Fantasy Earth Zero

Fantasy Earth Zero[lower-alpha 3] is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game developed for Microsoft Windows. Originally developed by Puraguru (Vanillaware) and Multiterm under the title Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion,[lower-alpha 4] it released under that title in February 2006 by Square Enix as a paid product through its PlayOnline service. It relaunched under Gamepot as a free title, and is currently handled by developer SoftGear and publisher Square Enix. Under the premise of a world where rival kingdoms engage in frequent conflicts, players choose an allied kingdom and fight against each other in groups of up to fifth players.

Fantasy Earth Zero
Cover art for the original release as Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion.
Developer(s)SoftGear[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Square Enix[lower-alpha 2]
Director(s)Tetsuya Fujimoto
Designer(s)Akashi Yamaguchi
Artist(s)George Kamitani
Composer(s)Hitoshi Sakimoto
Masaharu Iwata
Manabu Namiki
Kenichi Koyano
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Release
  • JP: February 23, 2006
  • CHN: April 2007 (beta)
  • NA: May 18, 2010
Genre(s)Massive multiplayer online role-playing game
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Fantasy Earth began in 2001 as a project under Enix, with Puraguru founder George Kamitani steering the project away from its initial concept of humans fighting vampires to its current kingdom-based aesthetic. Kamitani and Puraguru left the project in 2004 due to differences with Square Enix, with Multiterm taking over production duties. Production met with several challenges including logistic issues, the technology required for large-scape online battles, and the merger of Enix with Square in 2003. The original music was composed by Basiscape, a company founded by composer Hitoshi Sakimoto.

The original release was unsuccessful, but following its re-release under Gamepot it became successful and profitable, gaining one million players by 2011. Reviews have praised its aesthetic and gameplay loop. Over the years, Fantasy Earth has featured collaborations with several other video game series, and spawned two spin-off titles for mobile titles. Kamitani and Basiscape would collaborate on all future Vanillaware titles.

Gameplay

A large-scale battles between player factions.

Fantasy Earth Zero is a massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in which the player controls a customisable avatar and chooses one of the five nations to ally with and fight for.[8][9] There is no storyline, with the intended narrative being created by the battles of player factions.[9] In the game's setting of Melpharia, a long era of peace causes ancient petty differences between the nations to erupt into full-scale wars for control over magical crystals that gave birth to all things.[10] During the character creation stage, the player chooses a gender, character class, weapon type and starting nation.[11][12] The main emphasis of gameplay is player versus player (PVP) battles, carried out on the same server; starting with a minimum of seven versus seven, it goes up to large-scale battles between two armies of fifty players.[9][13] Alongside this, there is a player versus environment element, with players able to fight hoards of monsters for lower rewards.[11][12]

PVP battles are balanced by forcing each side to have a similar number participants, placing "overflow" players into a queue waiting to enter the battle. Players from the two warring kingdoms receive preference in this queue. A maximum of fifty players are allowed on each sides of the battle. Kingdom-versus-Kingdom battles are all held on the same server.[9][11][12] During battles, players must manually aim attacks at their opponent, and are given free movement through the map. Victory for either side is determined by territory controlled and individual enemy players defeated. Experience points are distributed across the victorious player army based on overall performance.[11][12]

Another element of these battles is a building and fortification aspect similar to tower defense titles. Players can use resources taken from crystals scattered across the battle map and construct different types of fortification and buildings, ranging from defense structures to structures which offer player advantages or can be used to directly attack the enemy.[13][14][15] During battles, players can also use special structures to summon allied monsters into the battlefield, granting advantages in battles.[11][12] Later updates added new building types, weather effects, and additional levels of factions for players to interact with.[16] In-game items can be earned, or bought for real money at a dedicated shop.[13][12]

Development

The Ring of Dominion

Fantasy Earth Zero began in 2001 as Fantasy Earth: The Ring of Dominion, a small-scale online game project led by Enix. During this period, it was headed by George Kamitani, a developer whose previous work included fighting games for Capcom and the Sega Saturn game Princess Crown.[1][17] The project ballooned in scale, and to facilitate its development Kamitani created a small development studio dubbed Puraguru in 2002.[1][18] The project was originally planned as a battle scenario between humans and vampires, but under Kamitani's guidance the scenario changed to a battle between princess-themed kingdoms.[1] It was Kamitani's first time developing 3D graphics.[19] Kamitani made use of artwork at 3D assets from Dragon's Crown, a cancelled Dreamcast sequel to his earlier title Princess Crown.[20][21] Production was originally placed in a small section of the Enix company building nicknamed the "submarine".[19] By 2003, Enix had merged with Square, and Kamitani stated that the newly-merged company took the project away from him.[17][22] Kamitani and Puraguru left production in 2004, and development was taken over by Multiterm.[2][23]

The overall theme of the gameplay was emulating the entertainment of both player battles and normal player-versus-environment combat.[24] Production of Fantasy Earth was beginning during the time when asymmetric digital subscriber lines were becoming common, but the idea of a hundred players fighting each other was highly ambitious for its time and caused several problems.[22] The game design was intended to be fast and action-based similar to first-person shooters, putting it in contrast with the command-based character control of most MMOs at the time.[25] Several planned elements, such as stamina in battles and item or currency-based loss penalties, were dropped from the final release based on player feedback.[24] Other issues included the lead staff changing multiple times, with Kamitani's departure being one of the more notable, enabling voice chat without crashing the system, and the merger of Square and Enix during the game's production.[22][24] The music was composed primarily by a team from Basiscape, a company founded by former Square composer Hitoshi Sakimoto.[26][27] Sakimoto was on board the project from Kamitani's tenure.[26] The music was co-composed by Sakimoto, Masaharu Iwata and Manabu Namiki. All three also handled arrangements for the soundtrack.[28] Another composer who worked on the original version was Kenichi Koyano.[29]

The Ring of Dominion was announced in September 2004, scheduled for a release late in 2005.[8] It was a notable game in Square Enix's business plan for its use of their PlayOnline service, being the second announced title to use it after Final Fantasy XI, and formed part of the company's expanding corporate strategy at the time.[30] It was promoted by Square Enix through cross-promotion with Chains of Promathia, an expansion to Final Fantasy XI.[15] Its first beta test began in October the following year.[5] Due to its unusual network design, the team partnered with a local vocational school and installed the game client on their computers, enrolling its students in the beta test.[22] For the different beta tests, they chose different kingdoms to represent, allowing them to adjust the balance so each would be able to have a chance in battles.[24] It was released in Japan on February 23, 2006.[5] It was originally released with the release model of an initial purchase fee followed by a monthly subscription.[31] In November of that year, Square Enix transferred ownership and management of Fantasy Earth to Gamepot; the game came with a shift to item-based billing, with the base game being a free download.[31][32]

Zero

With the transition from Square Enix to Gamepot, the game was renamed Fantasy Earth Zero.[6] The game's title referred to its setting of Earth, the fantasy aesthetic, and the need to work together to win battles.[9] Developer Multiterm changed its development structure to release regular updates and the change to item-based purchases positively altered both developer income and the general flow of gameplay compared to The Ring of Dominion.[6] An issue with the item purchases was to make them both tempting for players and not mandatory, along with giving options for customisation. Due to this, several mechanics from The Ring of Dominion were adjusted and rebalanced for the systems of Zero.[33] The next few years, the title underwent multiple updates to its gameplay systems, adding character classes and balance adjustments.[33][34][35] Multiterm was merged with NHN Japan Corporation in 2007, and continued development in this capacity until 2008.[34] The game also saw numerous collaborations with other video game series such as Trails.[32]

As a result of discussions concerning the game's future between NHN Japan and Gamepot, staff members from Multiterm founded FenixSoft, which took over production of Fantasy Earth from NHN Japan.[34][36] The game production and development was restructured; Square Enix maintained oversight of the game as supervisor and the original rights holder, Gamepot publishing and operator, and FenixSoft–later renamed SoftGear–handled actual game development.[3][34] While some of the original staff remained, several new staff came on board to replace members who remained with NHN Japan.[34] On March 30, 2012, a major update dubbed Chronicles was released for the game, featuring some gameplay adjustments, added environmental effects, and new characters with associated narratives.[16] For the update, new battle themes were introduced. The themes were composed by Ryo Yamazaki, Hidenori Iwasaki and Tsuyoshi Sekito.[37] In November 2015, Gamepot transferred all operations back to Square Enix.[38] Between 2018 and 2020, production responsibilities were handed to Ocean Frontier.[3][4]

Fantasy Earth Zero was released in Mainland China during April 2007 by Square Enix's local branch.[39] For its release in Taiwan, Square Enix and Gamepot partnered with Gamania. Annoucned for release in April 2007, it eventually released on July 25 that year under the title Fantasy Wars.[lower-alpha 5][7][40] Due to the end of the licensing agreement, the Taiwanese version was shut down on July 1, 2013.[41] A North American release through Gamepot's local branch was announced in January 2010, supported by Square Enix.[10][42] The title went through several beta tests, refining the game balance and stability before its final release. Square Enix handled the game's localization, which was described as an easy process.[9][25] It was released in Noted America on May 18, 2010.[43] Its servers were shut down on March 24, 2011, less than a year after the game's debut in the region.[44]

Reception

The release of The Ring of Dominion was a commercial failure, with low subscription rates contributing to it being sold on.[32] By contrast, Fantasy Earth Zero rapidly became very popular and one of the most active online games of 2007.[9][6] Between 2007 and 2009, registered active users increased from 200,000 to 700,000.[6][35] By July 2011, the game was supporting one million concurrent players.[45]

The original release met with a generally positive reception from Japanese critics, who praised its fast pace and addicting gameplay loops.[14][46] Contemporary and retrospective of Fantasy Earth Zero were also positive, praising similar elements to its original release, but also noting mechanical improvements and positively noting the item billing system.[13][47][48] Michael Sagoe of OnRPG, reviewing the Western release, found himself enjoying the gameplay despite not being a fan of battle-focused titles.[49] PC Gamer noted its "surprising" success in Japan given its convoluted development history.[50]

Legacy

Following their departure from production, Kamitani and Puraguru relocated to Kansai and renamed themselves Vanillaware, going on to develop multiple titles including Odin Sphere and a reimagined version of Dragon's Crown.[20][1] Kamitani's parting with Square Enix was on poor terms, and he disliked the idea of working with the company again.[17][23] Due to their earlier positive relationship, Kamitani has exclusively involved Basiscape and Sakimoto in his projects' music and sound design.[1][26] The indie title Fantasy Versus, developed and published by Animu Games, was influenced by the gameplay of Fantasy Earth Zero.[51]

A spin-off title set in the original game's universe, Melpharia March,[lower-alpha 6] was announced in September 2013.[52] It was released on September 19 of that year for iOS.[53] An Android version was released on August 12 the following year.[54][53] The gameplay used a field-based tower defense style similar to the Plants vs. Zombies series.[52] Both versions were shut down on December 15, 2015.[53]

A mobile sequel, Fantasy Earth Genesis,[lower-alpha 7] was developed by Asobimo under supervision from Square Enix for Android and iOS.[55] It was originally scheduled for a Western release in partnership with Quantum Games, and made available for pre-registration.[56] Its gameplay was a multiplayer online battle arena-style title sharing the parent game's 50-versus-50 player battles and summoned monsters.[32][56] The title was proposed by Asobimo to Square Enix in 2015 as a mobile MMO using the Fantasy Earth IP. The title was aimed both at newcomers to the game and veteran players of Fantasy Earth. The biggest challenge presented to the developers was adapting a PC-focused gameplay loop into the limited control options of a mobile title, in addition to the technical difficulties of replicating the original's large-scale battles. The team used assets from Fantasy Earth Zero to create the character models and environments.[55] At release, it saw a mixed popular reception.[56] Despite extensive support, Square Enix announced that it was becoming difficult to provide a satisfactory experience. Genesis ended service on March 31, 2020.[32]

Notes

  1. Original version developed by Puraguru (Vanillaware) and Multiterm.[1][2] Development from 2018 to 2020 handled by Ocean Frontier.[3][4]
  2. Original published by Square Enix.[5] Zero originally published by Gamepot.[6] Taiwanese release published by Gamania.[7]
  3. Fantajī Āsu Zero (Japanese: ファンタジーアースゼロ)
  4. Fantajī Āsu: Za Ringu Obu Dominion (ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン)
  5. Chinese: 幻想戰記; pinyin: Huànxiǎng Zhànjì
  6. Merufaria Māchi (メルファリア マーチ)
  7. Fantajī Āsu Jeneshisu (ファンタジーアースジェネシス)

References

  1. ヴァニラウェアは命がけでゲームを作る会社――クリエイター神谷盛治氏・ロングインタビュー. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2013-05-21. Archived from the original on 2016-02-20. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  2. NHN Japan、WIN「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」を「ハンゲーム」で提供専用ワールドを新設し、既存ワールドとは分けて運営. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2007-10-23. Archived from the original on 2013-06-29. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  3. 『ファンタジーアース ゼロ』運営移管のお知らせ. Fantasy Earth Zero website (in Japanese). 2020-10-16. Archived from the original on 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  4. 『ファンタジーアース ゼロ』運営及び開発協業のお知らせ 及び『12th Anniversary』開催のお知らせ. Ocean Frontier (in Japanese). 2018-11-30. Archived from the original on 2019-12-13. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  5. Surette, Tim (2005-12-16). "Fantasy Earth gets release date". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  6. インタビュー『ファンタジーアース ゼロ』. Dengeki Online (in Japanese). 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-08-20. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  7. 遊戲橘子代理 SQUARE ENIX 名作《Fantasy Earth Zero》. Gamer.com.tw (in Chinese). 2008-04-16. Archived from the original on 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  8. スクエニの新作MMOゲーム「ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン」発表!. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2004-09-16. Archived from the original on 2007-03-17. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  9. "FEZ: Square Enix & Gamepot Introduce PvP Mayhem". WarCry Network. 2010-01-21. Archived from the original on 2014-05-12. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  10. "Multiplayer Online Games Directory / News / Gamepot Partners with Square Enix for Fantasy Earth Zero". Mpogd.com. 2010-01-12. Archived from the original on 2011-12-17. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
  11. ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン - System. PlayOnline (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2006-02-06. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  12. ファンタジーアースゼロ - System. Fantasy Earch Zero Website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  13. 『FEZ』剣と魔法と召喚獣。『ファンタジーアース ゼロ』という名のファンタジー世界で戦争しませんか?【推しゲーレビュー】. Famitsu (in Japanese). 2020-08-17. Archived from the original on 2020-11-19. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  14. MMO+ストラテジーが新しい 異色のMMOの正式サービス直前の姿をレポ ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2006-02-22. Archived from the original on 2017-08-07. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  15. Winegarner, Beth (2005-01-27). "Fantasy Earth details emerge". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  16. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」の大型アップデート「クロニクルズ」が3月30日に実施決定. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2012-03-23. Archived from the original on 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  17. Sheffield, Brandon (2009-08-03). "King of 2D: Vanillaware's George Kamitani". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 2016-04-18. Retrieved 2016-04-20.
  18. "Power Profile: George Kamitani". Nintendo Power. Future Publishing (249). December 2009.
  19. ヴァニラウェア神谷盛治氏,大西憲太郎氏インタビュー。マフィア梶田が「オーディンスフィア レイヴスラシル」の魅力について聞いた. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2016-01-23. Archived from the original on 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  20. Miekle, Jason (2017-01-04). "Vanillaware's Kamitani on Keeping the 2D Flame Alive in the Age of 3D". Glixel. Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  21. Yip, Spencer (2013-07-24). "Dragon's Crown Looked Really Different When It Was Being Made For The Dreamcast". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2013-07-28. Retrieved 2018-04-14.
  22. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」インタビュー。「エンペラーズ サガ」とのコラボの背景にある開発者の10年越しの思いや,フェンサー/セスタス改修の進捗などを聞いた. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2013-09-02. Archived from the original on 2015-08-05. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  23. 神谷 盛治 インタビュー. Quarterly S. Asuka Shinsha (21): 22–30. 2007-12-15.
  24. インタビュー: ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2006-02-23. Archived from the original on 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  25. Haoson, Vincent (2010-04-15). "Fantasy Earth Zero Interview: Behind Closed Doors". OnRPG. Archived from the original on 2020-08-09. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  26. インタビュー; 神谷盛治. GameSide (in Japanese). Micro Magazine (19). August 2009. Translation
  27. Winkler, Chris (2005). "RPGFan Exclusive Interview #4: Hitoshi Sakimoto, Composer, Basiscape". RPGFan. Archived from the original on 2005-07-28. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  28. Basiscape - Works - 2006. Basiscape (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  29. Works. Kenichi Koyano website (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  30. Fahay, Rob (2004-09-17). "Focus On: Square Enix' Hiromichi Tanaka". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  31. ファンタジーアース 運営サービス移管のお知らせ. PlayOnline (in Japanese). 2006-07-31. Archived from the original on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  32. Sato, Ike (2020-02-03). "Fantasy Earth: Zero Stays Alive While Smartphone Successor Fantasy Earth Genesis Ends Service on March 31". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  33. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」1周年記念インタビュー運営・開発にサービス当初の狙いと今後のアップデート方針を聞く. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2007-12-27. Archived from the original on 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  34. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」2周年記念インタビュー開発移管など1年の動きと、今後のアップデート方針を聞く. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2008-12-26. Archived from the original on 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  35. WIN「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」3周年記念インタビュー. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2009-12-28. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  36. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」,開発をフェニックスソフトに完全移管. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2008-06-27. Archived from the original on 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  37. Yamazaki, Ryo (2012-06-30). FEZ BANQUET2012 決勝戦終了!およびHPリニューアル、Blog開設1周年!. Square Enix (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2013-07-19. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  38. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」,2015年11月18日をもってスクウェア・エニックスへ運営移管. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2015-09-14. Archived from the original on 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  39. Frankle, Gavin (2007-04-03). "Gaming Life in China #29". IGN. Archived from the original on 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  40. 馳騁戰場無往不利《幻想戰記》寶石商城即日推出. Gamer.com.tw (in Chinese). 2008-07-25. Archived from the original on 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  41. 【幻想戰記】結束營運重大公告. Fantasy Earth Zero Taiwan Website (in Chinese). 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  42. Sinclair, Brendan (2010-01-13). "Square Enix's Fantasy Earth MMO headed to US". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2016-11-04. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  43. Sinclair, Brendan (2010-05-16). "Shippin' Out May 16-22: Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake, Prince of Persia". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  44. Lefebvre, Eliot (2011-02-03). "Fantasy Earth Zero shutting down on March 24th". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2020-12-23. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  45. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」,登録会員数100万人突破記念イベントが本日スタート。4Gamerから新規登録して特典アイテムを手に入れよう. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2011-07-04. Archived from the original on 2020-08-11. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  46. Hoshihara, Akinori (2006-02-22). 「ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン」第3次βテストレポート ファンタジーアース ザ リング オブ ドミニオン. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  47. アクションが苦手な人にこそオススメ! 衣装替えも楽しめる“お手軽で深い”アクションRPG 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2007-11-27. Archived from the original on 2020-03-03. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  48. 「ファンタジーアース ゼロ」プレイレポート:8月29日のアップデートで導入された「エクリプス」「ゴブリンフォーク」に注目. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2007-09-11. Archived from the original on 2007-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  49. Sagoe, Michael (2010-08-11). "Fantasy Earth Zero Review – PvP Fanatics Apply Here". OnRPG. Archived from the original on 2020-10-30. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  50. Davenport, James; Fenlon, Wes (2019-05-21). "25 MMOs that lived and died since World of Warcraft launched". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on 2019-05-21. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  51. ライトな4v4対戦アクション『Fantasy Versus』「ファンタジーアースゼロなどから深く影響を受けた」【注目インディーミニ問答】. GameSpark (in Japanese). 2018-06-04. Archived from the original on 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  52. Yip, Spencer (2013-09-01). "Melpharia March Looks Like Square Enix's Take On Plants Vs. Zombies". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-08-19. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  53. スクエニ、『メルファリア マーチ』のサービスを2015年12月15日をもって終了. GameBiz (in Japanese). 2015-10-20. Archived from the original on 2015-10-24. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  54. Android版「メルファリア マーチ」,「アゼリー」がもらえる事前登録受付を開始. 4Gamer.net (in Japanese). 2014-07-14. Archived from the original on 2014-10-21. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  55. 「ファンタジーアース ジェネシス」開発者インタビュー. Game Watch Impress (in Japanese). 2018-09-12. Archived from the original on 2020-08-06. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
  56. Gregson-Wood, Stephen (2019-11-12). "Fantasy Earth Genesis is an upcoming MMORPG for iOS and Android, you can pre-register now". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on 2020-12-22. Retrieved 2020-12-23.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.