Get Our Extension
Select Wikiz in another Language
DeutschEspañolSuomiFrançaisItalianoNederlands
Settings
A
A
Text Highlights
Notes/Citations
Edit on Wikipedia

Share This Article

About Wikiz About Us Cookies Policy Terms & Services Privacy Policy Contact Contact us Enjoying Wikipedia Content? DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA
Enjoying Wikipedia Content? DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA

Kotaku

From Wikipedia, in a visual modern way
Kotaku
Kotaku logo.svg
Type of site
Gaming blog
OwnerG/O Media
Created byBrian Crecente
EditorPatricia Hernandez[1]
URLkotaku.com
CommercialYes
LaunchedOctober 2004; 18 years ago (2004-10)

Kotaku is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network.[2] Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith,[3] Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier.

Discover more about Kotaku related topics

Video game

Video game

A video game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device to generate visual feedback from a display device, most commonly shown in a video format on a television set, computer monitor, flat-panel display or touchscreen on handheld devices, or a virtual reality headset, hence the name. However, not all video games are dependent on graphical outputs; for example, text adventure games and computer chess can be played through teletype printers. Most modern video games are audiovisual, with audio complement delivered through speakers or headphones, and sometimes also with other types of sensory feedback, and some video games also allow microphone and webcam inputs for in-game chatting and livestreaming.

Gawker Media

Gawker Media

Gawker Media LLC was an American online media company and blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, as of 2012, Gawker Media was the parent company for seven different weblogs and many subsites under them: Gawker.com, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel. All Gawker articles are licensed on a Creative Commons attribution-noncommercial license. In 2004, the company renamed from Blogwire, Inc. to Gawker Media, Inc., and to Gawker Media LLC shortly after.

Luke Smith (writer)

Luke Smith (writer)

Luke Michael Smith is an American writer. He is a staff member at the video game development company Bungie, and is a former video games journalist. Smith wrote for a college newspaper and weekly papers in Michigan before being hired as one of the first new freelance writers for Kotaku. At Kotaku, Smith developed his writing style but soon left the site for a staff position as 1Up.com's news editor. Smith made a name for himself at 1Up, particularly through an article he wrote focusing on problems with the game Halo 2.

Cecilia D'Anastasio

Cecilia D'Anastasio

Cecilia D'Anastasio is an American journalist who primarily covers the video game industry. From 2016 to 2020, D'Anastasio wrote for Kotaku, and she was recognized for a 2018 article reporting allegations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination at Riot Games. Subsequently, she wrote for Wired magazine and joined Bloomberg News in 2022 to cover the video game industry.

Jason Schreier

Jason Schreier

Jason Schreier is a journalist and author who primarily covers the video game industry. He worked as a news reporter for Kotaku from 2011 to 2020 and was recognized for several investigative stories, particularly on the crunch culture within the industry. In April 2020, Schreier joined the technology focus team at Bloomberg News.

History

Kotaku was first launched in October 2004 with Matthew Gallant as its lead writer, with an intended target audience of young men.[4][5] About a month later, Brian Crecente was brought in to try to save the failing site.[6] Since then, the site has launched several country-specific sites for Australia, Japan, Brazil and the UK. Crecente was named one of the 20 most influential people in the video game industry over the past 20 years by GamePro in 2009[7] and one of gaming's Top 50 journalists by Edge in 2006. The site has made CNET's "Blog 100" list[8] and was ranked 50th on PC Magazine's "Top 100 Classic Web Sites" list.[9] Its name comes from the Japanese otaku (obsessive fan) and the prefix "ko-" (small in size).[10]

Stephen Totilo replaced Brian Crecente as the editor in chief in 2012.[11] Totilo had previously joined Kotaku in 2009 as deputy editor.[12]

In April 2014, Gawker Media partnered with Future plc to launch Kotaku UK, and with Allure Media to launch Kotaku Australia.[13]

Kotaku was one of several websites that was purchased by Univision Communications in their acquisition of Gawker Media in August 2016; Gizmodo Media Group was subsequently founded to house the Gawker acquisitions, operating under the Fusion Media Group, a division of Univision.[14] The Gizmodo Media Group was later acquired by the private equity firm Great Hill Partners in April 2019, and renamed G/O Media.[15]

In December 2018 Pedestrian Group, owned by the Australian media company Nine Entertainment, acquired Kotaku Australia.[16][17] and as of March 2022 continues to own it.[18]

The transition to G/O Media led to several departures from the site, as well as from other sister sites under the former Gawker Media label due to conflicts with G/O Media's management. Cecilia D'Anastasio left Kotaku in December 2019 to become a journalist for Wired.[19] Joshua Rivera and Gita Jackson left in January 2020 stating it was impossible to work with the new management.[20] Jason Schreier, one of Kotaku's writers since 2012 known for his investigative in-depth coverage of working conditions at various studios and development histories for various video games, announced his departure from the site on April 16, 2020, citing the issues surrounding G/O Media which filtered into disruptions at their sister website Deadspin around October 2019. Schreier subsequently took a position at Bloomberg News.[21] In May 2020, senior writer Harper Jay MacIntyre[a] departed from Kotaku, similarly citing conflicts with management, and joined Double Fine Productions as their content and community manager.[24]

Kotaku UK closed on September 9, 2020.[25]

Totilo announced he was departing as editor in chief on February 5, 2021, though will remain in games journalism elsewhere.[12] Riley MacLeod served as interim editor in chief following Totilo's departure, before Patricia Hernandez commenced her tenure as editor in chief from June 2, 2021.[26]

Discover more about History related topics

Brian Crecente

Brian Crecente

Brian Crecente is an American journalist and columnist. He founded Kotaku, co-founded Polygon, previously served as video games editor at Variety, and was in charge of game coverage at Rolling Stone.

Australia

Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. Australia is the largest country by area in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country. Australia is the oldest, flattest, and driest inhabited continent, with the least fertile soils. It is a megadiverse country, and its size gives it a wide variety of landscapes and climates, with deserts in the centre, tropical rainforests in the north-east, and mountain ranges in the south-east.

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea, Philippine Sea, and Taiwan in the south. Japan is a part of the Ring of Fire, and spans an archipelago of 14,125 islands, with the five main islands being Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, and Okinawa. Tokyo is the nation's capital and largest city, followed by Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Kobe, and Kyoto.

Brazil

Brazil

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America and in Latin America. At 8.5 million square kilometers (3,300,000 sq mi) and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous. Its capital is Brasília, and its most populous city is São Paulo. The federation is composed of the union of the 26 states and the Federal District. It is the only country in the Americas to have Portuguese as an official language. It is one of the most multicultural and ethnically diverse nations, due to over a century of mass immigration from around the world, and the most populous Roman Catholic-majority country.

CNET

CNET

CNET is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. CNET originally produced content for radio and television in addition to its website before applying new media distribution methods through its internet television network, CNET Video, and its podcast and blog networks.

Gawker Media

Gawker Media

Gawker Media LLC was an American online media company and blog network. It was founded by Nick Denton in October 2003 as Blogwire, and was based in New York City. Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, as of 2012, Gawker Media was the parent company for seven different weblogs and many subsites under them: Gawker.com, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, and Jezebel. All Gawker articles are licensed on a Creative Commons attribution-noncommercial license. In 2004, the company renamed from Blogwire, Inc. to Gawker Media, Inc., and to Gawker Media LLC shortly after.

Future plc

Future plc

Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photography, home, and knowledge. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

Gizmodo Media Group

Gizmodo Media Group

Gizmodo Media Group was an online media company and blog network formerly operated by Univision Communications in its Fusion Media Group division. The company was created from assets acquired from Gawker Media during its bankruptcy in 2016. In April 2019, Gizmodo and The Onion were sold to private equity firm Great Hill Partners, which combined them into a new company named G/O Media.

Fusion Media Group

Fusion Media Group

The Fusion Media Group is a division of Univision Communications. The company was launched in April 2016 after Univision bought out Disney's stake in Fusion through the Fusion Media Network joint venture between Univision & Disney-ABC. While Univision is focused on serving Hispanic America in Spanish, FMG is the company's multi-platform, English language division targeting young adults.

Nine Entertainment

Nine Entertainment

Nine Entertainment is an Australian publicly listed media company with holdings in radio and television broadcasting, newspaper publications and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate branding and also prefers this usage to be used for the parent company.

Jason Schreier

Jason Schreier

Jason Schreier is a journalist and author who primarily covers the video game industry. He worked as a news reporter for Kotaku from 2011 to 2020 and was recognized for several investigative stories, particularly on the crunch culture within the industry. In April 2020, Schreier joined the technology focus team at Bloomberg News.

G/O Media

G/O Media

G/O Media Inc. is an American media holding company that runs Gizmodo, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Jezebel, The Root, The A.V. Club, The Takeout, The Onion, The Inventory, and Quartz.

Controversy

In 2007, attorney Jack Thompson sued Gawker Media and site editor Brian Crecente over concerns that Kotaku declined to remove threatening user comments,[27] but the lawsuit was dismissed the next day.[28] In 2009, Business Insider reported that Hearst Corporation sought to buy Kotaku from Gawker Media.[29] In 2010, Kotaku criticized Japanese magazine Famitsu's glowing endorsement of a Konami game as a conflict of interest; Konami subsequently revoked Kotaku's invitation to the game's launch party.[30]

Blacklistings

In 2007, Kotaku ran a story about rumored upcoming features on the PlayStation 3, and Sony responded by temporarily blacklisting the website.[31] In 2015, Kotaku claimed that they had been blacklisted by major video game companies Bethesda Softworks and Ubisoft.[32][33] Because of this blacklist, Kotaku opted not to be a jury member in The Game Awards when invited by Geoff Keighley in 2019.[34]

Gamergate harassment campaign

Main article: Gamergate (harassment campaign)

In 2014, Kotaku was part of the accusations that instigated the harassment campaign known as Gamergate when a writer from the site, Nathan Grayson, was falsely accused of writing a favorable review of the game Depression Quest as a result of his relationship with its developer, Zoë Quinn. After conducting an internal review, it was discovered that no review of Depression Quest existed and he had only written one article that mentioned Quinn in passing before their relationship began.[35][36] The subreddit /r/KotakuInAction became a hub for the Gamergate community.[37][38] Its creator attempted to shut it down in 2018, claiming that it had become "infested with racism and sexism", but it was reinstated by a Reddit administrator due to the site's guidelines.[39][40]

Discover more about Controversy related topics

Jack Thompson (activist)

Jack Thompson (activist)

John Bruce Thompson is an American activist and disbarred attorney. As an attorney, Thompson focused his legal efforts against what he perceives as obscenity in modern culture. Thompson gained recognition as an anti-video game activist, criticizing the content of video games and their alleged effects on children. He also targeted rap music and radio personality Howard Stern.

Brian Crecente

Brian Crecente

Brian Crecente is an American journalist and columnist. He founded Kotaku, co-founded Polygon, previously served as video games editor at Variety, and was in charge of game coverage at Rolling Stone.

Business Insider

Business Insider

Insider, previously named Business Insider (BI), is a New York City-based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in Business Insider's parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publishing house Axel Springer. It operates several international editions, including one in the United Kingdom.

Famitsu

Famitsu

Famitsu, formerly Famicom Tsūshin, is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Kadokawa Game Linkage, a subsidiary of Kadokawa. Famitsu is published in both weekly and monthly formats as well as in the form of special topical issues devoted to only one console, video game company, or other theme. Shūkan Famitsū, the original Famitsu publication, is considered the most widely read and respected video game news magazine in Japan. From October 28, 2011, the company began releasing the digital version of the magazine exclusively on BookWalker weekly.

Konami

Konami

Konami Group Corporation is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo. The company also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casinos around the world and operates health and physical fitness clubs across Japan.

PlayStation 3

PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on November 11, 2006, in Japan, November 17, 2006, in North America, and March 23, 2007, in Europe and Australia. The PlayStation 3 competed primarily against Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.

Blacklisting

Blacklisting

Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considered to have done something wrong, or they are considered to be untrustworthy. As a verb, blacklist can mean to put an individual or entity on such a list.

Bethesda Softworks

Bethesda Softworks

Bethesda Softworks LLC is an American video game publisher based in Rockville, Maryland. The company was founded by Christopher Weaver in 1986 as a division of Media Technology Limited, and in 1999 became a subsidiary of ZeniMax Media. In its first fifteen years, it was a video game developer and self-published its titles. In 2001, Bethesda spun off its own in-house development team into Bethesda Game Studios, and Bethesda Softworks retained only its publishing function. In 2021, Microsoft purchased ZeniMax, maintaining that the company will continue to operate as a separate business.

Geoff Keighley

Geoff Keighley

Geoff Keighley is a Canadian video game journalist and television presenter. He was most known for hosting the video game show GameTrailers TV, and for co-hosting the now-defunct G4tv.com. Keighley is also a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Kotaku, among other publications. Keighley was the executive producer of the Spike Video Game Awards, and has served as the executive producer and host of The Game Awards since its inaugural show in 2014. He has also hosted the E3 Coliseum event at the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Gamergate (harassment campaign)

Gamergate (harassment campaign)

Gamergate or GamerGate (GG) was a loosely organized misogynistic online harassment campaign and a right-wing backlash against feminism, diversity, and progressivism in video game culture. It was conducted using the hashtag "#Gamergate" primarily in 2014 and 2015. Beginning in August 2014, Gamergate targeted women in the video game industry, most notably feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian and video game developers Zoë Quinn and Brianna Wu, among others. The harassment campaign included doxing, rape threats, and death threats. Gamergate proponents ("Gamergaters") stated that they were a social movement, but lacked well-defined goals, a coherent message, and leaders, making Gamergate difficult to define. Gamergaters claimed to promote ethics in video games journalism, claimed to be protecting the "gamer" identity, and opposed what they asserted as "political correctness" in video games.

Depression Quest

Depression Quest

Depression Quest is a 2013 interactive fiction game dealing with the subject of depression. It was developed by Zoë Quinn using the Twine engine, with writing by Quinn and Patrick Lindsey, and music by Isaac Schankler. It was first released for the web on February 14, 2013, and for Steam on August 11, 2014. The game tells the story of a person suffering from depression and their attempts to deal with their condition. It was created to foster greater understanding about depression. Depression Quest can be played for free, and has a pay-what-you-want pricing model. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline receives part of the proceeds.

Reddit

Reddit

Reddit is an American social news aggregation, content rating, and discussion website. Registered users submit content to the site such as links, text posts, images, and videos, which are then voted up or down by other members. Posts are organized by subject into user-created boards called "communities" or "subreddits". Submissions with more upvotes appear towards the top of their subreddit and, if they receive enough upvotes, ultimately on the site's front page. Reddit administrators moderate the communities. Moderation is also conducted by community-specific moderators, who are not Reddit employees.

Source: "Kotaku", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 14th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kotaku.

Enjoying Wikiz?

Enjoying Wikiz?

Get our FREE extension now!

Download Extension

Further Reading

Pandemic Studios

Gawker Media

Gizmodo

Giant Bomb

Luke Smith (writer)

Brian Crecente

E3 2011

Xperia Play

Polygon (website)

The Coalition (company)
References
  1. ^ "What's a Kotaku? Who Works Here?". Kotaku. August 2013. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  2. ^ "A Note to Readers". June 10, 2016. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2016.
  3. ^ "GAMING'S TOP 50 JOURNALISTS". Edge. October 17, 2006. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  4. ^ Carr, David (October 4, 2004). "At These Web Sites, It's a Man's World". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  5. ^ Parker, Pamela (October 4, 2004). "Gawker Media: We're Where the Boys Are". ClickZ. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  6. ^ "Kotaku". November 9, 2004. Archived from the original on November 9, 2004.
  7. ^ Shuman, Sid (May 2009). "20 Most Influential People in Gaming: #20 – Brian Crecente". IDG. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2009.
  8. ^ "CNET News.com'S Blog 100". CNET. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  9. ^ "The Top 100 Classic Web Sites". PC Magazine. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
  10. ^ "Kotaku FAQ". Kotaku. Gawker Media. July 2, 2004. Archived from the original on July 15, 2007. Retrieved July 6, 2015.
  11. ^ Caoili, Eric (January 3, 2012). "Consumer gaming blog Kotaku loses key staff". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on February 19, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Sinclair, Brendan (February 5, 2021). "Stephen Totilo leaves Kotaku". GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  13. ^ Reynolds, John (March 13, 2014). "Gawker links up with Future to launch Lifehacker and Kotaku in UK". The Guardian. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
  14. ^ Calderone, Michael (August 18, 2016). "Gawker.com Ending Operations Next Week". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2016.
  15. ^ Ha, Anthony (April 8, 2019). "Gizmodo Media Group acquired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  16. ^ Bennett, Lindsay (December 11, 2018). "Pedestrian TV to absorb Allure Media in post-Fairfax consolidation". AdNews. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  17. ^ "Nine merging digital publishers Pedestrian.TV & Allure Media". Mediaweek. December 11, 2018. Retrieved March 17, 2022.
  18. ^ "Home page". Pedestrian Group. Archived from the original on March 15, 2022. Retrieved March 17, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (December 5, 2019). "Goodbye". Kotaku. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  20. ^ Jackson, Gita (January 10, 2020). "Goodbye From Josh and Gita". Kotaku. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  21. ^ Park, Gene (April 16, 2020). "Jason Schreier is leaving Kotaku, citing G/O Media as reason". Washington Post. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  22. ^ MacIntyre, Harper Jay (September 22, 2021). "On September 20th, my name was legally changed to Harper Jay MacIntyre. (I have no issue sharing that last name; I've done so professionally.) Heather was a spur of the moment choice as a writer. This? Is me. A deliberate choice to become who I am". Twitter. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  23. ^ MacIntyre, Harper Jay (November 2, 2021). "Psychonauts 2 Update #21: Quality Of Life". Fig. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  24. ^ MacIntyre, Harper Jay (May 8, 2020). "To The Horizon". Kotaku. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
  25. ^ Stanton, Rich (September 7, 2020). "Farewell from Kotaku UK". Kotaku UK. Archived from the original on September 7, 2020. Retrieved September 1, 2021.
  26. ^ Liao, Shannon (May 27, 2021). "Kotaku's next editor in chief will be Patricia Hernandez". Washington Post. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  27. ^ McCarthy, Caroline (April 26, 2007). "Gaming foe Jack Thompson sues Gawker Media". CNET. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  28. ^ McCarthy, Caroline (April 27, 2007). "Judge tosses out Jack Thompson's lawsuit against Gawker Media". CNET. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  29. ^ Carlson, Nicholas (November 13, 2009). "Hearst Eyed Videogame Blog Kotaku For Acquisition". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  30. ^ Quillen, Dustin (April 26, 2010). "Konami Shuns Blog Over Metal Gear Review Controversy". 1up. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  31. ^ Kohler, Chris (March 1, 2007). "Sony and Kotaku In Blacklist Flap". Wired.com. Archived from the original on July 27, 2010. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
  32. ^ Totilo, Stephen (November 19, 2015). "A Price Of Games Journalism". Kotaku. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015.
  33. ^ Orland, Kyle (November 20, 2015). "Analysis: Kotaku, blacklisting, and the independence of the gaming press". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  34. ^ Glennon, Jen (December 11, 2019). "Geoff Keighley Is The Nicest Power Player In Video Games". Inverse. Retrieved December 11, 2022.
  35. ^ Rott, Nathan (September 24, 2014). "#Gamergate Controversy Fuels Debate On Women And Video Games". NPR.org. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  36. ^ "In recent days I've been asked several times about a possible breach of ethics involving one of". Kotaku. August 20, 2014. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  37. ^ Bernstein, Joseph (October 30, 2014). "The Disturbing Misogynist History Of GamerGate's Goodwill Ambassadors". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
  38. ^ Singal, Jesse (October 20, 2014). "Gamergate Should Stop Lying to Itself". New York. Retrieved August 2, 2014.
  39. ^ "The Creator of the Largest Gamergate Subreddit Rage Quits, Says it's 'Infested With Racism and Sexism'". Vice. Retrieved March 25, 2022.
  40. ^ Alexander, Julia (July 13, 2018). "Reddit employee saves GamerGate subreddit, KotakuInAction, after founder closes it". Polygon. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  1. ^ Formerly known by the pen name "Heather Alexandra," now goes by Harper Jay MacIntyre after a legal name change.[22][23]
External links
Categories

The content of this page is based on the Wikipedia article written by contributors..
The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence & the media files are available under their respective licenses; additional terms may apply.
By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use & Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization & is not affiliated to WikiZ.com.