The Undertaker theme by Superbeast
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| The Undertaker | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2.jpg) Calaway in 2019 | |||||||
| Birth name | Mark William Calaway | ||||||
| Born | March 24, 1965 Houston, Texas, U.S. | ||||||
| Spouse(s) |
| ||||||
| Children | 5 | ||||||
| Professional wrestling career | |||||||
| Ring name(s) | |||||||
| Billed height | 6 ft 10 in (208 cm)[5] | ||||||
| Billed weight | 309 lb (140 kg)[5] | ||||||
| Billed from | Death Valley[5] Houston, Texas | ||||||
| Trained by | Buzz Sawyer[6][7] Rick Davidson John Davidson | ||||||
| Debut | June 26, 1987[4][8] | ||||||
| Retired | November 22, 2020[a] | ||||||
YouTube information | |||||||
| Channel | |||||||
| Years active | 2023–present | ||||||
| Genre | Professional wrestling | ||||||
| Subscribers | 427 thousand[12] | ||||||
| Total views | 75.29 million[12] | ||||||
| |||||||
Last updated: June 24, 2024 | |||||||
Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by his ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time,[13] Calaway spent the vast majority of his career wrestling for WWE and in 2022 was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.[14]
Calaway began his career in 1987, working under various gimmicks for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW) and other affiliate promotions. He signed with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in 1989 for a brief stint, and then he joined the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, turned WWE) in 1990.
Calaway was rebranded as "The Undertaker" on joining the WWF. As one of WWE's most high-profile and enduring characters,[15][16] The Undertaker is famed for his undead, funereal, macabre "Deadman" persona, which gained significant mainstream popularity and won him the Wrestling Observer Newsletter award for Best Gimmick a record-setting 5 years in a row.[17] He is the longest-tenured wrestler in company history at 30 years. In 2000, the Undertaker adopted a biker identity nicknamed "American Badass". Calaway resurrected the Deadman Undertaker in 2004, with residual elements of the "American Badass" remaining.
For the better part of his career, the Undertaker was observed as a focal point of WWE's flagship annual event, WrestleMania, where he became esteemed for The Streak — a series of 21 straight victories. He is also known for pairing with his in-storyline half-brother Kane, with whom he had alternatively feuded and teamed (as the Brothers of Destruction) from 1997 through 2020. During his wrestling career under the Undertaker gimmick, Calaway won the WWF/E Championship four times, the World Heavyweight Championship three times, the Hardcore Championship once and the World Tag Team Championship six times. He also won the Royal Rumble match in 2007.
Early life[edit]
Mark William Calaway was born in Houston, Texas, on March 24, 1965,[18][19][20] the son of Frank Compton Calaway (died July 2003) and Betty Catherine Truby.[citation needed] He has four older brothers named David, Michael, Paul, and Timothy (died March 2020, age 63).[21] He attended Waltrip High School, where he was a member of the football and basketball teams. He graduated in 1983 and began studying on a basketball scholarship at Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas. In 1985, he enrolled in Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth, Texas, where he majored in sport management and played as a center for the Rams in the 1985–1986 season. In 1986, Calaway dropped out of university to focus on a career in sports and briefly considered playing professional basketball in Europe, before deciding to focus on professional wrestling.[22][23][24][25]
Professional wrestling career[edit]
Early career (1987–1989)[edit]
Calaway began training under Buzz Sawyer in late 1986;[6][26] he disliked Sawyer, who reportedly lacked commitment and provided a limited education.[6][7] Calaway learned "on the job" thereafter.[27] Performing under a mask as Texas Red,[7] Calaway wrestled his first match on June 26, 1987, for World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), losing to Bruiser Brody at the Dallas Sportatorium.[8][28] He was accompanied to the ring by Percival "Percy" Pringle III, who would later serve as his manager in the WWF as Paul Bearer.[7][29] Two myths have circulated regarding Calaway's beginnings in the industry, the first being that he made his in-ring debut in 1984,[6] and the second being that he was trained by former WCCW colleague Don Jardine (aka The Spoiler).[30][31] While never trained by Jardine, Calaway was an admirer of his work and would emulate Jardine's top rope walk.[32][33] PWInsider's Mike Johnson stated, "Undertaker using some of Jardine's style eventually morphed into this story that he was trained by Jardine."[27]
He wrestled in Durban, South Africa on August 22, 1987, as "Texas Red Jack", losing to Tiger Singh.[34] He would also wrestle in prison shows under the name Boris Dragu, a Russian grave digger.[2]
In 1988, Calaway developed a military gimmick named The Commando. Under this persona, he mainly wrestled in the Chicago area for Central Illinois Wrestling. He would also have a brief stint in Georgia for Southern Championship Wrestling.
By the end of 1988, Calaway joined the Continental Wrestling Association, wrestling under several gimmicks. On February 2, 1989, managed by Dutch Mantel, he was reintroduced as The Master of Pain, a former murderer.[35] On April 1, The Master of Pain won his first professional wrestling championship by defeating Jerry Lawler for the USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion. Just over three weeks had passed when Lawler became the first man to pin him, giving it back to him. While performing as The Punisher upon returning to Dallas, Calaway won the USWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on October 5, 1989, when Eric Embry forfeited the title.[36]
World Championship Wrestling (1989–1990)[edit]
By the end of 1989, Calaway joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as a villain and adopted the ring name "Mean Mark" Callous, a name devised for him by Terry Funk.[37] He was portrayed as a sinister force, wearing predominantly black ring attire and was described by commentator Jim Ross as having a fondness for pet snakes and the music of Ozzy Osbourne.[38] Callous was promptly drafted into The Skyscrapers tag team to replace a legitimately injured Sid Vicious, and made his debut on January 3, 1990, in a match later televised against Agent Steel and Randy Harris.[39] The new team gained some notoriety at Clash of the Champions X when they beat down The Road Warriors after their match.[40] However, Callous's partner Dan Spivey left WCW days before their Chicago Street Fight against the Road Warriors at WrestleWar. Callous and a replacement masked Skyscraper were defeated in the street fight and the team broke up soon afterwards.[41] Now a singles wrestler, Callous took on the guidance of Paul E. Dangerously (Paul Heyman).
Calaway later began to question his future in WCW after being told by company booker, Ole Anderson, during contract renewal discussions that nobody would ever pay money to watch him perform.[6] It was in response to this that Calaway made numerous efforts to join the World Wrestling Federation, going to many lengths to land a meeting with Vince McMahon. However, accessing and securing an interview with McMahon was described by Calaway as a despairing task.[42]
Among routes Calaway took to land a meeting with McMahon was trying to convince individuals acquainted with McMahon or already existing WWF talent to recommend him into the WWF, such as Hulk Hogan, Paul Heyman, and Bruce Prichard, crediting the latter two for arranging the meeting at McMahon's mansion.[43]
Calaway immediately gave notice to WCW before the interview took place. McMahon initially declined to hire Calaway; however, several days later the owner pitched the idea an "Old West Undertaker," a concept he had intended to create for several years but had never found an appropriate wrestler to play the part.[43]
Calaway's final WCW match was on September 7 at a WorldWide taping in Amarillo, Texas in which he defeated Dave Johnson.[39] During his time in WCW, Calaway briefly wrestled in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) as "Punisher" Dice Morgan.[44] After leaving WCW, he briefly returned to the USWA to participate in a tournament to determine the new USWA Unified World Heavyweight Champion; Calaway defeated Bill Dundee in the first round, but lost to Jerry Lawler in the quarterfinals.
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment/WWE[edit]
Debut of The Undertaker (1990–1991)[edit]
In October 1990, Calaway signed with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), set to portray the "brainchild" of McMahon that he had assigned to him, originally entitled Kane the Undertaker[43] ("Kane" later added on to "the Undertaker" moniker by the time of his arrival at the urgings of Bruce Prichard, who had always desired a Cain and Abel effect for his character).[45] Despite Calaway's perplexed, pessimistic feelings about McMahon's gimmick idea, he was readily accepting of the role, feeling anything better than the laughingstock gimmicks of that time, such as The Gobbledy Gooker.[42][46][43] Kane the Undertaker was characterized as a menacing derivative of the Wild West undertakers depicted in television westerns. Resulting from that, this first edition of the Undertaker's series of Deadman incarnations[42][46] has been distinguished in external media as "The Old West Mortician".[47][48] He made his overall WWF debut on a November 19, 1990, taping of WWF Superstars quickly defeating his first opponent, Mario Mancini, in a singles match[49] (this match was filmed three days prior to the Undertaker's televised debut at the November 22 Survivor Series, but did not air on television until December 15, 1990). Also prior to his Survivor Series appearance, Kane the Undertaker had a match on November 20 against Rick Sampson, which later aired on the December 9, 1990 episode of WWF Wrestling Challenge.[50]
Calaway's official televised debut was the Survivor Series event in which he was presented as the heel mystery partner of Ted DiBiase's "Million Dollar Team".[51] Approximately one minute into the match, the Undertaker eliminated Koko B. Ware with his finisher, the Tombstone Piledriver.[52] (In 2018, Koko B. Ware shared that directly following this match that night, he confronted the Undertaker with serious objections to what he felt was a botched Tombstone. Though Ware also shared that he always admired Mark Calaway and perceived him as a great performer).[53] During the match, the Undertaker also eliminated Dusty Rhodes before being counted out; however, his team won the match with DiBiase being the sole survivor.[52] During the match, Calaway was referred to as simply the Undertaker, omitting the portion "Kane", which was dropped shortly after the event (and seven years later at the urgings of Prichard, given to another wrestler once he took on the role of the Undertaker's younger brother).[45][52] Throughout the end of 1990, the Undertaker mostly picked up squash victories against jobbers on Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestling Challenge tapings.[52] He was a participant in the 1991 Royal Rumble match which was won by Hulk Hogan.[52]
In February 1991, Brother Love delegated his short-lived management role of the Undertaker over to Paul Bearer (real-life funeral director), Love communicating the need for someone who better aligned with the Undertaker's "deadman" themes.[54] Histrionic, wailing and ghostly in character, Bearer complemented the Undertaker and was almost always seen bearing an urn which he raised in the air to transmit supernatural healing powers to the Undertaker; this typically resulted in the Undertaker recovering from attacks and counterattacking his adversaries.[54] During his early years, the Undertaker took to a post-match ritual of placing his defeated opponents (almost always jobbers) in a body bag and carrying them backstage.[55] He continued picking up victories in squash matches leading up to his first feud in the WWF with "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.[52]
WWF Champion and beginning of The Streak (1991–1994)[edit]
The Undertaker made his WrestleMania debut at WrestleMania VII on March 24, 1991, quickly defeating "Superfly" Jimmy Snuka.[56] He began his first major feud shortly thereafter, which was with The Ultimate Warrior when The Undertaker attacked him and locked him in an airtight casket on the set of Paul Bearer's Funeral Parlor segment.[52] Resulting from this, the Warrior enlisted the assistance of Jake "The Snake" Roberts to get him mentally psyched for The Undertaker's morbid alarmist tactics: Roberts would drill the Warrior with "know your enemy" training, setting up the Warrior in a series of creepy, terrorizing circumstances, such as by locking him in caskets and in rooms with snakes.[57][52] This culminated in a final stage of Roberts's training in which Roberts proved to be stringing Warrior along the entire time by assisting The Undertaker in an ambush.[57] The Undertaker would later suffer his first losses in the WWF to The Ultimate Warrior, including in a first ever body bag challenge, a casket match, and (at house show) standard pin-fall match.[58] The feud was, however, cut short after the Warrior's suspension and ongoing issues with Vince McMahon.[58] In the 1991 King of the Ring, Undertaker defeated Animal in a qualifying match before fighting Sid Vicious to a double disqualification in the semifinal, which saw both men eliminated from the King of the Ring tournament.[59] The Undertaker defeated Hulk Hogan to win his first WWF Championship at Survivor Series with the help of Ric Flair and thus became the youngest WWF Champion in history to that point, 26 years of age—this record was later broken by Yokozuna in April 1993 at WrestleMania IX.[60] The Undertaker's Tombstone of Hogan to win the WWF Championship at the 1991 Survivor Series created real-life, offscreen discord between the two, which Undertaker attributes his short title reign, lack of title runs during his early career and distrust of Hogan.[61] In storyline, however, WWF President Jack Tunney ordered a rematch between the two at This Tuesday in Texas six days later, where The Undertaker lost the title back to Hogan.[60] However, due to the controversial endings of the two title matches between The Undertaker and Hogan, the title was vacated from Hogan the next night by Tunney. The company was without a WWF Champion until Ric Flair earned it by winning the 1992 Royal Rumble match.[62]
In February 1992, The Undertaker's ally Jake "The Snake" Roberts tried to attack "Macho Man" Randy Savage's manager/wife Miss Elizabeth with a steel chair when Undertaker stopped him, turning him (and Paul Bearer) face for the first time. Their face turn was solidified on the February 29 episode of Superstars when Roberts confronted The Undertaker on the Funeral Parlor set over the matter (aired on Saturday Night's Main Event XXX). After demanding to know whose side The Undertaker was on and getting the reply, "Not yours", Roberts attacked both Bearer and The Undertaker, only for The Undertaker to stand his ground and run Roberts off. The Undertaker defeated Roberts at WrestleMania VIII.[56] He then feuded extensively with wrestlers managed by Harvey Wippleman throughout 1992 and 1993, such as Kamala and Giant González. Also during this time, The Undertaker headlined the debut episode of Monday Night Raw on January 11, 1993, with a victory over Damien Demento.[63][64] According to Calaway, working with González "...was survival every night trying to figure out what he could do" and "took years off my career".[65] He faced González at WrestleMania IX, which is notable as The Undertaker's only disqualification win at WrestleMania after the use of chloroform.[66] The Undertaker's next rivalry initiated at Survivor Series with Yokozuna when a clash between the two lost control, causing them to be counted out in an elimination tag match.[67] In the weeks following, The Undertaker and Bearer spooked Yokozuna with multiple segments from their wintery and remote rural area workshop. There, Bearer presented The Undertaker hard at work carpentering Yokozuna what would eventually become a "double wide, double deep casket" custom-built for Yokozuna's immensely overweight size.[68] The feud culminated in a WWF Championship casket match at the Royal Rumble in January 1994. During the match, Yokozuna sealed The Undertaker in the casket with the assistance of a multitude of heel wrestlers (some of them Whippleman-managed) hired by Yokozuna's vindictive managers Jim Cornette and Mr. Fuji, which was in retaliation for Bearer's casket match stipulation that he snuck into their Royal Rumble match contract. After being trapped inside the casket by the pack, green vapor emitted from the casket and the arena lights went out. Undertaker then appeared from inside the casket on the video screen, representing the spirit of his dead corpse, warning that he would produce a future "rebirth" of himself, explaining to his antagonists that he cannot and will not Rest in Peace.[69] The Undertaker did not appear in the WWF for seven months after his loss to Yokozuna. In reality, he was given time off to allow a back injury to heal.[70]
Rebirthed Deadman (1994–1996)[edit]
Following the death angle at the Royal Rumble during The Undertaker's absence, the WWF promoted reported sightings of him through video clips of random people claiming to have seen him. After WrestleMania X, Ted DiBiase introduced an Undertaker back to the WWF. This Undertaker, however, played by Brian Lee (one of Calaway's real-life best friends)[71] was an impostor Undertaker (dubbed "The Underfaker" by fans)[72] rejuvenated by Dibiase's money rather than Bearer's urn. His actions led to the return of the real Undertaker at SummerSlam, defeating the impostor and appearing as a reincarnation of his Deadman gimmick, one of a more shadowy, mysterious and secret presence.[73] Represented now by cool colors, The Undertaker replaced details of his wrestling gear that were previously colored gray with purple, and effected scenes with blue/purple semidarkness.[73] Many details that would become associated with The Undertaker for the remainder of his career we
My People
My People theme by dreezydasnowman
Download: MyPeople.p3t
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My People may refer to:
Music[edit]
- My People (Duke Ellington album), 1965
- My People (Joe Zawinul album), 1996
- My People (Soul People), an album by Freddie Roach, 1968
- "My People" (The Presets song), 2007
- "My People", a song by Webbie from the compilation album Trill Entertainment Presents: All or Nothing, 2010
- "My People", a song by Zeebra, 2007
Literature[edit]
- My People: Stories of the Peasantry of West Wales, a 1915 book by Caradoc Evans
- "My People", a 1923 poem by Langston Hughes
- My People, a 1968 book by Abba Eban
Other uses[edit]
- My People, a 2022 documentary film directed by Anna Rezan
- My People FC, a youth football club founded by T. B. Joshua
See also[edit]
- My Peoples, a 2000s cancelled Disney film
- Mi Gente (disambiguation)
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.
Gundam
Gundam theme by J Man373
Download: Gundam.p3t
(7 backgrounds)
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (August 2023) |
| Gundam | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created by | Hajime Yatate Yoshiyuki Tomino |
| Original work | Mobile Suit Gundam |
| Owner | Bandai Namco Filmworks (directly and through Sotsu) |
| Years | 1979–present |
| Print publications | |
| Novel(s) | See list |
| Comics | See list |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | See below |
| Television series | See below |
| Games | |
| Traditional | Gundam War Collectible Card Game |
| Video game(s) | See list |
| Miscellaneous | |
| Toy(s) | Gunpla (plastic Gundam models) The Robot Spirits S. H. Figuarts |
| Genre | Science fiction Military science fiction Real robot |
Gundam (Japanese: ガンダムシリーズ, Hepburn: Gandamu Shirīzu, lit. Gundam Series) is a Japanese military science fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with Mobile Suit Gundam, a TV series that defined the "real robot" mecha anime genre by featuring giant robots called mobile suits (including the original titular mecha) in a militaristic setting. The popularity of the series and its merchandise spawned a franchise that includes 50 TV series, films and OVAs as well as manga, novels and video games, along with a whole industry of plastic model kits known as Gunpla which makes up 90 percent of the Japanese character plastic-model market.[1][2][3]
Academics in Japan have viewed the series as inspiration; in 2008, the virtual Gundam Academy was planned as the first academic institution based on an animated TV series.[4]
As of March 2020, the franchise is fully owned by Bandai Namco Holdings through subsidiaries Sotsu and Sunrise. The Gundam franchise had grossed over $5 billion in retail sales by 2000.[5][6][7] By 2022, the annual revenue of the Gundam franchise reached ¥101.7 billion per year,[8] ¥44.2 billion of which was retail sales of toys and hobby items.[8]
Overview[edit]
Concept[edit]
Mobile Suit Gundam was developed by animator Yoshiyuki Tomino and a changing group of Sunrise creators with the collective pseudonym of Hajime Yatate. The series was originally entitled Freedom Fighter Gunboy (or Gunboy) for the robot's gun, with teen boys the primary target demographic. Early production had a number of references to freedom: the White Base was originally "Freedom's Fortress", the Core Fighter was the "Freedom Wing" and the Gunperry was the "Freedom Cruiser". The Yatate team combined the English word "gun" with the last syllable of the word "freedom" to form the portmanteau Gundom. Tomino changed it to Gundam, suggesting a unit wielding a gun powerful enough to hold back enemies like a hydroelectric dam holding back water.[9] In keeping with the concept, Gundams are depicted as prototypes or limited-production, with higher capabilities than mass-produced units.
Most Gundams are large, bipedal, humanoid vehicles controlled from a cockpit by a human pilot. The cockpit is located in the torso, while the head serves as a camera to transmit images back to the cockpit. Most of the series protagonists are Newtypes, genetically advanced humans adapted for space. Newtypes have psychic abilities that enable them to sense each other across space and to utilize special mobile suits.
The series itself has been described as a space opera.[10]
Innovation[edit]
Mobile Suit Gundam reportedly pioneered the real robot subgenre of mecha anime.[11] In contrast to its super robot cousins, Mobile Suit Gundam attempted realism in its robot design and weaponry by running out of energy and ammunition or malfunctioning. Its technology is derived from actual science (such as Lagrange points and the O'Neill cylinder in space, and the use of Helium-3 as an energy source) or feasible technology requiring only a few fictional elements to function (such as Minovsky Physics).[12]
Timelines[edit]
Most of the Gundam animation (including the earliest series) is set in what is known as the Universal Century (UC) calendar era, with later series set in alternate calendars or timelines. Although many new Gundam stories are told in their parallel universe with independent timelines (giving them greater creative freedom), the original UC storyline continues to be popular, with new installments frequently produced ever since. It established the series, setting the standard for hard science fiction in anime; the original Gundam marked the maturing of the giant-robot genre. Nostalgia for the oldest Gundam shows (and its status as a pop-culture icon in Japan) is a factor in its continuing success.[13]
Spinoffs[edit]
SD Gundam, a spinoff of Gundam which began during the mid-1980s, features super deformed designs and emphasizes comedy and adventure. Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G, Gundam Build Fighters, and Gundam Build Divers feature contemporary settings and use Gunpla as plot elements.
Media[edit]
TV series, films, and video[edit]
Except for Mobile Suit Gundam 00, which follows the current calendar era, all Gundam series are set in a fictional era, with a new calendar adopted after a drastic event or chain of events and typically involve a major conflict involving Earth and space colonies (and in some cases the Moon and terraformed planets).[citation needed] An exception is the Gundam Build timeline, which is set in an alternate present time where all other Gundam installments are fictional.
| Name | Media | Release date | Timeline and year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mobile Suit Gundam | TV series: 43 episodes | 1979–1980 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Compilation movies: 3 | 1981–1982 | ||
| Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam | TV series: 50 episodes | 1985–1986 | Universal Century (UC) 0087 |
| Compilation movies: 3 | 2005–2006 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ | TV series: 47 episodes | 1986–1987 | Universal Century (UC) 0088 |
| OVA: 2 episodes | 2009 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack | Movie | 1988 | Universal Century (UC) 0093 |
| Mobile Suit SD Gundam | Movies: 5 | 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993 | |
| OVA: 9 episodes | 1989–1991 | ||
| Compilation TV series: 8 episodes | 1993 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket | OVA: 6 episodes | 1989 | Universal Century (UC) 0079–80 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam F91 | Movie | 1991 | Universal Century (UC) 0123 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory | OVA: 13 episodes | 1991–1992 | Universal Century (UC) 0083 |
| Compilation movie | 1992 | ||
| Mobile Suit Victory Gundam | TV series: 51 episodes | 1993–1994 | Universal Century (UC) 0153 |
| Mobile Fighter G Gundam | TV series: 49 episodes | 1994–1995 | Future Century (FC) 60 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Wing | TV series: 49 episodes | 1995–1996 | After Colony (AC) 195 |
| Compilation specials: 4 episodes | 1996 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team | OVA: 12 episodes | 1996–1999 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Compilation movie | 1998 | ||
| Special | 2013 | ||
| After War Gundam X | TV series: 39 episodes | 1996 | After War (AW) 15 |
| Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz | OVA: 3 episodes | 1997 | After Colony (AC) 196 |
| Compilation movie | 1998 | ||
| Gundam: Mission to the Rise[14] | Short film | 1998 | |
| Turn A Gundam | TV series: 50 episodes | 1999–2000 | Correct Century (CC) 2343–45 |
| Compilation movies: 2 | 2002 | ||
| G-Saviour | Live-action TV movie | 2000 | Universal Century (UC) 0223 |
| Gundam Neo Experience 0087: Green Diver[15] | Specialty format movie | 2001 | Universal Century (UC) 0087 |
| Gundam Evolve | OVA: 15 episodes | 2001–2007 | |
| Mobile Suit Gundam SEED | TV series: 50 episodes | 2002–2003 | Cosmic Era (CE) 71 |
| Epilogue OVA short: 1 episode | 2004 | ||
| Compilation specials: 3 episodes | 2004 | ||
| Superior Defender Gundam Force | TV series: 52 episodes | 2003–2004 | |
| Mobile Suit Gundam SEED MSV Astray | Promo OVA shorts: 2 episodes | 2004 | Cosmic Era (CE) 71 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: The Hidden One Year War | OVA: 3 episodes | 2004 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny | TV series: 50 episodes | 2004–2005 | Cosmic Era (CE) 73–74 |
| TV special: 1 episode | 2005 | ||
| Compilation specials: 4 episodes | 2006 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO: Apocalypse 0079 | OVA: 3 episodes | 2006 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam SEED C.E. 73: Stargazer | ONA: 3 episodes | 2006 | Cosmic Era (CE) 73 |
| Compilation OVA: 1 | 2006 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam 00 | TV series: 50 episodes | 2007–2009 | Anno Domini (AD) 2307–08, 2312 |
| Compilation OVA: 3 episodes | 2009 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam MS IGLOO 2: Gravity Front | OVA: 3 episodes | 2008 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Ring of Gundam[16] | Short film | 2009 | |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn | OVA: 7 episodes, 1 special episode | 2010–2014 | Universal Century (UC) 0096 |
| Compilation TV series: 22 episodes | 2016 | ||
| SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors | Movie | 2010 | |
| TV series: 51 episodes | |||
| Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: A Wakening of the Trailblazer | Movie | 2010 | Anno Domini (AD) 2314 |
| Model Suit Gunpla Builders Beginning G | Specials: 3 episodes | 2010 | Our Century |
| Mobile Suit Gundam AGE | TV series: 49 episodes | 2011–2012 | Advanced Generation (AG) 115–164 |
| Compilation OVA: 2 episodes | 2013 | ||
| Gundam Build Fighters | TV series: 25 episodes | 2013–2014 | Our Century |
| Specials: 3 episodes | 2014 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam-san | TV series: 13 episodes | 2014 | |
| Gundam Reconguista in G | TV series: 26 episodes | 2014–2015 | Regild Century (RG) 1014 |
| Compilation movies: 5 | 2019–2022 | ||
| Gundam Build Fighters Try | TV series: 25 episodes | 2014–2015 | Our Century |
| OVA: 1 episode | 2016 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin | OVA: 6 episodes | 2015–2018 | Universal Century (UC) 0068, 0071, 0074, 0077, 0078, 0079 |
| Compilation TV series: 13 episodes | 2019 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans | TV series: 50 episodes | 2015–2017 | Post Disaster (PD) 323, 325 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt | ONA: 8 episodes | 2015–2017 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Compilation movies: 2 | 2016–2017 | ||
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Twilight AXIS | ONA: 6 episodes | 2017 | Universal Century (UC) 0096 |
| Compilation movie | 2017 | ||
| Gundam Build Fighters Battlogue | ONA: 5 episodes | 2017 | Our Century |
| Gundam Build Fighters: GM's Counterattack | ONA: 1 episode | 2017 | Our Century |
| Gundam Build Divers | Prologue ONA: 1 episode | 2018 | Our Century |
| TV series: 25 episodes | |||
| Mobile Suit Gundam Narrative | Movie | 2018 | Universal Century (UC) 0097 |
| SD Gundam World Sangoku Soketsuden | ONA: 10 episodes | 2019–2021 | |
| Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise | ONA: 26 episodes | 2019–2020 | Our Century |
| Gundam Build Divers: Battlogue | ONA: 1 episode | 2020 | Our Century |
| Mobile Suit Gundam G40[17] | ONA | 2020 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Gundam Build Real[18] | Live-action Net Drama: 6 episodes | 2021 | Our Century |
| SD Gundam World Heroes | ONA: 24 episodes | 2021 | |
| Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway | Movies: 3 | 2021–TBA | Universal Century (UC) 0105 |
| Gundam Breaker Battlogue[19] | ONA: 6 episodes | 2021 | Our Century |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Cucuruz Doan's Island | Movie | 2022 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury | Prologue ONA: 1 episode | 2022 | Ad Stella (AS) 101 |
| TV series: 24 episodes | 2022–2023 | Ad Stella (AS) 122 | |
| Gundam Build Metaverse | ONA: 3 episodes | 2023 | Our Century |
| Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Freedom | Movie | 2024 | Cosmic Era (CE) 75 |
| Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance | ONA: 6 episodes | 2024 | Universal Century (UC) 0079 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom | VR Movie | 2024 | Universal Century (UC) 0096 |
| Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans: Urðr-Hunt | TBA | TBA | Post Disaster (PD) 323 |
Live-action film[edit]
At the 2018 Anime Expo, Legendary Pictures and Sunrise announced a collaboration to develop a live-action Gundam film.[20] Brian K. Vaughan was brought in to write and serve as an executive producer for the film.[21] In April 2021, it was reported that the project had landed at Netflix and that Jordan Vogt-Roberts had been hired to direct.[22]
Manga and novels[edit]
Manga adaptations of the Gundam series have been published in English in North America by a number of companies, such as Viz Media, Del Rey Manga and Tokyopop, and in Singapore by Chuang Yi.
Video games[edit]
Gundam has spawned over 80 video games for arcade, computer and console platforms, some with characters not found in other Gundam media. Some of the games, in turn inspired spinoff novels and manga.[23]
Gunpla[edit]
Primarily made of plastic, but sometimes paired with resin and metal detail parts, hundreds of Gundam scale plastic models, aka Gunpla, have been released. They range in quality from toolless-build children's toy kits (Entry Grades) to hobbyist and museum-grade models, and most are in common scales such as 1:35, 1:48, 1:60, 1:100 or 1:144 scale. Various Grades exist to target hobbyists, ranging from smaller sized kits such as High Grade and Real Grade, to larger Master Grade and finally Perfect Grade model kits. The Real Grade (RG) Gundam series combined the Master Grade's detailed inner structure with additional colour separation, making the 1:144-scale series complex in design and compact in size, with the final goal of retooling a Gundam to what they might would look like in real life, similar to the real-life Gundam Front Tokyo RX-78-02.
Promotional 1:6 or 1:12 scale models are supplied to retailers and are not commercially available. For Gundam's 30th anniversary, a full-size RX-78-2 Gundam model was constructed and displayed at Gundam Front Tokyo, in the Odaiba district;[24] it was taken down on March 5, 2017.[25] A new statue of the Unicorn Gundam was erected at the same location, now renamed The Gundam Base Tokyo.
Other merchandise[edit]
Bandai, Gundam's primary licensee, produces a variety of products.[26] Other companies produce unofficial merchandise, such as toys, models and T-shirts. Products include Mobile Suit In Action (MSiA) action figures and Gundam model kits in several scales and design complexities. Each series generally has its own set of products, MSiA and model lines such as Master Grade and High Grade Universal Century may extend across series. The most popular action-figure line has been the Gundam Fix series, which includes the mecha in the animated series, manga and novels and accessories to create an updated version. In addition to Master Grade and High Grade Gundams, Bandai released a 30th-anniversary series of Gundam models in 2010.[27] After the introduction of the RG Gunpla line, Bandai released the Metal Build series in March 2011 (beginning with the 00 Gundam).[28]
Internet[edit]
 |
Bandai maintains several websites to promote Gundam projects; Gundam Perfect Web is the official Japanese site. Its English-language counterpart is the US-maintained Gundam Official. In 2005, the website hosted the Gundam Official User Forum. The forum was based on the existing fan forum, Gundam Watch, using many of its staff. When the project was retired, Gundam Watch was reborn and became Gundam Evolution.
A number of series-specific websites have been created, often available for a limited time (usually to promote a DVD release). Common content includes character and mecha listings, lists of related merchandise and pay-for-download content. Special pages are frequent, often presenting downloadable wallpaper or a small game. The Superior Defender Gundam Force website has a game in which players take the role of villain Commander Sazabi, attempting to blast his subordinate with weapons.
Global spread[edit]
Since 1980, Gundam has also appeared in the following countries and regions:
| Region | Debut year |
|---|---|
| Italy Hong Kong |
1980 |
| Taiwan China Thailand |
1981 |
| Singapore Malaysia South Korea Macau |
1982 |
| Philippines | 1983 |
| Indonesia | 1987 |
| United States Canada Brazil Australia New Zealand Rest of Europe outside Italy Rest of Latin America outside Brazil |
1994 |
Impact[edit]
Gundam is a Japanese cultural icon; it is a ¥50-billion-annual business of Bandai Namco, reaching ¥54.5 billion annual revenue by 2006,[29] and ¥80.2 billion annual revenue by 2014.[8] Stamps have been issued, an Agriculture Ministry employee was reprimanded for contributing to the Japanese Wikipedia Gundam-related pages,[30] and the Japan Self-Defense Forces has code-named its developing advance personal-combat system Gundam. Based on a December 16, 2023 survey conducted by Nikkei Entertainment, the fanbase of Gundam within Japan has an average age of 42 years, and a male-to-female ratio that skews 90:10.[31]
The impact of Gundam in Japan has been compared to the impact of Star Wars in the United States.[10]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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Clear Glass Evo
Clear Glass Evo theme by Mr Evo
Download: ClearGlassEvo.p3t
(1 background)
P3T Unpacker v0.12
Copyright (c) 2007. Anoop Menon
This program unpacks Playstation 3 Theme files (.p3t) so that you can touch-up an existing theme to your likings or use a certain wallpaper from it (as many themes have multiple). But remember, if you use content from another theme and release it, be sure to give credit!
Download for Windows: p3textractor.zip
Instructions:
Download p3textractor.zip from above. Extract the files to a folder with a program such as WinZip or WinRAR. Now there are multiple ways to extract the theme.
The first way is to simply open the p3t file with p3textractor.exe. If you don’t know how to do this, right click the p3t file and select Open With. Alternatively, open the p3t file and it will ask you to select a program to open with. Click Browse and find p3textractor.exe from where you previously extracted it to. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename]. After that, all you need to do for any future p3t files is open them and it will extract.
The second way is very simple. Just drag the p3t file to p3textractor.exe. It will open CMD and extract the theme to extracted.[filename].
For the third way, first put the p3t file you want to extract into the same folder as p3textractor.exe. Open CMD and browse to the folder with p3extractor.exe. Enter the following:
p3textractor filename.p3t [destination path]Replace filename with the name of the p3t file, and replace [destination path] with the name of the folder you want the files to be extracted to. A destination path is not required. By default it will extract to extracted.filename.
Tux
Tux theme by Ali4Chris
Download: Tux.p3t
(5 backgrounds)
Redirect to:
This page is a redirect. The following categories are used to track and monitor this redirect:
|
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune #5
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune theme by Fremio Brea
Download: UnchartedDrakesFortune_5.p3t
(3 backgrounds)
| Uncharted: Drake's Fortune | |
|---|---|
 North American cover art featuring the titular protagonist Nathan Drake in a jungle | |
| Developer(s) | Naughty Dog |
| Publisher(s) | Sony Computer Entertainment |
| Director(s) | Amy Hennig |
| Designer(s) | Richard Lemarchand Hirokazu Yasuhara |
| Programmer(s) |
|
| Artist(s) | |
| Writer(s) |
|
| Composer(s) | Greg Edmonson |
| Series | Uncharted |
| Platform(s) | PlayStation 3 |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Action-adventure, third-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a 2007 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the first game in the Uncharted series and was released in November 2007 for PlayStation 3. The game follows Nathan Drake, the supposed descendant of explorer Sir Francis Drake, as he searches for the lost treasure of El Dorado with journalist Elena Fisher and mentor Victor Sullivan.
The development of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune began in 2005, and saw Naughty Dog altering their approach to development, as they sought to create a humanized video game that was distinct from their other entries, settling on an action-adventure game with platforming elements and a third-person perspective. The team regularly updated or wholly changed various aspects related to the story, coding, and the game's design which lead to delays. The development team found influence for many of the game's aesthetic elements from film, pulp magazines, and movie serials.
Extensively marketed as a PlayStation exclusive, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune received generally favorable reviews, with praise for its technical achievements, cast, characters, story, music, and production values, drawing similarities to blockbuster films. It faced some criticism for its graphical issues, short length, vehicle sections, and marked difficulty. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune sold one million copies after ten weeks of release. It was followed by the sequel Uncharted 2: Among Thieves in 2009, and was re-released on PlayStation 4 as part of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.
Synopsis[edit]
Setting and characters[edit]
The central character of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is Nathan Drake (voiced by Nolan North), a renowned adventurer who claims to be the descendant of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake. Together with his mentor Victor Sullivan (voiced by Richard McGonagle) and journalist Elena Fisher (voiced by Emily Rose), Drake embarks on a quest to discover the hidden riches of El Dorado.[3]
Plot[edit]
Treasure hunter Nathan "Nate" Drake, accompanied by reporter Elena Fisher, recovers the coffin of his self-proclaimed ancestor Sir Francis Drake, having located it from coordinates inscribed on a family heirloom: a ring Nate wears around his neck.[4] The coffin contains Sir Francis' diary, which gives the location of El Dorado. Pirates attack and destroy Nate's boat, but Nate's friend and mentor, Victor "Sully" Sullivan, rescues the two in his seaplane. Fearing Elena's reporting will attract potential rivals, Nate and Sully abandon her at a dock.
Nate and Sully discover an alcove that once held a large statue after following the diary to the indicated spot, and realize that El Dorado is not a city but rather a golden idol.[5] They find a Nazi U-boat, which contains a page from Drake's diary showing the statue was taken to an island. However, mercenaries led by criminal Gabriel Roman (Simon Templeman), to whom Sully owes a substantial debt, and his lieutenant Atoq Navarro (Robin Atkin Downes), intercept Nate and Sully. Sully is shot in the chest and collapses, but Nate manages to escape, encounters Elena, and flies with her to the island.[6]
On the way, anti-aircraft fire forces Elena and Nate to bail out and they are separated. After retrieving supplies from the wrecked seaplane, Nate heads toward an old fort to find Elena. After Nate is briefly captured by pirates led by his old associate Eddy Raja (James Sie), Elena breaks him free and they flee to the island's old customs house. After finding records showing the statue was moved further inland to the monastery, they find that Sully is somehow alive and accompanying Roman and Navarro.[7] Nate and Elena find and rescue Sully who, having survived due to Drake's diary blocking the bullet, explains he was buying time for Nate by misleading Roman.
Searching through a mausoleum, Nate overhears an argument between Roman, Navarro, and Eddy, revealing that Roman hired Eddy to capture Nate and secure the island, with the reward being a share of El Dorado. Following Nate's escape, Roman doubts Eddy's abilities and ignores his claim that something cursed on the island is killing his men, leading him to dismiss Eddy and his crew. Regrouping, Nate and Elena find a passage leading to a treasure vault, in which they find the body of Drake, assuming that he died searching for the treasure. They encounter a terrified Eddy and a crew member, shortly before they are attacked by mutated humans who kill the crew member; despite Nate's efforts, Eddy is also killed when one drags him into a pit.
Nate and Elena escape and find themselves in an abandoned German bunker. Venturing into the base, Nate discovers that the Germans had sought the statue during World War II, but like the Spaniards before them, became cursed by the statue, causing them to become mutants. Sir Francis, knowing of the statue's power, attempted to keep it on the island by destroying the ships and flooding the city, before he too was killed by the mutants.[8]
Nate returns to find Elena has been captured by Roman and Navarro. Regrouping with Sully, he fails to stop them from reaching the statue. Navarro, aware of the curse, tricks Roman into opening the statue, revealing it to be a sarcophagus containing a mummy infected with an airborne mutagenic virus. Upon Roman turning into one of the mutants, Navarro kills him and takes control of his men. Berating Nate's group for not being imaginative, he plans to sell the virus as a biological weapon.[9] Nate jumps onto the sarcophagus and rides it as it is airlifted onto a boat in the bay. He engages and defeats Navarro and manages to sink both the sarcophagus and him to the bottom of the ocean.[10] Sully arrives, and after Nate and Elena display affection towards each other, they leave the island with several chests of treasure.[11]
Gameplay[edit]
Gameplay in Uncharted is a combination of action-adventure gameplay elements and some 3D platforming with a third-person perspective. Platforming elements allow Nate to jump, swim, grab and move along ledges, climb and swing from ropes, and perform other acrobatic actions that allow players to make their way along the ruins in the various areas of the island that Drake explores.[12]
When facing enemies, the player can either use melee and combo attacks at close range to take out foes or can opt to use weapons.[12] Melee attacks comprise a variety of single punches, while combo attacks are activated through specific sequences of button presses that, when timed correctly, offer much greater damage; the most damaging of these is the specific "brutal combo", which forces enemies to drop twice the ammunition they would normally leave.[12] Nate can only carry one pistol and one rifle at a time, and there is a limited amount of ammunition per gun. Picking up a different firearm switches that weapon for the new one. Grenades are also available at certain points, and the height of the aiming arc is adjusted by tilting the Sixaxis controller up or down. These third-person perspective elements were compared by several reviewers to Gears of War,[3][12] in that the player can have Drake take cover behind walls, and use either blind fire or aimed fire to kill enemies. In common with the aforementioned game, Uncharted lacks an actual on-screen health bar; instead, when the player takes damage, the graphics begin to lose color. While resting or taking cover for a brief period, Drake's health level, indicated by the screen color, returns to normal.[12]
The game also includes vehicle sections, where Drake must protect the jeep he and Elena are in using a mounted turret, and where Drake and Elena ride a jet ski along water-filled routes while avoiding enemy fire and explosive barrels. While players direct Drake in driving the jet ski, they may also control Elena by aiming the gun in order to use her weapon — either the grenade launcher or the Beretta, depending on the chapter — in defense, or to clear the barrels from their path.[12]
The game also features reward points, which can be gained by collecting 60 hidden treasures in the game that glimmer momentarily[13] or by completing certain accomplishments, such as achieving a number of kills using a specific weapon, performing a number of headshots, or using specific methods of killing enemies.[14] In subsequent playthroughs of the game, the player can use these rewards points to unlock special options; these include in-game bonuses such as alternate costumes and unlimited ammunition[13] but also non-game extras, such as making-of videos and concept art.[15] There are also several references to other Naughty Dog games, especially the Jak and Daxter series; this is done through the "Ottsel" branding on Drake and Fisher's wetsuits,[16] a reference to the species that mixes otter and weasel found in the game, and the strange relic found in one of the earlier chapters, which is actually a precursor orb from the same series.
The game is censored when playing on a Japanese console to remove blood, which normally appears when shooting enemies; this follows the trend of other censored console games in the region, such as Dead Rising and Resistance: Fall of Man.[17]
Development[edit]
After completing Jak 3, Naughty Dog assembled their most technically talented staff members and began development of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune under the codename Big.[18][19] The game's development commenced in 2005 and it was in full production for about two years, with a small team of engineers working on the game for about a year beforehand.[20] Naughty Dog decided to create a brand new IP rather than opt to develop a PlayStation 3 Jak and Daxter game—they wanted to create a franchise suitable for the new hardware, in order to develop such ideas as realistic human characters instead of stylized ones owing to limitations of previous hardware, as well as create something "fresh and interesting", although termed as 'stylized realism'.[20] Inspiration was drawn from various sources in the action and adventure genres: pulp magazines, movie serials, and more contemporary titles like Indiana Jones and National Treasure.[21] The team felt the sources shared themes of mystery and "what-if scenarios" that romanticized adventure and aimed to include those in Uncharted.[18]
The game was first unveiled at E3 2006.[22] From early previews of the game, inevitable comparisons of elements such as platforming and shooting between Uncharted and the well-known Tomb Raider series were drawn, earning the title the nickname of "Dude Raider".[21][23] However, the developers saw their game as concentrating more on third-person cover-based play, in contrast to Tomb Raider's "auto-aiming" play and greater puzzle-solving elements.[20] Other influences they cited include Resident Evil 4,[24] Kill Switch, and Gears of War.[25] Throughout the game's development the staff tried to remain flexible and detached from the original design concepts; attention was focused on the features that worked well, while features that did not work were removed.[26] The development team intended the game's main setting, the island, to play a big role in the overall experience. Feeling too many games used bleak, dark settings with monochromatic color schemes, they wanted the island to be a vibrant, believable game world that immersed the player and encouraged exploration.[18]
In designing the characters, the artists aimed for a style that was photorealistic.[21] The creators envisioned the main protagonist, Nathan Drake, as more of an everyman character than Lara Croft, shown as clearly under stress in the game's many firefights, with no special training and constantly living at the edge of his abilities.[20][23] Director Amy Hennig felt a heavily armored, "tough as nails" protagonist with a large weapon was not a suitable hero and decided a "tenacious and resourceful" character would portray more human qualities. Supporting characters (Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan) were included to avoid a dry and emotionless story.[21] Fisher's character underwent changes during development; in early trailers for the game, the character had dark brown hair, but ultimately the color changed to blonde and the style was altered.[27][28] The writing of the story was led by Hennig with help from Neil Druckmann and Josh Scherr.[29] The lead game designer was Richard Lemarchand,[30] with the game co-designed by Hirokazu Yasuhara, a former Sega game designer best known for designing the early Sonic the Hedgehog games.[31]
The game went gold in the middle of October 2007.[20] A demo was then released on November 8 on the PlayStation Network[32] before its final release on November 19 in North America, December 6 in Australia, and December 7 in Europe.[33] The demo was first placed on the North American store, and was initially region-locked such that it would only play on a North American PS3,[34] but this was later confirmed as a mistake, as the developers were apparently unaware that people from different regions could sign up for a North American account and download the demo; a region-free demo was released soon after.[35]
Graphics and technology[edit]
Uncharted uses the Cell microprocessor to generate dozens of layered character animations to portray realistic expressions and fluid movements, which allow for responsive player control.[36] The PlayStation 3's graphics processing unit, the RSX Reality Synthesizer, employed several functions to provide graphical details that helped immerse the player into the game world: lighting models, pixel shaders, dynamic real-time shadowing, and advanced water simulation.[36] The new hardware allowed for processes that the team had never used in PlayStation 2 game development and required them to quickly familiarize themselves with the new techniques; for example, parallel processing and pixel shaders. While Blu-ray afforded greater storage space, the team became concerned with running out of room several times — Uncharted used more and bigger textures than previous games, and included several languages on the disc.[37] Gameplay elements requiring motion sensing, such as throwing grenades and walking across beams, or rear-ending massive logs up the scooter, were implemented to take advantage of the Sixaxis controller.[18] A new PlayStation 3 controller, the DualShock 3, was unveiled at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show, and featured force feedback vibration. Uncharted was also on display at the show with demonstrations that implemented limited support for vibration.[38]
Being Naughty Dog's first PlayStation 3 game, the project required the company to familiarize themselves with the new hardware and resulted in several development mistakes.[37] The switch from developing for the PlayStation 2 to the PlayStation 3 prompted the staff to implement changes to their development technology. Naughty Dog switched to the industry standard language C++ to participate in technology sharing among Sony's first-party developers—the company had previously used their own proprietary programming language GOAL, a Lisp-based language. In rewriting their game code, they decided to create new programming tools as well. This switch, however, delayed the team's progress in developing a prototype, as the new tools proved to be unreliable and too difficult to use. Ten months into full production, the team decided to recreate the game's pipeline, the chain of processing elements designed to progress data through a system. In retrospect, Naughty Dog's Co-President Evan Wells considered this the greatest improvement to the project.[26] Additionally, the animation blending system was rewritten several times to obtain the desired character animations.[18]
Trophies integration[edit]
The game was patched on August 4, 2008 in Europe and North America to version 1.01 to include support for the PlayStation 3's Trophy system.[39] There are 47 trophies in the game that match the medals that can already be won in the game and one further trophy, the Platinum trophy, awarded when all other trophies have been collected; Uncharted was the first Naughty Dog game to include the Platinum trophy type.[40] Similar to other PlayStation 3 titles that receive trophy support via downloaded patches, players must start a new save game to be awarded trophies, regardless of how many medals they received in previous playthroughs. This was enforced because the developers wanted to avoid the sharing of save data in order to gain trophies they did not earn.[41] The patch was described as "incredibly easy" to implement, owing to the game already containing preliminary support for Trophies via its Medals system; it was also stated that these hooks were already included due to Naughty Dog's belief that Sony would roll out the Trophy system before the game's launch in November 2007.[41] Despite mentioning that the game was developed as a franchise and that it lent itself to episodic content,[20] it was later stated that no downloadable content would be made for Uncharted.[42]
PlayStation Home[edit]
During the Closed Beta of PlayStation Home on October 11, 2008, Naughty Dog released an Uncharted themed game space for PlayStation Home. This space is "Sully's Bar" from the game. In this space, users can play an arcade mini-game called "Mercenary Madness", which during the Closed Beta, there were rewards. The rewards were removed with the release of the Home Open Beta. There are also three other rooms in this space: during the Closed Beta, users had to find out codes for the doors that accessed these rooms. The code entry to the rooms was also removed with the release of the Home Open Beta. The three other rooms are the "Artifact Room", "Archives", and "Smuggler's Den". There is an artifact viewer in the Archives and Smuggler's Den rooms. Also in the Archives, there is a video screen that previews Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The Artifact Room only features seating and different artifacts for users to look at. This space was one of the first five-game spaces of the PlayStation Home Open Beta in North America, which Home went Open Beta on December 11.[43] This space was released to the European version on November 5, 2009, almost a year after the Open Beta release. Naughty Dog has also released a game space for Uncharted's sequel on October 23, making Uncharted the first game series to have a game space for both games in its series.[44]
Reception[edit]
Critical response[edit]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 88/100[45] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| 1Up.com | 8.5/10[12] |
| Edge | 8/10[46] |
| Famitsu | 36/40[47] |
| Game Informer | 8.75/10[3] |
| GamePro | 4.25/5[48] |
| GameSpot | 8.0/10[15] |
| GameSpy | 4.5/5[14] |
| IGN | 9.1/10[13] |
| PlayStation: The Official Magazine |   [49] |
| PlayStation Universe | 9.0/10[50] |
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| IGN | Best Action Game (2007), PS3 Game of the Year (2007), Best Graphics Technology (PS3 2007), Best Original Score (PS3 2007)[51] |
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune received generally favorable reviews from game critics.[45] Game Informer complimented the visuals and dialogue between the characters Drake and Fisher, calling them stunning and entertaining respectively.[28] They further added that the production values appeared high, citing the level of detail and musical score.[52] PlayStation Magazine echoed similar statements about the visuals and compared them to that of Crysis.[18][53]
The overall presentation of the game received unanimous praise from critics, who recognized the game's high production values, describing them as "top-notch",[54] "incredible"[15] or comparing them to those found in Hollywood.[14] When combined with the overall style of the game, this led many reviewers to compare Uncharted to summer blockbuster films,[3][55][56] with the action and theme of the game drawing comparisons to the Indiana Jones film series and Tomb Raider.[15][55] As part of the presentation, the game's story and atmosphere were also received well.[3][55] The depth of the characters was praised, each having "their own tone".[55] The voice acting was also received well, as the cast "nails its characterizations"; overall, the voice acting was described as a "big-star performance",[14] "superb"[56] and "stellar".[3] Game designer Tim Schafer, well known as the creator of the early LucasArts adventure games such as The Secret of Monkey Island, has also lauded the game, saying he "liked it a lot", and jokingly thanked it for teaching him a new fashion tip (Nathan Drake's "half-tucked" shirt).[57]
The technical achievements in creating this presentation were also lauded. The graphics and visuals were a big part of this, including appreciation of the "lush" jungle environments,[3][12][15] with lighting effects greatly adding to them.[56] The game's water effects were also appreciated.[54] Overall, many reviewers commented that, at the time, it was one of the best-looking PlayStation 3 games available.[48] Further to the graphical aspects, both facial animation and the animation of characters,[16][56] such as Nate's "fluid" animations as he performs platforming sections were noted,[3] although the wilder animations of enemies reacting to being shot were over-animated "to perhaps a laug
