Donkey Kong 64 is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the only Donkey Kong game to feature 3D gameplay. As the gorilla Donkey Kong, the player explores themed levels to collect items and rescue his kidnapped family members from King K. Rool. The player completes minigames and puzzles as five playable Kong characters—each with their own special abilities—to receive bananas and other collectibles. In multiplayer modes, up to four players can compete in deathmatch and last man standing games.
Banjo-Kazooie is a 1998 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. Controlling the player characters, the bear Banjo and the bird Kazooie, the player attempts to save Banjo's kidnapped sister Tooty from the witch Gruntilda. The player explores nine nonlinear worlds to gather items and progress. Using Banjo and Kazooie's traversal and combat abilities, they complete challenges such as solving puzzles, jumping over obstacles, and defeating bosses.
McFarlane Toys is an American company founded by comic book creator Todd McFarlane which makes highly detailed model action figures of characters from films, comics, popular music, video games and various sporting genres. The company, a subsidiary of Todd McFarlane Productions, Inc., is headquartered in Tempe, Arizona.
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform game series developed by Rare. The games feature a male bear named Banjo and his friend, a large female red bird named Kazooie, both of whom are controlled by the player. Banjo originally made his debut as a playable character in 1997 as part of the cast of Diddy Kong Racing. Throughout the various games, they are tasked with thwarting the various evil schemes of a witch named Gruntilda. The first game, Banjo-Kazooie, was released in 1998 to critical acclaim and was followed by three sequels and a spin-off racing game.
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is a 2008 platform game developed by Rare and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox 360. Set eight years after Banjo-Tooie (2000), Nuts & Bolts follows the bear-and-bird duo Banjo and Kazooie as they compete with the witch Gruntilda for ownership of their home. Although Nuts & Bolts retains the structure of previous Banjo-Kazooie games—collecting jigsaw puzzle pieces to progress—it shifts the focus from exploration to vehicle construction. The player designs vehicles, including automobiles, boats, and aeroplanes, and uses them to complete challenges across various worlds. In multiplayer modes, players can compete or share their vehicles over Xbox Live.
Funko Inc. is an American company that manufactures licensed and limited pop culture collectibles, best known for its licensed vinyl figurines and bobbleheads. In addition, the company produces licensed plush, action figures, apparel, accessories and games. Founded in 1998 by Mike Becker and Claudia Becker, Funko was originally conceived as a small project to create various low-tech, nostalgia-themed toys. The company's first manufactured bobblehead was of the Big Boy restaurant mascot.
Gregg Mayles is a British video game designer currently working for video game company Rare as creative director. He is one of the longest-serving members of the company, having worked there since 1989.
Know Your Meme (KYM) is a website and video series which uses wiki software to document various Internet memes and other online phenomena, such as viral videos, image macros, catchphrases, Internet celebrities and more. It also investigates new and changing memes through research, as it commercializes on the culture. Originally produced by Rocketboom, the website was acquired in March 2011 by Cheezburger Network, in turn acquired in 2016 by Literally Media. Know Your Meme includes sections for confirmed, submitted, deadpooled, researching, and popular memes.
Markus Alexej Persson, also known as "Notch", is a Swedish video game programmer and designer. He is best known for creating the sandbox video game Minecraft, which has since become the best-selling video game in history; and for founding the video game development company Mojang Studios in 2009. Persson is currently working on new games under the banner of Bitshift Entertainment.
This Man is a mysterious individual who has purportedly appeared in the dreams of numerous people around the world since 2006, yet his real-world identity remains unknown. In 2008, Italian sociologist and marketer Andrea Natella created a website called Ever Dream This Man? that focused on this phenomenon. According to the website, the first individual to report dreaming about This Man was a patient of a psychiatrist in New York City in 2006, and four other patients of the same psychiatrist also recognized the same face. The website received over 9,000 accounts from people who claimed to have encountered This Man in their dreams, sharing their stories and drawings. Various theories were proposed to explain This Man's appearance, ranging from mundane to supernatural, but none were substantiated by evidence or investigation.
Jordan Maron, known online as CaptainSparklez, is an American YouTuber and Twitch streamer mainly known for his Minecraft videos. As of January 2024, his main YouTube channel has over 11.4 million subscribers.
Swedish YouTuber Felix Kjellberg, known online as PewDiePie, has uploaded over 4,700 videos on the YouTube platform. Having accumulated over 29.2 billion video views as of February 2024, PewDiePie's channel ranks within the 100 most viewed on YouTube. Due to PewDiePie's YouTube channel having been the most-subscribed on the platform from 2013 through 2019, and it remaining one of the most since, his channel's videos have attracted substantial media coverage.
Banjo & Kazooie are a pair of fictional video game characters and the eponymous protagonists of the video game series Banjo-Kazooie, created by British video game developer Rare. Banjo and Kazooie were both introduced as player characters in the original Banjo-Kazooie (1998). Banjo is a honey bear who is accompanied by Kazooie, a bird who is often seen seeking shelter in Banjo's backpack and emerging to perform various moves and attacks. The pair's numerous adventures usually pit them against the evil witch Gruntilda.
The 2020s is the sixth decade in the industry's history. The industry remains heavily dominated by the actions of Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft, but it remains unforeseen how their dominance will be affected by cloud gaming and smartphone and tablet market. Virtual reality headsets are expected to become more popular over the course of the decade. The industry was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ninth generation of video game consoles went on sale, beginning with the Xbox Series X and Series S and the PlayStation 5. Notable games released in the 2020s included Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Doom Eternal,Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima,Fall Guys,Hades,Genshin Impact, It Takes Two, Forza Horizon 5,Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring,Stray, God of War Ragnarök, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,Baldur's Gate 3, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Alan Wake 2, Tekken 8,Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Grand Theft Auto VI. Game development companies have come under increasing criticism for "crunch" practices, forcing workers to work long hours in the build-up to release.
Clay, known by his online alias Dream, is an American YouTuber, Twitch streamer and singer who is known primarily for creating Minecraft content.
Steve is a player character from the 2011 sandbox video game Minecraft. Created by Swedish video game developer Markus "Notch" Persson and introduced in the 2009 Java-based version, Steve is one of nine default player character skins available for players of contemporary versions of Minecraft. Steve lacks an official backstory as he is intended to be a customizable player avatar as opposed to being a predefined character. His feminine counterpart, Alex, was introduced in August 2014 for Java PC versions of Minecraft, with the other seven debuting in the Java edition of the game in October 2022. Depending on the version of Minecraft, players have a choice of defaulting to either Steve or any other variant skins when creating a new account. However, the skin is easy to change from the game itself or website.
Natsuki is a character in the 2017 video game Doki Doki Literature Club! She is one of four girls in the titular literature club, alongside Sayori, Yuri, and Monika. She is a tsundere and a victim of domestic abuse by her father, with her traits ultimately becoming more pronounced due to Monika's intervention in the game's files. She was created by Dan Salvato, who recognized the "reality" behind her and the others. Her character was inspired by people with depression in Salvato's life.
Fanum tax is an Internet slang term describing the theft of food between friends. Originally coined by American streamer Fanum, the term has become an internet meme, particularly employed and popularized by Generation Alpha.
Tobias James Smith, known online as Tubbo, is an English Twitch streamer and YouTuber who is primarily known for creating Minecraft content. He is also known for his time in the Dream SMP, an invite-only survival multiplayer (SMP) Minecraft server. As of May 2024, he had 5.2 million followers on Twitch, making him the 43rd most followed streamer on the platform.
