title: Chatroulette

text: Early in the site's operation, an algorithm was developed to successfully filter out large quantities of obscene content on Chatroulette, considering that as much as 30% of the 8.5 million monthly unique visitors are under 18 years of age. This has led to a higher proportion of female users accessing the service due to the cleanup. The image recognition algorithms automatically flag users broadcasting sexual content. The filter works in a manner that it identifies excessive amounts of revealed skin while simultaneously recognizes faces as appropriate. A 20,000-user-based sample study proved that the algorithm is able to filter out nearly 60% of the offensive material along with ads on the site. While the video streams are transmitted in a peer-to-peer manner, without passing through the site's server, Chatroulette does periodically take screenshots of the users' video content. Humans then check the screenshots flagged by the algorithms and proceed to block the offending users for a period of time. In an interview, Ternovskiy states, "While recognition software improves, we have employed a moderation team to review pictures manually. We now have around 100 moderators who are all monitoring all webcam feeds and marking inappropriate ones. The combination of filter technology and moderation results in the banning of 50,000 inappropriate users daily."


title: Chatroulette

text: In December 2020, Chatroulette reported using artificial intelligence company Hive to automatically flag inappropriate content in video streams.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The series introduced a number of features to the genre and has had a significant impact on the development of other role-playing games. Installments of the series have appeared on various computers, consoles, handheld devices, and mobile phones. Early in the series, the "Dragon Quest" games were released under the title "Dragon Warrior" in North America to avoid trademark conflict with the unrelated tabletop role-playing game "DragonQuest". Square Enix did not register the "Dragon Quest" trademark for use in the United States until 2002.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The basic premise of most "Dragon Quest" games is to play a hero (actually named "Hero" in spinoff fiction) who is out to save the land from peril at the hands of a powerful evil enemy, with the hero usually accompanied by a group of party members. Common elements persist throughout the series and its spinoff games: turn-based combat; recurring monsters, including the Slime, which became the series' mascot; a text-based menu system; and random encounters in most of the main series.


title: Dragon Quest

text: While over the decades many different development companies worked on "Dragon Quest", the series has had its creators since its inception, as scenario writer and game designer Yuji Horii, character designer Akira Toriyama, and prior to his death, music composer Koichi Sugiyama have handled their respective roles on most games in the series. The original concepts, used since the first game, took elements from the Western role-playing games "Wizardry" and "Ultima". A core philosophy of the series is to make the gameplay intuitive so that players can easily start playing the games. The series features a number of religious overtones which were heavily censored in the NES versions outside of Japan.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The first four "Dragon Quest" installments were released for the Famicom and Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan and North America, respectively. The first two installments were released in Japan on the Famicom and ported that same year to the MSX; all four games have been remade for newer systems. "Dragon Quest" was first released in Japan on May 27, 1986, and in North America as "Dragon Warrior" in August 1989. "Dragon Quest II Akuryō no Kamigami" was released in Japan in 1987 and in North America in 1990 as "Dragon Warrior II". "Dragon Quest III Soshite Densetsu e..." was released in Japan in 1989 and North America as "Dragon Warrior III" in 1992. "Dragon Quest IV" was released in Japan in 1990 and in North America in 1992 as "Dragon Warrior IV". A 2001 Japanese PlayStation remake of "Dragon Warrior IV" scheduled for the North American market was never released. The Nintendo DS remake of "Dragon Quest IV" was released in North America, Europe, and Australia under its original translated title; the European release removed the number from the title.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Two games were released for the Super Famicom: "Dragon Quest V" in 1992 and "Dragon Quest VI" in 1995; both have been re-released on newer systems. "Dragon Quest V" was originally scheduled for release in North America but was canceled amid rumors that Enix had given up on the American market. No official reason was ever given. The Nintendo DS remakes were released in North America with "Dragon Quest V" also being released in Europe and Australia, the latter without the numbering. One game was released for the PS1: "Dragon Quest VII: Eden no Senshi-tachi" in 2000 in Japan and 2001 in North America under the title "Dragon Warrior VII". "" was released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004 in Japan, 2005 in North America, and 2006 in Europe and Australia, again without the number in the title for Europe. "Dragon Quest VIII" was the first game in the series to be released in North America under the title of "Dragon Quest", and the first European release of a main series game. "Dragon Quest IX", the only game in the series initially released on the Nintendo DS, was originally released in 2009 in Japan, and in 2010 in North America, Europe, and Australia. "Dragon Quest X" was announced for the Wii in December 2008. In September 2011, Square Enix announced that "Dragon Quest X" would also be released on the Wii U, with Nintendo 3DS connectivity. It is the first MMORPG in the series, and the only numbered "Dragon Quest" game not released outside Japan. "Dragon Quest XI" was released in Japan on July 29, 2017, and worldwide on September 4, 2018.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate" was announced in 2021. According to Horii, the game will have a darker tone, feature more meaningful choices, and overhaul the traditional "Dragon Quest" turn-based combat.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The franchise includes several spin-off games, including the "Dragon Quest Monsters" RPG. The series has also inspired arcade games such as the Japanese "", where players compete for real-life cards with monster data that the arcade game issues to the players through a slot on its front. The latter is the only spin-off series to have none of its titles released outside Japan. The "Mystery Dungeon" and "Itadaki Street" series use characters and other elements from "Dragon Quest" games, and the Mystery Dungeon series has gone on to spawn its own franchise.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In 1993 Chunsoft developed a SNES game that included Torneko (a.k.a. Torneko Taloon), a character that first appeared in "Dragon Quest IV". The roguelike game "" continues Torneko's story from "Dragon Quest IV" as he attempts to make his store famous, venturing into mysterious dungeons to retrieve items to stock his store with. The game was successful in Japan. In 2000 the direct sequel "" was released in Japan and the United States. The gameplay is similar to the first game, though "Torneko: The Last Hope" is considered easier to play. The game sold enough copies in Japan to allow development of the second direct sequel on the PlayStation 2, "Fushigi no Dungeon 3 Torneko no Daibouken". The second and third Torneko games have had remakes for the Game Boy Advance (GBA). A later game featured Yangus, a character who first appeared in "Dragon Quest VIII"; "" follows Yangus on his adventures before he meets up with Hero in the aforementioned game. The success of "Torneko no Daibōken" spawned the "Mystery Dungeon" series that has grown to include franchises beyond "Dragon Quest", as well as other clones.


title: Dragon Quest

text: When Enix took over the "Monopoly"-inspired video game series "Itadaki Street", the "Dragon Quest" franchise became an integral part of the game in its second version, "Itadaki Street 2: Neon Sain wa Bara Iro ni". The first "Itadaki Street", released by ASCII, did not contain elements from the "Dragon Quest" franchise. The fourth game in the series, "Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special", included characters from the "Final Fantasy" franchise, and later versions would include characters from "Mario".


title: Dragon Quest

text: Like the main series, "Dragon Quest Monsters" was originally released under the "Dragon Warrior" name in the US. The next game, "Dragon Warrior Monsters 2", is the only game to be split into two versions, "Cobi's Journey" ("Ruka's Journey" in Japan) and "Tara's Adventure" ("Iru's Adventure in Japan"), named after the main player characters. Each version has slight differences, such as the monster that appear in them. "" is a prequel to "Dragon Warrior VII", following Keifer who is pulled into Torland and must find the six Orbs of Loto in order to return. The release of "" is the first spin-off title to be released in English using the "Dragon Quest" name; its sequel "" was released in North America on September 19, 2011. There is also an Android title, "Dragon Quest Monsters: Wanted!".


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" has also produced a number of smaller spin-off titles. In two of them, players use their special controllers as a sword, swinging it to slash enemies and objects. "" is a stand-alone game in which the controller is shaped like a sword, and a toy shield contains the game's hardware. "" for the Wii uses the motion sensing Wii Remote as a sword. Another spin-off title, "Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest", uses the game's popular slime monster as the protagonist, and its sequel, "", has been translated into English. There is also a downloadable DSiWare turn-based strategy game, "Dragon Quest Wars" and other titles have been released in Japan for cellphones. "", a PlayStation 3 and 4 game featuring the gameplay of the "Dynasty Warriors" series by Koei Tecmo, was released in Japan on February 26, 2015, and in North America and Europe in October 2015 as a PlayStation 4 exclusive. Dragon Quest Builders for the PS4 was released in 2016. "Theatrhythm Dragon Quest" is a rhythm game developed for the Nintendo 3DS. Like the "Theatrhythm Final Fantasy" games before it, the game allows players to play alongside various songs from the "Dragon Quest" franchise. In September 2019, "Dragon Quest Walk", an augmented reality game, was released for Android and iOS mobile phones.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Beginning in 1988, the media franchise expanded into other media, with a number of anime, manga, and light novel adaptations. Following the success of a "Dragon Quest III" light novel, Enix began publishing more volumes starting from the first game in sequential order. Enix published titles from every main series game previously released by March 23, 1995, as well as the first Torenko's "Mystery Dungeon" game. The titles are written from a second-person perspective; the reader determines the next course of action and the stories have multiple endings.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Other printed titles released in 1989 include: "Dragon Quest Monsters Story"; "Dragon Quest Item Story"; the "Dragon Quest Perfect Collection" series starting with "Dragon Quest Perfect Collection 1990"; and the first two "Dragon Quest" novels by Takayashiki Hideo. All of these works have had additional titles published for different games by different authors: Hideo wrote the first four volumes spanning the first three games; Kumi Saori authored ten volumes comprising the next three games; and Hiroyuki Domon wrote three volumes for "Dragon Quest VII". Starting with "Shinsho Shousetsu Dragon Quest I" in 2000, a new series by all three authors began publication. The authors wrote new stories for their respective series, three stories for Hideo, nine for Saori, and three for Domon; with the latter's works featuring illustrations by Daisuke Torii. Several standalone titles and audiobook titles have also been released.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" manga began publication in "Weekly Shōnen Jump" in 1989. Based on the world of "Dragon Quest", Riku Sanjo and Koji Inada's was created as a two-chapter short-story entitled "Derupa! Iruiru!". Its success led to the three-chapter sequel, "Dai Bakuhatsu!!!", which set the framework for a later serialization spanning 37 volumes.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Several manga based on the games have been published. The longest-running of these, , "Warriors of Eden", and "Maboroshi no Daichi", were published in "Monthly Shōnen Gangan". "Emblem of Roto", by Chiaki Kawamata and Junji Koyanagi, with art by Kamui Fujiwara, consists of twenty-one volumes published between 1991 and 1997. In 2004 "Young Gangan" ran a mini-series called "Emblem of Roto Returns". It takes place between "Dragon Quest III" and "Dragon Quest I". It was adapted into a comic CD in 1994, and an anime movie based on the manga was released in Japan on April 20, 1996. As of 2019, the series has sold 21million copies, including 400,000 copies sold overseas. "Warriors of Eden" consists of eleven volumes, with art by Fujiwara. The series is a retelling of "Dragon Quest VII" with some minor changes. "Maboroshi no Daichi" consists of ten volumes. The series is a retelling of "Dragon Quest VI" with some minor changes. Other shorter manga series have been released including several based on other games, some official 4koma strips, and a manga about the making of the original "Dragon Quest" game. , authored by Yuuki Nakashima and supervised by Yūji Horii, is a sidestory of "Dragon Quest X". It was serialized between February 2013 and October 2022, with 19 volumes released through 2022. Hiro Mashima drew the one-shot , based on "Dragon Quest XI", for the October issue of "V Jump", which was released on August 21, 2019. A manga adaptation of "Dragon Quest Treasures" titled "Dragon Quest Treasures: Another Adventure Fadora no Takarajima" will begin serialization in "V Jump" in November 2022. It is written by Masaki Hara with illustrations by Yoichi Amano and supervision by Horii.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "The Road to Dragon Quest" is a manga about the creators of "Dragon Quest", published by Enix. The single-volume manga was released in 1990 and produced by Ishimori Productions. It focuses on the creation of the series and features series creator Yujii Hori, programmer Koichi Nakamura, composer Koichi Sugiyama, artist Akira Toriyama, and producer Yukinobu Chida.


title: Dragon Quest

text: There are three major television series that were adapted from the games. was produced by Studio Comet and aired from December 2, 1989, to April 5, 1991, 43 episodes were broadcast before the series ended. It was supervised by Horii, with a story loosely based on "Dragon Quest III". The first 13 episodes of the series were translated into English by Saban Entertainment under the title "Dragon Warrior". Due to its early time slot, and a lawsuit filed by Toriyama for not being credited for his work on character designs, it was not renewed. The series was released on DVD in Japan in October 2006, with its nine volumes selling about 90,000 units by February 2007.


title: Dragon Quest

text: A second anime series, "", based on the manga of the same name, was produced by Toei Animation. It ran for 46 episodes from October 17, 1991, to September 24, 1992. A aired from October 3, 2020 to October 22, 2022.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest VR" (ドラゴンクエストVR) was released at VR Zone Shinjuku, a Bandai Namco-owned virtual reality theme park arcade in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, in early April and released late on the 27th in 2019 on the same month as a VR team-based only arcade-style roleplaying game. Each players are required to wear a set of personal equipment provided by HTC Vive consisting of the headset with headphones and mics all powered by a MSI gaming laptop backpack, and special controllers specially modeled and fitted to represent each class, sword and shield for the warriors, and small wands for the mage and priest. Weapons, armor, and spells in-game are set by default and are determined by each of said class. Soldiers are the frontline fighters who have the most HP and engage in melee dealing damage up-close and absorbing it in return, mages casts spells that damage and debuff enemies in singles or in groups, and priests heal lost HP, revive downed members, and cure the party of status debuffs while casting buffs also. The brief story begins with players receiving a request from a king to embark on a journey along with Ohealia, a healslime and character excusive to this title only, who acts as a guide and narrator throughout the experience with the main goal for each team (to which multiple can play at the same time in each of their own sessions) to fight through a series of battles in increasing difficulty before facing the powerful Zoma, a guest character who's the main antagonist from "Dragon Quest III." Gameplay takes place in open arenas (such as forests, caves, and, castles) in-game while players stand and move around in a 65 x 39 foot playing field with a group of players divided into teams. Each team consists of four players and three different classes: two melee warriors, a mage, and a priest. Enemies iconic to the series that players face off against include Slimes, Drackies, Knights and a large Golem. "Dragon Quest VR" was only available for a limited amount and thus has been discontinued although Yuji Horii in an interview with UploadVR has expressed the possibility of the franchise seeing separate VR titles being released commercially.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In most "Dragon Quest" games, players control a character or party of characters that can walk into towns and buy weapons, armor, and items to defeat monsters outside of the towns: on the world map or in a dungeon. However, in the original "Dragon Quest", there was only one character walking on the map. In most of the games, battles occur through random monster attacks and improving the characters' levels requires players to grind. The series uses cursed items, difficult dungeons where players need to use their resources wisely to complete them, and difficult boss battles. When the party encounters monsters the view switches perspective and players are presented with several options on a menu; these turn-based menu-driven battles have become a staple of the series. Players use the menus to select weapons, magic, and other items used to attack and defeat the monsters, or can attempt to flee the fight; though characters cannot flee during a boss battle. Once the party defeats the monsters by winning the battle, each party member gains experience points in order to reach new levels. When a character gains a new level, the statistics (stats) of the character are upgraded. Winning battles also rewards players with gold which can be used to purchase items. In addition to the experience points and gold awarded for successfully defeating monsters, occasionally, items will be dropped as well that are added to the player's inventory.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In most "Dragon Quest" games, players must visit a church (known as a House of Healing in the NES translations) and talk to a priest or nun to save the games' progress; in "Dragon Warrior", players had to talk to a king to save their progress, though the first two "Dragon Quest" titles for Famicom use a password save system. If the party dies in battle the group loses half of its gold and warps to the nearest save location where the hero is revived; players must then pay a priest or nun to revive their party members.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" features "puff puff" – a Japanese onomatopoeia for a girl rubbing her breasts in someone's face, which can also be used for the general term of a girl jiggling her own breasts – massage girls that the player can hire with text describing their actions in some of the games; in later games gags were used since breasts could not be displayed. The text descriptions were removed from some North American translations.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In "Dragon Quest III", "Dragon Quest VI", "Dragon Quest VII", and "Dragon Quest IX", several character classes can be chosen for the party members. Each game has its particular set of classes with typical options, including the Cleric, Fighter, Jester, Thief, Warrior, and Mage. All the aforementioned games also include advanced classes such as the Sage. In addition, "Dragon Quest VI" and "VII" include monster classes.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In "", a new collectible item known as mini medals, resembling small gold coins with a five-pointed star in the middle, was introduced; they have nothing to do with winning the game, but they can be traded with a certain character for items. Players collect them throughout the game, primarily by opening chests, breaking pots and barrels, and searching in sacks and drawers. Horii introduced them as he wanted to have something players collected that were similar to the crests and orbs in the previous "Dragon Quest" games, but did not want to repeat the necessity for players having to collect a certain number of them before they could complete the game.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The "Dragon Quest" series features several recurring monsters, including Slimes, Drackies, Skeletons, Shadows, Mummies, Bags o' Laughs, and Dragons. Many monsters in the series were designed by Akira Toriyama.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Several "Dragon Quest" games allow the player to recruit monsters to fight alongside them. In "Dragon Quest IV", a Healer monster called "Healie" can be recruited for the first chapter. "Dragon Quest V" and "VI" monsters can be selected by the player to join the player's party and fight in battles. In "Dragon Quest VIII" players can defeat and recruit monsters to fight in an arena.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The Slime, designed by Toriyama for use in "Dragon Quest", has become the official mascot of the "Dragon Quest" series. Series designer Yuji Horii cited the monster as an example of Toriyama's skills, claiming it took "[artistic] power to take something like a pool of slime and use his imagination to make it a great character." A Slime is a small blue blob, shaped like a water droplet, with a face. It has appeared in every "Dragon Quest" game and it is usually one of the first monsters the players encounter. The Slime's popularity has netted it the "Slime" spin-off series on handheld consoles.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Erdrick, known as in Japanese and in the North American remakes of the Game Boy Color versions of the first three games, is the title given to a legendary hero in the "Dragon Quest" series. The first three "Dragon Quest" games, all connected to the legend of Erdrick, comprise the Erdrick or Loto trilogy. Also known as Arusu, he is known as the hero who freed the Kingdom of Alefgard from the darkness. The chronological order of the first three "Dragon Quest" games is: "Dragon Quest III", "Dragon Quest", and "Dragon Quest II".


title: Dragon Quest

text: In the first "Dragon Quest" game, the hero, the player character, is a descendant of Erdrick who follows in his footsteps to reach the Dragonlord's Castle and confront him. In "Dragon Quest II" the heroes are also descendants of Erdrick, exploring the expanded world of Torland that includes the continent of Alefgard. Erdrick's legend in the "Dragon Quest" series was completed in "Dragon Quest III" when the King of Alefgard bestowed the "Order of Erdrick", the country's highest honor, upon the hero at the end of the game. Two of the player character's three highest-level armaments are named "Erdrick's Sword" and "Erdrick's Armor" in "Dragon Quest" and "Dragon Quest II". Playing "Dragon Quest III" with the name "Erdrick" is impossible in the original release, as the game prompts the player to choose a different name for the hero. This is because the status of "III" in the chronological order as a prequel of the first two titles is presented as a plot twist. The Game Boy Color remakes prevent the use of the name "Loto" for the same reason.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In "Dragon Quest XI", the player character is a warrior chosen by the world tree Yggdrasil to save the world of Erdrea from a being of pure evil known as "Calasmos". After Calasmos is defeated at the end of the game, Yggdrasil bestows him the title of Erdrick.


title: Dragon Quest

text: , known as Torneko Taloon in North American English localizations, is a recurring character who first appears in "Dragon Quest IV". A traveling merchant, Torneko's usual goal is to expand the inventory of his shop by procuring rare items, often by traversing dungeons and fighting monsters on his own or with his family.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The character's popularity with players led to further appearances or easter egg references in subsequent mainline sequels, as well as a starring role in 1993's "", the inaugural entry of the long-running "Mystery Dungeon" video game series by Spike Chunsoft. The character's other video game appearances include two direct sequels to "Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon", the 2016 video game "Dragon Quest Heroes II", and the "Itadaki Street" series.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Zenithia, also called Zenith Castle, Zenith, or in Japanese, is a floating castle that first appears in "Dragon Quest IV"; it is used as a descriptor for several elements in "Dragon Quest IV", "V" and "VI". Its appearance in all three games has led to the games being described as the Zenithia or "Tenkū" trilogy, despite different geographical layouts in each of the three games' worlds. Horii explained that a trilogy was never the intention: "Each "Dragon Quest" title represents a fresh start and a new story, so it seems too much of a connection between the games in the series. It could be said that the imagination of players has brought the titles together in a certain fashion."


title: Dragon Quest

text: In "Dragon Quest IV" Zenithia can be accessed by climbing the tower above the entrance to the world of darkness. In "Dragon Quest V" Zenithia has fallen into a lake south of Lofty Peak (Elheaven in the original release), until the Golden Orb is returned leaving the castle able to move freely in the sky. In "Dragon Quest VI" Zenithia is sealed by Demon Lord Dhuran, and a large hole is left in its place in the "Dream World". When the Dream World returns to its natural state in "Dragon Quest VI", Zenithia is the only part that remains, floating above the "real" world. In addition to the trilogy, a castle in the "Dragon Quest III" remakes is also called Zenith, although the layout differs from the castle in the "Tenkū" series.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The series' monsters, characters, and box art were designed by Toriyama. The music for the "Dragon Quest" series was composed by Koichi Sugiyama. In the past, main "Dragon Quest" games have been developed by Chunsoft, Heartbeat, ArtePiazza, Level-5 and starting with "Dragon Quest X", by Square Enix for the first time. Horii's company, Armor Project, is in charge of the script and design of "Dragon Quest" games that were published by Enix and Square Enix.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In 1982 Enix sponsored a video game programming contest in Japan which brought much of the "Dragon Quest" team together, including creator Yuji Horii. The prize was a trip to the United States and a visit to AppleFest '83 in San Francisco, where Horii discovered the "Wizardry" video game series. The contest winners Koichi Nakamura and Yukinobu Chida, together with Horii, released the Enix NES game "The Portopia Serial Murder Case". Music composer Sugiyama, known for composing jingles and pop songs, was impressed with the group's work and sent a postcard to Enix praising the game. Enix asked him to compose music for some of its games. The group then decided to make a role-playing video game that combined elements from the western RPGs "Wizardry" and "Ultima". Horii wanted to introduce the concept of RPGs to the wider Japanese video game audience. He chose the Famicom because, unlike arcade games, players would not have to worry about spending more money if they got a "game over", and could continue playing from a save point. Horii used the full-screen map of "Ultima" and the battle and statistics-oriented "Wizardry" screens to create the gameplay of "Dragon Quest". "Dragon Ball" creator and manga artist Akira Toriyama, who knew of Horii through the manga magazine "Weekly Shōnen Jump", was commissioned to illustrate the characters and monsters to separate the game from other role-playing games of the time. The primary game designs were conceived by Horii before being handed to Toriyama to re-draw under Horii's supervision. When Horii first created "Dragon Quest" many people doubted that a fantasy series with swords and dungeons, instead of science fiction elements, would become popular in Japan; however, the series has become very popular there. Since then Horii has been the games' scenario director. "Dragon Quest" was Sugiyama's second video game he had composed for, "Wingman 2" being his first. He says it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme. His musical motifs from the first game have remained relatively intact.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The first six "Dragon Quest" stories are divided into two trilogies. The first three games of the series tell the story of the legendary hero known as Roto (Erdrick or Loto in some versions). "Dragon Quest IV"-"VI" are based around a castle in the sky called Zenithia, referred to as the "Tenku" in Japan, meaning "heaven". Games in the main series from "Dragon Quest VII" onwards are stand-alone games.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The early "Dragon Quest" games were released under the title "Dragon Warrior" in North America to avoid trademark conflict with the pen-and-paper role-playing game "Dragon Quest", which was published by Simulations Publications in the 1980s until the company's 1982 bankruptcy and acquisition by TSR, Inc. TSR continued publishing the line as an alternative to "Dungeons & Dragons" ("D&D") until 1987. On July 23, 2002, Square Enix registered the "Dragon Quest" trademark in the United States for use with manuals, video cassette tapes, and other video game software. On October 8, 2003, Square Enix filed for a more comprehensive "Dragon Quest" trademark. "Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King" became the first "Dragon Quest" game released outside Japan, all previous games having used the "Dragon Warrior" title.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" was not as successful outside Japan, as it was eclipsed by another RPG series, "Final Fantasy". Because of Enix's closure of its North American branch in the mid-1990s, "Dragon Quest V" and "Dragon Quest VI" were not officially released in North America. No games were released in Europe prior to the spin-off "Dragon Quest Monsters". With the merger of Square and Enix in 2003, "Dragon Quest" games were released in numerous markets. In May 2008 Square Enix announced localizations of the Nintendo DS remakes of "Dragon Quest IV", "V", and "VI" for North America and the PAL region, commonly referred to as the "Zenithia" or "Tenku trilogy". With this announcement, all the main "Dragon Quest" games at the time had been released outside Japan. The ninth installment was released in Japan for Nintendo DS on July 11, 2009. The North American version was released on July 11, 2010, while the European version came out on July 23, 2010. The tenth installment of the main series was released for the Wii. Nintendo has been a major publisher outside Japan for the main "Dragon Quest" games, publishing the first "Dragon Quest" game in North America, and published "Dragon Quest IX" worldwide outside Japan; the NDS version of "Dragon Quest VI" is published by Nintendo in North America.


title: Dragon Quest

text: When designing "Dragon Quest", Horii play-tests the games to make certain the controls feel right. This includes going into meticulous details such as how fast a page opens or the way a door opens. According to Horii, "... little things like here and there the controls not feeling right and such can really grate the players' nerves if the tempo isn't right." He believes players should be able to control the game unconsciously, which is not easy to accomplish. Horii tries to design the games in such a way that players never need to read a manual nor play through a tutorial in order to figure out how to play the game, and tries to create good storylines with short dialogues. Ryutaro Ichimura, who has worked on "Dragon Quest" titles with Horii since "Dragon Quest VIII", has implemented Horii's suggestions even when it is not obvious why his ideas will work. "[A] lot of the time when he [Horii] points these things out, we cannot see them at first, but eventually you get it."


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" games have an overall upbeat feeling. The typical "Dragon Quest" plot involves the player controlling a party of heroes to defeat an ultimate evil villain, who usually threatens the world in some way. The plot-line often consists of smaller stories that involve encounters with other characters. This linear plot-line is intentional, to help ease the generally high learning curve RPGs have for those unaccustomed to them. The gameplay is designed to allow players to decide when, and whether, to pursue certain storyline paths. To ensure players continue to enjoy playing the game, no storyline path is made without some kind of reward and, to help ease players who may be apprehensive about whether they are on the right path, the distance the character has to travel to get rewarded is reduced at the beginning of the game. While the player never starts the game in a wholly non-linear way, they usually allow players to explore an open world in a non-linear manner following an early linear section of the game. Early character levels start players off with more hit points and a substantially increasing growth at later levels, although the effective bonuses of every additional level decreases.


title: Dragon Quest

text: While Toriyama would later become more widely known with the success of "Dragon Ball Z" in North America, when "Dragon Quest" was released he was an unknown outside Japan. While the "Dragon Quest" hero was drawn in a super deformed manga style, the "Dragon Warrior" localization had him drawn in the "West's template of a medieval hero". The trend continued through the first four games, although the artwork for weapons and armor began using more of Toriyama's original artwork for "Dragon Warrior III" and "IV". However, while the booklets' artwork was altered, the setting and poses remained virtually identical.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The games always feature a number of religious overtones; after the first "Dragon Warrior" game, saving and reviving characters who have died is performed by clergy in churches. Bishops wander around the over-world of "Dragon Quest Monsters" and can heal wounded characters. The final enemy in some of the "Dragon Quest" games is called the Demon Lord; for instance in "Dragon Quest VII", the Demon Lord (known as Orgodemir in that particular game) is the final boss, and there is a sidequest to battle against God. The first four "Dragon Quest" titles were subjected to censorship in their North American localizations, largely in keeping with Nintendo of America's content guidelines at the time that placed severe restrictions on religious iconography and mature content. When these games were remade for the Game Boy Color, most censorship was removed. The translated versions of the games have largely followed the originals since "Dragon Quest VII".


title: Dragon Quest

text: For English releases, games usually include a number of British dialects, such as Polari and Cockney.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The majority of "Dragon Quest" soundtracks were written and orchestrated by the classically trained composer Koichi Sugiyama. In the mid 1980s, Sugiyama, who was already a well-known television and anime composer at the time, sent a feedback questionnaire from an Enix game to the company, and, upon seeing Sugiyama's feedback, producer Yukinobu Chida contacted him to confirm that "he was "the" Sugiyama from television." Upon confirmation, Chida asked Sugiyama to compose a score for "Dragon Quest". Sugiyama had previously composed a video game score for "Wingman 2". Sugiyama stated it took him five minutes to compose the original opening theme, and noted the difficulty in adding a personal touch to the short jingles, but that his past experience with creating music for television commercials helped. According to Sugiyama, the composer has between three and five seconds to catch the audience's attention through music. The theme and other jingles for "Dragon Quest" have continued to be used throughout the series. Sugiyama was also composing for "Dragon Quest XII" prior to his death in 2021.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The first album of music from the series was released in 1986 and was based on music from the first game, followed by a "Symphonic Suite" album for each game in the main series. The original soundtrack's "eight melodies" approach set the template for most RPG soundtracks released since then, hundreds of which have been organized in a similar manner. The original game's classical score was considered revolutionary for video game music.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Other compilations of "Dragon Quest" music have been released, including "Dragon Quest Game Music Super Collection Vol. 1". The London Philharmonic performed many of the soundtracks, including a compilation entitled "Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Complete CD-Box". Some of the soundtracks include a second disc with the original game music, as with the "Dragon Quest VI" soundtrack. In 2003 SME Visual Works released "Symphonic Suite Dragon Quest Complete CD-Box", featuring music from the first seven "Dragon Quest" games.


title: Dragon Quest

text: In 2006, readers of the Japanese gaming magazine "Famitsu" voted on the hundred best video games of all time. "Dragon Quest III" was third, "Dragon Quest VIII" fourth, "Dragon Quest VII" ninth, "Dragon Quest V" eleventh, "Dragon Quest IV" fourteenth, "Dragon Quest II" seventeenth, "Dragon Quest" thirtieth, and "Dragon Quest VI" thirty-fourth. In 2009, Horii received a special award at the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association Developers Conference for his work on the "Dragon Quest" franchise.


title: Dragon Quest

text: According to Satoru Iwata, former President of Nintendo, "Dragon Quest" widespread appeal is that it is "made so that anyone can play it...and anyone can enjoy it depending on their different levels and interests." According to him, "Dragon Quest" is designed for anyone to pick up without needing to read the manual in order to understand it. Ryutaro Ichimura, producer at Square Enix, who has played the game since he was a child, says the "Dragon Quest" storylines allow players to experience a moving sense of achievement where they take the role of a hero saving the world. Horii believes the ability to appeal to larger audiences of casual gamers, while not alienating the more hardcore gamers, is due to being able to lower the initial hurdle without making it too easy. Iwata and Ichimura believe it is because the games are created in a way that allows both groups to pursue their own goals; casual gamers can enjoy the storyline and battles, but for those who want more there is still content for them to pursue.


title: Dragon Quest

text: Although the series is extremely popular in Japan, the success in Japan was not transferred to North America until the 2005 release of "Dragon Quest VIII". Despite the first four games to be released in America generally receiving good reviews, Nintendo had to give away copies of "Dragon Warrior". However, those four games have been among the most sought-after titles for the NES, especially "Dragon Warrior III" and "IV". It was not until "Dragon Warrior VII" was released that "Dragon Quest" became critically acclaimed in North America, although reception was still mixed. The series gained more universal praise with "Dragon Quest VIII", and began to sell better outside Japan and "Dragon Quest IX" sold over 1 million copies outside Japan.


title: Dragon Quest

text: One of the main aspects of the series that critics point out, either positively or negatively, is that the series "never strays from its classic roots." Unlike other modern, complex RPGs, "Dragon Quest" on the DS retains the simple gameplay from the first game that many critics find refreshing and nostalgic. Points of contention are its battle system, comparatively simplistic storylines, general lack of character development, simplistic primitive-looking graphics (in earlier titles), and the overall difficulty of the game. These arguments are countered by noting its strength in episodic storytelling with the various non-player characters the party meets. The stories avoid melodrama and feature relatively more simplistic characters than "Final Fantasy" Squall Leonhart or Tidus, a source of contention. There are exceptions, however, such as "Dragon Quest V", which has been praised for its unique, emotional storytelling. Battles are also simple and finish quickly. As for difficulty, Yuji Horii is noted as a gambler. The lack of save points and the general difficulty of the battles were included with the intention of adding a sense of tension. Because of this added difficulty, the punishment for the party's death was toned down compared to other games by simply going back to where you had last saved, with half of your gold on hand. When asked about criticism of "Dragon Quest" games, Horii says he does not mind, it means the critics played the game and he would rather know their concerns than remain ignorant.


title: Dragon Quest

text: As of March 2022, the "Dragon Quest" series has sold over copies worldwide. "Dragon Quest III" set sales records in 1988 by selling game cartridges in Japan within a day and in a week, and it grossed () within a month and by 1991. "Dragon Quest IV" in 1990 sold out copies within an hour, and "Dragon Quest V" sold over cartridges within a day. The series had sold copies by 1990, and units by 1993, with the "Dragon Quest" sequels having grossed several hundred million dollars each. As of 2007, all games in the main series, along with three spin-offs, had sold over a million copies each in Japan, with the highest-selling single release (not including remakes) being "Dragon Quest VII" which sold over four million copies. The remake of "Dragon Quest VI" sold 910,000 copies in Japan in the first four days after its release, an exceptional sales figure for a remake.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The original "Dragon Quest" game is often cited as the first console RPG. "GameSpot" called it the most influential role-playing game of all time, stating that nearly all Japanese RPGs since then have drawn from its gameplay in some shape or form. "Next Generation" said it was "probably the first ever 'Japanese style' RPG", and listed the series collectively as number 56 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time". They commented, "While never as ambitious as Square's "Final Fantasy" series, later installments of "Dragon Warrior" can't be beaten for sheer size (if you only had enough cash to buy you one game that had to last you a month, you bought a "Dragon Warrior" title)." In response to a survey, Gamasutra cites Quinton Klabon of Dartmouth College as stating "Dragon Warrior" translated the "D&D" experience to video games and set the genre standards. Games such as "Mother", "Breath of Fire" and "Lufia & the Fortress of Doom" were inspired by various "Dragon Quest" titles. "Dragon Quest III" class-changing system would shape other RPGs, especially the "Final Fantasy" series, and its day-night cycles was also a "major innovation" for console RPGs according to "GameSpot". "Dragon Quest IV" "Tactics" system, where the player can set the AI routines for NPCs, is seen as a precursor to "Final Fantasy XII"'s "Gambits" system. "Dragon Quest V" is cited as having monster recruiting and training mechanics that inspired monster-collecting RPGs such as "Pokémon", "Digimon", and "Dokapon". "Dragon Quest V" was unique in that it made pregnancy, and who the player chose as the mother, a crucial aspect of the plot. The real world and dream world setting of "Dragon Quest VI" is considered an influence on the later Square RPGs "Chrono Cross" and "Final Fantasy X". The "Dragon Quest" series was recognized by Guinness World Records, with six world records in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition. These records include "Best Selling Role Playing Game on the Super Famicom", "Fastest Selling Game in Japan", and "First Video Game Series to Inspire a Ballet".


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" is a cultural phenomenon in Japan. According to Ryutaro Ichimura and Yuji Horii, "Dragon Quest" has become popular enough that it is used as a common topic for conversation in Japan, and is considered by the Japanese gaming industry as Japan's national game. William Cassidy of GameSpy claims that "the common wisdom is that if you ask someone from Japan to draw 'Slime,' he'll draw the onion-like shape of the weak enemies from the game." With the Japanese release of "Dragon Quest IX" in January 2009, a new eatery inspired by the series called Luida's Bar was opened in Roppongi, a well-known nightlife hotspot in Minato, Tokyo. This was notable due to the usual center of Tokyo's gaming culture being Akihabara rather than Roppongi. The venue provides a meeting location for fans of the series: styled in the fashion of a Medieval public house like its virtual counterpart, its food is directly inspired by both items and monsters found in the games. It was described by a Western journalist as a cross between a Disneyland resort and a maid café "Dragon Quest" also served as the inspiration for a live-action television drama. "Yūsha Yoshihiko" initially aired in July 2011, with a sequel series being produced and released the following year. For its 2012 April Fool's Hoax, Google announced a "NES version" of its Google Maps service, which uses graphics and music based on the series.


title: Dragon Quest

text: There is an urban myth that the release of "Dragon Quest III" caused a law to be passed in Japan banning the sale of "Dragon Quest" games or video games in general except on certain days such as weekends or national holidays. When "III" was released in Japan, over 300 schoolchildren were arrested for truancy while waiting in stores for the game to be released. The rumor claims there was a measurable dip in productivity when a "Dragon Quest" game was released and although muggings of "Dragon Quest" titles became so widespread there were hearings in the Japanese Diet, no law was ever passed. However, the Japanese release of every "Dragon Quest" title continued to be on a Saturday until the release of "Dragon Quest X", which was released on Thursday, August 2, 2012.


title: Dragon Quest

text: "Dragon Quest" music has been influential on various sectors of the performing arts. It was the first video game series to receive live-action ballet adaptations, and musical concerts and audio CDs were produced based on the "Dragon Quest" universe. Since 1987, the series' music has been performed annually in concert halls throughout Japan. Early "Dragon Quest" concerts inspired Nobuo Uematsu's compositions for the "Final Fantasy" series. "Lotto's Theme" was one of the video game music compositions selected for the opening ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and was the first to be played.


title: Dragon Quest

text: The series is also represented in the 2018 crossover fighting game "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" via downloadable content released in July 2019. Unlike most of the game's roster, the "Hero" is not a single playable character but rather a character slot shared by four separate, albeit functionally identical, main protagonists from the series: Eleven (also known as The Luminary) from "Dragon Quest XI", Arusu (also known as Erdrick) from "Dragon Quest III", Solo from "Dragon Quest IV", and Eight from "Dragon Quest VIII". Other elements from the series are also featured, such as Slimes and a stage based on Yggdrasil's Altar from "Dragon Quest XI".


title: The Eminem Show

text: The Eminem Show is the fourth studio album by American rapper Eminem. After it had originally scheduled for release on June 4, 2002, the album was released nine days earlier on May 26, 2002, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records due to pirating and bootlegging of it. The album saw Eminem take a substantially more predominant production role; most of it was self-produced, with his longtime collaborator Jeff Bass, and Dr. Dre being the album's executive producer. It features guest appearances from Obie Trice, D12, Dr. Dre, Nate Dogg, Dina Rae and Eminem's daughter Hailie Jade Scott-Mathers.


title: The Eminem Show

text: The album incorporates a heavier use of rap rock than Eminem's previous albums, and its themes are predominantly based on Eminem's prominence in hip hop culture, as well as his ambivalent thoughts of fame. The album also features political commentary on the United States, including references to 9/11, Osama bin Laden, the War on terror, President George W. Bush, Lynne Cheney and Tipper Gore. Due to its less satirical and shock factor lyrical approach, "The Eminem Show" was regarded as Eminem's most personal album at the time and a step back from the Slim Shady alter ego.


title: The Eminem Show

text: Widely considered the most anticipated album of 2002, "The Eminem Show" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200 and stood there for six non-consecutive weeks. It sold over 1.3 million copies in its second week in the US, where it registered a full week of sales. It also topped the UK Albums Chart for five consecutive weeks. It produced four commercially successful singles, "Without Me", "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "Superman", and "Sing for the Moment", and it features one of his most popular songs, "'Till I Collapse". The album was met with positive critical reviews, with praise directed at Eminem's mature, introspective lyricism and the album's experimental production.


title: The Eminem Show

text: "The Eminem Show" was both the best-selling album of 2002 in the United States and the best-selling album worldwide of 2002. In 2022, it was certified 12× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and its worldwide sales of 27 million copies make it one of the best-selling albums of all time and the second best-selling album of the 21st century. At the 2003 Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Rap Album, while "Without Me" won Best Music Video. "Blender", "Muzik" and "LAUNCH" named it the best album of 2002, and several publications named it among the best albums of the 2000s decade.


title: The Eminem Show

text: Speaking to "Spin", Eminem said, "Eventually, I might need some drama in my life to inspire me [...] With "The Marshall Mathers LP", everything that everybody was saying–I took that, and it was my ammo. And then when shit died down a little bit, I had other turmoil in my personal life, so that was what I was able to dump out on "The Eminem Show". Now, I just gotta wait for the next phase of my life. But something always seems to happen, man; something's always gotta be fucking turbulent."


title: The Eminem Show

text: Eminem cited that the inspiration for the album was taken from the Peter Weir-directed 1998 science fiction comedy-drama film "The Truman Show". Jim Carrey starred in the film as the lead character Truman Burbank, a man who unwittingly lives inside a TV show, where his life is broadcast to viewers around the world. Eminem spoke on the film's influence, saying, "My life felt like it was becoming a circus around that time, and I felt like I was always being watched [...] Basically, Jim Carrey wrote my album."


title: The Eminem Show

text: Speaking with "Rolling Stone" in 2002, Eminem said ""Sing for the Moment" was the first song I wrote for the album; "Cleanin Out My Closet" was the second. I had the line in "Cleanin Out My Closet" — "I'd like to welcome y'all out to "The Eminem Show""—and it was just a line, but I sat back and I was like, "My life is really like a fucking show." I have songs on the album that I wrote when I was in that shit last year, with a possible jail sentence hangin' over my head and all the emotions going through the divorce. I went through a lot of shit last year [lawsuits, divorce and the threat of jail time] that I resolved at the same time, all in the same year. And, yeah, that's when half of the album was wrote.


title: The Eminem Show

text: Eminem had started recording the album around the same time he was filming "8 Mile". Production was used for both the soundtrack of the film and his album. The album also saw Eminem take a substantially more predominant production role; most of it was self-produced, with his longtime collaborator Jeff Bass co-producing several tracks (mainly the songs which eventually became the released singles). Dr. Dre, in addition to being the album's executive producer, produced only three individual tracks: "Business", "Say What You Say", and "My Dad's Gone Crazy". Regarding his increase in producing, Eminem told "Rolling Stone", "I actually know how to program a drum machine now. It used to be so simple—just writing lyrics and raps, laying vocals and leaving the studio was great. But now that I'm so into producing, it's a fucking job."


title: The Eminem Show

text: Stylistically, "The Eminem Show" has a lighter tone than "The Marshall Mathers LP" and incorporates a heavier use of rap rock than Eminem's previous albums, featuring mixed guitar-driven melodies with hip hop rhythms. In an interview with British magazine "The Face" in April 2002, Eminem said that he treated the album like it was a rock record. He continued that he "tried to get the best of both worlds" on the album. Eminem spoke on specific rock influences, saying, "I listened to a lot of '70s rock growing up, when I was real little. When I go back and listen to them songs, like Led Zeppelin or Aerosmith, Jimi Hendrix...'70s rock had this incredible feel to it." Notably, "Sing For The Moment" contains a sample of Aerosmith's "Dream On" as well as a reinterpretation of its guitar solo. Another rock sample on the album is the kick-clap beat of "'Till I Collapse", which is an interpolation of the intro from Queen's "We Will Rock You".


title: The Eminem Show

text: The themes of "The Eminem Show" are predominantly based on Eminem's prominence in hip hop culture and the subsequent envy towards him, as well as his thoughts on his unexpected enormous success and its consequential negative effects on his life. The album also touches on Eminem's thoughts on themes surrounding American politics, including references to 9/11, Osama bin Laden, the war on terror President George W. Bush, Lynne Cheney and Tipper Gore. Speaking on his use of political commentary on the album, Eminem told "Rolling Stone", "You put your shit out there for the world to see and to judge, and whoever agrees with you agrees with you. Even my most die-hard fans don't agree with everything I say. These are my views, this is how I see it. You may have your own opinion, but you may not get to project it to the world like I do." Writing for "Spin", rock critic Alan Light said that the album may have proved that Eminem is the most "dexterous, vivid writer in pop music". The album also sees Eminem dissing several artists, including Mariah Carey, Moby, Canibus and Limp Bizkit, while Dr. Dre disses Jermaine Dupri on the song "Say What You Say".


title: The Eminem Show

text: Lyrically, the album displays a dramatic shift from the misogynistic and homophobic lyrics presented on "The Marshall Mathers LP". Eminem told "Spin", "One of the frustrating things was people saying, 'He's got to cuss to sell records,' [...] That's why with this album, I toned it down a bit as far as shock value. I wanted to show that I'm a solid artist, and I'm here to stay." Due to its less satirical and shock factor lyrical approach, "The Eminem Show" was regarded as a departure from Eminem's previous albums with it being more personal and reflective and a step back of the Slim Shady alter ego. Eminem said during an interview with MTV that he felt that "The Eminem Show" was his "best record so far". In 2006, "Q" said that Eminem's first two albums "aired dirty laundry, then the world's most celebrated rapper [Eminem] examined life in the hall of mirrors he'd built for himself."


title: The Eminem Show

text: With the release of "The Eminem Show", Eminem was considered to be more socially acceptable: there were no protests over his lyrics, boycotts, and talk shows discussing his impact on America's youth. A columnist of "The New York Observer" wrote that Eminem had become a "guilty pleasure" for baby boomers, describing him as "the most compelling figure to have emerged from popular music since the holy trinity of [Bob] Dylan, [John] Lennon, and [Mick] Jagger."


title: The Eminem Show

text: The "clean version" of "The Eminem Show" censors many more profanities and derogatory words than in clean versions of Eminem's previous albums, in which the words "goddamn", "prick", "bastard", "piss", "bitch", "ass", and "shit" were allowed. This album allowed no profanities, and the profanities were either muted, obscured by sound effects, or back-masked. In addition to this, entire sentences were sometimes removed from the censored version for being very sexually charged. The entire song "Drips" was removed in early clean versions and is heard only as four seconds of silence moving on to the next track, "Without Me". Later on, digital releases of the clean version removed "Drips" completely, moving the next 11 songs up on the tracklist. Some copies of the clean version, however, feature an edited version of "Drips".


title: The Eminem Show

text: There are some inconsistencies in clean version's censorship. In the skit "The Kiss", Eminem's shouting of the word "motherfucker!" is still audible in the censored version. In the track, "Soldier", which is a continuation of "The Kiss", the word "bitch" was used three times, and can be clearly heard once. "Hailie's Song" contains the back masked phrase "want her" which can be easily mistaken as ""abort" her" on both the explicit and clean versions. Also, in "White America", the word "flag" is back masked when he raps, "To burn the flag and replace it with a parental advisory sticker".


title: The Eminem Show

text: "The Eminem Show" received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 20 reviews.


title: The Eminem Show

text: Alex Needham of "NME" hailed "The Eminem Show" as a "fantastic third album" that "is bigger, bolder and far more consistent than its predecessors". David Browne of "Entertainment Weekly" felt the album's more personal lyrics "succeed in fleshing out Eminem's complexities and contradictions", nonetheless concluding that "[l]ike its predecessors, though, "The Eminem Show" is a testament to the skills of its star. The sludgy rapping of such guests as D12 only confirms Eminem's dizzying prowess, gob-spewing individuality, and wickedly prankish humor." Writing for "Rolling Stone", Kris Ex argued that Eminem "may have made the best rap rock album in history."


title: The Eminem Show

text: "Slant Magazine"'s Sal Cinquemani wrote that he "peels back some of the bullshit façade and reveals a little bit of the real Marshall Mathers" on an album that "displays a—dare I say it?—more 'mature' Eminem." In his review for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine said the album "proves Eminem is the gold standard in pop music in 2002, delivering stylish, catchy, dense, funny, political music that rarely panders". Critic Robert Christgau wrote: "I think it represents an articulate, coherent, formally appropriate response to Eminem's changing position and role, one that acknowledges the privileges and alienations that accrue to all fame as well as the resolution of Marshall Mathers's worst traumas and the specifics of his success."


title: The Eminem Show

text: Edna Gundersen of "USA Today" wrote that Eminem is "as good as he gets but in the end inflicts more damage on himself, hoisting "The Eminem Show" to a level of self-absorption rivaled only by Woody Allen", and despite the presence of some mediocre tracks, he "displays an admirable dexterity in blending invective and invention, even though his approach is more reactionary than revolutionary." "Uncut" wrote, "Behind the hype and the swagger, he's still baring enough of his soul for "The Eminem Show" to be compelling theatre." "Q" was more mixed in its assessment, stating that as "Eminem outgrows his old alter-id, so the obligatory pantomime villainy, skits and crass cameos by Shady Records signings become a hindrance." Marc L. Hill of "PopMatters" felt that the album lacked the shock factor of his previous albums and described it as "a disappointing combination of promising musical experimentation and uninspired lyrics."


title: The Eminem Show

text: "Blender", "Muzik" and "LAUNCH" named "The Eminem Show" the best album of 2002. The album became Eminem's third to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, while "Without Me" won Eminem his first Best Music Video award. The album swept the MTV Music Video Awards, winning four awards for Best Male Video, Video of the Year, Best Direction, and Best Rap Video. The album also won Best Album at the 2002 MTV Europe Music Awards, both Album of the Year and Top R&B/Hip Hop Album at the 2002 "Billboard" Music Awards, both Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album and Favorite Pop/Rock Album at the 2003 American Music Awards, Best International Album at the 2003 Brit Awards, and International Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2003.


title: The Eminem Show

text: "The Eminem Show" received critical praise by most music critics and is often debated as Eminem's most personal and best work. The album cemented Eminem's "three-peat" of classic hip hop albums, following the critical appraisal of "The Slim Shady LP" and "The Marshall Mathers LP". In 2003, the album was ranked number 317 on "Rolling Stone"'s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and was later ranked at number 84 on the same magazine's Best Albums of the 2000s Decade. In 2007, it was ranked number 63 by The National Association of Recording Merchandisers, in conjunction with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in their list of the Definite 200 Albums of All Time. In 2012, "Complex" magazine deemed it a "classic" album that "cemented Eminem's place as one of the most important figures in rap history", and has included it on their list of 100 Best Albums of the "Complex" Decade, placing it at number 5, Following the 15th anniversary of the album, the Grammy Awards also described "The Eminem Show" as a "classic album". "Popdose" ranked the album at 79 on its Best Albums of the Decade list. In 2015, "The Eminem Show" was ranked number 56 on the Greatest of All Time "Billboard" 200 Albums.


title: The Eminem Show

text: "The Eminem Show" was originally scheduled for release on June 4, 2002; however, pirated and bootlegged copies appeared online via peer-to-peer networks and began surfacing on the streets. It was provided by Rabid Neurosis (RNS), an MP3 warez release organisation who pirated the album twenty-five days prior to release. Radio show "Opie and Anthony" broadcast the entire album on May 17, 2002. Interscope decided to release the album earlier than planned, on May 28 to prevent bootlegging. However, many stores in the United States began selling it even earlier than the new release date on Sunday, May 26, and some put the album out as early as Friday. Promotional posters in stores read, "America Couldn't Wait". Due to the premature release by many retailers on a Sunday, the album had only one day of official sales for the chart week and was unavailable in Walmart stores during that period. "The Eminem Show" was Eminem's first album to include lyrics to all its songs inside the CD booklet. Additionally, the first 2,000,000 copies of the album shipped in the United States included a bonus DVD with an exclusive interview and live footage. A week before the album's release, it was the second-most played CD on computers, the highest ranking ever for an unreleased title. It was considered the most anticipated album of 2002.


title: The Eminem Show

text: Despite the confusion over the exact release date, the album still managed to have a very successful debut on the charts. "The Eminem Show" debuted at number one on the "Billboard" 200, selling approximately 284,000 copies in its first day, marking the first time an album had topped the chart from only a day's sale. It sold 1,322,000 copies in the following week, its first full week of sales, then sold 809,000 copies in its third week and 529,562 copies in its fourth week to bring its four-week sales total to just under 3 million copies. The album sold 381,000 copies in its fifth week and topped the "Billboard" 200 for a fifth and final consecutive week. On March 7, 2011, the album was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipping 10 million copies, making it Eminem's second album to receive a Diamond certification in the United States. It has also achieved Diamond certification in Canada and Double Diamond in Australia.


title: The Eminem Show

text: "The Eminem Show" has sold 27 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time and Eminem's best-selling album. It reached number one in 18 other countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. The album also spent five consecutive weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart.


title: The Eminem Show

text: On May 24, 2022, Eminem announced the release of the expanded edition of the album on his social media to celebrate its 20th anniversary. On May 26, 2022, Eminem released the new expanded edition, which contains instrumentals of selected tracks, freestyles and live versions of songs from previous albums performed with his longtime friend and collaborator Proof at Tramps, New York and Fuji Rock Festival, Japan. It also features four new tracks which were recorded during the initial recording sessions but not included in the original version of the album; "Stimulate", which was kept off the album due to time constraints and instead appeared on the bonus disc of the 8 Mile , "Bump Heads" and "The Conspiracy Freestyle" (which had appeared on other Shady Records releases), and an unreleased song, "Jimmy, Brian, and Mike", which had a verse and chorus re-recorded by Eminem especially for the expanded edition. Physical versions of the expanded edition will be available later this year, including a 4xLP vinyl set, CD, and cassette.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: Halyna Anatoliivna Hutchins (; , ; April 10, 1979 – October 21, 2021) was a Ukrainian cinematographer. She worked on more than 30 feature-length films, short films, and TV miniseries, including the films "Archenemy", "Darlin'", and "Blindfire". On October 21, 2021, she was fatally shot by actor Alec Baldwin using a prop gun that was not properly checked during production on the set of the film "Rust".


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: Hutchins was born on April 10, 1979 in Horodets, Ukrainian SSR. She grew up in the Russian city of Murmansk, on a Soviet military base in the Arctic. There, her father served in the Soviet Navy. She called herself an "army brat". According to film historian Jim Hemphill, she first became interested in film while living at the military base. She attended National Agricultural University and then Kyiv National University, first studying economics before changing her study to journalism. Hutchins graduated with a degree in international journalism and worked on documentary films as an investigative journalist in Eastern Europe. She met her husband Matthew, who is American, while in the US. They have a son named Andros. Though living in the US, she maintained her Ukrainian citizenship, remained proud of her heritage and often returned to visit.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: Hutchins moved to Los Angeles to focus on filmmaking, taking on roles in production and fashion photography. She was an associate producer for "World's Tallest Man", a 2006 film about Leonid Stadnyk by Wild Pictures; the film was premiered on the Discovery Channel. In 2010, she graduated from UCLA TFT Professional Program in Producing. In Los Angeles, she met Bob Primes, a cinematographer. He encouraged Hutchins to apply to the American Film Institute Conservatory, where he was a teacher. She was accepted and began studying there in 2013 for a two-year master's program, which she graduated from in 2015. mentored her there. Her thesis project, "Hidden", made with director Rayan Farzad, was screened at the LA Shorts Fest, Camerimage International Film Festival, AFI Fest and the Austin Film Festival.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: In 2018, she was one of the first eight female cinematographers participating in the Fox DP Lab program, which was established to provide greater opportunities for women cinematographers. In 2019, she was named one of the "10 up-and-coming directors of photography who are making their mark" by "American Cinematographer".


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: She was director of photography on Adam Egypt Mortimer's 2020 film "Archenemy". Mortimer had said of her, that her "tastes and sensibility of what is cinematic were a huge asset for executing our style" and that "her AFI training and her skill with the math of LUT settings gave us the best texture I've found yet in shooting digital".


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: She is also credited for work on the films "Darlin'" (2019), "Blindfire" (2020) and "The Mad Hatter" (2021). She was credited for her cinematographic work on "Darlin"' by Hollywood.com, where the film was highlighted after its feature at the March 2019 South by Southwest film festival, in the Narrative Feature Competition.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: Hutchins was a member of the International Cinematographers Guild and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, labor unions that represent entertainment industry's crew and technical workers in the US and Canada. She supported the IATSE strike over working conditions days before her death.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: On October 21, 2021, Hutchins was working as director of photography on the set of the Western film "Rust", near La Cienega, New Mexico. While preparing for a scene, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a Pietta .45 Colt revolver used as a prop, fatally wounding her and injuring director Joel Souza. She died later that day at the age of 42 while being transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. Baldwin released a statement the next day expressing shock and sadness at the incident. He said he would cooperate with police and offered support to her family.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: A candlelight vigil at the Albuquerque Civic Plaza was organized by local IATSE chapters and held on October 23. It drew hundreds of people. She was buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: On February 15, 2022, it was reported that the family of Hutchins had filed a lawsuit against Baldwin and other crew members of the film "Rust", alleging that her wrongful death on the set was caused by irresponsible behavior and cost-cutting. The lawsuit was settled for undisclosed sums, on October 5, 2022, with her widower being given a job as executive producer of the film.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: In October 2021, following Hutchins's death, teachers and friends of hers at the American Film Institute established the Halyna Hutchins Memorial Scholarship Fund dedicated to supporting the education of female cinematographers. Hutchins's widower Matt Hutchins endorsed the project and asked for anyone wishing to honor her memory to donate to the fund.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: Hutchins's death inspired calls for gun safety reform on film sets. Alexi Hawley, a producer of the American police procedural "The Rookie", confirmed that, following Hutchins's death, all live guns on the show were to be replaced with Airsoft guns and CG flashes. Eric Kripke, showrunner of the American superhero TV series "The Boys", similarly vowed to ban blanks and guns on his show.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: Less than two hours after Hutchins's death, filmmaker Bandar Albuliwi, a former AFI Conservatory Directing fellow classmate (class of 2010), proposed a ban of real guns on film and television sets. He created a petition for "Halyna's Law" on Change.org, which was signed by actors Olivia Wilde, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Julianne Moore, Anna Paquin, Elijah Wood, Lena Dunham and Ava DuVernay. Albuliwi has been working with state senators, including California State Senator Dave Cortese, to propose California legislation that would make it a felony to use real ammunition on film and television sets. Over 200 cinematographers called in an open letter to ban functional firearms on film sets.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: In November 2021, the American Society of Cinematographers posthumously honored Hutchins's work as a cinematographer by awarding her honorary membership.


title: Halyna Hutchins

text: In November 2022, an official documentary on Halyna's life, directed by Halyna's close friend and collaborator Rachel Mason, was announced by Story Syndicate.


title: Please Please Me

text: Please Please Me is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom, following the success of the band's first two singles "Love Me Do", which reached number 17 on the "Record Retailer" Chart, and "Please Please Me", which reached number one on the "NME" and "Melody Maker" charts. The album topped "Record Retailer"s LP chart for 30 weeks, an unprecedented achievement for a pop album at that time.


title: Please Please Me

text: First conceived as a live album by Martin in November 1962, the recording was moved to the studio but intended to capture the sound and repertoire of the Beatles' live performances in places like the Liverpool Cavern Club.


title: Please Please Me

text: Aside from their already released singles, the Beatles recorded the majority of "Please Please Me" in one long recording session at EMI Studios on 11 February 1963, with Martin adding overdubs to "Misery" and "Baby It's You" nine days later. Of the album's 14 songs, eight were written by the songwriting partnership of John Lennon and Paul McCartney (originally credited "McCartney–Lennon"). "Rolling Stone" magazine later cited these original compositions as early evidence of the Beatles' "[invention of] the idea of the self-contained rock band, writing their own hits and playing their own instruments". "Please Please Me" was voted 39th on "Rolling Stone"s list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2012), and number 622 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000).


title: Please Please Me

text: In May 1962, EMI offered the Beatles a recording contract on its Parlophone label run by George Martin. Though Martin was drawn to the Beatles' personalities and charisma, he was initially unpersuaded that they could write hit songs. Their first session, on 6 June, with Pete Best on drums, resulted in no recordings suitable for release. Their second session, on 4 September and now with Ringo Starr on drums, produced "Love Me Do", which became their first single several weeks later, and an early version of "Please Please Me". On 11 September, the band re-recorded "Love Me Do" with session drummer Andy White and also "P.S. I Love You", which became the B-side to "Love Me Do". They also recorded a sped-up version of "Please Please Me", which Martin believed had hit potential but required more work.


title: Please Please Me

text: Martin doubted the commercial appeal of "Love Me Do" and was surprised when it reached No. 17 on the British charts in November. Now convinced that the Beatles could write hits, Martin met the Beatles on 16 November and made two suggestions for their upcoming work. First, he suggested that they re-record "Please Please Me" and issue it as the Beatles' second single. Next, he proposed that they record a full album—a recommendation Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn deemed "genuinely mind-boggling" because the Beatles were so new to the music scene and because the album market was dominated by adult buyers, not teenagers. On 26 November, the Beatles held another session for "Please Please Me" (to be backed with "Ask Me Why"), after which Martin predicted to the band that they had just made their first number one record.


title: Please Please Me

text: As the Beatles had extensive stage experience and a large following of local fans in Liverpool, Martin proposed the band could record a live album primarily of Lennon–McCartney songs at their resident venue, the Cavern Club, in December. Martin planned to attend the Beatles' 18 November Cavern concert to gauge its suitability for recording, though he postponed this visit to 12 December. Upon his visit to the Cavern, Martin decided the acoustics would be unsuitable and decided to record a traditional studio album in February 1963; as the Beatles had already recorded four songs for release, they would record another 10 to complete the album. In the meantime, Martin also solicited the Beatles' input for album names; McCartney suggested "Off the Beatle Track".


title: Please Please Me

text: The single "Please Please Me" was released on 11 January 1963 and reached number one on the "NME", "Melody Maker", and "Disc" charts. In early February, the group undertook their first national tour, and they planned to record their album during a break in the tour on 11 February.


title: Please Please Me

text: According to Martin, "I asked them what they had which we could record quickly, and the answer was their stage act", (the norm for British 12" vinyl pop albums in 1963 was to have seven songs on each side whereas American albums usually had five or six songs per side). Martin said, "It was a straightforward performance of their stage repertoire – a broadcast, more or less." Initially, a morning and afternoon session only were booked; the evening session was added later. Mark Lewisohn later wrote: "There can scarcely have been 585 more productive minutes in the history of recorded music". Martin oversaw the session, with Norman Smith as first engineer and Richard Langham as second engineer.


title: Please Please Me

text: The Beatles arrived with John Lennon suffering from a bad cold, which he attempted to treat with a steady supply of throat lozenges. They began their morning session at 10 am with "There's a Place" and "Seventeen" (the working title of what became "I Saw Her Standing There"). The band rehearsed during their lunch break and then proceeded with their afternoon session. In that session, Paul McCartney recorded a double-tracked vocal for "A Taste of Honey", George Harrison sang lead on "Do You Want to Know a Secret", and Lennon and McCartney sang co-lead on "Misery". During the evening session, the band recorded covers of "Anna (Go to Him)", "Boys" (Ringo Starr's sole vocal), "Chains", and "Baby It's You". The song "Hold Me Tight" was also recorded during the evening session, but proved "surplus to requirements" and was not included on the album. It was later re-recorded and released on "With the Beatles".


title: Please Please Me

text: Finally, at 10 pm, with the studios set to close soon, the day ended with a cover of "Twist and Shout". This had to be recorded last because Lennon had a particularly bad cold and Martin feared the throat-shredding vocal would ruin Lennon's voice for the day. This performance, caught on the first take, prompted Martin to say: "I don't know how they do it. We've been recording all day but the longer we go on the better they get." Lennon later remarked, "The last song nearly killed me. My voice wasn't the same for a long time after; every time I swallowed, it was like sandpaper."


title: Please Please Me

text: Despite the long day and late hour of 10:30 pm at the end of recording, the Beatles attended a full tape playback in the studio control room. Lennon reflected, "Waiting to hear that LP played back was one of our most worrying experiences. ... As it happens, we were very happy with the result.


title: Please Please Me

text: On 20 February, Martin overdubbed piano on "Misery" and celesta on "Baby It's You", during which the Beatles were not present.


title: Please Please Me

text: The day's session cost approximately £400 (). Martin said: "There wasn't a lot of money at Parlophone. I was working to an annual budget of £55,000." This budget had to cover all of the artists on Martin's roster. Individually, under a contract with the Musicians' Union, each Beatle collected a £7 10s (£7.50 or £ in ) session fee for each three-hour session (10:00 am – 1:00 pm / 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm / 7:30 pm – 10:30 pm).


title: Please Please Me

text: Before deciding on the title "Please Please Me", Martin considered calling the album "Off the Beatle Track", a title he would later use for his own orchestral album of Beatles songs. The album was recorded on a two-track BTR tape machine with most of the instruments on one track and the vocals on the other, allowing Martin to better balance the two in the final mono mix. A stereo mix was also made with one track on the left channel and the other on the right, as well as an added layer of reverb to better blend the two tracks together. The two tracks generally divided the instrumental track from the vocals, with the exception of "Boys", in which the close proximity of Ringo's drums to his vocal microphone placed the drums (but not the other instruments) on the vocal channel.


title: Please Please Me

text: Two tracks, "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", were only mixed for mono for the single's release and no stereo versions were ever made, so, for the stereo version of the album, during the mixing sessions on 25 February 1963, Martin created "mock stereo" versions by emphasising low frequencies on one side and high frequencies on the other. These versions would continue to be made available via compilation albums (such as "1962–1966"), and on Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs' half-speed mastered vinyl releases (catalogue number MFSL-1-101) sourced from EMI's original stereo master tapes, until the Beatles' catalogue was standardised and issued on compact disc in 1987, starting with the first four UK albums being issued in their mono versions. However, when Capitol Records issued the second volume of American Beatles albums on compact disc ("The Capitol Albums, Volume 2") in 2006, the same mock stereo versions that appeared on "The Early Beatles" were included. When the entire catalogue was remastered for release in 2009, the mono mixes were chosen for inclusion on the stereo reissues, and appear on all releases since, including newer compilations and variations.


title: Please Please Me

text: George Martin was an honorary fellow of the Zoological Society of London, which owns London Zoo, and he thought that it might be good publicity for the zoo to have the Beatles pose outside the insect house for the cover photography of the album. However, the society turned down Martin's request, and instead, Angus McBean was asked to take the distinctive colour photograph of the group looking down over the stairwell inside EMI's London headquarters in Manchester Square. Martin was to write later: "We rang up the legendary theatre photographer Angus McBean, and bingo, he came round and did it there and then. It was done in an almighty rush, like the music. Thereafter, though, the Beatles' own creativity came bursting to the fore." In 1969, the Beatles asked McBean to recreate this shot. Although the 1969 photograph was originally intended for the then-planned "Get Back" album, it was not used when that project saw eventual release in 1970 as "Let It Be". Instead, the 1969 photograph, along with an unused photograph from the 1963 photo shoot, was used in 1973 for the Beatles' retrospective albums "1962–1966" and "1967–1970". Another unused photograph from the 1963 photo shoot was used for "The Beatles (No. 1)" (EP released 1 November 1963).


title: Please Please Me

text: The Beatles' press officer Tony Barrow wrote extensive sleeve notes, which included a brief mention of their early 1960s rivals the Shadows.


title: Please Please Me

text: EMI's Parlophone label released "Please Please Me" in the UK on 22 March 1963. As was typical for the time, the LP was initially released only in mono, with a stereo release following on 26 April. Singles remained the dominant format for pop music, made up mostly of teenage buyers, while more expensive LPs were typically reserved for genres like classical music and jazz, whose listeners could more easily afford the format. Author Barry Miles suggested the album's cover design, promising "Please Please Me", "Love Me Do" and "12 Other Songs", indicated EMI's desire to promote the album towards "die-hard supporters" excited by the two earlier singles.


title: Please Please Me

text: "Please Please Me" hit the top of the UK album charts in May 1963 and remained there for 30 weeks before being replaced by "With the Beatles". At the time, the UK album charts tended to be dominated by film soundtracks and easy listening vocalists. "Please Please Me" was the first non-soundtrack album to spend more than one year consecutively inside the top ten of what became the Official UK Albums Chart (with 62 weeks). This record run of consecutive weeks in the top ten for a debut album stood until April 2013, when Emeli Sandé's "Our Version of Events" achieved a 63rd consecutive week.


title: Please Please Me

text: In the 30 March 1963 issue of "Record Mirror", Norman Jopling reviewed the album in depth, providing track-by-track reviews for the ten songs that had not been previously released. He concludes that, for a debut, the LP is "surprisingly good and up to standard", and contained many tracks that could have been released as singles, such as "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Misery". Jopling further highlighted the LP's packaging, writing that its cover image and sleeve notes provided extra value. Author Jonathan Gould suggests in retrospect that the album's packaging majorly contributed to its success, promising fans "glossy cover art" and a greater companion to the music than the plain paper packaging then offered by singles.


title: Please Please Me

text: In the United States, most of the songs on "Please Please Me" were first issued on Vee-Jay Records' "Introducing... The Beatles" in 1964, and subsequently on Capitol Records' "The Early Beatles" in 1965. "Please Please Me" was not released in the US until the Beatles' catalogue was standardised for the 1987 CD.


title: Please Please Me

text: In Canada, the majority of the album's songs were included upon the Canadian-exclusive release "Twist and Shout", which featured "From Me to You" and "She Loves You" in place of "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Misery".


title: Please Please Me

text: In New Zealand, the album first appeared only in mono on the black Parlophone label. The following year (1964) EMI (NZ) changed from black to a blue Parlophone label and the album was again available only in mono. Due to constant demand, it was finally made available in stereo, first through the World Record Club on their "Young World" label in both mono and stereo, and finally on the blue Parlophone label.


title: Please Please Me

text: The album was released on CD on 26 February 1987, in mono, as were their three subsequent albums, "With the Beatles", "A Hard Day's Night" and "Beatles for Sale". It was not released on vinyl or tape in the US until five months later when it was issued for the first time in the US on LP and cassette on 21 July 1987.


title: Please Please Me

text: "Please Please Me" was remastered and re-released on CD in stereo, along with all the other original UK studio albums, on 9 September 2009. The 2009 remasters replaced the 1987 remasters. A remastered mono CD was also available as part of "The Beatles in Mono" box set.


title: Please Please Me

text: In a 1987 review coinciding with the album's CD reissue, "Rolling Stone" magazine's Steve Pond recommended "Please Please Me" "for the Beatles' unfettered joy at making music". Senior AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine summarised, "Decades after its release, the album still sounds fresh", serving as an effective encapsulation of the band's early influences, further finding the covers "impressive" and the originals "astonishing".


title: Please Please Me

text: The album's 2009 remaster attracted a number of reviewers. "Pitchfork" Tom Ewing described the album as "a raw, high-energy run-through of their early live set" that acts as "the sound of rock'n'roll finding a suddenly large, new audience." He praised the album's cohesiveness, where the "evening with the band" mood sets it apart from the band's other cover-heavy works, creating a non-filler track experience with great covers and originals and, above all, great vocal performances. The same year, Mark Kemp was positive reviewing the band's entire remastered catalogue for "Paste", commending the band for infusing African American musical styles with "chirpy harmonies" from girl groups like the Shirelles to create "a sound the pop world had never heard". "The Telegraph" writer Neil McCormick praised the band's performances throughout the record, contending that "the sheer accomplishment of their tight, syncopated playing and perfect harmony singing is astonishing to behold." Alex Young described the album as a dance masterpiece in "Consequence of Sound", finding the remaster an improvement over the original mix.


title: Please Please Me

text: Writing for BBC Music in 2010, Mike Diver contended that although not regarded as their most critically acclaimed release, "Please Please Me" stands as a "vital moment" in the band's history, as it "set in motion the wheels that would carry them to the very peak of public recognition, and subsequently into realms of sonic experimentation that would create a template for so much rock and pop music since." Diver further argued that the album's long reign at the top of the UK charts provided a rebuttal to Decca Records' stance that guitar groups were "on the way out". The writers of "Rolling Stone" agreed in "The Rolling Stone Album Guide", writing that "Please Please Me" acted as a blueprint for "everything the Beatles would ever do".


title: Please Please Me

text: In "Ultimate Classic Rock", Michael Gallucci praised "Please Please Me" as a cohesive debut album that established a rough blueprint in the Beatles' working methods over the next few years, despite finding some tracks did not work as well as others, concluding, ""Please Please Me" proved that the music that everyone was ignoring was uniformly great." Looking back on the album in 2016, the "NME" Hamish MacBain found it imperfect, but commended the ensemble for creating a record of excellent covers and originals that displayed "flashes of brilliance". MacBain acknowledged the band would make better records, but concluded that "the resulting, snapshot nature" of their debut outing "is exactly what makes it so great".


title: Please Please Me

text: "Please Please Me" has made appearances on several best-of lists. In 2012, it was voted 39th on "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was ranked first among the Beatles' early albums, and sixth of all of the Beatles' albums, with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Revolver", "Rubber Soul", "The Beatles" (also known as "The White Album") and "Abbey Road" ranked higher. English writer Colin Larkin listed "Please Please Me" at number 622 in the third edition of his book "All Time Top 1000 Albums" (2000). "Rolling Stone" also placed two songs from the album on its 2004 edition of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time": "I Saw Her Standing There" at number 140, and "Please Please Me" at number 186.


title: Please Please Me

text: Several publications, including "NME", have named "Please Please Me" one of the best debut albums of all time, with "Rolling Stone" and "Uncut" both ranking it number 17. In 2015, "Ultimate Classic Rock" ranked it the Beatles' eighth best album and included it in their list of the top 100 rock albums from the 1960s. Based on "Please Please Me"s appearances in professional rankings and listings, the aggregate website Acclaimed Music lists it as the 5th most acclaimed album of 1963, the 80th most acclaimed album of the 1960s and the 472nd most acclaimed album in history.


title: Please Please Me

text: In 2013, the album's 50th anniversary was celebrated by modern artists re-recording the album in just one day, as the Beatles recorded it 50 years earlier. Stereophonics recorded a cover of the album's opening track, "I Saw Her Standing There". It and the other recordings were broadcast on BBC Radio 2, and a documentary about the re-recording of the Beatles' debut album was broadcast on BBC Television.


title: Please Please Me

text: All songs written by McCartney–Lennon, except where noted. Track lengths per Jean-Michel Guesdon and Philippe Margotin and lead vocals per Ian MacDonald.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: Indecent Proposal is a 1993 American erotic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne and written by Amy Holden Jones. It is based on the 1988 novel by Jack Engelhard, in which a couple's marriage is disrupted by a stranger's offer of a million dollars for the wife to spend the night with him. It stars Robert Redford, Demi Moore, and Woody Harrelson. It received mostly negative reviews, but was a box-office success, grossing nearly $267 million worldwide on a $38 million budget.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: David and Diana Murphy are married high school sweethearts living in California. Diana works as a real estate agent, while David hopes to establish himself as an architect by designing their dream home. The couple invest everything they have in David's project, purchasing beachfront property in Santa Monica and beginning construction, but the recession leaves Diana without houses to sell and David without a job. In desperate need of $50,000 to save their land from being repossessed, they travel to Las Vegas, determined to win the money.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: At a casino, Diana catches the eye of billionaire John Gage, while David wins over $25,000 at craps. Reveling in their winnings, Diana assures David that she loves him regardless of the money. The next day, they lose everything at roulette; leaving the casino, they notice a crowd gathered to watch Gage play poker. Gage asks Diana to join him for good luck, and she makes a winning craps roll on his $1 million bet. As thanks, Gage insists on paying for the Murphys' stay, gifting them a lavish hotel suite and a dress he saw Diana admire. After an enjoyable evening together, Gage offers the couple $1 million to allow him to spend a night with Diana, but she and David refuse.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: After a sleepless night, the Murphys agree to Gage's proposal, and David contacts his lawyer, who prepares a contract for the arrangement. Leaving Diana with Gage, David has a change of heart and races to stop them, but arrives just as they depart by helicopter. Gage flies Diana to his private yacht, and offers her a chance to void their deal and return to her husband if he loses a toss of his lucky coin. He wins the toss, and Diana spends the night with him.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: Agreeing to forget the incident, the Murphys return home, and learn their property was foreclosed and resold. Overcome with jealousy, David accuses Diana of continuing to see Gage after finding his business card in her wallet, which she denies knowing about. Discovering that it was Gage who bought out their land, Diana angrily confronts him, and rejects his attempts to pursue her. When she informs David, their tension reaches a breaking point and they separate; Diana later tells him to keep all the money.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: Weeks later, Gage visits Diana at work and renews his advances. Initially resistant, she eventually consents to spending time with him, and a romance develops between them. Haunted by happy memories of his wife, David hits rock bottom, leading to a public confrontation with Gage and Diana. He pulls his life back together and finds a teaching position, and Diana files for divorce. Finding her at a zoo benefit with Gage, David donates the entire $1 million in a charity auction bid, then makes his peace with Diana and signs their divorce papers.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: Realizing that Diana will never love him the way she loves David, Gage lies to her that she is merely the latest member of his "million-dollar club" of women. Seeing through his deception, she gratefully ends their relationship; before parting ways, he gives her his lucky coin, which she realizes is double-headed. Diana returns to the pier where David proposed to her seven years earlier, finding him there. Repeating their unique declaration of love, they join hands.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: "Indecent Proposal" was a box office success, earning $106,614,059 in the US and $160,000,000 internationally for a worldwide total of over $266,000,000. It received generally negative reviews from critics. Gene Siskel gave it thumbs down, but Roger Ebert gave it thumbs up, on "Siskel & Ebert"; Ebert also wrote a positive print review. Susan Faludi, a feminist writer, objected to the movie's positioning of the female character. Another feminist characterized it as a women in prison film.


title: Indecent Proposal

text: "Indecent Proposal" has a 34% "rotten" rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 47 reviews, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The consensus reads: "Lurid but acted with gusto, "Indecent Proposal" has difficulty keeping it up beyond its initial titillating premise." Audience response was less negative, with those polled by CinemaScore giving an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale. The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book "The Official Razzie Movie Guide" as one of the "100 most enjoyably worst movies ever made".