Kikuta Kazuo Memorial Museum
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Kikuta Kazuo Memorial Museum
is a Japanese video game composer and game designer. His major works are '' Secret of Mana'', ''Trials of Mana'', '' Soukaigi'', and '' Koudelka'', for which he also acted as producer and concept designer. He has composed music for seven other games, and worked as a concept designer in addition to composer for the unreleased MMORPG ''Chou Bukyo Taisen''. He became interested in music at an early age, but earned a degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Cultural Anthropology from Kansai University. He spent the next few years working first as a manga illustrator, then as a composer for anime series, before coming to work for Square in 1991. After composing the soundtracks for his first three best-known works, he formed his own video game production company, Sacnoth, for which he was the president and CEO. After producing and composing ''Koudelka'' in 1999, he left to become a freelance composer. Since his departure he has formed his own record label, Norstrilia, through ...
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MAGFest
MAGFest (Music and Gaming Festival, originally the Mid-Atlantic Gaming Festival) is an annual festival held in the Washington metropolitan area that celebrates video games and video game music, as well as their surrounding culture. MAGFest's primary features are a large open video gaming room, a hall of arcade cabinets, concerts by chiptune artists and video game cover bands, and a Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) LAN Party. Attractions MAGFest's arcade hall is open 24 hours a day. The exhibition hall contains hundreds of full-size arcade cabinets, and even pinball machines that are donated for the event from local collectors and vending companies. All arcades are set to play for free on admission price, and are monitored 24 hours a day by maintenance and technical staff. The arcade hall includes specialty lighting, laser lighting, and music to invoke the feeling of a traditional arcade. The game selection ranges from 1970's vintage black and white games, vector monitors games ...
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Anime
is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of the English word ''animation'') describes all animated works, regardless of style or origin. Animation produced outside of Japan with similar style to Japanese animation is commonly referred to as anime-influenced animation. The earliest commercial Japanese animations date to 1917. A characteristic art style emerged in the 1960s with the works of cartoonist Osamu Tezuka and spread in following decades, developing a large domestic audience. Anime is distributed theatrically, through television broadcasts, Original video animation, directly to home media, and Original net animation, over the Internet. In addition to original works, anime are often adaptations of Japanese comics (manga), light novels, ...
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Romancing SaGa
''Romancing SaGa'' is a 1992 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the Super Famicom. It is the fourth entry in the ''SaGa'' series. It was subsequently released for the WonderSwan Color in 2001 and mobile phones in 2009. A remake for the PlayStation 2, subtitled ''Minstrel Song'' in Japan, was released in both Japan and North America in 2005 by Square Enix. A remaster of ''Minstrel Song'' was released worldwide in 2022 for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. The storyline follows eight different protagonists on quests through the world of Mardias, all culminating in a fight against the dark god Saruin. Gameplay features nonlinear exploration of the game world, with the turn-based battles featuring group formations. As with other ''SaGa'' titles, there are no experience points and character attributes and skills are dependent on actions taken in battle. Production began in 1990, with Nintendo requesting Squar ...
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Final Fantasy IV
known as ''Final Fantasy II'' for its initial North American release, is a role-playing video game developed and published by Square (now Square Enix) for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Released in 1991, it is the fourth main installment of the ''Final Fantasy'' series. The game's story follows Cecil, a dark knight, as he tries to prevent the sorcerer Golbez from seizing powerful crystals and destroying the world. He is joined on this quest by a frequently changing group of allies. ''Final Fantasy IV'' introduced innovations that became staples of the ''Final Fantasy'' series and role-playing games in general. Its "Active Time Battle" system was used in five subsequent ''Final Fantasy'' games, and unlike prior games in the series, ''IV'' gave each character their own unchangeable character class. ''Final Fantasy IV'' has been ported to several other platforms with varying differences. An enhanced remake, also called ''Final Fantasy IV'', with 3D graphics was relea ...
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Debugging
In computer programming and software development, debugging is the process of finding and resolving '' bugs'' (defects or problems that prevent correct operation) within computer programs, software, or systems. Debugging tactics can involve interactive debugging, control flow analysis, unit testing, integration testing, log file analysis, monitoring at the application or system level, memory dumps, and profiling. Many programming languages and software development tools also offer programs to aid in debugging, known as ''debuggers''. Etymology The terms "bug" and "debugging" are popularly attributed to Admiral Grace Hopper in the 1940s. While she was working on a Mark II computer at Harvard University, her associates discovered a moth stuck in a relay and thereby impeding operation, whereupon she remarked that they were "debugging" the system. However, the term "bug", in the sense of "technical error", dates back at least to 1878 and Thomas Edison who describes the "litt ...
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Progressive Rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initially termed "progressive pop", the style was an outgrowth of psychedelic bands who abandoned standard pop traditions in favour of instrumentation and compositional techniques more frequently associated with jazz, folk, or classical music. Additional elements contributed to its " progressive" label: lyrics were more poetic, technology was harnessed for new sounds, music approached the condition of "art", and the studio, rather than the stage, became the focus of musical activity, which often involved creating music for listening rather than dancing. Progressive rock is based on fusions of styles, approaches and genres, involving a continuous move between formalism and eclecticism. Due to its historical reception, the scope of progressiv ...
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Nobuo Uematsu
is a Japanese composer and keyboardist best known for his contributions to the ''Final Fantasy'' video game series by Square Enix. A self-taught musician, he began playing the piano at the age of twelve, with English singer-songwriter Elton John as one of his biggest influences. Uematsu joined Square in 1986, where he first met ''Final Fantasy'' creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. The two later worked together on many games at the company, most notably in the ''Final Fantasy'' series. After nearly two decades with Square, Uematsu left in 2004 to create his own production company and music label, Dog Ear Records. He has since composed music as a freelancer for other games, including ones developed by Square Enix and Sakaguchi's development studio, Mistwalker. Many soundtracks and arranged albums of Uematsu's game scores have been released. Pieces from his video game works have been performed in various ''Final Fantasy'' concerts, where he has worked with Grammy Award–winning conducto ...
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Nihon Falcom
is a Japanese video game developer, best known for their '' Ys'', '' The Legend of Heroes'', and ''Trails'' series. The company was founded in March 1981, making them one of the oldest active video game companies. They are credited with pioneering the action role-playing and Japanese role-playing game genres, as well as popularizing the use of personal computers in Japan. History Nihon Falcom was founded by Masayuki Kato in 1981. They are credited with laying the foundations for the action role-playing and Japanese role-playing game genres. (cf. ) The name Falcom came from the Millennium Falcon and the final "n" was changed to an "m" to fit naming trends of that time. The word Nihon, taken after one of the native names of Japan, was added to make it sound more complete. Falcom's first role-playing game (RPG) was ''Panorama Toh'', released for the PC-8801 in 1983 and created by Yoshio Kiya, who would go on to create the ''Dragon Slayer'' and ''Brandish'' franchises. While its ...
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Square Enix
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game franchises, among numerous others. Outside of video game publishing and development, it is also in the business of merchandise, Arcade game, arcade facilities, and manga publication under its Gangan Comics brand. The original Square Enix Co., Ltd. was formed in April 2003 from a mergers and acquisitions, merger between Square (video game company), Square and Enix, with the latter as the surviving company. Each share of Square's common stock was stock swap, exchanged for 0.85 shares of Enix's common stock. At the time, 80% of Square Enix staff were made up of former Square employees. As part of the merger, former Square president Yoichi Wada was appointed the president of the new corporation, while former Enix president Keiji Honda was name ...
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The Legend Of Snow White
is an Italian-Japanese anime series produced by Tatsunoko Productions and Mondo TV, based on the 1812 European fairy tale. Directed by Kunitoshi Okajima, the series premiered on NHK on 6 April 1994 and ran for 52-episodes until its conclusion on 29 March 1995. The series uses two pieces of theme music: one opening theme, "Heart no mori e tsuretette" by Miki Sakai with Red Dolphins, and one ending theme, by Mebae Miyahara. The original score was written by video game composer Hiroki Kikuta. Plot The story starts with the birth of a beautiful princess whose skin was as white as snow, hair like ebony and lips like the red color of the roses. Her parents, King and Queen of the Emerald Valley, name her Snow White. The little girl grows happy and healthy, and when her fourth birthday arrives, her parents give her three delightful pets for her presents: a puppy, a cat and a dove. Soon, Queen Isabelle falls ill and dies, after which Lady Chrystal takes her place, who turns out to be ...
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Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million people in the Cologne Bonn Region, urban region. Centered on the left bank of the Rhine, left (west) bank of the Rhine, Cologne is about southeast of NRW's state capital Düsseldorf and northwest of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany. The city's medieval Catholic Cologne Cathedral (), the third-tallest church and tallest cathedral in the world, constructed to house the Shrine of the Three Kings, is a globally recognized landmark and one of the most visited sights and pilgrimage destinations in Europe. The cityscape is further shaped by the Twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne, and Cologne is famous for Eau de Cologne, that has been produced in the city since 1709, and "col ...
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Symphonic Fantasies
''Symphonic Fantasies: Music from Square Enix'' was an award-winning symphonic tribute concert originally held in Cologne, Germany on September 12, 2009, at the Cologne Philharmonic Hall featuring video game music from Japanese game developer Square Enix. The concert featured symphonic movements based on the ''Kingdom Hearts'' series, ''Secret of Mana'', the ''Chrono (series), Chrono'' series, and the ''Final Fantasy'' series. It was produced and directed by Thomas Böcker, with arrangements provided by Finnish composer and musician Jonne Valtonen with assistance by Roger Wanamo. Due to overwhelming demand, a second concert was added at the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen, on September 11, 2009. Both performances were by the WDR Radio Orchestra Cologne and the WDR Radio Choir Cologne under conduction from Arnie Roth, with guest performers Rony Barrak and Benyamin Nuss joining the orchestra. ''Symphonic Fantasies'' was broadcast over radio on the WDR4 station and streamed live v ...
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