title: Gorillaz (album)

text: "Gorillaz" received generally positive reviews from critics. It was ranked sixth in both "Spin"'s and "Kludge"'s end-of-year lists, 48 on NME's 2001 year-end list and "Q" ranked it among the 50 best albums of the year. The album was nominated for the 2001 Mercury Music Prize ("Gorillaz" was bookmakers' favourite before the nomination was withdrawn at the band's request).


title: Gorillaz (album)

text: The album made some retrospective "best of" lists. "Slant Magazine" ranked the album no. 96 in its best of the 2000s, "Complex", "Consequence Of Sound" and "Rhapsody" ranked it among the top 100 albums of the 2000s and "Gigwise" included it in its 2013 best self-titled albums of all time. The album was given an entry in the book "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die".


title: John Wojtowicz

text: John Stanley Joseph Wojtowicz (March 9, 1945January 2, 2006) was an American bank robber whose story inspired the 1975 film "Dog Day Afternoon".


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Wojtowicz was the son of a Polish father and an Italian-American mother (nee Terry Basso). He served in the United States Army and was posted to Vietnam during the Vietnam War.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: In 1971, Wojtowicz met Elizabeth Eden at the Feast of San Gennaro in New York City. The two had a public wedding ceremony that year.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Wojtowicz was at some point a member of the Gay Activists Alliance. He used at that time the alias "Littlejohn Basso" (Basso being his mother's maiden name).


title: John Wojtowicz

text: On August 22, 1972, Wojtowicz, along with Salvatore Naturile and Robert Westenberg, attempted to rob a branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank at 450 Avenue P in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The "Los Angeles Times" reported the heist was meant to pay for Eden's (male-to-female) sex reassignment surgery. However, Arthur Bell, a respected "Village Voice" columnist and investigative journalist who knew Wojtowicz (and was tangentially involved in the negotiations), reported that paying for Eden's surgery was only peripheral to the real motive. The attempted heist was, according to him, a well-planned Mafia operation that went horribly wrong.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Wojtowicz and Naturile held seven Chase Manhattan bank employees hostage for fourteen hours. Westenberg fled the scene before the robbery got underway after he saw a police car on the street. Wojtowicz, a former bank teller, had some knowledge of bank operations.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: According to Wojtowicz, he was offered a deal for pleading guilty, which the court did not honor, and on April 23, 1973, he was sentenced to 20 years in Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, of which he served five.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Wojtowicz was released from prison on April 10, 1978, but was arrested again and served two more sentences in prison for parole violations in 1984 and from 1986-87. He was released in April 1987 and he said Eden visited him in New York about once a month.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Eden, who married someone else and then divorced, died of AIDS-related pneumonia at Genesee Hospital, in Rochester, New York, on September 29, 1987. Wojtowicz attended her funeral and delivered a eulogy.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Wojtowicz's story was used as the basis for the film "Dog Day Afternoon" (released in 1975), starring Al Pacino as Wojtowicz (called "Sonny Wortzik" in the film) and John Cazale, one of Pacino's co-stars in "The Godfather", as Naturile. Elizabeth Eden, known as "Leon" in the film, was portrayed by actor Chris Sarandon.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: In 1975, Wojtowicz wrote a letter to "The New York Times" out of concern that people would believe the movie version of the events, which he said was only 30% accurate. Wojtowicz's main objection was the inaccurate portrayal of his wife Carmen Bifulco as a plain, overweight woman whose behavior led to his relationship with Eden, when in fact he had left Bifulco two years before he met Eden.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Other concerns he had that were fictionalized in the movie were that he never spoke to his mother and that the police refused to let him speak to his wife Carmen. In addition, the movie insinuated that Wojtowicz had "sold out" Naturile to the police, and although Wojtowicz claimed this was untrue, several attempts were made on his life following an inmate screening of the movie.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: Wojtowicz praised Pacino and Sarandon's characterizations of himself and Elizabeth Eden as accurate. In a 2006 interview, the movie's screenwriter, Frank Pierson, said that he tried to visit Wojtowicz in prison many times to get more details about his story when he wrote the screenplay, but Wojtowicz refused to see him because he felt he was not paid enough money for the rights to his story. Either way, the film was very successful, receiving good reviews and winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay at the 1975 ceremony.


title: John Wojtowicz

text: In 2001, "The New York Times" reported that Wojtowicz was living on welfare in Brooklyn. He died of cancer on January 2, 2006, in his mother's home, aged 60.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: Tale of Tales is a 2015 European fantasy horror film co-written, directed and co-produced by Matteo Garrone and starring Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, and John C. Reilly.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: An Italian-led production with co-producers in France and the United Kingdom, "Tale of Tales" is Garrone's only English-language film. It competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: It is a screen adaptation based on collections of tales by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile: "Pentamerone" or "Lo cunto de li cunti" ("Tale of Tales, or Entertainment for Little Ones"), which contains the earliest versions of famous fables like Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. The three tales are "La Cerva Fatata" ("The Enchanted Doe"), "La Pulce" ("The Flea"), "La Vecchia Scorticata" ("The Flayed Old Lady"), which have been freely adapted with elements of other tales by Giambattista Basile as well as a touch of artistic license.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: In the Kingdom of Longtrellis, the King and Queen cannot conceive a child. A necromancer suggests that if the Queen eats a sea dragon's heart cooked by a virgin, she will be with child but this will cost a life. The King slays the sea dragon but dies from his wounds. The Queen eats the heart and the next day bears a son, Elias, with hair as white as the dragon. The cook also gives birth to a boy, Jonah. The boys are identical and inseparable friends. This so vexes the Queen that she attempts to murder Jonah, though he manages to escape. Jonah leaves the kingdom, plunging a knife into a tree root and telling Elias that as long as the root spouts clear water, he is alive and well. One day the water is clouded with blood. Elias leaves to find Jonah. The Queen has her subjects search for Elias to no avail. The necromancer blames the Queen and says the youths are truly inseparable, and that her violent desire can be achieved only through violence. Elias finds Jonah wounded in a cave. They are threatened by a monster, which wounds Jonah but hesitates to attack Elias, who kills the monster and returns Jonah to his wife. In the cave, the monster's corpse dissolves into that of the Queen.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: The lustful King of Strongcliff is intrigued by the sound of a woman's heavenly singing. He courts her outside her home, unaware that she is one of two elderly sisters, Imma and Dora. Dora agrees to spend the night with him as long as it is in complete darkness. He is horrified when he sees her appearance the next morning, and has his guards throw her out of the window. She survives, entangled in the branches of a tree. A witch rescues her and nurses her from her breast. Dora awakens as a young, beautiful maiden. The King comes upon her while hunting and decides to make her his Queen. Dora invites Imma to the wedding and promises to take care of her, but says she cannot stay in the castle. Imma refuses to leave, asking for the secret to her sister's youth and beauty. In annoyance, Dora says she got herself flayed. Finally thrown out after violating the royal couple's privacy in their bedroom, Imma finds someone willing to flay her, leaving her bloody and disfigured.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: The King of Highhills becomes fascinated by a flea, which he hides in his room as a pet. It grows gigantic under his care. When it dies, the King decides to skin it. His daughter Violet tells him she wants to be married, so he offers her as a bride to whoever can guess from what beast the skin was taken, believing no-one can do so. However, an ogre correctly identifies the hide by smell. Violet is horrified but her father says he cannot go back on his word. Violet goes through with the marriage but says her father never loved her. The ogre takes Violet to his cave, where she is raped and kept prisoner. A family of acrobats helps her to escape, but the ogre gives chase and kills the entire family. He is mollified by Violet, who then slits his throat. Violet returns to the castle, where the King has grown ill and reveals she has the head of the ogre, the husband he "chose" for her. The King falls to his knees crying and the courtiers follow suit. Violet, too, begins to cry.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: Elias, Dora and the King of Strongcliff are among the guests for Violet's coronation as Queen. There, Elias nods to her and the King of Strongcliff. As Violet's father walks her to the throne the crowd looks skyward, where an entertainer is walking a tightrope of fire. We see Dora's beauty begin to fade and, unnoticed, she flees the castle.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: In an interview with "Variety", director Matteo Garrone emphasized that the three tales have contemporary themes: "plastic surgery; the frenzied desire to have a child; the conflict between generations; the painful passage from adolescence to adulthood." He has also said that although the three stories have distinct themes, they are all connected to the idea of desire that can lead to obsession. Although screenplays were written for other tales in the Basile collection, those filmed told the story of "a woman in three different stages of her life": youth, motherhood and advancing age.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: According to Matteo Garrone, he was drawn to Giambattista Basile's stories for their mixture of the real and the unreal, and because he found the themes in many of them to still be highly relevant. Garrone had previously been best known for employing a naturalist style in films such as "Gomorrah", but argued that all his previous films also have a fairytale aspect to their narratives. An important source of inspiration was Francisco Goya's "Los caprichos" collection of etchings. For Garrone, they encapsulated the mood of Basile's tales.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: "Tale of Tales" had a budget corresponding to USD$14.5 million. It was produced through Garrone's company Archimede Film, with co-production support from France's Le Pact and Britain's Recorded Picture Company. It received financing from Rai Cinema and additional support from MiBACT and Eurimages.


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: Principal photography commenced on 15 May 2014 and lasted four months. The film was shot entirely on location in various parts of Italy, including Naples (Royal Palace, Palace of Capodimonte and its gardens); Apulia's Castel del Monte (octagonal castle appears in the poster near Vincent Cassel), Gioia del Colle (in particular the throne room), Laterza, Mottola, Statte; Sicily's Donnafugata Castle (gothic castle, stone labyrinth and gardens) and "Gole dell'Alcantara" in Alcantara (mainly scenes of sea dragon); Abruzzo's Castello di Roccascalegna (appears in the poster with Castel del Monte); Tuscany's Moorish castle of Sammezzano, the towns of Sorano and Sovana (tuff caves); and Lazio ("Bosco del Sasseto" in Viterbo). "The movie is an epic tribute to the history of fairytales with great care to the style of their portrayal. The very locations reflect the director’s intention to create an artificial truth, a realistic craftsmanship. All locations had to be real but look as if the settings had been recreated in a studio set."


title: Tale of Tales (2015 film)

text: On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 83% approval rating based on reviews from 105 critics, with an average rating of 7 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Visually splendid and narratively satisfying, "Tale of Tales "packs an off-kilter wallop for mature viewers in search of something different"."" On Metacritic, the film has received a weighted average score of 72 out of 100 based on 24 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Amanda Serrano (born October 9, 1988) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer, mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. As a boxer, she is the unified featherweight world champion, having held the WBO title since 2019 and the WBC and IBO titles since 2021. She is the only female, and Puerto Rican, to win world titles in more than four weight classes, and holds the Guinness World Record for the most boxing world championships won in different weight-classes by a female, having held 9 major world titles across seven different weight classes. Her older sister, Cindy, is also a professional boxer. The pair became the first sisters to hold world titles from major sanctioning bodies at the same time after Cindy won the WBO featherweight title in 2016.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Serrano has been recognized with the Female Boxer of the Year Award twice (2016 and 2018) by the WBO, an entity that also granted her the first "Super World Championship" awarded to a woman. As of March 2021, she is ranked as the world's best active female featherweight by "The Ring" and BoxRec, and the third best active female, pound for pound, by ESPN and third by "The Ring".


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Serrano was born in the municipality of Carolina, where her sister Cindy was also born. Her grandparents were born in the municipality of Carolina. When she was young, the family moved to New York and joined the large Puerto Rican diaspora there (colloquially known as Nuyoricans). Surrounded by this community, she grew up in an oasis of Puerto Rican culture in which traditional food and salsa music were predominant. Her upbringing is reflected in the manner in which she speaks Spanish, in a dialect with a distinct accent often attributed to that population (Spanglish) The family lived in Brooklyn, where she continued to live well into adulthood. During her youth she was an active child, with a distinct passion for swimming. After her sister began boxing training intending to lose weight by attending the gym of her husband Jordan Maldonado, the 12-year old Serrano accompanied her there. She continued frequenting the facility and eventually got her first job there.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Initially Serrano was not as interested in the sport, not even attending a family event to watch the Oscar De La Hoya vs. Félix Trinidad fight, but she was an avid follower of Cindy's career and developed a passion for it as she grew older. When she graduated from Bushwick High School (located in Bushwick, Brooklyn and closed in 2006) at the age of 17, she decided to begin training as a method to buy things and bond with her sister. Her father supported her decision, but her mother was hesitant until she began earning success and saw it as a way for the elder sister to retire after having her second child. Cindy, knowing that she had already been frustrated during a previous sparring session against a boy, intended to dissuade her by stepping into the ring but the younger sister proved that she could defend herself competently. Admittedly shy, Serrano choose to continue in Maldonado's small gym in Queens with him as trainer, so that the flow of people was controlled and she could focus on her training.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Serrano's amateur career was brief and concluded with a record of only 9–1, but she won the Staten Island amateur championship in 2008. From there she competed in the featherweight division of the "New York Daily News" Golden Gloves, where she defeated Glenyss Puentevella by referee stopping contest (RSC, the International Boxing Association's equivalent of a technical knockout) in the semifinal and decisioned USA Boxing's national champion Jody-Ann Weller in the final.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Serrano is managed and trained by noted female American professional boxing trainer Jordan Maldonado of New York City. Serrano is Boxing 360's first world champion.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: On June 11, 2011, Amanda defeated Jennifer Scott to capture the vacant NABF featherweight champion. The bout was scheduled for 8 rounds, but the match was cut quick by Serrano knocked out Scott in 1:04 in round 1.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: On April 27, 2012, Serrano faced the undefeated Frida Wallberg in Cloetta Center, Linköping, Sweden. The WBC against mandatory rules allowed the bout to be contested with 10 ounce gloves instead of the mandatory 8 ounce for that division. Serrano came up short losing a controversial unanimous decision to Wallberg. The referee was Victor Loughlin and the judges were Gudjon Vilhelm 93-98 | judge: Venciclav Nikolov 93-97 | judge: Franco Ciminale 94–96.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: On March 25, 2021, Serrano KO'd Daniela Bermudez with a body punch in round nine at Plaza del Quinto Centenario, San Juan, Puerto Rico. Serrano retained her WBC/WBO featherweight titles. Heading into the bout, Serrano and Bermudez were ranked inside "The Ring"'s P4P top 10.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: The first women's boxing match to headline Madison Square Garden, described as the 'biggest women's fight of all time', was held on April 30, 2022, between Katie Taylor and Serrano, with Taylor’s undisputed lightweight titles on the line. Taylor defeated Serrano by split decision.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: Since early 2015, Serrano quietly worked towards debuting in mixed martial arts (MMA), beginning by incorporating kicks to her training. The idea emerged after she participated in the filming of "Fight Valley" along her sister, meeting Miesha Tate, Holly Holm, and Cristiane Justino and learned of the lifestyle that they could afford. This triggered the interest of people involved in MMA and she was approached and told about the economic potential of the move. When queried about the matter, Serrano expressed additional motivation due to the absence of a Puerto Rican female fighter in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) at the moment.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: With the consent of her boxing trainer Jordan Maldonado, Serrano continued her introduction to kickboxing, citing a general lack of money for women in boxing. By the summer of 2016, Serrano admitted that she had seriously considered retiring to take up MMA due to frustration with the state of the business, but that being able to appear in ShoBox changed that. Instead, she began working towards becoming the first person to hold both boxing and MMA titles at once, setting her debut for late 2017. Towards this goal, she continued training in kickboxing under former world champion Luis Ruiz and incorporated Brazilian jiujitsu working with brown belt Gabriel Marte at the Dojo NYC.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: On July 31, 2015, Ronda Rousey's trainer, Edmond Tarverdyan, expressed the belief that his fighter "can win the boxing world title" while discussing a potential fight with Justino. After noting that "Ronda spars with boxing world champions that punch way harder than Cyborg", Tarverdyan claimed that she "has never lost a round in the gym. With boxing world champions". Within a week, Serrano responded by stating that "Rousey's trainer does not have any knowledge about the sport of boxing. She is a very good fighter in the Octagon, and I really congratulate her for everything she has done. Her opponents cannot box and it's easy to look great, but when facing a high quality boxer with punching power as myself, believe me, things are gonna change. In a boxing ring, the canvas will be your comfort zone".


title: Amanda Serrano

text: She went on to criticize Rousey's stand-up fighting technique and challenging her to a boxing match, stating that "[from a] boxing point of view, she looked like a rookie amateur fighter, throwing very wide punches with no coordination. I heard that Cyborg is not willing to come down to the lightweight division to fight Ronda, but I can go up to 135, and we can settle a boxing match so I can prove her trainer wrong. I once went up to the lightweight division, and traveled to Argentina for a world title fight. At the end, the results was that I became the first ever Puerto Rican female boxer to captured a world title in two weight classes". Serrano's trainer noted that they "do not challenge other fighting styles." And that the reason for calling out Rousey was because they "represent boxing and [...] want to get some respect." by showing "Edmond Tarverdyan how wrong he is about boxing".


title: Amanda Serrano

text: In December 2017, Serrano announced that she had signed with Combate Americas, a MMA promotion that mostly featured Latin American fighters in its roster. Her debut was scheduled for April 13, 2018, when she drew with Corina Herrera after winning the first two rounds but losing the third when forced to the floor. Afterwards, Serrano focused on grappling. This training was put to the test on August 18, 2018, when she won gold in her first career jiu jitsu tournament, a Grappling Industries event held at New York where she gathered four submissions. After winning a sixth world championship in boxing, it was announced that MMA would be Serrano's focus in the foreseeable future due to better salaries.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: On October 13, 2018, Serrano won her second fight by submitting Eréndina Ordóñez with a standing rear naked choke in the first round. In February 2019, she participated in her second jiu jitsu competition, defeating Erin Finkeldey in her only bout. Serrano was scheduled to headline her third MMA event (tentatively another fight with Dahiana Santana, making her debut), this one in Puerto Rico, on January 25, 2020. However, the card was postponed due to a series of earthquakes and ultimately cancelled. Serrano considered the “last minute” cancellation frustrating after missing the holidays due to her training. Afterwards, Combate Americas entered into a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, remaining inactive until 2021. During this timeframe, Serrano’s contract came to an end and she continued boxing.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: In May 2021, iKON announced her participation in the main event of a card held at Sinaloa and aired through UFC Fight Pass. On June 11, 2021, Serrano defeated Mexican Valentina García by submission (standing guillotine) in a minute.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: At the same time that she made her involvement in MMA public, an interest in potentially joining World Wrestling Entertainment, noted in 2019, Serrano revealed that she had been training under Jonathan Figueroa (known by his ring name Amazing Red) to become a professional wrestler and that she would be performing for a promotion soon.


title: Amanda Serrano

text: After becoming a full-time boxer, Serrano adopted a seclusive routine that required not purchasing a cell phone (or any other device that allowed text messages and the sort) to avoid distractions and avoiding getting involved with boyfriends. When asked about it, she insisted that there would be time for that in the future, after carving a legacy. Serrano has noted that one of the prime movers in her boxing career has been to pursue records in possession of foreign athletes and securing them for Puerto Rico (for example, wanting to win a title in a sixth division so that a local could have bragging rights to more divisions than Floyd Mayweather Jr. or wanting to complete concurrent crossovers between sports).


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Development began in 1997, during the English localization of "Final Fantasy VII". The game builds on the visual changes brought to the series by "Final Fantasy VII", including the use of 3D graphics and pre-rendered backgrounds, while also departing from many "Final Fantasy" traditions. It is the first "Final Fantasy" to use realistically proportioned characters consistently, feature a vocal piece as its theme music and forgo the use of magic points for spellcasting.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: "Final Fantasy VIII" was well received by critics. The game was a commercial success, grossing in its first day of release in Japan, and more than during its first 13 weeks in North America, making it the fastest-selling "Final Fantasy" title until "Final Fantasy XIII", a multi-platform release. A Microsoft Windows port followed in 2000, with the addition of the "Chocobo World" minigame. "Final Fantasy VIII" was re-released worldwide as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Store in 2009, for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, with support for PlayStation Vita in 2012. It was re-released via Steam in 2013. By August 2019, it had sold more than 9.6 million copies worldwide. A remastered version was released for Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in September 2019, and iOS and Android in March 2021.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Like the "Final Fantasy" games before it, "Final Fantasy VIII" consists of three main modes of play: the world map, the field map, and the battle screen. The world map is a 3D display in which the player may navigate freely across a small-scale rendering of the game world. Characters travel across the world map in a variety of ways, including by foot, car, Chocobo, train, and airship. The field map consists of controllable 3D characters overlaid on one or more 2D pre-rendered backgrounds, which represent environmental locations such as towns or forests. The battle screen is a 3D model of a location such as a street or room, where turn-based fights between playable characters and CPU-controlled enemies take place. The interface is menu-driven, as in previous titles, but with the typical weapon and armor systems removed and new features present, such as the Junction system. Also featured is a collectible card-based minigame called "Triple Triad".


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: For "Final Fantasy VIII", Hiroyuki Ito designed a battle system based on summoned monsters, called "Guardian Forces", abbreviated in-game as "GF". Assigning ("junctioning") a GF onto a character allows the player to use battle commands beyond "Attack" with the main weapon, such as Magic, GF (to have a junctioned GF perform an action), and Item. Previous "Final Fantasy" titles provided each character with a limited pool of magic points that were consumed by each spell; in "Final Fantasy VIII", spells are acquired ("drawn") either from enemies in battle, Draw Points distributed throughout the environments, or by refining items and cards. Spells are then stocked on characters as quantified inventory (up to 100 per spell and limited to 32 distinct spells per character) and are consumed one by one when used. Characters can also junction (equip) these spells onto their statistics—such as Strength, Vitality, and Luck—for various bonuses, provided the character has junctioned a Guardian Force. The junction system's flexibility affords the player a wide range of customization.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: These expanded mechanics for summons were a departure for the series; in previous titles, summons were relegated to a single action during battle. The junction system also acts as a substitute for armor and accessories, which were used in earlier games to modify character statistics. Moreover, where earlier titles required weapons to be equipped and tailored to the character, each major character in "Final Fantasy VIII" features a unique weapon which can be upgraded, affecting its appearance, power, and Limit Break.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: As in "Final Fantasy VII", characters in "Final Fantasy VIII" have unique abilities called "Limit Breaks", which range from powerful attacks to support spells. While the characters in "Final Fantasy VII" receive Limit Breaks after incurring significant damage, in "Final Fantasy VIII", Limit Breaks become available only at low health (hit points) under normal circumstances. The magic spell "Aura" increases the probability of Limit Breaks appearing, regardless of a character's remaining hit points, while various status afflictions can prevent Limit Breaks. They are similar to the Desperation Attacks of "Final Fantasy VI", albeit more frequent. "Final Fantasy VIII" also introduced interactive elements to complement Limit Break animations. These interactive sequences, which vary between character, weapon, and Limit Break, range from randomly selected magic spells to precisely timed button inputs. Successfully completing an interactive sequence increases the potency of the Limit Break.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: "Final Fantasy VIII" features an experience point (EXP) system quite different from previous titles. The essentials remain unchanged: characters gain EXP after defeating enemies, which are typically encountered randomly throughout the game's environments. Earning a set amount of EXP causes the character to gain a level, which increases their overall statistics. While previous titles feature an EXP curve that increases with each level (e.g. getting to level 2 requires 200 EXP, level 3 requires 400, etc.), characters in "Final Fantasy VIII" gain a level after accumulating a flat rate of 1000 points. Enemy levels scale based on the party's average level; in most RPGs at the time, enemy levels remain stagnant. Some bosses have level caps to prevent the main quest from becoming too difficult. Higher-level enemies are capable of inflicting and withstanding significantly more damage, may have additional special attacks, and carry additional magic spells, allowing for Junctioning bonuses which themselves far exceed the bonuses imparted by level-gain. The game's unique EXP and level system allows a player to grind to maximum Level 100 before even beginning the plot, though this will result in far more powerful enemies.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: In addition to gaining levels, Guardian Forces earn Ability Points (AP) after battles, which are automatically allocated to special abilities that Guardian Forces can learn. When a Guardian Force has learned an ability, that ability becomes available for any character or the character party, as is the case with field abilities. These abilities allow characters to attack more efficiently, refine magic spells from items, receive stat bonuses upon leveling up, access shops remotely, and use additional battle commands.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Most of "Final Fantasy VIII" is set on an unnamed fantasy world. The setting is highly European in design and features a blend of modern and futuristic locales. The planet contains five major landmasses, with Esthar, the largest, covering most of the eastern portion of the map. Galbadia, the second-largest continent, lies to the west, and contains many of the game's locations. The northernmost landmass is Trabia, an Arctic region. Positioned roughly in the middle of the world map lies Balamb, the smallest continent, the island on which the game begins. The remaining landmass is small and mostly desolate, riddled with rough, rocky terrain caused by the impact of a "Lunar Cry", an event where monsters from the moon fall to the planet. The southernmost landmass includes an archipelago of broken sections of land that have drifted apart. Islands and marine structures flesh out the game world, and a handful of off-world locations round out the playable areas.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The six main protagonists of "Final Fantasy VIII" are: Squall Leonhart, a loner who avoids vulnerability by focusing on his duty; Rinoa Heartilly, an outspoken and passionate young woman who follows her heart; Quistis Trepe, an instructor with a serious, patient attitude; Zell Dincht, an energetic martial artist with a fondness for hot dogs; Selphie Tilmitt, a cheerful girl who loves trains and pilots the airship "Ragnarok"; and Irvine Kinneas, a marksman and consummate ladies' man. All but Rinoa are members of "SeeD", an elite military force based out of futuristic installations called Gardens. Temporarily playable characters include Laguna Loire, Kiros Seagill, and Ward Zabac, who appear in "flashback" sequences; SeeD cadet-turned-antagonist Seifer Almasy; and sorceress Edea Kramer. The main antagonist is Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future who wishes to compress time.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Squall and Seifer spar each other while training outside Balamb Garden. Meanwhile, the Republic of Galbadia invades the Dollet Dukedom, forcing Dollet to hire SeeD. The school uses the mission as a final exam for its cadets; with the help of his instructor, Quistis, Squall passes the mission's prerequisite and is grouped with Seifer and Zell. Selphie replaces Seifer mid-mission when the latter disobeys orders and abandons his team. SeeD halts the Galbadian advance; Squall, Zell, and Selphie graduate to SeeD status, but Seifer is disciplined for his disobedience. During the graduation party, Squall meets Rinoa, whose personality is the opposite of his. When assigned with Zell and Selphie to help Rinoa's resistance in Galbadian-occupied Timber, Squall learns that Sorceress Edea is behind Galbadia's recent hostilities. Under orders from Garden, Squall and his comrades—joined by Rinoa, Quistis, and Irvine—attempt to assassinate Edea. During the effort, Squall's party also learns that Seifer has left Garden to become Edea's second-in-command. Edea survives the attempt, stabs Squall in the shoulder with an ice shard, and detains the party.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: After Squall's party escapes, Edea destroys Trabia Garden in a retaliatory missile strike and prepares to attack Balamb Garden. Selphie delays the launch while Squall's team returns to Balamb Garden and activates its mobile functions to evade the missiles. Garden cannot be controlled, however, and it crashes into the docks at Fishermans' Horizon. While Garden is being repaired, Galbadia invades the town in search of a girl named Ellone, who had been staying at Balamb Garden. Before leaving, Ellone reveals that she has been "sending" Squall and his team into flashbacks set 17 years earlier in a vain effort to alter history. The scenes center on Laguna and his friends as he evolves from Galbadian soldier (where he shared a crush with Rinoa's future mother Julia) to village protector (where he served as caretaker to Ellone alongside a bartender named Raine) to leader of an Estharian resistance against Sorceress Adel. Ellone eventually escapes to Esthar, the world's technological superpower.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Meanwhile, Squall confronts his personal anxieties fueled by ongoing developments, such as Headmaster Cid appointing him as SeeD's new leader and his increasing attraction to Rinoa. Squall and his comrades learn that they, along with Seifer and Ellone, were all raised (except for Rinoa) in an orphanage run by Edea; after eventual separation, they later developed amnesia due to their use of Guardian Forces, except Irvine, who didn't use them. Cid and Edea had established Garden and SeeD primarily to defeat corrupt sorceresses. After these revelations, the forces of Balamb Garden defeat the Galbadian Army, led by Seifer, aboard Galbadia Garden. Edea is also defeated by SeeD; however, the party learns that Edea is merely an unwilling host for Ultimecia, who planned to use Ellone to help achieve time compression. Ultimecia transfers her powers to Rinoa; Edea survives, but Rinoa enters a coma. Squall travels to Esthar to find Ellone, as he believes that she can help save Rinoa.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: While Rinoa is being treated on Esthar's space station, Ultimecia uses her to free Adel from an orbital prison. Ultimecia then orders Seifer to activate the Lunatic Pandora facility, inciting a Lunar Cry that sends Adel's containment device to the planet. Having selected Adel as her next host, Ultimecia abandons Rinoa in outer space. Squall rescues her, and they return to the planet on a derelict starship and share a romantic moment; Ellone is captured by Galbadia shortly thereafter. After landing, the party encounters Laguna, now President of Esthar; he reveals Dr. Odine's plan to allow Ultimecia to cast time compression on their terms so that Ellone can send SeeD into Ultimecia's time period. At Lunatic Pandora, Squall's team defeats Seifer, rescues Ellone, and kills Adel; Ultimecia possesses Rinoa and begins casting time compression. Ellone sends Squall's team into Ultimecia's era, where she is defeated in a fierce battle before time compression can be fully achieved.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Squall, lost in time and space, witnesses the dying Ultimecia traveling back in time to pass her powers to Edea. Rinoa finds him unconscious, and they return together to their restored world and time. Seifer is reunited with his companions, Laguna and Ellone visit Raine's grave, and the SeeD celebrate their victory at Balamb Garden. Squall and Rinoa share a kiss under the moonlight.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Development of "Final Fantasy VIII" began in 1997, during the English-language translation of "Final Fantasy VII". As with much of the production of "Final Fantasy VII", series creator and veteran Hironobu Sakaguchi served as the executive producer, working primarily on the development of "" and leaving direction of "Final Fantasy VIII" to Yoshinori Kitase. Shinji Hashimoto was assigned to be the producer in Sakaguchi's place, while the game and battle system were designed by Kitase and Hiroyuki Ito, respectively. One of the development difficulties encountered was having three real-time characters exploring an environment at the same time. The card game Triple Triad was conceived and implemented by programmer Kentarow Yasui. The concept was derived from trading cards which is a popular hobby in some parts of Japan. Triple Triad was meant to keep the player's interest during long stretches without cutscenes. Originally, it was simply about collecting cards but Yasui considered this too disconnected from the main game and "begged" for the inclusion of an ability to transform cards into items. The game's total development costs were approximately or $30 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The staff consisted of about 180 people.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Following the turbulent development of "Final Fantasy VII", there was a shake-up of Square's localization process. "Final Fantasy VIII" was the first title to have extensive communication between the Japanese and North American teams during the process. Lead translator Richard Honeywood wrote a text parser that would automatically convert text from English ASCII to Shift JIS format required by the game engine's compiler, streamlining the translation process dramatically. The game was the first major project of Alexander O. Smith, who would later earn acclaim for his work on "Vagrant Story". Smith stated that due to a lack of communication with the development team, they were surprised that an IT employee used GameShark to access text files for localizing to Western audiences. The translation was finished by September 1999. The game's European release was delayed due to necessary graphical changes; the cited example was the removal of a Nazi-like uniform.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: From the beginning, Kitase knew he wanted a thematic combination of fantasy and realism. To this end, he aimed to include a cast of characters who appeared to be ordinary people. Character designer and battle visual director Tetsuya Nomura and art director Yusuke Naora strove to achieve this impression through the inclusion of realistically proportioned characters—a departure from the super deformed designs used in the previous title. Additionally, Naora attempted to enhance the realism of the world through predominantly bright lighting effects with shadows distributed as appropriate. Other measures taken included implementing rental cars for travel in-game, and the use of motion capture technology to give the game's characters lifelike movements in the game's full motion video sequences. The FMV sequences were created by a team of roughly 35 people, with the total cinematic run-time being estimated at over an hour, approximately 20 minutes longer than the FMV sequences in "VII". Motion capture was used to give a general realism to character movement, but the team favored manual animation over relying on motion capture. A major challenge was the technical advances made since the release of "VII", and the aim for more realistic characters. A major issue with the cutscenes was having real-time character models moving across environments within an FMV.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: In an interview with "Famitsu", Naora described that the game was generally designed to be a "bright, fresh "Final Fantasy"." The main reason was that the team had dealt extensively with dark and "weird" imagery with "VII". The designers felt a need to invert the atmosphere of previous games in the series, which had feelings of "light emerging from darkness". This decision was easy for the developers to make, because most of them had worked on "Final Fantasy VII" and felt that a new direction was acceptable. The world designs were also developed with the knowledge that most of the staff were now used to computer graphics, which was not the case with "Final Fantasy VII". The developers also noted that with "Final Fantasy VIII", they attempted to "mix future, real life and fantasy." As part of a theme desired by Kitase to give the game a foreign atmosphere, various designs were given to its locations using the style of internationally familiar places, while also maintaining a fantasy atmosphere. Inspiration ranged from ancient Egyptian and Greek architecture, to the city of Paris, France, to an idealized futuristic European society. Flags were also given to some factions, their designs based on the group's history and culture.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: To maintain a foreign atmosphere, the characters of the game were designed to have predominantly European appearances. The first "Final Fantasy VIII" character created was Squall. Desiring to add a unique angle to Squall's appearance and emphasize his role as the central character, Nomura gave him a scar across his brow and the bridge of his nose. As there was not yet a detailed history conceived for the character, Nomura left the explanation for Squall's scar to scenario writer Kazushige Nojima. Squall was given a gunblade, a fictional revolver–sword hybrid that functions primarily as a sword, with an added damaging vibration feature activated by use of its gun mechanism, similar to a vibroblade. His character design was complemented by a fur lining along the collar of his jacket, incorporated by Nomura as a challenge for the game's full motion video designers. Additionally, some designs Nomura had previously drawn, but had not yet used in a "Final Fantasy" game, were incorporated into "Final Fantasy VIII". These were the designs of Edea, Fujin and Raijin. The latter two had originally been designed for use in "Final Fantasy VII", but with the inclusion of the Turks characters in that game, it was felt that Fujin and Raijin were unnecessary. Nomura had designed Edea before the development of "Final Fantasy VII", based on the style of Yoshitaka Amano. For the Guardian Forces, Nomura felt they should be unique beings, without clothes or other human-like concepts. This was problematic, as he did not want them to "become the actual monsters", so he took great care in their design. Leviathan was the first GF, created as a test and included in a game demo. After it received a positive reaction from players, Nomura decided to create the remaining sequences in a similar fashion.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The plot of "Final Fantasy VIII" was conceived by Kitase, with the story and the characters provided by Nomura and the actual scenario written by Nojima. During the game's pre-production, Nomura suggested the game be given a "school days" feel. Nojima already had a story in mind in which the main characters were the same age; their ideas meshed, taking form as the "Garden" military academies. Nojima planned that the two playable parties featured in the game (Squall's present day group and Laguna's group from the past) would be highly contrasted with one another. This idea was conveyed through the age and experience of Laguna's group, versus the youth and naïveté of Squall's group. Nojima has expressed that the dynamic of players' relationships with the protagonist is important to him. Both "Final Fantasy VII" and "Final Fantasy VIII" feature reserved, quiet protagonists in the form of Cloud Strife and Squall. With "Final Fantasy VIII", however, Nojima worked to give players actual insight into what the character was thinking; a direct contrast with his handling of "Final Fantasy VII", which encouraged the player to speculate.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: In March 1999, one month after the game's release, "Final Fantasy VIII Ultimania" was published, a book that features an in-depth guide to "Final Fantasy VIII" and interviews with the developers. An origami book was released in November 1999. On September 22, 1999, a CD-ROM titled "Final Fantasy VIII Desktop Accessories" was released. It contains desktop icons, computer wallpapers, screensavers, and an e-mail application. It additionally features a stand-alone edition of the Triple Triad minigame, which allowed players to compete against one another via a local area network.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Also in 1999, the ballroom dance scene of "Final Fantasy VIII" was featured as a technical demo for the PlayStation 2. In 2000, a PC version was released for Windows. This port featured smoother graphics, enhanced audio, and the inclusion of "Chocobo World", a minigame starring Boko, a Chocobo featured in one of the side-quests in "Final Fantasy VIII". For most North American and European players, the PC version of the game was the only means of playing "Chocobo World", as the game was originally designed to be played via the PocketStation, a handheld console never released outside Japan. In 2009, "Final Fantasy VIII" was added to the PlayStation Store on the PlayStation Network.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: On December 18, 2012, the game was re-released as part of the "Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box" Japanese package. An upscaled PC version was announced on May 17, 2013, and released on Steam on December 5, 2013.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Regular series composer Nobuo Uematsu wrote the soundtrack for "Final Fantasy VIII". He tried to base the songs on the emotional content of the scenes in which they would be played, asserting that expressing the emotions he desired was more important than improving skills: "I think it will be a shame if we won't be able to cry as we play our own game". He could not determine a character's emotions solely based on the plot, instead using images of appearance and attire—"It's important to know when their emotions are at their height, but it usually takes until a month before release for them to finish the ending dialog...!" When IGN Music stated that the music of "Final Fantasy VIII" was very dark and perhaps influenced by the plot of the game, Uematsu said "the atmosphere of music varies depending on story line, of course, but it's also my intention to put various types of music into one game". The absence of character themes found in the previous two games was due to Uematsu finding those of "Final Fantasy VI" and "Final Fantasy VII" ineffective. Uematsu considers it reasonable to have character themes if each character has a "highlight" in the game, but he found "Final Fantasy VIII" only focused on Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly as a couple, resulting in the "Eyes on Me" theme.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The original soundtrack was released on four compact discs by DigiCube in Japan on March 10, 1999, and by Square EA in North America as "Final Fantasy VIII Music Collection" in January 2000. It was republished worldwide by Square Enix on May 10, 2004. An album of orchestral arrangements of selected tracks from the game was released under the title "Fithos Lusec Wecos Vinosec Final Fantasy VIII" on November 19, 1999, by DigiCube, and subsequently published on July 22, 2004, by Square Enix. The pieces were arranged and conducted by Shirō Hamaguchi for a live orchestra. A collection of piano arrangements performed by Shinko Ogata was released under the title "Piano Collections: Final Fantasy VIII" by DigiCube on January 21, 2000, and subsequently re-published by Square Enix on July 22, 2004.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The score is best known for two songs: "Liberi Fatali", a Latin choral piece that is played during the introduction to the game, and "Eyes On Me", a pop song serving as the game's theme, performed by Chinese singer Faye Wong. Near the end of the production of "Final Fantasy VII", the developers suggested to use a singer, but abandoned the idea due to a lack of reasoning based on the game's theme and storyline. However, Nobuo Uematsu thought a ballad would closely relate to the theme and characters of "Final Fantasy VIII". This resulted in the game's developers sharing "countless" artists, eventually deciding on Wong. Uematsu claims "her voice and mood seem to match my image of the song exactly", and that her ethnicity "fits the international image of Final Fantasy". After negotiations were made, "Eyes on Me" was recorded in Hong Kong with an orchestra. The song was released as a CD single in Japan and sold over 400,000 copies, setting the record for highest-selling video game music disc ever released in that country at the time. "Liberi Fatali" was played during the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens during the women's synchronized swimming event.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The music of "Final Fantasy VIII" has appeared in various official "Final Fantasy" concerts. These include 2002's "20020220 Music from FINAL FANTASY", in which the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra played "Liberi Fatali", "Don't Be Afraid", "Love Grows", and "The Man with the Machine Gun", the 2004 "Tour de Japon" series, which featured "The Oath", the "Dear Friends" series that began that same year and included "Liberi Fatali" and "Love Grows", and the 2005 "More Friends" concert, which included "Maybe I'm a Lion". More recent concerts include the "Voices – Music from Final Fantasy" 2006 concert showcasing "Liberi Fatali", "Fisherman's Horizon", and "Eyes on Me" and the international "Distant Worlds" concert tour that continues to date, which includes "Liberi Fatali", "Fisherman's Horizon", "Man with the Machine Gun", and "Love Grows". Several of these concerts have produced live albums as well. Music from the game has also been played in non "Final Fantasy"-specific concerts such as the "Play! A Video Game Symphony" world tour from 2006 onwards, for which Nobuo Uematsu composed the opening fanfare that accompanies each performance.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: A remastered version of "Final Fantasy VIII" was announced during Square Enix's E3 2019 press conference. The remaster, which features high definition graphics and improved character models, was produced in collaboration with Dotemu and Access Games, and released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows on September 3, 2019. It was later ported to iOS and Android, and released on March 24, 2021.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: "Final Fantasy VIII" received critical acclaim. In general, "Final Fantasy VIII" has been compared favorably to its predecessors. Though questioning the game's lack of voice overs for its characters, "Game Revolution" praised its storyline and ending. For their part, "Edge" labeled "Final Fantasy VIII" "a far more accomplished game than "FFVII"". On the other hand, the magazine also felt that the game's length left its story unable to "offer consistently strong dialogue and sub-plots". Additionally, it found some of the story's plot twists "not... suitably manipulated and prepared", leaving it "hard not to greet such... moments with anything but indifference". Overall, "Edge" considered "Final Fantasy VIII" to be "yet another outstanding edition of SquareSoft's far-from-final fantasies", summarizing it as "aesthetically astonishing, rarely less than compelling, and near peerless in scope and execution". "Electronic Gaming Monthly" offered similar comments, stating that the game's character development "is the best of any RPGs" and that ""Final Fantasy VIII" is the pinnacle of its genre."


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Jeff Lundrigan reviewed the PlayStation version of the game for "Next Generation", rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "A great game. But from Square, from whom we routinely expect brilliance, a merely great game is something of a letdown." Francis Hwang of "Spin" magazine praised the "brilliant-looking" cinematic visuals, stating the cutscenes rival "even the most major of major animated pictures" and stating the "combat scenes are filled with the same dramatic poses and dazzling, 70 mm explosions seen in such classics as "Akira" and "Dragonball Z"."


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: Reviews of the gameplay have been mixed. "IGN" felt that it was the weakest aspect of the game, citing its Guardian Force attack sequences as "incredibly cinematic" but tedious, sentiments echoed by "Electronic Gaming Monthly". They also regarded the battle system as intensely complicated, yet refreshingly innovative and something that "RPG fanatics love to obsess over". "Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine" claims that the game's Junction system is a major flaw due to repetitive stocking of spells, while the video game magazine "Edge" commented that the battle system consists of a "bewildering" number of intricate options and techniques that "most gamers will [...] relish". "GameSpot" praised the game's battle system, commenting that the "possibilities for customization [with the Junction system] are immense".


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The PC port received mixed reception. "Maximum PC" praised the full motion video sequences as "phenomenal", adding that while the gameplay took getting used to, they enjoyed the teamwork emphasized by it, and that the game's visual presentation added to its appeal. "GameSpy" stated that while the game was not a "huge leap forward" from the previous title, its gameplay and visual appeal worked for its benefit, though that on a computer the pre-rendered backgrounds appeared blurry and the controls at time difficult with a keyboard. "GameSpot" criticized the game for not taking advantage of the capabilities afforded to computers at the time, describing the PlayStation version as both looking and sounding superior, and recommending that the title was "not worth buying period" for the PC. UGO.com also described the port as inferior to its original counterpart, adding that its presentation was in turn detrimental to the reception the game received as a whole. "Computer Gaming World" praised some of the changes made to the game in light of previous titles and the inclusion of the Triple Triad sub-game, though heavily criticized the port as "lazy" and "disappointing", stating that it only served to emphasize the original game's flaws. Despite their complaints, they named it the twentieth-best game of 2000.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: It was a best-seller in Japan. It had more than pre-orders prior to release. The game set a single-day sales record, selling copies and grossing or $151 million (equivalent to $ million in ) in its first day of release. It sold approximately 2.57 million units in Japan within the first four days of release. Within two days of its North American release on September 9, 1999, "Final Fantasy VIII" became the top-selling video game in the United States, a position it held for more than three weeks. It sold more than units and grossed more than $50 million (equivalent to $ million in North America during the 13 weeks that followed, making it the fastest-selling "Final Fantasy" title. It was also a best-seller in the UK. In Europe, it grossed €26,549,294 or in 1999, adding up to more than $228 million (equivalent to $ million) grossed in Japan, North America and Europe during 1999.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: By the end of 1999, 6.08 million units were sold worldwide, including in Japan, in North America, and in Europe and other territories (including Australia, mainland East Asia, and Africa). Its sales had increased to units by early 2001. By March 2003, the game had shipped 8.15 million copies worldwide, including 3.7 million in Japan and 4.45 million abroad. By 2009, it had sold over 8.6 million copies on the PlayStation. According to Steam Spy, an estimated 703,000 digital copies of the PC version were sold on Steam by April 2018. By August 2019, worldwide sales were over 9.6 million units across all platforms.


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: The opening cut scene in "Final Fantasy VIII" was ranked second on "Game Informer"s list of "Top 10 Video Game Openings", and first by "IGN". "GameSpy" listed it as the 15th-best cinematic moment in video games. "IGN" named the game's ending the third best of any game for the PlayStation, while UGO.com named it one of the series' best and most memorable moments. "Final Fantasy VIII" was voted by readers of Japanese magazine "Famitsu" as the 22nd-best game of all time in 2006, and named one of the 20 essential Japanese role-playing games by "Gamasutra", stating "[t]here's a lot that "Final Fantasy VIII" does wrong, but there's even more that it does right".


title: Final Fantasy VIII

text: UGO.com stated that while no other game in the series had stirred the controversy that "Final Fantasy VIII" had and that it was flawed, "Final Fantasy VIII" was a "daring, groundbreaking game [...] decidedly the most original console-style RPG ever created". In 2002, "IGN" named it the seventh-best title for the PlayStation, placing higher on the list than "Final Fantasy VII"; the publication felt that "Final Fantasy VIII" improved on the strengths of its predecessor. Kat Bailey, writing for "1Up.com", noted "Final Fantasy VIII" as the first game in the "Final Fantasy" series which features a love story as the game's overarching theme, calling a daring choice and symbol of the video game medium's continued evolution as a form of storytelling, with numerous subsequent video games adopting romantic subplots to varying degrees of success.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp is a suite of subscription products that include SketchUp Pro Desktop, a 3D modeling Computer-Aided Design (CAD) program for a broad range of drawing and design applications — including architectural, interior design, industrial and product design, landscape architecture, civil and mechanical engineering, theater, film and video game development.


title: SketchUp

text: Owned by Trimble Inc., the program is currently available as a web-based application, "SketchUp Free", and three paid subscriptions, "SketchUp Shop, SketchUp" "Pro, and SketchUp Studio," each with increasing functionality.


title: SketchUp

text: The program includes drawing layout functionality, surface rendering in different "styles", and enables placement of its models within Google Earth.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp was developed by startup company @Last Software of Boulder, Colorado, co-founded in 1999 by Brad Schell and Joe Esch. SketchUp was created in August 2000 as a 3D content creation tool and was envisioned as a software program for design professionals. The program won a Community Choice Award at its first tradeshow in 2000. The first macOS release of SketchUp won a "Best of Show" at Macworld in 2002.


title: SketchUp

text: Google acquired @Last Software on March 14, 2006, attracted by @Last Software's work developing a plugin for Google Earth. On January 9, 2007, Google announced Google SketchUp 6, a free downloadable version of SketchUp, including integrated tools for uploading content to Google Earth and to the Google 3D Warehouse.


title: SketchUp

text: Google SketchUp Pro 6 introduced a beta version of Google SketchUp LayOut which includes 2D vector tools and page layout tools allowing presentations to be produced without the need for a separate presentation program.


title: SketchUp

text: On November 17, 2008, SketchUp 7 was released with integration of SketchUp's Component Browser with Google 3D Warehouse, LayOut 2 and dynamic components that respond to scaling.


title: SketchUp

text: On September 1, 2010, SketchUp 8 was released with model geolocation with Google Maps and Building Maker integration. Mac OS X Tiger was no longer supported. SketchUp version 8 use under Wine has been rated "Gold". Geolocation information is always stored in the KMZ file. The building designs themselves are saved in SKP.


title: SketchUp

text: Trimble Navigation (now Trimble Inc.) acquired SketchUp from Google on June 1, 2012 for an undisclosed sum. In 2013, SketchUp 2013 was released. A new site was provided, Extension Warehouse, hosting plugins and extensions for SketchUp.


title: SketchUp

text: Everything in the pro plus professional rendering via Chaos' V-Ray for SketchUp and point cloud import and management via Trimble's Scan Essentials.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp Pro subscription includes the eponymous desktop 3D modeler, plus importers and exporters to common 2D and 3D formats, access to SketchUp's repository of pre-built 3D models (3D Warehouse), access to its extension library (Extension Warehouse), access to LayOut (2D documentation software) and Style Builder (create custom edge styles for SketchUp models). SketchUp Pro 2016 has native integration with Trimble Connect, treat 3D Warehouse models as references, a rebuilt Generate Report and now LayOut offers web-friendly reference objects as well as a new LayOut API.


title: SketchUp

text: Go, formally known as Shop, is a SketchUp offering that includes the following: web and mobile modelers, SketchUp for Web and SketchUp for iPad; Trimble Connect Business, a cloud collaboration tool for viewing, sharing, and accessing project information from anywhere; and access to SketchUp's model library, 3D Warehouse.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp Go is aimed at design and construction professionals who are stakeholders in the design, review, and presentation process, as well as for DIY designers. It has a feature set designed to meet the specific needs of users on the go. For example, users can model and mark up 3D models digitally using Apple Pencil and touch. They can take iPad to construction project sites and coordinate in 3D. [Reference: https://www.sketchup.com/plans-and-pricing/sketchup-go] SketchUp Go does not include the desktop modeler, a downloadable application that can be used offline. Currently, only Pro and Studio plans feature this modeler.


title: SketchUp

text: In November 2017, SketchUp Free was released as a web-based application which replaces SketchUp Make. Drawings can be saved to the cloud, saved locally as a native SKP file, or exported as an STL file. Compared to Make, SketchUp Free does not support extensions, creation and editing of materials. The product is not for commercial use.


title: SketchUp

text: On June 4, 2020, Trimble announced that SketchUp would transition to a subscription business model. After November 4, 2020, SketchUp no longer sells perpetual licenses and maintenance & support plans.


title: SketchUp

text: 3D Warehouse is an open library in which SketchUp users may upload and download 3D models to share. The models can be downloaded right into the program without anything having to be saved onto your computer's storage. File sizes of the models can be up to 50 MB. Anyone can make, modify and re-upload content to and from the 3D warehouse free of charge. All the models in 3D Warehouse are free, so anyone can download files for use in SketchUp or even other software such as AutoCAD, Revit and ArchiCAD - all of which have apps allowing the retrieval of models from 3D Warehouse. Since 2014 Trimble has launched a new version of 3D Warehouse where companies may have an official page with their own 3D catalog of products. Trimble is currently investing in creating 3D developer partners in order to have more professionally modeled products available in 3D Warehouse. According to the Trimble, 3D Warehouse is the most popular 3D content site on the web. SketchUp designers may visit 3D Warehouse to discover new products or for inspiration when designing their own.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp 4 and later support software extensions written in the Ruby programming language, which add specialized functionality. Many such extensions are available to others on the Trimble Extension Warehouse and many other 3rd party websites as well. SketchUp has a Ruby console, an environment which allows experimentation with Ruby.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp Free, the web-based version, does not support extensions which severely limits the functionality of the tool.


title: SketchUp

text: SketchUp Viewer is an app released by Trimble. It is available on Desktop, iOS, Android, and Microsoft HoloLens. While the app is free to install and use on all platforms, AR and XR features use the freemium model.


title: SketchUp

text: Cubits for iPad and iOS is a 3D interactive model viewer/renderer. It can view .kmz files from SketchUp either as attachments through e-mail or via Dropbox.


title: SketchUp

text: Kubity — the first mixed reality multiplex, is a system to instantly visualize 3D models on multiple devices: desktop computers, smartphones, tablets, augmented reality gear and virtual reality glasses. They also developed rvt2skp, a free plugin to export any Revit project to a .skp file.


title: SketchUp

text: The Wild is a collaboration software program that allows architecture and design teams to experience their SketchUp models together in virtual and augmented reality.


title: SketchUp

text: It supports the following 3D modeling formats: .3DS, .DAE, .DEM, .DDF, .DXF, .DWG, .IFC (.IFCZIP), .KMZ, .STL, PDF (Mac Only).


title: Hell's Kitchen (American season 18)

text: The eighteenth season of the American competitive reality television series "Hell's Kitchen" (subtitled as Hell's Kitchen: Rookies vs. Veterans) premiered on Fox on September 28, 2018. Gordon Ramsay returned as host and head chef, and season 10 winner Christina Wilson and British "MasterChef" judge James "Jocky" Petrie returned as the red and blue sous chefs, respectively, alongside maître d'hôtel Marino Monferrato. This season featured eight new contestants battling eight returning veterans. For the first time, the winner of this season received a position as an executive chef at Gordon Ramsay Hell's Kitchen Restaurant at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Majdanek and Treblinka death camps.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: After the Grossaktion Warsaw of summer 1942, in which more than a quarter of a million Jews were deported from the ghetto to Treblinka and murdered, the remaining Jews began to build bunkers and smuggle weapons and explosives into the ghetto. The left-wing Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB) and right-wing Jewish Military Union (ŻZW) formed and began to train. A small resistance effort to another roundup in January 1943 was partially successful and spurred Polish resistance groups to support the Jews in earnest.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The uprising started on 19 April when the ghetto refused to surrender to the police commander SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop, who ordered the burning of the ghetto, block by block, ending on 16 May. A total of 13,000 Jews were killed, about half of them burnt alive or suffocated. German casualties were probably fewer than 150, with Stroop reporting 110 casualties [16 killed + 1 dead/93 wounded].


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The uprising was the largest single revolt by Jews during World War II. The Jews knew they couldn't win and that their survival was unlikely. Marek Edelman, the only surviving ŻOB commander, said their inspiration to fight was "not to allow the Germans alone to pick the time and place of our deaths". According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the uprising was "one of the most significant occurrences in the history of the Jewish people".


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: In 1939, German authorities began to concentrate Poland's population of over three million Jews into a number of extremely crowded ghettos located in large Polish cities. The largest of these, the Warsaw Ghetto, collected approximately 300,000–400,000 people into a densely packed, 3.3 km central area of Warsaw. Thousands of Jews died due to rampant disease and starvation under SS-und-Polizeiführer Odilo Globocnik and SS-Standartenführer Ludwig Hahn, even before the mass deportations from the ghetto to the Treblinka extermination camp began.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The SS conducted many of the deportations during the operation code-named "Grossaktion Warschau", between 23 July and 21 September 1942. Just before the operation began, the German "Resettlement Commissioner" SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle called a meeting of the Ghetto Jewish Council Judenrat and informed its leader, Adam Czerniaków, that he would require 7,000 Jews a day for the "resettlement to the East". Czerniaków committed suicide once he became aware of the true goal of the "resettlement" plan. Approximately 254,000–300,000 ghetto residents died at Treblinka (most murdered outright) during the two-month-long operation. The "Grossaktion" was directed by SS-Oberführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, the SS and police commander of the Warsaw area since 1941.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: He was relieved of duty by SS-und-Polizeiführer Jürgen Stroop, sent to Warsaw by Heinrich Himmler on 17 April 1943. Stroop took over from von Sammern-Frankenegg following the failure of the latter to pacify the ghetto resistance.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: When the deportations first began, members of the Jewish resistance movement met and decided not to fight the SS directives, believing that the Jews were being sent to labour camps and not to their deaths. But by the end of 1942, ghetto inhabitants learned that the deportations were part of an extermination process. Many of the remaining Jews decided to revolt. The first armed resistance in the ghetto occurred in January 1943.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: On 19 April 1943, Passover eve, the Germans entered the ghetto. The remaining Jews knew that the Germans would murder them and they decided to resist to the last. While the uprising was underway, the Bermuda Conference was held by the Allies from 19 to 29 April 1943 to discuss the Jewish refugee problem. Discussions included the question of Jewish refugees who had been liberated by Allied forces and those who still remained within German-occupied Europe.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: On 18 January 1943, the Germans began their second deportation of the Jews, which led to the first instance of armed insurgency within the ghetto. While Jewish families hid in their so-called "bunkers", fighters of the ŻZW, joined by elements of the ŻOB, resisted, engaging the Germans in direct clashes. Though the ŻZW and ŻOB suffered heavy losses (including some of their leaders), the Germans also took casualties, and the deportation was halted within a few days. Only 5,000 Jews were removed, instead of the 8,000 planned by Globocnik.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Hundreds of people in the Warsaw Ghetto were ready to fight, adults and children, sparsely armed with handguns, gasoline bottles, and a few other weapons that had been smuggled into the ghetto by resistance fighters. Most of the Jewish fighters did not view their actions as an effective measure by which to save themselves, but rather as a battle for the honour of the Jewish people, and a protest against the world's silence.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Two resistance organizations, the ŻZW and ŻOB, took control of the ghetto. They built dozens of fighting posts and executed a number of Nazi collaborators, including Jewish Ghetto Police officers, members of the fake (German-sponsored and controlled) resistance organization Żagiew, as well as Gestapo and Abwehr agents (including the alleged agent and Judenrat associate Dr Alfred Nossig, executed on 22 February 1943). The ŻOB established a prison to hold and execute traitors and collaborators. Józef Szeryński, former head of the Jewish Ghetto Police, committed suicide.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: On 19 April 1943, on the eve of Passover, the police and SS auxiliary forces entered the ghetto. They were planning to complete the deportation action within three days, but were ambushed by Jewish insurgents firing and tossing Molotov cocktails and hand grenades from alleyways, sewers, and windows. The Germans suffered 59 casualties and their advance bogged down. Two of their combat vehicles (an armed conversion of a French-made Lorraine 37L light armored vehicle and an armored car) were set on fire by the insurgents' petrol bombs.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Following von Sammern-Frankenegg's failure to contain the revolt, he lost his post as the SS and police commander of Warsaw. He was replaced by SS-Brigadeführer Jürgen Stroop, who rejected von Sammern-Frankenegg's proposal to call in bomber aircraft from Kraków. He led a better-organized and reinforced ground attack.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The longest-lasting defense of a position took place around the ŻZW stronghold at Muranowski Square, where the ŻZW chief leader, Dawid Moryc Apfelbaum, was killed in combat. On the afternoon of 19 April, a symbolic event took place when two boys climbed up on the roof of a building on the square and raised two flags, the red-and-white Polish flag and the blue-and-white banner of the ŻZW. These flags remained there, highly visible from the Warsaw streets, for four days.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: During this fight on 22 April, SS officer Hans Dehmke was killed when gunfire detonated a hand grenade he was holding. When Stroop's ultimatum to surrender was rejected by the defenders, his forces resorted to systematically burning houses block by block using flamethrowers and fire bottles, and blowing up basements and sewers. "We were beaten by the flames, not the Germans," survivor Marek Edelman said in 2007; he was deputy commander of the ŻOB and escaped the ghetto in its last days. In 2003, he recalled: "The sea of flames flooded houses and courtyards. ... There was no air, only black, choking smoke and heavy burning heat radiating from the red-hot walls, from the glowing stone stairs." The "bunker wars" lasted an entire month, during which German progress was slowed.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: While the battle continued inside the ghetto, Polish resistance groups AK and GL engaged the Germans between 19 and 23 April at six different locations outside the ghetto walls, firing at German sentries and positions. In one attack, three units of the AK under the command of Captain Józef Pszenny ("Chwacki") joined up in a failed attempt to breach the ghetto walls with explosives. Eventually, the ŻZW lost all of its commanders. On 29 April, the remaining fighters from the organization escaped the ghetto through the Muranowski tunnel and relocated to the Michalin forest. This event marked the end of significant fighting.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: At this point, organized defense collapsed. Surviving fighters and thousands of remaining Jewish civilians took cover in the sewer system and in the many dugout hiding places hidden among the ruins of the ghetto, referred to as "bunkers" by Germans and Jews alike. The Germans used dogs to detect such hideouts, then usually dropped smoke bombs to force people out. Sometimes they flooded these so-called bunkers or destroyed them with explosives. On occasions, shootouts occurred. A number of captured fighters lobbed hidden grenades or fired concealed handguns after surrendering. There were also clashes at night between small groups of insurgents and German patrols at night.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: On 8 May, the Germans discovered a large dugout located at Miła 18 Street, which served as ŻOB's main command post. Most of the organization's remaining leadership and dozens of others committed mass suicide by ingesting cyanide, including Mordechaj Anielewicz, the chief commander of ŻOB. His deputy Marek Edelman escaped the ghetto through the sewers with a handful of comrades two days later.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: On 10 May, Szmul Zygielbojm, a Bundist member of the Polish government in exile, committed suicide in London to protest the lack of action on behalf of the Jews by the Allied governments. In his farewell note, he wrote:


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Besides claiming an estimated 56,065 Jews accounted for (although his own figures showed the number to be 57,065) and noting that "The number of destroyed dug-outs amounts to 631," in his official report dated 24 May 1943, Stroop listed the following as captured booty:


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Sporadic resistance continued and the last skirmish took place on 5 June 1943 between Germans and a holdout group of armed Jews without connections to the resistance organizations.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: 13,000 Jews were killed in the ghetto during the uprising (some 6,000 among them were burnt alive or died from smoke inhalation). Of the remaining 50,000 residents, almost all were captured and shipped to the death camps of Majdanek and Treblinka.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: According to the casualty lists in Stroop's report, German forces suffered a total of 110 casualties – 17 dead (of whom 16 were killed in action) and 93 injured – of whom 101 are listed by name, including over 60 members of the Waffen-SS. These figures did not include Jewish collaborators, but did include the "Trawniki men" and Polish police under his command. The real number of German losses, however, may be well higher. Edelman estimated German casualties at about 300 killed and wounded. For propaganda purposes, the official announcement claimed the German casualties to be only a few wounded, while propaganda bulletins of the Polish Underground State announced that hundreds of occupiers had been killed in the fighting.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: According to Israel Gutman, "the number cited by Stroop (16 dead, 85 wounded) cannot be rejected out of hand, but it is likely that his list was neither complete, free of errors, nor indicative of the German losses throughout the entire period of resistance, until the absolute liquidation of Jewish life in the ghetto. All the same, the German casualty figures cited by the various Jewish sources are probably highly exaggerated." Other historians such as Raul Hilberg and French L. MacLean more or less endorsed the accuracy of official German casualty figures.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: German daily losses of killed/wounded and the official figures for killed or captured Jews and "bandits", according to the Stroop report:


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: After the uprising was over, most of the incinerated houses were razed, and the Warsaw concentration camp complex was established in their place. Thousands of people died in the camp or were executed in the ruins of the ghetto. At the same time, the SS were hunting down the remaining Jews still hiding in the ruins. On 19 April 1943, the first day of the most significant period of the resistance, 7,000 Jews were transported from the Warsaw Ghetto to Treblinka extermination camp. Many purportedly developed resistance groups, and helped to plan and execute the revolt and mass escape of 2 August 1943.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Both open and secret executions carried out in Warsaw were repeatedly led by SS-Obersturmführer Norbert Bergh-Trips, SS-Haupturmführer Paul Werner and SS-Obersturmführer Walter Witossek. The latter often presided over the police "trio", signing mass death sentences for Polish political prisoners, which were later pronounced by the ad hoc court of the security police.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: In October 1943, Bürkl was tried and condemned to death "in absentia" by the Polish Resistance's Underground court, and shot dead by the AK in Warsaw, a part of Operation Heads that targeted notorious SS officers. That same month, von Sammern-Frankenegg was killed by Yugoslav Partisans in an ambush in Croatia. Himmler, Globocnik and Krüger all committed suicide at the end of the war in Europe in May 1945.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The General Government Governor of Warsaw at the time of the Uprising, Dr. Ludwig Fischer, was tried and executed in 1947. Stroop was captured by Americans in Germany, convicted of war crimes in two different trials (U.S. military and Polish), and executed by hanging in Poland in 1952, along with Warsaw Ghetto SS administrator Franz Konrad. Stroop's aide, Erich Steidtmann, was exonerated for "minimal involvement"; he died in 2010 while under investigation for war crimes. Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle who helped carry out the July 1942 Grossaktion Warsaw committed suicide after being arrested in 1962. Walter Bellwidt, who commanded a Waffen-SS battalion among Stroop forces, died on 13 October 1965. Hahn went into hiding until 1975, when he was apprehended and sentenced to life for crimes against humanity; he served eight years and died in 1986. SS Oberführer Arpad Wigand who served with von Sammern-Frankenberg as SS and Police Leader in Warsaw from 4 August 1941 to 23 April 1943 was tried for war crimes in Hamburg Germany in 1981 and sentenced to 12.5 years in prison; died 26 July 1983. Walter Reder reportedly served in the SS Panzer Grenadier Training Battalion III; he served a jail sentence in Italy from 1951 to 1985 for war crimes committed in 1944 in Italy, and died in 1991. Josef Blösche was tried for war crimes and executed in 1969. Heinrich Klaustermeyer was tried for war crimes in 1965 and sentenced to life in prison. In 1976, he was released from prison on the grounds of his advanced cancer, and died 13 days later.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943 took place over a year before the Warsaw uprising of 1944. The ghetto had been totally destroyed by the time of the general uprising in the city, which was part of the Operation Tempest, a nationwide insurrection plan. During the Warsaw Uprising, the Polish Home Army's Battalion Zośka was able to rescue 380 Jewish prisoners (mostly foreign) held in the concentration camp "Gęsiówka" set up by the Germans in an area adjacent to the ruins of former ghetto. These prisoners had been brought from Auschwitz and forced to clear the remains of the ghetto. A few small groups of ghetto residents also managed to survive in the undetected "bunkers" and to eventually reach the "Aryan side". In all, several hundred survivors from the first uprising took part in the later uprising (mostly in non-combat roles such as logistics and maintenance, due to their physical state and general shortage of arms), joining the ranks of the Polish Home Army and the Armia Ludowa. According to Samuel Krakowski from the Jewish Historical Institute, "The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising had a real influence ... in encouraging the activity of the Polish underground."


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: A number of survivors of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, known as the "Ghetto Fighters", went on to found the kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta'ot (literally: "Ghetto Fighters'"), which is located north of Acre, Israel. The founding members of the kibbutz include Yitzhak Zuckerman (Icchak Cukierman), who represented the ŻOB on the 'Aryan' side, and his wife Zivia Lubetkin, who commanded a fighting unit. In 1984, members of the kibbutz published "Daphei Edut" ("Testimonies of Survival"), four volumes of personal testimonies from 96 kibbutz members. The settlement features a museum and archives dedicated to remembering the Holocaust. Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz just north of the Gaza Strip, was named after Mordechaj Anielewicz. In 2008, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi led a group of Israeli officials to the site of the uprising and spoke about the event's "importance for IDF combat soldiers".


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: In 1968, the 25th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Zuckerman was asked what military lessons could be learned from the uprising. He replied:


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: On 7 December 1970, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt spontaneously knelt while visiting the Monument to the Ghetto Heroes memorial in the People's Republic of Poland. At the time, the action surprised many and was the focus of controversy, but it has since been credited with helping improve relations between the NATO and Warsaw Pact countries.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The last surviving Jewish resistance fighter, Simcha Rotem, died in Jerusalem on 22 December 2018, at age 94.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Two Jewish underground organisations fought in the Warsaw Uprising: the left wing Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ŻOB) founded in July 1942 by Zionist Jewish youth groups within the Warsaw Ghetto; and the right wing Żydowski Związek Wojskowy (ŻZW), or Jewish Military Union, a national organization founded in 1939 by former Polish military officers of Jewish background which had strong ties to the Polish Home Army, and cells in almost every major town across Poland. However both organisations were officially incorporated into the Polish Home Army and its command structure in exchange for weapons and training.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Marek Edelman, who was the only surviving uprising commander from the left-wing ŻOB, stated that the ŻOB had 220 fighters and each was armed with a handgun, grenades, and Molotov cocktails. His organization had three rifles in each area, as well as two land mines and one submachine gun. Due to its socialist leanings, the Soviets and Israel promoted the actions of ŻOB as the dominant or only party in the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, a view often adopted by secondary sources in the West.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The right-wing faction ŻZW, which was founded by former Polish officers, was larger, more established and had closer ties with the Polish resistance, making it better equipped. Zimmerman describes the arms supplies for the uprising as "limited but real". Specifically, Jewish fighters of the ŻZW received from the Polish Home Army: 2 heavy machine guns, 4 light machine guns, 21 submachine guns, 30 rifles, 50 pistols, and over 400 grenades for the uprising. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, ŻZW is reported to have had about 400 well-armed fighters grouped in 11 units, with 4 units including fighters from the Polish Home Army. Due to the ŻZW's anti-socialist stand and close ties with the Polish Home Army (which was subsequently outlawed by the Soviets), the Soviets suppressed publication of books and articles on ŻZW after the war and downplayed its role in the uprising, in favor of the more socialist ŻOB. The initially highly Socialist Israel did likewise thus hardly anyone heard of the ŻZW and its leaders. Also, the 1950s best selling American novel Mila 18 by Leon Uris presented the ŻOB.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: More weapons were supplied throughout the uprising, and some were captured from the Germans. Some weapons were handmade by the resistance; sometimes such weapons worked, other times they jammed repeatedly.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Shortly before the uprising, Polish-Jewish historian Emanuel Ringelblum (who managed to escape from the Warsaw Ghetto, but was later discovered and executed in 1944) visited a ŻZW armoury hidden in the basement at 7 Muranowska Street. In his notes, which form part of Oneg Shabbat archives, he reported:


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: They were armed with revolvers stuck in their belts. Different kinds of weapons were hung in the large rooms: light machine guns, rifles, revolvers of different kinds, hand grenades, bags of ammunition, German uniforms, etc., all of which were utilized to the full in the April "action". (...) While I was there, a purchase of arms was made from a former Polish Army officer, amounting to a quarter of a million zloty; a sum of 50,000 zlotys was paid on account. Two machine guns were bought at 40,000 złoty each, and a large amount of hand grenades and bombs.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Due to the nature of the conflict and that it took place within the confines of German-guarded Warsaw Ghetto, the role of the Polish Home Army was primarily one of ancillary support; namely, the provision of arms, ammunition and training. Although the Home Army's stocks were meager, and general provision of arms limited, the right-wing ŻZW received significant quantities of armaments, including some heavy and light machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, pistols and grenades.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: According to Marian Fuks, the Ghetto uprising would not have been possible without assistance from the Polish Resistance. Before the uprising started, the most important aid from the Polish resistance to the Jewish resistance took part of weapon smuggling and delivery. Some of the earliest weapons delivered to the ghetto in mid-1942 came from the communist Gwardia Ludowa group, which in August 1942 provided Jewish resistance with 9 pistols and 5 hand grenades'. Antoni Chruściel, commander of the Home Army in Warsaw, ordered the entire armory of the Wola district transferred to the ghetto. In January 1943 the Home Army delivered a larger shipment 50 pistols, 50 hand grenades' and several kilograms of explosives, and together with a number of smaller shipments transferred around that time a total of 70 pistols, 10 rifles, 2 hand machine guns, 1 light machine gun, as well as ammunition and over 150 kilograms of explosives. Acquisition of weapons was supported from both Jewish and Polish funds, including those of Żegota. The Home Army also provided intelligence on German movements, connected Jewish resistance to some black market channels, and provided planning assistance for plans to defend the ghetto and safeguard the refugees. Home Army also disseminated information and appeals to help the Jews in the ghetto, both in Poland and by way of radio transmissions to the Allies, which fell largely on deaf ears.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: During the uprising, units from the Polish Home Army and the communist Gwardia Ludowa attacked German units near the ghetto walls and attempted to smuggle weapons, ammunition, supplies, and instructions into the ghetto. The command of the Home Army ordered its sabotage units, Kedyw, to carry a series of actions around the walls against the German units under the code name Ghetto Action. A failed attempt to breach the ghetto walls on 19 April has been described as "one of the first large-scale battles carried out by the Home Army's Warsaw division.". Between 19 and 23 April 1943, the Polish resistance engaged the Germans at six different locations outside the ghetto walls, shooting at German sentries and positions and in one case attempting to blow up a gate. Overall, Home Army conduced seven total operations in support of the uprising. Following two unsuccessful attempt to breach the wall, the other operations focused on harassing Germans and their auxiliaries, inflicting a number of casualies. A National Security Corps unit commanded by Henryk Iwański ("Bystry") reportedly fought inside the ghetto along with ŻZW and subsequently both groups retreated together (including 34 Jewish fighters) to the Aryan side, however later research cast doubts on the veracity of Iwański's claims. Several ŻOB commanders and fighters also later escaped through the tunnels with assistance from the Poles and joined the Polish underground (Home Army).


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The failure to break through German defenses limited supplies to the ghetto, which was otherwise cut off from the outside world by a German-ordered blockade. Despite Polish fighters joining the struggle, some survivors criticized gentile Poles for not providing sufficient support; for example in her book "On Both Sides of the Wall", Vladka Meed, who was a member of the left-wing ŻOB, devoted a chapter to the insufficient support from the Polish resistance. The Home Army faced a number of dilemmas which resulted in it providing only a limited assistance to the Jewish resistance; those include the fact that it had very limited supplies and was unable to arm its own troops; the view (shared by most of the Jewish reistance) that any wide-scale uprising in 1943 would be premature and futile; and the difficulty to coordinate with the internally divided Jewish resistance, coupled with the pro-Soviet attitude of the ŻOB. Records confirm that the leftist ŻOB received less weaponry and support from the Polish Home Army, unlike the ŻZW with whom the Home Army had close ties and ideological similarities.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Ultimately, the efforts of the Jewish resistance fighters proved insufficient against the German occupation system. According to Hanna Krall, the German task force dispatched to put down the revolt and complete the deportation action numbered 2,090 men armed with a number of minethrowers and other light and medium artillery pieces, several armored vehicles, and more than 200 machine and submachine guns. Its backbone consisted of 821 Waffen-SS paramilitary soldiers from five SS Panzergrenadier reserve and training battalions and one SS cavalry reserve and training battalion. The other forces were drawn from the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) order police (battalions from the 22nd and 23rd regiments), Warsaw personnel of the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) intelligence service, one battalion each from two Wehrmacht (Heer) railroad combat engineers regiments, a Wehrmacht battery of anti-aircraft artillery, a detachment of multinational (commonly but inaccurately referred to by the Germans and Jews alike as "Ukrainians") ex-Soviet POW "Trawniki-Männer" auxiliary camp guards trained by the SS-Totenkopfverbände at Trawniki concentration camp, and technical emergency corps.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: Several Gestapo jailers from the nearby political prison Pawiak, led by Franz Bürkl, volunteered to join the "hunt" for the Jews. A force of 363 officers from the Polish Police of the General Government (so-called Blue Police) was ordered by the Germans to cordon the walls of the ghetto. Warsaw fire department personnel were also forced to help in the operation. Jewish policemen were used in the first phase of the ghetto's liquidation and subsequently summarily executed by the Gestapo.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: I had two battalions of Waffen-SS, one hundred army men, units of Order Police, and seventy-five to a hundred Security Police people. The Security Police had been active in the Warsaw Ghetto for some time, and during this program it was their function to accompany SS units in groups of six or eight, as guides and experts in ghetto matters.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: By his own words, Stroop reported that after he took command on 19 April 1943, the forces at his disposal totaled 31 officers and 1,262 men:


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: His casualty lists also include members of four other Waffen-SS training and reserve units (1st SS Panzer Grenadier; 2nd SS Panzer Grenadier; 4th SS Panzer Grenadier; 5th SS Panzer Grenadier Training Battalions). Polish police came from the Kommissariarts 1st, 7th and 8th. There is also evidence that German Police of the SSPF of Lubin took part in the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto Jews, as did the I Battalion of the 17th SS Police Regiment.


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The uprising is the subject of numerous works, in multiple media, such as Aleksander Ford's film "Border Street" (1948), John Hersey's novel "The Wall" (1950), Leon Uris' novel "Mila 18" (1961), Jack P. Eisner's autobiography "The Survivor" (1980), Andrzej Wajda's films "A Generation" (1955), "Samson" (1961), "Holy Week" (1995) and Jon Avnet's film "Uprising" (2001).


title: Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

text: The photograph of a boy surrendering outside a bunker, with Trawniki with submachine guns in the background, became one of the best-known photographs of World War II and the Holocaust: He is said to represent all 6 million Jewish Holocaust victims.


title: Mary Rose

text: The Mary Rose (launched 1511) is a carrack-type warship of the English Tudor navy of King Henry VIII. She served for 33 years in several wars against France, Scotland, and Brittany. After being substantially rebuilt in 1536, she saw her last action on 1545. She led the attack on the galleys of a French invasion fleet, but sank in the Solent, the strait north of the Isle of Wight.


title: Mary Rose

text: The wreck of the "Mary Rose" was located in 1971 and was raised on 11 October 1982 by the Mary Rose Trust in one of the most complex and expensive maritime salvage projects in history. The surviving section of the ship and thousands of recovered artefacts are of great value as a Tudor period time capsule. The excavation and raising of the "Mary Rose" was a milestone in the field of maritime archaeology, comparable in complexity and cost to the raising of the 17th-century Swedish warship "Vasa" in 1961. The "Mary Rose" site is designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 by statutory instrument 1974/55. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.