Category: Games

Kingdom Hearts
Genre(s)	Action role-playing Hack and slash Rhythm action
Developer(s)	Square Square Enix Jupiter h.a.n.d. BitGroove Inc. Success indieszero
Publisher(s)	Square Square Enix
Creator(s)	Tetsuya Nomura Shinji Hashimoto
Composer(s)	Yoko Shimomura
Platform(s)	PlayStation 2 Game Boy Advance Mobile phone Nintendo DS PlayStation Portable Nintendo 3DS PlayStation 3 Web browser PlayStation 4 Xbox One Android iOS Windows Nintendo Switch
First release	Kingdom Hearts March 28, 2002
Latest release	Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory November 11, 2020
Parent series	Final Fantasy

Kingdom Hearts^[a] is a series of action role-playing games created by Japanese game designers Tetsuya Nomura and Shinji Hashimoto, being developed and published by Square Enix (originally by Square). It is a collaboration between Square Enix and The Walt Disney Company, and is under the leadership of Nomura, a longtime Square Enix employee.

Kingdom Hearts is a crossover of various Disney properties based in an original fictional universe. The series centers on the main character, Sora, and his journey and experiences with various Disney characters, as well as some from Square Enix properties, such as Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You, and Einhänder, in addition to original characters and locations created specifically for the series.

The series consists of thirteen games available for multiple platforms, and future games are planned. Most of the games in the series have been positively received and commercially successful. As of March 2022, the Kingdom Hearts series has shipped more than 36 million copies worldwide. A wide variety of related merchandise has been released along with the games, including soundtracks, action figures, companion books, light novels, a collectible card game, and a manga series.

Media[edit]

Games[edit]

• Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the series, released in Japan on March 28, 2002, for PlayStation 2.^[1][2] Tetsuya Nomura served as game director, his first time in this position. Kingdom Hearts introduced the main characters (Sora, Kairi, and Riku) of the series, and established the plot's framework involving hearts and dark beings known as the Heartless. It also established the role of Disney characters in the series, with character cameos from the Final Fantasy series. Kingdom Hearts was released in North America on September 17, 2002,^[1][2] and featured additional content that was not in the original Japanese version. The game was later re-released in Japan as Kingdom Hearts Final Mix on December 26, 2002.^[1][2] Final Mix includes the content from the North American release and additional enemies, cutscenes, and weapons.^[3]
• Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a direct sequel to the first game. It was released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan on November 11, 2004.^[4][5] Chain of Memories was touted as a bridge between the two PlayStation 2 games, introducing and previewing plot elements that would be explored in the next game.^[6] The gameplay system is a departure from the original and employs card game mechanics in real time. Players construct decks out of cards that correspond to different actions in battle, such as attacking or using magic. It was remade into a PlayStation 2 game titled Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, which contains polygonal graphics instead of the sprites used in the original game. The remake was released in Japan as a second disc packaged with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix on March 29, 2007, and in North America as a standalone game on December 2, 2008.^[7][8]
• Kingdom Hearts II takes place one year after the events of Chain of Memories. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 22, 2005.^[9][10] The game further explores the "heart" concept by involving a new group of enemies, the Nobodies, which are the cast-off shells of those who have become Heartless. The gameplay is similar to that of the first Kingdom Hearts game, with the addition of the Reaction Command, which performs reflex-sensitive actions in battle. Kingdom Hearts II was revised into Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, which contains more material than the original release, such as additional cutscenes and bosses. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix was released with Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories in a collection titled Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, which was released in Japan on March 29, 2007.^[11]
• Kingdom Hearts Coded is an episodic mobile phone game that picks up directly after Kingdom Hearts II. The "preinstall" episode was released in Japan on November 18, 2008, and eight episodes were released between June 3, 2009, and January 28, 2010.^[12] The game was remade for the Nintendo DS as Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and features updated gameplay combining that of two later entries in the series, 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep. Unlike the original version, Re:coded was released internationally: October 7, 2010, in Japan;^[13] January 11, 2011, in North America;^[14] and January 14, 2011, in Europe.^[15]
• Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on May 30, 2009. It is primarily set between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, focusing on Roxas' time in Organization XIII and his motives for leaving. It is the first game in the series to feature cooperative multiplayer in addition to the traditional use of AI-controlled partners.^[16][17] Gameplay is mission-based with optional objectives that yield additional rewards. The game also has a unique panel system which governs character improvement, special abilities, and equipped weapons.
• Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the series, released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on January 9, 2010, and in North America on September 7, 2010, with additional content.^[18] The game is set ten years before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts game, revealing the origins of the villain, Xehanort.^[19] It consists of four scenarios, three of which focus on one of the game's three protagonists, Terra, Ventus, and Aqua. The game was re-released in Japan under the title Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix on January 20, 2011, with the content from the English versions as well as new features, such as an additional fifth scenario.
• Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was released on March 29, 2012, in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS. The game focuses on Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam under Yen Sid in anticipation of Xehanort's return and their subsequent conflicts with enemies from their past.^[20] In addition to similar systems inherited from Birth by Sleep, this game features "Dream Eaters" which serve as both enemies and allies. Players may collect and breed friendly Dream Eaters and train them to become more powerful. The English edition came out on July 20, 2012, in Europe while it came out on July 31, 2012, for North America.
• Kingdom Hearts χ: At Tokyo Game Show 2012, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts χ, previously known as Kingdom Hearts for PC Browsers.^[21] It is a browser game for PCs, and is only playable in Japan since July 18, 2013. It features cartoon-like 2D models and is a prequel to the series, detailing the events leading up to the Keyblade War.
  • Kingdom Hearts: Unchained χ: An international port of Kingdom Hearts χ that was released for Android and iOS devices.^[22] Unchained χ was released in Japan on September 3, 2015,^[23] in North America on April 7, 2016,^[24] and in Europe on June 16, 2016.^[25] Later in April 2017, it was rebranded as Kingdom Hearts: Union χ, featuring an all-new story that expanded and diverged from the original.^[26] In January 2019, the game was available on the Amazon Appstore for Amazon devices.^[27] The app was rebranded once again to Kingdom Hearts: Union χ Dark Road with the release of Kingdom Hearts Dark Road.^[28] The game was shut down and converted into a cutscene viewer in May 2021.^[29]
    • Kingdom Hearts Dark Road is a mobile game accessed within Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross],^[28] which released worldwide on June 22, 2020.^[30] The game is set 70 years before Birth by Sleep and explores the origins of Xehanort and his eventual turn to darkness,^[31] and was developed by the same team working on Union χ.^[32] Following the shutdown of Union χ, Dark Road was converted into an offline game and received its final story update in August 2022.^[33]
• Kingdom Hearts III: In September 2010, Tetsuya Nomura stated that his team was too busy with other projects such as Final Fantasy XV (known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII at the time) to work on Kingdom Hearts III. He also stated that his team was researching how to create the high-definition graphics of the game, which depended on the technical restrictions of the next generation consoles.^[34] On June 10, 2013, at the E3 Sony press conference, after years of rumors and speculations, Nomura introduced a teaser for Kingdom Hearts III, which stated it was in development for the PlayStation 4. It was announced the next day to be in development for the Xbox One as well.^[35] In Kingdom Hearts III, the series protagonist Sora embarks on a journey to regain his lost "Power of Waking" while Sora's friends, Riku and King Mickey, search for the Keyblade wielders Aqua, Terra, and Ventus in preparation for their final battle against Xehanort. The game concludes the "Dark Seeker Saga".^[36] The game was released on January 25, 2019, in Japan and on January 29 worldwide.^[37][38]
  • Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind: A port of Kingdom Hearts III with the Re Mind DLC included that was released for Windows and the Nintendo Switch. It was initially released on Windows exclusively via the Epic Games Store on March 30, 2021, followed by a Steam release three years later on June 13, 2024.^[39][40] A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch was announced during Sora's reveal as the final DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on October 5th, 2021, and released as part of the series' 20th anniversary celebration on February 10, 2022.^[41]
• Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory is a rhythm-based game for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.^[42][43] It released in Japan on November 11, 2020, and worldwide on November 13.^[44] Featuring 140 songs, it sees players travel to each stage in a Gummi ship, and features gameplay similar to Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.^[42][43][45] Melody of Memory continues Kairi's story from the end of Kingdom Hearts III,^[45] with Nomura saying the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind title screen laid "some of the groundwork for it".^[32]

Other[edit]

• A Kingdom Hearts game was developed for V CAST, Verizon Wireless's broadband service, and was released on February 1, 2005, in the United States.^[46][47] It was one of the launch games for the V CAST services.^[48] The game, developed by Superscape and published by Disney Mobile with no involvement from Square Enix, features gameplay akin to the first Kingdom Hearts game, modified for the input method of mobile phones.^[49] The game's storyline features Sora struggling to free himself from a nightmare induced by Maleficent's magic.
• Kingdom Hearts Mobile was a Kingdom Hearts-themed social game in which players could play mini-games together. Unlike Kingdom Hearts for the V CAST and Kingdom Hearts Coded, this game does not have a storyline and focuses more on socializing. The service operated in conjunction with Kingdom Hearts Coded, as new avatar costumes became available after the player completed an episode of Kingdom Hearts Coded. Kingdom Hearts-related media such as wallpapers, ringtones, graphics, and other items could be purchased and downloaded through the service for mobile phones.
• Kingdom Hearts VR Experience: Announced in September 2018, Kingdom Hearts VR Experience is a free, 10-minute interactive video "featuring iconic moments [and music] from the Kingdom Hearts games" with the ability to unlock additional content by progressing through the experience.^[50] The first part was released in Japan on January 23, 2019, with the second part releasing in early 2019.^[51][52] The first part had initially been scheduled to release on January 18, 2019,^[52] after initial release dates of December 25, 2018, for the first part, with the second part releasing on January 18, 2019.^[53]

Collections[edit]

• Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan on March 14, 2013.^[54] The collection includes remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Re:Chain of Memories, which include gameplay enhancements and trophy support. In addition, a "Theater Mode" has been added, consisting of high definition cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.^[55] The collection was released in North America on September 10, 2013^[56] in Australia on September 12, 2013,^[57] and in Europe on September 13, 2013.^[58]
• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix: After the announcement of HD 1.5 Remix, Nomura stated that it would be "pretty unnatural" if Kingdom Hearts II did not receive an HD update.^[59] In the credits of HD 1.5 Remix, clips of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix, and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded were shown, hinting at another collection.^[60] On October 14, 2013, the collection was announced for the PlayStation 3, and included the previously mentioned games, with Re:coded appearing as HD cinematics, similar to 358/2 Days in HD 1.5 Remix.^[60] The collection was released in Japan on October 2, 2014,^[61] North America on December 2, 2014, Australia on December 4, 2014, and Europe on December 5, 2014.^[62]
• Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue: In the credits of HD 2.5 Remix, clips of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance were shown as well as the inclusion of a secret ending related to the game, hinting at a possible additional collection.^[63] In September 2015, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The collection features an HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance as well as Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, a cinematic telling of the backstory behind the events of Kingdom Hearts χ, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, a new game taking place after the events of the original Birth by Sleep, told from the perspective of Aqua.^[64] It was released in Japan on January 12, 2017, and in North America and Europe on January 24, 2017,^[65] with a later release on February 18, 2020, for the Xbox One,^[66] and on March 30, 2021, and June 13, 2024, for Windows via Epic Games Store and Steam respectively.^[39][40] A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch was released on February 10, 2022.^[41]
• The following are repackaged versions of the above collections:
  • Kingdom Hearts Starter Pack: HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: A collector's pack released in Japan includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix.
  • Kingdom Hearts Collector's Pack: HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: A collector's pack released in Japan includes Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix, a code to get an Anniversary Set for Kingdom Hearts χ, music, and a booklet with art from the series.^[61]
  • Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: In October 2016, Square-Enix announced a single-disc compilation release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix for the PlayStation 4. The compilation was released on March 9, 2017, in Japan; March 28, 2017, in North America; and March 31, 2017, in Europe.^[67] It was later released on February 18, 2020, for the Xbox One,^[66] and on March 30, 2021, and June 13, 2024, for Windows via Epic Games Store and Steam respectively.^[39][40] A cloud version for the Nintendo Switch was released on February 10, 2022.^[41]
  • Kingdom Hearts: The Story So Far: Announced in early October 2018, this bundle collects the Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix PlayStation 4 collection and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. It was released in North America on October 30, 2018, for the PlayStation 4.^[68]
  • Kingdom Hearts: All-In-One-Package: This bundle contains everything in The Story So Far, along with Kingdom Hearts III. It was released digitally on the PlayStation 4 in North America on January 29, 2019.^[69] The bundle became available physically in North America on March 17, 2020.^[70]
  • Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece for Cloud: This bundle contains cloud versions of everything in the All-In-One-Package, along with the Kingdom Hearts III Re Mind DLC. It was released on the Nintendo Switch on February 10, 2022.^[41] A non-cloud version, simply titled Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece, was later made available for Steam on June 13, 2024. ^[71]

Future[edit]

• Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link: In April 2022, Square Enix revealed Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link was in development for iOS and Android devices. It is set in Scala ad Caelum between the events of Union X and Dark Road. A closed beta was originally set for late 2022.^[72][73] However, it was delayed to October 30, 2023 for its closed beta. The game is set for a 2024 launch on mobile devices.
• Kingdom Hearts IV: Though Kingdom Hearts III was the end of the "Dark Seeker Saga" which revolved around Xehanort, it had been decided where certain characters end up in order to potentially continue their stories in future games.^[74] In January 2020, Nomura said there would need to be "more time" before the next main entry in the series,^[32] later noting in September that Yozora would "definitely... be involved" in the future of the series, in an unexpected and surprising way.^[75] In April 2022, Square Enix revealed Kingdom Hearts IV was in development, confirmed that Sora, Donald, and Goofy would return, and that the game would be set in Quadratum, a realistic world inspired by Tokyo. Kingdom Hearts IV will be the start of the "Lost Master arc".^[72] In March 2023, during a Kingdom Hearts concert breath concert, Nomura vaguely announced something happened that determined the "direction of the series" going forward.^[76]

Common elements[edit]

Disney and Square Enix characters[edit]

Kingdom Hearts features a mixture of familiar Disney and Square Enix characters, as well as several new characters designed and created by Nomura.^[77] In addition to original locations, the Kingdom Hearts series features many worlds from Disney films. Sora must visit these worlds and interact with various Disney characters to protect them from enemies. Often, his actions in these worlds closely follow the storylines of their respective Disney films. The main characters try not to interfere with the affairs of other worlds, as it could negatively affect the universe's order.^[78][79] Various Final Fantasy characters also make appearances within several worlds throughout the series. This includes Moogles, small creatures who are another common element in the games. They provide the player with a synthesis shop in order to create and purchase items used in the game. The main cast from The World Ends with You also makes an appearance in the series in Dream Drop Distance, and Kingdom Hearts III features characters from Pixar films such as the Toy Story series and Monsters, Inc., as well as Schwarzgeist, one of the bosses from Einhänder.^[80][81][82] Nevertheless, the usage of Disney characters is not without restrictions. For example, Nomura had requested the use of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in Kingdom Hearts III, but the response from Disney was that the character would be "too difficult" to use, with no further clarification or details from Disney.^[83]

Story[edit]

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Assassin's Creed
Genre(s)	Action-adventure Stealth
Developer(s)	Ubisoft Montreal Ubisoft Sofia Ubisoft Blue Byte Ubisoft Quebec Ubisoft Bordeaux Gameloft Griptonite Games Red Storm Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Creator(s)	Patrice Désilets Jade Raymond Corey May
First release	Assassin's Creed November 13, 2007
Latest release	Assassin's Creed Nexus VR November 16, 2023

Assassin's Creed is a historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice Désilets, Jade Raymond, and Corey May, the Assassin's Creed video game series depicts a fictional millennia-old struggle between the Order of Assassins, who fight for peace and free will, and the Knights Templar, who desire peace through order and control. The series features historical fiction, science fiction, and fictional characters intertwined with real-world historical events and historical figures. In most games, players control a historical Assassin while also playing as an Assassin Initiate or someone caught in the Assassin–Templar conflict in the present-day framing story. Considered a spiritual successor to the Prince of Persia series, Assassin's Creed took inspiration from the novel Alamut by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol, based on the historical Hashashin sect of the medieval Middle East.

The first Assassin's Creed game was released in 2007, and the series has featured thirteen main installments in total, the most recent being Assassin's Creed Mirage in 2023. Main games in the Assassin's Creed series are set in an open world and played from the third-person view. Gameplay revolves around combat, stealth, and exploration, including the use of parkour to navigate the environment. The games feature both main and side missions, and some titles also include competitive and cooperative multiplayer game modes.

A new story and occasionally new time periods are introduced in each entry, with the gameplay elements also evolving. There are three overarching story arcs in the series. The first five main games follow Desmond Miles, a descendant of several important Assassins throughout history, who uses a machine called the Animus to relive his ancestors' memories and find powerful artifacts called Pieces of Eden in an attempt to prevent a catastrophic event, referencing the 2012 phenomenon. From Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag to Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Assassin initiates and employees of Abstergo (a company used as a front by the modern-day Templars) record genetic memories using the Helix software, helping the Templars and Assassins find new Pieces of Eden in the modern world. The next three games, Assassin's Creed Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla, follow ex-Abstergo employee Layla Hassan on her own quest to save humanity from another disaster.

The main games in the Assassin's Creed franchise have received generally positive reviews for their ambition in visuals, game design, and narratives, with criticism for the yearly release cycle and frequent bugs, as well as the prioritising of role-playing mechanics in later titles. The series has received multiple awards and nominations, including multiple Game of the Year awards. It is commercially successful, selling over 200 million copies as of September 2022^[update], becoming Ubisoft's best-selling franchise and one of the highest selling video game franchises of all time. While main titles are produced for major consoles and desktop platforms, multiple spin-off games have been released for consoles, mobiles, and handheld platforms. A series of art books, encyclopedias, comics, and novels have also been published. A live-action film adaptation of the series, titled Assassin's Creed, was released in 2016.

Development history[edit]

While the games in the series have had several narrative arcs, Ubisoft views the series as currently having three periods of development and design philosophy. Until 2015's Assassin's Creed Syndicate, the franchise was structured around single-player content, and while centering on open world spaces and several role-playing elements, were more action-adventure and stealth-oriented. Period two, covering from Assassin's Creed Origins to Assassin's Creed Mirage, brought in more role-playing elements and live-service features to increase player engagement. Period three will launch with Assassin's Creed Shadows, using lessons from the second period of development to make engrossing single-player games similar to the original titles but with features to allow players to share achievements and content with others, all to be backed by the Infinity hub system.^[1]

Period one[edit]

The first Assassin's Creed game originated out of ideas for a sequel for Ubisoft's video game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, aiming for the seventh generation of video game consoles. The Ubisoft Montreal team decided to take the gameplay from The Sands of Time into an open-world approach, taking advantage of the improved processing power to render larger spaces and crowds. Narratively, the team wanted to move away from the Prince being someone next in line for the throne but to have to work for it; combined with research into secret societies led them to focus on the Order of Assassins, based upon the historical Hashashin sect of Ismaili, who were followers of Shia Islam, heavily borrowing from the novel Alamut.^[2][3] Ubisoft developed a narrative where the player would control an Assassin escorting a non-playable Prince, leading them to call this game Prince of Persia: Assassin,^[4] or Prince of Persia: Assassins.^[5] Ubisoft was apprehensive to a Prince of Persia game without the Prince as the playable character, but this led the marketing division to suggest the name Assassin's Creed, playing off the creed of the Assassins, "nothing is true; everything is permitted". Ubisoft Montreal ran with this in creating a new intellectual property, eliminating the Prince, and basing it around the Assassins and the Knights Templar in the Holy Land during the 12th century. Additionally, in postulating what other assassinations they could account for throughout history, they came onto the idea of genetic memory and created the Animus device and modern storyline elements. This further allowed them to explain certain facets of gameplay, such as accounting for when the player character is killed, similar to The Sands of Time.^[5]

After Assassin's Creed was released in 2007, Ubisoft Montreal said they looked to "rework the global structure" in developing the sequel, Assassin's Creed II. They felt that parkour was underutilized in the first game and designed the world in the sequel to feature freerun highways to make it easier to enter into parkour moves, for example using rooftops to escape pursuits.^[6] The change in setting meant that the game would feature a new cast of characters, including a new protagonist, Ezio Auditore da Firenze. Assassin's Creed II also brought in more use of crowds to hide in plain sight that the developers had seen used in Hitman: Blood Money, adding more to the concept of social stealth as a gameplay option.^[6] Finally, Ubisoft Montreal completely reworked the repetitive mission structure from the first game through numerous side activities, collectibles, and secrets. These additions became a central part of the series going forward as well as other Ubisoft games like Watch Dogs, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.^[6] Assassin's Creed II was followed by two sequels, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations, which also featured Ezio as the main protagonist and introduced the ability for players to recruit NPCs as Assassins and manage them in missions.^[6]

Assassin's Creed III originated from both Ubisoft Montreal, who wanted to progress the series' narrative forward in time, and to an unattached project that had been developed at Ubisoft Singapore and featured naval ship combat. As the main team had settled into the American Revolution period for the game, they found the ship-to-ship combat system fitted with the story and redesigned the setting to incorporate it further. Another major change in Assassin's Creed III was transitioning the parkour and freerun systems to work in the natural woodlands of 18th-century Massachusetts and New York. This further allowed the adding of trees and other vegetation within the city areas themselves, not just as part of the parkour systems, but to add more varied environments, which would continue as part of the series' ongoing design.^[6]

For Assassin's Creed III's sequel, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, the Ubisoft team built upon the foundation of its predecessor, particularly with regards to the naval gameplay, merging it seamlessly with the land-based gameplay.^[6] The team also used the game as a chance to address aspects of the series' storyline. Choosing to focus on an outsider's perspective to the Assassin–Templar conflict, they set the game around the Golden Age of Piracy, with the protagonist, Edward Kenway, starting out as a pirate who initially becomes involved in the conflict with the prospect of wealth. Similarly, after the conclusion of Desmond Miles' story arc in Assassin's Creed III, the modern-day segments put players in the role of a nameless individual controlled from a first-person perspective. The team chose this approach because they believed it allowed players to more easily identify themselves in their character.^[6] This trend would continue in the series until Assassin's Creed Syndicate.^[6]

Development of Assassin's Creed Unity began shortly after the completion of Brotherhood in 2010,^[7] with the core development team splitting off during the early stages of development on Assassin's Creed III.^[8] As the first game in the series to be released exclusively for the eighth generation of video game consoles, Unity featured a graphical and gameplay overhaul. The setting chosen for the game was Paris during the early years of the French Revolution, with players taking control of a new Assassin named Arno Dorian.^[7][8] After Unity, Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed Syndicate in 2015.^[6]

Period two[edit]

After Syndicate, Ubisoft decided that the series needed a major reinvention across both gameplay and narrative. It was decided to make the next game, Assassin's Creed Origins, closer to a role-playing video game than a stealth-action game, which would also bring a game with many more hours of play than previous titles. Some long-standing features of the series were eliminated for this purpose, such as the social stealth mechanic. This changed how missions were presented — rather than being linearly directed through the Animus, the player character could meet various quest givers in the game's world to receive missions.^[6] From the narrative side, Ubisoft placed the game before the formation of the Assassin Brotherhood in Ancient Egypt to make the player character, Bayek of Siwa, a medjay that people would respect and seek the help of.^[6] The modern-day storyline also shifted back to a single character, Layla Hassan. The developers limited the number of playable sequences for her character compared to previous games but gave them more meaning, such as allowing the player to explore Layla's laptop with background information on the game's universe.^[6]

Origins was followed in 2018 by Assassin's Creed Odyssey, which shifted the setting to Classical Greece and followed a similar approach to its predecessor but with more emphasis on the role-playing elements.^[6] 2020's Assassin's Creed Valhalla, set in Medieval England and Norway during the Viking Age, continued the same style as Origins and Odyssey. The developers recognized feedback from the previous two games and brought back the social stealth elements, as well as the concept of a customizable home base that was first introduced in Assassin's Creed II.^[6]

In 2023, Ubisoft released Assassin's Creed Mirage, a smaller title which sought to pay tribute to the franchise's earlier installments by focusing on stealth and assassinations over its predecessors' role-playing elements. The game started development as an expansion for Valhalla before being turned into a standalone release, and was set in 9th-century Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age, a decade before the events of Valhalla, to which it served as a prequel.^[9][10]

Future[edit]

In 2022, Ubisoft announced several additional games for the series. Assassin's Creed Infinity has been described by its executive producer, Marc-Alexis Côté, as a "new design philosophy" for the series,^[1][11] as well as a hub that will provide the releases of future games.^[12] The first two games to be included in Infinity will be Assassin's Creed Shadows, set in Japan during the Sengoku period,^[9] and Assassin's Creed: Codename Hexe, rumoured to be set in Central Europe during the 16th century.^[13]

Gameplay[edit]

The Assassin's Creed games are centered around one or more fictional members of the Order of the Assassins. Their memories are experienced by an in-game character in the modern-day period through a device called the Animus and its derivations. The Animus allows the user to explore these memories passed down via genetics. Within the context of the game, this provides a diegetic interface to the real-world player of the game, showing them elements like health bars, a mini-map, and target objectives as if presented by the Animus. Additionally, should the player cause the historical character to die or fail a mission, this is rectified as desynchronization of the genetic memory, allowing the player to try the mission again. Through the Animus interface, the player can retry any past mission already completed; for example, in Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, the player achieves better synchronization results by performing the mission in a specific manner, such as by only killing the mission's target. The Animus also imparts special abilities to the modern-day character that helps them to see their target in a crowd or other unique points of interest.^[14][15]

While playing as the Assassin characters, the games are generally presented from a third-person view in an open world environment, focusing on stealth and parkour. The games use a mission structure to follow the main story, assigning the player to complete an assassination of public figureheads or a covert mission. Alternatively, several side missions are available, such as mapping out the expansive cities from a high perch followed by performing a leap of faith into a haystack below, collecting treasures hidden across the cities, exploring ruins for relics, building a brotherhood of assassins to perform other tasks, or funding the rebuilding of a city through purchasing and upgrading of shops and other features. At times, the player is in direct control of the modern-day character who, by nature of the Animus use, has learned Assassin techniques through the bleeding effect, as well as their genetic ability of Eagle Vision, which separates friend, foe, and assassination targets by illuminating people in different colors.^[16][17]

The games use the concept of active versus passive moves, with active moves, such as running, climbing the sides of buildings, or jumping between rooftops, more likely to alert the attention of nearby guards. When the guards become alerted, the player must either fight them or break their line of sight and locate a hiding place, such as a haystack or a well, and wait until the guards' alert is reduced. The combat system allows for a number of unique weapons, armor, and moves, including the use of a hidden blade set in a bracer on the Assassin's arm, which can be used to perform surreptitious assassinations.^[18]

Storyline[edit]

Premise[edit]

The Assassin's Creed games primarily revolve around the rivalry and conflict between two ancient secret societies: the Order of Assassins, who represent freedom, and the Knights Templar, who represent order. Versions of these societies have existed for centuries, with the Assassins seeking to stop the Templars from gaining control of Pieces of Eden, artifacts that can override free will to control people.^[19]

These artifacts are remnants of an ancient species pre-dating humanity called the Isu, or Precursors, which created humanity to live in peace alongside them. The Isu ensured humans could not rise against them by creating the Pieces of Eden to control them. When the first hybrid Isu-human beings emerged, named Adam and Eve, they were immune to the effects of the Pieces of Eden. They stole the Pieces of Eden, which led to a great war that ended when a massive solar flare devastated the surface of the Earth. The Isu began to die out while humanity thrived. Three Isu—Minerva, Juno, and Jupiter—attempted to prepare humanity for a solar flare they knew would come centuries later. Minerva and Jupiter prepared vaults from which humanity could activate a protective shield around Earth with the Pieces of Eden and the Eye, a means to communicate how to find and use these vaults; however, Juno saw humanity as a threat and attempted to sabotage Minerva and Jupiter's plan. Minerva and Jupiter were forced to destroy Juno, unaware she had hidden her consciousness to wake upon activation of the Eye. All that remained of the Isu were the traces of their memories in the world's mythologies, and religions, while the Pieces of Eden were lost to time.^[19]

The series takes place in the modern era, in which the Templars have established the mega-corporation Abstergo Industries. Abstergo has developed a device, the Animus, whose user can relive the memories of their ancestors through their genetic material. Abstergo has kidnapped people who are descendants of past Assassins to locate the missing Pieces of Eden via the Animus.^[19] A user of the Animus can move about in simulated memories as their ancestor, but performing actions outside the bounds of what their ancestor did can lead to desynchronization of the memory.^[14][15] Extended use of the Animus creates a bleeding effect that gives users some of the skills and capabilities they experienced with their ancestor.^[20]

Story arcs[edit]

The first five main games in the series focus on Desmond Miles, a bartender who learns he is a descendant of several important Assassins throughout history, including Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad from the Middle East during the Third Crusade; Ezio Auditore da Firenze from the Italian Renaissance during the late 15th and early 16th centuries; and Ratonhnhaké:ton (better known as Connor), a half-Mohawk, half-British Assassin during the American Revolution. Desmond is used by Abstergo to find Pieces of Eden but is freed by Lucy Stillman, an undercover agent for the Assassins. Lucy takes Desmond to meet Shaun Hastings and Rebecca Crane, two other members of the modern-day Assassins. The group is joined later by William Miles, Desmond's father. They continue to explore Desmond's memories and eventually discover the Eye and Minerva's warning of another possible solar flare. They also inadvertently free Juno, who then kills Lucy, revealed to be a double agent for the Templars. The group continues to find the vaults across the globe via Desmond's memories, and Desmond ultimately activates them in time to block the solar flare, at the cost of his own life.^[19]

Starting with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, William goes into exile, while Shaun and Rebecca continue to monitor Abstergo by posing as employees of one of their spin-off companies, Abstergo Entertainment. Abstergo has refined the Animus technology to allow anyone to experience genetic memories from the DNA material of another person, allowing Abstergo to continue their search for the Pieces of Eden under the guise of creating entertainment products. In Black Flag, the player assumes the role of an unnamed Abstergo employee tasked with scanning the memories of Edward Kenway, a privateer-turned-pirate during the Golden Age of Piracy and Connor's grandfather. During their investigation, the player is blackmailed into helping a fellow employee, John Standish, recover sensitive information and deliver it to the Assassins. John is later revealed to be a Sage, a human reincarnation of Juno's husband Aita, who is trying to resurrect her, though he is killed by Abstergo before his plan can come to fruition.^[19] In Assassin's Creed Rogue, the player controls another Abstergo employee who is recruited by the Templars to clean their servers after the Assassins breach them and recover data on the life of Shay Patrick Cormac, an Assassin-turned-Templar from the 18th century. The Assassins are ultimately forced to go underground once more, and the player character is invited to join the Templars.^[19]

By the time of Assassin's Creed Unity, Abstergo distributes its Animus product via a video game console named Helix, tapping into an extensive, unaware player base to help them locate more Pieces of Eden and determine the fates of various Sages as part of the Phoenix Project, an attempt to recreate the genetic structure of the Isu. The game's opening has players control an unnamed Templar during the downfall of the Templar Order, while the different "time anomalies" take them to Paris during the Belle Époque, World War II, and the Hundred Years' War. The Assassins locate select players and bring them in as Initiates to help their cause. In Unity, the player character is contacted by an Assassin named Bishop and asked to experience the memories of Arno Dorian, an Assassin active during the French Revolution, so that the modern-day Assassins can locate the body of a Sage and hide it from Abstergo.^[19] Despite the Assassins' efforts, Abstergo collects enough samples of other Sages by the start of Assassin's Creed Syndicate to move forward with the Phoenix Project. Again, Bishop contacts the Initiate and asks them to explore the memories of Jacob and Evie Frye, twin Assassins from Victorian England, to locate a Piece of Eden known as the Shroud, which Abstergo needs to complete the process of recreating the Isu genetic structure. Although the Initiate manages to locate the Shroud, the Templars beat the Assassins to it.^[19]

A new storyline is introduced in Assassin's Creed Origins focusing on Abstergo researcher Layla Hassan. Initially tasked with locating historical artifacts in Egypt, Layla stumbles upon the mummified corpses of the medjay Bayek and his wife Aya, co-founders of the Hidden Ones, the precursor organizati

A god of war is a deity associated with war.

God of War or Gods of War may also refer to:

Books[edit]

• The Gods of War, a 1985 novel by historical author John Toland
• The Gods of War, a 2005 novel by Conn Iggulden and the fourth in the Emperor series
• The God of War, a 2008 novel by Marisa Silver
• Gods of War, a 2009 science fiction novel by Ashok Banker
• God of War (DC Comics), a 2010–2011 limited six-issue comic book series published by WildStorm and DC Comics, based around the Greek era of the video game series.
• God of War, a 2010 novelization of the 2005 video game, God of War, written by Matthew Stover and Robert E. Vardeman
• God of War II, a 2013 novelization of the 2007 video game, God of War II, written by Robert E. Vardeman.
• God of War – The Official Novelization, a 2018 novelization of the 2018 video game, God of War, written by James Barlog.
• God of War (Dark Horse Comics), a 2018–2021 limited two-volume eight-issue comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics, based around the Norse era of the video game series.

Film and television[edit]

• God of War (South Korean TV series), a 2012 television series about military leader Kim Chun
• God of War (film), a 2017 Chinese historic war action film
• God of War (upcoming TV series), an adaptation of the video game series, currently in development

Video games[edit]

• God of War (franchise), an action-adventure video game series
  • God of War (2005 video game), a video game for the PlayStation 2 and the first in the series
  • God of War II, a 2007 video game for the PlayStation 2
  • God of War: Betrayal, a 2007 video game for mobile phones
  • God of War: Chains of Olympus, a 2008 video game for the PlayStation Portable
  • God of War Collection, a 2009 reissue of God of War and God of War II, remastered for the PlayStation 3; ported to the PlayStation Vita in 2014
  • God of War III, a 2010 video game for the PlayStation 3
  • God of War: Ghost of Sparta, a 2010 video game for the PlayStation Portable
  • God of War: Origins Collection, a 2011 reissue of Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, remastered for the PlayStation 3
  • God of War Saga, a 2012 collection featuring God of War Collection, Origins Collection, and God of War III for the PlayStation 3
  • God of War: Ascension, a 2013 video game for the PlayStation 3
  • God of War III Remastered, a 2015 reissue of God of War III, remastered for the PlayStation 4
  • God of War: A Call from the Wilds, a 2018 text-based game played via Facebook Messenger
  • God of War (2018 video game), a video game for the PlayStation 4 and Windows
  • God of War Ragnarök, a 2022 video game for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5

Music[edit]

Albums[edit]

• Gods of War (Blasphemy album), a 1993 album by black metal band Blasphemy
• Gods of War (Manowar album), a 2007 album by heavy metal band Manowar
• God of War: Blood & Metal, a 2010 EP of heavy metal music inspired by the God of War video game series

Songs[edit]

• "Gods of War" (song), a 1987 song by rock band Def Leppard
• "God of War", a song by Derek Sherinian
• "God of War", a song by the Faeroese band Týr

See also[edit]

• War Gods (disambiguation)
• Lord of War

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title God of War.
If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

LittleBigPlanet
Genre(s)	Platform, endless running
Developer(s)	Media Molecule (2008-2014) SCE Studio Cambridge (2009) Supermassive Games (2010) XDev (2010-2012) Double Eleven (2012) Tarsier Studios (2012) United Front Games (2012) San Diego Studio (2012) Firesprite (2014) Sumo Digital (2014-2020) Exient Entertainment (2023)
Publisher(s)	Sony Interactive Entertainment PlayStation Mobile (2014)
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable PlayStation Vita PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 Windows
First release	LittleBigPlanet 27 October 2008
Latest release	Ultimate Sackboy March 3, 2023

LittleBigPlanet (LBP - stylised as LittleBIGPlanet) is a puzzle platform video game series created and produced by British developer Media Molecule and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Most games in the series put a strong emphasis on user-generated content and are based on the series' tagline "Play, Create, Share". The tagline represents the three core elements of the series: playing alone or with others locally (on the same console) or online, creating new content using the in-game creation tools, and sharing creations and discoveries online with other players.

Tarsier Studios, Fireproof Games and Supermassive Games also contribute to the development of the PlayStation 3 games, creating in-game assets (downloadable content) including costumes, backgrounds, objects, and stickers. Some of these assets will also provide the player more tools and gadgets to use in the level editor.^[1]

The series comprises six games across five gaming platforms. The series was launched in 2008 with the PlayStation 3 game LittleBigPlanet, which was followed in 2009 by a PlayStation Portable version of the same name, initially developed by Studio Liverpool^[2] and later handed to SCE Studio Cambridge. The sequel to the PlayStation 3 version, LittleBigPlanet 2, was released in January 2011 alongside a smaller spin-off title called Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves. LittleBigPlanet PS Vita was developed by Tarsier Studios and Double Eleven, released in September 2012 for the PlayStation Vita. At E3 2014, Sony announced LittleBigPlanet 3, a PlayStation 4 instalment that was developed by Sumo Digital and released in November 2014.^[3] The games are all published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The latest instalment for the LittleBigPlanet franchise titled Sackboy: A Big Adventure was revealed during the PS5 live event and released on the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in November 2020. A Windows version was released on 27 October 2022.^[4]

On 17 January 2015, it was announced that all LittleBigPlanet servers in Japan would shut down on 31 July, along with the PlayStation Portable version and LittleBigPlanet Karting in late August in all regions. Due to attacks on the online servers, all LittleBigPlanet servers were taken down in May 2021 (the Vita version had remained closed since March).^[5] The servers for the PS4 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 were brought back up on 13 September 2021, however, in the same announcement, it mentioned that the servers for LittleBigPlanet, LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita and the PS3 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 will remain closed permanently.^[6] On 8 January, 2024, it was announced that, presumably due to more attacks on the online servers, the servers for the PS4 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 were being temporarily closed while they investigate them.^[7][8][9]

On 19 April 2024, the servers for the PlayStation 4 version of LittleBigPlanet 3 were permanently shut down due to ongoing technical issues.^[10]

Gameplay[edit]

The core mechanics of the series revolve around its tagline, "Play, Create, Share".^[11]

Play[edit]

In the first two instalments of the series, gameplay consist primarily of traditional two-dimensional look in a three-dimensional style platforming like jumping and avoiding obstacles to successfully navigate to the end of a level to win.^[12] Since LittleBigPlanet 2, the series has included mini-games, including ones that do not follow the platformer genre. Most LittleBigPlanet games involve a player playing solo or co-operatively with friends to navigate through a level whilst collecting various "bubbles" along the way, which can take the form of either points or collectibles. In-game collectibles can be used in level creation or to customize Sackboy, the player character. There are also numerous co-operative parts of levels whereby certain prize bubbles can be earned. In LittleBigPlanet 3 and Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Collectables are also present, being used in various shops to purchase more costumes.

Create[edit]

The Create component primarily refers to level creation in the game, along with other features like character customisation. Players can create their own levels with the built-in level creator. Many items that are collected while playing through the story mode and from LittleBigPlanet's community can be used to help with level creation.^[13] These levels can remain as the original LittleBigPlanet platforming gameplay, or they can include other game types, such as racing, fighting, shooting and sports.^[12] The player can also make non-gaming creations such as music and films (commonly known in-game as cut-scenes).^[14] In LittleBigPlanet 2, Sackbots were introduced to give players more control over non-player characters in their levels as well as make the levels in their entirety more intelligent. The creation technique introduced on the game gave the possibility for logic, and it gave the ability to build sets of machines and complex contraptions.^[14]

Share[edit]

Lastly, the Share component relates to sharing creations with the game's community by uploading levels to the PlayStation Network. To-date there were an excess of ten million user-created levels available to play on the LittleBigPlanet server in the PlayStation 3 games.^[15] After the release of LittleBigPlanet 2 and the LBP.me community website, the Share component also had a strong emphasis sharing discoveries. Players were encouraged to share levels they found with other players by writing reviews and comments in-game and by sharing links to creations' LBP.me pages via social networks.

Overview[edit]

The series takes place in a world known as LittleBigPlanet. Each curator is in charge of a part of LittleBigPlanet and they govern them independently. LittleBigPlanet has geography inspired by the real-life Earth. All games in the series follow the main protagonist Sackboy, a small anthropomorphic creature made of brown fabric with a zip fastener and button eyes. He can be customized to the player's liking using costumes that are either unlocked in the game or bought as downloadable content from the PlayStation Store. The player can control Sackboy's four emotions; happiness, sadness, worry and anger, each of which has three levels of intensity. The English language version of each game is narrated by Stephen Fry and in all formats Fry's scripts are written by Dean Wilkinson.

Games[edit]

Main series[edit]

LittleBigPlanet[edit]

The first game in the series was released on the PlayStation 3 platform in 2008 and was the first title developed by Media Molecule, under the name The Next Big Thing. The player controls Sackboy as he travels around the titular LittleBigPlanet, helping the eight creator curators of LittleBigPlanet with their problems in their own respective realms. Throughout the story, Sackboy tries to stop The Collector, one of the eight creator curators who has gone rogue, kidnapping the creations of LittleBigPlanet.^[16] The game received widespread acclaim for its design, gameplay, and customization afforded to the player, particularly the built-in level editor. After its release, it received numerous industry awards.^[17]

LittleBigPlanet 2[edit]

The second game in the series is a direct sequel to the first LittleBigPlanet and was developed by Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3 for a release in 2011. The sequel saw a major shift in the direction of the series, going from a primarily traditional platform game in the first two entries to a more varied style of gameplay called a "platform for games". The second game gave players a wider variety of options when it came to level design, which saw the creation of levels other than platforming such as racing, puzzles, and fighting games.^[18] Following the events of the first two entries in the series, the game takes place when an antagonist known as the Negativitron invades LittleBigPlanet and begins to suck up all its inhabitants. Sackboy must team up with a secret organization known as "The Alliance", led by Larry Da Vinci, to save LittleBigPlanet from the Negativitron.^[19] The game also supported the PlayStation Move, with an update post-launch.

LittleBigPlanet 3[edit]

LittleBigPlanet 3 is a game for the PlayStation 3^[20][21][22] and PlayStation 4. Announced at E3 2014, it was developed by Sumo Digital and was released in November 2014. In the game, Sackboy is transported to another world, Bunkum, where he has to awaken its three missing heroes, OddSock, Toggle and Swoop, who are new playable characters. Sackboy travels through different worlds in order to free the 3 new characters and stop Newton.^[23]

Handheld[edit]

LittleBigPlanet (PlayStation Portable)[edit]

A portable entry of the series was developed primarily by SCE Studio Cambridge in association with Media Molecule for the PlayStation Portable. The game, released in 2009, shared the same name as the original game; however, it was not a port of the PlayStation 3 game, but rather a new entry in the series. It has a story-mode with levels and features many of the same mechanics of its PlayStation 3 counterpart, such as customizations, albeit without the multiplayer component of the game. The game takes place after the events of the PlayStation 3 version of LittleBigPlanet, in which The Collector has been defeated. A carnival is being held and Sackboy decides to go around the world to invite the eight curators of LittleBigPlanet to the carnival whilst finding materials for his own carnival float.^[24]

LittleBigPlanet PS Vita[edit]

The fourth game in the series was developed by Tarsier Studios, Double Eleven, and XDev for the PlayStation Vita handheld and had a 2012 release.^[25] The game features the same core mechanics from LittleBigPlanet 2, with the focus being on a "platform for games" rather than a platformer like previous entries in the series before LittleBigPlanet 2. The game utilizes the unique controls of the PlayStation Vita by using its multi-touch touchscreen and its rear touchpad to navigate through various obstacles in stages as well as for level creation by users.^[26] The game supports cross-buy of DLC costume packs between LittleBigPlanet 2, as well as LittleBigPlanet Karting.

Spinoff games[edit]

LittleBigPlanet Karting[edit]

LittleBigPlanet Karting is a kart racing game developed by United Front and San Diego Studio in conjunction with series creator Media Molecule for the PlayStation 3.^[27] In its story mode, the player ventures through worlds including: LittleBigPlanet, Monster Islands, Victoria's Laboratory, The Progress Emporium, Eve's Asylum, The Space Bass, and Hoard, Sweet Hoard, to put an end to the Hoard racers, who snatch many pieces of the different planets to stash them in the Garage at the End of the Universe. Sony Entertainment America shut down the North American LittleBigPlanet Karting online servers on 31 August 2016.^[28]

Sackboy's Prehistoric Moves[edit]

The game was developed by XDev as a spin-off from the LittleBigPlanet series utilizing the PlayStation Move on the PlayStation 3. It was released in December 2010, as a downloadable title from the PlayStation Store and was later bundled with LittleBigPlanet 2. The game was described as a "demo" and featured 10 prehistoric inspired story levels. In the game, Sackboy must save Little Big Planet from the T-Rex. Unlike the main games, which can be played as a single-player experience, the game required a minimum of two players to work.^[29] This was due to the main mechanics of the spin-off whereby one player would control Sackboy traditionally using the gamepad for platforming while a second player had to use a PlayStation Move similar to a pointer to move obstacles and objects out of the way in order to successfully navigate a level.^[30]

Run Sackboy! Run![edit]

Run Sackboy! Run! is a free-to-play endless running game developed by Firesprite and published by PlayStation Mobile that was released on iOS on 30 October 2014,^[31] Android on 17 December 2014^[32] and PlayStation Vita on 31 March 2015.^[33] The game has no real plot, except for Sackboy running through Craftworld from the Negativitron. The game awarded players with exclusive costumes for LittleBigPlanet 3 (which was released at a similar time) by reaching point goals and collecting stickers.^[34]

LittleBigPlanet Hub[edit]

LittleBigPlanet Hub is an unreleased free-to-play game for the PlayStation 3.^[35] It was planned to be a downloadable title from the PlayStation Store which would have allowed players to create levels and play a curated selection of community levels from LittleBigPlanet and LittleBigPlanet 2 as well as 16 levels from the games' story modes. LittleBigPlanet Hub would also have contained weekly challenges, not found in other LittleBigPlanet games. Downloadable content purchased in other games were to be compatible with LittleBigPlanet Hub, and users were rumoured to be also able to access additional content from the PlayStation Store.^{[citation needed]}

Since its announcement in August 2013, no further details about LittleBigPlanet Hub were revealed.^[36] In February 2024, a beta tester posted a video showing gameplay from a beta build onto YouTube, and shortly afterwards, with assistance, dumped it online for download. This makes the build playable through unofficial means, such as emulations like RPCS3 or PlayStation 3 homebrew.^[37]

Sackboy: A Big Adventure[edit]

Sackboy: A Big Adventure is a 2020 platform game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5 and the PlayStation 4. It was announced at the PlayStation 5 reveal event on June 11, 2020, and was released on November 12, 2020; a version for Windows was released on October 27, 2022, marking the series's first release on PCs. Unlike previous LittleBigPlanet entries with 2.5D platforming, A Big Adventure features a range of perspectives and 3D movement.

Ultimate Sackboy[edit]

Ultimate Sackboy is a free-to-play endless running game developed by Exient Entertainment and released on mobile on 21 February 2023. It is the first LittleBigPlanet game to feature limited-time paid subscriptions known as "Marathons." In contrast to Run Sackboy! Run!, it adopts the style from Sackboy: A Big Adventure and is played in 3D.

Reception[edit]

Most of the games in the series have been well received by critics with the LittleBigPlanet on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable gaining Metacritic scores of 95/100^[38] and 87/100^[39] respectively. LittleBigPlanet 2 garnered nearly as much acclaim as the first game, with an average score of 91/100.^[48] LittleBigPlanet PS Vita also received very positive reviews and was the highest-ranked PS Vita game at the time of its release with an average score of 88/100.^[49] However, the release of LittleBigPlanet 3 did not receive critical acclaim, garnering a mostly positive average of 79/100.^[50] Critically, LittleBigPlanet Karting is the worst-performing major game in the series so far but still gained a "mixed or average" Metacritic score of 74/100.^[51] However, the mobile game Run Sackboy! Run! performed worse, with a Metacritic score of 65/100.^[52] Additionally, the character of Sackboy is often seen as a PlayStation mascot.^[53] In 2011, readers of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition voted Sackboy as the 50th-top video game character of all time.^[54]

References[edit]

Wii

Original white Wii standing upright on its stand next to an original Wii Remote
Also known as	Revolution (pre-release) RVL (codename)
Developer	Nintendo IRD
Manufacturer	Foxconn[1]
Type	Home video game console
Generation	Seventh
Release date	NA: November 19, 2006 JP: December 2, 2006 AU: December 7, 2006 EU: December 8, 2006 KR: April 26, 2008 TW: July 12, 2008 HK: December 12, 2009 Revisions RVL-101 NA: October 23, 2011[3] EU: November 4, 2011[2] AU: November 11, 2011 Wii Mini CAN: December 7, 2012[5] EU: March 22, 2013[4] USA: November 17, 2013[6]
Introductory price	US$249.99[7] ¥25,000[8] £179.99[9] €249.99[9] A$399.95[10]
Discontinued	AU: November 2011 JP: October 20, 2013[11][12] EU: October 24, 2013[13] Revisions RVL-101 EU: October 20, 2013[13] NA: May 2014 Mini WW: 2017
Units shipped	101.63 million (as of September 30, 2019[update]) (details)
Media	Wii optical disc GameCube game disc[a] Digital distribution[b]
Operating system	Wii system software
CPU	IBM PowerPC Broadway @ 729 MHz
Memory	24 MB 1T-SRAM @ 324 MHz (2.7 GB/s) + 64 MB GDDR3 SDRAM
Storage	512 MB NAND flash memory
Removable storage	SD/SDHC card GameCube Memory Card[a]
Display	Video output formats Composite video (480i, 576i (PAL)) S-Video (480i (NTSC consoles only)) RGB SCART (576i (PAL consoles only)) Component video (YPBPR) (480i, 576i (PAL), 480p)
Graphics	ATI Hollywood @ 243 MHz
Controller input	Wii Remote (Plus) GameCube controller[a] Nintendo DS Wii Balance Board
Connectivity	Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11 b/g Bluetooth 2.0 2 × USB 2.0[16] LAN adaptor (via USB 2.0)[17]
Online services	Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection[c] WiiConnect24[d] Wii Shop Channel[e]
Dimensions	Width: 157 mm (6.2 in) Height: 60 mm (2.4 in) Depth: 197 mm (7.8 in) Revisions RVL-101 Same Mini Width: 160 mm (6.3 in) Height: 46 mm (1.8 in) Depth: 193 mm (7.6 in)
Mass	1,220 g (43 oz) Revisions RVL-101 1,130 g (40 oz) Mini 724 g (25.5 oz)
Best-selling game	Pack-in:[f] Wii Sports, 82.90 million Stand-alone: Mario Kart Wii, 37.32 million (as of March 31, 2020[update])
Backward compatibility	GameCube[a]
Predecessor	GameCube
Successor	Wii U
Website	wii.com

The Wii^[g] (/ˈwiː/, WEE) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006 in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, following the GameCube and is a seventh-generation console alongside Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3.

In developing the Wii, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata directed the company to avoid competing with Microsoft and Sony on computational graphics and power and instead to target a broader demographic of players through novel gameplay. Game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda led the console's development under the codename Revolution. The primary controller for the Wii is the Wii Remote, a wireless controller with both motion sensing and traditional controls which can be used as a pointing device towards the television screen or for gesture recognition. The Wii was Nintendo's first home console to directly support Internet connectivity, supporting both online games and for digital distribution of games and media applications through the Wii Shop Channel. The Wii also supports wireless connectivity with the Nintendo DS handheld console for selected games. Initial Wii models included full backward compatibility support for GameCube games and most accessories. Later in its lifecycle, two lower-cost Wii models were produced: a revised model with the same design as the original Wii but removed the GameCube compatibility features and the Wii Mini, a compact, budget redesign of the Wii which further removed features including online connectivity and SD card storage.

Because of Nintendo's reduced focus on computational power, the Wii and its games were less expensive to produce than its competitors. The Wii was extremely popular at launch, causing the system to be in short supply in some markets. A bundled game, Wii Sports, was considered the killer app for the console; other flagship games included entries in the Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and Metroid series. Within a year of launch, the Wii became the best-selling seventh-generation console, and by 2013, had surpassed over 100 million units sold. Total lifetime sales of the Wii had reached over 101 million units, making it Nintendo's best-selling home console until it was surpassed by the Nintendo Switch in 2021.^[h] As of 2022, the Wii is the fifth-best-selling home console of all time.

The Wii repositioned Nintendo as a key player in the video game console marketplace. The introduction of motion-controlled games via the Wii Remote led both Microsoft and Sony to develop their own competing products—the Kinect and PlayStation Move, respectively. Nintendo found that, while the Wii had broadened the demographics that they wanted, the core gamer audience had shunned the Wii. The Wii's successor, the Wii U, sought to recapture the core gamer market with additional features atop the Wii. The Wii U was released in 2012, and Nintendo continued to sell both units through the following year. The Wii was formally discontinued in October 2013, though Nintendo continued to produce and market the Wii Mini through 2017, and offered a subset of the Wii's online services through 2019.

History[edit]

2001–2003: Development[edit]

Shortly after the release of the GameCube, Nintendo began conceptualizing their next console.^[23] The company's game designer Shigeru Miyamoto said that, in the early stages, they decided they would not aim to compete on hardware power, and would instead prioritize new gameplay concepts.^[24][25] The console was firstly named "GameCube Next" as a placeholder.^[24] The price of the new console was originally envisioned to be as low as 100 euros but the NAND flash memory desired by Satoru Iwata would force that price to slightly more than the double.^[24]

Miyamoto cited Dance Dance Revolution's unique game controllers as inspiration for developing new input devices.^[26] Later in September 24, 2001, Nintendo began working with Gyration Inc., a firm that had developed several patents related to motion detection, to prototype future controllers using their licensed patents.^[27]

Over the next two years, sales of the GameCube languished behind its competitors—Sony's PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Satoru Iwata, who had been promoted to Nintendo's president in May 2002 following Hiroshi Yamauchi's retirement,^[28] recognized that Nintendo had not been keeping up with trends in the video game industry, such as adapting to online gaming. He also thought that video gaming had become too exclusive and wanted Nintendo to pursue gaming hardware and software that would appeal to all demographics.^[29] Nintendo's market analysis found that their focus on novel hardware had created consoles that made it difficult for third-party developers to create games for, hampering their position.^[30] One of the first major steps Iwata had made based on the company's research was directing the development of the Nintendo DS, a handheld incorporating dual screens including a touchscreen, to revitalize their handheld console line.^[31]

In 2003, Iwata met with Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda to discuss their market research. Iwata instructed Takeda "to go off the tech roadmap" for this console, but said it had to be appealing to mothers.^[32] Iwata wanted their next console to be capable of playing past Nintendo games, eliminating clutter in houses.^[26] Takeda led the team building the console's hardware components, and Miyamoto spearheaded the development of a new type of controller, based on Gyration's motion-sensing technology.^[27] Iwata had proposed that this new console use motion sensing to simplify the gaming interface, increasing appeal to all audiences.^[33] An initial prototype was completed within six months.^[34]

The Nintendo DS was said to have influenced the Wii's design, as the company found that the DS's novel two-screen interface had drawn in non-traditional players and wanted to replicate that on the new console.^[26] Designer Ken'ichiro Ashida noted, "We had the DS on our minds as we worked on the Wii. We thought about copying the DS's touch-panel interface and even came up with a prototype." The idea was eventually rejected because of the notion that the two gaming systems would be identical. Miyamoto also stated, "if the DS had flopped, we might have taken the Wii back to the drawing board."^[25]

2004–2005: Announcements[edit]

Prior to E3 2004, Iwata had referred to Nintendo's upcoming console offering as the GameCube Next (GCNext or GCN).^[35] Iwata first unveiled some details of Nintendo's new home console at E3 2004 under the codename "Revolution", as Iwata believed the console would revolutionize the gaming industry.^[29] BBC News' technology editor Alfred Hermida wrote that Nintendo's struggle to match Sony and Microsoft in the home console market made success crucial.^[36]

The console, still named "Revolution", was formally presented to the public at E3 2005. The motion controller interface had not yet been completed and was omitted from the unveiling.^[25] Iwata held the console above him with one hand to emphasize its size relative to its rivals. A smaller device meant it would draw on less power as to not overheat,^[37] and thus appealed to parents who were willing to have an attractive, small, power-efficient device in the living room.^[38] Iwata reportedly used a stack of three DVD cases as a size guide.^[37] The prototype held by Iwata was black, but at release the following year, the console was only available in white. In their book on the console, two Loyola University Chicago professors suggested that Nintendo was inviting comparisons with Apple's first iPod line.^[39]

Iwata later unveiled and demonstrated their current prototype of the Revolution controller at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2005. At this stage, the controller unit resembled the final Wii Remote device along with the separate Nunchuk attachment. Iwata demonstrated its motion sensing gameplay capabilities, and incorporated commentary from developers, such as Hideo Kojima and Yuji Horii, who had tested the controller and believed people would be drawn in by it.^[40][41]

The console's name was formally announced as the Wii in April 2006, a month prior to E3 2006. Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" (with two lower-case "i" characters) was intended to represent both two people standing side by side, and the Wii Remote and its Nunchuk.^[42] In the company's announcement, they stated: "Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion."^[42]

The name resulted in criticism and mockery. Forbes expressed a fear that the console would be seen as juvenile.^[43] BBC News reported the day after the name was announced that "a long list of puerile jokes, based on the name," had appeared on the Internet.^[44] Some video game developers and members of the press stated that they preferred "Revolution" over "Wii".^[45] Nintendo of America's Vice President of Corporate Affairs Perrin Kaplan defended the choice.^[46] President of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Aimé justified the new name over Revolution by saying that they wanted something short, distinctive, and easily pronounceable for all cultures.^[47]

The Wii was made available for a press demonstration at E3 2006. Planned launch titles were announced at a press conference alongside the unveiling. At the same conference, Nintendo confirmed its plans to release the console by the end of 2006.^[48]

2006–2010: Launch[edit]

Nintendo announced the launch plans and prices for the Wii in September 2006. The console was first launched in the United States on November 19, 2006, for US$249.99.^[7] Other regional release dates and prices included Japan on December 2 for ¥25,000,^[8] followed by Australasia on December 7 for A$399.95,^[10] and was later launched on December 8 in the United Kingdom for £179.99 and for the majority of Europe for €249.99.^[9] Nintendo planned to have around 30 Wii games available by the end of 2006, and anticipated shipping over 4 million consoles before the end of the year.^[49]

As part of its launch campaign, Nintendo promoted the Wii in North America through a series of television advertisements (directed by Academy Award winner Stephen Gaghan); its Internet ads used the slogans "Wii would like to play" and "Experience a new way to play". The ads began in November 2006 and had a budget of over $200 million for the year.^[50] The ads targeted a wider demographic compared to ads for other consoles, inviting parents and grandparents to play on the Wii.^[51] Nintendo hoped that its console would appeal to a wider demographic than that of others in the seventh generation.^[52] In December 2006, Satoru Iwata said that Nintendo did not think of themselves as "fighting Sony", but were focused on how they could expand the gaming demographic.^[53]

It took several years for the Wii to launch in other regions. It was released in South Korea on April 26, 2008,^[54] Taiwan on July 12, 2008,^[55] and Hong Kong on December 12, 2009.^[56] Nintendo had planned work with its localization partner iQue to release the Wii in China in 2008, but failed to meet the requirements to circumvent the ban on foreign-made consoles the Chinese government had put in place.^[57][58]

2011–2017: Successor and discontinuation[edit]

Nintendo announced the successor to the Wii, the Wii U, at E3 2011.^[59][60] Nintendo had recognized that the Wii had generally been shunned by the core gaming audience as it was perceived more as a casual gaming experience. The Wii U was aimed to draw the core audience back in with more advanced features atop the basic Wii technology.^[61][62] The Wii U features the Wii U GamePad, a controller with an embedded touchscreen and output 1080p high-definition graphics that serves as a secondary screen alongside the television. The Wii U is fully backward-compatible with Wii games and peripherals for the Wii, including the Wii Remote, Nunchuk controller and Wii Balance Board, and select Wii U games including support for these devices.^[63] The Wii U was first released on November 18, 2012 in North America; November 30, 2012 in Europe and Australia, and December 8, 2012 in Japan.^[64]

Nintendo continued to sell the revised Wii model and the Wii Mini alongside the Wii U during the Wii U's first release year. During 2013, Nintendo began to sunset certain Wii online functions as they pushed consumers towards the Wii U as a replacement system or towards the offline Wii Mini, though the Wii Shop Channel remained available.^[65] Nintendo discontinued production of the Wii in October 2013 after selling over 100 million units worldwide,^[66] though the company continued to produce the Wii Mini unit primarily for the North American market.^[67] The WiiConnect24 service and several channels based on that service were shuttered in June 2013.^[19] Support for online multiplayer games via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection were discontinued in May 2014,^[18] while the Wii Shop was closed in January 2019, effectively ending all online services for the console.^[20][68] The Wii Mini continued to be manufactured and sold until 2017.^[69]

Despite the Wii's discontinuation, some developers continued to produce Wii games well beyond 2013. Ubisoft released Just Dance games for the Wii up to Just Dance 2020 (2019).^[70] Vblank Entertainment's Shakedown: Hawaii along with Retro City Rampage DX are the most recent Wii games, which were released on July 9, 2020 (more than 13 years after the Wii's launch).^[71][72] On January 27, 2020, Nintendo announced that it will no longer repair any faulty Wii consoles in Japan starting on February 6 due to a scarcity of spare parts.^[i]

Hardware[edit]

Console[edit]

In building the Wii, Nintendo did not aim to outpace the performance of their competitors. Unlike the company's previous consoles, they built the Wii from commercial off-the-shelf hardware rather than seek out customized components. This helped to reduce the cost of the Wii system to consumers.^[74] Miyamoto said "Originally, I wanted a machine that would cost $100. My idea was to spend nothing on the console technology so all the money could be spent on improving the interface and software."^[75]

The console's central processing unit is a 32-bit IBM PowerPC-based processor named Broadway, with a clock frequency of 729 MHz.^[76][77] The reduced size of Broadway—based on a 90 nm process compared to the

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