title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court has an extensive competitive program for the appointment of the law clerks and research associates at the Supreme Court Library. The Supreme Court hires the law clerks based on the recommendations provided by their professors from their respected universities and colleges. Law clerks reviews the petitions for writ of certiorari, research them, prepare bench memorandums, and draft opinions, and reported back to the supreme court's administrative registrar. As of current, the supreme court has 10 law clerks for the 2016–17 year.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Pakistan Bar Council provides qualification for senior advocates, barristers, lawyers, and selected civil court judges to be elevated as Advocate Supreme Court (ASC) based on individual experience, qualifications, and selected invitations.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court Building is located at the Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, flanked by the Prime Minister's Office to the south, the Presidential Palace and the Parliament Building to the north.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Initially, the Supreme Court met in Karachi and later moved to Lahore/Rawalpindi on various location until 1960 after the government moved to Islamabad. The Supreme Court building is within the ambit of the Islamabad Police, maintaining the law and order as well as campus security of the court.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court Building is designed by the renowned Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange, in a modernist style complementing the Parliament Building. The CDA Engineering and the Environmental Protection Agency supervised the engineering the Supreme Court's monument and civil works infrastructure throughout its lengthy construction since the 1960s. In the 1980s–90s, CDA Engineering later expanded infrastructure of the Supreme Court especially when building the Supreme Court's law library.|


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Court Complex is comprised on Main Central Block, Judges Chamber's block, and Administrative Block, covering 339,861sq. ft. Administration of the Court is supervised by the Chief Justice who exercise the powers through the Registrars, Law clerks, Librarians, and private secretaries to run the judicial functions in proper manner.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Court complex judges' chambers, a separate building consisting of the law library, various meeting spaces, and auxiliary services including a lecture auditorium. There is an Elizabethan-styled Entrance Hall, cafeteria, conference rooms, and a vintage Dining hall, that resembles the Victorian era. The Supreme Court Library contains the collection of 72,000 law books, reports and journals is situated in the basement.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court Museum serves as an invaluable repository for preserving the Judicial History of Post and pre-Independence era for future generation. The Museum's collections include fine arts, oral histories, photographs, personal belongings of judges and chief justices and an archival collection of rare documents. These collections are displayed in the permanent exhibit gallery of the Museum, as well as in temporary exhibits; surely in future these archival materials will be assets to the researchers. The idea of Supreme Court Museum was dreamt in year 2010 by Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani and completed in the June 2016.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court has all the original, appellate, and advisory jurisdiction on all of the country's courts – hence, the Supreme Court is the final arbitrator of all cases where the decision has been reached. In 1976, the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court was constrained and limited by the passing of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution but its powers were originally restored in 1985 through the Eighth Amendment, which further expanded the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court enjoys a powerful jurisdiction in the country including on the federal government, provincial governments, governmental agencies, NGOs, and where the government and governmental agencies fails to perform its mandated duty to protect the basic human rights or deviating from the law in light of taking the "Suo motu" notice.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: From 2008 to 2013, the Supreme Court repeatedly exercise its "suo motu" power in a view of check and balance on the governmental authorities to prevent abuse of human rights and to prevent the miscarriage of justice.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The independent jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is taken as positive by the legal observers as an attempt of providing a fair, speedy, and public trial of authorities accused of abusing the basic human rights. Commenting of the issue of suo motu, Justice K.M. Sharif critically opined: "[Supreme Court]'s jurisdiction will take notice of every matter in which the executive is showing slackness." The Supreme Court is the only federal court that has jurisdiction over the direct appeals from high courts decisions, as powers granted by the Constitution as an appellate jurisdiction.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court also has an original jurisdiction in any dispute between any two or more provincial governments or the Government of Pakistan itself where the Supreme Court may pronounce declaratory judgments only to settle the disputes. However, almost all cases are brought to the Supreme Court on appeal, making the cases considered based on original jurisdiction rarely. On events involving the legal and technical issues concerning the implementation of law and the writ of constitution, Supreme Court has an advisory jurisdiction to answer questions and provides written opinions on public importance as consulted by the President upon the request from the Prime Minister.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court also enjoys the plenary jurisdiction and may exercise its plenary powers for passing appropriate orders to ensure the completion of its orders and to complete the justice at all levels of commands.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court is empowered to frame its own rules for the purpose of regulating the practice and procedure of the Court. When the cases are determined as their final rulings, the jurists deliver their rulings in an open court, either at once or by announcing a future date to the concerned parties through their advocates upon writing their opinions during their recesses.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: All cases that come before the supreme court through the writs of certiorari that are processed through the law clerks and advocates. The Supreme Court has powers to transfer any case, appeals, or other pendings proceedings before any High Courts to any subordinated court if the supreme court considers it expedient to do so in the interest of justice and speedy trial. The Supreme Court may issues advisory directions, orders, and decrees in any case or matter pending in the high courts necessary for doing the complete justice, including an order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person or the discovery or production of any document. The directions and orders issued by the Supreme Court are finals despite questions are arises during the hearings in the High Court for the directions provided the Supreme court.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: When the certiorari petitions are granted by the Supreme Court, the case is then set for the oral arguments, issuing orders to advocates of concerning parties in the case of importance. If the parties, despite the opportunity granted by the


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: court to make oral submissions, do not avail the same, the court is not bound to wait indefinitely for them and keep on adjourning the matter. During the time of the orality by either sides of the parties, the justices may interrupt the advocate and ask questions. The petitioner gives the first presentation, and may reserve some time to rebut the respondent's arguments after the respondent has concluded.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: At the conclusion of oral argument, the case is submitted for the final judgements where cases are decided by majority vote of the justices. It is possible that, through recusals or vacancies, the Court divides evenly on a case, as such happened on the case "Nusrat Bhutto v. Federation of Pakistan (1977–78)".


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Despite its final rulings, the Supreme Court may review any case upon the filing of review petition of any party to any civil and criminal case of any decisions, judgements/rulings have been pronounced by the Supreme Court. The party that filed an appealed through the supreme court advocates to the Supreme Court is the "Appellant" and the non-mover is the "respondent", where all case names before the Supreme Court are styled ""petitioner/appellant vs. defendants/respondent"".


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: All decisions that are pronounced by the supreme court, after hearing the review petitions, are considered as final rulings that are to be binding on all other courts in Pakistan. The constitution also empowers the Supreme Court to call upon any authority, either an executive or judicial, to act in aid of the Supreme Court to ensure its rulings are delivered to complete justice.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court of Pakistan Press is the official authority that publishes the reportable Supreme Court's decisions and opinions, as well as judicial supplements, law reports, and bibliographies. The Supreme Court's opinions are first published and is made available on the Court's web site, in form of "press release." Secondly, comprehensive opinions and orders are bound together in paperback form in which the final version of the Court's opinions appears which is called a preliminary print of "Annual Report".


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: About a year after the paperbacks are published, a final and more cited volume of decision of supreme court volume of Annual Report is published and numbered whereas the researchers may cite the works in their reports.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: All supreme court advocates are required to be members of the Supreme Court Bar Association in order to plead the cases before the court. Formed and established in 1989, the Bar comprises the supreme court lawyers who are elected from all over the country and is aimed to uphold the rule of law, cause of justice and protect the interest of the legal profession as well as that of public.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Bar is governed by an executive council consisting of 22 elected members with an elected president and a secretary. Advocates can be admitted as either individuals or groups and their admission is approved by the elected president of the Bar. Members of the Supreme Court Bar Association are also granted access to the Supreme Court Library's research collection and law periodicals.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court has played an influential and pivotal role in the political history of the country since its inception in 1947, and has taken constitutional role for protecting the rights in the light of "doctrine of necessity". The "de jure" institutional powers of the Supreme Court as outlined in the Constitution can only be understood as an exemplary of constitutional cases involving the actions of the Pakistan's military turning over the civilian government in an attempt to restore law and order to prevent chaos in the society.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: In 1954, the Court under Chief Justice Moh'd Munir exercised its institutional power in a supreme court case ("Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan vs. Federation of Pakistan") when it validated the dismissal of Constituent Assembly, whereas M.A. Bogra continued to serve as Prime Minister under Governor-General Sir Malik Ghulam. There were three constitutional cases overheard by the Supreme Court:


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: First, the Supreme Court validated the Governor-General's actions in case 1 but soon considered such powers as "Ultra vires" in case 2 and case 3. However, the Court found it legal in its jurisdiction in thrice cases when it validated the actions under the impression of "doctrine of necessity". Despite its rulings, the Court maintained its institutional authority over the Governor-General's actions and ultimately supervised the election of the Constituent Assembly which was transformed into National Assembly of Parliament that promulgated the first set of Constitution of Pakistan.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: In 1969, Supreme Court justices again heard the petitions against the suspension of the second set of the Constitution when army chief General Yahya Khan took over the presidency amid the resignation of President Ayub Khan. This constitutional case cited as, ""Asma Jillani v. Government of the Punjab"", evenly divided the justices on this issue but bitterly approved such actions in the light of "necessity doctrine", with Chief Justice Hamoodur Rahman critically opined against this actions as he notably ruled that Yahya Khan's assumption of power was "illegal usurpation". In doing so, the Supreme Court also overruled and overturned its convictions that called for validation of martial law in 1958.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The institutional influence of Supreme Court on the political events in the country grew since 1971 after the conclusion of the War Enquiry Commission that provided far reaching insightful recommendations to prevent foreign intervention. In 1975, the institutional powers of the Supreme Court were constraint after the passing of the fifth amendment that ultimately disturbed the "checks and balances" system in the country, that eventually strain the executive and judiciary relations. In 1977, the Supreme Court courted by Chief Justice S. Anwarul Haq used the institutional powers to provide a legality to justify the actions resulted in martial law to dismiss the Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but decided to hear a petition to review the death sentence awarded by the Lahore High Court after the murder trial reached its conclusion. In a controversial leanings of 4:3, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but it maintained its institutional integrity while taking many cases involving the Zia administration. The institutional "de jure" powers of the Supreme Court were restored to its original position after the passing of the Eighth Amendment in 1985.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: After the military takeover of the civilian government, the pro-democracy organizations and PML(N)'s lawyers challenged the legality of the military takeover, asking the supreme court to review its rulings. After the lengthy court battle between Sharif's and Musharraf's lawyers, the Supreme Court was in a clear view of the military take over as "unconstitutional" but favoured the legality on necessity grounds that was viewed as very limited, on 12 May 2000.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Widely publicised case, the "Nawaz Sharif vs. Federation", the supreme court relied its judgement based on the principle of "salus populi est suprema lex" and rejected the options of "complete surrender" to the regime or total opposition which, in its judgement, would have led to the "closure of the courts". Due to the Thirteenth Amendment removed the effective check and balance of branches of the government, the supreme court marked its reference using the ""Necessitas facit licitum quod alias non-est licitum"" and asserted on the right of the Superior Courts to review the orders, proceedings, acts, and legislative measures of the Musharraf regime. In addition, the situation was termed by the supreme court as a "case of constitutional deviation for a transitional period", and accepted Musharraf's argument for holding the national elections within two-to-three years, giving Musharraf until 12 May 2002 to hold new elections. While issuing a lengthy judgement, the supreme court effectively established its institutional authority on Musharraf as it reserved for its right to review and re-examine the continuation of Musharraf's emergency powers.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Before this judgement, Musharraf did not hint a timetable for the restoration of democracy – having argued that it needed an indefinite and possibly prolonged time to reform the country – Musharraf publicly submitted to the Court's judgement. Several of Pakistani legal theorists have posited that Pakistan's ""grundnorm"", the basis for its Constitutional convention and system of laws, continues in effect (and the Supreme Court therefore retains its authority) even when the written constitution is suspended by the imposition of a military dictablanda.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Constitution empowers the Supreme Court to exercise its powers of contempt of court to punish any person or an authority found of scandalizing, abusing, interfering, and obstructing the procedures of the court or its rulings. In 2001–2002, there were additional amendments made that further empowers the Supreme Court and its institutional powers to struck any federal authority found on the charges of contempt of court.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: In a much publicized case, the Supreme Court effectively used its constitutional powers when it ceased Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani from running the government when the court found him guilty of contempt of court charges– hench disqualified the prime minister from holding any public offices in the country.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court has been given literary criticism by historians and authors of history of Pakistan for validating the martial law against the elected governments of Pakistan by the military interventions.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: In 2007, it was reported widely by the Pakistani news media that the Military Intelligence officials, acting under then-President and army chief General Pervez Musharraf, were using photographs of the justices involved with prostitutes to blackmail and pressurize the supreme court justices to take the oath of allegiance and make rulings favorable to the then-President Musharraf.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Lawyer's movement, allied with the rule of Law movement led by PML(N), eventually called for a successful long march to have to justices of the supreme court restored before the state of emergency imposed in 2007. Led under the direction of PML(N)'s President Nawaz Sharif, now the Prime Minister, the long march effectively restored the supreme court justices when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared on national television, only to announce unconditional restoration of the judiciary.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: With immediate effect on 17 March 2009, Justices Javaid Iqbal, Ijaz Ahmed, K. R. Ramday, and Fayaz Ahmad were restored to their position as of 2 November 2007 with Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry assuming the post of Chief Justice on 22 March 2009. The news media pundits eventually noted that it was General Tariq Majid, then-Chairman joint chiefs, and General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani, then-army chief, had played an ambiguous role in intervening and encouraging a rapprochement between the government and the opposition. Neither side acknowledged this role, however, until lawyers' movement leader Aitezaz Ahsan publicly admitted Kayani's role. There were mass speculations that protestors and law enforcement agencies would have violently collided otherwise had they not intervened.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The restoration of the justices that resulted from the immense public pressure led to the judiciary to begin a quest for independence with an aim to ensure a strong and efficient judicial system that could quickly deliver justice to the public. The Supreme Court took notice of several important constitutional and other cases in the period that related to the public interest. These cases of importance included the constitutional petitions and judgements on:


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court rendered its judgement declare the appointments based upon PCO on 3 November 2007 as null and void as well as declaring the NRO as also null and voided that ultimately opened the investigations and cases against then-President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Gillani.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court became extremely vigilant on corruption cases related to the Gillani administration, effectively led to the government shutdown and critics noted that the judicial activism slowed of government productivity without corruption has created a tension between the Chaudhry Court and the Gillani administration in 2008 till 2013.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Of the 14 justices that rendered a verdict related to taking an oath under the PCO, 12 had taken the oath themselves. However, they controversially did not apply the judgement to themselves.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: As a result of the 31 July 2009 decision handed down in the case of Constitutional Petitions 8 and 9 of 2009, the following justices resigned before their cases were referred to Supreme Judicial Council:


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: In addition to the above justices, the following justices were removed from the Supreme Court of Pakistan on the ground that their appointment to the court was made without consultation with the "de jure" Chief Justice of Pakistan.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The decision of the Court summarily removed all justices of the higher judiciary who were not part of it as of 2 November 2007. Their removal was ordered on the grounds that the "de jure" Chief Justice was not allowed to advise in these cases. In the same decision the court held that the "de jure" Chief Justice from 3 November 2007 to 22 March 2009 was Justice Chaudhry.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The Supreme Court bench that rendered the decision consisted entirely of justices who had taken oath under the PCO of 1999 themselves, but were already sitting justices of the higher judiciary at the time and had taken a constitutional oath. The 1999 PCO and decisions made under it were given constitutional protection by Seventeenth amendment.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Critics of the decision question the fact that some PCO judges are still working and some non-PCO judges have been sacked.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Removed ad hoc judges of the Lahore High Court have filed several petitions in the Supreme Court in Lahore for review of its judgment, which sent 76 judges of Supreme Courts and High Courts immediately home.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: These judges argue that they were qualified to be appointed as judges of the High Court in accordance with the requirements of Article 193(2)of the 1973 Constitution and were offered to serve as ad hoc judges following the consultation required under the Constitution. They accepted the offer and took oath when the state of emergency was lifted. They never took oath under a PCO and continued performing the functions of judges of the High Court until judgement was rendered against them.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: These judges were appointed by Lahore High Court Chief Justice Justice Zahid Hussain, who is still a justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and is not being tried before the Supreme Judicial Counsel.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: The petition also noted that none of the sacked judges were made parties to the decision against them, nor were they able to comment in the hearing or in some cases aware that the hearing was taking place. They also allege that no copy of the decision was sent to the High Court or to the judges concerned.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: the Supreme Court applied its judgement retroactively, having effect from 3 November 2007. The 14-member Supreme Court bench did not, however, apply the sanction to judges who took oath under the 1999 PCO. Some of these are current justices, and some have not yet taken a constitutional oath.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Critics of the decision also argue that it is inconsistent with the principles laid down in Malik Asad Ali's case where it was held that the Chief Justice was bound by the Court's judgement. Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was removed from office based on this case.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Inconsistently with the decision, the present Chief Justice Chaudhry accepted the stance of the government that Justice Dogar was the Chief Justice until his retirement.


title: Supreme Court of Pakistan

text: Following the decision, the official website of the Supreme Court was hacked by an unknown person. The hacked website made derogatory remarks about Chief Justice Chaudhry.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the "Rock Band" series. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions were released in North America on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was released on December 18, 2007 and the Wii version on June 22, 2008. Harmonix previously developed the first two games in the "Guitar Hero" series, which popularized gameplay of rock music with guitar-shaped controllers. After development of the series was shifted to Neversoft, Harmonix conceived "Rock Band" as a new title that would offer multi-instrument gameplay.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The game allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular rock songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments. Players can play the lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums parts to songs with "instrument controllers", as well as sing through a USB microphone. Players are scored on their ability to match scrolling musical "notes" while playing instruments, or by their ability to match the singer's pitch on vocals. Players with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions can interact with players on the same platform through both online and offline multiplayer capabilities. In addition to the 58 core songs included on the game disc, over 2,000 downloadable songs were released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: At launch, the game software was made available in a bundle that packaged it together with the instrument peripherals, as well as for purchase separately. Individual instrument peripherals were released at a later date. The game received widespread critical acclaim, with sales of four million units and global revenues of $600 million. Players have made over 100 million downloadable song purchases since "Rock Band"s release. The game's success prompted the release of six sequels: "Rock Band 2", "", "Lego Rock Band", "", "Rock Band 3" and "Rock Band 4".


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Reusing many gameplay elements from the "Guitar Hero" series, "Rock Band" players use peripherals modeled after musical instruments to simulate the performance of rock music. Players use these instruments by playing scrolling musical "notes" on-screen in time with the music. "Rock Band" expands upon the "Guitar Hero" series, in that it offers gameplay for drums and vocals, in addition to lead and bass guitar.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Rock Band"'s gameplay and on-screen interface uses a combination of elements from "Guitar Hero" and "Karaoke Revolution". "Rock Band" has up to three tracks of vertically scrolling colored music notes, one section each for lead guitar, drums, and bass. The colored notes on-screen correspond to buttons on the guitar and drum peripherals. For lead and bass guitar, players play their notes by holding down colored fret buttons on the guitar peripheral and pushing the controller's strum bar; for drums, players must strike the matching colored drumhead, or step on the pedal to simulate playing bass drum notes. Along the top of the screen is the vocals display, which scrolls horizontally, similar to "Karaoke Revolution". The lyrics display beneath green bars, which represent the pitch of the individual vocal elements. When singing vocals, the player must sing in relative pitch to the original vocals. A pitch indicator displays the singer's accuracy relative to the original pitch. The remainder of the screen is used to display the band's virtual characters as they perform in concert.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: During cooperative play as a band, all players earn points towards a common score, though score multipliers and "Overdrive" are tracked separately for each player. Overdrive is collected during select portions of a song by successfully playing all white notes within that section (or by using the guitar controller's whammy bar during white sustained notes). Once the Energy Meter is filled halfway, players can deploy their Overdrive, resulting in the "Band Meter" (which tracks how well each player is doing) changing more dramatically. This allows players to strategically use Overdrive to raise the Band Meter and pass portions of a song they otherwise might have failed. Overdrive can be used to activate score multipliers, which vary based on a player's note streak. Players can deploy Overdrive independently of each other, as well as collect additional Overdrive while it is deployed and draining.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Each band member can choose the difficulty at which they play (spanning Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert). If a player does not play well enough and falls to the bottom of the Band Meter, they will fail out of the song and their instrument will be muted from the audio mix. However, any active player can activate their Overdrive to bring failed players back into the song, "saving" the band member. However, a band member can only be saved twice; after the third failure, they cannot be brought back for that song. Failed players continuously drag the band's Band Meter down until they are saved. If the player is not saved before the Band Meter reaches the bottom, the band fails the song. Players can earn Overdrive bonuses from "Unison Phrases" and extra points from a "Big Rock Ending."


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Unlike the PlayStation 2 and Wii version, players with the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions can create and customize their own in-game character, complete with adjustable hair, body physique, clothing, tattoos, onstage movements, and instruments. Each character is permanently locked into a specific instrument. Using cash earned within the game, the player may purchase items at the in-game "Rock Shop," with which they can customize their rock star. The game features an art maker where players can combine different clip art elements to create custom face paint, tattoos, clothing designs, instrument artwork, and band logos.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The game features special "Rock Band"-branded guitar controllers modeled after the Fender Stratocaster to be used for the lead and bass guitar gameplay. These are similar to the "Guitar Hero" controllers, as they feature five colored fret buttons on the neck, a strum bar, and a whammy bar. The Stratocaster controller has five additional fret buttons of smaller size located closer to the guitar's main body. These buttons can be used to play notes in guitar solos (denoted by the note track turning blue) as hammer-ons and pull-offs, without the need to strum. Additionally, the controller features an effects pickup switch that can toggle between five different effects, which are applied in solos and when Overdrive is activated. Overdrive for guitarists can be deployed by holding the controller in a vertical position or pressing the "Select/Back" button. The controller is offered in both wired and wireless versions. Harmonix confirmed most "Guitar Hero" guitar controllers and additional third-party controllers are compatible with the game. The Stratocaster controller is not compatible with "Guitar Hero II" or "III".


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The drum controller features four rubber drum pads and a kick pedal. The pads have colored rings around the edges that correspond to the notes on-screen, representing the snare drum (red), hi-hat (yellow), tom-tom (blue), and crash cymbal (green). The kick pedal simulates the bass drum, with on-screen notes represented as orange horizontal lines. A pair of authentic drum sticks are included with the controller. Drummers can improvise in special "freestyle drum fill" sections of songs, indicated by the columns for each note turning a solid color. Overdrive for drummers can be deployed by hitting the crash cymbal (green note for right-handed configuration) that appears directly after a freestyle drum fill. Harmonix representatives have suggested, "If you can play the drum parts on hard, you can pretty much play the drums [in reality]."


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Rock Band"s USB microphone instrument is similar to the model used in the Harmonix-developed "Karaoke Revolution" games. For the most part, singers are judged on how closely they match the relative pitch of the song's vocalist. During "talking parts" that do not judge pitch, a phoneme detector will pick up individual vowels and consonants of the spoken lyrics. Some sections without vocals will display circle notes, allowing for the microphone to be used as a tambourine and cowbell by tapping it or making vocal cues. Overdrive for singers can be deployed by singing in freestyle vocal sections of songs, denoted by yellow artwork in the background of the vocals interface.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Band World Tour" is the game's primary multiplayer mode. It allows any combination of 2-4 local players to create a virtual band, play gigs, and tour a virtual representation of the world. Although online play is not supported for Band World Tour, players can use the "Band Quickplay" mode to play together as a band online. For the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, Band World Tour mode lets bands play in 41 different venues spanning 17 cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, New York, London, Sydney, Stockholm, and Rome. After creating their band, characters, and logo, the players can begin playing concerts in small venues in their hometown until they unlock vans, tour buses and private jets, which unlock other cities and continents. Successful performances also earn the band fans, stars, and in-game cash. Most cities and larger venues require the band to achieve a certain number of fans and stars before they are unlocked. In-game venues are inspired by real-life venues and often display local art styles from each of the represented cities.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: For the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, rather than complete predetermined lists of songs (like in previous "Guitar Hero" games), players complete unique sets of activities at each venue. Performances consist of single songs, multiple song sets, "make your own" setlists, and mystery setlists. Players are also faced with decisions that Harmonix refers to as "risk-versus-reward." For certain performances, bands are faced with an optional challenge that requires the band to average a certain number of stars for their gig in order to reap the rewards. Bands can also choose to perform a benefit concert (earning no in-game money but gaining more fans) or "sell-out" (earning more in-game money but losing fans). Additionally, for certain gigs, bands can compete for band personnel, as well as a recording deal with a record label. The "Endless Setlist" provides players with all-day concert experience, as the setlist requires playing the entire game disc's setlist from start to finish.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The PlayStation 2 and Wii versions of "Rock Band" contain a more stripped-down version of the Band World Tour mode, as 2–4 local players will only be able to play by completing predetermined tiers of songs ordered by difficulty. Players cannot create their own characters, nor can they choose a city, venue, or a setlist to play.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Solo Tour" is a single-player mode offered for the lead guitar, drum, and microphone peripherals (there is no support for bass). Rather than feature the open-ended gameplay and features of the next-generation versions of Band World Tour mode, Solo Tour is structured much in the same vein as the career mode in "Guitar Hero" games. Players choose/create their character (on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions only) and complete predetermined sets of songs ordered by difficulty, with each instrument's setlist ordered differently. By completing these sets of songs, additional songs are unlocked for play across all game modes. For the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, players can use money earned for each performance to purchase merchandise at the "Rock Shop". The character's cash carries over into Band World Tour mode, and vice versa.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Players can quickly play any song on any instrument individually in "Solo Quickplay". For a competitive experience, players can individually compete against each other for each instrument type in the "Tug of War" (much like "Guitar Hero"s "Face-off", in which players trade playing sections of a song to move a meter in their favor) and "Score Duel" (much like "Guitar Hero II"s "Pro Face-off", in which each player plays the song in its entirety on the same difficulty level to earn points). These head-to-head modes are available both online (for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions) and locally. "Band Quickplay" mode allows bands to quickly play any song; the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions allow any combination of 2–4 local or online players to play as a band, while the PlayStation 2 and Wii versions only supports 2–4 local players. Also included in "Rock Band" are "Tutorial Mode", which allows players to learn how to play each instrument, and "Practice Mode", which allows players to practice songs for each instrument.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: All versions of "Rock Band" feature the same core 58 playable tracks on the game disc; 45 of these are featured tracks in the main setlist, while the other 13 tracks are "bonus songs" by independent or lesser-known bands, as well as bands made up of Harmonix employees. In total, 51 of the 58 songs are master recordings. The Wii version of the game features 5 additional songs. Featured tracks include "Dani California" by Red Hot Chili Peppers, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Öyster Cult, "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, "Here It Goes Again" by OK Go, "Highway Star" by Deep Purple, "Learn to Fly" by Foo Fighters, "Suffragette City" by David Bowie, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who. All but three songs on the "Rock Band" disc can be transferred to the user's hard drive on the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 to be used for "Rock Band 2". Furthermore, an extra two songs from "Rock Band" cannot be carried over into "Rock Band 3".


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos commented that the game's soundtrack would be "covering a great breadth, from metal to classic rock to Southern rock to everything in between." Five record labels agreed to supply most of the master recordings by their artists for use in the game, including EMI Music, Hollywood Records, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Universal Music Group's Universal Music Enterprises, and Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game support downloadable songs. Users can download songs on a track-by-track basis, with many of the tracks digitally bundled together in "song packs" or complete albums at a discounted rate. Harmonix likened the "Rock Band" game to a new platform for future music releases, and the company built the library of downloadable content up to hundreds of songs within the first year of the game's release by releasing new content on a weekly basis. Fifteen songs were made available at the game's launch date. To date, over 1,480 downloadable songs are available and over 100 million song purchases have been made by players. Downloadable songs are playable within every game mode, including the Band World Tour career mode. All downloadable songs released before "Rock Band 3" came out are cross-compatible between "Rock Band" and "Rock Band 2". Downloadable albums have been a major selling point for the game, with nine albums having been released to date. Currently, most song packs containing three songs are priced at $5.49/440 Microsoft Points, while most individual songs are available for the standard price of $1.99/160 MSP. Occasionally, certain songs are initially priced at $0.99/80 MSP for a limited time. The prices for albums differ, depending on the number of songs the album contains.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: As both the PlayStation 2 and Wii version lack downloadable content, Harmonix released a series of "Track Pack" standalone games that are sold in retail stores. Each volume contains several of the tracks available as downloadable content for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. "Track Pack Vol. 2" saw an expanded release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well. One Track Pack, exclusively featuring the songs of AC/DC's 1991 "Live at Donington" concert, was released in November 2008.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Harmonix Music Systems was previously responsible for making the "Guitar Hero" series, while RedOctane manufactured the peripherals and owned the rights to the series. However, in June 2006, RedOctane was bought by Activision, while in September 2006, Harmonix was purchased by MTV Networks. As a result of the two purchases, Harmonix would no longer be able to develop future "Guitar Hero" games. Instead, Neversoft, a subsidiary of Activision, would take over development; the company released "" on October 28, 2007. According to "The Business", "Rock Band" cost $200 million to develop. Harmonix's Vice President of Product Development, Greg LoPiccolo, stated that the game took about 20 months to develop, already having envisioned the possibility of different instruments before they were completed with the "Guitar Hero" series.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Development started around February 2006, working with industrial designers J. Hayes and contract manufacturer Canyon Creations for prototyping instruments. One of the first needs for developing "Rock Band" was new hardware, specifically for the drums, since they already had experience with guitar controllers from "Guitar Hero". Working in tandem between software and hardware development, Harmonix spent time working on a drum controller prototype and how its track would be shown on screen. One difficulty faced was the drum bass pedal's visual representation; the four drum pads were generally matched in visual space as to the onscreen note track, but using a standard note "gem" for bass pedals threw testers off. They eventually came to the solution of using a bar that spanned the note track for bass pedal, which worked well. Once the drum prototypes were done, they started working on the guitar controllers. Preliminary hardware pieces were completed by April 2007, leading to mass production in China for release. Harmonix noted that they had not started their discussions with their Chinese manufacturers early enough, as they needed to push a team to be in China during the principle production months from June to September 2007 to make sure initial production was completed and in transit to meet release.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Gameplay was designed to be focused around the feeling of being in a band. Initial playtests showed that there was a lack of cohesion if each member of the band just played their parts. Harmonix created its Harmonix Design Cabal from senior designers and veterans of the studio to play around with the gameplay and UI to help identify means that would encourage a more unified band. This Cabal led to the introduction of saving failing teammates, unison bonuses, bass grooves, guitar and drum solos, and Big Rock Endings in the final game. For networking, they opted to use the Quazal networking scheme rather than the platforms' current network offerings, which allowed them flexibility in "Rock Band" and future games. Large scale testing and debugging for their network and server capabilities was done by renting time on a supercomputer to simulate 100,000 simultaneous connections. In visual style, Harmonix used the keyword "authenticity", which drove the appearance of the costumes, based on various music genres, the in-game instruments, and the animations used during a song to simulate a music video.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: In selecting the soundtrack for "Rock Band", the developers recognized that they needed to select songs that were recognizable, particularly on vocals; in contrast, when they were selecting songs for "Guitar Hero", they were able to pick songs that played better even if they were less recognizable. They also consider songs that would help players come together socially, such as in The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again", where they retained the long synthesizer solo such that the band members would all start playing again after it for a big finish. The team were able to introduce songs from smaller artists that they felt were good additions, such as "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and "Electric Version" by the New Pornographers to help also introduce players to those classes of music. For about half the songs, they hired a studio to sing along to the lyrics as a crowd would at a stadium, such that during the game, when players are performing well, the additional crowd sing-alongs would add to the performance experience.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Current Harmonix parent company MTV provided financial support to the development process, taking advantage of its stature to facilitate deals with record companies for licensing rights to songs. Several record companies pledged their support by offering master recordings. Pressed for office space, Harmonix was forced to move its offices in the middle of "Rock Band"s beta period in order to support the company's 130-person staff. However, they continued to bring on more developers in order to complete the title on time. This led to several problems in bringing the newer coders on board without any technical plan, requiring the team to redesign several parts of the game, such as online matchmaking, several times to correct. Although the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game were developed in-house, Harmonix outsourced development of the PlayStation 2 version to Pi Studios, as it omits certain features.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Harmonix faced difficulty in making the Xbox 360 guitar wireless, as developers are charged a licensing fee to use Microsoft's wireless technology. Had Harmonix chosen to pay the fee, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 bundles of "Rock Band" would have sold at different price points. Instead, Harmonix chose a wired technology for the Xbox 360 bundle's guitar. In the certification process for both Xbox and PlayStation platforms, Harmonix encountered difficulty in how to assign service profiles to different instruments; while they ended with a profile management systems that met the certification requirements, the solution was concerned just functional and awkward to use.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Around 160 developers had been involved on "Rock Band", though Harmonix noted they likely needed to hire more. They found the various department leads overwhelmed with tasks, despite being those that also offered the most creative input on the game's design. Harmonix also found during development that they jumped head-first into some technical approaches which initially seemed to work but failed on larger-scale tests; the online functionality went through several such iterations.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Rock Band" was first announced on April 1, 2007. Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos said in the announcement that "Rock Band" "takes the core premise of "Guitar Hero" and expands it tenfold. It lets you create a complete collaborative band." "Rock Band" was a featured game at the 2007 E3 convention and provided one of the exhibition's highlights; Harmonix employees and Microsoft executive Peter Moore played the game on-stage, performing The Hives' "Main Offender". Moore paused the game twice when he accidentally hit the guitar's Xbox Guide button.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: A software update was released on March 21, 2008, which added new features to the game. The update included an in-game music store with preview and sorting options, revised microphone performance, and faster downloadable content loading.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: On October 25, 2007, Harmonix and MTV announced RockBand.com would be transformed into an extensive community website at the game's launch, and that it would extend the features of the game. The community website was absent at the game's launch in order to fix bugs and complete features, but was launched on December 19, 2007. The site offered leaderboards, customizable band profile pages with stats, a classified area for bands to find additional members, band blogs, online forums, and other sharing features. Many originally announced features, such as the ability for players to pose their avatars, take photo shoots and order T-shirts, bumper stickers, and figurines, were eventually made available on the website for "Rock Band 2".


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: MTV and Harmonix promoted "Rock Band" heavily in the months leading up to the game's release. The game made a nationwide promotional tour of the United States. Several tour buses made stops at major American cities to set up demo stations and showcase playable versions of the game for fans. Many of the locations included college campuses. Additionally, fan-created "bands" were able to audition on-stage by playing the game; their performances were recorded and sent to MTV casting directors, who selected two bands to appear on "Total Request Live" in a "battle of the bands." The promotional tour commenced with a featured showcase at the MTV Video Music Awards in Las Vegas on September 9, 2007.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: MTV invested in additional promotions that totaled about $30 million. The game was set up within the homes of "The Real World" participants, allowing for on-air visibility. VH1 also produced a brief spoof documentary in the style of "Behind the Music" titled ""Rock Band" Cometh: The "Rock Band" Band Story," documenting a fictional band that plays the game.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The game appeared in demo kiosks at Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Sam's Club stores. The demo contained 15 songs and supports gameplay for all 4 instruments (although the actual in-store setup varied). The demo's drum set lacked a bass pedal, with the game automatically playing bass drum notes.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Other companies helped to promote "Rock Band" through free and reduced cost downloadable content. Best Buy offered two free downloadable tracks by the band Disturbed for customers that pre-ordered their "Indestructible" album online; these tracks were made available to all users in June 2008 for $0.99/80MSP. McDonald's sponsored a month-long program that reduced the cost of two selected downloadable tracks to $1 (approximately half the standard cost) for each week during the month of May 2008 as part of their Dollar Menu promotion.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The United Kingdom release of the game took place in London, where a number of bands including The Automatic, The Whip, and The Courteeners performed short sets.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The "Special Edition" bundle includes the game software, as well as guitar, drum, and microphone peripherals. The PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and Wii bundles include a wireless guitar, whereas the Xbox 360 bundle contains a wired guitar (a separate wireless guitar is currently available for the Xbox 360). Initially, a USB hub was only included in the Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 2 bundles, in order to increase the number of available USB ports on the console. The more recent PlayStation 3 bundles now include a USB hub, with a sticker on the box indicating so. MTV originally announced "Rock Band" would be released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on November 23, 2007, Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days in the United States. However, the release date was eventually moved to November 20, 2007.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The game software was made available for purchase individually at the game's launch, allowing players with a USB microphone or a compatible guitar controller to take advantage of the vocals, lead guitar, and bass guitar gameplay. Individual "Rock Band"-branded instruments became available in retail stores later, starting with the drum kit on February 12, 2008. An individual wireless guitar became available on April 8, 2008.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: On April 8, 2008, EA announced a timed Xbox 360 exclusive for a partial European launch, with other versions to follow later in the summer.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Upon release, many players reported hardware issues with "Rock Band" peripherals. Many complaints stemmed from the bass drum pedal snapping in two, the Stratocaster controller's strum bar being unresponsive, and it occasionally lagging when tilted to activate Overdrive. In response to these issues, Harmonix admitted the guitars bundled with initial shipment of the game bundles were subject to manufacturing issues and stated that they would replace all faulty peripherals. Players affected by faulty peripherals were able to take advantage of the 60-day warranty on the peripherals and obtain replacements from EA. However, a class action lawsuit was issued against Harmonix, MTV Games, Viacom, and Electronic Arts over the failures of the bass drum pedal, claiming the companies conspired to force consumers to pay for repairs or upgrade to the "Rock Band 2" drum kit. Attempts were made to settle the lawsuit in 2008, but were unsuccessful. In September 2009, the original plaintiff dropped the lawsuit.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Other players discovered at the game's launch that the Gibson Les Paul guitar controller bundled with the PlayStation 3 version of "" was initially not compatible with the PlayStation 3 version of "Rock Band", despite Harmonix stating that any controllers that followed the open-controller standard would work. While this incompatibility could have been resolved through technical solutions, both Harmonix and Activision cited the other party as being at fault for failing to correct the incompatibility. Harmonix developed a patch to fix the issue, but it was blocked by Activision. Activision stated that MTV Games was unwilling to reach an agreement to pay Activision to use the "Guitar Hero III" technology in "Rock Band". This incompatibility also applies to the Wii's Les Paul peripheral. However, a patch for the PlayStation 3 version of "Rock Band" was eventually released on September 11, 2008, allowing the "Guitar Hero III" Les Paul controller to work with "Rock Band". Nyko released a PlayStation 3 version of their "Frontman" guitar controller that is compatible with both "Guitar Hero III" and "Rock Band".


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: At a press conference at the 2008 E3 convention, Activision confirmed that the Xbox 360 version of "Guitar Hero World Tour" will be able to use "Rock Band"s instruments, adapting the note tracks to account for the smaller number of drum pads, and that this compatibility was patched into "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith" as a result of additional arrangements.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Prior to release, EA CEO John Riccitielo remarked that the company would not be able to meet the high demand for "Rock Band" in the 2007 holiday season, stating, "We're not going to be able to put enough inventory to meet demand in North America or Europe this calendar year or this fiscal [year]." This prompted many retailers to limit the number of preorders they sold before the game was released.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Official Xbox Magazine" published the first review of "Rock Band", scoring the Xbox 360 version a 9.5/10 and calling it "gaming's most intensely rewarding co-op experience." "OXM" also commented that the game's "payoff isn't visceral or technical; it's emotional." IGN awarded the game a 9.4/10 score and an Editor's Choice Award for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions. IGN largely praised the game, calling it "one of the must-have games of the year" and suggesting it "may just be among the best party games ever released." 1UP.com gave the next-generation versions of the game an A, stating that ""Rock Band" unquestionably, unequivocally rocks." GameSpot rated the next-generation versions of the game a 9.0/10, calling "Rock Band" "one of the best party games of all time." They also gave the game their Editor's Choice award. The Xbox 360 version of "Rock Band" has an average critic score of 92%, according to Metacritic, tying it for the 24th-highest-scored Xbox 360 game. Similarly, the PlayStation 3 version of "Rock Band" has an average critic score of 92% on Metacritic, making it the 25th-highest-scored PlayStation 3 game.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Most critics commended the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of "Rock Band" for the game's group gameplay, the depth of Band World Tour mode, and the introduction of a drum peripheral. Common complaints about the game focused on the different feel of the packaged Fender Stratocaster controller, as well as the game's Solo Tour modes not being as enjoyable as the multiplayer offerings. IGN's video review lamented the lack of a single player Band World Tour mode.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: The PlayStation 2 version of the game was well received, but was subject to criticism for the omission of the character customization features, as well as the stripped-down Band World Tour mode. GameSpot rated it an 8.0/10, stating that ""Rock Band" is still a lot of fun on the PS2—it's just nowhere near the ideal version of the experience." IGN.com rated it an 8.4/10, noting that the removed features made the game feel like a "lessened" version, but that the game still "succeeds because it's infinitely fun to play with your friends."


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Reviews for the Wii version of "Rock Band" also criticize the lack of features compared to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. The Wii version is basically the same as its PlayStation 2 counterpart, but IGN criticized it for its late release and their effort in completing a full game. However, IGN noted that the drum controller was an improvement over the original version, stating, "The pads are quieter and the kick pedal will withstand more abuse."


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: By October 9, 2008, the game sold four million units and generated global revenues of $600 million. The sales of "Rock Band" helped Viacom to become the fifth-largest video game publisher in the United States, although analysts estimated that Viacom was only breaking even on sales of the game. In a March 2011 list, the NPD Group listed "Rock Band" as the fifth-highest-grossing video game in the United States since 1995, earning $670.7 million in revenue.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: By May 2011, over 100 million songs had been downloaded from the "Rock Band" music store. Viacom estimated that it is averaging the sale of 1 million downloadable songs every 9 days. Sales of songs were in favor of hard rock bands; Mötley Crües single "Saints of Los Angeles", debuting as a "Rock Band" track at the same time as the release of the album of the same name, saw 48,000 "Rock Band" downloads and 14,000 iTunes downloads during its first week of release. The popularity of some tracks also led to groups considering releasing more material for the game. Rushs alternate version of "Working Man" released only for "Rock Band" was met with so much praise from players of "Rock Band" that the group released the song for download through iTunes, as well as considered making full albums available, which they went on to do for their 1981 album "Moving Pictures", released for the game two months later.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Prior to the game's release, "Rock Band" was featured at the 2007 E3 convention, garnering attention and several awards, including the Game Critics' "Best of E3 2007" awards for "Best of Show," "Best Hardware/Peripheral," and "Best Social/Casual/Puzzle," 1UP.com's "Best of E3," and GameSpot's "Best Stage Demo" and "Best Xbox 360 Game."


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: After its release, "Rock Band" won dozens of awards covering game releases from 2007. The game won seven awards from IGN's "Best of 2007," receiving honors for "Best Music Game" for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, "Best Local Multiplayer Game" for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, "Best Downloadable Content" for the PlayStation 3, and "Best Console Peripheral," as well as overall awards for "Best Music Game," "Best Licensed Soundtrack," and "Best Local Multiplayer Game." GameSpot awarded "Rock Band" five awards in its "Best of 2007," recognizing the game for "Best Rhythm/Music Game," "Best New Gaming Hardware," "Best Downloadable Content," "Best Sound Design," and "Best Multiplayer Game." "Wired", "Official Xbox Magazine", and Ars Technica all named "Rock Band" the "Game of the Year," while "Next Generation Magazine" named it the second-best game of 2007. GamePro honored "Rock Band" with the "Innovation Award" for four-person cooperative play, as well as the selection of "Best Party Game" of 2007. GameSpy also recognized the game as the "Music Game of the Year" on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Additionally, "Rock Band" was awarded "Best Multiplayer Experience (console)" by 1UP.com. The game won two awards at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards, receiving honors for "Best Rhythm Game" and "Best Soundtrack," while the game's developer, Harmonix, won "Studio of the Year." The game also won an award for "Best Multiplayer Game" in the "X-Play" Best of 2007 Awards. The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences awarded "Rock Band" with honors for three of the eight categories in which it was nominated; the game won awards for "Family Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack", and "Outstanding Innovation in Gaming". "Rock Band" was named "Best Party Game" of the year from "Game Informer Magazine". The game has also been called the best rhythm game of all time by GameTap.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: Like the "Guitar Hero" series, "Rock Band" has had a significant impact on culture. Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, the founders of Harmonix, were together named in "Time Magazine"'s list of the 100 most influential people of 2008 for their creation of "Rock Band". In the article, guitarist Steven Van Zandt claims, "in the history of rock 'n' roll, "Rock Band" may just turn out to be up there with the rise of FM radio, CDs, or MTV."


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: "Rock Band 2" was officially announced on June 30, 2008, and was released on September 14, 2008 on the Xbox 360, with other platform releases following later in the year. Original instruments from "Rock Band" are compatible with "Rock Band 2", which features new instruments that been described as quieter and more reliable. Furthermore, both existing and any forthcoming downloadable content will be cross-compatible between "Rock Band" and "Rock Band 2". "Rock Band 2" saw enhancements to the existing Band World Tour mode, as well as inclusions of new "Drum Trainer" and "Battle of the Bands" modes. 55 of the 58 "Rock Band" songs can be exported for use in "Rock Band 2", with the purchase of a $5 export key.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: On March 21, 2008, EA, MTV, and Harmonix were sued by the Gibson Guitar Corporation for violation of the 1999 , which Gibson claims covers technology that simulates a concert performance via pre-recorded audio and a musical instrument; this follows similar action that Gibson took against the "Guitar Hero" series, which was later settled out of court. The Gibson-Harmonix case was put on hold shortly after its filing to allow the United States Patent and Trademark Office to open a re-examination of the 405 patent. On subsequent review, the 405 patent was modified to more exactly define the type of musical instrument that the patent covers, as the original language had conflicted with . Due to the change in language, Harmonix sought to have the case go forward and requested a summary judgement, believing that the new language of the 405 patent did not include the "Rock Band" controllers. In mid 2010, the case was settled between all parties under non-disclosed terms.


title: Rock Band (video game)

text: On July 10, 2008, Konami filed a separate lawsuit against Harmonix, Viacom, and MTV attempting to block the sale of "Rock Band", over infringement of their patents on a "musical-rhythm matching game" issued in 2002 and 2003, including . An MTV spokesperson expressed that the lawsuit was "extremely surprising" and that they intend to defend themselves against the suit. On December 2, 2008, Viacom issued a countersuit against Konami, claiming that "Rock Band" significantly improves on Konami's original patent, and that their "Rock Revolution" game uses controllers that are similar to "Rock Band". Both suits were settled for undisclosed terms in September 2010.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: Fagus sylvatica, the European beech or common beech is a deciduous tree belonging to the beech family Fagaceae.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: "Fagus sylvatica" is a large tree, capable of reaching heights of up to tall and trunk diameter, though more typically tall and up to trunk diameter. A 10-year-old sapling will stand about tall. It has a typical lifespan of 150–200 years, though sometimes up to 300 years. In cultivated forest stands trees are normally harvested at 80–120 years of age. 30 years are needed to attain full maturity (as compared to 40 for American beech). Like most trees, its form depends on the location: in forest areas, "F. sylvatica" grows to over , with branches being high up on the trunk. In open locations, it will become much shorter (typically ) and more massive.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The leaves are alternate, simple, and entire or with a slightly crenate margin, long and 3–7 cm broad, with 6–7 veins on each side of the leaf (as opposed to 7–10 veins in "F. orientalis"). When crenate, there is one point at each vein tip, never any points between the veins. The buds are long and slender, long and thick, but thicker (to 4–5" "mm) where the buds include flower buds.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The leaves of beech are often not abscissed (dropped) in the autumn and instead remain on the tree until the spring. This process is called marcescence. This particularly occurs when trees are saplings or when plants are clipped as a hedge (making beech hedges attractive screens, even in winter), but it also often continues to occur on the lower branches when the tree is mature.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: Small quantities of seeds may be produced around 10 years of age, but not a heavy crop until the tree is at least 30 years old. "F. sylvatica" male flowers are borne in the small catkins which are a hallmark of the Fagales order (beeches, chestnuts, oaks, walnuts, hickories, birches, and hornbeams). The female flowers produce beechnuts, small triangular nuts long and wide at the base; there are two nuts in each cupule, maturing in the autumn 5–6 months after pollination. Flower and seed production is particularly abundant in years following a hot, sunny and dry summer, though rarely for two years in a row.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The natural range extends from southern Sweden to northern Sicily, west to France, southern England, northern Portugal, central Spain, and east to northwest Turkey, where it intergrades with the oriental beech ("Fagus orientalis"), which replaces it further east. In the Balkans, it shows some hybridisation with oriental beech; these hybrid trees are named "Fagus" × "taurica" Popl. ["Fagus moesiaca" (Domin, Maly) Czecz.]. In the southern part of its range around the Mediterranean, it grows only in mountain forests, at altitude.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: Although often regarded as native in southern England, recent evidence suggests that "F. sylvatica" did not arrive in England until about 4000 BC, or 2,000 years subsequent to the English Channel forming following the ice ages; it could have been an early introduction by Stone Age humans, who used the nuts for food. The beech is classified as a native in the south of England and as a non-native in the north where it is often removed from 'native' woods. Localised pollen records have been recorded in the North of England from the Iron Age by Sir Harry Godwin. Changing climatic conditions may put beech populations in southern England under increased stress and while it may not be possible to maintain the current levels of beech in some sites it is thought that conditions for beech in north-west England will remain favourable or even improve. It is often planted in Britain. Similarly, the nature of Norwegian beech populations is subject to debate. If native, they would represent the northern range of the species. However, molecular genetic analyses support the hypothesis that these populations represent intentional introduction from Denmark before and during the Viking Age. However, the beech in Vestfold and at Seim north of Bergen in Norway is now spreading naturally and regarded as native.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: Though not demanding of its soil type, the European beech has several significant requirements: a humid atmosphere (precipitation well distributed throughout the year and frequent fogs) and well-drained soil (being intolerant of excessive stagnant water). It prefers moderately fertile ground, calcified or lightly acidic, therefore it is found more often on the side of a hill than at the bottom of clayey basin. It tolerates rigorous winter cold, but is sensitive to spring frost. In Norway's oceanic climate planted trees grow well north to Bodø, and produce seedlings and can spread naturally in Trondheim. In Sweden, beech trees do not grow as far north as in Norway.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: A beech forest is very dark and few species of plant are able to survive there, where the sun barely reaches the ground. Young beeches prefer some shade and may grow poorly in full sunlight. In a clear-cut forest a European beech will germinate and then die of excessive dryness. Under oaks with sparse leaf cover it will quickly surpass them in height and, due to the beech's dense foliage, the oaks will die from lack of sunlight.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The root system is shallow, even superficial, with large roots spreading out in all directions. European beech forms ectomycorrhizas with a range of fungi including many "Russula" species, as well as "Laccaria amethystina", and with the species "Ramaria flavosaponaria". "Tomentella" Pat. species and "Cenococcum geophilum" have been found in Danish and Spanish beech forests. These fungi are important in enhancing uptake of water and nutrients from the soil.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: In the woodlands of southern Britain, beech is dominant over oak and elm south of a line from about north Suffolk across to Cardigan. Oak are the dominant forest trees north of this line. One of the most beautiful European beech forests called Sonian Forest ("Forêt de Soignes/Zoniënwoud") is found in the southeast of Brussels, Belgium. Beech is a dominant tree species in France and constitutes about 10% of French forests. The largest virgin forests made of beech trees are Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh () in Ukraine and Izvoarele Nerei ( in one forest body) in Semenic-Cheile Carașului National Park, Romania. These habitats are the home of Europe's largest predators, (the brown bear, the grey wolf and the lynx). Many trees are older than 350 years in Izvoarele Nerei and even 500 years in Uholka-Shyrokyi Luh.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: Spring leaf budding by the European beech is triggered by a combination of day length and temperature. Bud break each year is from the middle of April to the beginning of May, often with remarkable precision (within a few days). It is more precise in the north of its range than the south, and at than at sea level.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The European beech invests significantly in summer and autumn for the following spring. Conditions in summer, particularly good rainfall, determine the number of leaves included in the buds. In autumn, the tree builds the reserves that will sustain it into spring. Given good conditions, a bud can produce a shoot with ten or more leaves. The terminal bud emits a hormonal substance in the spring that halts the development of additional buds. This tendency, though very strong at the beginning of their existence, becomes weaker in older trees.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: It is only after the budding that root growth of the year begins. The first roots to appear are very thin (with a diameter of less than 0.5 mm). Later, after a wave of above ground growth, thicker roots grow in a steady fashion.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: "Biscogniauxia nummularia" (beech tarcrust) is an ascomycete primary pathogen of beech trees, causing strip-canker and wood rot. It can be found at all times of year and is not edible.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: European beech is a very popular ornamental tree in parks and large gardens in temperate regions of the world. In North America, they are preferred for this purpose over the native "F. grandifolia", which despite its tolerance of warmer climates, is slower growing, taking an average of 10 years longer to attain maturity. The town of Brookline, Massachusetts has one of the largest, if not the largest, grove of European beech trees in the United States. The public park, called 'The Longwood Mall', was planted sometime before 1850 qualifying it as the oldest stand of European beeches in the United States.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: Since the early 19th century there have been numerous cultivars of European beech made by horticultural selection, often repeatedly; they include:


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The nuts are eaten by humans and animals. Slightly toxic to humans if eaten in large quantities due to the tannins and alkaloids they contain, the nuts were nonetheless pressed to obtain an oil in 19th-century England that was used for cooking and in lamps. They were also ground to make flour, which could be eaten after the tannins were leached out by soaking.


title: Fagus sylvatica

text: The wood of the European beech is used in the manufacture of numerous objects and implements. Its fine and short grain makes it an easy wood to work with, easy to soak, dye, varnish and glue. Steaming makes the wood even easier to machine. It has an excellent finish and is resistant to compression and splitting and it is stiff when flexed. Milling is sometimes difficult due to cracking. The density of the wood is per cubic meter. It is particularly well suited for minor carpentry, particularly furniture. From chairs to parquetry (flooring) and staircases, the European beech can do almost anything other than heavy structural support, so long as it is not left outdoors. Its hardness make it ideal for making wooden mallets and workbench tops. The wood rots easily if it is not protected by a tar based on a distillate of its own bark (as used in railway sleepers). It is better for paper pulp than many other broadleaved trees though is only sometimes used for this, the high cellulose content can also be spun into modal, which is used as a textile akin to cotton. The code for its use in Europe is (from "FA"gus "SY"lvatica). Common beech is also considered one of the best firewoods for fireplaces.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most successful. They were founded on July 25, 1902 by a group of young Paraguayans, and the name stems from the idea of its principal founding member, William Paats, a Dutchman based in Paraguay, who is considered the father of Paraguayan football for having introduced the practice of the sport in the South American country. Internationally, the club is referred to as Olimpia Asunción in order to distinguish itself from Latin American football clubs of the same name.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia have won a record 46 Primera División titles to date, including a unique record run of winning the league six consecutive times. The only Paraguayan club to win a CONMEBOL title, Olimpia have won three Copa Libertadores, and been runners-up four times, as well as two Recopa Sudamericanas, one Intercontinental Cup, one Copa Interamericana, and one Supercopa Sudamericana, a competition they won automatically in 1991. In 1979 they achieved the rare feat of winning all possible official titles on offer that year. They completed "the quadruple" by winning the Paraguayan championship, Copa Libertadores, the Copa Interamericana and Intercontinental Cup.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia contests the Paraguayan football derby (clásico) with Cerro Porteño, the "clásico añejo" (Old Derby) with Guaraní, and the "black and white derby" with Libertad.


title: Club Olimpia

text: The football team plays its home games at the Estadio Manuel Ferreira, also known as "El Bosque" (The Forest) and "Para Uno". Basketball and other sports, have their own sports centre named after former president Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb in the same site as the stadium in the Mariscal López neighborhood.


title: Club Olimpia

text: On November 23, 1901, before the formation of Club Olimpia, William Paats organized a first match between two teams of his students which then made young people to be eager to develop a sport team in Paraguay. Olimpia was founded on July 25, 1902, being the oldest football team in Paraguay. The club was founded by Dutchman William Paats, along with Paraguayans Sila Godoi, Fernando S. Pascual, José E. Torres, Gustavo M. Crovatto, Héctor Cabañas, Juan Rodi, Antonio Pedraza, Luis Marecos, Juan Mara and Genaro Gutiérrez Yegros. The act of foundation was written in the Rodi's family home, located in the streets of Azara and Independencia Nacional in downtown Asunción, Paraguay. That evening, three names for the club were suggested: Paraguay, Esparta and Olimpia. The final decision came to William Paats who chose "Club Olimpia" as the team official name, in honor of the Greek city of Olympia where the Olympic Games were born.


title: Club Olimpia

text: The original kit was composed of a black shirt with the word "Olimpia" written in white across the chest and white shorts. Later, white and black were adopted as the colours for the team, with a white shirt with a horizontal black stripe. The alternate jersey is black with a white stripe, though in 2008 the stripe is vertical.


title: Club Olimpia

text: The first national championship in Paraguay was played in 1906, after the foundation of the Paraguayan Football Association (APF). It was not until 1912 that Olimpia won a championship, facing Sol de América in the final. In that same year, Olimpia's biggest rival, Cerro Porteño, was founded.


title: Club Olimpia

text: After a few championships won during the 1910s, Olimpia's next big accomplishment were the three championships in a row in 1927, 1928, 1929 becoming the first Paraguayan team to win three consecutive titles. Olimpia repeated the same feat by becoming champions in 1936, 1937, 1938. The 1940s presented a rough time for Olimpia with bad results for most of the decade; but despite that Olimpia won two titles (1947 and 1948).


title: Club Olimpia

text: After the unpleasant times in the 1940s decade Olimpia started to establish its dominance in the Paraguayan league when Manuel Ferreira Sosa assumed the presidency of the club in the mid-1950s. During Ferreira's presidency the football stadium, Estadio Manuel Ferreira, was built. However, the most important accomplishment made by Ferreira was the acquisition of several key players that led Olimpia to a record five consecutive championships, from 1956 to 1960 (with an undefeated championship in 1959).


title: Club Olimpia

text: The club also had a first taste of international success in 1960 in the first edition of the Copa Libertadores de América by reaching the finals in which they lost to Peñarol. Ironically, the winning goal for Peñarol in the finals was scored by Uruguayan Luis Cubilla, who later became a coach and led Olimpia to several national and international championships.


title: Club Olimpia

text: The election of new club president Osvaldo Domínguez Dibb in 1975 is a key part in Olimpia's history. The new president hired coach Luis Cubilla, who led Olimpia to its first international cup title when the club defeated Boca Juniors of Argentina in the 1979 Copa Libertadores finals. In the first leg game played in Asunción Olimpia won 2–0. That result allowed Olimpia to play their effective defensive scheme in the famous La Bombonera stadium in the second leg, ending the match in a 0–0 draw that gave the Paraguayan side its first Copa Libertadores.


title: Club Olimpia

text: In that same year, Olimpia won the Copa Interamericana by defeating FAS of El Salvador by an aggregate of 8–3 (first leg result: 3–3, second leg result: 5–0) and the Intercontinental Cup by defeating the UEFA Champions League runner-up Malmö of Sweden 3–1 on aggregate.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia's success was not limited to the international scene: from 1978 to 1983 the team won a record six-straight Paraguayan league championships (beating their own record set in 1956–60 of five consecutive titles).


title: Club Olimpia

text: After the 1979 Copa Libertadores win, fans were starving for more continental success. For that matter, the club's president, Osvaldo Dominguez Dibb, decided to make a financial effort to bring Raul Vicente Amarilla, a Paraguayan striker that had proven his quality in the Spanish league over the years.


title: Club Olimpia

text: The signing of Oscar Amarilla was as positive for Olimpia as expected, as the team reached the 1989 Copa Libertadores finals but came up short, being defeated by Atlético Nacional. However, it did not take long for Olimpia to take revenge on Atlético Nacional, as they defeated the Colombian side in the semi-finals of the 1990 Copa Libertadores. This semi-final victory allowed Olimpia to play the finals against Barcelona de Guayaquil, beating the Ecuadorians 2–0 in the first leg played in Asunción, and tying 1–1 in Ecuador. This way Olimpia obtained its second Libertadores Cup with a 3–1 aggregate scoreline and a formidable team that had key players such as Almeida, Gabriel González, Samaniego, Amarilla among others.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Not content with the Libertadores title itself, Olimpia went on to win the 1990 Supercopa Sudamericana, a tournament reserved only for the best teams in South America. They did this by defeating Nacional de Montevideo in the finals with a 6–3 aggregate score. In that same year, Olimpia played the Intercontinental Cup final in Japan against the European champion AC Milan, losing 3–0. Because Olimpia won both the Libertadores and Supercopa in the same year, they automatically won the 1990 Recopa Sudamericana. The achievement of all the mentioned international titles in 1979 and 1990 established Olimpia as one of the most respected and traditional teams in South American football. In 1991 Olimpia reached the Copa Libertadores finals for the third time in a row but lost against Colo-Colo 3–0. Amongst other trophies won by Olimpia at the time, the club were crowned undefeated champions of the 1992 Torneo República, with Roberto Perfumo as team manager.


title: Club Olimpia

text: From 1994 to 1999, Olimpia would produce the debut of several youth team graduates and future national team players, such as Richart Baez (1993), Denis Caniza (1994), Carlos Humberto Paredes (1996), Roque Santa Cruz (1997), Ruben Maldonado (1997) and Julio César Caceres (1999). Baez was transferred to J1 League club Avispa Fukuoka whilst Santa Cruz, Paredes, Maldonado and Caceres were transferred to UEFA clubs. Five of the six players went on to play at FIFA World Cup tournaments for Paraguay. Olimpia also had won trophies in Paraguay's Primera División in 1993, 1995 and then consecuitively from 1997 to 2000, before winning the Copa Libertadores de América in 2002.


title: Club Olimpia

text: On July 25, 2002 Olimpia celebrated its centenary. This was not only an historic date in Olimpia's history because of the centenary, but it marked the year where Olimpia obtained its third Copa Libertadores. Having defeated Once Caldas (Colombia) and Universidad Católica (Chile) in the first round, Olimpia won the series against Cobreloa (Chile) in the second round, and then went on to overcome Boca Juniors in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Olimpia overcame Grêmio (Brazil). In the finals, the team led by coach Nery Pumpido defeated Brazilian side São Caetano 4–2 in a penalty shoot-out after an aggregate score of 2–2 in both legs and thus winning the final. Olimpia's base formation for the tournament was with Ricardo Tavarelli in goal; Néstor Isasi, Julio César Cáceres, Nelson Zelaya and Henrique da Silva in defense; Sergio Orteman, Victor Quintana, Julio Enciso and Gastón Córdoba in midfield; and Miguel Benítez and Richart Báez (later Hernán Rodrigo López) in the front. Coach Nery Alberto Pumpido was at the helm.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia also won the 2002 Recopa Sudamericana (played in 2003) by defeating San Lorenzo of Argentina 2–0 in the final played in Los Angeles. As in 1990, Olimpia lost the Intercontinental Cup final, this time against the powerful Real Madrid by a score of 0–2.


title: Club Olimpia

text: A deep slump followed the successful international period of 2002–03. Olimpia failed to qualify for the Copa Libertadores consistently in the last few years, and did not win the local tournament since 2000. Coaches have come and gone, most failing to lift Olimpia to any glory. Oscar Scavone was president from 2004–2006.


title: Club Olimpia

text: At the beginning of the 2007 Apertura season, Paraguayan legend José Cardozo took the helm as coach. His tenure did not last long, as Olimpia were unable to win the championship. For the Clausura tournament, former star player Alicio Solalinde was back at the helm. Though his record was not bad, he was replaced by Carlos Jara Saguier halfway through the tournament. This sparked a lot of controversy, as Saguier was a former player of Cerro Porteño, and an admitted fan of that club. Olimpia finished third in the Clausura tournament, behind Libertad and Cerro Porteño. A fourth-place finish in the annual table (adding both Apertura and Clausura tournaments) allowed Olimpia to return to international play after 4 years of absence with the 2008 Copa Sudamericana.


title: Club Olimpia

text: In December 2010, Club Olimpia had their internal elections which are usually held every two years. The two lists presented were led by the candidates for president Marcelo Recanate and Eduardo Delmás respectively. The list presided by Marcelo Recanate won the elections and they took control of the Club Olimpia from that same year.


title: Club Olimpia

text: The year 2011 started off very successfully for both the new directors as well as for the club. A total of twelve new players were incorporated to the first squad, and the youth team got a lot of new players as well as new trainers for each division. The first squad began the Apertura 2011 with seven victories in a row, and ended the first round of the tournament in the first position. The alternative team, the reserve, also had a good performance in its internal tournament. A very important fact of this new era of the Olimpia, is that number of active fan members of the club was triplicated just in three months, and that they are still increasing because of the team's great performance. But then again, in the second round of the tournament, a dispute emerged among the chairman, the coach and some of the players, as Marcelo Recanate accused them of "not giving all his finest efforts in the field". The rage remained until the final matches, when Nery Pumpido resigned. Mauro Caballero and Virginio Caceres took the lead and obtained the second place in the tournament.


title: Club Olimpia

text: On December 18, 2011, Olimpia obtained its 39th national league title by winning the 2011 Clausura after eleven years, the longest period without obtaining a national championship. The title came after defeating Rubio Ñu 2–1 at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco and finishing three points ahead of Cerro Porteño. The title was largely celebrated by energetic fans on the streets of Asuncion and nearby cities due to the way it was won with Olimpia having only a one-point lead over rivals Cerro until the last matchday. Other reasons why it was an unexpected title are that Olimpia had lost many key players to injuries, internal arguments with Chairman Recanate (later solved) and heavy criticism by other teams's fans about controversial calls made in favor of Olimpia.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia participated in the 2012 Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana as the "number one competitor" of Paraguay. However, their campaigns in both cups were underwhelming, as they were eliminated in the group stage and second round respectively.


title: Club Olimpia

text: In the 2012 Apertura Olimpia finished in second place in the Primera División, and qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores along with the two other big teams of Paraguay, Cerro Porteño and Libertad. They had a great performance there, defeating two other major teams in the knockout stages, Fluminense and Santa Fe. They reached the finals for the seventh time, a feat which no Brazilian or Colombian team have been able to achieve. However, they lost to Atlético Mineiro in Mineirão 0–2 after winning 2–0 in Asunción and lost the penalty shootout 4–3, with Matías Giménez's penalty hitting the crossbar, ending the dream of a fourth title.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia's most traditional rival is Cerro Porteño. For more than nine decades these two teams represented the "Super Clásico" (superclassic) of Paraguayan football. Other "clásicos" of Paraguayan football in which Olimpia takes part are the ones against Guaraní, which is called "el clásico más añejo", (meaning "the oldest derby" ) because they were the first two teams in Paraguay, and against Libertad (Black and White derby).


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia is also well known for training athletes that compete in other sports such as boxing, swimming, tennis and handball. Olimpia also has a successful futsal team, currently playing in the Paraguayan futsal first division.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Just like in football, Olimpia is the most successful basketball team in Paraguay. Since 1937 it has won 29 national championships, with the twelve consecutive titles from 1946 to 1957 as the most amazing feat in their resume.


title: Club Olimpia

text: Olimpia has an athletics department directed by Ronaldo Almiron and participates in the competitions of the Federación Paraguaya de Atletismo. Recognized athlete is javelin thrower Fabian Jara represented the club in 2012, who later on registered with Club Sol de América, Jara represented Paraguay at the 2012 South American Under-23 Championships, 2014 South American Games and the 2014 South American Under-23 Championships.


title: Club Olimpia

text: On April 29, 2019, club president Marco Trovato posted on Twitter that Olimpia would launch a rugby union section to compete in the new Superliga Americana de Rugby for its inaugural season in 2020. Named Olimpia Lions , the team will be the only Paraguayan representative at the competition.


title: Teaching assistant

text: A teaching assistant or teacher's aide (TA) or education assistant (EA) or team teacher (TT) is an individual who assists a teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include "graduate teaching assistants" (GTAs), who are graduate students; "undergraduate teaching assistants" (UTAs), who are undergraduate students; "secondary school TAs", who are either high school students or adults; and "elementary school TAs", who are adults (also known as "paraprofessional educators" or "teacher's aides").


title: Teaching assistant

text: By definition, TAs assist with classes, but many graduate students serve as the sole instructor for one or more classes each semester as a teaching fellow or graduate student instructor, although in some states, such as Florida, they are called "teaching assistants". Graduate and adult TAs generally have a fixed salary determined by each contract period (usually a semester or an academic year); however, undergraduates and high school students are sometimes unpaid and in the US and other countries with the credit system, receive course credits in return for their assistance. Teaching assistants often help the main teacher by supporting students with learning disabilities, such as ADHD, Autism, or physical disabilities, such as blindness or deafness.


title: Teaching assistant

text: Graduate teaching assistants (often referred to as GTAs or simply TAs) are graduate students employed on a temporary contract by a department at a college or university in teaching-related responsibilities. In New Zealand, Australian, and some Canadian universities, graduate TAs are known as tutors. North American graduate TA positions provide funding for postgraduate research—although the main purpose is to provide teaching support—and it often serves as a first career step for aspiring academics. TA responsibilities vary greatly and may include: tutoring; holding office hours; invigilating tests or exams; and assisting a professor with a large lecture class by teaching students in recitation, laboratory, or discussion sessions. Professors may also use their teaching assistants to help teach discussions during regular class. This gives the graduate student opportunity to use their teaching skills, as many are in pursuit of teaching careers. Some graduate students assist in distance education courses by meeting with the students as professors are not able to. Graduate TAs should not be confused with teaching fellows (TFs) or graduate student instructors (GSIs), who are graduate students who serve as the primary instructors for courses. However, at some universities, such as those in the Florida State University System, there are neither teaching fellows nor graduate student instructors, and "teaching assistant" is the only title used.


title: Teaching assistant

text: In British, Australian, New Zealand, South African, Italian, Irish and some Canadian universities, a "tutor" is often, but not always, a postgraduate student or a lecturer assigned to conduct a seminar for undergraduate students, often known as a tutorial. At the University of Cambridge, tutors are known as "supervisors", and tutorials are "supervisions". The equivalent of this kind of tutor in the United States and the rest of Canada is known as a graduate teaching assistant or a graduate student instructor (GSI).


title: Teaching assistant

text: UTAs or JTAs (Junior Teacher Assistants) usually serve as true assistants to a class; they typically have taken the course with which they are assisting, often with the same professor, and have performed well in it. This case is less common for GTAs, since many would have been undergraduates at other institutions. Unlike professors and GTAs, UTAs generally do not have a fixed salary but instead are paid by the hour, earn credit hours, or volunteer their time.


title: Teaching assistant

text: The term "teaching assistant" is used in a school setting for students or adults that assist a teacher with one or more classes. The responsibilities, situations, and conditions of these individuals' involvement differ from those in higher education. A less formal position, a TA job in secondary education is generally determined by the supervising teacher. Common tasks include assisting students with their work, and taking attendance. Most of the responsibilities of Teaching Assistants do not require the academic expertise of the professor in charge. Some teaching assistants at this level may teach portions of the class lessons, or teach lessons to small groups of students who need extra instruction. Many TAs work "one-on-one" with special needs students; these TAs shadow their student and assist with classwork, organization, and behavior management. In some parts of the United States it is customary or even required that each classroom have one certified teacher and one or more co-teachers or teaching assistants.


title: Teaching assistant

text: Students attending high school and middle schools can take a course, usually an elective, and perform tasks such as grade and record scores on homework or tests. The teacher in this setting reviews the grading to assign partial credit on tests and uses discretion.


title: Teaching assistant

text: An elementary school teaching assistant is an adult who is hired to help a teacher with class-related duties, which are similar to those encountered in middle and high school settings. They are sometimes referred to as paraprofessionals ("paras" for short) or teacher's aides. Elementary school teaching assistants are generally hired on a contract that lasts the entire academic year. Teaching assistants aide with multiple duties within schools and can be hired in special education as well.