subscribers phone, the switchboards were initially imported, but were manufactured locally by 1909. NEC started exporting telephone sets to China in 1904, in 1905, Iwadare visited Western Electric in the U. S. to see their management and production control. On his return to Japan he discontinued the system of sub-contracting and replaced it with a new system where managers. Inefficiency was also removed from the production process, the company paid higher salaries with incentives for efficiency. New accounting and cost controls were put in place, and time clocks installed, between 1899 and 1907 the number of telephone subscribers in Japan rose from 35,000 to 95,000
4.
Hudson Soft
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It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. Hudson Soft was founded on May 18,1973, initially, it dealt with personal computer products, but later expanded to the development and publishing of video games, mobile content, video game peripherals and music recording. Primarily a video game publisher, Hudson developed internally many of the games it published as well as a few games published by other companies. Hudson is known for such as Bomberman, Adventure Island, Bloody Roar. Hudson Soft ceased to exist as a company on March 1,2012 and was merged with Konami Digital Entertainment, products and services will continue to be provided under the Hudson brand through Konami. Hudson Soft Ltd. was founded in Sapporo, Japan on May 18,1973 by brothers Yuji, the founders grew up admiring trains, and named the business after their favorite, the Hudson locomotives. Hudson began as a shop called CQ Hudson, selling radio telecommunications devices, in September 1975, Hudson Soft began selling personal computer-related products, and in March 1978 started developing and selling video game packages. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hudson Soft favored a quantity over quality approach for the marketing of video games, at one point, the company released up to 30 different computer software per month, none of which were hugely successful. Things changed in late 1983, when Hudson started to prioritize quality over quantity, Hudson became Nintendos first third-party software vendor for the Family Computer and its title for this console, Lode Runner, sold 1.2 million units after its 1984 release. The business continued developing games on the Famicom and computer platforms. A caravan was held at sixty venues throughout Japan, a first for the game industry. Bomberman was released in December of this year on the Famicom and was considered a big hit by Hudson Soft, most importantly, Hudson held the Summer Caravan video gaming competitions where many top-level performers could compete for champion. From 1985 until 1992 the Caravan was a hallmark of Hudsons popularity, in July 1987, Hudson developed the C62 System and collaborated with NEC to develop the PC Engine video game console. Throughout 1990, Hudson Soft developed and published video games for an array of systems, in 1994, the 32-bit semiconductor chip HuC62 was independently developed by Hudson and used in NECs PC-FX video game console. Hudson Softs head office was transferred to Tokyo in 2005, the original Sapporo headquarters remained in operation as a secondary office. Hudson Soft lost several key people starting in the mid-2000s, co-founder Hiroshi Kudo left the company in November 2004 following financial losses. Shinichi Nakamoto, who was with the company since 1978 and creator of the Bomberman series, veteran Takahashi Meijin resigned in May 2011, he had joined Hudson Soft in 1982. Around 2010-2011, many migrated to Nintendos restructured Nd Cube studio which is headed by Hidetoshi Endo
5.
Home video game console
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A home video game console or simply home console is a video game device that is primarily used for home gamers, as opposed to in arcades or some other commercial establishment. Below is a timeline of each generation with the top three home video consoles of each based on worldwide sales. For a complete list of video consoles released in each generation please see the respective article of each generation. Legend – Unit with the highest sales of its generation, – Unit with the second highest sales of its generation. – Unit with the third highest sales of its generation, – Manufacturer released a home video console during this generation but did not sell the most units. – – Manufacturer didnt release a video game console during this generation. † – Indicates the current generation consoles on the market, although the first video games appeared in the 1950s, they were played on massive computers connected to vector displays, not analog televisions. Ralph H. Baer conceived the idea of a video game in 1951. In the late 1960s while working for Sanders Associates he created a series of game console designs. In 1972 Magnavox released the Magnavox Odyssey, the first home game console which could be connected to a TV set. Magnavox replaced the switch design with separate cartridges for each game, by autumn 1975, Magnavox, bowing to the popularity of Pong, cancelled the Odyssey and released a scaled-down version that played only Pong and hockey, the Odyssey 100. A second, higher end console, the Odyssey 200, was released with the 100 and added on-screen scoring, up to four players, almost simultaneously released with Ataris own home Pong console through Sears, these consoles jump-started the consumer market. All three of the new consoles used simpler designs than the original Odyssey with no board game pieces or extra cartridges, in the years that followed, the market saw many companies rushing similar consoles to market. Most of the consoles from this era were dedicated consoles playing the games that came with the console. These video game consoles were often just called video games, because there was reason to distinguish the two yet. While a few companies like Atari, Magnavox, and newcomer Coleco pushed the envelope, Fairchild released the Fairchild Video Entertainment System in 1976. The VES, however, contained a programmable microprocessor so its cartridges only needed a single ROM chip to store microprocessor instructions, RCA and Atari soon released their own cartridge-based consoles, the RCA Studio II and the Atari 2600, respectively. Both Bally and Magnavox also brought their own programmable cartridge-based consoles to the market, however, it was not until Atari released a conversion of the golden age arcade hit Space Invaders in 1980 for the Atari 2600 that the home console industry took off
6.
Fourth generation of video game consoles
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In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation of games consoles began on October 30,1987 with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics PC Engine. This generation saw strong console wars, Nintendo was able to capitalize on its previous success in the third generation and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation as well. Sega was extremely successful in this generation and began a new franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, several companies started to take notice of the maturing video game industry. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004 and it launched in North America during August 1989, under the name TurboGrafx-16. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format, NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo. In the United States, NEC used Bonk, a caveman, as their mascot. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make an impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system, the Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. In Japan, a number of adult titles were also available for the PC Engine, such as a variety of strip mahjong games. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29,1988, the console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14,1989 under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30,1990 under its original name and their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as Genesis does what Nintendont and the SEGA. scream. Segas version of Mortal Kombat received generally favorable reviews in the gaming press. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II, the Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan, but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide, by late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue the Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn. Nintendos fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21,1990, the machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23,1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Later titles such as Star Fox and Donkey Kong Country would keep the Super Famicom/SNES relevant well into the fifth generation era of 32-, the CD-i format was announced in the late 80s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Phillips CD-i main selling point was that it was more than a game machine, due to an agreement between Nintendo in Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES, Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo franchises
7.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
8.
North America
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North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
9.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
10.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
11.
Spain
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By population, Spain is the sixth largest in Europe and the fifth in the European Union. Spains capital and largest city is Madrid, other urban areas include Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Bilbao. Modern humans first arrived in the Iberian Peninsula around 35,000 years ago, in the Middle Ages, the area was conquered by Germanic tribes and later by the Moors. Spain is a democracy organised in the form of a government under a constitutional monarchy. It is a power and a major developed country with the worlds fourteenth largest economy by nominal GDP. Jesús Luis Cunchillos argues that the root of the span is the Phoenician word spy. Therefore, i-spn-ya would mean the land where metals are forged, two 15th-century Spanish Jewish scholars, Don Isaac Abravanel and Solomon ibn Verga, gave an explanation now considered folkloric. Both men wrote in two different published works that the first Jews to reach Spain were brought by ship by Phiros who was confederate with the king of Babylon when he laid siege to Jerusalem. This man was a Grecian by birth, but who had given a kingdom in Spain. He became related by marriage to Espan, the nephew of king Heracles, Heracles later renounced his throne in preference for his native Greece, leaving his kingdom to his nephew, Espan, from whom the country of España took its name. Based upon their testimonies, this eponym would have already been in use in Spain by c.350 BCE, Iberia enters written records as a land populated largely by the Iberians, Basques and Celts. Early on its coastal areas were settled by Phoenicians who founded Western Europe´s most ancient cities Cadiz, Phoenician influence expanded as much of the Peninsula was eventually incorporated into the Carthaginian Empire, becoming a major theater of the Punic Wars against the expanding Roman Empire. After an arduous conquest, the peninsula came fully under Roman Rule, during the early Middle Ages it came under Germanic rule but later, much of it was conquered by Moorish invaders from North Africa. In a process took centuries, the small Christian kingdoms in the north gradually regained control of the peninsula. The last Moorish kingdom fell in the same year Columbus reached the Americas, a global empire began which saw Spain become the strongest kingdom in Europe, the leading world power for a century and a half, and the largest overseas empire for three centuries. Continued wars and other problems led to a diminished status. The Napoleonic invasions of Spain led to chaos, triggering independence movements that tore apart most of the empire, eventually democracy was peacefully restored in the form of a parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Spain joined the European Union, experiencing a renaissance and steady economic growth
12.
HuCard
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The HuCard is a ROM cartridge in the form of a card, designed by Hudson Soft for NECs PC-Engine and PC Engine SuperGrafx video game consoles, which premiered in 1987 and 1989, respectively. The HuCard is an evolution from an earlier Hudson Soft technology, the Bee Card, the Bee Card is an EEPROM device that is slightly thinner than the HuCard. It has 32 connectors whereas the HuCard has 38, most video game cartridges have a large plastic housing to protect the PCB while providing enough space inside for radiant heat and, less often, a button cell. Hudson Soft, NEC, and other vendors published seven HuCard titles specifically for the PC Engine SuperGrafx, Hudson Soft called this enhanced medium the Super HuCard. In the United States, where the PC-Engine was marketed as the TurboGrafx-16, video game developers published new titles on HuCard/TurboChip until 1993. Famicom Modem Sega Card Nintendo game card
13.
CD-ROM
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A CD-ROM /ˌsiːˌdiːˈrɒm/ is a pre-pressed optical compact disc which contains data. The name is an acronym which stands for Compact Disc Read-Only Memory, computers can read CD-ROMs, but cannot write to CD-ROMs which are not writable or erasable. From the mid-1990s until the mid-2000s, CD-ROMs were popularly used to distribute software for computers, some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both computer data and audio with the latter capable of being played on a CD player, while data is only usable on a computer. An early CD-ROM format was developed by Sony and Denon, introduced at a Japanese computer show in 1984 and it was an extension of Compact Disc Digital Audio, and adapted the format to hold any form of digital data, with a capacity of 540 MiB. The Yellow Book is the standard that defines the format of CD-ROMs. One of a set of books that contain the technical specifications for all CD formats. CD-ROMs are identical in appearance to audio CDs, and data are stored and retrieved in a similar manner. Discs are made from a 1.2 mm thick disc of polycarbonate plastic, data is stored on the disc as a series of microscopic indentations. A laser is shone onto the surface of the disc to read the pattern of pits. This pattern of changing intensity of the beam is converted into binary data. Several formats are used for data stored on discs, known as the Rainbow Books. The Yellow Book, published in 1988, defines the specifications for CD-ROMs, the CD-ROM standard builds on top of the original Red Book CD-DA standard for CD audio. Other standards, such as the White Book for Video CDs, the Yellow Book itself is not freely available, but the standards with the corresponding content can be downloaded for free from ISO or ECMA. There are several standards that define how to structure data files on a CD-ROM, ISO9660 defines the standard file system for a CD-ROM. ISO13490 is an improvement on this standard which adds support for non-sequential write-once and re-writeable discs such as CD-R and CD-RW, as well as multiple sessions. The ISO13346 standard was designed to address most of the shortcomings of ISO9660, and a subset of it evolved into the UDF format, which was adopted for DVDs. The bootable CD specification was issued in January 1995, to make a CD emulate a hard disk or floppy disk, is called El Torito, data stored on CD-ROMs follows the standard CD data encoding techniques described in the Red Book specification. This includes cross-interleaved Reed–Solomon coding, eight-to-fourteen modulation, and the use of pits, the structures used to group data on a CD-ROM are also derived from the Red Book
14.
Central processing unit
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The computer industry has used the term central processing unit at least since the early 1960s. The form, design and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of their history, most modern CPUs are microprocessors, meaning they are contained on a single integrated circuit chip. An IC that contains a CPU may also contain memory, peripheral interfaces, some computers employ a multi-core processor, which is a single chip containing two or more CPUs called cores, in that context, one can speak of such single chips as sockets. Array processors or vector processors have multiple processors that operate in parallel, there also exists the concept of virtual CPUs which are an abstraction of dynamical aggregated computational resources. Early computers such as the ENIAC had to be rewired to perform different tasks. Since the term CPU is generally defined as a device for software execution, the idea of a stored-program computer was already present in the design of J. Presper Eckert and John William Mauchlys ENIAC, but was initially omitted so that it could be finished sooner. On June 30,1945, before ENIAC was made, mathematician John von Neumann distributed the paper entitled First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC and it was the outline of a stored-program computer that would eventually be completed in August 1949. EDVAC was designed to perform a number of instructions of various types. Significantly, the programs written for EDVAC were to be stored in high-speed computer memory rather than specified by the wiring of the computer. This overcame a severe limitation of ENIAC, which was the considerable time, with von Neumanns design, the program that EDVAC ran could be changed simply by changing the contents of the memory. Early CPUs were custom designs used as part of a larger, however, this method of designing custom CPUs for a particular application has largely given way to the development of multi-purpose processors produced in large quantities. This standardization began in the era of discrete transistor mainframes and minicomputers and has accelerated with the popularization of the integrated circuit. The IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured to tolerances on the order of nanometers, both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of digital devices in modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines. Modern microprocessors appear in electronic devices ranging from automobiles to cellphones, the so-called Harvard architecture of the Harvard Mark I, which was completed before EDVAC, also utilized a stored-program design using punched paper tape rather than electronic memory. Relays and vacuum tubes were used as switching elements, a useful computer requires thousands or tens of thousands of switching devices. The overall speed of a system is dependent on the speed of the switches, tube computers like EDVAC tended to average eight hours between failures, whereas relay computers like the Harvard Mark I failed very rarely. In the end, tube-based CPUs became dominant because the significant speed advantages afforded generally outweighed the reliability problems, most of these early synchronous CPUs ran at low clock rates compared to modern microelectronic designs. Clock signal frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 4 MHz were very common at this time, the design complexity of CPUs increased as various technologies facilitated building smaller and more reliable electronic devices
15.
Hudson Soft HuC6280
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The most notable product using the HuC6280 is NECs PC Engine video game console. The processor operates at two speeds,1.79 MHz and 7.16 MHz, the HuC6280 has a 64 KB logical address space and a 2 MB physical address space. To access this memory space, the HuC6280 uses an MMU that splits the memory space into segments of 8 KB. Two special instructions are used to access these registers, TAMi, tMAi, transfer an MPR register into the accumulator. Frequency modulation takes this one step further, allowing the frequency to be dynamically adjusted according to a specified pattern. White noise is used to simulate percussion instruments and effects, such as explosions, inevitably, this requires more programming effort and CPU time. HuC6280 Documentation at ArchaicPixels http, //shu. emuunlim. com/download/pcedocs/pce_cpu. html http, //www. magicengine. com/mkit/ http, //www. interlog. com/~daves/pce_info/info. html
16.
SuperGrafx
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The PC Engine SuperGrafx, also shortened as the SuperGrafx or PC Engine SG, is a video game console by NEC Home Electronics, released exclusively in Japan. It is a version of the PC Engine. Originally announced as the PC Engine 2, the machine was purported to be a true 16-bit system with improved graphics and audio capabilities over the original PC Engine. Expected to be released in 1990, the SuperGrafx was rushed to market, only seven games were produced which took advantage of the improved SuperGrafx hardware, and two of those could be played on a regular PC Engine. However, the SuperGrafx is backwards compatible with all PC Engine software in both, HuCard and CD-ROM² format, bringing the compatible software total up to nearly 700, the system was not widely adopted and is largely seen as a commercial failure. Compared to the PC Engine, the SuperGrafx has four times the amount of working RAM for the main CPU, also included is a priority controller chip, which allows the output of both video chips to be combined in various ways. The SuperGrafx has support for two independently scrolling background layers, like the Mega Drive, as opposed to the PC Engines single layer. It is a common misconception that the extra video hardware capabilities were taxing on the systems CPU. In reality, despite having the same CPU as the PC Engine, one accessory of note was the Power Console, designed to add a full flight yoke, throttle and keypad to the SuperGrafx, sliding over the entire console. Besides a prototype, no Power Consoles were ever produced, since the SuperGrafx was produced and marketed as an upgraded PC Engine model rather than as a new platform, it was backwards compatible with standard PC Engine HuCards in addition to its own. However, SuperGrafx-specific HuCards were expensive compared to standard HuCards, in some cases approaching as much as $110 USD at retail, the SuperGrafx is also compatible with the CD-ROM² System add-on, as well as the Super CD-ROM² add-on. No CD-ROM² format games were produced that took advantage of the SuperGrafxs added capabilities, CPU, 8-bit HuC6280A, a modified 65SC02 running at 1.79, or 7.16 MHz. Features integrated bankswitching hardware, an integrated general-purpose I/O port, a timer, block transfer instructions, GPU, A multiple graphics processor setup. One 16-bit HuC6260 Video Color Encoder, two 16-bit HuC6270A Video Display Controllers, and one HuC6202 Video Priority Controller, the HuC6270A featured Port-based I/O similar to the TMS99xx VDP family. Consequently, most game developers limited their games to either 256,336, layers, The dual HuC6270A VDCs are capable of displaying 2 sprite layers. Sprites could be placed either in front of or behind background tiles, Each layer can display 16 sprites or 256 sprite pixels per scanline, giving the combined sprite per scanline limit of 32 sprites or 512 sprite pixels. Tiles Size, 8×8 Palette, Each background tile can use up to 16 unique colors via one of the 16 available background palettes, the first color entry of each background palette must be the same across all background palettes. Layers, The dual HuC6270A VDCs were capable of displaying 2 background layers, work RAM, 32KB Video RAM, 128KB Six Wavetable Synthesis audio channels, programmable through the HuC6280A CPU
17.
PC-FX
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The PC-FX is a 32-bit home video game console made by NEC Home Electronics. It was released in Japan on December 23,1994, just weeks after Sonys PlayStation and it is the successor to the PC Engine, known as TurboGrafx-16 in North America. Unlike its predecessor, the PC-FX was only released in Japan, the console is shaped just like a tower PC and was meant to be similarly upgradeable. However the PC-FX was using a graphics chip that rendered the system underpowered in comparison to its competitors. A lack of support also meant inadequate games and as a result it was unable to compete effectively with its fifth generation peers. The PC-FX was NECs last home game console, and was discontinued in February 1998. Plans were therefore drawn up by NEC for a successor in order to reclaim lost ground, the PC-FX was based on a 32-bit system architecture named Iron Man, developed in-house by NEC. At the time, the earlier PC Engine was still popular in Japan. When NEC decided to release the PC-FX, the specs were relatively unchanged from the originally unveiled Iron Man architecture, the most significant difference was the addition of a new 32-bit V-810 RISC CPU. The console was announced in late 1993, in a special Game Machine Cross Review in May 1995, Famicom Tsūshin would score the PC-FX console an 18 out of 40. Unusual for a fifth generation console, the PC-FX does not have a graphics processor. The shining quality of the PC-FX was the ability to decompress 30 JPEG pictures per second while playing digitally recorded audio and this resulted in the PC-FX having superior full motion video quality over all other fifth generation consoles. The systems target audience was roughly five years older than that of the PC Engine, NEC directed Hudson Soft, with whom they continued their partnership over the PC Engine, to develop only games based on popular anime franchises and using prerendered animated footage. Though this policy played to the strengths, it barred Hudson Soft from bringing successful PC Engine series such as Bomberman. Unlike nearly any other console, the PC-FX was also available as an internal PC card for NEC PC-98 and this PC card came with two CDs of software to help the user program games for the PC-FX. However, compatibility issues prevented games developed with software from actually running on the console. The PC-FX was discontinued in early 1998 and it sold only 400,000 units over its lifetime. The PC-FX uses CD-ROMs as its medium, following on from the expansion released for its predecessor
18.
History of video game consoles (fourth generation)
–
In the history of computer and video games, the fourth generation of games consoles began on October 30,1987 with the Japanese release of NEC Home Electronics PC Engine. This generation saw strong console wars, Nintendo was able to capitalize on its previous success in the third generation and managed to win the largest worldwide market share in the fourth generation as well. Sega was extremely successful in this generation and began a new franchise, Sonic the Hedgehog, several other companies released consoles in this generation, but none of them were widely successful. Nevertheless, several companies started to take notice of the maturing video game industry. This generation ended with the discontinuation of the Neo Geo in 2004 and it launched in North America during August 1989, under the name TurboGrafx-16. Initially, the PC Engine was quite successful in Japan, partly due to titles available on the then-new CD-ROM format, NEC released a CD add-on in 1990 and by 1992 had released a combination TurboGrafx and CD-ROM system known as the TurboDuo. In the United States, NEC used Bonk, a caveman, as their mascot. The TurboGrafx-16 failed to maintain its sales momentum or to make an impact in North America. The TurboGrafx-16 and its CD combination system, the Turbo Duo, ceased manufacturing in North America by 1994, though a small amount of software continued to trickle out for the platform. In Japan, a number of adult titles were also available for the PC Engine, such as a variety of strip mahjong games. The Mega Drive was released in Japan on October 29,1988, the console was released in New York City and Los Angeles on August 14,1989 under the name Sega Genesis, and in the rest of North America later that year. It was launched in Europe and Australia on November 30,1990 under its original name and their advertising was often directly adversarial, leading to commercials such as Genesis does what Nintendont and the SEGA. scream. Segas version of Mortal Kombat received generally favorable reviews in the gaming press. With the new ESRB rating system in place, Nintendo reconsidered its position for the release of Mortal Kombat II, the Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service reported that during the key shopping month of November 1994, 63% of all 16-bit video game consoles sold were Sega systems. The console was never popular in Japan, but still managed to sell 40 million units worldwide, by late 1995, Sega was supporting five different consoles and two add-ons, and Sega Enterprises chose to discontinue the Mega Drive in Japan to concentrate on the new Sega Saturn. Nintendos fourth-generation console, the Super Famicom, was released in Japan on November 21,1990, the machine reached North America as the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on August 23,1991, and Europe and Australia in April 1992. Later titles such as Star Fox and Donkey Kong Country would keep the Super Famicom/SNES relevant well into the fifth generation era of 32-, the CD-i format was announced in the late 80s, with the first machines compatible with the format being released in 1991. The Phillips CD-i main selling point was that it was more than a game machine, due to an agreement between Nintendo in Philips about an abortive CD add-on for the SNES, Philips also had rights to use some of Nintendo franchises
19.
CPU
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The computer industry has used the term central processing unit at least since the early 1960s. The form, design and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of their history, most modern CPUs are microprocessors, meaning they are contained on a single integrated circuit chip. An IC that contains a CPU may also contain memory, peripheral interfaces, some computers employ a multi-core processor, which is a single chip containing two or more CPUs called cores, in that context, one can speak of such single chips as sockets. Array processors or vector processors have multiple processors that operate in parallel, there also exists the concept of virtual CPUs which are an abstraction of dynamical aggregated computational resources. Early computers such as the ENIAC had to be rewired to perform different tasks. Since the term CPU is generally defined as a device for software execution, the idea of a stored-program computer was already present in the design of J. Presper Eckert and John William Mauchlys ENIAC, but was initially omitted so that it could be finished sooner. On June 30,1945, before ENIAC was made, mathematician John von Neumann distributed the paper entitled First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC and it was the outline of a stored-program computer that would eventually be completed in August 1949. EDVAC was designed to perform a number of instructions of various types. Significantly, the programs written for EDVAC were to be stored in high-speed computer memory rather than specified by the wiring of the computer. This overcame a severe limitation of ENIAC, which was the considerable time, with von Neumanns design, the program that EDVAC ran could be changed simply by changing the contents of the memory. Early CPUs were custom designs used as part of a larger, however, this method of designing custom CPUs for a particular application has largely given way to the development of multi-purpose processors produced in large quantities. This standardization began in the era of discrete transistor mainframes and minicomputers and has accelerated with the popularization of the integrated circuit. The IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured to tolerances on the order of nanometers, both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of digital devices in modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines. Modern microprocessors appear in electronic devices ranging from automobiles to cellphones, the so-called Harvard architecture of the Harvard Mark I, which was completed before EDVAC, also utilized a stored-program design using punched paper tape rather than electronic memory. Relays and vacuum tubes were used as switching elements, a useful computer requires thousands or tens of thousands of switching devices. The overall speed of a system is dependent on the speed of the switches, tube computers like EDVAC tended to average eight hours between failures, whereas relay computers like the Harvard Mark I failed very rarely. In the end, tube-based CPUs became dominant because the significant speed advantages afforded generally outweighed the reliability problems, most of these early synchronous CPUs ran at low clock rates compared to modern microelectronic designs. Clock signal frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 4 MHz were very common at this time, the design complexity of CPUs increased as various technologies facilitated building smaller and more reliable electronic devices
20.
Nintendo Entertainment System
–
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer on July 15,1983, and was released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics and it was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN and it was judged the second greatest console behind the Sega Dreamcast in PC Magazines Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time. Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a console called the Famicom. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer, meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors. Original plans called for the Famicoms cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, the controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. There were concerns regarding the durability of the design and that children might step on joysticks left on the floor. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use, ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. Uemura added an eject lever to the slot which was not really necessary. He also added a microphone to the controller with the idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker. The console was released on July 15,1983 as the Family Computer for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendos successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum, a bad chip set caused the release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983
21.
Sega Genesis
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The Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive in most regions outside of North America, is a 16-bit home video game console which was developed and sold by Sega Enterprises, Ltd. The Genesis was Segas third console and the successor to the Master System, Sega first released the console as the Mega Drive in Japan in 1988, followed by a North American debut under the Genesis moniker in 1989. In 1990, the console was distributed as the Mega Drive by Virgin Mastertronic in Europe, by Ozisoft in Australasia, in South Korea, the systems were distributed by Samsung and were known as the Super Gam*Boy, and later the Super Aladdin Boy. The system supports a library of more than 900 games created both by Sega and an array of third-party publishers and delivered on ROM-based cartridges. It can play Master System games when the separately sold Power Base Converter is inserted, the Genesis has benefited from several peripherals and network services, as well as multiple first-party and third-party variations of the console that focus on extending its functionality. Controversy surrounding violent titles such as Night Trap and Mortal Kombat led Sega to create the Videogame Rating Council, Sega sold 30.75 million units worldwide. The console and its games continue to be popular among fans, game music fans, collectors. As of 2015, licensed third party re-releases of the console are being sold by AtGames in North America and Europe. Many games have been re-released in compilations for newer consoles and offered for download on online services, such as the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network. The Genesis was succeeded by the Sega Saturn, in the early 1980s, Sega Enterprises, Inc. then a subsidiary of Gulf & Western, was one of the top five arcade game manufacturers active in the United States, as company revenues rose to $214 million. The company retained Segas North American R&D operation, as well as its Japanese subsidiary, Sega Enterprises, with its arcade business in decline, Gulf & Western executives turned to Sega Enterprises, Ltd. s president, Hayao Nakayama, for advice on how to proceed. Nakayama received permission to proceed with project, leading to the release of Segas first home video game system. The SG-1000 was not successful, and was replaced by the Sega Mark III within two years, Nakayama was then installed as CEO of the new Sega Enterprises, Ltd. In 1986, Sega redesigned the Mark III for release in North America as the Sega Master System and this was followed by a European release the next year. In 1987, Sega faced another threat to its business when Japanese computer giant NEC released the PC Engine amid great publicity. First announced in June 1988 in Beep, a Japanese gaming magazine, the developing console was referred to as the Mark V, but Sega management felt the need for a stronger name. After reviewing more than 300 proposals, the settled on Mega Drive. In North America, the name of the console was changed to Genesis, the reason for this change is not known, but it may have been due to a trademark dispute
22.
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
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In Japan, the system is called the Super Famicom, or SFC for short. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics, although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another. It was released in Brazil on September 2,1992, by Playtronic, the SNES is Nintendos second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System. The console introduced advanced graphics and sound compared with other systems at the time. The development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated in game cartridges helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace. The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era, and continues to be popular among fans, collectors, retro gamers, and emulation enthusiasts, some of whom still make homebrew ROM images. To compete with the popular Family Computer in Japan, NEC Home Electronics launched the PC Engine in 1987, the two platforms were later launched in North America in 1989 as the TurboGrafx-16 and the Genesis respectively. Both systems were built on 16-bit architectures and offered improved graphics, however, it took several years for Segas system to become successful. Nintendo executives were in no rush to design a new system, designed by Masayuki Uemura, the designer of the original Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan on Wednesday, November 21,1990 for 25,000 yen. The systems release also gained the attention of the Yakuza, leading to a decision to ship the devices at night to avoid robbery, with the Super Famicom quickly outselling its chief rivals, Nintendo reasserted itself as the leader of the Japanese console market. Nintendos success was due to its retention of most of its key third-party developers from its earlier system, including Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square, Koei. Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a version of the Super Famicom. It began shipping in limited quantities on August 23,1991, the SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for £150, with a German release following a few weeks later. Most of the PAL region versions of the use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling. The Playtronic Super NES in Brazil, although PAL, uses the North American design, both the NES and SNES were released in Brazil in 1993 by Playtronic, a joint venture between the toy company Estrela and consumer electronics company Gradiente. The SNES and Super Famicom launched with few games, but these games were received in the marketplace. In Japan, only two games were available, Super Mario World and F-Zero. In North America, Super Mario World launched as a bundle with the console, and other titles include F-Zero, Pilotwings, SimCity
23.
Video display controller
–
Some VDCs also generate an audio signal, but that is not their main function. VDCs were used in the computers of the 1980s and also in some early video game systems. Sometimes other supporting chips were necessary to build a system, such as RAM to hold pixel data, ROM to hold character fonts. GPUs with hardware acceleration started appearing during the 1990s, VDCs often had special hardware for the creation of sprites, a function that in more modern VDP chips is done with the Bit Blitter using the Bit blit function. One example of a video display processor is the VDP2 32-bit background. Another example is the Advanced Graphics Architecture chip that was used for the graphics of the later generation Amiga computers. This said, it is not completely clear when a chip is a video display controller. For example, the TMS9918 is sometimes called a display controller. The graphics processing unit goes one step further than the VDP and it is the chip that is now used in modern personal computers. They are directly or indirectly responsible for the timing signals. They get the data from the main CPU, a byte at a time. This serial data stream is used together with the synchronization signals to output a video signal. The main CPU needs to do the bulk of the work, normally these chips only support a very low resolution raster graphics mode. Sprites, however, are not supported by these systems. Video interface controllers are much more complex than CRT controllers, sprites are often supported, as are character generators and video RAM dedicated to colour attributes and pallette registers for the high-resolution or text modes. Video coprocessors have their own internal CPU dedicated to reading their own video RAM, the main CPU can give commands to the coprocessor, for example to change the video modes or to manipulate the video RAM contents. The video coprocessor also controls the character generator, the colour attribute RAM, palette registers, and it could only support a very low resolution monochrome graphic mode. CRT Controllers The Intel 8275 CRT controller was not used in any mainstream system, the Motorola 6845 is a video address generator first introduced by Motorola and used for the Amstrad CPC, and the BBC Micro
24.
GPU
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GPUs are used in embedded systems, mobile phones, personal computers, workstations, and game consoles. In a personal computer, a GPU can be present on a video card, the term GPU was popularized by Nvidia in 1999, who marketed the GeForce 256 as the worlds first GPU, or Graphics Processing Unit. It was presented as a processor with integrated transform, lighting, triangle setup/clipping. Rival ATI Technologies coined the visual processing unit or VPU with the release of the Radeon 9700 in 2002. Arcade system boards have been using specialized graphics chips since the 1970s, in early video game hardware, the RAM for frame buffers was expensive, so video chips composited data together as the display was being scanned out on the monitor. Fujitsus MB14241 video shifter was used to accelerate the drawing of sprite graphics for various 1970s arcade games from Taito and Midway, such as Gun Fight, Sea Wolf, the Namco Galaxian arcade system in 1979 used specialized graphics hardware supporting RGB color, multi-colored sprites and tilemap backgrounds. The Galaxian hardware was used during the golden age of arcade video games, by game companies such as Namco, Centuri, Gremlin, Irem, Konami, Midway, Nichibutsu, Sega. In the home market, the Atari 2600 in 1977 used a video shifter called the Television Interface Adaptor,6502 machine code subroutines could be triggered on scan lines by setting a bit on a display list instruction. ANTIC also supported smooth vertical and horizontal scrolling independent of the CPU and it became one of the best known of what were known as graphics processing units in the 1980s. The Williams Electronics arcade games Robotron,2084, Joust, Sinistar, in 1985, the Commodore Amiga featured a custom graphics chip, with a blitter unit accelerating bitmap manipulation, line draw, and area fill functions. Also included is a coprocessor with its own instruction set, capable of manipulating graphics hardware registers in sync with the video beam. In 1986, Texas Instruments released the TMS34010, the first microprocessor with on-chip graphics capabilities and it could run general-purpose code, but it had a very graphics-oriented instruction set. In 1990-1992, this chip would become the basis of the Texas Instruments Graphics Architecture Windows accelerator cards, in 1987, the IBM8514 graphics system was released as one of the first video cards for IBM PC compatibles to implement fixed-function 2D primitives in electronic hardware. Fujitsu later competed with the FM Towns computer, released in 1989 with support for a full 16,777,216 color palette, in 1988, the first dedicated polygonal 3D graphics boards were introduced in arcades with the Namco System 21 and Taito Air System. In 1991, S3 Graphics introduced the S3 86C911, which its designers named after the Porsche 911 as an implication of the performance increase it promised. The 86C911 spawned a host of imitators, by 1995, all major PC graphics chip makers had added 2D acceleration support to their chips. By this time, fixed-function Windows accelerators had surpassed expensive general-purpose graphics coprocessors in Windows performance, throughout the 1990s, 2D GUI acceleration continued to evolve. As manufacturing capabilities improved, so did the level of integration of graphics chips, arcade systems such as the Sega Model 2 and Namco Magic Edge Hornet Simulator in 1993 were capable of hardware T&L years before appearing in consumer graphics cards
25.
Famicom
–
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game following the video game crash of 1983. With the NES, Nintendo introduced a business model of licensing third-party developers, authorizing them to produce. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer on July 15,1983, and was released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics and it was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2009, the Nintendo Entertainment System was named the single greatest video game console in history by IGN and it was judged the second greatest console behind the Sega Dreamcast in PC Magazines Top 10 Video Game Consoles of All Time. Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a console called the Famicom. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Perhaps we could say it is a family computer, meanwhile, Hiroshi Yamauchi decided that the console should use a red and white theme after seeing a billboard for DX Antenna which used those colors. Original plans called for the Famicoms cartridges to be the size of a cassette tape, careful design attention was paid to the cartridge connectors since loose and faulty connections often plagued arcade machines. As it necessitated taking 60 connection lines for the memory and expansion, the controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons. There were concerns regarding the durability of the design and that children might step on joysticks left on the floor. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use, ultimately though, they installed a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an optional arcade-style joystick could be used. Uemura added an eject lever to the slot which was not really necessary. He also added a microphone to the controller with the idea that it could be used to make players voices sound through the TV speaker. The console was released on July 15,1983 as the Family Computer for ¥14,800 alongside three ports of Nintendos successful arcade games Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Popeye. The Famicom was slow to gather momentum, a bad chip set caused the release of the system to crash. Following a product recall and a reissue with a new motherboard, the deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983
26.
Super Famicom
–
In Japan, the system is called the Super Famicom, or SFC for short. In South Korea, it is known as the Super Comboy and was distributed by Hyundai Electronics, although each version is essentially the same, several forms of regional lockout prevent the different versions from being compatible with one another. It was released in Brazil on September 2,1992, by Playtronic, the SNES is Nintendos second home console, following the Nintendo Entertainment System. The console introduced advanced graphics and sound compared with other systems at the time. The development of a variety of enhancement chips integrated in game cartridges helped to keep it competitive in the marketplace. The SNES remained popular well into the 32-bit era, and continues to be popular among fans, collectors, retro gamers, and emulation enthusiasts, some of whom still make homebrew ROM images. To compete with the popular Family Computer in Japan, NEC Home Electronics launched the PC Engine in 1987, the two platforms were later launched in North America in 1989 as the TurboGrafx-16 and the Genesis respectively. Both systems were built on 16-bit architectures and offered improved graphics, however, it took several years for Segas system to become successful. Nintendo executives were in no rush to design a new system, designed by Masayuki Uemura, the designer of the original Famicom, the Super Famicom was released in Japan on Wednesday, November 21,1990 for 25,000 yen. The systems release also gained the attention of the Yakuza, leading to a decision to ship the devices at night to avoid robbery, with the Super Famicom quickly outselling its chief rivals, Nintendo reasserted itself as the leader of the Japanese console market. Nintendos success was due to its retention of most of its key third-party developers from its earlier system, including Capcom, Konami, Tecmo, Square, Koei. Nintendo released the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, a version of the Super Famicom. It began shipping in limited quantities on August 23,1991, the SNES was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland in April 1992 for £150, with a German release following a few weeks later. Most of the PAL region versions of the use the Japanese Super Famicom design, except for labeling. The Playtronic Super NES in Brazil, although PAL, uses the North American design, both the NES and SNES were released in Brazil in 1993 by Playtronic, a joint venture between the toy company Estrela and consumer electronics company Gradiente. The SNES and Super Famicom launched with few games, but these games were received in the marketplace. In Japan, only two games were available, Super Mario World and F-Zero. In North America, Super Mario World launched as a bundle with the console, and other titles include F-Zero, Pilotwings, SimCity
27.
PC Engine SuperGrafx
–
The PC Engine SuperGrafx, also shortened as the SuperGrafx or PC Engine SG, is a video game console by NEC Home Electronics, released exclusively in Japan. It is a version of the PC Engine. Originally announced as the PC Engine 2, the machine was purported to be a true 16-bit system with improved graphics and audio capabilities over the original PC Engine. Expected to be released in 1990, the SuperGrafx was rushed to market, only seven games were produced which took advantage of the improved SuperGrafx hardware, and two of those could be played on a regular PC Engine. However, the SuperGrafx is backwards compatible with all PC Engine software in both, HuCard and CD-ROM² format, bringing the compatible software total up to nearly 700, the system was not widely adopted and is largely seen as a commercial failure. Compared to the PC Engine, the SuperGrafx has four times the amount of working RAM for the main CPU, also included is a priority controller chip, which allows the output of both video chips to be combined in various ways. The SuperGrafx has support for two independently scrolling background layers, like the Mega Drive, as opposed to the PC Engines single layer. It is a common misconception that the extra video hardware capabilities were taxing on the systems CPU. In reality, despite having the same CPU as the PC Engine, one accessory of note was the Power Console, designed to add a full flight yoke, throttle and keypad to the SuperGrafx, sliding over the entire console. Besides a prototype, no Power Consoles were ever produced, since the SuperGrafx was produced and marketed as an upgraded PC Engine model rather than as a new platform, it was backwards compatible with standard PC Engine HuCards in addition to its own. However, SuperGrafx-specific HuCards were expensive compared to standard HuCards, in some cases approaching as much as $110 USD at retail, the SuperGrafx is also compatible with the CD-ROM² System add-on, as well as the Super CD-ROM² add-on. No CD-ROM² format games were produced that took advantage of the SuperGrafxs added capabilities, CPU, 8-bit HuC6280A, a modified 65SC02 running at 1.79, or 7.16 MHz. Features integrated bankswitching hardware, an integrated general-purpose I/O port, a timer, block transfer instructions, GPU, A multiple graphics processor setup. One 16-bit HuC6260 Video Color Encoder, two 16-bit HuC6270A Video Display Controllers, and one HuC6202 Video Priority Controller, the HuC6270A featured Port-based I/O similar to the TMS99xx VDP family. Consequently, most game developers limited their games to either 256,336, layers, The dual HuC6270A VDCs are capable of displaying 2 sprite layers. Sprites could be placed either in front of or behind background tiles, Each layer can display 16 sprites or 256 sprite pixels per scanline, giving the combined sprite per scanline limit of 32 sprites or 512 sprite pixels. Tiles Size, 8×8 Palette, Each background tile can use up to 16 unique colors via one of the 16 available background palettes, the first color entry of each background palette must be the same across all background palettes. Layers, The dual HuC6270A VDCs were capable of displaying 2 background layers, work RAM, 32KB Video RAM, 128KB Six Wavetable Synthesis audio channels, programmable through the HuC6280A CPU
28.
Personal computer
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A personal computer is a multi-purpose electronic computer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. PCs are intended to be operated directly by a end-user, rather than by an expert or technician. In the 2010s, PCs are typically connected to the Internet, allowing access to the World Wide Web, personal computers may be connected to a local area network, either by a cable or a wireless connection. In the 2010s, a PC may be, a multi-component desktop computer, designed for use in a location a laptop computer, designed for easy portability or a tablet computer. In the 2010s, PCs run using a system, such as Microsoft Windows, Linux. The very earliest microcomputers, equipped with a front panel, required hand-loading of a program to load programs from external storage. Before long, automatic booting from permanent read-only memory became universal, in the 2010s, users have access to a wide range of commercial software, free software and free and open-source software, which are provided in ready-to-run or ready-to-compile form. Since the early 1990s, Microsoft operating systems and Intel hardware have dominated much of the computer market, first with MS-DOS. Alternatives to Microsofts Windows operating systems occupy a minority share of the industry and these include Apples OS X and free open-source Unix-like operating systems such as Linux and Berkeley Software Distribution. Advanced Micro Devices provides the alternative to Intels processors. PC is an initialism for personal computer, some PCs, including the OLPC XOs, are equipped with x86 or x64 processors but not designed to run Microsoft Windows. PC is used in contrast with Mac, an Apple Macintosh computer and this sense of the word is used in the Get a Mac advertisement campaign that ran between 2006 and 2009, as well as its rival, Im a PC campaign, that appeared in 2008. Since Apples transition to Intel processors starting 2005, all Macintosh computers are now PCs, the “brain” may one day come down to our level and help with our income-tax and book-keeping calculations. But this is speculation and there is no sign of it so far, in the history of computing there were many examples of computers designed to be used by one person, as opposed to terminals connected to mainframe computers. Using the narrow definition of operated by one person, the first personal computer was the ENIAC which became operational in 1946 and it did not meet further definitions of affordable or easy to use. An example of an early single-user computer was the LGP-30, created in 1956 by Stan Frankel and used for science and it came with a retail price of $47, 000—equivalent to about $414,000 today. Introduced at the 1965 New York Worlds Fair, the Programma 101 was a programmable calculator described in advertisements as a desktop computer. It was manufactured by the Italian company Olivetti and invented by the Italian engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto, the Soviet MIR series of computers was developed from 1965 to 1969 in a group headed by Victor Glushkov
29.
PC-98
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The PC-9800 Series is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 through 2000. The platform established NECs dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, the first model, the PC-9801, was launched on October 1982, and employed an 8086 CPU. It ran at a speed of 5 MHz, with two µPD7220 display controllers, and shipped with 128 KB of RAM, expandable to 640 KB. Its 8-color display had a resolution of 640×400 pixels. Its successor, the PC-9801E, which appeared in 1983, employed an 8086-2 CPU, the NEC PC-9801VM used NEC V30 CPU. When the PC-9801 was launched in 1982, it was priced at 298,000 yen. In the 1980s and early 1990s, NEC dominated the Japan domestic PC market with more than 60% of the PCs sold as PC-9801 or PC-8801, in 1990, IBM Japan introduced the DOS/V operating system which enabled displaying Japanese text on standard IBM PC/AT VGA adapters. After that, the decline of the PC-98 began, the PC-9801s last successor was the Celeron-based PC-9821Ra43, which appeared in 2000. While NEC did not market these specific machines in the West, it did sell the NEC APC III, however, localized MS-DOS or Windows will still run on PC-9801s. Seiko Epson manufactured PC-9801 clones, as well as compatible peripherals, software for the PC-98 generally ran from program and data disks, and NEC did not have a strong GUI to go up against Microsofts Windows 95 when it took Japans PC market by storm. The PC9801 had thousands of game titles designed for it, many of which made use of the systems limitations to great commercial success. Partial list of PC-98 models sold in the Japanese market,2, June 2000, pp. 197–216 Ascii Techwrite. DOS/V, The Soft Solution to Hard Problems, archived from the original on 2017-01-15. From Chaos to Competition - Japans PC industry in transformation, archived from the original on 2017-01-16. Intro to NEC PC-9800 World PC9801, the first model of the series Info about NEC PC-9801M with uPD8086D-2 PC博物館, モデルナンバー （本体） - PC-9800 - NEC - レトロＰＣ - Retro Computer People. Neko Project II, a PC-98 emulator for Windows and Mac OS X
30.
Nintendo
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Nintendo Co. Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics and video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. Nintendo is one of the worlds largest video game companies by market capitalization, founded on 23 September 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it originally produced handmade hanafuda playing cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small businesses, such as cab services. The word Nintendo can be translated from Japanese to English as leave luck to heaven. From 1992 until 2016, Nintendo was also the majority shareholder of Major League Baseballs Seattle Mariners, as of 31 March 2014, Nintendo has cumulative sales of over 670.43 million hardware units and 4.23 billion software units. The company has created and released some of the best-known and top-selling video game franchises, such as Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo was founded as a card company in late 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Based in Kyoto, Japan, the produced and marketed a playing card game called Hanafuda. The handmade cards soon became popular, and Yamauchi hired assistants to mass-produce cards to satisfy demand, in 1949, the company adopted the name Nintendo Karuta Co. Ltd. doing business as The Nintendo Playing Card Co. outside Japan. Nintendo continues to manufacture playing cards in Japan and organizes its own contract bridge tournament called the Nintendo Cup. In 1956, Hiroshi Yamauchi, grandson of Fusajiro Yamauchi, visited the U. S. to talk with the United States Playing Card Company and he found that the biggest playing card company in the world was using only a small office. Yamauchis realization that the card business had limited potential was a turning point. He then acquired the license to use Disney characters on playing cards to drive sales, in 1963, Yamauchi renamed Nintendo Playing Card Co. Ltd. to Nintendo Co. Ltd. The company then began to experiment in other areas of business using newly injected capital during the period of time between 1963 and 1968, Nintendo set up a taxi company called Daiya. However, Nintendo was forced to sell it because problems with the unions were making it too expensive to run the service. It also set up a hotel chain, a TV network. All of these ventures failed, and after the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, playing card sales dropped. In 1966, Nintendo moved into the Japanese toy industry with the Ultra Hand, Yokoi was moved from maintenance to the new Nintendo Games department as a product developer. Nintendo continued to produce toys, including the Ultra Machine, Love Tester
31.
Sega
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Nonetheless, Sega remains the worlds most prolific arcade producer, with over 500 games in over 70 franchises on more than 20 different arcade system boards since 1981. Sega, along with their sub-studios, are known for their multi-million selling game franchises, such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Yakuza, Segas head offices are located in Tokyo. Segas North American division, Sega of America, is headquartered in Irvine, California, Segas European division, Sega Europe, is headquartered in London. After the war, the founders sold that company and established a new distributor called Service Games and this company provided coin-operated slot machines to U. S. bases in Japan and changed its name again to Service Games of Japan by 1953. David Rosen, an American officer in the United States Air Force stationed in Japan and this company eventually became Rosen Enterprises, and in 1957, began importing coin-operated games to Japan. On May 31,1960, Service Games Japan was closed, Three days later, two new companies were established to take over its business activities, Nihon Goraku Bussan and Nihon Kikai Seizo. By 1965, Rosen Enterprises grew to a chain of over 200 arcades, Rosen then orchestrated a merger between Rosen Enterprises and Nihon Goraku Bussan, becoming chief executive of the new company, Sega Enterprises, which derived its name from Service Games. Within a year, Sega began the transition from importer to manufacturer, with the release of the submarine simulator game, the game sported light and sound effects considered innovative for that time, eventually becoming quite successful in Japan. It was soon exported to both Europe and the United States, becoming the first arcade game in the US to cost 25 cents per play, in 1969, Rosen sold Sega to American conglomerate Gulf and Western Industries, although he remained as CEO following the sale. Under Rosens leadership, Sega continued to grow and prosper, and in 1974, Gulf and Western made Sega Enterprises, a subsidiary of an American company renamed Sega Enterprises, Inc. allowing them to take the companys stock public. Sega prospered heavily from the gaming boom of the late 1970s. In 1982, Segas revenues surpassed $214 million and that year they introduced the first game with isometric graphics, Zaxxon, the industrys first stereoscopic 3D game, SubRoc 3D, and the first laserdisc video game, Astron Belt. Astron Belt wasnt released in the U. S. until 1983, other notable games from Sega during this period are Head On, Monaco GP, Carnival, Turbo, Space Fury, Astro Blaster, and Pengo. In 1983-4, Sega published Atari 2600 versions of some of its arcade games, Carnival, Space Fury, Turbo, and Zaxxon were licensed to Coleco as launch titles for the ColecoVision console in 1982. Some of these and other titles were licensed to different companies for 8-bit computer versions, the Atari 8-bit computer port of Zaxxon is from Datasoft, for example, while the Commodore 64 port is from Synapse. An overabundance of games in 1983 led to the game crash. Seeking an alternate source of revenue from the arcade market, Sega designed and released its first home video game console. G&W sold the U. S. assets of Sega Enterprises that same year to pinball manufacturer Bally Manufacturing, nakayama became the new CEO of Sega, Robert Deith chairman of the board, and Rosen became head of its subsidiary in the United States
32.
Namco
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Namco Limited is a Japanese corporation best known as a video game developer and publisher. Following a merger with Bandai in September 2005, the two companies game production assets were spun off into Bandai Namco Games on March 31,2006, Namco was re-established to continue domestic operation of video arcades and amusement parks. Its headquarters are located in Ōta, Tokyo, the companys English name is often officially written as NAMCO. Namco was a front-runner during the age of arcade video games. Pac-Man went on to become the best-selling arcade game in history, Namco was also known for creating successful franchises such as Galaxian, Ridge Racer, Ace Combat, Tekken, as well as the Soul and Tales series. Masaya Nakamura founded the company as Nakamura Manufacturing in 1955, based in Tokyo, the company started out by running childrens rides on the roof of a department store in Yokohama. The business eventually expanded throughout the Tokyo area, Nakamura Manufacturing was reorganized in 1958 and later underwent a name change to Nakamura Manufacturing Company, which would be used to form the acronym NAMCO. In 1970, the company produced a coin-operated mechanical driving simulator called Racer, Atari Japan, the Tokyo-based subsidiary of Atari, was struggling financially by 1974. General manager Hide Nakajima was left in charge of the company after his boss had quit, Nakajima claims that employees had been stealing money and that he had contributed funds from his personal savings in order to pay creditors and stave off bankruptcy. Sega, then a manufacturer of machines, offered to acquire Atari Japan for $50,000. Nakamura put in a bid for $800,000 and shocked others out of competition, the deal was finalized at $500,000 and Bushnell was glad to take it. Debts inherited from Atari Japan would take Nakamura two years to pay off, but the deal had also secured for him a license to distribute Ataris games in Japan for ten years. Nakamura would follow up by opening video arcades featuring Atari games, everyone thought was mad when he paid so much for Atari, but it turned out to be a very wise investment. Nakajima was promoted to president in 1978, and on his recommendation Namco opened a subsidiary, Namco America. The location he chose was across the street from Ataris former headquarters in Sunnyvale, at the time, games were not released in the U. S. under the Namco label. Namco America existed mainly to license Namcos games to companies such as Atari, Galaxian revolutionized the industry as the first video game to use RGB color graphics. It was Pac-Man, however, that would become definitive of Namcos legacy, galaga, a follow-up to Galaxian, was one of the most successful sequels of the era. Dig Dug, Xevious, and Pole Position continued Namcos success in establishing iconic franchises during the Golden Age, during this period, Namco published video games for home consoles and personal computer under the Namcot brand name
33.
Konami
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Konami Holdings Corporation is a Japanese entertainment company. It operates as a distributor, which produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines and arcade cabinets. It also operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan, Konami is the twentieth-largest game company in the world by revenue. The company was founded in 1969 as a rental and repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan, by Kagemasa Kōzuki. The name Konami is a conjunction of the names Kagemasa Kozuki, Yoshinobu Nakama, Konami is currently headquartered in Tokyo. In the United States, Konami manages its video game business from offices in El Segundo, California and its casino gaming business from offices in Paradise and its Australian gaming operations are located in Sydney. As of March 2016, it owns 21 consolidated subsidiaries around the world, March 21,1969 - Kagemasa Kozuki founded a jukebox rental/repair business in Toyonaka, Osaka. March 19,1973 - Kozuki transformed the business into Konami Industry Co. Ltd. and their first actual game machine was not created until 1978, and they began exporting products to the United States the following year. May 1980 - Konami moved their headquarters to Toyonaka, Osaka, March 1981 - The Konami logo was established. A new logo with the name in italics was released in 1986 and was altered in 1998 from italics to Roman text, in 2003, Konami introduced a new logo for the companys 30th anniversary. The company also introduced the new tagline, Bikkuri, which is marketed as Be Creative, October 1982 - Konami began manufacturing and selling PC games. November 1982 - Konami of America, Inc. was established in Torrance, in 2003, Konami of America closed down their arcade division due to heavy losses, the entire Buffalo Grove, Illinois location was shut down along with it. All machine inquiries and new machines would thereafter be handled by Betson Enterprises, as of 2007, Konami Corporation of America has moved its U. S. head office once again from Redwood City to Konami Digital Entertainments office in El Segundo, California. November 1983 - Konami began producing MSX games and they would go on to become one of the most prolific game developer to support the platform during the next seven years, releasing a total of 70 titles on both, the original MSX and the MSX2. Their MSX games included such as Antarctic Adventure, the Knightmare trilogy. Most notably Hideo Kojimas earliest games, the original Metal Gear, Snatcher and Metal Gear 2, may 1984 - Konami Ltd. was established in the United Kingdom. In October 1984, Konami was listed on the Second Section of the Osaka Securities Exchange, subsequent stock listings include Second Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and the Nikkei Stock Average. In December 1984, Konami GmbH was established in Germany, April 1985 - Konami began manufacturing and selling Family Computer video games
34.
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
35.
Los Angeles
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Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L. A. is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a census-estimated 2015 population of 3,971,883, it is the second-most populous city in the United States, Los Angeles is also the seat of Los Angeles County, the most populated county in the United States. The citys inhabitants are referred to as Angelenos, historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was founded on September 4,1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence, in 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4,1850, the discovery of oil in the 1890s brought rapid growth to the city. The completion of the Los Angeles Aqueduct in 1913, delivering water from Eastern California, nicknamed the City of Angels, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles also has an economy in culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index, the city is home to renowned institutions covering a broad range of professional and cultural fields, and is one of the most substantial economic engines within the United States. The Los Angeles combined statistical area has a gross metropolitan product of $831 billion, making it the third-largest in the world, after the Greater Tokyo and New York metropolitan areas. The city has hosted the Summer Olympic Games in 1932 and 1984 and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics and thus become the second city after London to have hosted the Games three times. The Los Angeles area also hosted the 1994 FIFA mens World Cup final match as well as the 1999 FIFA womens World Cup final match, the mens event was watched on television by over 700 million people worldwide. The Los Angeles coastal area was first settled by the Tongva, a Gabrielino settlement in the area was called iyáangẚ, meaning poison oak place. Gaspar de Portolà and Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí, reached the present site of Los Angeles on August 2,1769, in 1771, Franciscan friar Junípero Serra directed the building of the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel, the first mission in the area. The Queen of the Angels is an honorific of the Virgin Mary, two-thirds of the settlers were mestizo or mulatto with a mixture of African, indigenous and European ancestry. The settlement remained a small town for decades, but by 1820. Today, the pueblo is commemorated in the district of Los Angeles Pueblo Plaza and Olvera Street. New Spain achieved its independence from the Spanish Empire in 1821, during Mexican rule, Governor Pío Pico made Los Angeles Alta Californias regional capital
36.
Blazing Lazers
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Blazing Lazers, known in Japan as Gunhed, is a 1989 sci-fi shoot em up video game developed by Hudson Soft and Compile. It was released in Japan on July 7,1989 for the PC Engine, and it was released in North America in November 1989 for the TurboGrafx-16. It was later released on the Wiis Virtual Console in North America on May 21,2007, in Europe on May 25,2007, in Australia on July 30,2007, and in Japan on June 17,2008. It was released for the PlayStation Network on July 21,2010 and it is based on the Japanese film Gunhed. The gameplay features fast vertical scrolling and an array of weapons for the player to use. It was one of the first games released for the TurboGrafx-16 and has received praise for its graphical capabilities, lack of slowdown, intense gameplay. The player takes control of the Gunhed Star Fighter through nine vertically scrolling areas, the players mission is to destroy the Dark Squadron and its eight enemy Super Weapons. Every area contains one or more bosses, all of which must be destroyed before continuing in the game, the game ends when all lives have been lost, but the game awards 1-ups when the player scores a particular number of points. The game provides four continues in which players can restart the game at that level in which their previous game ended provided the system is not turned off. The player controls a main cannon, which can either be upgraded or changed to other types of weapons by collecting various numbered power-ups. Players can collect optional power-ups to help fight through the game such as multibodies that shadow their actions, homing missiles, shields, the player carries a limited supply of cluster bombs that can be deployed, destroying large quantities of enemies and bosses within the players vicinity. Players have the function of selecting the speed of their ship, the number of triangles that appear below the players score designate the speed of the players ship. Blazing Lazers was co-developed by Hudson Soft and Compile, the game was released as Gunhed on July 7,1989 for the Japanese PC Engine console as a tie-in to the live action film of the same name. It was subsequently released in North America as Blazing Lazers in November 1989, with the game localized for the North American audience by removing the references to the Gunhed film. The game was rereleased on the Wiis Virtual Console service in North America on May 21,2007, in Europe on May 25,2007, in Australia on July 30,2007 and it was released for the PlayStation Network in Japan on July 21,2010. During development of the game Super Star Soldier, NEC considered calling the game Blazing Lazers II because of the similarity in gameplay with Blazing Lazers, the game was featured in a preview of future TurboGrafx-16 games in Electronic Gaming Monthly in November 1989. In a section previewing new TurboGrafx-16 games, said that game was a total blast from start to finish. The game has been considered by reviewers as one of the better shoot em up video games in the genre as well as one of the best games on the TurboGrafx-16 gaming console
37.
China Warrior
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China Warrior, known in Japan as The Kung Fu, is a horizontal beatem up video game created in 1987 by Hudson Soft for the TurboGrafx-16. The game was ported to mobile phones and the Hudson Channel for the PS2 exclusively in Japan with redone graphics, audio, the PC Engine version was also released for the Wiis, Nintendo 3DSs, and Wii Us Virtual Console and on the Japanese PlayStation Store. The object of the game is to walk through each stage while throwing punches and kicks at enemies and objects, there are four stages which are broken down into three stages each, for a total of twelve stages. When Wang gets knocked out, the game starts over at the beginning of the stage in which he got knocked out, players can memorize the object/enemy pattern in order to get through the stage more easily whenever Wang gets knocked out. At the end of level, there is a boss fight. The control was designed to be similar to the arcade game Kung-Fu Master, the graphics utilized very large character models that fill up the screen. They were capable of moving without any graphical flickering, in 1987, the character size and detail was a positive selling point for the title in Japan. The release would not reach US until 2 years later, by then, the title faced much tougher competition against games like Last Battle and Altered Beast. IGN denounced the game for its overly limiting gameplay, forcing the player to move right. In addition, while the graphical advancements of the game were prominent, in the games review for Wiis Virtual Console, IGN and Gamespot gave the game an abysmal review, citing bad graphics and repetitive gameplay, among other things. The game was featured in 1UPs Broken Pixels, a show dedicated to mocking bad video games
38.
Vigilante (video game)
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Vigilante is a 1988 beat em up arcade game developed and published by Irem in Japan and Europe and published in North America by Data East. It is considered as a sequel to Irems earlier Kung-Fu Master. The game takes place in downtown New York City, players control the titular character using punches and kicks to defeat the Skinheads in a 2D platform manner, while sometimes picking up and using nunchaku against them. If players get hurt while holding nunchuku, they become unarmed, there are five stages in order of appearance, a street, a junkyard, the Brooklyn Bridge, a back street scene and on top of a building that is under construction. Skinheads with Mohawk or spiked hairdo attack the vigilante with knives, chains, motorbikes, rifles and they will also cling to him if he stands too close to them. The arcade game was ported to several different home computers. In the Sega Master System version, Madonna was renamed Maria, the ones for Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, Amiga and the Amstrad CPC were reprogrammed by Emerald Software and published by U. S. The MSX version was ported and published by Korean company Clover, the TurboGrafx-16 version was ported and published in Japan on January 14,1989 by Irem and published in North America by NEC the same year. This port matches the arcade more than other ports and it was also released in Japan for the Wii U Virtual Console on February 10,2015. Your Sinclair summarised the game as Pretty standard beat em up, youve probably seen it all before, so only buy if youre addicted to the genre and youve already got the better ones. Arcade version Vigilante at the Killer List of Videogames Vigilante at arcade-history Home versions Vigilante at MobyGames Vigilante at SpectrumComputing. co. uk
39.
Alien Crush
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Alien Crush is a pinball video game developed by NAXAT Soft for the PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16. It was later re-released on the Virtual Console and on the PlayStation Network, the game is the first installment in the Crush Pinball series. It was followed by three sequels, Devils Crush, Jaki Crush, and Alien Crush Returns, Alien Crush features a science fiction theme reminiscent of the film Alien. Essentially, the player is fighting against the aliens with their pinball skills, the playfield of Alien Crush consists of two main screens arranged vertically, with a pair of flippers at the bottom of each. The play stops momentarily as the ball shifts from one screen to the next, there are also several hidden/bonus rooms. These hidden rooms mainly involve destroying all the aliens for bonus points, the player is given the choice of a fast or slow ball speed and two different music tracks. Hudsons Official Site Nintendos Virtual Console Alien Crush Site IGNs Review of Alien Crush Gamespots Alien Crush Review
40.
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones
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Keith Courage in Alpha Zones is a 1989 science fantasy action platform video game that was released by NEC for the TurboGrafx-16. Struck by a giant meteor, the world, in the game, has been invaded by creatures from another planet, burrowing deep within the Earths surface, the planet of B. A. D. seeks to take over the world. Keiths mission is to defeat B. A. D. armed with a sword, Keith must first defeat the outpost guards. Here Keith activates the awesome Nova Suit, a secret force left to him by his fallen father, he is half man, half mechanical monster. Nearly invincible, his sword cracks with the power of lightning and his goal is to reach the Robo Zone, headquarters of B. A. D. Succeed here and the player win the game, recapturing the Earth. Four friends offer Keith advice, swords, bombs, and extra lives, the players goal is to collect the stolen riches left behind by the invaders and buy your way out of trouble with money. The game is a platformer game, but it sports two different styles of play depending on whether the player is above or below ground. There are a total of seven levels in the game, each of which is broken into two areas, the overworld and underworld, overworld areas consist of simple rightward travel and platform hopping. In the overworld, one controls Keith Courage in his form, using a dagger to fend off enemies which take the form of birds, moles. Upon reaching the end of the level, Keith is transported via rainbow to the underworld. At the end of each level is a boss. In the overworld, you can go into buildings at times, in the overworld, Keith is a simple adventurous human with a short sword and three heart containers. Transporting to the underworld places Keith in the Nova Suit, a suit of armor that grants him extra hearts on his health bar, additionally, Keith is now able to use the bolt bombs. When used, bolt bombs are similar to bullets that are fired in the eight directions depending on how many are left. Wataru Ikusabe / Keith Courage - The main character, himiko Shinobibe / Nurse Nancy - Nancy heals Keith for a price. Shibaraku Tsurugibe / Weapons Master - Weapons Master sells weapons to Keith, the Prophet - The Prophet warns Keith of danger. Wise Wizard - Wise Wizard sells bolt bombs to Keith, the gameplay of the two versions is the same but the story is different
41.
Altered Beast
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Altered Beast is a 1988 beat em up arcade game developed and manufactured by Sega. After its initial release, it was ported to several home video game consoles and home computers, including the Mega Drive/Genesis. Altered Beast is a scrolling beat em up game with light platform elements. The player can punch, kick and jump, up to two players can play at once. One of the enemies, a white two-headed wolf upon defeat releases a Spirit Ball, three orbs turn the centurion into a beast, which in the original version were a werewolf, a thunder weredragon, a werebear, a weretiger, and the more powerful golden werewolf. Each beast has its own abilities, such as the flight and lightning. Upon the bosss defeat, Neff appears and removes the transformation orbs, a Greek Warrior who had died in battle is resurrected from the dead by Zeus. The Warrior is ordered by Zeus to save his daughter Athena from a Demon God called Neff in the Underworld. To become able to withstand the perils, the warrior gets the ability to collect three spirit balls on each level, the last of which transforms him into a human/beast hybrid of formidable power. After a series of battles in a journey that ends in Dis, in the original arcade game, the end credits are interspersed with images of actors in costumes for the different characters and monsters of the game, implying the whole game was a film production. Altered Beast was ported to several platforms after its release in 1988. It was released for Master System, PC Engine, Family Computer, Atari ST, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Amiga and MS-DOS. The Mega Drive/Genesis version was the original game for that system in North America, Europe. A hand-held version of the game, made by Tiger Electronics was released in 1988, certain differences are seen between the several versions of the game. Some of them, like the Master System version, were only single-player, others provided different beasts to mutate into, such as a humanoid lion, or a shark form seen in the Famicom version. Sega released an official iOS port of the Mega Drive version in late 2010, played on the iPhone, the game has also seen a 3D port for the Nintendo 3DS as a digital download on the Nintendo eShop. It retains the game and local multiplayer, and also features a new mode with random transformations. It is based on the Mega Drive/Genesis port, not the arcade version, in its initial arcade release, Altered Beast was a well-received game
42.
Chicago
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Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the third-most populous city in the United States. With over 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the state of Illinois, and it is the county seat of Cook County. In 2012, Chicago was listed as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Chicago has the third-largest gross metropolitan product in the United States—about $640 billion according to 2015 estimates, the city has one of the worlds largest and most diversified economies with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. In 2016, Chicago hosted over 54 million domestic and international visitors, landmarks in the city include Millennium Park, Navy Pier, the Magnificent Mile, Art Institute of Chicago, Museum Campus, the Willis Tower, Museum of Science and Industry, and Lincoln Park Zoo. Chicagos culture includes the arts, novels, film, theater, especially improvisational comedy. Chicago also has sports teams in each of the major professional leagues. The city has many nicknames, the best-known being the Windy City, the name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as Checagou was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir, henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted that the wild garlic, called chicagoua, grew abundantly in the area. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by a Native American tribe known as the Potawatomi, the first known non-indigenous permanent settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable. Du Sable was of African and French descent and arrived in the 1780s and he is commonly known as the Founder of Chicago. In 1803, the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn, the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi tribes had ceded additional land to the United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis. The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the Treaty of Chicago in 1833, on August 12,1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 4,000 people, on June 15,1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as U. S. The City of Chicago was incorporated on Saturday, March 4,1837, as the site of the Chicago Portage, the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicagos first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, and the Illinois, the canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad, manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy. The Chicago Board of Trade listed the first ever standardized exchange traded forward contracts and these issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln, to the national stage
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PAL
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Phase Alternating Line is a colour encoding system for analogue television used in broadcast television systems in most countries broadcasting at 625-line /50 field per second. Other common colour encoding systems are NTSC and SECAM, all the countries using PAL are currently in process of conversion or have already converted standards to DVB, ISDB or DTMB. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system, the articles on broadcast television systems and analogue television further describe frame rates, image resolution and audio modulation. To overcome NTSCs shortcomings, alternative standards were devised, resulting in the development of the PAL, the goal was to provide a colour TV standard for the European picture frequency of 50 fields per second, and finding a way to eliminate the problems with NTSC. PAL was developed by Walter Bruch at Telefunken in Hannover, Germany, with important input from Dr. Kruse, the format was patented by Telefunken in 1962, citing Bruch as inventor, and unveiled to members of the European Broadcasting Union on 3 January 1963. When asked, why the system was named PAL and not Bruch the inventor answered that a Bruch system would not have sold very well. The first broadcasts began in the United Kingdom in June 1967, the one BBC channel initially using the broadcast standard was BBC2, which had been the first UK TV service to introduce 625-lines in 1964. Telefunken PALcolor 708T was the first PAL commercial TV set and it was followed by Loewe-Farbfernseher S920 & F900. Telefunken was later bought by the French electronics manufacturer Thomson, Thomson also bought the Compagnie Générale de Télévision where Henri de France developed SECAM, the first European Standard for colour television. The term PAL was often used informally and somewhat imprecisely to refer to the 625-line/50 Hz television system in general, accordingly, DVDs were labelled as PAL or NTSC even though technically the discs do not carry either PAL or NTSC composite signal. CCIR 625/50 and EIA 525/60 are the names for these standards, PAL. Both the PAL and the NTSC system use a quadrature amplitude modulated subcarrier carrying the chrominance information added to the video signal to form a composite video baseband signal. The frequency of this subcarrier is 4.43361875 MHz for PAL and NTSC4.43, the SECAM system, on the other hand, uses a frequency modulation scheme on its two line alternate colour subcarriers 4.25000 and 4.40625 MHz. Early PAL receivers relied on the eye to do that cancelling, however. The effect is that phase errors result in changes, which are less objectionable than the equivalent hue changes of NTSC. In any case, NTSC, PAL, and SECAM all have chrominance bandwidth reduced greatly compared to the luminance signal. The 4.43361875 MHz frequency of the carrier is a result of 283.75 colour clock cycles per line plus a 25 Hz offset to avoid interferences. Since the line frequency is 15625 Hz, the carrier frequency calculates as follows,4.43361875 MHz =283.75 ×15625 Hz +25 Hz
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Telegames
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Telegames, Inc. is an American video game company based in Gun Barrel City, Texas, with a sister operation based in England. Telegames was well known for supporting not just modern game systems but also classic game systems, effective September 2004 though, Telegames, Inc. ceased support for all classic and orphaned video game systems and software in order to support only modern consoles. Telegames, Inc. today focuses on gaming consoles by developing and publishing games for the Nintendo DS handheld game system. Below is a list of all games that were developed, published or will be published by Telegames. This slim console could play both ColecoVision and SG-1000 cartridges and it came equipped with NES-styled controllers, and even had a built in game called Meteoric Shower. Since the DINA control pads did not contain the numeric keypad of the actual ColecoVision controller and it also sported a pause button that could be used for SG-1000 games. Telegames Personal Arcade ColecoVision DINA 2-in-1 Telegames official website
45.
Ubisoft
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Ubisoft Entertainment SA is a French multinational video game publisher, headquartered in Rennes, France. In March 1986, five brothers of the Guillemot family founded the game publisher, Ubisoft, in Carentoir. Yves Guillemot soon made deals with Electronic Arts, Sierra On-Line, by the end of the decade, Ubisoft began expanding to other markets, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. They entered the game distribution and wholesale markets, and by 1993 they had become the largest distributor of video games in France. In the early 1990s, Ubisoft initiated its in-house game development program and it later became their administrative and commercial head office, even as the company continues to register its headquarters in Rennes. Ubisoft became a traded company in 1996 and continued its expansion around the globe, opening locations in Annecy, Shanghai, Montreal. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Ubisoft committed itself to online games by supporting Uru, Ages Beyond Myst, The Matrix Online, the publisher established an online division. However, in February 2004, Ubisoft cancelled the portion of Uru. The company is noted for its teams of female game developers/testers, in March 2001, Gores Technology Group sold The Learning Companys entertainment division to them. The sale included the rights to properties such as the Myst. In July 2006, Ubisoft bought the Driver franchise from Atari for a sum of €19 million in cash for the franchise, technology rights, and most assets. In July 2008, Ubisoft made the acquisition of Hybride Technologies, in November 2008, Ubisoft acquired Massive Entertainment from Activision. In January 2013, Ubisoft acquired South Park, The Stick of Truth from THQ for $3.265 million, in December 2004, rival gaming corporation Electronic Arts purchased a 19. 9% stake in the firm, an action Ubisoft referred to as hostile on EAs part. Ubisoft announced plans in 2013 to invest $373 million into its Quebec operations over seven years, the publisher is investing in the expansion of its motion capture technologies, and consolidating its online games operations and infrastructure in Montreal. The significant investment is expected to generate 500 jobs in Quebec over a seven-year period, by 2020, the company will employ more than 3,500 staff at its studios in Montreal and Quebec City. In March 2015, the set up a Consumer Relationship Centre in Newcastle upon Tyne. The centre is intended to integrate consumer support teams and community managers, Consumer Support and Community Management teams at the CRC are operational seven days a week. In October 2015, French mass media company Vivendi bought a 6% stake in Ubisoft, in February 2016, Ubisofts Yves Guillemot and his brother asked for more Canadian investors, to help prevent a hostile takeover by Vivendi
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Benelux
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The Benelux Union is a politico-economic union of three neighbouring states in western Europe, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. It is now used generally to refer to the geographic, economic. In 1951, these countries joined West Germany, France, and Italy to form the European Coal and Steel Community, the Benelux General Secretariat is located in Brussels. It is the central pillar of the Benelux Union. It handles the secretariat of the Committee of Ministers, the Council of Economic Union, a Benelux Parliament was created in 1955. This parliamentary assembly is composed of 21 members of the Dutch parliament,21 members of the Belgian national and regional parliaments, in 1944, exiled representatives of the three countries signed the London Customs Convention, the treaty that established the Benelux Customs Union. Ratified in 1947, the treaty was in force from 1948 until it was superseded by the Benelux Economic Union, under the Treaty the Union implies the co-operation of economic, financial and social policies. The Benelux Union involves an intergovernmental co-operation and they only become legally valid after having been incorporated into national law, with the exception of Belgium. The Belgian court of cassation decided in 1971 that any self-executing treaties have priority over laws by the Belgian parliament, the Treaty establishing the Benelux Union has provided the Committee of Ministers with the following legal instruments, decisions, conventions, recommendations and directives. The Committee of Ministers can promulgate decisions in the fields for which it has competence - those fields are set down in the Union Treaty or the additional conventions. When the Committee of Ministers adopts a decision, it immediately becomes binding on the three governments, for a decision to be also applicable to the citizen, it must be transposed into national law. The Union Treaty is not exhaustive, for this reason, Article 19 of the Treaty provides that the Committee of Ministers may conclude additional conventions. These therefore constitute extensions of the Union Treaty and they are submitted to the national parliaments for approval in keeping with the ratification procedure applied in each of the Member States. Thus there are a number of Benelux conventions in a wide range of subject matters. In 1965, the treaty establishing a Benelux Court of Justice was signed and it entered into force in 1974. The Court, composed of judges from the highest courts of the three States, has to guarantee the uniform interpretation of legal rules. This international judicial institution is located in Brussels, the Benelux is particularly active in the field of intellectual property. The three countries established a Benelux Trademarks Office and a Benelux Designs Office, both situated in The Hague, in 2005, they concluded a treaty establishing a Benelux Organization for Intellectual Property which replaced both offices upon its entry into force on 1 September 2006
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French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
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