title: Illinois

text: Illinois has a climate that varies widely throughout the year. Because of its nearly 400-mile distance between its northernmost and southernmost extremes, as well as its mid-continental situation, most of Illinois has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfa"), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southern part of the state, from about Carbondale southward, has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen "Cfa"), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois varies from just over at the southern tip to around in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds in the Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than . The all-time high temperature was , recorded on July 14, 1954, at East St. Louis, and the all-time low temperature was , recorded on January 31, 2019, during the January 2019 North American cold wave at a weather station near Mount Carroll, and confirmed on March 5, 2019. This followed the previous record of recorded on January 5, 1999, near Congerville. Prior to the Mount Carroll record, a temperature of was recorded on January 15, 2009, at Rochelle, but at a weather station not subjected to the same quality control as official records.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois averages approximately 51 days of thunderstorm activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes, with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per annually. While tornadoes are no more powerful in Illinois than other states, some of Tornado Alley's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in the state. The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois.


title: Illinois

text: The United States Census Bureau found that the population of Illinois was 12,812,508 in the 2020 United States census, moving from the fifth-largest state to the sixth-largest state (losing out to Pennsylvania). Illinois' population slightly declined in 2020 from the 2010 United States census by just over 18,000 residents and the overall population was quite higher than recent census estimates.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is the most populous state in the Midwest region. Chicago, the third-most populous city in the United States, is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area or Chicagoland, as this area is nicknamed. Although Chicagoland comprises only 9% of the land area of the state, it contains 65% of the state's residents. The losses of population anticipated from the 2020 census results do not arise from the Chicago metro area; rather the declines are from the Downstate counties.


title: Illinois

text: According to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, Illinois's population was 71.4% White (60.7% Non-Hispanic White), 5.6% Asian, 0.2% Some Other Race, 13.9% Black or African American, 0.1% Native Americans and Alaskan Native, 0.1% Pacific Islander and 2.0% from two or more races. The White population continues to remain the largest racial category in Illinois as Hispanics primarily identify as White (61.1%) with others identifying as Some Other Race (32.0%), Multiracial (4.3%), Black (1.4%), American Indian and Alaskan Native (0.2%), Asian (0.1%), and Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (0.1%). By ethnicity, 17.5% of the total population is Hispanic-Latino (of any race) and 82.5% is Non-Hispanic (of any race). If treated as a separate category, Hispanics are the largest minority group in Illinois.


title: Illinois

text: The state's most populous ethnic group, non-Hispanic white, has declined from 83.5% in 1970 to 60.90% in 2018. , 49.4% of Illinois's population younger than age 1 were minorities (Note: Children born to white Hispanics or to a sole full or partial minority parent are counted as minorities).


title: Illinois

text: At the 2007 estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 1,768,518 foreign-born inhabitants of the state or 13.8% of the population, with 48.4% from Latin America, 24.6% from Asia, 22.8% from Europe, 2.9% from Africa, 1.2% from Canada, and 0.2% from Oceania. Of the foreign-born population, 43.7% were naturalized U.S. citizens, and 56.3% were not U.S. citizens. In 2007, 6.9% of Illinois's population was reported as being under age 5, 24.9% under age 18 and 12.1% were age 65 and over. Females made up approximately 50.7% of the population.


title: Illinois

text: According to the 2007 estimates, 21.1% of the population had German ancestry, 13.3% had Irish ancestry, 8% had British ancestry, 7.9% had Polish ancestry, 6.4% had Italian ancestry, 4.6% listed themselves as American, 2.4% had Swedish ancestry, 2.2% had French ancestry, other than Basque, 1.6% had Dutch ancestry, and 1.4% had Norwegian ancestry. Illinois also has large numbers of African Americans and Latinos (mostly Mexicans and Puerto Ricans).


title: Illinois

text: Chicago, along the shores of Lake Michigan, is the nation's third largest city. In 2000, 23.3% of Illinois's population lived in the city of Chicago, 43.3% in Cook County, and 65.6% in the counties of the Chicago metropolitan area: Will, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and McHenry counties, as well as Cook County. The remaining population lives in the smaller cities and rural areas that dot the state's plains. As of 2000, the state's center of population was at , located in Grundy County, northeast of the village of Mazon.


title: Illinois

text: Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third-most populous city in the United States, with its 2020 population of 2,746,388. The U.S. Census Bureau currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within Illinois. Based upon the U.S. Census Bureau's official 2010 population: Aurora, a Chicago satellite town that eclipsed Rockford for the title of second-most populous city in Illinois; its 2010 population was 197,899. Rockford, at 152,871, is the third-largest city in the state, and is the largest city in the state not located within the Chicago suburbs. Joliet, located in metropolitan Chicago, is the fourth-largest city in the state, with a population of 147,433. Naperville, a suburb of Chicago, is fifth with 141,853. Naperville and Aurora share a boundary along Illinois Route 59. Springfield, the state's capital, comes in as sixth-most populous with 117,352 residents. Peoria, which decades ago was the second-most populous city in the state, is seventh with 115,007. The eighth-largest and final city in the 100,000 club is Elgin, a northwest suburb of Chicago, with a 2010 population of 108,188.


title: Illinois

text: The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville, with 44,478 people at the 2010 census. It is located in the Illinois portion of Greater St. Louis (often called the Metro-East area), which has a rapidly growing population of over 700,000.


title: Illinois

text: Other major urban areas include the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area, which has a combined population of almost 230,000 people, the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities area with about 215,000 people, and the Bloomington-Normal area with a combined population of over 165,000.


title: Illinois

text: The official language of Illinois is English, although between 1923 and 1969, state law gave official status to "the American language". Nearly 80% of people in Illinois speak English natively, and most of the rest speak it fluently as a second language. A number of dialects of American English are spoken, ranging from Inland Northern American English and African-American English around Chicago, to Midland American English in Central Illinois, to Southern American English in the far south.


title: Illinois

text: Over 20% of Illinoians speak a language other than English at home, of which Spanish is by far the most widespread, at more than 12% of the total population. A sizeable number of Polish speakers is present in the Chicago Metropolitan Area. Illinois Country French has mostly gone extinct in Illinois, although it is still celebrated in the French Colonial Historic District.


title: Illinois

text: Roman Catholics constitute the single largest religious denomination in Illinois; they are heavily concentrated in and around Chicago and account for nearly 30% of the state's population. However, taken together as a group, the various Protestant denominations comprise a greater percentage of the state's population than do Catholics. In 2010, Catholics in Illinois numbered 3,648,907. The largest Protestant denominations were the United Methodist Church with 314,461 members and the Southern Baptist Convention with 283,519. Illinois has one of the largest concentrations of Missouri Synod Lutherans in the United States.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois played an important role in the early Latter Day Saint movement, with Nauvoo becoming a gathering place for Mormons in the early 1840s. Nauvoo was the location of the succession crisis, which led to the separation of the Mormon movement into several Latter Day Saint sects. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of the sects to emerge from the Mormon schism, has more than 55,000 adherents in Illinois today.


title: Illinois

text: A significant number of adherents of other Abrahamic faiths can be found in Illinois. Largely concentrated in the Chicago metropolitan area, followers of the Muslim, Baháʼí, and Jewish religions all call the state home. Muslims constituted the largest non-Christian group, with 359,264 adherents. Illinois has the largest concentration of Muslims by state in the country, with 2,800 Muslims per 100,000 citizens.


title: Illinois

text: The largest and oldest surviving Baháʼí House of Worship in the world is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in Wilmette, Illinois, one of eight continental Baháʼí House of Worship. It serves as a space for people of all backgrounds and religions to gather, meditate, reflect, and pray, expressing the Baháʼí principle of the oneness of religions. The Chicago area has a very large Jewish community, particularly in the suburbs of Skokie, Buffalo Grove, Highland Park, and surrounding suburbs. Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was the Windy City's first Jewish mayor.


title: Illinois

text: The dollar gross state product for Illinois was estimated to be  billion in 2019. The state's 2019 per capita gross state product was estimated to be around $72,000.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois's minimum wage will rise to $15 per hour by 2025, making it one of the highest in the nation.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois's major agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy products, and wheat. In most years, Illinois is either the first or second state for the highest production of soybeans, with a harvest of 427.7 million bushels (11.64 million metric tons) in 2008, after Iowa's production of 444.82 million bushels (12.11 million metric tons). Illinois ranks second in U.S. corn production with more than 1.5 billion bushels produced annually. With a production capacity of 1.5 billion gallons per year, Illinois is a top producer of ethanol, ranking third in the United States in 2011. Illinois is a leader in food manufacturing and meat processing. Although Chicago may no longer be "Hog Butcher for the World", the Chicago area remains a global center for food manufacture and meat processing, with many plants, processing houses, and distribution facilities concentrated in the area of the former Union Stock Yards. Illinois also produces wine, and the state is home to two American viticultural areas. In the area of The Meeting of the Great Rivers Scenic Byway, peaches and apples are grown. The German immigrants from agricultural backgrounds who settled in Illinois in the mid- to late 19th century are in part responsible for the profusion of fruit orchards in that area of Illinois. Illinois's universities are actively researching alternative agricultural products as alternative crops.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is one of the nation's manufacturing leaders, boasting annual value added productivity by manufacturing of over $107 billion in 2006. , Illinois is ranked as the 4th-most productive manufacturing state in the country, behind California, Texas, and Ohio. About three-quarters of the state's manufacturers are located in the Northeastern Opportunity Return Region, with 38 percent of Illinois's approximately 18,900 manufacturing plants located in Cook County. As of 2006, the leading manufacturing industries in Illinois, based upon value-added, were chemical manufacturing ($18.3 billion), machinery manufacturing ($13.4 billion), food manufacturing ($12.9 billion), fabricated metal products ($11.5 billion), transportation equipment ($7.4 billion), plastics and rubber products ($7.0 billion), and computer and electronic products ($6.1 billion).


title: Illinois

text: By the early 2000s, Illinois's economy had moved toward a dependence on high-value-added services, such as financial trading, higher education, law, logistics, and medicine. In some cases, these services clustered around institutions that hearkened back to Illinois's earlier economies. For example, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, a trading exchange for global derivatives, had begun its life as an agricultural futures market. Other important non-manufacturing industries include publishing, tourism, and energy production and distribution.


title: Illinois

text: Venture capitalists funded a total of approximately $62 billion in the U.S. economy in 2016. Of this amount, Illinois-based companies received approximately $1.1 billion. Similarly, in FY 2016, the federal government spent $461 billion on contracts in the U.S. Of this amount, Illinois-based companies received approximately $8.7 billion.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is a net importer of fuels for energy, despite large coal resources and some minor oil production. Illinois exports electricity, ranking fifth among states in electricity production and seventh in electricity consumption.


title: Illinois

text: The coal industry of Illinois has its origins in the middle 19th century, when entrepreneurs such as Jacob Loose discovered coal in locations such as Sangamon County. Jacob Bunn contributed to the development of the Illinois coal industry, and was a founder and owner of the Western Coal & Mining Company of Illinois. About 68% of Illinois has coal-bearing strata of the Pennsylvanian geologic period. According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, 211 billion tons of bituminous coal are estimated to lie under the surface, having a total heating value greater than the estimated oil deposits in the Arabian Peninsula. However, this coal has a high sulfur content, which causes acid rain, unless special equipment is used to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions. Many Illinois power plants are not equipped to burn high-sulfur coal. In 1999, Illinois produced 40.4 million tons of coal, but only 17 million tons (42%) of Illinois coal was consumed in Illinois. Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states and countries. In 2008, Illinois exported three million tons of coal, and was projected to export nine million in 2011, as demand for energy grows in places such as China, India, and elsewhere in Asia and Europe. , Illinois was ranked third in recoverable coal reserves at producing mines in the nation. Most of the coal produced in Illinois is exported to other states, while much of the coal burned for power in Illinois (21 million tons in 1998) is mined in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.


title: Illinois

text: Mattoon was chosen as the site for the Department of Energy's FutureGen project, a 275-megawatt experimental zero emission coal-burning power plant that the DOE just gave a second round of funding. In 2010, after a number of setbacks, the city of Mattoon backed out of the project.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is a leading refiner of petroleum in the American Midwest, with a combined crude oil distillation capacity of nearly . However, Illinois has very limited crude oil proved reserves that account for less than 1% of the U.S. total reserves. Residential heating is 81% natural gas compared to less than 1% heating oil. Illinois is ranked 14th in oil production among states, with a daily output of approximately in 2005.


title: Illinois

text: Nuclear power arguably began in Illinois with the Chicago Pile-1, the world's first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in the world's first nuclear reactor, built on the University of Chicago campus. There are six operating nuclear power plants in Illinois: Braidwood, Byron, Clinton, Dresden, LaSalle, and Quad Cities. With the exception of the single-unit Clinton plant, each of these facilities has two reactors. Three reactors have been permanently shut down and are in various stages of decommissioning: Dresden-1 and Zion-1 and 2. Illinois ranked first in the nation in 2010 in both nuclear capacity and nuclear generation. Generation from its nuclear power plants accounted for 12 percent of the nation's total. In 2007, 48% of Illinois's electricity was generated using nuclear power. The Morris Operation is the only de facto high-level radioactive waste storage site in the United States.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois has seen growing interest in the use of wind power for electrical generation. Most of Illinois was rated in 2009 as "marginal or fair" for wind energy production by the U.S. Department of Energy, with some western sections rated "good" and parts of the south rated "poor". These ratings are for wind turbines with hub heights; newer wind turbines are taller, enabling them to reach stronger winds farther from the ground. As a result, more areas of Illinois have become prospective wind farm sites. As of September 2009, Illinois had 1116.06 MW of installed wind power nameplate capacity with another 741.9 MW under construction. Illinois ranked ninth among U.S. states in installed wind power capacity, and sixteenth by potential capacity. Large wind farms in Illinois include Twin Groves, Rail Splitter, EcoGrove, and Mendota Hills.


title: Illinois

text: As of 2007, wind energy represented only 1.7% of Illinois's energy production, and it was estimated that wind power could provide 5–10% of the state's energy needs. Also, the Illinois General Assembly mandated in 2007 that by 2025, 25% of all electricity generated in Illinois is to come from renewable resources.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is ranked second in corn production among U.S. states, and Illinois corn is used to produce 40% of the ethanol consumed in the United States. The Archer Daniels Midland corporation in Decatur, Illinois, is the world's leading producer of ethanol from corn.


title: Illinois

text: The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC), the world's only facility dedicated to researching the ways and means of converting corn (maize) to ethanol is located on the campus of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.


title: Illinois

text: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is one of the partners in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI), a $500 million biofuels research project funded by petroleum giant BP.


title: Illinois

text: Tax is collected by the Illinois Department of Revenue. State income tax is calculated by multiplying net income by a flat rate. In 1990, that rate was set at 3%, but in 2010, the General Assembly voted for a temporary increase in the rate to 5%; the new rate went into effect on January 1, 2011; the personal income rate partially sunset on January 1, 2015, to 3.75%, while the corporate income tax fell to 5.25%. Illinois failed to pass a budget from 2015 to 2017, after the 736-day budget impasse, a budget was passed in Illinois after lawmakers overturned Governor Bruce Rauner's veto; this budget raised the personal income rate to 4.95% and the corporate rate to 7%. There are two rates for state sales tax: 6.25% for general merchandise and 1% for qualifying food, drugs, and medical appliances. The property tax is a major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts. The property tax is a local—not state—tax, imposed by local government taxing districts, which include counties, townships, municipalities, school districts, and special taxation districts. The property tax in Illinois is imposed only on real property.


title: Illinois

text: On May 1, 2019, the Illinois Senate voted to approve a constitutional amendment that would have stricken language from the Illinois Constitution requiring a flat state income tax, in a 73–44 vote. If approved, the amendment would have allowed the state legislature to impose a graduated income tax based on annual income. The governor, J.B. Pritzker, approved the bill on May 27, 2019. It was scheduled for a 2020 general election ballot vote and required 60 percent voter approval to effectively amend the state constitution. The amendment was not approved by Illinoisans, with 55.1% of voters voting "No" on approval and 44.9% voting "Yes."


title: Illinois

text: As of 2017 Chicago had the highest state and local sales tax rate for a U.S. city with a populations above 200,000, at 10.250%. The state of Illinois has the second highest rate of real estate tax: 2.31%, which is second only to New Jersey at 2.44%.


title: Illinois

text: Toll roads are a "de facto" user tax on the citizens and visitors to the state of Illinois. Illinois ranks seventh out of the 11 states with the most miles of toll roads, at 282.1 miles. Chicago ranks fourth in most expensive toll roads in America by the mile, with the Chicago Skyway charging 51.2 cents per mile. Illinois also has the 11th highest gasoline tax by state, at 37.5 cents per gallon.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois has numerous museums; the greatest concentration of these are in Chicago. Several museums in Chicago are ranked as some of the best in the world. These include the John G. Shedd Aquarium, the Field Museum of Natural History, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry.


title: Illinois

text: The modern Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield is the largest and most attended presidential library in the country. The Illinois State Museum boasts a collection of 13.5 million objects that tell the story of Illinois life, land, people, and art. The ISM is among only 5% of the nation's museums that are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums. Other historical museums in the state include the Polish Museum of America in Chicago; Magnolia Manor in Cairo; Easley Pioneer Museum in Ipava; the Elihu Benjamin Washburne; Ulysses S. Grant Homes, both in Galena; and the Chanute Air Museum, located on the former Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul.


title: Illinois

text: The Chicago metropolitan area also hosts two zoos: The Brookfield Zoo, located about ten miles west of the city center in suburban Brookfield, contains more than 2,300 animals and covers . The Lincoln Park Zoo is located in Lincoln Park on Chicago's North Side, approximately north of the Loop. The zoo accounts for more than of the park.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is a leader in music education, having hosted the Midwest Clinic International Band and Orchestra Conference since 1946, as well being home to the Illinois Music Educators Association (ILMEA, formerly IMEA), one of the largest professional music educator's organizations in the country. Each summer since 2004, Southern Illinois University Carbondale has played host to the Southern Illinois Music Festival, which presents dozens of performances throughout the region. Past featured artists include the Eroica Trio and violinist David Kim.


title: Illinois

text: Chicago, in the northeast corner of the state, is a major center for music in the midwestern United States where distinctive forms of blues (greatly responsible for the future creation of rock and roll), and house music, a genre of electronic dance music, were developed.


title: Illinois

text: The Great Migration of poor black workers from the South into the industrial cities brought traditional jazz and blues music to the city, resulting in Chicago blues and "Chicago-style" Dixieland jazz. Notable blues artists included Muddy Waters, Junior Wells, Howlin' Wolf and both Sonny Boy Williamsons; jazz greats included Nat King Cole, Gene Ammons, Benny Goodman, and Bud Freeman. Chicago is also well known for its soul music.


title: Illinois

text: In the early 1930s, Gospel music began to gain popularity in Chicago due to Thomas A. Dorsey's contributions at Pilgrim Baptist Church.


title: Illinois

text: In the 1980s and 1990s, heavy rock, punk, and hip hop also became popular in Chicago. Orchestras in Chicago include the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Chicago Sinfonietta.


title: Illinois

text: John Hughes, who moved from Grosse Pointe to Northbrook, based many films of his in Chicago, and its suburbs. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Home Alone, The Breakfast Club, and all his films take place in the fictional Shermer, Illinois (the original name of Northbrook was Shermerville, and Hughes's High School, Glenbrook North High School, is on Shermer Road). Most locations in his films include Glenbrook North, the former Maine North High School, the Ben Rose House in Highland Park, and the famous Home Alone house in Winnetka, Illinois.


title: Illinois

text: As one of the United States' major metropolises, all major sports leagues have teams headquartered in Chicago.


title: Illinois

text: The state features 13 athletic programs that compete in NCAA Division I, the highest level of U.S. college sports.


title: Illinois

text: The two most prominent are the Illinois Fighting Illini and Northwestern Wildcats, both members of the Big Ten Conference and the only ones competing in one of the so-called "Power Five conferences". The Fighting Illini football team has won five national championships and three Rose Bowl Games, whereas the men's basketball team has won 17 conference seasons and played five Final Fours. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have won eight football conference championships and one Rose Bowl Game.


title: Illinois

text: The Northern Illinois Huskies from DeKalb, Illinois compete in the Mid-American Conference winning four conference championships and earning a bid in the Orange Bowl along with producing Heisman candidate Jordan Lynch at quarterback. The Huskies are the state's only other team competing in the Football Bowl Subdivision, the top level of NCAA football.


title: Illinois

text: Four schools have football programs that compete in the second level of Division I football, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). The Illinois State Redbirds (Normal, adjacent to Bloomington) and Southern Illinois Salukis (representing Southern Illinois University's main campus in Carbondale) are members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) for non-football sports and the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC). The Western Illinois Leathernecks (Macomb) are full members of the Summit League, which does not sponsor football, and also compete in the MVFC. The Eastern Illinois Panthers (Charleston) are members of the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC).


title: Illinois

text: The city of Chicago is home to four Division I programs that do not sponsor football. The DePaul Blue Demons, with main campuses in Lincoln Park and the Loop, are members of the Big East Conference. The Loyola Ramblers, with their main campus straddling the Edgewater and Rogers Park community areas on the city's far north side, compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The UIC Flames, from the Near West Side next to the Loop, are in the MVC. The Chicago State Cougars, from the city's south side, are one of only two all-sports independents in Division I after leaving the Western Athletic Conference in 2022.


title: Illinois

text: Finally, two non-football Division I programs are located downstate. The Bradley Braves (Peoria) are MVC members, and the SIU Edwardsville Cougars (in the Metro East region across the Mississippi River from St. Louis) compete in the OVC.


title: Illinois

text: The city was formerly home to several other teams that either failed to survive or belonged to leagues that folded.


title: Illinois

text: The NFL's Arizona Cardinals, who currently play in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona, played in Chicago as the Chicago Cardinals, until moving to St. Louis, Missouri after the 1959 season. An NBA expansion team known as the Chicago Packers in 1961–1962, and as the Chicago Zephyrs the following year, moved to Baltimore after the 1962–1963 season. The franchise is now known as the Washington Wizards.


title: Illinois

text: The Peoria Chiefs are a High-A minor league baseball team affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. The Schaumburg Boomers, Southern Illinois Miners, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers and Windy City ThunderBolts all belong to the independent Frontier League. Additionally, the Kane County Cougars play in the American Association and the Lake County Fielders were members of the former North American League.


title: Illinois

text: In addition to the Chicago Wolves, the AHL also has the Rockford IceHogs serving as the AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks. The second incarnation of the Peoria Rivermen plays in the SPHL.


title: Illinois

text: Motor racing oval tracks at the Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, the Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero and the Gateway International Raceway in Madison, near St. Louis, have hosted NASCAR, CART, and IRL races, whereas the Sports Car Club of America, among other national and regional road racing clubs, have visited the Autobahn Country Club in Joliet, the Blackhawk Farms Raceway in South Beloit and the former Meadowdale International Raceway in Carpentersville. Illinois also has several short tracks and dragstrips. The dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway and the Route 66 Raceway, which sits on the same property as the Chicagoland Speedway, both host NHRA drag races.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois features several golf courses, such as Olympia Fields, Medinah, Midlothian, Cog Hill, and Conway Farms, which have often hosted the BMW Championship, Western Open, and Women's Western Open.


title: Illinois

text: Also, the state has hosted 13 editions of the U.S. Open (latest at Olympia Fields in 2003), six editions of the PGA Championship (latest at Medinah in 2006), three editions of the U.S. Women's Open (latest at The Merit Club), the 2009 Solheim Cup (at Rich Harvest Farms), and the 2012 Ryder Cup (at Medinah).


title: Illinois

text: The John Deere Classic is a regular PGA Tour event played in the Quad Cities since 1971, whereas the Encompass Championship is a Champions Tour event since 2013. Previously, the LPGA State Farm Classic was an LPGA Tour event from 1976 to 2011.


title: Illinois

text: The Illinois state parks system began in 1908 with what is now Fort Massac State Park, becoming the first park in a system encompassing more than 60 parks and about the same number of recreational and wildlife areas.


title: Illinois

text: Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include: the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor near Lockport, the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail, the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail, the American Discovery Trail, and the Pullman National Monument. The federal government also manages the Shawnee National Forest and the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie.


title: Illinois

text: The government of Illinois, under the Constitution of Illinois, has three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is split into several statewide elected offices, with the governor as chief executive. Legislative functions are granted to the Illinois General Assembly. The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court and lower courts.


title: Illinois

text: The Illinois General Assembly is the state legislature, composed of the 118-member Illinois House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois Senate. The members of the General Assembly are elected at the beginning of each even-numbered year. The "Illinois Compiled Statutes" (ILCS) are the codified statutes of a general and permanent nature.


title: Illinois

text: The executive branch is composed of six elected officers and their offices as well as numerous other departments. The six elected officers are: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer. The government of Illinois has numerous departments, agencies, boards and commissions, but the so-called code departments provide most of the state's services.


title: Illinois

text: The Judiciary of Illinois is the unified court system of Illinois. It consists of the Supreme Court, Appellate Court, and Circuit Courts. The Supreme Court oversees the administration of the court system.


title: Illinois

text: The administrative divisions of Illinois are counties, townships, precincts, cities, towns, villages, and special-purpose districts. The basic subdivision of Illinois are the 102 counties. Eighty-five of the 102 counties are in turn divided into townships and precincts. Municipal governments are the cities, villages, and incorporated towns. Some localities possess "home rule", which allows them to govern themselves to a certain extent.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois is a Democratic stronghold. Historically, Illinois was a political swing state, with near-parity existing between the Republican and the Democratic parties. However, in recent elections, the Democratic Party has gained ground, and Illinois has come to be seen as a solid "blue" state in presidential campaigns. Votes from Chicago and most of Cook County have long been strongly Democratic. However, the "collar counties" (the suburbs surrounding Chicago's Cook County, Illinois), can be seen as moderate voting districts. College towns like Carbondale, Champaign, and Normal also lean Democratic.


title: Illinois

text: Republicans continue to prevail in the rural areas of northern and central Illinois, as well as southern Illinois outside of East St. Louis. From 1920 until 1972, Illinois was carried by the victor of each of these 14 presidential elections. In fact, the state was long seen as a national bellwether, supporting the winner in every election in the 20th century, except for 1916 and 1976. By contrast, Illinois has trended more toward the Democratic party, and has voted for their presidential candidates in the last six elections; in 2000, George W. Bush became the first Republican to win the presidency without carrying either Illinois or Vermont. Local politician and Chicago resident Barack Obama easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in 2008, with 61.9% of the vote. In 2010, incumbent governor Pat Quinn was re-elected with 47% of the vote, while Republican Mark Kirk was elected to the Senate with 48% of the vote. In 2012, President Obama easily carried Illinois again, with 58% to Republican candidate Mitt Romney's 41%. In 2014, Republican Bruce Rauner defeated Governor Quinn 50% to 46% to become Illinois's first Republican governor in 12 years after being sworn in on January 12, 2015, while Democratic senator Dick Durbin was re-elected with 53% of the vote. In 2016, Hillary Clinton carried Illinois with 55% of the vote, and Tammy Duckworth defeated incumbent Mark Kirk 54% to 40%. George W. Bush and Donald Trump are the only Republican presidential candidates to win without carrying either Illinois or Vermont. In 2018, Democrat JB Pritzker defeated the incumbent Bruce Rauner for the governorship with 54% of the vote.


title: Illinois

text: Politics in the state have been infamous for highly visible corruption cases, as well as for crusading reformers, such as governors Adlai Stevenson and James R. Thompson. In 2006, former governor George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and bribery, leading to a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence. In 2008, then-Governor Rod Blagojevich was served with a criminal complaint on corruption charges, stemming from allegations that he conspired to sell the vacated Senate seat left by President Barack Obama to the highest bidder. Subsequently, on December 7, 2011, Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for those charges, as well as perjury while testifying during the case, totaling 18 convictions. Blagojevich was impeached and convicted by the legislature, resulting in his removal from office. In the late 20th century, Congressman Dan Rostenkowski was imprisoned for mail fraud; former governor and federal judge Otto Kerner, Jr. was imprisoned for bribery; Secretary of State Paul Powell was investigated and found to have gained great wealth through bribes, and State Auditor of Public Accounts (Comptroller) Orville Hodge was imprisoned for embezzlement. In 1912, William Lorimer, the GOP boss of Chicago, was expelled from the U.S. Senate for bribery and in 1921, Governor Len Small was found to have defrauded the state of a million dollars.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois has shown a strong presence in presidential elections. Three presidents have claimed Illinois as their political base when running for president: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and most recently Barack Obama. Lincoln was born in Kentucky, but he moved to Illinois at age 21. He served in the General Assembly and represented the 7th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives before his election to the presidency in 1860. Ulysses S. Grant was born in Ohio and had a military career that precluded settling down, but on the eve of the Civil War and approaching middle age, he moved to Illinois and thus utilized the state as his home and political base when running for president. Barack Obama was born in Hawaii and made Illinois his home after graduating from law school, and later represented Illinois in the U.S. Senate. He then became president in 2008, running as a candidate from his Illinois base.


title: Illinois

text: Ronald Reagan was born in Illinois, in the city of Tampico, raised in Dixon, Illinois, and educated at Eureka College, outside Peoria. Reagan later moved to California during his young adulthood. He then became an actor, and later became California's Governor before being elected president.


title: Illinois

text: Hillary Clinton was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago and became the first woman to represent a major political party in the general election of the U.S. presidency. Clinton ran from a platform based in New York State.


title: Illinois

text: Eleven African-Americans have served as members of the United States Senate. Of which three have represented Illinois, the most of any single state: Carol Moseley-Braun, Barack Obama, and Roland Burris, who was appointed to replace Obama after his election to the presidency. Moseley-Braun was the first African-American woman to become a U.S. Senator.


title: Illinois

text: Three families from Illinois have played particularly prominent roles in the Democratic Party, gaining both statewide and national fame.


title: Illinois

text: The Stevenson family, initially rooted in central Illinois and later based in the Chicago metropolitan area, has provided four generations of Illinois officeholders.


title: Illinois

text: The Pritzker family is based in Chicago and have played important roles in both the private and the public sectors.


title: Illinois

text: The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) is autonomous of the governor and the state legislature, and administers public education in the state. Local municipalities and their respective school districts operate individual public schools, but the ISBE audits performance of public schools with the Illinois School Report Card. The ISBE also makes recommendations to state leaders concerning education spending and policies.


title: Illinois

text: Education is compulsory for ages 7–17 in Illinois. Schools are commonly, but not exclusively, divided into three tiers of primary and secondary education: elementary school, middle school or junior high school, and high school. District territories are often complex in structure. Many areas in the state are actually located in "two" school districts—one for high school, the other for elementary and middle schools. And such districts do not necessarily share boundaries. A given high school may have several elementary districts that feed into it, yet some of those feeder districts may themselves feed into multiple high school districts.


title: Illinois

text: Using the criterion established by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, there are eleven "National Universities" in the state.


title: Illinois

text: The University of Chicago is continuously ranked as one of the world's top ten universities on various independent university rankings, and its Booth School of Business, along with Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management consistently rank within the top five graduate business schools in the country and top ten globally. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is often ranked among the best engineering schools in the world and in United States.


title: Illinois

text: , six of these rank in the "first tier" among the top 500 National Universities in the nation, as determined by the "U.S. News & World Report" rankings: the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Loyola University Chicago, the Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, University of Illinois Chicago, Illinois State University, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and Northern Illinois University.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois also has more than twenty additional accredited four-year universities, both public and private, and dozens of small liberal arts colleges across the state. Additionally, Illinois supports 49 public community colleges in the Illinois Community College System.


title: Illinois

text: Schools in Illinois are funded primarily by property taxes, based on state assessment of property values, rather than direct state contributions. Scholar Tracy Steffes has described Illinois public education as historically “inequitable,” a system where one of “the wealthiest of states” is “the stingiest in its support for education.” There have been several attempts to reform school funding in Illinois. The most notable attempt came in 1973 with the adoption of the Illinois Resource Equalizer Formula, a measure through which it was hoped funding could be collected and distributed to Illinois schools more equitably. However, opposition from affluent Illinois communities who objected to having to pay for the less well-off school districts (many of them Black majority communities, produced by redlining, white flight, and other “soft” segregation methods) resulted in the formula's abolition in the late 1980s.


title: Illinois

text: Because of its central location and its proximity to the Rust Belt and Grain Belt, Illinois is a national crossroads for air, auto, rail, and truck traffic.


title: Illinois

text: From 1962 until 1998, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport (ORD) was the busiest airport in the world, measured both in terms of total flights and passengers. While it was surpassed by Atlanta's Hartsfield in 1998 (as Chicago splits its air traffic between O'Hare and Midway airports, while Atlanta uses only one airport), with 59.3 million domestic passengers annually, along with 11.4 million international passengers in 2008, O'Hare consistently remains one of the two or three busiest airports globally, and in some years still ranks number one in total flights. It is a major hub for both United Airlines and American Airlines, and a major airport expansion project is currently underway. Midway Airport (MDW), which had been the busiest airport in the world at one point until it was supplanted by O'Hare as the busiest airport in 1962, is now the secondary airport in the Chicago metropolitan area and still ranks as one of the nation's busiest airports. Midway is a major hub for Southwest Airlines and services many other carriers as well. Midway served 17.3 million domestic and international passengers in 2008.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois has an extensive passenger and freight rail transportation network. Chicago is a national Amtrak hub and in-state passengers are served by Amtrak's Illinois Service, featuring the Chicago to Carbondale "Illini" and "Saluki", the Chicago to Quincy "Carl Sandburg" and "Illinois Zephyr", and the Chicago to St. Louis "Lincoln Service". Currently there is trackwork on the Chicago–St. Louis line to bring the maximum speed up to , which would reduce the trip time by an hour and a half. Nearly every North American railway meets at Chicago, making it the largest and most active rail hub in the country. Extensive commuter rail is provided in the city proper and some immediate suburbs by the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system. One of the largest suburban commuter rail system in the United States, operated by Metra, uses existing rail lines to provide direct commuter rail access for hundreds of suburbs to the city and beyond.


title: Illinois

text: In addition to the state's rail lines, the Mississippi River and Illinois River provide major transportation routes for the state's agricultural interests. Lake Michigan gives Illinois access to the Atlantic Ocean by way of the Saint Lawrence Seaway.


title: Illinois

text: The Interstate Highways in Illinois are all segments of the Interstate Highway System that are owned and maintained by the state.


title: Illinois

text: Illinois has the distinction of having the most primary (two-digit) interstates pass through it among all the 50 states with 13. Illinois also ranks third among the fifty states with the most interstate mileage, coming in after California and Texas, which are much bigger states in area.


title: Illinois

text: Major U.S. Interstate highways crossing the state include: Interstate 24 (I-24), I-39, I-41, I-55, I-57, I-64, I-70, I-72, I-74, I-80, I-88, I-90, and I-94.


title: Illinois

text: The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is responsible for maintaining the U.S Highways in Illinois. The system in Illinois consists of 21 primary highways.


title: Illinois

text: Among the U.S. highways that pass through the state, the primary ones are: US 6, US 12, US 14, US 20, US 24, US 30, US 34, US 36, US 40, US 41, US 45, US 50, US 51, US 52, US 54, US 60, US 62, and US 67.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Grand Theft Auto (GTA) is a series of action-adventure games created by David Jones and Mike Dailly. Later titles were developed under the oversight of brothers Dan and Sam Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. It is primarily developed by British development house Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), and published by its parent company, Rockstar Games. The name of the series references the term "grand theft auto", used in the United States for motor vehicle theft.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Gameplay focuses on an open world where the player can complete missions to progress an overall story, as well as engage in various side activities. Most of the gameplay revolves around driving and shooting, with occasional role-playing and stealth elements. The series also has elements of the earlier beat 'em up games from the 16-bit era. The games in the "Grand Theft Auto" series are set in fictional locales modelled after real-life cities, at various points in time from the early 1960s to the 2010s. The original game's map encompassed three cities—Liberty City (based on New York City), San Andreas (based on San Francisco), and Vice City (based on Miami)—but later titles tend to focus on a single setting; usually one of the original three locales, albeit remodelled and significantly expanded. The series centers on different protagonists who attempt to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld, although their motives for doing so vary in each title. The antagonists are commonly characters who have betrayed the protagonist or their organisation, or characters who have the most impact impeding the protagonist's progress. Several film and music veterans have voiced characters in the games, including Ray Liotta, Dennis Hopper, Samuel L. Jackson, William Fichtner, James Woods, Debbie Harry, Axl Rose and Peter Fonda.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: DMA Design began the series in 1997, with the release of the "Grand Theft Auto". , the series consists of seven standalone titles and four expansion packs. The third main title, "Grand Theft Auto III", released in 2001, is considered a landmark game, as it brought the series to a three-dimensional (3D) setting and more immersive experience. Subsequent titles have followed and built upon the concept established in "Grand Theft Auto III", and received significant acclaim. They have influenced other open-world action games, and led to the label "Grand Theft Auto" clone on similar titles.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The series has been critically acclaimed, with all the main 3D entries in the franchise frequently ranked among the greatest and best-selling video games; it has shipped more than 370 million units, making it the fifth-best selling video game franchise. In 2006, "Grand Theft Auto" was featured in a list of British design icons in the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum. In 2013, "The Telegraph" ranked "Grand Theft Auto" among Britain's most successful exports. The series has also been controversial for its adult nature and violent themes.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The "Grand Theft Auto" series is split into separate fictional universes, named after the primary level of graphics capability used in each era. The original "Grand Theft Auto", its expansions and its sequel are considered the "2D universe". "Grand Theft Auto III" and its sequels are considered the "3D universe". "Grand Theft Auto IV", its expansions and "Grand Theft Auto V" are considered the "HD universe". Each universe is considered separate with only brands, place names and background characters shared between them.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto", the first game in the series, was released for Microsoft Windows and MS-DOS in November 1997, ported to the PlayStation in 1998 and the Game Boy Color in 1999. "Grand Theft Auto 2" was released in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, later receiving ports on the PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The PlayStation 2 also featured three instalments of the main series, all of which have been re-released on several platforms; a deal between Take-Two Interactive and Sony Computer Entertainment resulted in their timed exclusivity on the PlayStation 2, before receiving ports to Microsoft Windows and the Xbox. The 2001 title "Grand Theft Auto III" moved away from the two-dimension (2D) graphics used in the first two games to three-dimension (3D) computer graphics "" was published in 2002, and was the first to feature a speaking protagonist, voiced by Ray Liotta. "", released in 2004, introduced various new elements, including character customisation and a large map encompassing three cities and surrounding rural area.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Two main instalments were published for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The 2008 title "Grand Theft Auto IV" focused on realism and detail, removing various customisation features, while adding an online multiplayer mode. "Grand Theft Auto V", published in 2013, featured three playable protagonists. It was released to massive financial success, breaking multiple records. It was later re-released with various enhancements, in 2014 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and in 2015 for Microsoft Windows; versions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S were released in March 2022.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: On 4 February 2022, Rockstar confirmed that development of a new entry in the series was "well underway". In-development footage of the game leaked in September 2022; Rockstar noted that it was "extremely disappointed" by the manner in which the game was first demonstrated, but that it did not anticipate long-term effects on development.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto" has spawned numerous additional games and expansion packs. In 1999, the original game received two expansion packs: "" and "", which, as their names suggest, featured a different setting – a fictional version of London – and new missions and characters. "Grand Theft Auto Advance", released in 2004 exclusively for the Game Boy Advance, featured a top-down perspective, similarly to the first two main games in the series, and the same setting as "Grand Theft Auto III", to which it served as a prequel. Three games were released for the PlayStation Portable: "" in 2005, which is also a prequel to "Grand Theft Auto III"; "" in 2006, which is a prequel to "Vice City"; and "" in 2009, which features the same setting as "Grand Theft Auto IV", but the two games are otherwise unrelated. Both "Liberty City Stories" and "Vice City Stories" were later ported to the PlayStation 2, while "Chinatown Wars" was originally released for the Nintendo DS and later ported to PlayStation Portable. In 2009, "" and "" were released for the Xbox 360 as expansion packs to "Grand Theft Auto IV"; a "strategic alliance" between Rockstar and Microsoft resulted in the timed exclusivity. The expansions focus on characters who played a relatively minor role in the main game, and whose stories take place simultaneously with "Grand Theft Auto IV"s. Both were later released for the PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows as part of a compilation, titled "Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City", also available on Xbox 360.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Numerous titles in the series have received ports to mobile devices. "Chinatown Wars" was released for iOS in 2010 and for Android and Fire OS in 2014. For their tenth anniversaries, "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Vice City" were both re-released for iOS and Android in 2011 and 2012, respectively. In 2013, "San Andreas" was ported to iOS, Android and Windows Phone and RT; the mobile port was later re-released for Xbox 360 in 2014, the year of the game's tenth anniversary, and the following year for PlayStation 3. In 2015, "Liberty City Stories" was ported to iOS, Android and Fire OS.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto Double Pack" was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, and includes both "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Vice City". "Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy" is a compilation of "III", "Vice City", and "San Andreas", and was first released in 2005 for the Xbox. It was later re-released for the PlayStation 2, Windows, Mac OS X, and PlayStation 4. "The Trilogy" also served as the revised package for "San Andreas", which had to be pulled from shelves due to the controversial "Hot Coffee" mod. A report in August 2021 suggested that Rockstar Dundee was leading development on a remastered version of the trilogy, using Unreal Engine; following some leaks, Rockstar officially announced "" on 8 October 2021. The game features graphical and gameplay upgrades, and replaced existing versions on digital retailers. It released for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on 11 November 2021, and will release for Android and iOS in 2022.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City" is a standalone compilation of the two episodes for "Grand Theft Auto IV". It contains both "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" on one disc. It was released on 29 October 2009 for the Xbox 360 and on 13 April 2010 for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 3. Microsoft added "Episodes from Liberty City" to its backwards compatibility list for Xbox One platforms in February 2017. The standalone release of "Episodes from Liberty City" for Windows was discontinued and replaced by a single-player-only version of "Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete Edition" in 2020.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The series has been expanded into various other formats. "Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto", a book written by David Kushner chronicling the development of the series, was published in 2012. In March 2015, BBC Two announced "The Gamechangers", a 90-minute docudrama based on the creation of "Grand Theft Auto". Directed by Owen Harris and written by James Wood, the drama stars Daniel Radcliffe as Rockstar president Sam Houser and Bill Paxton as disbarred attorney Jack Thompson. In May 2015, Rockstar filed a lawsuit against the BBC for trademark infringement, stating that they had no involvement with the development of the film and had unsuccessfully tried to contact the BBC to resolve the matter. It first aired on 15 September 2015 on BBC Two.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: In 2006, McFarland & Company published "The Meaning and Culture of Grand Theft Auto". Compiled by Nate Garrelts, the 264-page book is a collection of essays regarding the "Grand Theft Auto" series, to help audiences better understand the games and to make a point about due diligence of game criticism. The book is divided into two parts: the first part discusses the controversies surrounding the series, while the second half takes a theoretical look at the games absent of the controversy.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Roger Corman, who produced the unrelated 1977 film "Grand Theft Auto", claimed that any attempted film adaptation of the video game series was unable to proceed. In 2017, he claimed that he sued the "video game manufacturer who flat-out stole the idea", and that they "settled out of court and they gave me some money". He said that he retains the rights, "but the way it was actually written in the contract is a little bit cloudy", and that his lawyers were analysing the contract to ensure that he can remake the film. Take-Two Interactive responded to Corman's claims, noting that the company "owns all rights for films related to the "Grand Theft Auto" video game series", and that it "can and will take appropriate legal action against anyone attempting to misuse our intellectual property by attempting to make a new film titled "Grand Theft Auto""; it claimed to have successfully taken legal action against similar attempts in the past.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Each game in this series allows the player to take on the role of a criminal in the big city, typically an individual who plans to rise through the ranks of organised crime through the course of the game. The player is given various missions by kingpins and major idols in the city underworld which must be completed to progress through the storyline. Assassinations and other violent crimes are featured regularly. Occasionally taxi driving, firefighting, street racing, bus driving, or learning to fly helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are also involved in the game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: In later titles, notably those released after "Grand Theft Auto 2", the player is given a more developed storyline in which they are forced to overcome an unfortunate event (e.g., being betrayed and left for dead), which serves as motivation for the character to advance up the criminal ladder and ultimately leads to the triumph of the character by the end of the storyline.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The "Grand Theft Auto" series belongs to a genre of free-roaming role-playing video games called open world games, and grants a large amount of freedom to the player. Traditional action games are structured as a single track series of levels with linear gameplay, but in "Grand Theft Auto" the player can determine the missions that they want to undertake, and their relationship with various characters are changed based on these choices. Influenced by the earlier game "Turbo Esprit", the cities of the games can be roamed freely at any point in the game, and are examples of open world video game environments which offer accessible buildings with minor missions in addition to the main storyline. There are exceptions: missions follow a linear, overarching plot. These missions are required to complete in order to unlock new areas in the game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto III" and subsequent games have more voice acting and radio stations, which simulate driving to music with disc jockeys, radio personalities, commercials, talk radio, pop music, and American culture.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The use of vehicles in an explorable urban environment provides a basic simulation of a working city, complete with pedestrians who generally obey traffic signals. Further details are used to flesh out an open-ended atmosphere that has been used in several other games, such as "", which has less emphasis on crime or violence, and "Lego City Undercover", which reverses the roles of police officer and criminal, although the player goes undercover in gangs for a portion of the game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Criminal activities in "Grand Theft Auto" games do not go unnoticed by the police. As the player engages in these in-game illegal activities, they may gain a "wanted level", represented by a maximum of five or six stars. A small crime, such as running over a non-player character, may create a one star wanted level situation, while shooting an officer may earn more stars. As the number of stars increase, the amount and strength of the response will increase; a single star might have a few police cars chase after the player, while at 5 or 6 stars, tanks and attack helicopters will chase down the player. Many in-game missions will automatically give the player a wanted level after completing a certain event which they must then get rid of before the mission is complete. Often, trying to keep away from the police while wanted will cause the player to gain even higher wanted levels. The player can remove their character's wanted level by avoiding detection or spending in-game money at specific locations to elude the police (such as a mod shop to repaint their car). Alternatively, if the player-character dies, they will respawn at a hospital and the wanted level will be removed, though the player may lose money, guns, and other benefits they had before being chased. The "wanted level" gameplay concept has become common in similar open world games.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Most "Grand Theft Auto" games are set in fictional parodies of well-known United States cities, in a number of different time periods. The games are split into three different universes (2D, 3D, and HD), each with their own reinterpretations of previously established settings. The universes share the names of cities, several brands, and background characters who never make physical appearances in the games (with a few exceptions), but are otherwise considered to be separate continuities.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Liberty City, based on New York City, is one of the three original cities introduced in "Grand Theft Auto". It is the first setting available to the player. The city encompasses two landmasses (a large one in the southeast and a smaller one in the northeast) and a Manhattan-like central island; two smaller islands are featured along the river that separates the three main islands. The setting also incorporates the neighbouring state of New Guernsey (a parody of New Jersey), which occupies the northwest portion of the map. All four major islands are divided into multiple districts, inspired by New York and New Jersey's boroughs.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: A redesigned version of Liberty City was introduced in "Grand Theft Auto III" (set in 2001). This iteration is only loosely based on New York, and incorporates elements from other U.S. cities, such as Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore. The city encompassess three main islands, which are gradually unlocked as the game's storyline progresses: Portland (based on the industrial areas of Brooklyn and Queens, with additional elements from Manhattan and Long Island), Staunton Island (based mostly on Manhattan), and Shoreside Vale (loosely based on North Jersey, The Bronx, Staten Island, and Upstate New York). The islands are connected by road bridges and an underground tunnel system. A tunnel leading out of Liberty City can be found in Shoreside Vale, but it is impassable by the player. This particular version of Liberty City returned in the prequels "Grand Theft Auto Advance" (set in 2000) and "" (set in 1998), albeit with several changes to reflect the different time periods. The city was also mentioned in "" and "", and was the setting of a mission in the latter.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: A third version of Liberty City was featured in "Grand Theft Auto IV", its expansion packs "" and "" (all three set in 2008), and the handheld game "" (set in 2009). This iteration closely resembles New York, and consists of four main boroughs, which become available to explore as the story progresses: Broker (based on Brooklyn), Dukes (Queens), Bohan (The Bronx), and Algonquin (Manhattan). The placement of these boroughs mirrors that of their real-life counterparts: Broker and Dukes occupy a large landmass in the southeast, while Bohan forms its own, smaller island in the northeast, and Algonquin acts as the city's central island. The setting also incorporates three smaller islands—Charge Island (Randall's Island), Colony Island (Roosevelt Island), and Happiness Island (Liberty Island)—and a fourth landmass, Alderney, which is located west of Algonquin and regarded as its own independent state (similarly to New Jersey). Alderney is absent in "Chinatown Wars". All islands, barring Happiness Island, are connected by road bridges, underground tunnels, and a subway system; none of which lead out of the city.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: San Andreas, based on San Francisco, is one of the three original cities introduced in "Grand Theft Auto". It is the second setting available to the player. The locale encompasses two landmasses: a large northern portion, which is divided into fifteen districts and generally considered to be the city's core, and a smaller island in the southeast, consisting of only one district, which acts as the city's docks area. The northern landmass is further divided by Aye Valley, which cuts through the heart of the area from the east to the west.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: A reimagined version of San Andreas was featured in "" (set in 1992), as a state rather than a city. Based on California and Nevada, the state encompasses two landmasses, separated by a river and surrounded by a large body of water. The southern portion of the map features the cities of Los Santos (based on Los Angeles) and San Fierro (San Francisco), separated by vast forest and mountain areas. By contrast, the northern portion is one large desert region and incorporates only one city, Las Venturas (Las Vegas). Both landmasses feature additional rural settlements, which are less inhabited than the three major cities. The cities are connected by a train track system, and each one features an airport, which can be used to fast travel from a city to another. At the beginning of the game, players only have access to Los Santos, with the rest of the map being gradually unlocked as the story progresses.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: A third version of San Andreas appeared in "Grand Theft Auto V" (set in 2013), again imagined as a state. The game features only the southern portion of the state, which is depicted as a large island. The southern portion of the island is occupied mostly by the city of Los Santos (which resembles Los Angeles much more closely than its "San Andreas" counterpart), while the northern portion, known as Blaine County, is less inhabited, featuring vast areas of desert, forest, and mountain, and only a few small towns. This version of San Andreas is currently the only setting in the series that doesn't feature any map limitations, allowing players to explore the entire island at the beginning of the game. Los Angeles was extensively researched for "Grand Theft Auto V". The team organised field research trips with tour guides and architectural historians and captured around 250,000 photos and hours of video footage during these visits. Since the release of the game, hundreds of in-game buildings have been identified as being based on real-world landmarks. "The New Yorker"s Sam Sweet notes that, with sales of the game reaching thirteen million copies, "there will be more people living in the imaginary state of Los Santos than in the real city on which it was modelled."


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Vice City, based on Miami, is one of the three original cities introduced in "Grand Theft Auto". It is the third setting available to the player. The city encompasses one large landmass, divided into eight districts which form the city's core, and a smaller island, Vice Beach, in the northeast. Like its real-life counterpart, Vice City is depicted as a tropical city, easily distinguished from the other two in the game by its beaches and palm trees.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: A redesigned version of Vice City was introduced in "" (set in 1986). The city consists of two main landmasses, Vice City Beach and Vice City Mainland, separated by a large body of water and connected to each other and to two smaller islands, Starfish Island and Prawn Island, by a series of road bridges. At the beginning of the game, the player only has access to Vice City Beach, with the rest of the city being gradually unlocked as the story progresses. The same setting would be later used in the prequel "" (set in 1984), albeit with several changes to reflect the different time period.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The HD universe version of Vice City has yet to be introduced, but has been referenced in both "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Grand Theft Auto V".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The "" and "" expansion packs for "Grand Theft Auto" take place within a fictionalised version of London during the 1960s. As such, they are the only games in the series to be set outside of the United States. The portion of the city used in the games is based on Central London, although heavily condensed and mostly geographically inaccurate. It consists of two landmasses, separated by the River Thames and connected by several road bridges. A fictionalised version of Manchester is also featured in the games.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto 2" is set in Anywhere City, a fictional U.S. retrofuturistic metropolis with no apparent inspiration from any real-life city. The setting consists of three areas, which the player will switch between as the story progresses: the Downtown District, the Residential District, and the Industrial District. Each district is depicted as its own individual island. The game is set in an unspecified time period—conflicting sources suggest anything from "three weeks into the future", to the year 2013, while the game itself features several references to the "new millennium" that is coming, implying that the year is 1999.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto V" features the fictional town of Ludendorff in the state of North Yankton (a parody of North Dakota), which is the setting of two missions and is inaccessible outside of the storyline. The 2020 update for "Grand Theft Auto Online", "The Cayo Perico Heist", introduced the eponymous fictional island, a "tropical paradise" off the Caribbean coast of Colombia privately owned by notorious drug lord Juan "El Rubio" Strickler. The island is used as both a transshipment base and a partying place by El Rubio, and draws inspiration from Norman's Cay and Hacienda Nápoles. Cayo Perico is the first setting in the series not located in the United States since London.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The series has included a wide variety of voice actors. The original "Grand Theft Auto", its and its sequel, as well as "Grand Theft Auto Advance" and "" did not feature any voice credited to specific roles. The first game in the series to do so was "Grand Theft Auto III" which, despite a limited budget and the series' low profile at the time, featured several notable actors from film and television. These included Frank Vincent, Michael Madsen and Kyle MacLachlan, who all had prominent roles. At the time it was rare for a video game to use such high-profile actors, and "Grand Theft Auto III" is considered a pioneer in doing so. The next game, "", featured more film actors, including Ray Liotta as the player character. Although the following title, "", also featured many notable film actors—such as Samuel L. Jackson, Peter Fonda and James Woods—it had been decided that the use of such actors should be reduced, particularly for leading roles. As a result, many of the prominent roles in "San Andreas" were voiced by lower profile actors or rappers.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: From "" through to "Grand Theft Auto V", the series has continued using lesser known actors to voice main characters, but still uses celebrities and real-life radio personalities to voice the DJs of the many radio stations featured in each game. Some games also feature celebrities portraying themselves, such as Lazlow Jones, Phil Collins, Ricky Gervais, Katt Williams, and Dr. Dre.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: According to "The Guinness World Records" 2008 and 2009 Gamer's Edition, it is the most controversial video game series in history, with over 4,000 articles published about it, which include accusations of glamorising violence, corrupting gamers, and connection to real life crimes.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The game was controversial from the first incarnation of the series. "Grand Theft Auto" was condemned in Britain, Germany, and France due to its "extreme violence", and Brazil banned it outright. Publicist Max Clifford planted sensational stories in tabloids in order to help sell the first game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The controversies flared up again with "Grand Theft Auto III", since the 3D graphics made the violence more realistic, and players could pay for the services of prostitutes to restore their health, and if they wished, kill them to get some of their money back.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: There is also criticism from the focus on illegal activities in comparison with traditional "heroic" roles that other games offer. The main character can commit a wide variety of crimes and violent acts while dealing with only temporary consequences, including the killing of policemen and military personnel.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The sixth game in the series, "", also came under criticism. One mission in particular, in which the player must instigate a gang war between Haitian and Cuban gangs, has been controversial. Haitian and Cuban anti-defamation groups criticised the game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Jean-Robert Lafortune of the Haitian American Grassroots Coalition is quoted as saying that "The game shouldn't be designed to destroy human life, it shouldn't be designed to destroy an ethnic group," for this and similar scenarios, including lines in the game's script such as "kill the Haitian dickheads" said by character "Diaz" during an altercation between the player and a Haitian gang. After the threat of a lawsuit by the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, Rockstar removed the word "Haitians" from this phrase in the game's subtitles.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "San Andreas" was criticised initially due to its "gangster" elements, which include drugs, prostitution, and murder. It later received additional criticism after the discovery of an interactive sex minigame, nicknamed Hot Coffee; initially cut from the game, it remained in the game code, and was discovered in both the console and Windows versions of the game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: After the release of "San Andreas", modders managed to find the unused code in the game and released unofficial patches for the Windows and Xbox (with a modchip) versions as well as a PlayStation 2 version through the use of an Action Replay code enabling the player to engage in these sexual mini-games (dubbed "Hot Coffee" in reference to a euphemism for sex used in the game). These mini-games were left partially intact in the game's code. This prompted application of an AO (Adults Only) ESRB rating to the version of the game containing the leftover code. Take-Two Interactive was forced to re-release the game in order to restore the M (Mature) rating. A class action lawsuit against Take-Two was also filed as a result of the "Hot Coffee" code.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: One of the controversies involved with this game was Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) criticism of the ability to drink and drive as a new feature. MADD had even requested ESRB to change the rating of the game from "M" for ages seventeen and up to "AO", for adults only, because they felt it was inappropriate for children, even at the age of seventeen, to experience drunk driving in such a manner. In the final game, drunk driving is a playable event, but it is a crime that automatically generates a wanted rating and main playable character Niko Bellic loudly (and drunkenly) proclaims that it is a "bad idea" and that he "should know better".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Notably, it is impossible to drive while drunk in the "GTA IV" expansions, "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony". These were released after the criticism. It is, however, possible to drive drunk again in the successor, "Grand Theft Auto V".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "" expansion pack for "Grand Theft Auto IV" was condemned by US parents group Common Sense Media who issued a public warning against the pack's content due to a full-frontal nudity scene during one of the cutscenes. They claimed the game was "more controversial than its predecessors" because it featured "full frontal male nudity".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: There has been some controversy over a drug dealing minigame along with comments that some Nintendo games are being aimed at children (despite the fact that the game was rated Mature). The drug dealing mini-game allows players to peddle six types of drugs around the city, but the profit the player makes depends on market conditions, which will be based on the area in which they deal, and the level of regular service this area receives from them.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: A segment in the latest instalment caused controversy for scenes containing player-initiated torture. The mission "By the Book" features graphic depictions of kneecapping, electrocution, dental extraction and waterboarding, and the player is required to perform an act of torture in order to progress in the game.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: UK-based charity Freedom from Torture publicly condemned the use of torture scenes in "Grand Theft Auto V". The organisation, who works to rehabilitate survivors of torture, joined other human rights charities who were outraged at a torture scene in the game in which the players have to pull teeth and electrocute an unarmed man in order to extract information. The charity's CEO Keith Best stated: “Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing people to take on the role of a torturer and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they want to achieve success in the game."


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The game has also been accused of sexism. The "Los Angeles Times" considered the game's satirical portrayals of women uncreative, and added that violent and sexist themes hurt the game experience. "Edge" noted that while "every female in the game exists solely to be sneered, leered or laughed at", it treated its all-male lead characters in a similar vein through their stereotyped tendencies towards violence. Sam Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder, felt that the development team sometimes overlooked their portrayal of women in "Grand Theft Auto" games, but that the weight towards male characters "fit with the story we wanted to tell".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Several celebrities have sued Rockstar Games and/or Take-Two Interactive for purportedly violating their intellectual property or personality rights, including hip-hop artist Daz Dillinger, Karen Gravano of "Mob Wives", and actress Lindsay Lohan.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Former lawyer Jack Thompson has been involved in a number of attempts to get families of murder victims to hold the "Grand Theft Auto" series accountable for the death of their loved ones. Due to his conduct in this and related cases, Thompson was disbarred in 2008 and was fined more than $100,000 by the Florida Bar Association.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: On 20 October 2003, the families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede, two young people shot by teens William and Josh Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were inspired by "Grand Theft Auto III") filed a US$246 million lawsuit against publishers Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive Software, retailer Walmart, and PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment America. Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, filed for dismissal of the lawsuit, stating in US District Court on 29 October 2003 that the "ideas and concepts as well as the 'purported psychological effects' on the Buckners are protected by the First Amendment's free-speech clause". The lawyer of the victims, Jack Thompson, denied that, but failed in his attempt to move the lawsuit into a state court and under Tennessee's consumer protection act. Two days later, the plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, and the case was closed.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: In February 2005, a lawsuit was brought upon the makers and distributors of the "Grand Theft Auto" series claiming the games caused a teenager to shoot and kill three members of the Alabama police force. The shooting took place in June 2003 when Devin Moore, 17 years old at the time, was taken in for questioning by police in Fayette, Alabama regarding a stolen vehicle. Moore then grabbed a pistol from one of the police officers and shot and killed him along with another officer and dispatcher before fleeing in a police car. One of Moore's attorneys, Jack Thompson, claimed it was "Grand Theft Auto"s graphic nature—with his constant playing time—that caused Moore to commit the murders, and Moore's family agrees. Damages were being sought from branches of GameStop and Wal-Mart in Jasper, Alabama, the stores from which "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City", respectively, were purchased and also from the games' publisher Take-Two Interactive, and the PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment. On 29 March 2006 the case was dismissed and permission to appeal was denied.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: In May 2005, Jack Thompson appeared via satellite on the "Glenn Beck" program on CNN's Headline News. Thompson mentioned Devin Moore and said, regarding "Grand Theft Auto III" and "", "There's no doubt in my mind [...] that but for Devin Moore's training on this cop killing simulator, he would not have been able to kill three cops in Fayette, Alabama who are now dead and in the ground. We are suing Take-Two, Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop for having trained Devin Moore to kill. He had no history of violence. No criminal record."


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: In September 2006, Thompson brought another lawsuit, claiming that Cody Posey played the game obsessively before murdering his father Delbert Paul Posey, stepmother Tryone Schmid, and stepsister Marilea Schmid on a ranch in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The suit was filed on behalf of the victims' families. The suit alleged that were it not for his obsessive playing of "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City", the murders would not have taken place. Named in the suit were Cody Posey, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, and Sony. The suit asked for US$600 million in damages. During the criminal trial, Posey's defence team argued he was abused by his father, and tormented by his stepmother. Posey was also taking Zoloft at the time of the killings. The lawsuit was dismissed in December 2007.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Modding of "Grand Theft Auto" content, either within "Grand Theft Auto" games or recreated via other software, had generally performed by the player community since around the early 2000s, with one of the first major conversions being the recreation of "Grand Theft Auto III" Liberty City within the "Vice City" engine. Around 2017, Take Two began taking action against these mods, specifically issuing a cease & desist letter to the makers of "OpenIV" that allowed modders to alter content from "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "V". Take-Two said at the time that its issue was not directly with the mod itself, but that it "enables recent malicious mods that allow harassment of players and interfere with the "GTA Online" experience for everybody", and that it was working with the "OpenIV" to find a amenable solution. "OpenIV" developers opted to remove the mod from circulation after several rounds of discussion with Take-Two. Take-Two issued a statement to clarify that it would not take action against single-player mods; this statement was updated in 2019 to exclude modders from including other Take-Two intellectual property or from "making new games, stories, missions, or maps".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The "Grand Theft Auto" modding community worked under this response to continue to build out mods and other content within the bounds set by Take-Two. In February 2021, Take-Two issued a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown of two projects hosted at GitHub that had reverse-engineered the game engines for "Grand Theft Auto III" and "Vice City", asserting that such reversing engineering was disallowed by the game's EULA. On 10 June 2021, the project developers filed a counter-notice; per DMCA rules regarding disputes, the source code was restored after two weeks. Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated the company has a "pretty flexible" view on user mods, asserting that "if the economy is threatened, or if there's bad behaviour, and we know how to define that, then we would issue a takedown notice". However, the company proceeded to continue to file a lawsuit in California against the programmers behind this effort in September 2021, asserting that the programmers "are well aware that they do not possess the right to copy, adapt, or distribute derivative GTA source code, or the audiovisual elements of the games, and that doing so constitutes copyright infringement." As part of the lawsuit, Take-Two issued another takedown notice to GitHub to remove the mods in October 2021. The modders, in their legal reply, asserted that use of the assets were within fair use, as the reversed engineered versions were transformative in nature and as neither Rockstar nor Take Two had issued any updates for years, did not harm the commercial prospects of the games.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Ever since the release of "Grand Theft Auto III" in 2001, the "Grand Theft Auto" series has been a major success, both critically and financially. It has shipped more than 370 million units, making it the fifth-highest selling video game franchise of all time, behind Nintendo's "Mario" and "Pokémon", Activision's "Call of Duty", and "Tetris".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: In 2006, "Grand Theft Auto" was voted one of Britain's top 10 designs in the Great British Design Quest organised by the BBC and the Design Museum. The game appeared in a list of British design icons which included Concorde, Jaguar E-Type, Aston Martin DB5, Mini, World Wide Web, "Tomb Raider", K2 telephone box, London tube map, AEC Routemaster bus and the Supermarine Spitfire.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The series has broken several records, resulting in Guinness World Records awarding the series 10 world records in the "Gamer's Edition 2008". These records include Most Guest Stars in a Video Game Series, Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game ("Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas"), Largest In-Game Soundtrack ("Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas") as well as Most Successful Entertainment Launch of All Time ("Grand Theft Auto V"). Guinness World Records also ranked "Grand Theft Auto" in third place on their list of top 50 console games of all time based on initial impact and lasting legacy. "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" is listed as the most successful game on the PlayStation 2 according to "The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition".


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: "Grand Theft Auto III", "San Andreas" and "Vice City" currently lie at the 2nd, 5th and 6th highest rated PlayStation 2 games on Metacritic, respectively, while "Chinatown Wars" is rated the best game on the Nintendo DS and the second best on the PlayStation Portable, and "Grand Theft Auto IV" is currently rated the second best game ever, with a score of 98, only trailing behind "". Also, "Vice City", "Grand Theft Auto III", "San Andreas", "Grand Theft Auto IV" and "Grand Theft Auto V" lie at 11th, 24th, 27th, 93rd and 2nd best PC games of all time, on Metacritic. Along with this, "The Lost and Damned" and "The Ballad of Gay Tony" are currently placed 35th and 59th in the top Xbox 360 games.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: The release of "Grand Theft Auto III" is treated as a major event in the history of video games, much like the release of "Doom" nearly a decade earlier.


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: During interviews to mark the 10th anniversary of the release of "Grand Theft Auto III", producer of the "Street Fighter" series, Yoshinori Ono, said "It would be no exaggeration to say that "Grand Theft Auto III" changed the industry, and we can basically separate the time before and after its emergence as distinct eras." In the same article Bethesda studios director, Todd Howard, said "The mark of a truly great game is how many people try to recapture or emulate it and fail. There's a long line behind this one."


title: Grand Theft Auto

text: Subsequent games that follow this formula of driving and shooting have been called ""Grand Theft Auto" clones". Some reviewers even extended this label to the "Driver" series, even though this series began years before the release of "Grand Theft Auto III". "Grand Theft Auto" clones are a type of 3D action-adventure game, where players are given the ability to drive any vehicle or fire any weapon as they explore an open world. These games often incorporate violent and criminal themes. Notable games that are comparable to "Grand Theft Auto" are "Saints Row", "", "", "Watch Dogs", "Sleeping Dogs", "Just Cause", "" and "".


title: Journey (band)

text: Journey is an American rock band formed in San Francisco in 1973 by former members of Santana, Steve Miller Band, and Frumious Bandersnatch. The band currently consists of guitarist/vocalist Neal Schon (the last constant original member), keyboardists/vocalists Jonathan Cain and Jason Derlatka, drummer/vocalist Deen Castronovo, bassist Todd Jensen, and lead vocalist Arnel Pineda.


title: Journey (band)

text: Journey had their biggest commercial success between 1978 and 1987, when Steve Perry was lead vocalist; they released a series of hit songs, including "Don't Stop Believin' (1981), which in 2009 became the top-selling track in iTunes history among songs not released in the 21st century. "Escape", Journey's seventh and most successful album, reached number one on the "Billboard" 200 and yielded another of their most popular singles, "Open Arms". The 1983 follow-up album, "Frontiers", was almost as successful in the United States, reaching number two and spawning several successful singles; it broadened the band's appeal in the United Kingdom, where it reached number six on the UK Albums Chart. Journey enjoyed a successful reunion in the mid-1990s and have since regrouped twice; first with Steve Augeri from 1998 to 2006, then with Arnel Pineda from 2007 to the present.


title: Journey (band)

text: Sales have resulted in 25 gold and platinum albums, in addition to the 15-time platinum RIAA Diamond Certified, 1988's "Greatest Hits" album. They have had 19 top-40 singles in the US (the second-most without a "Billboard" Hot 100 number-one single behind Electric Light Orchestra with 20), six of which reached the top 10 of the US chart and two of which reached number one on other "Billboard" charts, and a number-six hit on the UK Singles Chart in "Don't Stop Believin. In 2005, "Don't Stop Believin reached number three on iTunes downloads. Originally a progressive rock band, Journey was described by AllMusic as having cemented a reputation as "one of America's most beloved (and sometimes hated) commercial rock/pop bands" by 1978, when they redefined their sound by embracing pop arrangements on their fourth album, "Infinity".


title: Journey (band)

text: According to the Recording Industry Association of America, Journey has sold 48 million albums in the US, making them the 25th-best selling band. Their worldwide sales have reached over 100 million records globally, making them one of the world's best-selling bands of all time. A 2005 "USA Today" opinion poll named Journey the fifth-best US rock band in history. Their songs have become arena rock staples and are still played on rock radio stations around the world. Journey ranks number 96 on VH1's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.


title: Journey (band)

text: Journey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the class of 2017. Inductees included lead singer Steve Perry, guitarist Neal Schon, keyboardists Jonathan Cain and Gregg Rolie, bassist Ross Valory, and drummers Aynsley Dunbar and Steve Smith.


title: Journey (band)

text: The original members of Journey came together in San Francisco in 1973 under the auspices of former Santana manager Herbie Herbert. Originally called the Golden Gate Rhythm Section and intended to serve as a backup group for established Bay Area artists, the band included Santana alumni Neal Schon on lead guitar and Gregg Rolie on keyboards and lead vocals. Bassist Ross Valory and rhythm guitarist George Tickner, both of Frumious Bandersnatch, rounded out the group. Prairie Prince of The Tubes served as drummer. After one performance in Hawaii, the band quickly abandoned the "backup group" concept and developed a distinctive jazz fusion style. After an unsuccessful radio contest to name the group, roadie John Villanueva suggested the name "Journey".


title: Journey (band)

text: The band's first public appearance came at the Winterland Ballroom on New Year's Eve 1973 to an audience of 10,000. On the following day, the band flew to Hawaii to perform at the Diamond Head Crater to an audience over 100,000 strong. Prairie Prince rejoined The Tubes shortly thereafter; on February 1, 1974, after auditioning up to 28 drummers, the band hired British drummer Aynsley Dunbar, who had recently worked with David Bowie and had been a member of the second iteration of Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention. The new line-up made its debut on February 5, 1974, at the Great American Music Hall in front of Columbia Records executives, and secured a recording contract with the label. The band went on to perform at venues around the Bay Area.


title: Journey (band)

text: Journey went into CBS Studios in November 1974 with producer Roy Halee to record its debut album, "Journey". The album was released in April 1975, entering the "Billboard" charts at number 138. Rhythm guitarist Tickner left the band (and the music business to study medicine) due to the amount of heavy touring the band was doing in promoting the album, allowing Schon to take on full guitar duties. The band entered the studio again in late 1975 to record "Look into the Future", which was released in January 1976 and entered the "Billboard" Top 200 charts at number 100. The band promoted the album with a two-hour performance at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, which later aired on the radio as touring continued to promote the album.


title: Journey (band)

text: From May to October 1976, the band went to His Master's Wheels Studios to record its third studio album, "Next", which—like its predecessor—was produced by the band. This album had a much more commercial sound, while keeping the band's jazz fusion and progressive rock roots intact. The album was released in February and charted on the "Billboard" Top 200 at number 85. However, sales did not improve, and Columbia Records was on the verge of dropping the band.


title: Journey (band)

text: As Journey's album sales did not improve, Columbia Records requested that they change their musical style and add a frontman who would share lead vocals with Rolie. The band hired Robert Fleischman and made the transition to a more popular style, akin to that of Foreigner and Boston. Journey went on tour with Fleischman in 1977, opening for bands such as Black Sabbath, Target, Judas Priest, and Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Fleischman and the rest of the band began writing and rehearsing new songs, including the soon-to-be-popular track "Wheel in the Sky". During a performance before about 100,000 at Soldier Field in Chicago, the band was introduced to Steve Perry. Differences between Fleischman and manager Herbie Herbert resulted in Fleischman's departure from the band in September of that year.


title: Journey (band)

text: Journey hired Steve Perry as their new lead singer on October 10, 1977. Perry made his live debut with the band at the Old Waldorf on October 28, 1977, stepping into His Master's Studios and Cherokee Studios from October to December. Herbie Herbert, the band's manager, hired Roy Thomas Baker as producer to add a layered sound approach similar to that of Baker's previous band, Queen. With their new lead singer and new producer, the band's fourth studio album, "Infinity", released in January 1978, peaked at number 21 on the US "Billboard" 200. The band embarked on a tour in support of the album, when they performed as headliners of a full tour for the first time, beginning with their topping a bill that included Van Halen and the current version of Montrose.


title: Journey (band)

text: According to the band's manager Herbie Herbert, tensions arose between Aynsley Dunbar and the band due to the change in music direction from the jazz fusion sound. Neal Schon reflected on the tensions: "We would talk about it, and he'd say he'd be willing to simplify things, but we'd get out there, and after five shows, he wasn't doing that at all." Dunbar started playing erratically and talking derogatorily about the other members, which later resulted in Herbert firing Dunbar after the Infinity tour. Dunbar was replaced by Berklee-trained drummer and Montrose member Steve Smith.