title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Kulinski started a YouTube channel in spring 2008, named "Secular Talk", while studying as a political science student. Kyle indicated from the beginning that the show leans heavily to the left. He presents the news with a "brash" and "in-your-face" tone along with jokes and swear words, in sharp contrast to the professional presentation style found in mainstream news outlets.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Disillusioned with US President Barack Obama by the end of his first term, Kulinski began publishing videos full-time, and started broadcasting on BlogTalkRadio as "The Kyle Kulinski Show". This surge in activity pushed his YouTube subscriber count above 100,000. By 2015, Kulinski was making a living from "Secular Talk". Since then, his videos regularly get hundreds of thousands of views. On 16th of December 2022 the channel crossed 1 billion views on YouTube.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: In December 2016, after the 2016 United States presidential election, Kulinski—alongside Cenk Uygur of "The Young Turks", and Saikat Chakrabarti and Zack Exley of the 2016 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign—created Justice Democrats, a political action committee with the goal of supporting progressive candidates in primary elections against Democratic members of congress. Uygur and Kulinski resigned from the group in late 2017. Since leaving, Kulinski has expressed disapproval with the Justice Democrats' political strategy, and has criticized congresspeople aligned with the Justice Democrats for not withholding their votes from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in exchange for a House vote on Medicare for All.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: In January 2021, Kulinski and Krystal Ball started a podcast titled "Krystal Kyle & Friends", where they are both co-hosts. Notable podcast guests have included Russell Brand, Noam Chomsky, Thomas Frank, Glenn Greenwald, Carl Hart, Justin Jackson, Bernie Sanders, Matt Taibbi, Nina Turner, Cornel West, Marianne Williamson, Richard D. Wolff, Jordan Peterson, Vaush, and Andrew Yang.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Kulinski is cited as a progressive commentator. Kulinski has been noted by "The Hill" for his commentary regarding various presidential candidates, including Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton. In Bridgewater State University's journal "The Graduate Review", Kulinski has been described as one of the "new organic intellectuals of YouTube."


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: He has described himself as a social democrat, agnostic atheist, secular humanist, left-wing populist, and a left-libertarian. He characterizes his beliefs as moderate by international political standards, arguing that he is only considered far-left and extreme in the United States because "the spectrum of public discourse has shifted to the far-right". Kulinski advocates for single-payer healthcare, free tuition at public colleges and universities, a federal living wage, reduction in military spending, military non-interventionism, abolition of capital punishment, infrastructure spending, the legalization of euthanasia, and the legalization, regulation, and taxation of drugs and prostitution.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Kulinski opposes the use of biometrics for the purpose of employee management, characterizing this use as "rank authoritarianism disguised as corporate efficiency for consumer satisfaction."


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Kulinski believes that campaign finance policy is what distinguishes progressive candidates from the mainstream of the Democratic Party, which he referred to as "just Republican-lite." When advocating for candidates endorsed by Justice Democrats, Kulinski stated "if somebody gives you a check for a tremendous amount of money, you’re going to look out for them. The Democratic Party is a shell of its former self. Get rid of the corporate money. We need to focus on the issues."


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Kulinski supported Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary election, and later voted for Jill Stein. While critical of Hillary Clinton, he described her as the "lesser of two evils" in the general election against Donald Trump and said that people in swing states should vote for Clinton to stop Trump from winning.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: After Trump's election, Kulinski expressed his belief that progressives and liberals could successfully lobby President Trump to pursue policies such as infrastructure spending and economic protectionism. Kulinski criticizes the Never Trump movement and discourages praising Republicans who criticize Trump, stating "establishment Republicans want Trump to do every single thing he’s doing, minus the mean tweets."


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: After then-candidate Joe Biden became the presumptive winner of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Kulinski stated that he would not support Biden, even if it meant Donald Trump winning. When commenting on this position, Kulinski mentioned that he encourages his critics to "blame him" if Trump were to win re-election, as he believed this would have demonstrated that candidates such as Biden require the support of progressives in order to win. Journalist Mehdi Hasan criticized Kulinski for this view, stating: "If you’re ok with a white nationalist winning a second term, I question your 'left-wing' credentials." Television host Joy Reid concurred with Hasan's criticism of Kulinski's position.


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: In 2014, when then-Fox News host Oliver North made a speech comparing fighting against gay rights to fighting against slavery, Kulinski covered the speech by saying: "Not only is there no comparison, if anything the opposition position on those issues is more like opposing slavery." Kulinski added: "To be in favor of gay rights and to try to treat people equally under the law—that is definitely a movement that is more in line with the idea behind the abolitionists of treating people equal and treating people right."


title: Kyle Kulinski

text: Kulinski has criticized religiously motivated opposition to abortion, arguing that, according to his interpretation of the Bible, abortion is permissible in Christianity.


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: Blood is thicker than water is a proverb in English meaning that familial bonds will always be stronger than other relationships. The oldest record of this saying can be traced back in the 12th century in German.


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: The equivalent proverb in German (originally: "Blut ist dicker als Wasser"), first appeared in a different form in the medieval German beast epic "Reinhart Fuchs" (c. 1180; English: "Reynard the Fox") by Heinrich der Glîchezære. The 13th-century Heidelberg manuscript reads in part, "ouch hoer ich sagen, das sippe blůt von wazzere niht verdirbet" (lines 265–66). In English it reads, "I also hear it said that kin-blood is not spoiled by water." which may in part refer to distance not changing familial ties or duties, due to the high seas being tamed.


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: In 1412, the English priest John Lydgate observed in "Troy Book", "For naturelly blod wil ay of kynde / Draw unto blod, wher he may it fynde."


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: William Jenkyn referenced the proverb in its modern form in a 1652 sermon: "Blood is thicker (we say) then ["sic"] water; and truly the blood of Christ beautifying any of our friends and children, should make us prefer them before those, between whom and us there’s only a watery relation of nature."


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: The proverb appears frequently in the literary works of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Scottish authors. In John Moore's "Zeluco" (1789), a character assures another in a letter that there is little danger in him forgetting his old friends "and far less my blood relations; for surely blood is thicker than water." In Christian Isobel Johnstone’s Scottish romance, "Clan-Albin: A National Tale" (1815), the character Flora is considered "of mixed blood at best," but a distant relative observes that “blood is thicker than water… and all the water in the Monzievar could not wash our blood from her’s." The phrase or some variation appears several times in Sir Walter Scott's work, including "Marmion" (1808), "Rob Roy" (1817), and "Guy Mannering" (1815): "Wheel — Blud's thicker than water — she's welcome to the cheeses.". The proverb appears in English reformer Thomas Hughes's "Tom Brown's School Days" (1857).


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: The phrase was first attested in the United States in the "Journal of Athabasca Department" (1821). On June 25, 1859, U.S. Navy Commodore Josiah Tattnall III, in command of the U.S. Squadron in Far Eastern waters, made this adage a part of U.S. history when explaining why he had given aid to the British squadron in an attack on Taku Forts at the mouth of the Pei Ho River, thereby abandoning the strict American policy of neutrality that had been adopted in the Second Opium War after the Battle of the Barrier Forts.


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: The use of the word "blood" to refer to kin or familial relations has roots dating back to Greek and Roman traditions. This usage of the term was seen in the English-speaking world from the late 1300s.


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: In eighteenth- and nineteenth-century uses of the proverb, "blood" could be a metaphor for national or clan affiliations rather than biological kinship. For instance, in "Clan-Albin", the characters are debating whether the small and soft Flora has pure enough clan ties to marry into the Craig-gillian family, who prefer "Amazonian daughters." The notion of a "national" affiliation could also be interpreted quite broadly as in the Tattnall example above, in which an American commodore came to the aid of the British Navy. A nineteenth-century British contributor to "Notes and Queries" determined that Americans were still bound to Britain by "education and descent": "The thrill of grief and indignation with which the news of President Garfield's assassination was received in England, and the sympathy which his long agony called forth, could have been awakened by no alien. 'Blood is thicker than water,' and the frequently heard remark, 'He is not a foreigner, he is an American,' shows that this is generally acknowledged."


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: More recently, Aldous Huxley's "Ninth Philosopher's Song" (1920) approached the proverb differently, stating, "Blood, as all men know, than water's thicker / But water's wider, thank the Lord, than blood."


title: Blood is thicker than water

text: Two modern commentators, author Albert Jack and Messianic Rabbi Richard Pustelniak, claim that the original meaning of the expression was that the ties between people who have made a blood covenant (or have shed blood together in battle) were stronger than ties formed by "the water of the womb", thus "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb". Neither of the authors cite any sources to support their claim.


title: Zune

text: Zune is a discontinued line of digital media products and services marketed by Microsoft from November 2006 until its discontinuation in June 2012. Zune consisted of a line of portable media players, digital media player software for Windows PCs, a music subscription service known as a "Zune Music Pass", music and video streaming services for the Xbox 360 game console via the Zune Software, music, TV and movie sales, and desktop sync software for Windows Phone. Zune was also the provider of music streaming for United Airlines in-flight, after a partnership in 2010.


title: Zune

text: The Zune started as a line of portable media players (PMP) created in cooperation with Toshiba. Microsoft aimed to challenge and beat Apple, whose iPod line held an enormous market share. Three hard disk players ranging from 30 GB to 120 GB were released, alongside six flash players. However, its overall market share in the U.S. remained low, well below Apple and also lagging the SanDisk Sansa and Creative Zen. Microsoft discontinued all Zune hardware in October 2011., with digital content distribution from Microsoft starting under the Xbox Music and Xbox Video brands.


title: Zune

text: Zune music and devices were follow-on to Microsoft's MSN Music service. MSN Music was created in 2004 to compete with Apple's iTunes services and used the Microsoft PlaysForSure DRM protocol. After only two years, Microsoft announced the closing of MSN Music in 2006 immediately before announcing the Zune service without PlaysForSure support. In 2008, Microsoft shut down the MSN Music licensing servers for PlaysForSure only two years after promising users the servers would be available for five years.


title: Zune

text: The first-generation Zune device was created by Microsoft in close cooperation with Toshiba, which took the design of the Gigabeat S and redeveloped it under the name "Toshiba 1089" as registered with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) starting in 2006. Xbox 360 overseer J Allard ran the project, codenamed "Argo", staffed with Xbox and MSN Music Store developers who worked on "Alexandria", finalized as Zune Marketplace. Both products were later united under the Zune brand name in the U.S. market. While some features were praised, the initial Zune has been regarded with derision and jokes for its bulky size and brown color, with "CNET" regarding it at best as a "high-profile underdog alternative to Apple's iPod" where other Windows Media MP3 players from Creative, iriver, and Samsung had not succeeded.


title: Zune

text: At midnight on December 31, 2008, many first generation Zune 30 models froze. Microsoft stated that the problem was caused by the internal clock driver written by Freescale and the way the device handles a leap year. It automatically fixed itself 24 hours later, but an intermediate "fix", for those who did not wish to wait, was to drain the device's battery and then recharge after 12 noon GMT on January 1, 2009.


title: Zune

text: The first generation and later Zune devices included a number of social features, including the ability to share songs with other Zune users wirelessly. Songs that had been transferred over wi-fi could then be played three times over three days.


title: Zune

text: The first wave of the second-generation (Zune 4, 8, and 80, manufactured by Flextronics), introduced the touch-sensitive Zune Pad, which was shaped like a squircle. The 4 and 8 GB Zune devices use flash memory and are smaller in size than the 80 GB version, which uses a hard drive. The 30 GB Zune was not redesigned, although it received a software update that brought its interface in line with the second generation models. At the same time, the Zune 2.0 software was released for Windows PCs. This version of the software was completely re-written and featured a new user interface.


title: Zune

text: Zune devices feature games developed using an early version of XNA Game Studio 3.0, released in May 2008, allowed developers to work on games for Zune devices.


title: Zune

text: The second and last wave of the second-generation (Zune 16 and 120) released in September 2008, coinciding with the release of the Zune Software 3.0 update. Included in this firmware update was the ability to tag and later purchase songs heard on FM radio, channels which can be customized to deliver suggested songs for the user, the games Hexic and Texas Hold' em were added, support for audiobooks from online stores such as Audible.com and others that support OverDrive media files, a clock, and changed quicklist functionality. The ability to purchase songs from Zune Marketplace on the device while connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi was also introduced. To help push this feature, Microsoft partnered with Wayport to allow Zune devices to access its network of over 10,000 wireless hotspots, including those at McDonald's restaurants.


title: Zune

text: Zune Pass customers in the United States could also now download 10 tracks to keep per month in addition to the existing subscription-dependent unlimited music downloads.


title: Zune

text: The first wave of the third-generation (Zune HD 16 GB and 32 GB) released in September 2009. On the same day, the 4.0 software update of the desktop software was released to support the new devices. In addition, it became possible for Zune Pass subscribers to stream tracks through a computer's web browser. Zune 4.0 also supports internet radio streams but this feature is disabled by default and can only be enabled by a third-party patch. This device release marked the first time Zune firmware was released for the Zune line that did not provide new features for older models. These models were given a firmware update as version 3.2.


title: Zune

text: The second and last wave of the third-generation (Zune HD 64 GB) released in April 2010. The same day, desktop and firmware updates introduced SmartDJ and codec features. The firmware update brought picks and improved the TV-out experience on the Zune HD.


title: Zune

text: From Summer 2010, United Airlines started to offer Zune in-flight audio by means of 21 playlists that are very similar to the Zune Channels offered on the Zune Marketplace. Each channel offers up to 3 hours of unique programming ranging from classic rock, contemporary pop, opera, electronica, piano jazz, and others.


title: Zune

text: On March 15, 2011, Microsoft announced that no new Zune hardware players would be developed, although existing models would remain for sale. The Zune had failed to capture significant market share after five years against the Apple iPod, and a recent study by NPD Group indicated that the Zune did not make the list of the five best-selling portable music players in the U.S. The iPod has been more successful because of simplicity and had better ratings. It has also been suggested that there is a much larger trend that standalone music players were giving way to smartphones with personalized, app-driven music.


title: Zune

text: On October 3, 2011, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of all Zune hardware, encouraging users to transition to Windows Phone. Later, the announcement was removed and a Zune Support Team member tweeted that the page was added to the website in error. Finally, despite previous denials, the original announcement of the Zune hardware's discontinuation was restored to the Zune Support site.


title: Zune

text: In June 2012, Microsoft announced plans to discontinue all "Zune" products, and instead, Microsoft would distribute its digital media content and services under the Xbox Music and Xbox Video names, available on their line of products, including Windows 8 PCs and tablets, Xbox 360 game console, and Windows Phone smart phones. The "www.zune.net" domain now redirects to Xbox's website, but the software retained the Zune name. The Windows Phone App succeeded Zune Software as the desktop sync service for Windows Phone 8, as part of Microsoft's discontinuation of the Zune brand. However, Zune Software must still be used for Windows Phone 7 desktop sync, and is still available to download from the Windows Phone website for all Windows Phone 7 devices. In November 2015, Microsoft retired the Zune music download and streaming service. Remaining Zune subscribers were switched over to Microsoft's Groove Music platform, whose subscription services closed on December 31, 2017.


title: Zune

text: In Autumn 2009, movies and TV shows became available through streaming or download through Zune Video Marketplace on Xbox 360. On November 4, 2010, the music portion of the Zune Marketplace was brought to Xbox. This coincided with the launch of the Kinect and Kinect owners can navigate the application menus using hand gestures, without a controller. Users must have a Zune Pass subscription to play music in the application, and only Zune Pass content is available. Locally saved music must still be played through the Xbox's native media library.


title: Zune

text: Starting with the Microsoft KIN ONE and KIN TWO mid 2010, the Zune music services and features from the Zune HD became available on Microsoft's mobile phones. Shortly following the failure of the KIN line, Windows Phone 7 released and included the same Zune music app that was present on KIN. December of that same year, the rerelease of the KIN phones (whose names were denoted simply with "m" as ONEm and TWOm) yet again included the Zune music app, though the phones themselves were now feature-phones instead of smartphones. Each of these first generation Windows Phone smartphones were supported by the Zune desktop software in addition to the Zune devices.


title: Zune

text: Microsoft announced and released new versions of the Zune devices once a year until 2010. In March 2011, Bloomberg.com published an article claiming that Microsoft would stop introducing new versions of the Zune music and video player. The article has been widely quoted over the Internet and by news agencies. However, a Microsoft representative for Zune business development denied this rumor saying that the Windows Phone platform introduction should be considered to be the annual Zune update for 2010.


title: Zune

text: All Windows Phone devices include capacitive multi-touch screens, FM radios, Wi-Fi, and certain other features included on the Zune HD. The user interface of the Zune devices, particularly the Zune HD, served as the inspiration for the user interface of Windows Phone. Microsoft refers to the design language of this user interface as Metro and continued to use it in their products moving forward from Zune HD. (Products with elements of Metro: Microsoft Band & Band 2, KIN, WP7, WP8, Windows 8, W10M, Windows 10, Xbox 360, Xbox One and S/X, and Xbox Series S/X.)


title: Zune

text: On October 11, 2010, Microsoft released Zune software v4.7, which supports syncing of Windows Phone 7 devices with a Windows PC. Zune software was then succeeded as a desktop sync app by the Windows Phone App for Windows Phone 8.


title: Zune

text: The first Zune model, the Zune 30, was released in the USA on November 14, 2006, featuring a capacity of 30 gigabytes, FM radio, and a 3-inch screen. The Zune 30 was initially available in black, brown and white. Retail packages contained a pair of basic earbuds, a USB sync cable, a small drawstring pouch, a start-up CD, documentation and a 14-day free trial of the premium Zune Pass streaming service.


title: Zune

text: The Zune 80 was announced on October 2, 2007, along with the smaller Zune 4 and Zune 8 to compete with Apple's iPod nano line. These were to be known as the second generation of Zune devices. The Zune 80 featured a 3.2 inch screen, while the Zune 4 and 8 come with a 1.8inch screen. Both come with a new touchpad-style input device ("squircle") and new software. Additional file support for H.264 and MPEG-4 formats was also included, whereas the older Zune 30 requires these formats to be transcoded to WMV prior to sync. The ability to sync wirelessly (automatically if connected to a power supply), podcast support, and an upgraded song-sharing licensing became available on all models. The new software also allowed a Zune device to communicate with other Zune devices to share pictures and songs. A free firmware update added the new software features to the original Zune 30, and was released on November 13, 2007.


title: Zune

text: The Zune 80 came bundled with a USB connection cord and premium headphones. The Zune 4 and 8 come with a USB connection cord and basic headphones.


title: Zune

text: The Zune 30, the original Zune music player, has a 30GB hard drive, 3 inch screen, and a simple directional pad for menu navigation. The second generation of Zune devices includes the Zune 4, 8, 16, 80 and 120. The Zune 4, 8, and 16 are smaller in size and have 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB of flash memory respectively. All second generation Zunes have a Zune Pad instead of the original directional pad that was included on the Zune 30. Microsoft released an upgrade to the software/firmware for all Zune models, including the Zune 30.


title: Zune

text: On May 26, 2009, Microsoft announced the Zune HD, the first touch screen Zune. The Zune HD has HD Radio and the ability to display video in High Definition through a docking station (sold separately). The screen is multi-touch enabled and uses gestures such as swiping and pinching throughout the player. The device comes with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of flash memory. The screen is OLED, 3.3inches, and has a 480x272 16:9 resolution. Also included are Wi-Fi, a custom Internet Explorer browser, and an accelerometer.


title: Zune

text: Zune devices featured preloaded audio and video content from various artists, including Wisin & Yandel, BT, The Thermals, Paul Oakenfold, and CSS. Limited edition, promotional, and employee-gift Zune devices also featured unique content of varying kinds (i.e. pictures, videos, music, and/or audio/video podcasts).


title: Zune

text: The standard Zune devices come with basic headphones and a proprietary USB data cable. The Zune 30 comes with these items as well as a carrying bag, and the Zune 80 model has upgraded "Zune Premium" headphones. Accessories that were sold separately included, but are not limited to:


title: Zune

text: Among the firms that made Zune accessories were Microsoft, Altec Lansing, Belkin, Digital Lifestyle Outfitters (DLO), Dual Electronics, Griffin Technology, Harman Kardon, JBL, Integrated Mobile Electronics, Jamo International, Klipsch Audio Technologies, Logitech, Monster Cable Products Inc., Speck, Targus, Kicker and VAF Research.


title: Zune

text: According to Microsoft, the most up-to-date firmware version is 4.5 (114) for the Zune HD, which replaces the original player firmware that ships on the device, 4.0 (356). In the case of the Zune 4, 8, 16, 30, 80, and 120 players, the most current player software version is 3.3, which provides compatibility with Zune 4.2. Version 3.3 was primarily a bug fix release and was released on January 26, 2010.


title: Zune

text: The operating system for the Zune devices is based on the Windows CE kernel for ARM architecture and uses a distribution similar to the Portable Media Center found on the Gigabeat S. Zune's native file compatible formats are:


title: Zune

text: The graphical user interface (GUI) (called the "twist interface" by Microsoft) has sections for "music", "videos", "pictures", "social", "radio", "podcasts", "marketplace", "games" and "settings". It is said to provide "two-dimensional navigation" for scrolling through items with its directional pad. In the music section, users can add songs to a quick playlist without reconnecting to the desktop software. In the picture section, the background can be customized using any image stored on the device (for viewing) as wallpaper. In the radio section, users can receive and play FM radio internally, with North American, Japanese, and European tuning ranges, and display Radio Data System information (usually artist and song) when available. When artist/song information are available, the device can search for the song in the Zune Marketplace for download or purchase. In the social section, users can broadcast the user's profile and recent activity to others nearby.


title: Zune

text: The first updates to the firmware added sharing features (send, community, list nearby Zune users) as described in FCC filings. Firmware 1.1 allowed the device to inherit sharing capabilities described by codename Pyxis. Early firmware releases patched software bugs. About a year later, the much anticipated 2.2 firmware release added support for DVR-MS (Media Center Recorded TV) files, lossless playback, added wireless syncing, and GUI interface improvements.


title: Zune

text: Zune supports the Windows Media DRM digital rights management system, which is not compatible with other DRM systems and is not part of the PlaysForSure platform or program.  Multimedia content is transferred through Media Transfer Protocol (MTP); however, its proprietary MTP extensions ("MTPZ") place an interoperability barrier between the Zune and previous MTP-based software.


title: Zune

text: The Zune software functions as management software for the device, a full media player application with a library, an interface to the Zune Marketplace, and as a media streaming server. Zune Software is used to sync with all devices with Zune functionality, including the Zune devices, Windows Phone 7, and Microsoft Kin. Zune devices work exclusively with the Zune software and Marketplace.


title: Zune

text: The Zune software organizes the media in its library and allows users to add to the library by ripping from CDs, syncing with a Zune device, and downloading from the Zune Marketplace. The Zune software also allows one to organize song metadata. It can automatically download album art and metadata tag data for content in the library.


title: Zune

text: Any file in one's Collection that has a non-Zune compatible format is automatically transcoded into a compatible format upon syncing the files to a Zune compatible device. This feature still works as of the release of Windows 11, however, in Windows 10 and 11 the ability to convert videos, specifically, is broken.


title: Zune

text: On the PC, the Zune software streams files to other PCs, the Xbox 360, and other compatible devices. The Zune software also connects with the Zune social and keeps track of files swapped with other users.


title: Zune

text: The Zune software runs only on 32-bit Windows XP or 32-bit/64-bit, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Windows XP Professional x64 Edition is not supported.


title: Zune

text: Zune Software was succeeded by the Windows Phone App as a desktop sync service for Windows Phone 8. Windows Phone 7, Kin, and all previous Zune devices will still use the Zune software, which is still available for download on the Windows Phone website.


title: Zune

text: As of October 16, 2012, all Zune Marketplace products and services have been replaced by Xbox Music, Xbox Music Pass, Xbox Video, and Windows Phone Store.


title: Zune

text: The Zune Marketplace was an online store that offered music, podcasts, TV shows, movies, music videos, movie trailers and mobile applications. Content can be viewed or purchased on Windows PCs with the Zune software installed, Zune devices, the Xbox 360, the Microsoft Kin phones, or Windows Phone phones.


title: Zune

text: Zune Marketplace was originally only available in the United States. In October 2010, certain Zune Marketplace content became available in additional countries: the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. However, not all content was available in all countries; for example, podcasts and TV shows were not offered at all outside the United States.


title: Zune

text: Microsoft launched several campaigns to jump-start the Zune. It had a major campaign to promote Zune with "Music the way it wants to be" as a major theme and "Welcome to the social" as an advertisement tagline. Also, the company enlisted about 200 "Zune-masters" to advertise the device on American college campuses, to promote the item, and to run Zune-related events. In exchange, they received free merchandise, including a Zune.


title: Zune

text: Additionally, Microsoft launched an attempt at viral marketing with its comingzune site, complete with several videos in succession. Along with ZuneInsider, and several other ad hoc events, Microsoft hoped to generate buzz for the product outside of the normal marketing avenues, and market its product as a part of a social construct.


title: Zune

text: The choice of branding and distribution were part of the Zune as a decision of "two strategies in the market right now: cross-brand ecosystems... and singular brand ecosystems... The former is gaining in share and units sold, but the latter has enormous share and won't give that up easily."


title: Zune

text: Microsoft normally follows a platform (cross-brand) strategy, as exemplified by the PlaysForSure system. However, its Xbox division has gained some experience with the vertically integrated strategy in which it controls everything end-to-end from the hardware to the online store. With Apple dominating the audio market with its vertically integrated iPod system, the Xbox division won permission to try the same approach, separately from PlaysForSure and PlayReady.


title: Zune

text: Microsoft also wanted to go beyond Apple's efforts and promote the tagline "the social" and wireless sharing as key differentiators. Chris Stephenson, leader of Zune's marketing and manager of Global Marketing for the Entertainment Business, said, "we see a great opportunity to bring together technology and community to allow consumers to explore and discover music together." "New York Times Magazine" columnist Rob Walker agrees that the Zune's "community and togetherness seem like a reasonable counterpunch to iPod's supposed attraction as an individuality enabler that allows owners to wallow in their own tasteful personal soundtracks." But he also sees the Zune as having gained appeal as an individualistic statement against the omnipresent iPod: "The most salient feature of the Zune seems to be that it's not an iPod".


title: Zune

text: Microsoft also released a Zune theme for Windows XP that replaced the appearance of the operating system. This theme includes an orange Start button and black taskbar/Start menu.


title: Zune

text: Zune has also expanded its brand efforts by creating a Millennial-friendly website and campaign focused on emerging artist talent: Zune Arts


title: Zune

text: MySpace has added the feature to label music players on personal profiles to Zune-themed or a red Zune 8.


title: Zune

text: During its launch week, the original Zune, now Zune 30, was the second-most-sold portable media device with a 9% unit share in the United States: behind the market-leading iPod's 63%. For the first 6 months after launch, NPD Group figures show that the Zune 30 achieved approximately 10% market share in the Hard Drive-based MP3 market and 3% in the overall MP3 player market. As early as December 2006, it was reported that the Zune was struggling not just against the iPod but also other competitors, the Creative Zen and SanDisk Sansa.


title: Zune

text: According to Bloomberg Television 1.2 million Zune 30 players were sold between November 2006 and June 2007, surpassing a milestone. A price drop on Amazon.com during November 2007 temporarily boosted the brown Zune 30 to the top Sales Rank in electronics.


title: Zune

text: On May 6, 2008, Microsoft announced that it had sold just over 2 million Zunes. Roughly one million of those were sold since the second generation Zunes launched in November 2007.


title: Zune

text: On May 22, 2008, it was reported that GameStop "has decided to stop selling Microsoft's Zune players at its stores due to what it sees as insufficient demand from customers." A statement issued by Adam Sohn, Zune marketing manager said "We have a set of great partnerships...Best Buy, Target, Wal-Mart, and others."


title: Zune

text: In January 2009, Microsoft's quarterly earnings filing with the SEC indicated that Zune sales had fallen $100 million from 2007 to 2008 during the fourth quarter of the calendar year. The Wall Street Journal estimated that sales appear to have dropped from about $185 million during the holiday period in 2007 to just $85 million in 2008. This may be due to the company's decision not to substantially update the Zune hardware in the fall of 2008.


title: Zune

text: Zune market share decreased to 2% in the first half of 2009, according to the NPD Group. From January to September 2009 in the U.S., Microsoft only held 2% sales share, compared to Apple's 73%, SanDisk's 9%, and 3% for Sony's Walkman line.


title: Zune

text: Microsoft released the Zune to Canadian consumers on June 13, 2008, marking the first time it was available outside the U.S. Microsoft has even made efforts to ban visitors outside the United States from Zune Originals. Users wishing to sign up for a Zune Tag could easily circumvent most problems by signing up for a US-based account.


title: Zune

text: The Zune 2.0–3.* firmware does not support non-romanized fonts other than Cyrillic. East Asian characters used in Chinese and Japanese, for example, show up on the Zune device as mojibake instead of characters. Users have improvised ways to downgrade the firmware on the Zune device to older version that support Asian characters (V1 Zunes can be hacked to display Asian font). This is, however, not recommended by anyone.


title: Zune

text: In 2012, "Slate" ran a reader poll inviting them to select a piece of defunct technology worthy of a reappraisal, where the Zune beat out Myspace, the PalmPilot, feature phones ("dumbphones") and older versions of Internet Explorer. Farhad Manjoo, the site's technology columnist, went to considerable lengths to acquire a Zune HD. "[It] wasn't as complete a failure as you may believe," he wrote. "If you purchased one over the iPod Touch back in 2009, you wouldn't have regretted it."


title: Zune

text: Had Microsoft brought the first Zune to market at the same time as the iPod, or even the Zune HD at the time of the iPod Touch, it might have been a serious competitor to those players. Manjoo wrote: "By that point, iPod had become the world's de facto digital entertainment device," he recalled. "To beat it, Microsoft needed to offer something that would make Apple's device look pitifully old-fashioned. The Zune HD didn't do that. Its design marked it as being different from an iPod, but that was pretty much the only difference. There was no reason to buy the Zune unless you wanted to stand apart from the Apple cult. And there was a cost to standing apart from Apple: Because of its popularity, there were millions of apps and accessories for the iPod. As good as it was, the Zune HD couldn’t match Apple’s sheer market power." Nevertheless, it was an effective enough product that Manjoo had started using it as his backup music player ("when my iPhone’s battery dies").


title: Zune

text: Like the Edsel, to which it has sometimes been likened, Manjoo said the Zune's failure may have led the way to eventual success with other products. The HD's user interface, he noted, was the first such Microsoft product to rely on text rather than icons, and it would form the basis for Windows Phone, Windows 8, Xbox and all of the company's web-based services. The Segoe typeface that is now used in all of them, as well as Microsoft's current logo, was first used on the Zune.


title: Zune

text: Business consultant Simon Sinek discusses the Zune in his 2019 book "The Infinite Game", describing the Zune as a triumph of design but a failure of long-term strategic thinking. Microsoft was focused on beating Apple's portable music player, while Apple was behind the scenes focused on the iPhone that was introduced a year after the Zune's debut and, to a large extent, rendered obsolete handheld MP3 players by popularizing smart phones.


title: Zune

text: At the end of the 2017 film "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2", Peter Quill is gifted a Zune by Kraglin to replace his destroyed Walkman.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: Revelations: Persona is a 1996 role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus. It is the first entry in the "Persona" series, itself a subseries of the "Megami Tensei" franchise, and the first role-playing entry in the series to be released in the west. Originally released for the PlayStation in 1996 in Japan and North America, the title was ported to Microsoft Windows in 1999. A port to the PlayStation Portable retitled Shin Megami Tensei: Persona was released in North America and Japan in 2009, and the following year in Europe. This port featured new cutscenes and a reworked English localization that was more faithful to the original Japanese release. The PlayStation version was also released for the PlayStation Classic on December 3, 2018 worldwide, marking the PlayStation version being released in Europe for the first time.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The story focuses on a group of high school students as they are confronted by a series of supernatural incidents. After playing a fortune-telling game, the group each gain the ability to summon Personas, the multiple selves within them. Using this power under the guidance of Philemon, a benevolent being representing humanity's subconscious, the group face off against multiple forces that threaten the world. Gameplay revolves around the characters navigating environments around their town and fighting enemies using their Personas. During the course of the game, the player can create new Personas for battle using spell cards gained in battle or by talking with enemies.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: "Persona" began development after the release of "Shin Megami Tensei If...", with the idea of creating a subseries around the positively received high school setting of "If...". Multiple staff members from previous "Megami Tensei" titles were involved in development, including character designer Kazuma Kaneko, and director Kouji Okada. Multiple aspects of the story, including Personas and the character Philemon, were taken from Jungian psychology, while Kaneko's character designs were based on both staff members, and celebrities and fictional characters of the time. Reception to the game has generally been positive, with most praising its approach to the genre, while its navigation and localization were criticized. Its PSP port shared most points of praise with the original, along with the improved localization, but also drew negative comments for its by-then dated mechanics and graphics.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: "Revelations: Persona" is a role-playing video game in which the player takes control of a group of high school students. A mixture of navigation styles are used: navigation around the students' hometown is done using an overhead view, navigation of standard environments such as outside areas and story locations use an angled third-person view, and dungeons and most buildings are navigated in first-person. The player saves their progress by visiting certain, predetermined locations. An icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen displays a lunar phase: this display shows the passage of in-game time, and its status determines the activity patterns and moods of enemy demons. Battles are both triggered by story events and through random encounters around the world map and dungeon environments. If the player attacks an enemy from behind, the party is given a set of attacks costing no magic points or health points.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: Battles take place on a grid-based battle arena, with characters and enemies moving according to their position on the grid. Four commands are available to the party: Attack (fight enemies), Contact (talk with an enemy), Analyze (check an enemy for its strength and weaknesses), and Form (rearrange the party on the grid). The character's main means of attack is their Persona, beings summoned into battle to cast a spell that can heal the party, and inflict physical or elemental damage on an enemy. Each Persona has access to up to eight skills, and each character can change their Persona during their turn. Personas earn experience points independent of the characters they are assigned to, and gain new abilities through extended use. Experience is awarded based on how often the player uses certain characters or Personas. Alongside their Personas, each character is able to attack with an equipped melee weapon or firearm, use an item, or attempt to talk with the demons that act as the game's standard enemies.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: Talking to a demon has different effects based on its personality, responding in a specific way to certain actions. There are four emotional responses that the player can elicit from a demon: anger, fear, joy, and interest. Triggering one of these emotions three times will cause the demon to perform an action: an angry demon will attack the party, a frightened demon will flee the battle, a joyful demon will give the player an item, and an interested demon will either leave the battle, give the player an item, or give the player a special spell card (tarot cards aligned with a particular Persona family or Arcanum). Functions related to the customization of Personas are performed in a special place called the Velvet Room: there, the character Igor can summon new Personas from among the various enemies defeated for a fee. He can also use two spell cards along with a special item to create a new Persona, which can inherit skills from the Personas used in the fusion. A Persona can only be fused using cards from certain Persona families. Personas can also be deleted if the player so chooses.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The game takes place in Japan in 1996, in the town of Mikage-cho. All the main characters attend St. Hermelin High, the town's high school, being in Class 4 taught by Saeko Takami. The other main feature of the town is the local branch of SEBEC (Saeki Electronics & Biological & Energy Corporation). All the main characters have the power to summon Personas, described in the manual as "the power of their hidden selves". The power to call Personas is granted by Philemon, a being born from the Collective Unconscious who acts as the party's spiritual guide and helper. He appears both in a human form and as a butterfly.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The player controls a silent protagonist, a second-year student who acts as their in-game representation. The rest of the cast are Maki Sonomura, whose near-constant ill health has made her inwardly bitter; Kei Nanjō, a self-confident heir to an important family business; Yukino Mayuzumi, a former gang member reformed through the efforts of Saeko; Hidehiko Uesugi, a man who puts on a facade of strength to cover his weaknesses; Yuka Ayase, a girl who consciously acts like a stereotypical "high school girl"; Masao Inaba, a spoiled and rebellious youth; and Eriko Kirishima, a woman with half-American parentage with an interest in the occult. The main antagonist is Takahisa Kandori, who runs the local SEBEC facility. During the SEBEC route, the player has the option of recruiting Reiji Kido, a student with a vendetta against Kandori.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The game starts with the protagonist, along with schoolmates Hidehiko, Yuka and Masao, playing a fortune-telling parlor game called "Persona" while Nanjō and Yukino watch. After playing the game, the group see a ghostly figure, and the protagonist, Masao, Nanjō, and Yukino are rendered unconscious. The protagonist is then drawn into the realm of Philemon, who grants him the power of Persona and warns him that his new power will soon be needed. After the four recover and at the suggestion of their teacher Saeko, they go to have a check-up and visit classmate Maki at the hospital. While visiting, Maki is taken ill, and while they are waiting for news, the ICU where Maki is being treated vanishes and the town is attacked by demons, the summoned manifestations of people's inner darkness. Using their Personas, the four defend themselves, and after meeting up with Eriko, they head to the town's Ayama Shrine to find Maki's mother Setsuko. Upon arrival, they find Setsuko wounded after an attack by Kandori. Setsuko reveals him to be the culprit behind the changes to the town, caused by a reality-altering machine called the Deva System. Nanjō and Masao head out to confront SEBEC, while the protagonist, Eriko and Yukino bring Setsuko back to the school. After this point, the game splits into two story routes: the main SEBEC route, and the alternate Snow Queen route.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: In the SEBEC route, should the protagonist decide to confront SEBEC, he is first joined by an apparently-recovered Maki, then asked by Nanjō to help save Masao, who is captured by demons. The protagonist, Maki and Nanjō rescue Masao, but on the way Maki displays an odd lack of certain memories including being hospitalized. After rescuing Masao and infiltrating SEBEC, the group confront Kandori. After cornering him inside the Deva System, a girl in black called Aki appears and knocks the party unconscious. When they awake, they find themselves in a duplicate, idealized version of their world. The group eventually find and corner Kandori, whose ultimate goal was to become a deity and find meaning in life. After an initial fight, Kandori is possessed by his Persona Nyarlathotep, then finally defeated. Before dying, Kandori reveals that the Maki who has been traveling with the party is the "Ideal Maki", a version of herself from the true Maki's heart. Aki and a girl in white called Mai are also pieces of Maki, and the idealized Mikage-cho was created by Maki, and brought into reality when she unexpectedly linked with the Deva System. The group must help Maki avoid Kandori's path towards isolation and his current actions. The group manage to convince Ideal Maki to overlook her original self's unconscious actions and join them in fixing the problem. After rescuing the true Maki's self from the Sea of Souls, where all human life begins, the group must then confront Pandora, an aspect of Maki that wants to use the Deva System to destroy everything. When Pandora is defeated, all the pieces of Maki merge back into one, reversing the effects on the town and restoring her to full health. Philemon meets with the group and congratulates them on their success.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The Snow Queen route, which takes place in the real town of Mikage-cho, is unlocked by investigating an urban legend within the school surrounding a theatrical mask used in performances of "The Snow Queen": nearly everyone who wears the mask to play the title role has died, with the exception of Saeko, whose friend disappeared instead. After finding the mask, the protagonist encounters Saeko, who puts on the mask and is possessed by a spirit within it. Freezing the entire town, the possessed Saeko generates three towers, with the spirits of those previously killed by the mask as their guardians, whilst setting up her Ice Castle within the high school. Along with Yukino, Ayase, Eriko, Hidehiko, and Nanjō, the protagonist heads out to save Saeko. Philemon contacts them and tells them that the only way to save Saeko is the Demon Mirror, which can remove the source of the mask's curse. The spirit possessing Saeko turns out to be former classmate Tomomi Fujimori, who was horribly disfigured by the mask when she wore it in place of Saeko. Using the mirror, the group are able to free Saeko and bring Tomomi peace. It is then revealed that Tomomi herself was controlled by the Night Queen Asura, a powerful entity who wants to cloak the world in darkness. Upon defeating the Night Queen, the town is freed from her power.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The development of "Revelations: Persona" began in 1994, after the release of "Shin Megami Tensei If...". The high school setting of "If..." was received positively upon release, so Atlus decided to create a dedicated subseries focusing on the inner struggles of young adults. This concept eventually evolved into "Persona", and its underlying focus on the "human soul" would become a mainstay of the "Persona" series. The title "Megami Ibunroku" was designed to show the title's status as a spin-off directly related to the "Megami Tensei" series, although it was removed for later "Persona" titles. The Persona system was directly inspired by the Guardian system used in "If...", originally designed by future "Persona" director Katsura Hashino. Veteran "Megami Tensei" producer Kouji Okada, and character designer Kazuma Kaneko took over these respective staff roles. New to the production team was writer Tadashi Satomi. The script took about a year to write, with the staff going through twenty drafts. The first draft involved the students going on a field trip and being caught in a series of mysterious events. This was one of the more fondly-remembered versions. Shigenori Soejima, a future designer for the series, was involved in designing minor characters and coloring promotional and cover artwork. The main concept behind "Persona" was a "Megami Tensei" game that could be enjoyed by people new to the series. The popularity of casual games on the PlayStation was a key factor in making this decision. The development team's focus on "Persona" resulted in development on "" coming to a near-halt.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: Kaneko designed the main cast around multiple notable celebrities and fictional characters of the time, along with members of Atlus staff. While the characters wearing the same uniform helped designate them as a single group, it also made them look the same. To balance against this, Kaneko expressed their individuality through accessories. Atlus staff members also made cameos as minor characters. The character of Philemon was based on Carl Jung's titular wise old man archetype, described as a contradictory existence. His appearance in-game was based on paintings of Chinese philosopher Zhuang Zhou. Multiple ideas and terms used in-game were based on Jungian psychology and archetypes. The Velvet Room, a key gameplay location, was based on the Black Lodge from "Twin Peaks". One of the characters focused on by Kaneko was Maki, who was given multiple forms throughout the story. The first versions created were the original Maki, who had been bed-ridden for a long time, and the "ideal" version, whose inexperience with the outside world and interactions with others made her an expressionless doll. In addition to these forms, black-clothed "Aki" and white-clothed "Mai" were created when Maki's personality split, representing her extremes. The true Maki represented balance, so Kaneko made her uniform grey. Because of this, the school uniform had to be grey. To represent her psychological immaturity, she was given a ribbon to represent her girlishness, along with a locket she believes can grant wishes.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: "Persona" was released in Japan on September 20, 1996 for the PlayStation. The game was ported to Microsoft Windows and released on March 25, 1999 by ASCII Corporation. The game was compatible with Windows 95 and 98 operating systems. The game released in North America in November 1996. The PlayStation Portable version was directed by Shoji Meguro, the original game's composer. It was Meguro's first project as a director. It was decided to remake the original "Persona" as a large number of new fans had been brought to the series by "Persona 3" and "Persona 4", so Atlus decided to give them easier access to the beginning of the series. The game was announced in February 2009, and released on April 29 of that year. Along with gameplay adjustments and balancing, such as adding adjustable difficulty levels and modifying enemy encounter rates, full-motion cutscenes produced by anime studio Kamikaze Douga were created. The cutscenes were voiced, while the rest of the game used text-based dialogue as in the original. In Europe and Australia, the title was released by Atlus as a digital title on PlayStation Network.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: "Persona" was the first role-playing entry in the "Megami Tensei" series to be released in the west, with the first "Megami Tensei" release being action game "Jack Bros." in 1995. While the main "Megami Tensei" series' use of Christian imagery made it unsuitable for localization at the time, "Persona" employed a different naming system to make it more acceptable. "Persona" was localized by Atlus' then-new North American branch Atlus USA. "Persona" was chosen as a series that could help define the company and compete with the likes of "Final Fantasy", "Suikoden" and "Breath of Fire". The team that localized "Persona" was quite small, which made the process quite difficult: not only was there a large amount of text to translate, but the team needed to adjust or change the Japanese references as they feared it might alienate western players. Among the changes were altering the player character's hairstyle, the ethnic origins of multiple characters, the character and location names, and multiple pieces of dialogue. The entire Snow Queen route was also cut from the game, leaving only the SEBEC story route open for exploration.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The PSP remake's localization was similar to those done for "Persona 3" and "4", with the dialogue being in tune with modern youth and keeping as close to the original dialogue as possible except for Japan-specific cultural references. To provide a reference for their work, the localization team played through the original version of "Persona". The changes made to character names and appearances in the "Revelations" localization were not retained, with the exception of a couple of lines that had become fan favorites. These were included as a kind of homage to both players and the company's history of game localization. The entire Snow Queen quest was also included.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The music for "Persona" was written by Hidehito Aoki, Kenichi Tsuchiya, Misaki Okibe and Shoji Meguro. "Persona" was Tsuchiya and Meguro's first major work, with Meguro beginning shortly before he officially joined Atlus' internal staff. Meguro worked on the title for approximately a year, composing ten to twenty percent of the score. The first piece composed by Meguro was "The Aria of the Soul", the theme for the Velvet Room, originally commissioned by Aoki. "The Aria of the Soul" would become a mainstay in future "Persona" titles. For the PSP re-release, Meguro composed new music alongside remixing original tracks. While he kept the original atmosphere, he also used the experience and musical techniques gained from his work on "Persona 3" and "4". He also tried some new techniques, such as with the opening theme, which began with a pop motif before transitioning into heavy metal, along with changing the important lyrics from English to Japanese.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: The official soundtrack album, "Persona Be Your True Mind Original Soundtrack", was released on June 17, 1999. An arrange album, "Megami Ibunroku Persona Original Soundtrack & Arrange Album", was released April 18, 1999. In Japan, the official soundtrack for the PSP port was released on April 29, 2009. In the United States, the "Persona" soundtrack was packaged with the game's retail release.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: During its debut week, "Persona" sold 201,147 copies. These would remain the best first-week sales in the franchise until the release of "Persona 5" in 2016. In its year of release in Japan, "Persona" sold 391,556 units, reaching number 21 in the 100 best-selling games of that year. "Persona" was described at the time of its original western release as a "sleeper hit". The PSP port of the game was also highly successful: while Atlus estimated sales of 50,000 and 35,000 units in Japan and North America, respectively, actual sales reached 160,000 and 49,000 units.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: "Famitsu" was generally positive about the setting and plot, and enjoyed the careful incorporation of "Megami Tensei" gameplay mechanics alongside new features. "GameSpot"s Jeff Gerstmann called it "a truly different RPG", praising the story, setting and gameplay, while criticizing the quality of the localization and feeling indifferent about the graphics and level layout. IGN called the game "an RPG masterpiece", praising its departure from fantasy-based RPGs of the time. The "Electronic Gaming Monthly" review team considered the contemporary setting and multitude of options in battle to be refreshingly original, though they found the complexity of the battles overwhelming at points. "Next Generation" also complimented the originality of the setting, but concluded the game "lacks the kind of cohesion needed to be called great." The reviewer elaborated that the frequent shifting of gameplay perspectives is frustrating, and that "Missing is a fluid unraveling of the story, and in its place is a fragmented disclosure of the facts, interrupted entirely too often by battle scenes." "Game Informer" variously complemented the game for its challenging gameplay, and story and setting, with one reviewer calling it "the best PlayStation RPG available." "GamePro"s Art Angel said the same, and added that it "may even challenge the upcoming "Final Fantasy VII" as the season's best RPG." He cited the informative and efficient interface, lack of pixelation, spell effects, voice clips in battle, fun persona system, and the replay value stemming from the multiple endings. Jeff Walker, writing a retrospective review of the game for RPGamer, generally shared points of praise and criticism with Gerstmann, summing the game up as "a sure winner". RPGFan writer EsquE was positive overall about the game, calling it "an achievement in dedicated game design", and saying in closing that "["Revelations: Persona"] deserves much more respect than it has received."


title: Revelations: Persona

text: Reviewing the PSP port, Eric L. Patterson of "Play" was highly positive about the game's old-school mechanics and the chance to replay it with an improved localization and the Snow Queen route reinstated. He did say that for fans of the PlayStation 2 "Persona" games, "["Persona"] could very well feel like a punch to the face and a boot to the crotch." Jeremy Parish, writing for 1UP.com, said that the way "Persona" broke away from RPG norms through the communication with demons during battle made it essential playing for fans of the genre. He was generally positive about most aspects apart from its visuals. "Game Informer"s Joe Juba, despite noting awkward navigation and the inability to appreciate character and enemies designs due to their small sprite size, generally praised the game for improving on the original game's flaws. Ben Reeves, giving a second opinion on the game as part of the review, generally shared Juba's points of praise, though found the minimap inadequate. "GameSpot"s Lark Anderson was more critical than most, praising the story and improved localization, but finding the combat, navigation and graphics fairly dated compared to both recent and contemporary RPGs. IGN's Sam Bishop shared critiques about the graphics with other reviewers, but enjoyed most other parts of the game, and particularly appreciated the inclusion of the Snow Queen route. RPGamer's Glenn Wilson and RPGFan's Neal Chandran generally echoed other reviewers' sentiments: Wilson cited it as a less enjoyable game than the PlayStation 2 "Persona" entries while still being a quality project, and Chandran called it "a killer trip down memory lane with a pair of high-definition rose-colored glasses." "Shin Megami Tensei: Persona" was also awarded RPGFan's Editor's Choice Award.


title: Revelations: Persona

text: "Revelations: Persona" was successful enough to establish the "Persona" series in North America and become a cult classic. The game's success prompted the development of a sequel. "", which was released in 1999 and involved many of the same staff. "Persona" was adapted into a manga titled "Megami Ibunroku Persona". Originally serialized in 1996, it was later reissued in 2009. In 2006, Atlus and mobile company Bbmf released a mobile version of the game, "Megami Ibunroku Persona: Chapter of the Foreign Tower of Emptiness". The game is a 3D dungeon crawler set within the locations of "Persona". The unexpected success of the PSP port led to the development of enhanced remakes for both "Innocent Sin" and its sequel, "". Both these ports were also directed by Meguro.


title: Funko

text: Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games.


title: Funko

text: Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the well-known restaurant advertising icon, the Big Boy mascot.


title: Funko

text: Sold in 2005, Funko, LLC, is now headed by CEO Andrew Perlmutter. Since then, the company has increased the scope of its toy lines and signed licensing deals with major companies such as Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, NBCUniversal, Disney, Marvel Entertainment and Major League Baseball.


title: Funko

text: Funko was founded in 1998 by toy collector Mike Becker at his home in Snohomish, Washington. He started the business after failing to find an affordable coin bank of the Big Boy Restaurants mascot, instead licensing the rights to make his own coin banks from a Big Boy franchise in Michigan. The coin banks failed to sell and the franchise filed for bankruptcy protection, but Funko remained in business after licensing the rights to bobbleheads for "Austin Powers", which sold 80,000 units. After this, some of the first characters that Funko sold were the Grinch, Tony the Tiger, and Cheerios mascot, the honeybee. In 2005, Becker sold Funko to its current Chief Creative Officer, Brian Mariotti, who moved its offices to Lynnwood, Washington, and significantly expanded the company's licensed product lines. In 2011, Funko began selling their Pop! Vinyl line of figurines. By 2012, the company had sold more than $20 million worth of merchandise.


title: Funko

text: The company was sold to Fundamental Capital, a private equity firm, in 2013 to raise funds. ACON Investments, LLC announced in late 2015 that it had acquired Funko from Fundamental Capital, LLC, but would keep current staff and the head of company.


title: Funko

text: By 2016, it had outgrown its original headquarters in Everett and announced plans to move into a downtown building with more space and a retail store. Funko acquired British toymaker Underground Toys, also its European distributor, in early 2017. Funko opened its new headquarters and flagship store in downtown Everett on August 19, 2017. Funko was listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange on November 2, 2017, but suffered the worst initial public offering of the 21st century, with shares falling by 40 percent and only raising $125 million.


title: Funko

text: The company opened its second storefront in November 2019, located in Hollywood, Los Angeles. It has of space and includes life-size statues and movie "sets".


title: Funko

text: Products are designed at the Funko headquarters in Everett, Washington, and in other locations throughout the U.S. New figures are designed with input from licensors, in-studio artists, and fans through social media. Funko artists use ZBrush to create digital models that are revised before being made into prototype sculptures, which are sent for approval from manufacturers and licensors. The completed figures are manufactured at factories in China and Vietnam.


title: Funko

text: Funko has produced thousands of products across dozens of different toy lines since its inception. The first, Wacky Wobblers, was a line of bobbleheads depicting various characters, mainly from popular culture, such as Betty Boop, Cap'n Crunch, and The Cat in the Hat. The company's mascot, a recurring character in the Funko franchise, is Freddy Funko, who was introduced in the year of 2002.


title: Funko

text: Funko's Pop! Vinyl line are figures modelled in a style similar to the Japanese chibi style. The figures have large squarish heads, disproportionately small bodies, and large, circular black eyes. The figures typically depict licensed characters from franchises such as "Doctor Who", Marvel, DC, Disney, "Star Wars", Wizarding World, "Dragon Ball", "My Hero Academia" and other pop culture entities. After a preview line of DC Comics characters were released at San Diego Comic-Con 2010, the original Funko Pop! line of products was fully revealed in 2011 at the New York Toy Fair.


title: Funko

text: The exaggerated body proportions of Pop! figures have invited comparisons with Good Smile’s Nendoroid figures, which are similarly described as "chibi". Both product lines depict characters from many different franchises.


title: Funko

text: Most Funko Pop! figures are not bobbleheads, as their heads do not move. However, all "Star Wars" figures in the line are bobbleheads, most Marvel figures, and all "Genshin Impact" figures, although the "Genshin Impact" packaging does not describe them as bobble-heads, but rather as figures, unlike "Star Wars" and Marvel. This is to avoid licensing conflicts with Hasbro and Good Smile Company respectively, the companies of which holds the license to make ordinary (non-bobblehead) figures of characters from these franchises.


title: Funko

text: Various other products have been released using the Pop! brand and its character stylization, such as plush toys, T-shirts, keychains (miniaturized versions of the normal figures), and ceramic mugs, the latter of which are enlarged, hollow copies of a figure's head, with a handle attached.


title: Funko

text: Within the Funko Pop! product line, there is a series known as Pop! Rides, featuring the Funko Pop figure in a vehicle. The Funko Pop! line also has figures that are larger than the standard figure, in 6-inch, 10-inch, 18-inch, and the now-retired 9-inch size. In addition, Funko produces Pop! Deluxes, where a character is seated on external set pieces, such as a throne, a vehicle, or creature. Funko has also begun creating Movie and Comic Moments, which feature posed Pop! figures interacting with each other and on display bases in ways that replicate moments from different movies and comic books. Funko has also created a line featuring artists with their album covers, this line can be found as Pop! Albums.


title: Funko

text: At Toy Fair 2019, Funko announced a new line of Pop! Vinyl figures; Pop! Town, initially including Ghostbusters, Scooby-Doo, SpongeBob SquarePants, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. This line includes a Pop! Vinyl figure alongside a stylized version of a landmark building from the source material.


title: Funko

text: Other Funko products currently on the market include a variety of collectible toy lines such as Vinyl Soda, Vinyl Gold, Mystery Minis, Popsies, Ad Icons and stuffed Plushies made to resemble their stylized array of toys. Funko also owns Loungefly, a line of collectible mini-bags and purses that feature popular characters and designs from franchises as diverse as Harry Potter, Hello Kitty and even Disney princesses, the latter of which are sold at official Disney stores and parks.


title: Funko

text: Funko product lines of the past that have since been discontinued or are no longer in production include Dorbz, VYNL, Rock Candy, Hikari, Spastik Plastik, Blox, FunkoVision, Funko Force, ReAction Figures Wacky Wisecracks and Wacky Wobblers.


title: Funko

text: A chase variant is any Funko product within a series that is a rare variation on the original mold, originally at a ratio of 1/36 that has since increased to 1/6. This variance can be as simple as a color change, or as complex as a totally new mold. Common variances include different molds or character poses, a flocked (fuzzy) finish, metallic paint, glitter, and translucence. They are randomly inserted into shipments, and are highly sought after by collectors, often reselling for much higher prices.


title: Funko

text: The Mystery Mini series consists of a group of blind boxes that have a random character within, from a variety of series. Examples of Mystery Mini series themes include "Five Nights at Freddy's", Blizzard Entertainment's "Cute but Deadly", Disney Heroes and Villains, Horror Classics, "", "Steven Universe", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "", and Anime Heroes And Vehicles. The figures are styled differently than the other Funko products. Unlike the other Funko products, there are not usually convention exclusives (the last ones were from 2014), but some stores, such as Hot Topic and FYE, have been known to carry exclusives.


title: Funko

text: Funko has been offering convention exclusive versions of their products at various conventions such as San Diego Comic-Con, Emerald City Comic Con, New York Comic Con, Fan Expo, Star Wars Celebration, and E3. This started in 2006 at the San Diego Comic-Con.


title: Funko

text: In February 2019, Funko acquired award winning board game development studio Forrest-Pruzan Creative, including the design studio imprint Prospero Hall, forming Funko Games. Funko Games has begun publishing strategy games across different licenses, including their flagship game "Funkoverse".


title: Funko

text: Funko has over 1,100 licenses with different companies. Another aspect of their business model is tracking the popularity of a certain item and knowing when to move on to a different character. Funko creates items that appeal to children and adults. This can be noted by their range of figures from Golden Girls to superheroes. Funko comes up with an initial design in 24 hours and can have a product from concept to shelf in 70 days. CCO Mariotti believes that the company's eagerness to gain so many licenses and have a range in products from music icons, video game characters, to action heroes is what has made them succeed.


title: Funko

text: In 2015, Funko and Marvel partnered to launch Marvel Collector Corps, a subscription box service featuring exclusive collectibles, apparel, and accessories. Boxes shipped every two months. It subsequently launched a subscription box service for Star Wars items called Smuggler's Bounty, a DC subscription box called Legion of Collectors, and a Disney subscription box called Disney Treasures. Also, the subscription box known as Loot Crate occasionally contains an exclusive Funko Pop! vinyl figure which aligns with each monthly box theme. Loot Crate has offered an exclusive Funko Pop! figure with its other products as well.


title: Funko

text: , Funko no longer offers these boxes through a subscription. The Collector Corps, which focuses on Marvel collectibles, is now available through Amazon. The Disney Treasures box, which focused on Disney collectibles, was available at Hot Topic, but ended in October 2019. Star Wars Smuggler's Bounty boxes were available through Amazon, but ended in December 2019.


title: Funko

text: A live action/animated hybrid film based on the Funko toys is in development at Warner Animation Group. The film was announced in active development on September 16, 2019, with directors Mark Dindal and Teddy Newton attached to the project. In February 2021, Newton was confirmed to write the screenplay, in addition to his directing duties.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Milk Caps is a children's game played with flat circular cardboard milk caps. Players make a stack of these caps, and take turns to drop a heavier "slammer" object onto it, causing the caps to be disrupted.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Each player keeps any face-up caps and is to restack the face-down caps, repeating the process until none land face-down, at which point the player who collected the most caps wins the game of Milk Caps.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The game is also known as Pogs, under which name it was sold commercially in the 1990s. The name originates from Pog, a brand of juice made from passionfruit, orange, and guava; the use of the juice's caps to play the game preceded the game's commercialization.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The game of milk caps possibly originated in Maui, Hawaii, during the 1920s or 1930s, or possibly with origins in Menko, a Japanese card game very similar to milk caps, which has been in existence since the 17th century. The game of milk caps was played on the Hawaiian island of Maui as early as 1927. There are cap collectors that have caps dating back to the 1940s and 1950s.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: After new packaging made cardboard milk caps obsolete in the 1950s, manufacturers such as Haleakala Dairy and Orchards Hawaii occasionally distributed the caps as promotional items. When Haleakala used the caps to successfully promote the 1971 introduction of their fruit drink POG, it led to a surge in similar promotions and milk-cap collecting. In 1991, Haleakala expanded to the more populated Oahu island, which led to a revival of the game. With this revival, the Pog name began being used generically for the game.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The 1990s revival is credited to Blossom Galbiso, a teacher and guidance counselor who taught at Waialua Elementary School in Oahu. In 1991, Galbiso introduced the game she had played as a little girl to a new generation of students, soon incorporating milk caps into her fifth grade curriculum as a way of teaching math and as a non-violent alternative to other popular schoolyard games, such as dodgeball. The game quickly spread from Oahu's North Shore, and by early 1992, STANPAC Inc., the small Canadian packaging company that had been manufacturing the milk caps distributed by Haleakala Dairy on Maui (the same caps that were collected by Galbiso for her class), was printing millions of milk caps every week for shipment to the Hawaiian island chain. The game soon spread to the mainland, first surfacing in California, Texas, Oregon, and Washington before spreading to the rest of the country. By 1993, the previously obscure game of milk caps, which had almost been forgotten, was played throughout the world.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Milk caps returned to popularity when the World POG Federation and the Canada Games Company reintroduced them under the Pog brand name in the 1990s. The Pog fad soared, and peaked in the mid-1990s. Pogs were being handed out for opening bank accounts and in McDonald's Happy Meals. With the end of the Pogs fad, Canada Games went out of business in 1997.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Seven other companies entered the milk cap field after a comic book and card industry convention in January 1993. SkyBox International and Marvel added the product to their lines under the names SkyCaps and Hero Caps respectively. The game had spread to California, Florida and Texas.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The term Pog was claimed as trademark by the World Pog Federation while other companies claimed it was a generic term as it was selected by the children that played the game. In October 1994, a lawsuit was settled between World Pog and Universal Pogs Association. Pog was recognized as World Pog's exclusive term and Universal Pogs changed its name to Universal Slammers, Inc.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Because many children would keep the milk caps they won in games from other players, many school districts considered milk caps a form of gambling. Milk caps proved to be major distractions from classes and the source of various playground arguments. These elements eventually led to the banning of milk caps from various schools across North America. Other bannings occurred across Australia and Sweden.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Milk caps generally involves two types of playing discs: milk caps and slammers. Milk caps are typically flat circular cardboard discs which are decorated with images on one or both sides. Traditional (or traditional-style) milk caps are made of rougher cardboard, are printed with limited colors, and often have a staple in them (as they appeared when used as actual POG bottlecaps), while modern commercial pogs were stiffer, thicker and are often printed with colorful glossy imagery.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The other equipment that is used is a slammer: a heavier game piece often made of metal, rubber, or more commonly plastic, which come in various thicknesses and weights. They are typically similar in diameter to milk caps. Metal slammers are not allowed in some games because they are usually heavier than other materials, giving the player with the first turn an unfair advantage, and have a tendency to damage the milk caps.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Rules vary among players, but the game variants generally have common gameplay features. Each player has their own collection of milk caps and one or more slammers. Before the game, players decide whether or not to play "for keeps", i.e. players get to keep the milk caps that they win during the game and must forfeit those that have been won by other players. The game can then begin as follows:


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The World POG Federation was the licensed POG publisher, which was 14% owned by Haleakala Dairy, the trademark holder of POGs. The company was based in Costa Mesa, California.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: Menko (めんこ, 面子) is a Japanese card game played by two or more players, dating back to the 17th century. Each player uses Menko cards made from thick paper or cardboard, printed on one or both sides with images from anime, manga, and other works.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: It is known in China as "wáah pín" (Pinyin: "huà piàn", ) (also called "yang pian" in northern China) and is printed on rectangular or circular cards.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: A similar game in the Philippines played by children is known as "teks". It involves small collectible cards, originally of popular actors, and then later on of popular comics and cartoon characters. It dates back to the 1930s and involves flipping cards with a thumb and forefinger. The winner is whichever card lands face up. The loser has to give one of his collectible cards to the winner.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: "Patacó" is a traditional card game played by children in Catalonia in which the "patacons" are turned upside down, hit with the palm of the hand and, if they turn around, they win.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The PogChamp emote originates from a video titled "Pogs Championship" in which Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez wins a game of Pogs.


title: Milk caps (game)

text: The Korean survival drama Netflix series, "Squid Game", features a Korean variant of the game called ddakji. It is played during the initial challenge between Gong Yoo's salesperson character and the protagonist, Seong Gi-Hun, played by Lee Jung-Jae.


title: Darvin Ham

text: Darvin Ham Sr. (born July 23, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Texas Tech Red Raiders before playing eight seasons in the NBA from 1996 to 2005. He won an NBA championship playing with the Detroit Pistons in 2004. Ham also had a brief international experience in Spain and later in the Philippines, as well as in the NBA Development League in 2007 and 2008.


title: Darvin Ham

text: After attending Saginaw High School, Ham went to Texas Tech University in 1993. While playing for the Red Raiders, he gained national attention by shattering the backboard on a slam dunk during the 1996 NCAA Tournament against UNC. The dunk shifted momentum for Texas Tech, catapulting them to the first Sweet Sixteen in school history. The dunk was featured on the cover of "Sports Illustrated".


title: Darvin Ham

text: Ham won the NCAA slam dunk contest in 1996, following former college teammate Lance Hughes' win in 1995. In his 90-game college career, he averaged 8.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 1.5 turnovers in 22.9 minutes, on top of .597 FG and .498 FT shooting.


title: Darvin Ham

text: Ham was signed by the Denver Nuggets as a free agent on October 1, 1996. He was then traded by Denver to the Indiana Pacers for Jerome Allen in February 1997. Ham then signed as free agent with the Washington Wizards (1997), Milwaukee Bucks (1999), Atlanta Hawks (2002) and Detroit Pistons (2003). In his eight-season 417-game NBA career, he averaged 2.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.8 fouls in 12.4 minutes, on top of .518 FG shooting, though he was not an outside threat, making only 4 3-point field goals in his career.


title: Darvin Ham

text: Ham competed in the 1997 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, and was a member of the 2004 NBA champion Detroit Pistons. His powerful slams earned him the nicknames "Dunkin Darvin" and "Ham Slamwich", as a fan favorite when playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, that carried on into the rest of his career. In his first postseason in Milwaukee, Ham started all five games of the Bucks’ 3-2 first round loss to the eventual Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers, while averaging 5 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks per game. During his time in Milwaukee, Ham became the namesake of the "Hammer play", now a widespread NBA offensive concept.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In 2005, Ham was a participant in the Basketball Without Borders program that was located in Johannesburg, South Africa and later in 2015 he participated in the Dominican Republic.


title: Darvin Ham

text: On January 17, 2006, Ham was enlisted by the Philippine Basketball Association team Talk 'N Text Phone Pals as its replacement import for Damian Cantrell. He only played three games, averaging 16.7 points in the 2006 PBA Fiesta Conference Playoffs, as the Phone Pals eventually lost to Air21 Express in the series, 2–3.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In 2006, Ham served as a studio analyst for Fox Sports Southwest's coverage of the Dallas Mavericks' playoff run. He then became a member of the Orlando Magic summer league team in the Pepsi Pro Summer League from July 10–14, 2006. Ham later on appeared in the 2006 preseason with the New Jersey Nets.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In 2007, Ham had a preseason stint with the Mavericks but was waived on October 24, 2007. He was then drafted third overall in the 2007 NBA D-League draft by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds. On April 4, 2008, the Thunderbirds traded Ham to the Austin Toros.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In October 2008, Ham was named an assistant coach for the Thunderbirds. He later served as their head coach. In October 2011, he became an assistant coach on Mike Brown's staff with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he worked with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Dwight Howard in a player development role.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In June 2011, Ham traveled to Venezuela as a SportsUnited Sports Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, he worked with Kayte Christensen to conduct basketball clinics for 300 youth from underserved areas and met with Venezuelan sports officials. In so doing, Ham helped contribute to SportsUnited's mission to promote greater international understanding and inclusion through sport. He then followed up on these efforts and conducted a second set of clinics for more than 200 youth in Myanmar. This was the first State Department-sponsored sports exchange with Myanmar.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In 2013, he joined the Atlanta Hawks' coaching staff. He helped the Hawks reach the playoffs in four consecutive seasons including making it to the Eastern Conference finals in 2015. In 2014 and 2015, Ham was part of the coaching staff that led the Atlanta Hawks to a divisional title and the number 1 seed in the 2015 Eastern Conference Playoffs. Along with his help in bringing Atlanta to the playoffs, he also assisted four of their starting five into becoming 2015 NBA All-Stars.


title: Darvin Ham

text: In 2018, he followed Mike Budenholzer to Milwaukee, where during the 2018–2019 season, Budenholzer won the NBA's Coach of the Year award. Ham helped lead the team to its best record since 1972. In 2020–21, Ham helped coach Milwaukee to its second NBA title in franchise history, beating the Phoenix Suns in six games in the 2021 NBA Finals for their the first championship since 1971.


title: Darvin Ham

text: His son, Darvin Ham Jr., played for Northwood University, and was an assistant coach at Northwood for 4 years, through the 2021–22 season. As of the 2022–23 season, Ham Jr. is an assistant coach for the Cleveland Charge of the NBA G League.


title: Darvin Ham

text: Ham is a Christian. Ham has said, “First of all, I want to thank God. Coming from where I come from, I was raised in a household with strong, spiritual faith, belief in God and his Son Jesus Christ, so I want to start with that. Everything I’ve been able to overcome in my life, along with the people around me, it's been that spirit that was instilled in me as a youngster.”


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Peter Douglas Molyneux (; born 5 May 1959) is an English video game designer and programmer. He created the god games "Populous", "Dungeon Keeper", and "Black & White", as well as "Theme Park", the "Fable" series, "", and "Godus". He currently works at 22cans.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Peter Molyneux began his career in 1982 by distributing and selling floppy disks which contained video games for Atari and the Commodore 64. He believed that including games on the disks would improve sales, and later concluded that the games were the main selling point.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: He created "The Entrepreneur", a text-based business simulation game about running a fledgling company. "In those days you could literally call a game 'Space Blob Attacks Mars' and sell about 50 million copies. So what did I do? I did a business simulation", Molyneux later said. Molyneux published the game himself in 1984 by duplicating hundreds of tapes on two Tandy Corporation recorders. After taking an advertising space in a game magazine, he prepared for the game's success; he later stated in an interview, "I was utterly convinced that this game would sell tons. I thought, 'You know, this letter box is just not big enough. It's just not going to fit all the envelopes.' So I cut – and this is no joke – I cut a bigger letter box". However, the game received only two orders, one of which Molyneux speculated was from his mother. In 2007, a GameSpy reviewer commented that the economic gameplay mechanics in Molyneux's "Fable II" may have been a descendant of "The Entrepreneur", stating, "I'm a little concerned that it's Molyneux sneaking in a remix of his first game, "Entrepreneur"".


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Due to the game's failure, Molyneux retreated from game design, and started Taurus Impex Limited—a company that exported baked beans to the Middle East—with his business partner Les Edgar. Commodore International mistook it for "Torus", a more established company that produced networking software, and offered to provide Molyneux with ten free Amiga systems to help in porting "his" networking software. Molyneux later said "it suddenly dawned on me that this guy didn't know who we were. I suddenly had this crisis of conscience. I thought, 'If this guy finds out, there go my free computers down the drain.' So I just shook his hand and ran out of that office." Taurus designed a database system for the Amiga called "Acquisition – The Ultimate Database for The Amiga" and, after clearing up the misunderstanding with Commodore, released the program to moderate success.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Using money earned from the database program, Molyneux and Les Edgar founded Bullfrog Productions in 1987. The company's first game was a conversion of "Druid II: Enlightenment". Molyneux recalled, "I got in touch with a software company called Firebird and told them that I could program games. Of course I was bull-shitting, but they gave me "Druid 2" to convert to the Amiga. You're very unlikely to get that kind of break today." Molyneux provided the original concept for "Populous", the first god game for the personal computer. Released in 1989, "Populous" was a major success for Bullfrog and went on to sell over 4 million copies.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Electronic Arts (EA), Bullfrog's publisher, acquired the studio in January 1995. Molyneux had become an Electronic Arts vice-president and consultant in 1994, after EA purchased a significant share of Bullfrog.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Molyneux left Bullfrog in July 1997 to found Lionhead Studios, shortly after the release of "Dungeon Keeper". According to Molyneux, his choice to leave the company was a result of a chain of events from a night of drinking with his friend Tim Rance (who would later co-found Lionhead) around 1997. Molyneux had already been contemplating his departure (in 1996 the gaming news media reported "rumors" that he was unhappy at EA and would be leaving once "Dungeon Keeper" was completed), and, while discussing this with Rance, Rance suggested he write out his resignation letter to EA. Molyneux typed out an email to EA's CEO Larry Probst, and before Molyneux could stop him, Rance had sent the email. Though he quickly explained the situation to EA, the event caused tension in his relationship with EA, with EA asking him not to come into the office any more; according to Molyneux, EA feared that he would pull many of the other developers at Bullfrog along with him should he be present. EA threatened to pull support for "Dungeon Keeper", which was still in progress, but Molyneux insisted they allow him to complete it, most which he did from his own home. A significant innovation of the game was its unique combination of first- and third-person perspectives, in the ability to "possess" any one of the creatures (or "minions") in the game world, yielding a first-person experience reproducing the physical characteristics, visual perspective, gait, and voice of the minion.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Bullfrog continued to develop games through 2001, and in 2004 EA merged Bullfrog Productions into EA UK.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Molyneux came up with the concept for Lionhead's first game, "Black & White", and convinced his small staff to take on the task in late 1997. He paid the $6 million in development costs himself. Despite his acrimonious departure from Electronic Arts, he opted to give them the publishing rights, explaining that EA were more reliable and had better worldwide distribution than any other publisher. After three years, in 2001, the game was finally released.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: In April 2006, Lionhead Studios was acquired by Microsoft Game Studios. At E3 2006, Peter Molyneux gave several interviews in the press, in one of which he stated that "I think you're going to see a lot more fantastic games from Lionhead because of that relationship [with Microsoft]." On 4 June 2009, he was promoted to Creative Director of Microsoft Game Studios, Europe, although he continued to produce video games with Lionhead Studios.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: On 7 March 2012, Molyneux announced that he would be leaving Lionhead and Microsoft—after the completion of ""—to begin work at a company founded by former Lionhead Studios CTO Tim Rance called 22cans.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: To date, 22cans has sold early access on multiple titles including "Godus", "Godus Wars", and "The Trail". As yet, despite years of quoted development and a large Kickstarter for Godus, no projects have left early access.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: As one of the industry's leading and best-known figures, Molyneux has appeared on many television shows and video gaming news discussion or documentaries. He has been repeatedly interviewed for shows that include "GamesMaster", "Games Wars", "Gamezville", "Bad Influence!", "Gamer.tv", and "Games World". He also made an appearance in the Scottish web series "Consolevania". More recently, Molyneux was featured within an episode of Godus alongside The Yogscast.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: An episode of G4's games retrospective series "Icons" was devoted to him, during its third season. More recently, a comprehensive two part interview was filmed of him during the 2006 Brighton Games Developer Conference by leading UK website Eurogamer. He was also featured in the fourth episode of the Discovery Channel mini-series "Rise of the Video Game" alongside Will Wright and Sid Meier, fellow developers of simulation titles. Molyneux was accredited in the "Top Ten Game Creators" Countdown by GameTrailers. He has given keynote addresses and spoke extensively at worldwide conferences, including Games Convention, Games Convention Asia, Develop, and the Game Developers Conference.


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Despite the success of his games, both critical and financial, Molyneux has acquired a reputation for issuing over-enthusiastic descriptions of games under development, which then struggle to meet expectations. This goes back to "Black & White", though the most well-known case of this was with "Fable", released in 2004 without many of the features talked about by Molyneux in press interviews during development. After the release, Molyneux publicly apologized for overhyping the game. In February 2014, he was quoted as being "ashamed of the final product "Fable 3" and I never want to work with Microsoft again." In February 2015, Peter Molyneux stated during interviews in gaming blog "Rock, Paper, Shotgun" and British newspaper "The Guardian" that he will "never speak to the press again", after being personally attacked for not fulfilling all game promises, which ended in Molyneux announcing that he will not conduct further interviews. At the same time, gamers and game developer veterans began to question the intentions of those publications, such as Tim Schafer calling it "out of proportion" and a media hunt, saying "I'm not saying that developers like Peter and I shouldn't be responsible and accountable to deadlines. I'm just saying the reaction to recent events and the tone of that reaction is really way out of proportion to the seriousness of the events themselves." Molyneux announced a new game in April 2017 titled "The Legacy" that is in pre-production state and supposed to be "very different".


title: Peter Molyneux

text: Molyneux received an honorary doctorate from Abertay University in 2003. He was inducted into the AIAS Hall of Fame in 2004 and was honoured with an OBE in the New Year's Honors list announced on 31 December 2004. He was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government in March 2007. In July 2007, he was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Southampton and that same year an honorary doctorate by the University of Surrey. In March 2011, he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Game Developers Choice Awards and has received a BAFTA Fellowship at the 2011 British Academy Video Games Awards.