title: The Exploited

text: In the 2007 documentary "Punk's Not Dead", both Wattie and Wullie Buchan are interviewed. They are the only two native speakers in the documentary to be given subtitles, as many North Americans struggle to understand the Scots language used.


title: The Exploited

text: The Exploited has been categorised as crossover thrash, punk rock, thrash metal, speed metal, punk metal, anarchist punk, street punk and Originally playing street punk and oi!, the Exploited became a crossover thrash band with their album "Death Before Dishonour". The Exploited's influences include Sex Pistols, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, the Vibrators, the Threats, Alternative, the Belsen Horrors, and Johnny Moped. Wattie Buchan also mentioned being influenced by James Brown and he likes The Cure's first four albums.


title: The Exploited

text: The Exploited have been controversial for their aggressive lyrics and rowdy gigs. They were considered "cartoon punks" by Ian Glasper. Glasper wrote: "For many, the Exploited were the quintessential second wave punk band with their senses-searing high-speed outbursts against the system, and wild-eyed frontman Walter 'Wattie' Buchan's archetypal orange mohican."


title: The Exploited

text: The Exploited are known for their lyrics about anarchy, politics and anti-authority. In a 1983 interview, the Exploited said that they were not a political band, but their lyrics became political in the late 1980s and Wattie Buchan said in the documentary "Punk's Not Dead" that punk is defined by its politics. As a band with lyrics that have anarchist themes, the Exploited's vocalist Wattie Buchan describes himself as an anarchist and openly hates politics. The Exploited have made songs about former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and have expressed a disdainful view towards Thatcher. The Exploited's song "Maggie", a song from the band's album "Horror Epics", is about Thatcher. The Exploited's third studio album, "Let's Start a War... (Said Maggie One Day)", focuses on Margaret Thatcher and the Falklands War. Other topics of the album are police-driven riots, war, unemployment and hopelessness. Many songs from the mid-'80s focus on the threat of nuclear war.


title: The Exploited

text: The fans of the Exploited were nicknamed "the Barmy Army". During the rivalry between the Exploited and Conflict, there were occasional clashes with fans of Conflict, known as "the Conflict Crew". In addition to the anti-social behaviour of the band and some of their fans, the Exploited would often pull out of gigs at short notice in the 1980s, which led many venues to refuse to work with them. After the 1981 Southall riot, Oi! bands in general became associated with racism, and the Exploited were sometimes believed to be a racist band because of Wattie's swastika tattoo, an incident in the early '80s where Wattie fought with a group of Asians in a cafe and in 1985 when "Deptford John" joined from the skinhead band Combat 84. The band has denied all accusations of racism.


title: The Exploited

text: As of August 2017, the band's website contains a history of the band that mentions some of the problems that have accompanied their gigs, such as a riot after a gig at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park, London when the Jam were playing nearby and Wattie incited the fans to attack the Mods, and having declared onstage in Argentina that the Falkland Islands are British forever. George Same has written about the fighting after the Finsbury Park gig in his book on modern music, "Backward Moddy Boy". In a documentary about the band, former manager Gem Howard said that he would often sneak the band out of hotels late, as they would often vandalise the hotel and steal everything that they could from the rooms.


title: Iodised salt

text: Iodised salt (also spelled iodized salt) is table salt mixed with a minute amount of various salts of the element iodine. The ingestion of iodine prevents iodine deficiency. Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects about two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities. Deficiency also causes thyroid gland problems, including endemic goitre. In many countries, iodine deficiency is a major public health problem that can be cheaply addressed by purposely adding small amounts of iodine to the sodium chloride salt.


title: Iodised salt

text: Iodine is a micronutrient and dietary mineral that is naturally present in the food supply in some regions, especially near sea coasts but is generally quite rare in the Earth's crust since iodine is a so-called heavy element, and abundance of chemical elements generally declines with greater atomic mass. Where natural levels of iodine in the soil are low and the iodine is not taken up by vegetables, iodine added to salt provides the small but essential amount of iodine needed by humans.


title: Iodised salt

text: An opened package of table salt with iodide may rapidly lose its iodine content in high temperature and high relative humidity conditions through the process of oxidation and iodine sublimation.


title: Iodised salt

text: Four inorganic compounds are used as iodide sources, depending on the producer: potassium iodate, potassium iodide, sodium iodate, and sodium iodide. Any of these compounds supplies the body with its iodine required for the biosynthesis of thyroxine (T) and triiodothyronine (T) hormones by the thyroid gland. Animals also benefit from iodine supplements, and the hydrogen iodide derivative of ethylenediamine is the main supplement to livestock feed.


title: Iodised salt

text: Salt is an effective vehicle for distributing iodine to the public because it does not spoil and is consumed in more predictable amounts than most other commodities. For example, the concentration of iodine in salt has gradually increased in Switzerland: 3.75 mg/kg in 1952, 7.5 mg/kg in 1962, 15 mg/kg in 1980, 20 mg/kg in 1998, and 25 mg/kg in 2014. These increases were found to improve iodine status in the general Swiss population.


title: Iodised salt

text: Edible salt can be iodised by spraying it with a potassium iodate or potassium iodide solution. 57 grams of potassium iodate, costing about US$1.15 (in 2006), is required to iodise a ton (2,000 pounds) of salt. Dextrose is added as a stabilizer to prevent potassium iodide from oxidizing and evaporating. Anti-caking agents such as calcium silicate are commonly added to table salt to prevent clumping.


title: Iodised salt

text: Worldwide, iodine deficiency affects two billion people and is the leading preventable cause of intellectual and developmental disabilities. According to public health experts, iodisation of salt may be the world's simplest and most cost-effective measure available to improve health, only costing US$0.05 per person per year. At the World Summit for Children in


title: Iodised salt

text: 1990, a goal was set to eliminate iodine deficiency by 2000. At that time, 25% of households consumed iodised salt, a proportion that increased to 66% by 2006.


title: Iodised salt

text: Salt producers are often, although not always, supportive of government initiatives to iodize edible salt supplies. Opposition to iodization comes from small salt producers who are concerned about the added expense, private makers of iodine pills, concerns about promoting salt intake, and unfounded rumors that iodization causes AIDS or other illnesses.


title: Iodised salt

text: The United States Food and Drug Administration recommends 150 micrograms (0.15 mg) of iodine per day for adults.


title: Iodised salt

text: In the end of eighties of last century, a Syrian endocrinologist Samir Ouaess conducted a research on hypothyroidism and noticed that 90 percent of Syrians suffer from hypothyroidism, 50 percent suffer from health problems as a result of Thyroid deficiency, and 10 percent of students suffer from a decline in their academic level due to that problem. Dr. Ouaess linked these results with the fact that natural drinking water sources in Syria do not contain enough minerals. He presented the result of that study to the Syrian Ministry of Health. After that, adding iodine to salt became almost mandatory till 2021, when the Syrian government canceled the iodization of salt and as a result of economic problems related to economic sanctions.


title: Iodised salt

text: Australian children were identified as being iodine deficient in a survey conducted between 2003 and 2004. As a result of this study the Australian Government mandated that all bread with the exception of "organic" bread must use iodised salt. There remains concern that this initiative is not sufficient for pregnant and lactating women.


title: Iodised salt

text: Iodine Deficiency Disorders were detected as a major public health issue by Brazilian authorities in the 1950s when about 20% of the population had a goitre. The National Agency for Sanitary Vigilance (ANVISA) is responsible for setting the mandatory iodine content of table salt. The Brazilian diet averages 12 g of table salt per day, more than twice the recommended value of 5 g a day. To avoid excess consumption of iodine, the iodizing of Brazilian table salt was reduced to 15–45  mg/kg in July 2013. Specialists criticized the move, saying that it would be better for the government to promote reduced salt intake, which would solve the iodine problem as well as reduce the incidence of high blood pressure.


title: Iodised salt

text: Salt sold to consumers in Canada for table and household use must be iodized with 0.01% potassium iodide. Sea salt and salt sold for other purposes, such as pickling, may be sold uniodized.


title: Iodised salt

text: Much of the Chinese population lives inland, far from sources of dietary iodine. In 1996, the Chinese Ministry of Public Health estimated that iodine deficiency was responsible for 10 million cases of intellectual developmental disorders in China. Chinese governments have held a legal monopoly on salt production since 119 BCE and began iodizing salt in the 1960s, but market reforms in the 1980s led to widespread smuggling of non-iodized salt from private producers. In the inland province of Ningxia, only 20% of salt consumed was sold by the China National Salt Industry Corporation. The Chinese government responded by cracking down on smuggled salt, establishing salt police with 25,000 officers to enforce the salt monopoly. Consumption of iodized salt reached 90% of the Chinese population by 2000.


title: Iodised salt

text: India and all of its states ban the sale of non-iodized salt for human consumption. However, implementation and enforcement of this policy are imperfect; a 2009 survey found that 9% of households used non-iodized salt and that another 20% used insufficiently iodized salt.


title: Iodised salt

text: Iodised salt was introduced to India in the late 1950s. Public awareness was increased by special programs and initiatives, both governmental and nongovernmental. As of now, iodine deficiency is only present in a few isolated regions which are still unreachable. In India, some people use Himalayan rock salt. Rock salt however is low in iodine and should be consumed only when there are other iodine-rich foods in diet.


title: Iodised salt

text: Kazakhstan, a country in Central Eurasia in which local food supplies seldom contain sufficient iodine, has drastically reduced iodine deficiency through salt iodization programs. Campaigns by the government and non-profit organizations to educate the public about the benefits of iodized salt began in the mid-1990s, with iodization of edible salt becoming legally mandatory in 2002.


title: Iodised salt

text: The Salt Trading Corporation has been distributing Iodized Salt in Nepal since 1963. 98% of the Population uses Iodized Salt. Utilising non-Iodised salt for human consumption is prohibited. Salt costs about US$0.27 a Kilo.


title: Iodised salt

text: On December 20, 1995, Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos signed Republic Act 8172: An Act for Salt Iodization Nationwide (ASIN).


title: Iodised salt

text: According to the 568/2002 law signed by the Romanian parliament and republished in 2009, since 2002 iodized salt is distributed mandatory in the whole country. It is used mandatory on the market for household consumption, in bakeries, and for pregnant women. Iodised salt is optional though for animal consumption and the food industry, although widely used. The salt iodization process has to assure a minimum of 30mg iodine/kg of salt.


title: Iodised salt

text: The South African government instructed that all salt for sale was to be iodised after December 12, 1995.


title: Iodised salt

text: In the U.S. in the early 20th century, goitres were especially prevalent in the region around the Great Lakes and the Pacific Northwest. David Murray Cowie, a professor of paediatrics at the University of Michigan, led the U.S. to adopt the Swiss practice of adding sodium iodide or potassium iodide to table and cooking salt. On May 1, 1924, iodised salt was sold commercially in Michigan. By the fall of 1924, Morton Salt Company began distributing iodised salt nationally.


title: Iodised salt

text: A 2017 study found that the introduction of iodized salt in 1924 raised the IQ for the one-quarter of the population most deficient in iodine. These findings "can explain roughly one decade's worth of the upward trend in IQ in the United States (the Flynn effect)". The study also found "a large increase in thyroid-related deaths following the countrywide adoption of iodized salt, which affected mostly older individuals in localities with high prevalence of iodine deficiency". A 2013 study found a gradual increase in average intelligence of 1 standard deviation, 15 points in iodine-deficient areas and 3.5 points nationally after the introduction of iodized salt.


title: Iodised salt

text: A 2018 paper found that the nationwide distribution of iodine-fortified salt increased incomes by 11%, labor force participation by 0.68 percentage points and full-time work by 0.9 percentage points. According to the study, "These impacts were largely driven by changes in the economic outcomes of young women. In later adulthood, both men and women had higher family incomes due to iodization."


title: Iodised salt

text: In contrast to table salt, which often contains iodide as well as anti-caking ingredients, special canning and pickling salt is made for producing the brine to be used in pickling vegetables and other foodstuffs. Contrary to popular belief, however, iodized salt affects neither color, taste, nor consistency of pickles.


title: Iodised salt

text: Salt can also be double-fortified with iron and iodine. The iron is microencapsulated with stearin to prevent it from reacting with the iodine in the salt. By providing iron in addition to iodine in the convenient delivery vehicle of salt, it could serve as a sustainable approach to combating both iodine and iron deficiency disorders in areas where both deficiencies are prevalent.


title: Iodised salt

text: Adding iron to iodized salt is complicated by several chemical, technical, and organoleptic issues. Since a viable DFS premix became available for scale-up in 2001, a body of scientific literature has been emerging to support the DFS initiative including studies conducted in Ghana, India, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya and Morocco.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region () is the largest metropolitan region in Germany, with over ten million inhabitants. A polycentric conurbation with several major urban concentrations, the region covers an area of , entirely within the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region spreads from the Ruhr area (Dortmund-Essen-Duisburg-Bochum) in the north to the urban areas of the cities of Mönchengladbach, Düsseldorf (the state capital), Wuppertal, Leverkusen, Cologne (the region's largest and Germany's fourth largest city), and Bonn in the south. The location of the Rhine-Ruhr at the heart of the European Blue Banana makes it well connected to other major European cities and metropolitan areas such as the Randstad, the Flemish Diamond and the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The metropolitan area is named after the Rhine and Ruhr rivers, which are the region's defining geographical features and historically its economic backbone.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The largest cities in the Rhine-Ruhr area are Cologne, with over one million inhabitants, followed by Düsseldorf, Dortmund and Essen, each of which has slightly more than 575,250.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: Many unofficial compositions of the Rhine-Ruhr area differ from one another, while the officially defined border of the metropolitan area itself comprises Hamm in the east, Mönchengladbach in the west, Bonn in the south, with the small city of Wesel as its northernmost point. The northern border is similar to that of the Ruhr Area.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: This first unofficial table here characterizes the Rhine-Ruhr area as comprising three regions, which together constitute an area much larger than officially defined.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: Eurostat's "Urban Audit" splits the Rhine-Ruhr region into six Larger Urban Zones (LUZ). Not one of these six Urban Zones comprises the cities of Remscheid and Solingen or the district of Rhein-Kreis Neuss.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: Historically, most of the Ruhr area was for the most part characterized by heavy industry since the age of industrialisation in the late 19th and early 20th century. Since the Middle Ages, Cologne, Dortmund, and other cities were important regional trading cities, but during the 19th century the city of Düsseldorf grew to become the administrative center of the region and since 1945, its political capital.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: Today, the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region accounts for roughly 15% of the GDP of the German economy, which would place it as the 2nd largest metropolitan area GDP in the European Union. Despite this size, the Rhine-Ruhr region as a whole often lacks international competitiveness because it lacks a unified presentation. Cities and urban areas within it often pursue separate investment policies against each other.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: From within, Düsseldorf, Essen, and Cologne are by far the largest economic centers, with specialisation in financial/high tech and insurance/multi media services respectively. Other major economic centers are Bonn and Dortmund. The region is home to twelve Fortune Global 500 companies, among them E.ON AG (Essen), Deutsche Post AG (Bonn), Metro AG (Düsseldorf), Deutsche Telekom AG (Bonn), ThyssenKrupp AG, (Essen), RWE AG (Essen), Bayer AG (Leverkusen), Franz Haniel & Cie. GmbH (Duisburg), Evonik Industries (Essen), Hochtief AG, (Essen), and the Henkel Group, (Düsseldorf).


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The Rhine-Ruhr area's climate is characterized by having the warmest winters in Germany, especially its western part at the Lower Rhine area. Classified by Köppen-Geiger climate classification to be oceanic (Cfb).


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The area has four international commercial airports, and several smaller aerodromes for general aviation.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The rail, S-Bahn, U-Bahn and bus companies are administered through a consortium of local and regional transport lines, the "Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Ruhr". It offers a rapid transit system which interconnects all cities and their respective local buses, trams, U- and S-Bahn systems, partly under the umbrella of Deutsche Bahn. Their systems are highly integrated where even some subway lines continue from one city to the next (for example between Düsseldorf and Duisburg or Bochum and Herne, which is unique in Germany, as the city border is crossed underground). The region is divided into several urban zones and fares are paid according to the amount of urban areas (or zones) passed through. Tickets include door to door transportation with all forms covered in one ticket with the exception of high speed rail (which only stops in the major cities). Some excursions, theatre and opera tickets as well as museums offer free transportation from any point in the Rhine Ruhr area to the venue and return.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: Duisburg Inner Harbour (Duisport) and Dortmund Port are large industrial inland ports and serve as hubs along the Rhine and the German inland water transport system.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The region is host to numerous large events, comprising fun fairs and cultural events like the Cologne and Düsseldorf carnivals (carnival is however a public event in almost all cities and towns of the area), the Cologne Comedy Festival, Ruhrfestspiele Recklinghausen, and the RuhrTriennale, as well as Gamescom and other trade fairs at Koelnmesse—Cologne Trade Fair and Messe Düsseldorf; and Essen Motor Show in Essen. With a capacity of up to 20,000 people, the Lanxess Arena and Westfalenhallen are amongst the largest indoor arenas in Germany.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The region is home to a total of 13 Bundesliga football clubs, of which five are active in the season of 2017–18. The most successful among them are Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, 1. FC Köln, FC Schalke 04 and Bayer 04 Leverkusen. The Revierderby is the rivalry between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04, one of the most significant in German football. Westfalenstadion, the stadium of Borussia Dortmund, is the biggest stadium in Germany. The area had plans to bid for the 2032 Summer Olympics, before the IOC declared Brisbane to be the host.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: Several tourist destinations within the region attract over 12 million tourists per year. Cologne Cathedral, Augustusburg and Falkenlust Palaces at Brühl and the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex at Essen are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Other sights include Schloss Benrath in Düsseldorf and several anchor points of the European Route of Industrial Heritage.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: NRW Forum, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kunsthalle Düsseldorf, Museum Koenig, Museum Ludwig, Romano-Germanic Museum, Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Neanderthal Museum, Museum Folkwang, Museum Ostwall, Lehmbruck Museum, German Mining Museum and Deutsches Museum Bonn are some of the most famous examples.


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region is home to , with a total of over 300.000 students. The largest and oldest university is the University of Cologne "(Universität zu Köln)", founded in 1388 AD. Other universities include:


title: Rhine-Ruhr

text: The following register lists all municipalities that officially belong to Rhine-Ruhr area. Demographically, these municipalities include 20 cities (German: ) each with more than 100,000 inhabitants, and 11 districts (German: ), each with a population of more than 250,000 inhabitants. Some districts only belong partly to Rhine-Ruhr area. In such a case only the municipalities that belong to the metro area are listed.


title: Heather Burns

text: Heather Burns (born April 7, 1975) is an American actress, known for her role as Miss Rhode Island Cheryl Frasier in the 2000 film "Miss Congeniality" and its 2005 sequel, "". Her other film appearances include "You've Got Mail" (1998), "Two Weeks Notice" (2002) and "Bewitched" (2005).


title: Heather Burns

text: Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Evanston Township High School. She is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. Her father Jim Burns played basketball for the Chicago Bulls, and as an attorney was the US Attorney in Chicago from 1992-1996.


title: Heather Burns

text: Burns has appeared in a number of films with Sandra Bullock, including "Miss Congeniality" (2000), "Two Weeks Notice" (2002) and "" (2005). She also starred in the film "What's Your Number?" (2011) and she held a recurring role opposite Zach Galifianakis in the HBO series "Bored to Death" and played Trish in the Amazon webseries "Sneaky Pete" (2017).


title: Heather Burns

text: In 2020, she appeared as a guest star in the Netflix series "The Politician", for which she received praise for her performance.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg (; Zulu: umGungundlovu) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its Zulu name umGungundlovu is the name used for the district municipality. Pietermaritzburg is popularly called Maritzburg in Afrikaans, English and Zulu alike, and often informally abbreviated to PMB. It is a regionally important industrial hub, producing aluminium, timber and dairy products, as well as the main economic hub of Umgungundlovu District Municipality. The public sector is a major employer in the city due to local, district and provincial governments located here.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The city has many schools and tertiary education institutions, including a campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. It had a population of 228,549 in 1991; the current population is estimated at over 600,000 residents (including neighbouring townships) and has one of the largest populations of Indian South Africans in South Africa.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The city was founded (April 1838) by the Voortrekkers, following the murder of Piet Retief and his seventy-strong party at the Zulu Capital, Mgungunhlovu (6 February 1838), when seeking land to settle around Port Natal (The Natal-Land Treaty), and from where the reprisal Wenkommando departed (November 1838) to defeat Dingane at the Battle of Blood River (16 December 1838). Pietermaritzburg is approximately direct from the Zulu capital, Mgungunhlovu. Prior to the battle (9 December 1838) a vow was taken that if the Boers were granted victory over the Zulus, then a sacred church would be built which still stands today, The Church of the Vow. It was Jan Gerritze Bantjes, Secretary General to Andries Pretorius, Commander of the campaign who arranged the financing of the church by the Boer towns folk which by then had taken a low priority after the war. The town grew rapidly to become the capital of the short-lived Boer Republic or Natalia. Britain took over Pietermaritzburg in 1843 and it became the seat of the Natal Colony's administration with the first lieutenant-governor, Martin West, making it his home. Fort Napier, named after the governor of the Cape Colony, Sir George Thomas Napier, was built to house a garrison. In 1893, Natal received responsibility for its own government, and an assembly building was built along with the city hall.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: On 7 June 1893, while the young Mahatma Gandhi was on his way to Pretoria, a white man objected to Gandhi's presence in a first-class carriage. Despite Gandhi having a first-class ticket, he was ordered by the conductor to move to the van compartment at the end of the train: he refused, and he was removed from the train at Pietermaritzburg.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Shivering through the winter night in the waiting room of the station, Gandhi made the momentous decision to stay on in South Africa and fight the racial discrimination against Indians there. Out of that struggle emerged his unique version of nonviolent resistance, Satyagraha. Today, a bronze statue of Gandhi stands in Church Street, in the city center.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: In 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed, Natal became a province of the Union, and Pietermaritzburg became one of the capitals of the country. During apartheid, the city was segregated into various sections. 90% of the Indian population was moved to the suburb of Northdale while most of its Zulu inhabitants were moved to the neighbouring township of Edendale and white inhabitants were moved out of those areas.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: There exist two interpretations about the origin of the city's name. One is that it was named after Piet Retief (Pieter Mauritz Retief) and Gerrit Maritz (Gerhardus Marthinus Maritz), two Voortrekker leaders. The other is that it was originally named after Piet Retief's full name alone. In this interpretation the original name was "Pieter Mauritz' Burg", later transliterated to the current name. In 1938 the city announced officially that the second element "Maritz" should also honour Gert Maritz.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: In fact neither Retief nor Maritz ever reached Pietermaritzburg. Retief was killed by Dingane, successor to Shaka, king of the Zulus. Maritz died of illness on 23 September 1838 near the present-day town of Estcourt, some eighty kilometres northwest of Pietermaritzburg, after the battle with the Zulus at Bloukranz.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: At the time of the rise of the Zulu Empire, the site that was to become Pietermaritzburg was called Umgungundlovu. This is popularly translated from the Zulu as "Place of the Elephant", although it could also be translated to mean "The elephant wins". Umgungundlovu is thus thought to be the site of some Zulu king's victory since "Elephant" (Indlovu) is a name traditionally taken by the Zulu monarch. Legend has it that Shaka had his warriors hunt elephant there to sell the ivory to English traders at Durban (then called Port Natal). Today, the town is still called by its Voortrekker name, although the municipality of which it is part bears the Zulu name.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The "University of Natal" was founded in 1910. In 1922 the University extended to Durban. The two campuses were incorporated into the University of Natal in March 1949. It became a major voice in the struggle against apartheid and was one of the first universities in the country to provide education to African students. It became the University of KwaZulu-Natal on 1 January 2004.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg was the capital of the Colony of Natal until 1910, when the Union of South Africa was formed, and Natal became a province of the Union. Prior to 1994, Pietermaritzburg was the capital of Natal Province. Following the first post-apartheid elections in South Africa, as a result of which the Inkatha Freedom Party won a majority in the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government, Pietermaritzburg shared its status as capital of the (then newly created) province of KwaZulu-Natal with Ulundi. Pietermaritzburg became the legislative capital of the new province, while Ulundi became the administrative capital. The IFP, being strongly Zulu nationalist, desired that Ulundi, the capital of the Zulu Kingdom at the time of its fall to the British in the Anglo-Zulu War, be the post-apartheid capital of the province. Ulundi had also been the capital of the bantustan KwaZulu, which makes up a portion of modern KwaZulu-Natal. However, Ulundi severely lacked the infrastructure to be an effective seat of government, and the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Party, the two other strong political parties in the province, among others, called for Pietermaritzburg alone to be the capital. The debate came to an end when the ANC came to power in the province in 2004, and named Pietermaritzburg the sole capital of KwaZulu-Natal. This has resulted in the relocation of several government offices to Pietermaritzburg, an action that has generally been welcomed as a positive development for the region. Since 2004, progress such as the modernisation of several buildings in the city centre and a proliferation of retail and housing developments in the suburbs are results of recent investment in the city by both the public and private sectors.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Until the late-1990s, the region was renowned for the production of high quality textile, clothing and footwear products. An example of the latter included the production of Doc Marten shoes. However, these industries have declined in the area due to lower production costs in Asia. Extensive timber plantations and numerous citrus farms surround the city, contributing a significant share of the city's output.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The Liberty Group has made major investments in several phases in the region since 2002 with the development of the Liberty Midlands Mall (the area's largest shopping centre by gross lettable area and its most prestigious) and Stay Easy hotel. Hulett's Aluminium and Willowton cooking oil contributes a substantial part of the region's industrial output.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg is also the city where major South African pizza franchise Debonairs Pizza was founded. The city is the location of the first Debonairs Pizza take away restaurant, opened in 1991.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The Pietermaritzburg borough council assumed a coat of arms in 1861. The shield depicted an elephant standing on grass, and a cross of five stars was placed above the shield. The motto was "Umgungunhlovu". It is unclear what the original colours were, but by 1910 the shield had been coloured blue. By 1931, the council had approved new artwork in which the stars were placed on a radiant sun. The arms were registered with the Natal Provincial Administration in November 1950. Many early renditions of the coat of arms, visible on older public building and wrought iron lampposts, features an elephant which is clearly an Asian Elephant rather than an African elephant. More recent versions reflect an African elephant.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The final version of the arms was granted by the College of Arms in May 1961. It was registered at the Bureau of Heraldry in May 1973. The blazon was: "Per fess Azure and Vert, over all an elephant statant Or, tusked Argent" (i.e. the shield was divided horizontally into blue over green, and displayed a gold elephant with silver tusks). The crest was changed to a blue sun displaying gold and silver stars, and two black wildebeest were added as supporters. Each had a shield on its shoulder, the dexter supporter's shield displaying the Union Jack and the sinister supporter's the flag of the Natalia republic.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg is on the N3 highway, the primary route between the harbour city of Durban, some away, and the Pretoria-Johannesburg-Witwatersrand conurbation.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The R33 connects Pietermaritzburg with Lephalale via Greytown, Paulpietersburg, Carolina, Belfast and Vaalwater to the northeast, while the R56 connects Pietermaritzburg with Cape Town via Ixopo, Kokstad, Dordrecht, Molteno, Middelburg, then taking the N10 to Hanover and then the N1 via Beaufort West to the west, and Mthatha, East London, Port Elizabeth, George and Mossel Bay via the N2 to the southwest.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The city is served by Pietermaritzburg Airport, which has regular scheduled services to OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. There are 4 flights to Johannesburg and 4 return flights daily, with a reduced number of weekend flights. It once operated flights to Cape Town International Airport in Cape Town – this route was terminated in 2019.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg Railway Station is served by long distance trains on the Durban-Johannesburg and Durban-Cape Town routes of Shosholoza Meyl.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: It has been proposed that the Metrorail commuter rail system be expanded from Cato Ridge to Pietermaritzburg.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The Pietermaritzburg Municipality historically operated a tram service, which was closed down in the 1940s, and a bus service, which was closed down in the 1980s.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Nowadays regular daily bus services connect Pietermaritzburg to other major cities in South Africa. The bus station is located on Burger Street, opposite the McDonalds Centre, and it serves major bus companies. Greyhound and Intercape are the most reliable and they operate several round-trips from Durban to Johannesburg daily, where Pietermaritzburg is the second to last stop before Durban.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg has two types of taxi services: metered taxis and minibus taxis. Unlike in many cities, metered taxis are not allowed to drive around the city to solicit fares and instead must be called and ordered to a specific location. A number of companies service Pietermaritzburg and surrounding areas. These taxis can also be called upon for airport transfers, point to point pickups and shuttles.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Minibus taxis are the standard mode of transport for the majority of the population who cannot afford private vehicles.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: The initial phase would see the development of a west to east corridor from Edendale to Northdale. The BRT route will traverse the CBD along Church Street.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg has a dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cwa). Summers are warm and occasionally hot, with frequent rainfall. Winters are dry with high diurnal temperature variation, with light air frosts being possible.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Some of the area's tourist attractions include; the KwaZulu-Natal Museum, City Hall, Colonial Buildings, Imperial Hotel, Comrades House and SANBI Botanical Gardens.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Attractions in the surrounding areas include; Albert Falls Nature Reserve, Howick Falls, Midmar Public Nature Reserve, Queens Elizabeth Park and World's View.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg has a well-developed higher system of public universities. Pietermaritzburg is served by two public universities, University of KwaZulu-Natal and Durban University of Technology. There are also many private and public colleges operating in the city, some of the larger colleges are: Umgungundlovu TVET College, Varsity College, and Rosebank College.


title: Pietermaritzburg

text: Pietermaritzburg is home to a number of prominent civil society organisations including the Abahlali baseMjondolo (shackdwellers) movement, GroundWork, CINDI, PACSA, and the KwaZulu Natal Christian Council.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: Juice is a 1992 American crime thriller film directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, and written by Dickerson and Gerard Brown. It stars Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine Hopkins and Khalil Kain. The film touches on the lives of four black youths growing up in Harlem, following their day-to-day activities, their struggles with police harassment, rival neighborhood gangs and their families.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: The film is the writing and directing debut of Dickerson and features Shakur in his acting debut. The film was shot in New York City, mainly in the Harlem area, in 1991.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: Roland Bishop (Tupac Shakur), Quincy "Q" Powell (Omar Epps), Raheem Porter (Khalil Kain), and Eric "Steel" Thurman (Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins) are four teenage African-American friends growing up together in Harlem. They regularly skip school, instead spending their days hanging out at Steel's apartment, at a neighborhood arcade, and also a record store where they steal LPs for Q's DJ interests. They are also harassed daily by the police and a Puerto Rican gang led by Radames (Vincent Laresca).


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: Fed up with the harassment he and his friends have endured, Bishop decides that the group must go on to do bigger things in order to win respect. However, Q is unsure if he wants to become involved in a life of crime. One night, under Bishop's persistence, the friends decide to rob a local convenience store owned by Fernando Quiles.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: However, Q is unsure of the plan, and also fears that it will affect his chances of participating in a DJ competition which he has yearned to compete in for years, although he is eventually pressured by his friends. During the robbery, Bishop fatally shoots Quiles in the head, and the group flees the scene.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: The four then gather in an abandoned building where they argue over the evening's events; Q, Raheem and Steel are angry at Bishop for killing Quiles, and Raheem demands that Bishop give the gun to him. However, Bishop resists, and a struggle ensues before Bishop shoots Raheem dead. Panicking, Bishop, Q and Steel flee to another building, where Bishop threatens to kill Q and Steel if they reveal to anybody that he murdered Raheem.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: Q and Steel realize that Bishop is beginning to become addicted to the thrill of killing, and they agree to give Bishop as wide a berth as possible. However, while attending Raheem's funeral, they find Bishop there, who goes as far as to comfort Raheem's mother (Lauren Jones) and promise to find his killer. While Q and Steel are mostly able to avoid Bishop, he eventually finds and confronts them, questioning their loyalty.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: Later, Bishop confronts and kills Radames, then plans to frame Q for his murders in order to cover his tracks. Fearful of Bishop, Q resorts to buying a gun for his own protection. Meanwhile, Bishop confronts Steel in an alley, accusing him of disloyalty, and shoots him. However, Steel survives the attack and is rushed to the hospital, where he informs Q's girlfriend Yolanda (Cindy Herron) about Bishop and his plan to frame Q. Frustrated with the troubles brought upon him, Q throws his gun into the river and decides to confront Bishop unarmed. Q and Bishop meet, where a fight and a chase ensue.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: Q is subsequently chased into a building where a party is being held, where Bishop begins firing into a group of partygoers in an attempt to hit Q, but Q escapes unharmed. Q manages to disarm Bishop while he is distracted, and he pursues Bishop to a roof of a high-rise building. As the two get into a physical altercation, Bishop eventually falls off the ledge, but is caught by Q. Bishop begs Q not to let go, but Q eventually loses his grip, and Bishop falls to his death.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: As Q is leaving the rooftop, a crowd from the party gathers to see what happened. One of the people in the crowd turns to Q and says, "Yo, you got the juice now, man." Q turns to look at him, shakes his head in disgust, and walks away.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: The movie was filmed between March and April 1991. Daryl Mitchell, Treach, Money-B, and Donald Faison had auditioned for the role of Roland Bishop, but none were considered right for the role. Tupac Shakur accompanied Money-B to the audition and asked producer Neal H. Moritz to read. He was given 15 minutes to rehearse before his audition, and ultimately secured the role of Roland Bishop. Treach and Faison landed cameo roles as a rival gang member and a high school student, respectively.


title: Juice (1992 film)

text: The film received generally favorable reviews. Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four stars, praising the film as "one of those stories with the quality of a nightmare, in which foolish young men try to out-macho one another until they get trapped in a violent situation which will forever alter their lives.". "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a "B+" grading, based on how it depicts four young characters who try to gain complete self-control over their surroundings.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: Gurney Halleck is a fictional character in the "Dune" universe created by Frank Herbert. He is a major character in Herbert's "Dune" (1965) and "Children of Dune" (1976), as a lover of the widowed Lady Jessica, also appearing in some of the prequel/sequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: Gurney is portrayed by Patrick Stewart in the 1984 David Lynch film "Dune". P. H. Moriarty plays the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV miniseries "Frank Herbert's Dune" and its 2003 sequel, "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune". The character is portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film "Dune" and its 2023 sequel "".


title: Gurney Halleck

text: Halleck is a talented minstrel skilled in the use of the baliset. His jawline bears a scar from an inkvine whip wound inflicted by Glossu Rabban in the Harkonnen slave pits. A loyal friend to Duke Leto Atreides and his concubine Lady Jessica, many years after Leto's death it is suggested in "Children of Dune" that Gurney and Jessica have become lovers. Leto's son Paul Atreides refers to him as "Gurney the valorous" in "Dune", and Duke Leto comments that Paul has named Gurney well.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: Halleck is Paul's weapons teacher, as well as a skilled musician. He is one of Leto's chief officers, and serves alongside Duncan Idaho as a Swordmaster of House Atreides. According to "Dune", Gurney was trained by "the best fighters in the universe", and alongside Idaho and Thufir Hawat gave Leto a war council almost unparalleled in the Imperium. He manages to survive the fall of House Atreides on Arrakis with 73 men. In the years after the attack, he falls in with the melange smugglers, eventually becoming a powerful figure. His smugglers fall for a Fremen trap—a fake hoard of spice—and are almost killed before Paul, now the Fremen leader "Muad'Dib", recognizes him. Halleck later becomes Jessica's loyal chief officer after nearly killing her, mistakenly believing she betrayed Duke Leto. In the later novels it is implied that the two become lovers, although this is never confirmed.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: In "Children of Dune", Gurney returns to Arrakis with Jessica from Caladan. He coordinates a purging of dissidents along with Fremen leader Stilgar, an operation that he kept secret. He goes to the sietch Jacurutu under what he believes are Jessica's orders to test that Paul's son Leto II has not fallen to Abomination. When the Fremen Namri reveals that the testing was ordered by Alia, he kills the man and escapes, sending a message to Duncan to set off the course of events that will force Stilgar to act. He takes temporary shelter with a new batch of smugglers before stealing an ornithopter. With it, he escapes to a rebel sietch, where Leto II and The Preacher arrive. Leto II takes him to Shuloch. After Leto II returns to Arrakeen and takes the throne, Gurney is assigned to Sietch Tabr as part of Stilgar's council.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: Gurney's character is further explored in the "Prelude to Dune" prequels (1999–2001) written by Brian Herbert, Frank Herbert's son, and Kevin J. Anderson.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: According to the prequels, Gurney Halleck was born on Giedi Prime, the homeworld of House Harkonnen. After an incident with the local militia and the murder of his sister, he escaped Giedi Prime and aligned himself with the rogue House Vernius. Eventually, after a string of conflicts and the death of Earl Dominic Vernius, Gurney Halleck arrived at the Atreides homeworld of Caladan seeking the exiled Prince Rhombur Vernius. After helping reclaim the planet Ix for House Vernius, Halleck served House Atreides, eventually becoming Paul Atreides' weapons teacher.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: In "" (1985) it is revealed that the Tleilaxu Master Scytale possesses a hidden nullentropy capsule containing cells carefully and secretly collected by the Tleilaxu for millennia, including the cells of Paul Atreides, Duke Leto, Jessica, and Gurney. A ghola of Gurney is "conceived" in "Sandworms of Dune" (2007), a sequel to the original Frank Herbert series written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, but is killed during gestation in an act of sabotage.


title: Gurney Halleck

text: Gurney is portrayed by Patrick Stewart in the 1984 David Lynch film "Dune". P. H. Moriarty plays the role in the 2000 Sci-Fi Channel TV miniseries "Frank Herbert's Dune" and its 2003 sequel, "Frank Herbert's Children of Dune". The character is portrayed by Josh Brolin in the 2021 Denis Villeneuve film "Dune", who will reprise the role in the 2023 sequel "".


title: Gurney Halleck

text: A line of "Dune" action figures from toy company LJN was released to lackluster sales in 1984. Styled after David Lynch's film, the collection featured figures of various characters. A figure of Gurney previewed in LJN's catalog was never produced.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne is a role-playing video game developed by Atlus for the PlayStation 2. It was published by Atlus in Japan and North America, and by Ghostlight in Europe. It is the third numbered entry in the "Shin Megami Tensei" series, the central series in the "Megami Tensei" franchise. Multiple versions of the game have been published: the original version was published in Japan by Atlus in 2003, while a director's cut was released in 2004 in Japan. The director's cut was localized and released in North America in 2004 as Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and in PAL regions in 2005 as Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call. A high-definition remaster was released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in Japan in 2020, and was internationally released in 2021 on those consoles and Windows.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: "Nocturne" follows a high school student in post-apocalyptic Tokyo, who is transformed into the demonic Demi-fiend after the world undergoes Conception, an apocalyptic event triggered by a sinister cult to enable the world's rebirth in a new form. With Tokyo transformed into a Vortex World filled with demons, the Demi-fiend becomes instrumental to the schemes of the Reasons, beings who seek to remake the world in their image, and Lucifer, the lord of demons. The gameplay uses a turn-based battle system based on exploiting weaknesses, and a Demon recruitment system allowing the player to recruit demons found in the Vortex World to fight alongside them.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The game was conceived after the completion of "Shin Megami Tensei II" and "Shin Megami Tensei If...", but was delayed as the team worked out what they wanted for the game, including making it appeal to a wider audience than previous "Megami Tensei" games. Unlike the science fiction setting of "Shin Megami Tensei II", "Nocturne" returned to a contemporary setting similar to the original game. The setting and characters were inspired by multiple elements, including Gnosticism, Mahayana Buddhism, and modern popular culture. Among the things the team changed from previous entries were the camera perspective, which was switched from a first- to a third-person camera perspective, and using a cel-shaded art style to distinguish it from other games of the time. The music, primarily composed by Shoji Meguro, paid homage to earlier "Megami Tensei" games while drawing on music styles from the 1980s.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The original edition of "Nocturne" released in Japan to strong sales and a positive critical reception, and the limited director's cut proved so popular that Atlus made a second print in response to fan demand. It also inspired a drama CD and light novel in Japan. The director's cut was the version chosen for localization, making "Nocturne" the first mainline "Shin Megami Tensei" game to be released in the west. The game was well received by video game publications, who praised its gameplay and atmosphere, while its challenging difficulty was often a subject of criticism and occasional praise. It was also announced to have been a commercial success in the West.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: "Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne" is set in a post-apocalyptic version of modern-day Tokyo: aside from the opening segment, post-apocalyptic Tokyo, also known as the Vortex World, is the main setting. From the outset, the player can select two difficulty settings: Normal and Hard. The player controls a silent protagonist who is given a name during the opening. The player navigates the Vortex World through both a 2D world map, and to-scale 3D environments used in dungeons. While navigating the world map, the Protagonist's party and other non-player characters (NPCs), interactive objects and landmarks are represented by symbols: these objects and NPCs include containers holding items, spirits that will heal the party, and a globe in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen showing the party's approximate location on the world map. During dungeon navigation, the Protagonist navigates grid-based, multi-leveled areas. Different areas are accessed via doors, and as the Protagonist progresses the area is automatically mapped. While exploring dungeons, the in-game camera can be freely rotated, and a "Look" action allows the player to see environments in first-person. The game world can be navigated either on foot or by using a fast travel system unlocked at a certain point in the game.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Multiple important locations are located within the world: these include Terminals that give access to a fast travel system; the Junk Shop, which acts as a vendor for buying and selling items; Rag's Jewelry, where gems collected during gameplay can be traded for rare items and unique demons; and the Fountain of Life, where the Protagonist and other party members can receive treatment for ailments, heal them of damage, or revive characters knocked out in battle. An optional location separate from the Vortex World is the Amala Labyrinth, accessed after the Protagonist has reached a certain point in the story. The Labyrinth is a dungeon divided into multiple floors or Kalpa, each housing both demon enemies and brokers who sell demons to the Protagonist. Each Kalpa is connected by a Warp Zone, in which the Protagonist can collect currency and items while avoiding or destroying obstacles. Proceeding through the levels of the Labyrinth requires the protagonist to find and fight Fiends carrying Candelabra, which unlock barriers. The Candelabra also act as a means of locating and either engaging or avoiding Fiends.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: During navigation, an indicator in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen indicates the presence of enemies and the likelihood of a battle being triggered. An indicator in the top left-hand corner also shows the current "phase" of Kagutsuchi, a moon-like object hovering in the sky of the Vortex World which shifts its phase as the Protagonist explores. Standard battles are initiated through random encounters, which trigger a transition into a dedicated battle arena. The player party is composed of the Protagonist and three demons: only eight demons can be carried by the Protagonist at the game's opening, but more can be added as the game progresses. At the end of battles, the party gains experience points and Macca, the in-game currency. Party members will level up when enough experience points have been gathered. Upon leveling up, the statistics of allied demons are randomly raised, while the Protagonist's stats can be customized by the player. The Protagonist's abilities and resistances are also influenced by equipping one of 24 different Magatama found in-game. The Protagonist can learn new skills from equipped Magatama when he levels up, and is also granted passive buffs and debuffs which take effect in battle. Magatama will sometimes act violently within the Protagonist, creating different effects depending on the Magatama equipped.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Battles are governed by a turn-based mechanic called the "Press Turn" system. Each character participating in combat, friend and foe alike, provides one or more Press Turns represented in the upper right-hand corner of the screen as icons. The rule behind this system is that any action (attacking, using skills, items, contacting demons, summoning commands) will normally cost one full turn. If a combatant scores a critical hit, exploits their opponent's weakness, or passes on making an action, they gain an additional turn marked by a pulsating icon. These added turns allow characters to perform all actions available within normal turns. If the player chooses to pass on an additional turn, that turn is lost. If an attack fails through missing or blocking, then multiple turns are lost: how many depends on how many combatants avoided or blocked it. If an attack heals an enemy, all remaining turns are lost. An auto-attack option is available, where party members can use standard physical attacks or repeat their actions from the previous turn. Characters can escape from normal battles, with failure forfeiting a player turn. If the main character loses all health, the game ends, regardless of the status of his demons.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: A key element related to battles is demon negotiation, the process by which new demons are invited to join the Protagonist and can fight alongside them. The majority of demons can be talked to in battle by the Protagonist, and some allied demons. After selecting the option to talk, the player selects a demon, which initiates a negotiation. For those demons who can talk, the responses vary by both situation and a demon's temperament: some demons can be bribed with Macca and items, some will ask questions related to subjects like philosophy, while others can be influenced by the Protagonist's skills of flattery or eloquence. A negotiation can fail if the wrong responses are chosen, if the Protagonist's demon roster is full, or if another enemy demon interrupts. When in the party, demons can be summoned or dismissed from battle. The level of assigned Magatama can also affect how negotiation goes.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: In addition to recruiting in battle, new demons are acquired through fusion at a location called the Cathedral of Shadows. Normally only two demons can be fused at once, but under certain conditions, more demons can be fused together. Fusions can produce a variety of results based on various circumstances, such as the current phase of Kagutsuchi and the addition of items called Deathstones. When in the Cathedral of Shadows, the Protagonist can select two demons, viewing a preview of the resultant demon, then initiate a fusion. The resultant demon will both possess its own skills and inherit skills from both parents: skill inheritance is randomized. Higher-level demons produce more powerful fusions. Demons gained through negotiation or fusion are automatically stored in the Demon Compendium, a record kept within the Cathedral of Shadows. The Protagonist can also pay to summon a demon from the Compendium, returning it to his ranks.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The setting and events of "Nocturne" take place in a separate continuity to the rest of the "Megami Tensei" series. "Nocturne" is set in modern-day Tokyo before and after an event called the Conception, in which the normal world is destroyed through the actions of a cult to prevent the world's stagnation and ultimate demise, as dictated by the Great Will governing existence. Tokyo is transformed into a wasteland on the inside of a sphere inhabited by the spirits of humans who died in the Conception; demons who wage war with each other; and Reasons, deity-like beings formed from the gathering of Magatsuhi by people with a deity or demon sponsor. Those who possess Reasons seek to remake the world in their image by presenting themselves to Kagutsuchi, a semi-sentient manifestation of the Great Will's power which exists to perpetuate the destruction and rebirth of worlds through Conception, and proving their worth. Another realm mentioned in the story is the Shadow Vortex, a limbo where dead worlds and the beings who created them linger.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The nameless main Protagonist is the player character: generally dubbed the Demi-fiend, he is an "everyday man" who represents the player. Several other characters survive the opening events of the game alongside him, many of them representing the various routes the player can choose to take. They are Yuko Takao, his teacher and a key figure in future events; his classmates Chiaki Hayasaka and Isamu Nitta; and Hikawa, leader of the Cult of Gaea and later the Assembly of Nihilo. Other characters include Jyoji Hijiri, a journalist the Protagonist meets with prior to the Conception; and Futomimi, a powerful Manikin seeking to create his own Reason. All the game's events are watched over by Lucifer, ruler of the demons and the Great Will's sworn enemy, who takes on multiple forms during the story. Two characters from other games are included in later versions. These are demon hunter Dante from the "Devil May Cry" franchise; and Raidou Kuzunoha, a lead character from the "Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner" subseries.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The game begins with the Protagonist arriving in Tokyo to meet up with Chiaki and Isamu to visit Takao in a hospital. While in the city, the player learns of a confrontation between two cults which resulted in several deaths, and learns details of it from Hijiri when he meets them in the park where the event took place. Finding the hospital deserted apart from Chiaki and Isamu, the Protagonist searches it, is briefly accosted by Lucifer in his child form, and is almost killed by Hikawa. Saved from Hikawa by Takao, the Protagonist is taken by her to the hospital roof and witnesses the Conception, with Takao saying the resulting Vortex World will remain until the next creation is triggered. In the immediate aftermath, Lucifer contacts the Protagonist again and infuses him with a Magatama, wishing to see whether he can lead his armies against the Great Will. This turns the Protagonist into the Demi-fiend, a being with the powers of a demon and the heart of a human. After escaping from the hospital, the Demi-fiend begins exploring the Vortex World with help from Hijiri. He learns of two cults who seek to remake the world in their image: Hikawa's Assembly of Nihilo, and a separate organization called the Mantra Army. Hikawa manages to destroy the Mantra Army, with Takao acting as his assistant.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The Demi-fiend goes in search for his friends and faces these groups. Both Chiaki and Isamu are distraught by the Vortex World and decide to move on their own rather than relying on their friend's power, while Takao realizes she is being used by Hikawa and decides to go on her own quest to create her desired world. To do this, she allies with Aradia, a former deity from the Shadow Vortex. After this point, all the supporting characters are seeking to ally with a powerful entity from the Shadow Vortex and create their own Reason, a powerful inner philosophy of life that can be used to mold the new world. To do this, a large quantity of an energy called Magatsuhi is needed, which each character begins hoarding. Hikawa's Shijima Reason wants a world of stillness and conformity in the service of a peaceful world; Chiaki's Yosuga Reason seeks a world where the strong rule supreme and destroy the weak; and Isamu's Musubi Reason wishes for a world where everyone is an individual who can live without reliance on others. Others also attempt to form a Reason, including Futomimi, who wishes to free the world's Manikins from their servitude, and Takao, who wants a world where people value life and have freedom. Both die before they can realize their wishes, and Takao gives the Demi-fiend an artifact that will enable him to remake the world. Hijiri, revealed to be a manikin doomed to reborn and suffer repeatedly for an unspecified "sin" against the Great Will, also attempts to gather enough Magatsuhi to remake the world, but is thwarted and sacrificed by Isamu to create his own Reason. Additionally, the Demi-fiend can fulfill a request from Lucifer to collect eight Candelabra from Fiends.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Choosing to support a Reason will result in a different ending depending on who is chosen, but in each the world is reborn in the image of the chosen Reason after the Demi-fiend fights Kagutsuchi to prove his resolve. Chiaki and Isamu die before the Demi-fiend begins and give him their blessing in spirit form, while Hikawa accompanies the Demi-fiend into their new world. If Takao's wishes are followed, the Demi-fiend fights Kagutsuchi and the world is returned to its pre-Conception state, resurrecting and restoring all the main characters. If the Demi-fiend rejects Takao's wishes, Kagutsuchi curses him for allowing the world to die and departs, leaving the Demi-fiend as the only survivor in a barren world of demons, trapped as it is until another Conception can happen. If the Demi-fiend fulfills Lucifer's request of collecting the Candelabra from the Fiends, Kagutsuchi attacks him and is destroyed, breaking the Great Will's control over the worlds. After this, Lucifer fights the Demi-fiend to test his strength, then declares him to be the ultimate weapon in the upcoming war against the Great Will.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The concept for a third "Shin Megami Tensei" title was originally proposed by Kazuma Kaneko and others after the completion of the previous two installments, "Shin Megami Tensei II" and "Shin Megami Tensei If...". There were originally no plans to continue the "Shin Megami Tensei" series beyond "If...", with there instead being plans for an original project. Despite the release of the PlayStation and Sega Saturn consoles, the team took a while to decide what they wanted for the game, the team spent time deciding to create a different kind of game that would appeal to a wider audience than its prequels. Eventually, the team decided that they needed to develop for the PlayStation 2 to realize their vision. Because of this delay, Atlus shifted development focus onto "" and "". During this early concept stage, many of the staff felt lost as to where they could go with the new project. As part of the research, the team created a 3D test demo featuring the demon Cerberus to test the PlayStation 2 hardware. The demo was created before "Nocturne"s contents had been decided upon, as a test on modelling and animating demons. "Nocturne" was among the first "Megami Tensei" titles to use 3D graphics, alongside "". Development on "Nocturne" began in 2000, with the creation of the first Alpha builds to determine how the main character would move around environments. To finalized their desired aesthetic look, the team created internal tech demos using 3D models of characters from previous "Megami Tensei" games. When their vision for the game had been finalized, full development began in 2002, taking approximately one year.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Along with Kaneko, series co-creator Kouji Okada produced the title. The game was directed by Katsura Hashino, his first time in such a position within the "Megami Tensei" series. While the option of making a direct sequel to "Shin Megami Tensei II" was considered, Kaneko wanted to return to the contemporary setting of the original "Shin Megami Tensei" as opposed to the science fiction aesthetic of its sequel. As it was felt that the game was more than just the third numeric installment, a subtitle was added. Before the final subtitle, ""Nocturne"" was added, other subtitles were considered. An early subtitle was "Vortex". The game uses a third-person camera perspective rather than the first-person dungeon crawling of earlier installments. One of the reasons for this change was that the developers wanted to focus on the protagonist, who would stand out for being a half-demon. Another factor was many reports of people suffering from a condition similar to car sickness called "3D sickness" with first person shooters in Japan: the developers wanted players to have something to focus their eyes on. Despite setting the game in contemporary Tokyo, the team chose a cel-shaded art style as they wanted their game to stand out and enable Kaneko to bring the game as close as possible to his original vision.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The desired feel of the game design was defined by Okada as "simple yet profound". One of the earlier ideas was to make the Vortex World a vast battlefield where players could see distant scenery on the horizon and in the sky, but performance issues meant the idea had to be scrapped. The Press Turn system was created so battles would feel less sedated than the pure turn-based battle systems of earlier titles. The initial concept was a kind of meter where players and characters were given turns which were extended if a character's weak spot was exposed. To ensure this did not lead to repetition in battle, a second meter was implemented so enemy characters would become acclimated with an attack that was used too often. As the displays needed for this cluttered up the screen, the concept was revised so a single gauge represented a party's number of turns, with a side's turn being extended if a weakness was exposed or a critical strike happened. As they settled on the rule of one action to one unit, the gauge was replaced with the current icon display. One of the requests given by Okada was to simplify the gameplay, especially aspects such as demon fusion, which had become fairly convoluted by "Shin Megami Tensei II". The equipment system was also redesigned to better fit the setting, and adjusting aspects of demon interaction.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: "Nocturne" expanded on the general "Megami Tensei" theme of people lacking excitement in their everyday lives, with "Nocturne" focusing on the extraordinary events people could not experience in real life. The team wanted "Nocturne" to feel like a "journey into hell" comparable with Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy" and Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film "Apocalypse Now". Kaneko was mainly responsible for creating the inverted bubble structure of the Vortex World. This design choice was primarily inspired by similar ideas in Gnostic traditions, early science fiction, and the "Heart Sutra", an important scripture within Mahayana Buddhism. In contrast to previous games which offered three routes for the cast, Chaos was the only affiliation of the characters. This was due to the fact the staff saw the Chaos route offered more to the player, and that it would be boring to have the same designs as previous games. It also gave the team more development freedom. Another reason was that "Shin Megami Tensei II" had already explored a world governed by Law, so it seemed natural to swing the other way and depict a world ruled by Chaos. In addition, Kaneko stated that "Nocturne" was part of a movement to create a single unified mythos for the "Megami Tensei" series. One of the main aspects of incorporating this theme were discussions about the nature of chaos.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Okada's main wish for the title was it to "go back to the Creation". The initial concept of a triggered rebirth to prevent stagnation was suggested by Kaneko upon seeing a change in fashion: after a period of flashy or gaudy clothing tastes, people had begun wearing plain suits. Using this, he thought up the concept of this signalling a stagnation in the world's life energy, necessitating a drastic change. The game's main setting of Shinjuku in Tokyo in ruins came from Okada, who visualized areas like Kabukichō and Shibuya as good settings. The Reasons were inspired by the team's want to show several styles for living. The Manikins were created as a representation of the Vortex World and the war between the Reasons, acting as a mass pressuring for the birth of a new world. They mirrored the mechanisms of a country with a high population, and were based on the idea of people being overwhelmed by numbers and acting in accordance with a common norm. The scenario was written by Shogo Isogai, whose main task was to take Okada and Kaneko's vision and turn it into a story that would fit into the framework of a traditional "Megami Tensei" game. The overall concept was so grand that it seemed at times too ambitious, and involved the layering of multiple interactions between different factions and ideals, alongside incorporating the common "Megami Tensei" narrative features such as multiple endings and the modern-day setting. The story had multiple possible routes and endings to emphasize the importance of the player's decisions. One of the early concepts that needed to be cut was giant demons battling each other in Tokyo.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: In keeping with previous entries, the story focused on a single protagonist rather than a group as in other role-playing games of the time to promote full player immersion. The main protagonist was the first character to be created, being featured in the first Alpha build. So as to include a feeling of "digitality" in the game, the main character was designed as something akin to a human computer. This approach was inspired by the special make-up used in David Cronenberg's 1983 horror film "Videodrome". While the protagonist was originally designed with keyboards growing from inside him, Kaneko felt uncomfortable with that and instead redesigned him with full-body tattoos. The tattoos were intended to convey the character's demon powers, act as an obvious stigma in place of wings or horns, and be a reference to real-world shamans who commonly made themselves stand out using tattoos. Kaneko's inspiration for the main character's design was the American rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers: according to Kaneko, he "imagined [the main character] running around the desert naked". The main character was initially going to use one of the series' recurring arm-mounted COMP computers, but as he had already become a demon hybrid, it did not make sense to include it. As he was the character controlled by the player, more focus was given to embodying and reflecting his world view than to developing a personality. In keeping with the game's theme of energy remaking reality, Kaneko dressed his character in comfortable shorts to balance against his tattoos. The spike growing from the main character's neck, the Magatama fused with him at the beginning of the game, was inspired by the theory that a person's aura appears as a shark fin sticking out of the back of their neck when viewed from the side.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The number of supporting characters was kept low to emphasize their individuality, and their personalities were left ambiguous to reinforce the desire for player immersion. The heroine Yuko Takao was intended to be a different type of character to previous main heroines, being a non-playable character from the beginning of story development. She was the only major non-playable character not to have her own Reason. The character of Lucifer designed was not a standard villain, but rather as a gentlemanly observer who sets tests for the player. To reflect his omnipotent status as God's opposite, he is portrayed in a number of forms, including a child and an old man. Alongside this, the staff wanted to portray demons not only as enemies but as characters the player could relate to and grow attached to when inviting them to their party. One of the key elements for demon designs recycled from earlier games was bringing them into the game and making them as true as possible to the original design while fitting into the game's art style.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The music for "Nocturne" was composed by Shoji Meguro, with additional work by Kenichi Tsuchiya and Toshiko Tasaki. Mixing was done by Meguro, Tsuchiya, and Tasaki. The soundtrack included tunes from previous "Shin Megami Tensei" titles composed by Tsukasa Masuko. While composing the music, Meguro attempted to express his feelings when he saw the world while remaining true to the styles established by the original "Megami Tensei" games. Taking inspiration from the game's dungeon-battle transitions, and the cut-scenes' combination of current graphics with classic use of subtitles for storytelling, Meguro created modulating tunes which included elements from 1980s music. Meguro also introduced orchestral elements which were absent from previous "Megami Tensei" scores, using it to emphasize the gameplay's constant shifts between movement and stillness. Meguro generally worked solo on the original version, but for the director's cut, he had help composing new tracks.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The majority of tracks from the game were released in an album, "Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Original Soundtrack", on March 5, 2003. The album, published by SME Visual Works under the catalog number SVWC-7173~4, contained 49 tracks and was 1:55:16. A second album containing the tracks composed for the director's cut, "Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Original Soundtrack extra version", was released on October 26, 2005. Again published by SME Visual Works under the catalog number SVWC-7308, it contained 21 tracks and was 39:04. In North America, selected tracks from the game were released on a promotional CD exclusive to the game's Limited Edition.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The game was first hinted by an Atlus spokesperson in November 1999, who stated that Atlus was planning an entry in the "Megami Tensei" franchise for the PS2. The game was eventually announced in September 2002 by the gaming magazine "Famitsu", where it was clarified it was a sequel to previous "Shin Megami Tensei" games rather than an entry in the spin-off "Persona" series. As part of promotion, a TV commercial featuring live-action segments was created. Atlus had high hopes for "Nocturne"s success, preparing estimated shipments totaling 500,000 units. The game launched on February 20, 2003. It came in a standard edition, and a limited special edition containing the game's soundtrack and an insence burner modeled after an in-game story component. In addition, a version exclusive to Japanese media retail shop Tsutaya with a unique cover was released. It was later re-released as part of Sony's budget series release on August 5, 2004.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: An expanded director's cut of the game, titled was released approximately one year after the original version on January 29, 2004 as a limited edition. It was later given a second print run in February that year due to fan demand. The original release in Japan had to have some planned features cut out, so the staff created "Maniax", which included both the cut content and additional features. Among the additional features is an optional dungeon that leads to a sixth ending. The lead character of Capcom's hack and slash series "Devil May Cry", Dante, appears as a guest character. His inclusion in the game was suggested by a member of the Atlus staff who was a fan of the "Devil May Cry" series. This idea was approved due to how Dante's job as a demon hunter would fit the setting of "Nocturne" and thus Atlus created a movie where Dante confronted the game's hero. Capcom was satisfied with this video and allowed Atlus to use the character. A second version of "Maniax", was released on October 23, 2008 as part of a Japanese limited edition of "": in this version, Dante is replaced by Raidou Kuzunoha, the protagonist of the and fourth "Devil Summoner" title.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: To commemorate the release of "Maniax", a PlayStation 2 memory card decorated with the main protagonist's tattoos was released. A novelization of the game written by Boogey Toumon, was released on August 20, 2003 by Enterbrain. A CD Drama based on the game was released on April 23, 2003 by King Records. A comic anthology adaptation was released by Enterbrain in June 2004.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The localization of "Nocturne" was handled by Atlus USA, the North American branch of Atlus. The original "Maniax" is the version that was translated and released overseas, as the main director Kazuyuki Yamai believed the enhanced difficulty and the other new features would appeal to the western audience. In addition, the team were encouraged to release it by the success of mature titles in the west such as "Grand Theft Auto", and the "Maniax" edition would give western players the most complete version of the game. The localization was announced in February 2004. This made "Nocturne" the first main "Shin Megami Tensei" title to be released outside Japan. It was speculated that this was the reason the numeral "III" was dropped from the title. Rather than altering the script, Atlus translated it all faithfully from the original Japanese, preserving the original experience as far as possible. For their work on the game's translation, the localization team were given access to the source files and Japanese strategy guide, which enabled them to avoid mistaking the genders of Kaneko's often highly androgynous designs. According to a later interview, it was said that Atlus had high confidence in the title's overseas release. The later popularity and recognition of the game would result in Atlus attaching the ""Shin Megami Tensei"" moniker to later Western releases of "Megami Tensei" titles to aid in identification and marketing.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: For its release in North America, it was given an "M for Mature" rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. In response to this, Atlus' western branch issued a statement saying that they were ensuring that the localized version of the game was true to the Japanese version, including its mature themes and content, as toning anything down "would [have been] a disservice to the gaming public". Furthermore, the North American version uses the "Nocturne" name, as in the Japanese version, which was under license of Terminal Reality, the developers of "Nocturne". To promote the game, Atlus USA created a sweepstakes that ran between May and September 2004: the winner received a laptop decorated with the main protagonist's tattoo design, along with a free copy of the game. Due to backlogs at Sony Disc Manufacturing, Atlus delayed the release of the game by over three weeks to October 12. In compensation, DoubleJump Books offered free priority shipping worldwide for their "Nocturne" guidebook. The publishing rights in Europe were picked up by Midas Interactive, who published the game through their then-newly formed subsidiary Ghostlight under the title "Shin Megami Tensei: Lucifer's Call". It released on July 1, 2005. "Nocturne" was the first "Megami Tensei" title to be released in Europe. It re-released for the PlayStation Network as a PlayStation 2 Classic in both North America and Europe: it released on May 6, 2014 for North America and May 20, 2015 for Europe.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: A remastered edition, titled "Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster", was announced during Nintendo Direct Mini: Partners Showcase on July 20, 2020 alongside the release year for "Shin Megami Tensei V". It is based on the "Maniax Chronicle Edition" release, and includes voice-acted cutscenes, dual audio and additional difficulty settings. Production of the remaster began in 2018 and lasted around two years. The new "Merciful" difficulty setting was included as a concession to modern gaming trends, acknowledging players who would want to easily experience the stories and endings. Alongside these and graphical changes, some dialogue was rewritten. A "Maniax Pack" downloadable content item launched alongside the game, restoring Dante in place of Raidou Kuzunoha. The original television commercial was remade around the production's theme of "respect for the original", with original staff returning to create both a 15 second television version, and a web-exclusive 30 second version.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The remaster was released in Japanese, Traditional Chinese and Korean on October 29, 2020 for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4, with a worldwide release and Windows version on May 25, 2021. For the Asian release published by Sega, the "Chronicles" content was originally omitted. Due to protests from Chinese consumers, the "Chronicles" content was eventually offered as DLC for Chinese players. It was free for a two week period before becoming a paid item on January 7 of the following year in China.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Critical reception to the game has been positive. The average score in Metacritic is of 82 out of 100. The Japanese video game magazine "Famitsu" gave it a score of 36/40, earning the magazine's Platinum award and becoming the highest-ranking review score that week. The reviewers were generally positive about their experience: despite some comments about a lack of polish in environments, the game's character design, aesthetics, gameplay and story all came in for general praise, with multiple reviewers calling it a worthy part of the "Megami Tensei" series.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: It received perfect reviews from both G4TV's Darryl Vassar and RPGamer's Michael Beckett, who praised the balance between cutscenes and gameplay, giving the player several areas to explore and the multiple challenges, as well as the multiple paths the player can take across the story resulting in high replay value. The game has been praised for its challenging AI and combat system, alongside its labyrinths. The modern setting and dark storyline from "Nocturne" has also been found refreshing for contrasting common RPG storylines. Similarly, Jeremy Dunham from IGN noted its "bizarre" story as one of the reasons to play it due to its post-apocalyptic setting. Beckett also praised the visual style employed by Atlus including Kaneko Kazuma's character designs as well as the design of the Vortex World. The latter point was shared by 1UP.com. On the other hand, the highly challenging battle system has bothered reviewers with Rob Fahey from Eurogamer ultimately finding as a flaw that stopped him from giving the game a near perfect score. GameSpot's Bethany Massimilla and RPGFan's Ryan Mattich shared similar feelings noting that despite these drawbacks the game will feel rewarding to players. Despite also noting the game was quite challenging, Beckett found it significantly easier during its last third with the total play time depending on the players' choices when leveling up and obtaining new skills.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: Besides good critical response in reviews, "Nocturne" received recognition by publications. Jeremy Dunham from IGN listed it as the seventh best game from 2004. G4TV also awarded it best RPG from the same year. In RPGamer's awards from 2004 it was ranked third in the Readers' "Best PlayStation 2" category, and had honorable mentions in the categories for the similar Readers' "Best Storyline" and "Graphics" and "Overall". It received a nomination in "GameSpot"s 2004 "Best Role-playing Game" award category across all platforms. In IGN's "Best of 2004" awards, it was a runnerup for "Best RPG" and "Best Story" in the PS2 category. It was also nominated at the Spike Video Game Awards in the "Best RPG" category. In 2008, Gamasutra listed "Nocturne" as one of their "Essential 20" role-playing games, noting how challenging the title could be.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: During its first week of release in Japan, "Nocturne" sold 185,000 units which were equal to 75.7% of its shipment, topping sales charts. By the second week, the game had dropped to seventh place in the charts, selling a further 37,328 units. This brought total sales to just over 200,000. By the end of 2003, it had sold 245,520 units becoming Japan's 49th bestselling game of the year. Its sales by the end of Atlus' 2002-2003 fiscal year had reached 270,000, falling short of their planned sales of 350,000. The "Maniax" edition was also popular, reaching 5th place in Japanese sales charts in its first week, and remaining in the top ten for a second week. In an interview with Kaneko, 1UP.com noted that the game had not met with sales equivalent to its high review scores, although no exact figures were given. In contrast, as part of a press release concerning the game's European release, an Atlus staff member noted that it had met with commercial success in North America along with Japan. Speaking in 2013, a Ghostlight representative that "Nocturne" had, alongside the "" duology, "met with great success". Later reprints in 2008 and 2009 caused the game to enter the top five PlayStation 2 games on Amazon.com in North America.


title: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne

text: The remastered Nintendo Switch version sold 52,481 physical copies within its first week on sale in Japan, making it the second bestselling retail game of the week in the country. The PlayStation 4 version was the third bestselling retail game in Japan throughout the same week, with 48,830 copies being sold. On April 28, 2021, Atlus announced that the remaster had sold over 250,000 copies in Japan and Asia. By October 2021, the remaster had sold over 500,000 copies.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in October 2007. Japan won the final against the United States on a penalty shoot-out following a 2–2 draw after extra time and became the first Asian team to win a senior FIFA World Cup.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: The matches were played in nine stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Commerzbank Arena in Frankfurt. Sixteen teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in 2009. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These eight teams advanced to the knockout stage, where two rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Six nations, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Peru and Switzerland, initially declared their interest in hosting the 2011 Women's World Cup. The German Football Association announced its hopes to host the tournament on 26 January 2006, following a pledge from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to fully support a potential bid. All six nations officially announced their interest by a 1 March 2007 deadline and acknowledged their intention of bidding by 3 May 2007 to FIFA.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: The final bidding dossiers had to be handed over before 1 August 2007. Switzerland withdrew on 29 May 2007, stating that Europe is heavily focused on France and Germany, and a third European bid appeared futile. On 27 August 2007, France also withdrew, reportedly in exchange for Germany's support for their bid to host the men's UEFA Euro 2016. Later Australia (12 October 2007) and Peru (17 October 2007) voluntarily dropped out of the race as well, leaving only Canada and Germany as the remaining candidates. On 30 October 2007, the FIFA Executive Committee voted to assign the tournament to Germany. Canada was eventually awarded the 2015 Women's World Cup four years later.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Upon the selection, Germany became the third country to host both men's and women's World Cup, having hosted the men's twice in 1974 and 2006.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: After the German Football Association (DFB) expressed its intention to bid for the Women's World Cup, 23 German cities applied to host World Cup games. Twelve cities were chosen for the official bidding dossier handed over to FIFA in August 2007. On 30 September 2008, the DFB executive committee decided to use nine stadiums for the tournament; the original candidates Essen, Magdeburg and Bielefeld were not chosen as World Cup venues.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: The official opening game was held between Germany and Canada at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, the venue of the 2006 men's World Cup Final; it was the only match played in Berlin. However, it was not the first match of the tournament—it was preceded by a match at Rhein-Neckar-Arena in Sinsheim pitting France and Nigeria. The final of the tournament took place at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, the venue of the 2005 men's Confederations Cup final. Borussia-Park in Mönchengladbach and Frankfurt's Commerzbank-Arena hosted the semi-finals. The third place play-off was held at Rhein-Neckar-Arena.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Since 2007, five of the stadiums were either newly built (Augsburg, Dresden and Sinsheim) or remodelled (Bochum and Leverkusen). Six stadiums would be home grounds for German First Bundesliga clubs in the upcoming 2011–12 season, while the other three would be home to Second Bundesliga clubs in the same season. Compared to the 2006 men's World Cup, several smaller venues were chosen; six stadiums have a capacity of 20,000 to 30,000 seats. All cities would stage a total of four matches, with the exceptions of Berlin and Mönchengladbach; the latter would host three games. The total capacity of the nine venues is roughly 330,000. Overall, approximately one million tickets would be available.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Several of the stadiums were officially referred to simply as "FIFA Women's World Cup Stadium" because FIFA prohibited sponsorship of stadiums unless the stadium sponsors were also official tournament sponsors. With no standing-room terraces allowed, all stadiums had a lower total capacity compared to German Bundesliga games. Capacity data is given according to FIFA:


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: FIFA had considered the prospect of increasing the number of teams from 16 to 24, to reflect the growing global popularity of women's football and the Women's World Cup. However, on 14 March 2008, the FIFA Executive Committee decided to keep the number of participants at 16, concerned that more teams would dilute the quality of play. The idea of having 20 teams taking part, which had been discussed briefly, was ruled impossible to implement in terms of fixture planning and logistics. During the 2007 Women's World Cup, FIFA president Sepp Blatter had campaigned for the idea to increase the number of teams, although this proposal was not unquestioned. In particular the 11–0 victory of Germany over Argentina in the opening game of the 2007 tournament had caused a debate over whether there were 24 national teams on a comparable level.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: In October 2008, the FIFA Executive Committee announced a change to the allocation of the qualifying berths for its continental confederations. Asia was granted 3 automatic berths instead of 2.5 for the finals (although in 2007 the host nation was an additional qualifier from Asia). Europe's allocation was reduced from 5 to 4.5 (although it effectively increased to 5.5 because of the automatic qualification of the host nation). The North/Central American and Caribbean confederation (CONCACAF) retained their 2.5 qualifiers, Africa and South America 2 each, and Oceania 1. The 16th qualifying spot was determined through a play-off between the third-placed team in CONCACAF and the winner of repechage play-offs in Europe.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: FIFA also ruled that each confederation has to ensure that at least one third of its member associations enter their women's national teams for World Cup qualification, otherwise FIFA would re-examine the current slot allocation. In Africa and the Middle East a considerable percentage of teams had withdrawn from World Cup qualification in the past.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: For European teams, the 2011 Women's World Cup was also used as a qualification tournament for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Besides Team Great Britain, Europe had two additional qualifiers for the Summer Olympics. With Germany losing their quarter-final, France, which had already reached the semi-finals, secured qualification to the Olympics. Sweden followed as UEFA's second team with its win against Australia.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Qualification for the tournament took place between April 2009 and November 2010. As the host nation, Germany were granted automatic qualification, while the remaining national teams qualified through their continental confederations. Most confederations used their continental championship tournaments – the AFC Women's Asian Cup, CAF Women's Championship, OFC Women's Championship, Sudamericano Femenino and CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup – to determine qualification. The exception to this was UEFA, which used its own qualifying tournament. One qualification spot was determined by a play-off between a UEFA and CONCACAF team.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Colombia and Equatorial Guinea made their debuts in the FIFA Women's World Cup. Brazil, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Norway, Sweden and the United States maintained their streak of qualifying for all six tournaments so far, while China PR failed to qualify for the first time ever. This is Mexico's first appearance since 1999 and France's first appearance since 2003.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: The tournament is supervised by the "Women's World Cup 2011 Organising Committee Germany". President of the Organising Committee (OC) is former German international Steffi Jones; she started her work on 1 January 2008. German president Christian Wulff was named the patron of the tournament.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: The Organising Committee is chaired by Jones and supervised by the board of the German Football Federation (DFB). On 25 January 2009, Jones opened the committee offices and named her OC team. It is led by managing director Uli Wolter, who headed the Leipzig branch during the 2006 men's World Cup. Aside from Wolter, four department heads were named. Heike Ulrich is responsible for the tournament organisation, former German international Doris Fitschen heads the marketing department, Winfried Naß leads the department "Cities and Stadiums", and Jens Grittner, who served as the press officer for the 2006 Organising Committee, heads the communications department.


title: 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup

text: Intended to advertise the tournament primarily in Germany, the Organising Committee named four national Women's World Cup ambassadors: former German internationals Britta Carlson, Renate Lingor, and Sandra Minnert, as well as shooting Paralympics gold medallist Manuela Schmermund. In October 2009, former U.S. international Mia Hamm was presented as the World Cup's international ambassador. Each host city except for Berlin also named two city ambassadors. They include footballers Matthias Sammer, Karl-Heinz Riedle and Rainer Bonhof, fencer Britta Heidemann or biathlete Magdalena Neuner.