title: Shoegaze

text: Many shoegaze bands would either disband or change their sound during the mid-1990s. Ride disbanded before the release of their fourth album, "Tarantula", which would shift to a more contemporary alternative rock sound. Slowdive's third album, "Pygmalion", would shift to a more experimental sound that was stylistically closer to post-rock than shoegaze. Slowdive would be dropped from Creation Records just a week after "Pygmalion"'s release, and "Tarantula" would also be deleted from their catalogue a week after its release.


title: Shoegaze

text: Lush's final album, "Lovelife", was an abrupt shift from shoegaze to Britpop, which alienated many fans; the 1996 suicide of their drummer signaled Lush's dissolution. Following a long gap from My Bloody Valentine since "Loveless", aside from their 2008 reunion tour, the band released "m b v" in February 2013. Shields explained their silence by noting, "I never could be bothered to make another record unless I was really excited by it."


title: Shoegaze

text: Several former members of shoegaze bands later moved towards dream pop, post-rock, and the more electronica-based trip hop. Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell, and Ian McCutcheon of Slowdive would form Mojave 3, while guitarist Christian Savill would form Monster Movie. Adam Franklin of Swervedriver released lo-fi albums under the moniker Toshack Highway. The use of electronic dance and ambient elements by bands such as Slowdive and Seefeel paved the way for later developments in post-rock and electronica.


title: Shoegaze

text: While shoegaze briefly flared and then faded out in the UK, the bands of the initial wave had an immense impact on the development of regional underground and college rock scenes in the US. In particular, a Lush and Ride tour of the US in 1991 directly inspired the spawning of American shoegaze groups including Drop Nineteens, Half String and Ozean. Columnist Emma Sailor of KRUI in Iowa City opines:


title: Shoegaze

text: About DC-based Velocity Girl's 1991 single "My Forgotten Favorite", Sailor goes on to note, "Could anything be more different — and yet so similar — to [Slowdive]? The hazy [production] and dreamy, high pitched female vocals are there, but the outlook is entirely different." Other notable American shoegaze influenced bands of the early-to mid-1990s included Lilys, Swirlies, The Veldt, and Medicine.


title: Shoegaze

text: A resurgence of the genre began in the late 1990s (particularly in the United States) and the early 2000s, that helped usher in what is now referred to as the "nu gaze" era. Also various heavy metal acts were inspired by shoegaze, which contributed to the emergence of "post-metal" and "metalgaze" styles. Particularly in the mid-2000s, French black metal acts Alcest and Amesoeurs began incorporating shoegaze elements into their sound, pioneering the blackgaze genre.


title: Shoegaze

text: In eastern Asia the genre has become increasingly popular with bands such as Cocteau Twins influencing the creation of new "art school" shoegaze. Bands like Tokyo Shoegazer have increasingly adopted western elements, with some bands combining Indie music with shoegaze and psychedelic rock. Further, since the late 2010s, some artists began prominently incorporating emo themes into shoegaze, with albums like Weatherdays "Come In" (2019) and Parannouls "To See the Next Part of the Dream" (2021) being examples.


title: Al Arabiya

text: Al Arabiya (, transliterated: ""; meaning "The Arabic One" or "The Arab One") is an international Arabic news television channel, currently based in Dubai, that is operated by the media conglomerate MBC.


title: Al Arabiya

text: The channel is a flagship of the media conglomerate and is therefore the only single offering to carry the name as simply "Al Arabiya" in its branding.


title: Al Arabiya

text: Launched on 3 March 2003, the channel is based in Dubai Media City, United Arab Emirates. An early funder, the production company Middle East News (then headed by Ali Al-Hedeithy), said the goal was to provide "a balanced and less provocative" alternative to Al Jazeera, which had already found widespread success by then.


title: Al Arabiya

text: A free-to-air channel, Al Arabiya broadcasts standard newscasts every hour, as well as talk shows and documentaries. These programs primarily cover current affairs, business, stock markets, and sports. It is rated among the top pan-Arab stations by Middle East audiences. The news organization's website is accessible in Arabic, English, Urdu, and Persian. As of March 2018, the website's number-one consumer by country was Saudi Arabia, with 20% of the entire viewership.


title: Al Arabiya

text: On 26 January 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama gave his first formal interview as president to Al Arabiya, delivering the message to the Muslim world that "Americans are not your enemy", while also reiterating that "Israel is a strong ally of the United States" and that they "will not stop being a strong ally of the United States". The White House contacted Al Arabiya's Washington Bureau chief, Hisham Melhem, directly just hours before the interview and asked him not to announce it until an official announcement was made by the administration.


title: Al Arabiya

text: Mamdouh Al-Muhaini is the general manager of the Al Arabiya Network since October 2019, succeeding former manager Nabil Al-Khatib.


title: Al Arabiya

text: On 24 April 2020, Al Arabiya introduced a new graphics and audio package and studios as well as a new modified logo in the network's first major rebrand since its launch in 2003.


title: Al Arabiya

text: On 30 August 2021, Al Arabiya Network began plans to shift operations out of Dubai and to Riyadh, with the stated goal being to "produce 12 hours of news programming from the Saudi capital by early January". The move came amid orders by the Saudi government to multinational companies to move their regional hubs to the kingdom by 2024.


title: Al Arabiya

text: As a response to Al Jazeera's criticism of the Saudi royal family throughout the 1990s, relatives of the Saudi royal family established Al Arabiya in Dubai in 2002. It became a "fierce competitor;" Al Arabiya is said to be the second most frequently watched channel after Al Jazeera in Saudi Arabia."The New York Times" in 2008 described the channel as working "to cure Arab television of its penchant for radical politics and violence".


title: Al Arabiya

text: Al Arabiya broadcast the email messages of Syrian president Bashar Assad in 2012 that were leaked by opposition hackers. The channel's English language website also obtained emails which revealed that PR agency BLJ were behind the infamous positive profile of the Syrian first lady, Asma Assad, in "Vogue" magazine while her husband's regime was responsible for the crushing of peaceful demonstrations in 2011.


title: Al Arabiya

text: According to unconfirmed reports, Al Arabiya was founded through investment by the Middle East Broadcasting Center, as well as other investors from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the Persian Gulf states. Through MBC, Saudi Prince Abdulaziz bin Fahd and his maternal uncle Waleed bin Ibrahim al Ibrahim own and have control over Al Arabiya.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In March 2012, the channel launched a new channel, Al-Hadath which focuses exclusively on prolonged extensive coverage of political news. In March 2022, Al Arabiya acquired its own Freeview channel in the United Kingdom,


title: Al Arabiya

text: after being available on Freeview via the Vision TV streaming service, with both channels being available on Freeview channel 273.


title: Al Arabiya

text: Al Arabiya has been criticized as an arm of Saudi foreign policy, or what the United States would term public diplomacy, as it is seen as being part of "a concerted Saudi attempt to dominate the world of cable and satellite television media in the Arab world and steal the thunder of Egypt".


title: Al Arabiya

text: On 14 February 2005, Al Arabiya was the first news satellite channel to air news of the assassination of Rafik Hariri, one of its early investors. On 9 October 2008, the Al Arabiya website was hacked.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In 2009, Courtney C. Radsch claimed to have lost her job the day after publishing an article about safety problems on Emirates airline, while Al Arabiya claimed it was restructuring the English department.


title: Al Arabiya

text: On 2 September 2008, Iran expelled Al Arabiya's Tehran bureau chief Hassan Fahs, the third Al Arabiya correspondent expelled from Iran since the network opened an Iran office. On 14 June 2009, the Iranian government ordered the Al Arabiya office in Tehran to be closed for a week for "unfair reporting" of the Iranian presidential election. Seven days later, amid the 2009 Iranian election protests, the network's office was "closed indefinitely" by the government.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In a column published on Al Arabiya's English website, Hassan Fahs says why he has left Iran, revealing that he has received direct threats of arrest and killing from senior Iranian officials as well as alarming attempts to censor and control the channel's coverage.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In 2016, Al Arabiya dismissed 50 staff members, including journalists. Citing financial problems stemming from low oil prices, the dismissed individuals were offered salaries and benefits for six months as a severance package.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In April 2017, Al Arabiya was found in breach of UK broadcasting law by the UK media regulator, Ofcom, for broadcasting an interview with an imprisoned Bahraini torture survivor. Ofcom concluded that it infringed on the privacy of imprisoned Bahraini opposition leader and torture survivor Hassan Mushaima, when it broadcast footage of him obtained during his arbitrary detention in Bahrain. Ofcom eventually sanctioned the licence holder Al Arabiya News Channel FZ-LLC by fining them , broadcasting an on-air apology in accordance with pending instructions from their side, and never to repeat the broadcast of infringing material for the offence in January 2018, after considering the channel's defence for alleged deficiencies in Ofcom's ruling. The channel then surrendered its license to broadcast in the following month after additional complaint against it were filed, this time by Qatar News Agency over their 2017 coverage of pivotal story planted on the latter's website in lead up to the Qatar diplomatic crisis through suspected states-sponsored hacking in concert with Sky News Arabia and others based in the jurisdictions of anti-Qatar parties to the conflict, according to the QNA's representative Carter-Ruck.


title: Al Arabiya

text: Al Arabiya had been banned from reporting from Iraq by the country's interim government in November 2004 after it broadcast an audio tape on 16 November purportedly made by the deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi government had also banned the channel on 7 September 2006 for one month for what it called "imprecise coverage". According to the station itself, Al Arabiya journalists and staff have come under constant pressure from Iraqi officials to allegedly "report stories as dictated to" and in 2014, PM Nouri Maliki threatened again to ban Al Arabiya in Iraq, shut down its offices and websites. For his part, Al Arabiya's General Manager at the time, Abdulrahman al-Rashed, vowed in a statement that the news channel and its sister channel al-Hadath will continue reporting the story in Iraq despite "Maliki's threats" as well as other threats from the likes of ISIS. However, al-Arabiya is widely perceived in Iraq as a pro-Saudi and anti-Shia sectarian channel.


title: Al Arabiya

text: Due to post-coverage of assassination of Rafic Hariri, as of 2007, Syrian politicians on many occasions labeled al-Arabiya "al-Yahudiyya" ["the Jewish"] and "al-'Ibriyya" ["the Hebrew"], for anti-government and perceived pro-US and pro-Israeli bias. However, the label "al-‘Ebriya" ("the Hebrew One") itself is given by many Arabs to the station reaching all the way back to 2003, for what some perceive as relatively sympathetic coverage of Israel (Francis, 2007).


title: Al Arabiya

text: In 2013, Saudi scholar Abdulaziz al-Tarefe tweeted: "If the channel ‘Al-Arabiya’ existed in the time of the Prophet [Muhammad] the hypocrites would only have rallied behind it and the wealth of Banu Qurayza would only have been spent on it."


title: Al Arabiya

text: The Algerian Ministry of Communication released a statement on 31 July 2021 saying that it withdrew Al Arabiya's operating accreditation in Algeria, due to what it termed "the non-respect by this channel of the rules of deontology and its recourse to disinformation and manipulation".


title: Al Arabiya

text: In September 2003, Al Arabiya reporter Mazen al-Tumeizi was killed on camera in Iraq when a U.S. helicopter fired on a crowd in Haifa Street in Baghdad.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In February 2006, three Al Arabiya reporters were abducted and murdered while covering the aftermath of the bombing of a mosque in Samarra, Iraq. Among them was correspondent Atwar Bahjat, an Iraqi national.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In 2012, Al Arabiya's Asia correspondent Baker Atyani was abducted in the Philippines by an armed militia. He was released after 18 months.


title: Al Arabiya

text: In August 2015, the "Egyptian Streets" news website said Al-Arabiya had copied "word-for-word" from two of its articles. Al Arabiya later updated one of the articles and added a note, saying the earlier version had "accidentally" neglected to include a mention and hyperlink to "Egyptian Street".


title: Al Arabiya

text: In 2020, "The Daily Beast" identified a network of false personas used to sneak opinion pieces aligned with UAE government policy to media outlets such as Al Arabiya. They're critical about Turkey's role in the Middle East, as well as Qatar and particularly its state media Al Jazeera. Twitter suspended some of the fake columnists' accounts in early July 2020.


title: Al Arabiya

text: During the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the channel interviewed Armenian President Armen Sarkissian about the ongoing war happening between Armenia and Azerbaijan, during which President Sarkissian blasted Turkey and Azerbaijan for inflaming the conflict. In response, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accused Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (owners of the channel) of destabilization in the Caucasus and Middle East, resulting in Saudi Arabian Commercial Chamber's Head Ajlan Al-Ajlan to call for boycott against Turkish goods in response to Turkish meddling and aggression.


title: Al Arabiya

text: The Al Arabiya internet news service (alarabiya.net) was launched in 2004 initially in Arabic, and was joined by an English-language service in 2007 and Persian and Urdu services in 2008. The channel also operates a business website that covers financial news and market data from the Middle East in Arabic (alaswaq.net). The Al Arabiya News Channel is available live online on JumpTV and Livestation.


title: Al Arabiya

text: The English website of Al Arabiya was relaunched in 2013 and now features automated subtitles of the news and programs that appear on the channel.


title: Al Arabiya

text: The Al Arabiya website was plagued with numerous technical difficulties during the Egyptian protests at the end of January 2011. The site very often went offline with error messages as such as the following: "The website is down due to the heavy traffic to follow up with the Egyptian crisis and it will be back within three hours (Time of message: 11GMT)".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Never Say Never Again is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel "Thunderball" by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Fleming. The novel had been previously adapted in a 1965 film of the same name. "Never Say Never Again" was not produced by Eon Productions, the usual producer of the Bond series, but by Jack Schwartzman's Taliafilm, and was distributed by Warner Bros. instead of United Artists. The film was executive produced by Kevin McClory, one of the original writers of the "Thunderball" storyline. McClory retained the filming rights of the novel following a long legal battle dating from the 1960s.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Sean Connery played the role of Bond for the seventh and final time, marking his return to the character 12 years after "Diamonds Are Forever". The film's title is a reference to Connery's reported declaration in 1971 that he would "never" play that role again. As Connery was 52 at the time of filming, although nearly three years younger than incumbent Bond Roger Moore, the storyline features an aging Bond who is brought back into action to investigate the theft of two nuclear weapons by SPECTRE. Filming locations included France, Spain, the Bahamas and Elstree Studios in the United Kingdom.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: "Never Say Never Again" was released by Warner Bros. on 7 October 1983, and opened to positive reviews, with the acting of Connery and Klaus Maria Brandauer singled out for praise as more emotionally resonant than the typical Bond films of the day. The film was a commercial success, grossing $160 million at the box office, although less overall than the Eon-produced "Octopussy", released earlier the same year.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: After MI6 agent James Bond fails a routine training exercise, his superior M orders Bond to a health clinic outside London to get back into shape. While there, Bond witnesses a mysterious nurse named Fatima Blush giving a sadomasochistic beating to a patient in a nearby room. The man's face is bandaged and after Blush finishes her beating, Bond sees the patient using a machine which scans his eye. Bond is seen by Blush, who sends an assassin, Lippe, to kill him in the clinic gym, but Bond manages to kill Lippe.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Blush is an operative of SPECTRE, a criminal organisation run by Ernst Stavro Blofeld; her charge is a heroin-addicted United States Air Force pilot named Jack Petachi. Petachi has undergone an operation on his right eye to make it match the retinal pattern of the US President, which he uses to circumvent iris recognition security at RAF Station Swadley, an American military base in England. While doing so, he replaces the dummy warheads of two AGM-86B cruise missiles with live nuclear warheads; SPECTRE then steals the warheads, intending to extort billions of dollars from NATO governments. Blush murders Petachi by causing his car to crash and explode, covering SPECTRE's tracks.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Foreign Secretary Lord Ambrose orders a reluctant M to reactivate the double-0 section, and Bond is tasked with tracking down the missing weapons. Bond follows a lead to the Bahamas where he finds Domino Petachi, the pilot's sister, and her wealthy lover Maximillian Largo, who is SPECTRE's top agent.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Bond is informed by Nigel Small-Fawcett of the British High Commission that Largo's yacht is now heading for Nice, France. There, Bond joins forces with his French contact Nicole, and his CIA counterpart and friend, Felix Leiter. Bond goes to a health and beauty centre where he poses as an employee and, while giving Domino a massage, is informed by her that Largo is hosting an event at a casino that evening. At the charity event, Largo and Bond play a 3-D video game called "Domination"; the losing player of each turn receives a series of electric shocks of increasing intensity in proportion to the amount wagered. After losing a few games, Bond ultimately wins, and while dancing with Domino, he informs her that her brother had been killed on Largo's orders. Bond returns to his villa to find Nicole killed by Blush. After a vehicle chase on his Q-branch motorbike, Bond finds himself in an ambush and is eventually captured by Blush. She admits that she is impressed with him, and forces Bond to declare in writing that she is his "Number One" sexual partner. Bond distracts her with promises, then uses his Q-branch-issue fountain pen gun to kill Blush with an explosive dart.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Bond and Leiter attempt to board Largo's motor yacht, the "Flying Saucer", in search of the missing nuclear warheads. Bond finds Domino. He attempts to make Largo jealous by kissing Domino in front of a one-way mirror. Largo becomes enraged, traps Bond and takes him and Domino to Palmyra, Largo's base of operations in North Africa. Largo coldly punishes Domino for her betrayal by selling her to some passing Arabs. Bond subsequently escapes from his prison and rescues her.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Domino and Bond reunite with Leiter on a U.S. Navy submarine. After the first warhead is found and defused in Washington, D.C., they track Largo to a location known as the Tears of Allah, below a desert oasis on the Ethiopian coast. Bond and Leiter infiltrate the underground facility and a gun battle erupts between Leiter's team and Largo's men in the temple. In the confusion, Largo makes a getaway with the second warhead. Bond catches and fights Largo underwater. Just as Largo tries to use a spear gun to shoot Bond, he is shot with a spear gun by Domino, taking revenge for her brother's death. Bond then defuses the nuclear bomb underwater, saving the world. Bond retires from duty and returns to the Bahamas with Domino, vowing never again to be a secret agent.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: "Never Say Never Again" had its origins in the early 1960s, following the controversy over the 1961 "Thunderball" novel. Fleming had worked with independent producer Kevin McClory and scriptwriter Jack Whittingham on a script for a potential "Bond" film, to be called "Longitude 78 West", which was subsequently abandoned because of the costs involved. Fleming, "always reluctant to let a good idea lie idle", turned this into the novel "Thunderball", for which he did not credit either McClory or Whittingham; McClory then took Fleming to the High Court in London for breach of copyright and the matter was settled in 1963. After Eon Productions started producing the "Bond" films, it subsequently made a deal with McClory, who would produce "Thunderball", and then not make any further version of the novel for a period of ten years following the release of the Eon-produced version in 1965.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: In the mid-1970s McClory again started working on a project to bring a "Thunderball" adaptation to production and, with the working title "Warhead", he brought writer Len Deighton together with Sean Connery to work on a script. A lawsuit with Eon Productions ended in a ruling that McClory owned the sole rights to SPECTRE and Blofeld, forcing Eon to remove them from "The Spy Who Loved Me" (1977). The script initially focused on SPECTRE shooting down aircraft over the Bermuda Triangle before taking over Liberty Island and Ellis Island as staging areas for an invasion of New York City through the sewers under Wall Street. The script was purchased by Paramount Pictures in 1978. The script ran into difficulties after accusations from Danjaq and United Artists that the project had gone beyond copyright restrictions, which confined McClory to a film based only on the novel "Thunderball", and once again the project was deferred.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Towards the end of the 1970s developments were reported on the project under the name "James Bond of the Secret Service", but when producer Jack Schwartzman became involved in 1980 and cleared a number of the legal issues that still surrounded the project he decided against using Deighton's script. The project returned to the original nuclear terrorism plot of the original "Thunderball" in order to avoid another lawsuit from Danjaq and after McClory saw Jimmy Carter mention the issue in a 1980 presidential debate with Ronald Reagan. Schwartzman brought on board scriptwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. to work on the screenplay, who Schwartzman wanted to make the screenplay "somewhere in the middle" between his campier projects such as "Batman" and his more serious projects such as "Three Days of the Condor". Connery was unhappy with some aspects of the work and asked Tom Mankiewicz, who had rewritten "Diamonds Are Forever", to work on the script; however, Mankiewicz declined as he felt he was under a moral obligation to Eon's Albert R. Broccoli. Semple Jr. ultimately left the project after Irvin Kershner was hired as director and Schwartzman began cutting out the "big numbers" from his script to save on the budget. Connery then hired British television writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais to undertake re-writes, although they went uncredited for their efforts despite much of the final shooting script being theirs. This was because of a restriction by the Writers Guild of America. Clement and La Frenais continued rewriting during the production, often altering it from day to day.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: The film underwent one final change in title: after Connery had finished filming "Diamonds Are Forever" he had pledged that he would "never" play Bond again. Connery's wife, Micheline, suggested the title "Never Say Never Again", referring to her husband's vow and the producers acknowledged her contribution by listing on the end credits "Title "Never Say Never Again" by Micheline Connery". A final attempt by Fleming's trustees to block the film was made in the High Court in London in the spring of 1983, but this was thrown out by the court and "Never Say Never Again" was permitted to proceed.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: When producer Kevin McClory had first planned the film in 1964, he held initial talks with Richard Burton for the part of Bond, although the project came to nothing because of the legal issues involved. When the "Warhead" project was launched in the late 1970s, a number of actors were mentioned in the trade press, including Orson Welles for the part of Blofeld, Trevor Howard to play M and Richard Attenborough as director.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: In 1978, the working title "James Bond of the Secret Service" was being used and Connery was in the frame once again, potentially going head-to-head with the next Eon "Bond" film, "Moonraker". By 1980, with legal issues again causing the project to founder, Connery thought himself unlikely to play the role, as he stated in an interview in the "Sunday Express": "When I first worked on the script with Len I had no thought of actually being in the film." When producer Jack Schwartzman became involved, he asked Connery to play Bond; Connery agreed, negotiating a fee of $3 million ($ million in dollars), casting and script approval, and a percentage of the profits. Subsequent to Connery reprising the role, Semple altered the script to include several references to Bond's advancing years – playing on Connery being 52 at the time of filming – and academic Jeremy Black has pointed out that there are other aspects of age and disillusionment in the film, such as the Shrubland's porter referring to Bond's car ("They don't make them like that anymore"), the new M having no use for the 00 section and Q with his reduced budgets. Originally Semple wanted to emphasize Bond's age even further, writing the script to include him in semi-retirement working aboard a Scottish fishing trawler hunting Soviet Navy submarines in the North Sea. Connery's casting was formally announced in March 1983. He trained with Steven Seagal to help get in shape for the production.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: For the main villain in the film, Maximillian Largo, Connery suggested Klaus Maria Brandauer, the lead of the 1981 Academy Award-winning Hungarian film "Mephisto". Through the same route came Max von Sydow as Ernst Stavro Blofeld, although he still retained his Eon-originated white cat in the film. For the femme fatale, director Irvin Kershner selected former model and "Playboy" cover girl Barbara Carrera to play Fatima Blush – the name coming from one of the early scripts of "Thunderball". Carrera said she modeled her performance on the Hindu goddess Kali, and to "mix that in with a little bit of black widow and a little bit of praying mantis." Carrera's performance as Fatima Blush earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, which she lost to Cher for her role in "Silkwood".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Micheline Connery, Sean's wife, had met up-and-coming actress Kim Basinger at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London and suggested her to Connery, and he agreed after Dalila Di Lazzaro refused the Domino role. For the role of Felix Leiter, Connery spoke with Bernie Casey, saying that as the Leiter role was never remembered by audiences, using a black Leiter might make him more memorable. Others cast included comedian Rowan Atkinson, who would later parody Bond in his role of "Johnny English" in 2003. Atkinson's character was added by Clement and La Frenais after the production had already started in order to provide the film with a comic relief. Edward Fox was cast as M in order to portray the character as a young technocrat in contrast to the older portrayal by Bernard Lee, and to parody the Thatcher ministry's budget cuts to government services.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Connery wanted to persuade Richard Donner to direct the film, but after their meeting Donner decided he disliked the script. Former Eon Productions' editor and director of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", Peter R. Hunt, was approached to direct the film but declined due to his previous work with Eon. Irvin Kershner, who had previously worked with Connery on "A Fine Madness" (1966), and had achieved success in 1980 with "The Empire Strikes Back" was then hired. A number of the crew from the 1981 film "Raiders of the Lost Ark" were also appointed, including first assistant director David Tomblin, director of photography Douglas Slocombe, second unit director Mickey Moore and production designers Philip Harrison and Stephen Grimes.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Filming for "Never Say Never Again" began on 27 September 1982 on the French Riviera for two months before moving to Nassau, the Bahamas in mid-November where filming took place at Clifton Pier, which was also one of the locations used in "Thunderball". Largo's Palmyran fortress was actually historic Fort Carré in Antibes. Largo's ship, the "Flying Saucer", was portrayed by the yacht "Kingdom 5KR", then owned by Saudi billionaire Adnan Khashoggi and called the "Nabila". The underwater scenes were filmed by Ricou Browning, who had coordinated the underwater scenes in the original "Thunderball". Principal photography finished at Elstree Studios where interior shots were filmed. Elstree also housed the Tears of Allah underwater cavern, which took three months to construct, while the Shrublands health spa was filmed at Luton Hoo. Most of the filming was completed in the spring of 1983, although there was some additional shooting during the summer of 1983.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Production on the film was troubled, with Connery taking on many of the production duties with assistant director David Tomblin. Director Irvin Kershner was critical of producer Jack Schwartzman, saying that, while he was a good businessman, "he didn't have the experience of a film producer". After the production ran out of money, Schwartzman had to fund further production out of his own pocket and later admitted he had underestimated the amount the film would cost to make. There was tension on set between Schwartzman and Connery, who at times barely spoke to each other. Connery was unimpressed with the perceived lack of professionalism behind the scenes and was on record as saying that the whole production was a "bloody Mickey Mouse operation!"


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Steven Seagal, who was a martial arts instructor for this film, broke Connery's wrist while training. On an episode of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", Connery revealed he did not know his wrist was broken until over a decade later.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: James Horner was both Kershner's and Schwartzman's first choice to compose the score after being impressed with his work on "". Horner, who worked in London for most of the time, wound up unavailable according to Kershner, though Schwartzman later claimed Sean Connery vetoed the American. Frequent Bond composer John Barry was invited, but declined out of loyalty to Eon. The music for "Never Say Never Again" was written by Michel Legrand, who composed a score similar to his work as a jazz pianist. The score has been criticised as "anachronistic and misjudged", "bizarrely intermittent" and "the most disappointing feature of the film". Legrand also wrote the main theme "Never Say Never Again", which featured lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman — who had also worked with Legrand on the Academy Award-winning song "The Windmills of Your Mind" — and was performed by Lani Hall after Bonnie Tyler, who disliked the song, had reluctantly declined.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Phyllis Hyman also recorded a potential theme song, written by Stephen Forsyth and Jim Ryan, but the song — an unsolicited submission — was passed over, given Legrand's contractual obligations with the music.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Many of the elements of the Eon-produced Bond films were not present in "Never Say Never Again" for legal reasons. These included the gun barrel sequence, where a screen full of 007 symbols appeared instead, and similarly there was no "James Bond Theme" to use, although no effort was made to supply another tune. A pre-credits sequence was filmed but not used; instead the film opens with the credits run over the top of the opening sequence of Bond on a training mission.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: "Never Say Never Again" opened on 7 October 1983 in 1,550 theatres grossing an October record $10,958,157 over the four-day Columbus Day weekend which was reported to be "the best opening record of any James Bond film" up to that point surpassing "Octopussy"s $8.9 million from June that year. The film had its UK premiere at the Warner West End cinema in Leicester Square on 14 December 1983. Worldwide, "Never Say Never Again" grossed $160 million, which was a solid return on the budget of $36 million. The film ultimately earned less than "Octopussy" which grossed $187.5 million. It was the first James Bond film to be officially released in the Soviet Union, premiering in the summer of 1990 with a gala in Moscow.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Warner Bros. released "Never Say Never Again" on VHS and Betamax in 1984, and on laserdisc in 1995. After Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer purchased the distribution rights in 1997 (see Legacy, below), the company has released the film on both VHS and DVD in 2001, and on Blu-ray in 2009.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: "Never Say Never Again" was broadly welcomed and praised by the critics: Ian Christie, writing in the "Daily Express", said that "Never Say Never Again" was "one of the better Bonds", finding the film "superbly witty and entertaining, ... the dialogue is crisp and the fight scenes imaginative". Christie also thought that "Connery has lost none of his charm and, if anything, is more appealing than ever as the stylish resolute hero". David Robinson, writing in "The Times" also concentrated on Connery, saying that: "Connery ... is back, looking hardly a day older or thicker, and still outclassing every other exponent of the role, in the goodnatured throwaway with which he parries all the sex and violence on the way". For Robinson, the presence of Connery and Klaus Maria Brandauer as Maximillian Largo "very nearly make it all worthwhile." The reviewer for "Time Out" summed up "Never Say Never Again" saying "The action's good, the photography excellent, the sets decent; but the real clincher is the fact that Bond is once more played by a man with the right stuff."


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Derek Malcolm in "The Guardian" showed himself to be a fan of Connery's Bond, saying the film contains "the best Bond in the business", but nevertheless did not find "Never Say Never Again" any more enjoyable than the recently released "Octopussy" (starring Roger Moore), or "that either of them came very near to matching "Dr. No" or "From Russia with Love"". Malcolm's main issue with the film was that he had a "feeling that a constant struggle was going on between a desire to make a huge box-office success and the effort to make character as important as stunts". Malcolm summed up that "the mix remains obstinately the same – up to scratch but not surpassing it". Writing in "The Observer", Philip French noted that "this curiously muted film ends up making no contribution of its own and inviting damaging comparisons with the original, hyper-confident "Thunderball"". French concluded that "like an hour-glass full of damp sand, the picture moves with increasing slowness as it approaches a confused climax in the Persian Gulf".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Writing for "Newsweek", critic Jack Kroll thought the early part of the film was handled "with wit and style", although he went on to say that the director was "hamstrung by Lorenzo Semple's script". Richard Schickel, writing in "Time" magazine praised the film and its cast. He wrote that Klaus Maria Brandauer's character was "played with silky, neurotic charm", while Barbara Carrera, playing Fatima Blush, "deftly parodies all the fatal femmes who have slithered through Bond's career". Schickel's highest praise was saved for the return of Connery, observing "it is good to see Connery's grave stylishness in this role again. It makes Bond's cynicism and opportunism seem the product of genuine worldliness (and world weariness) as opposed to Roger Moore's mere twirpishness."


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Janet Maslin, writing in "The New York Times", was broadly praising of the film, saying she thought that "Never Say Never Again" "has noticeably more humor and character than the Bond films usually provide. It has a marvelous villain in Largo." Maslin also thought highly of Connery in the role, observing that "in "Never Say Never Again", the formula is broadened to accommodate an older, seasoned man of much greater stature, and Mr. Connery expertly fills the bill." Writing in "The Washington Post", Gary Arnold was fulsome in his praise, saying that "Never Say Never Again" is "one of the best James Bond adventure thrillers ever made", going on to say that "this picture is likely to remain a cherished, savory example of commercial filmmaking at its most astute and accomplished." Arnold went further, saying that ""Never Say Never Again" is the best acted Bond picture ever made, because it clearly surpasses any predecessors in the area of inventive and clever character delineation".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: The critic for "The Globe and Mail", Jay Scott, also praised the film, saying that "Never Say Never Again" "may be the only instalment of the long-running series that has been helmed by a first-rate director." According to Scott, the director, with high-quality support cast, resulted in the "classiest of all the Bonds". Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars, and wrote that "Never Say Never Again", while consisting of a basic "Bond plot", was different from other Bond films: "For one thing, there's more of a human element in the movie, and it comes from Klaus Maria Brandauer, as Largo." Ebert went on to add, "there was never a Beatles reunion ... but here, by God, is Sean Connery as Sir James Bond. Good work, 007." Gene Siskel of "The Chicago Tribune" also gave the film 3½ out of 4 stars, writing that the film was "one of the best 007 adventures ever made".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Colin Greenland reviewed "Never Say Never Again" for "Imagine" magazine, and stated that ""Never Say Never Again" is a complacent male sexist fantasy, where women can be only "femmes fatales" or passive victims."


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Because "Never Say Never Again" is not an Eon-produced film, it has not been included in a number of subsequent reviews. Norman Wilner of MSN said that 1967's "Casino Royale" and "Never Say Never Again" "exist outside the 'official' continuity, [and] are excluded from this list, just as they're absent from MGM's megabox. But take my word for it; they're both pretty awful". Retrospective reviews of the film remain positive. Rotten Tomatoes sampled 53 critics and judged 70% of the reviews as positive, with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "While the rehashed story feels rather uninspired and unnecessary, the return of both Sean Connery and a more understated Bond make "Never Say Never Again" a watchable retread." The score is still more positive than some of the Eon films, with Rotten Tomatoes ranking "Never Say Never Again" 16th among all Bond films in 2008. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 68 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating generally favourable reviews. "Empire" gives the film three of a possible five stars, observing that "Connery was perhaps wise to call it quits the first time round". IGN gave "Never Say Never Again" a score of 5 out of 10, claiming that the film "is more miss than hit". The review also thought that the film was "marred with too many clunky exposition scenes and not enough moments of Bond being Bond".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: In 1995 Michael Sauter of "Entertainment Weekly" rated "Never Say Never Again" as the ninth best Bond film to that point, after 17 films had been released. Sauter thought the film "is successful only as a portrait of an over-the-hill superhero." He admitted that "even past his prime, Connery proves that nobody does it better". James Berardinelli, in his review of " Never Say Never Again", thinks the re-writing of the "Thunderball" story has led to a film which has "a hokey, jokey feel, [it] is possibly the worst-written Bond script of all". Berardinelli concludes that "it's a major disappointment that, having lured back the original 007, the film makers couldn't offer him something better than this drawn-out, hackneyed story." Critic Danny Peary wrote that "it was great to see Sean Connery return as James Bond after a dozen years". He also thought the supporting cast was good, saying that Klaus Maria Brandauer's Largo was "neurotic, vulnerable ... one of the most complex of Bond's foes" and that Barbara Carrera and Kim Basinger "make lasting impressions." Peary also wrote that the "film is exotic, well acted, and stylishly directed ... It would be one of the best Bond films if the finale weren't disappointing. When will filmmakers realize that underwater fight scenes don't work because viewers usually can't tell the hero and villain apart and they know doubles are being used?"


title: Never Say Never Again

text: Originally "Never Say Never Again" was intended to start a series of Bond films produced by Schwartzman and starring Connery as James Bond, with McClory announcing the next planned film "S.P.E.C.T.R.E" in a February 1984 issue of "Screen International". When Connery announced that he would not reprise his role as Bond in another film produced by Schwartzman three weeks before the deadline to purchase the rights to another film for $5 million, Schwartzman said that he was unlikely to make another film without a deal from MGM/UA and Danjaq.


title: Never Say Never Again

text: In the 1990s, McClory announced plans to make another adaptation of the "Thunderball" story starring Timothy Dalton entitled "Warhead 2000 AD", but the film was eventually scrapped. In 1997 Sony Pictures acquired McClory's rights for an undisclosed amount, and subsequently announced that it intended to make a series of Bond films, as the company also held the rights to "Casino Royale". This move prompted a round of litigation from MGM, which was settled out-of-court, forcing Sony to give up all claims on Bond; McClory still claimed he would proceed with another Bond film, and continued his case against MGM and Danjaq; On 27 August 2001 the court rejected McClory's suit. McClory died in 2006; MGM's acquisition of the rights to "Casino Royale" finally allowed Eon Productions to make a serious, non-satirical film adaptation of that novel the same year with Daniel Craig as James Bond. Ultimately, McClory's heirs sold the "Thunderball" rights to Eon, allowing the company to reintroduce Blofeld to the Eon series in the film "Spectre".


title: Never Say Never Again

text: On 4 December 1997, MGM announced that the company had purchased the rights to "Never Say Never Again" from Schwartzman's company Taliafilm. The company has since handled the release of both the DVD and Blu-ray editions of the film.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Sleep apnea, also spelled sleep apnoea, is a sleep disorder in which pauses in breathing or periods of shallow breathing during sleep occur more often than normal. Each pause can last for a few seconds to a few minutes and they happen many times a night. In the most common form, this follows loud snoring. There may be a choking or snorting sound as breathing resumes. Because the disorder disrupts normal sleep, those affected may experience sleepiness or feel tired during the day. In children, it may cause hyperactivity or problems in school.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Sleep apnea may be either obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), in which breathing is interrupted by a blockage of air flow, central sleep apnea (CSA), in which regular unconscious breath simply stops, or a combination of the two. OSA is the most common form. OSA has four key contributors; these include a narrow, crowded, or collapsible upper airway, an ineffective pharyngeal dilator muscle function during sleep, airway narrowing during sleep and unstable control of breathing (high loop gain). It is often a chronic condition. Other risk factors include being overweight, a family history of the condition, allergies, and enlarged tonsils. Some people with sleep apnea are unaware they have the condition. In many cases it is first observed by a family member. Sleep apnea is often diagnosed with an overnight sleep study. For a diagnosis of sleep apnea, more than five episodes per hour must occur.


title: Sleep apnea

text: In central sleep apnea (CSA), the basic neurological controls for breathing rate malfunction and fail to give the signal to inhale, causing the individual to miss one or more cycles of breathing. If the pause in breathing is long enough, the percentage of oxygen in the circulation will drop to a lower than normal level (hypoxaemia) and the concentration of carbon dioxide will build to a higher than normal level (hypercapnia). In turn, these conditions of hypoxia and hypercapnia will trigger "additional" effects on the body. Brain cells need constant oxygen to live, and if the level of blood oxygen goes low enough for long enough, brain damage and even death will occur.


title: Sleep apnea

text: A systemic disorder, sleep apnea is associated with a wide array of effects, including increased risk of car accidents, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, atrial fibrillation, insulin resistance, higher incidence of cancer, and neurodegeneration. The exact effects of the condition will depend on how severe the apnea is and on the individual characteristics of the person having the apnea.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Treatment may include lifestyle changes, mouthpieces, breathing devices, and surgery. Effective lifestyle changes may include avoiding alcohol, losing weight, stopping smoking, and sleeping on one's side. Breathing devices include the use of a CPAP machine. With proper use, CPAP improves outcomes. Evidence suggests that CPAP may improve sensitivity to insulin, blood pressure, and sleepiness. Long term compliance, however, is an issue with more than half of people not appropriately using the device. In 2017, only 15% of potential patients in developed countries used CPAP machines, while in developing countries well under 1% of potential patients used CPAP. Without treatment, sleep apnea may increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, heart failure, irregular heartbeat, obesity, and motor vehicle collisions.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Alzheimer's disease and severe obstructive sleep apnea are connected because there is an increase in the protein beta-amyloid as well as white-matter damage. These are the main indicators of Alzheimer's, which in this case comes from the lack of proper rest or poorer sleep efficiency resulting in neurodegeneration. Having sleep apnea in mid-life brings a higher likelihood of developing Alzheimer's in older age, and if one has Alzheimer's then one is also more likely to have sleep apnea. This is demonstrated by cases of sleep apnea even being misdiagnosed as dementia. With the use of treatment through CPAP, there is a reversible risk factor in terms of the amyloid proteins. This usually restores brain structure and diminishes cognitive impairment.


title: Sleep apnea

text: OSA is a common sleep disorder. A large analysis in 2019 of the estimated prevalence of OSA found that OSA affects 936 million—1 billion people between the ages of 30–69 globally, or roughly every 1 in 10 people, and up to 30% of the elderly. Sleep apnea is somewhat more common in men than women, roughly a 2:1 ratio of men to women, and in general more people are likely to have it with older age and obesity.


title: Sleep apnea

text: People with sleep apnea have problems with excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and impaired alertness. OSA may increase risk for driving accidents and work-related accidents. If OSA is not treated, people are at increased risk of other health problems, such as diabetes.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Due to the disruption in daytime cognitive state, behavioral effects may be present. These can include moodiness, belligerence, as well as a decrease in attentiveness and energy. These effects may become intractable, leading to depression.


title: Sleep apnea

text: There is evidence that the risk of diabetes among those with moderate or severe sleep apnea is higher. Finally, because there are many factors that could lead to some of the effects previously listed, some people are not aware that they have sleep apnea and are either misdiagnosed or ignore the symptoms altogether.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Alcohol, sedatives and tranquilizers may also promote sleep apnea by relaxing throat muscles. People who smoke tobacco have sleep apnea at three times the rate of people who have never done so.


title: Sleep apnea

text: When breathing is paused, carbon dioxide builds up in the bloodstream. Chemoreceptors in the bloodstream note the high carbon dioxide levels. The brain is signaled to awaken the person, which clears the airway and allows breathing to resume. Breathing normally will restore oxygen levels and the person will fall asleep again. This carbon dioxide build-up may be due to the decrease of output of the brainstem regulating the chest wall or pharyngeal muscles, which causes the pharynx to collapse. People with sleep apnea experience reduced or no slow-wave sleep and spend less time in REM sleep.


title: Sleep apnea

text: OSA is a serious medical condition. Daytime fatigue and sleepiness, cardiovascular problems and eye problems are considered potential complications of OSA. OSA may also be a risk factor of COVID-19. People with OSA have a higher risk of developing severe complications of COVID-19.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Despite this medical consensus, the variety of apneic events (e.g., hypopnea vs apnea, central vs obstructive), the variability of patients' physiologies, and the inherent shortcomings and variability of equipment and methods, this field is subject to debate.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Within this context, the definition of an event depends on several factors (e.g., patient's age) and account for this variability through a multi-criteria decision rule described in several, sometimes conflicting, guidelines.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Oximetry, which may be performed over one or several nights in a person's home, is a simpler, but less reliable alternative to a polysomnography. The test is recommended only when requested by a physician and should not be used to test those without symptoms. Home oximetry may be effective in guiding prescription for automatically self-adjusting continuous positive airway pressure.


title: Sleep apnea

text: There are three types of sleep apnea. OSA accounts for 84%, CSA for 0.9%, and 15% of cases are mixed.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is the most common category of sleep-disordered breathing. The muscle tone of the body ordinarily relaxes during sleep, and at the level of the throat, the human airway is composed of collapsible walls of soft tissue that can obstruct breathing. Mild occasional sleep apnea, such as many people experience during an upper respiratory infection, may not be significant, but chronic severe obstructive sleep apnea requires treatment to prevent low blood oxygen (hypoxemia), sleep deprivation, and other complications.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Individuals with low muscle-tone and soft tissue around the airway (e.g., because of obesity) and structural features that give rise to a narrowed airway are at high risk for obstructive sleep apnea. The elderly are more likely to have OSA than young people. Men are more likely to develop sleep apnea than women and children are, though it is not uncommon in the last two population groups.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The risk of OSA rises with increasing body weight, active smoking and age. In addition, patients with diabetes or "borderline" diabetes have up to three times the risk of having OSA.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Common symptoms include loud snoring, restless sleep, and sleepiness during the daytime. Diagnostic tests include home oximetry or polysomnography in a sleep clinic.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Some treatments involve lifestyle changes, such as avoiding alcohol or muscle relaxants, losing weight, and quitting smoking. Many people benefit from sleeping at a 30-degree elevation of the upper body or higher, as if in a recliner. Doing so helps prevent the gravitational collapse of the airway. Lateral positions (sleeping on a side), as opposed to supine positions (sleeping on the back), are also recommended as a treatment for sleep apnea, largely because the gravitational component is smaller in the lateral position. Some people benefit from various kinds of oral appliances such as the Mandibular advancement splint to keep the airway open during sleep. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the most effective treatment for severe obstructive sleep apnea, but oral appliances are considered a first-line approach equal to CPAP for mild to moderate sleep apnea, according to the AASM parameters of care. There are also surgical procedures to remove and tighten tissue and widen the airway.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Snoring is a common finding in people with this syndrome. Snoring is the turbulent sound of air moving through the back of the mouth, nose, and throat. Although not everyone who snores is experiencing difficulty breathing, snoring in combination with other risk factors has been found to be highly predictive of OSA. The loudness of the snoring is not indicative of the severity of obstruction, however. If the upper airways are tremendously obstructed, there may not be enough air movement to make much sound. Even the loudest snoring does not mean that an individual has sleep apnea syndrome. The sign that is most suggestive of sleep apneas occurs when snoring "stops".


title: Sleep apnea

text: Other indicators include (but are not limited to): hypersomnolence, obesity (BMI ≥ 30), large neck circumference— in women, in men — enlarged tonsils and large tongue volume, micrognathia, morning headaches, irritability/mood-swings/depression, learning and/or memory difficulties, and sexual dysfunction.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The term "sleep-disordered breathing" is commonly used in the U.S. to describe the full range of breathing problems during sleep in which not enough air reaches the lungs (hypopnea and apnea). Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, high blood pressure, arrhythmias, diabetes, and sleep deprived driving accidents. When high blood pressure is caused by OSA, it is distinctive in that, unlike most cases of high blood pressure (so-called essential hypertension), the readings do "not" drop significantly when the individual is sleeping. Stroke is associated with obstructive sleep apnea.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Obstructive sleep apnea is associated with problems in daytime functioning, such as daytime sleepiness, motor vehicle crashes, psychological problems, decreased cognitive functioning, and reduced quality of life. Other associated problems include cerebrovascular diseases (hypertension, coronary artery disease, and stroke) and diabetes. These problems could be, at least in part, caused by risk factors of OSA.


title: Sleep apnea

text: In pure central sleep apnea or Cheyne–Stokes respiration, the brain's respiratory control centers are imbalanced during sleep. Blood levels of carbon dioxide, and the neurological feedback mechanism that monitors them, do not react quickly enough to maintain an even respiratory rate, with the entire system cycling between apnea and tachypnea, even during wakefulness. The sleeper stops breathing and then starts again. There is no effort made to breathe during the pause in breathing: there are no chest movements and no struggling. After the episode of apnea, breathing may be faster (tachypnea) for a period of time, a compensatory mechanism to blow off retained waste gases and absorb more oxygen.


title: Sleep apnea

text: While sleeping, a normal individual is "at rest" as far as cardiovascular workload is concerned. Breathing is regular in a healthy person during sleep, and oxygen levels and carbon dioxide levels in the bloodstream stay fairly constant. Any sudden drop in oxygen or excess of carbon dioxide (even if tiny) strongly stimulates the brain's respiratory centers to breathe.


title: Sleep apnea

text: In any person, hypoxia and hypercapnia have certain common effects on the body. The heart rate will increase, unless there are such severe co-existing problems with the heart muscle itself or the autonomic nervous system that makes this compensatory increase impossible. The more translucent areas of the body will show a bluish or dusky cast from cyanosis, which is the change in hue that occurs owing to lack of oxygen in the blood ("turning blue"). Overdoses of drugs that are respiratory depressants (such as heroin, and other opiates) kill by damping the activity of the brain's respiratory control centers. In central sleep apnea, the effects of sleep "alone" can remove the brain's mandate for the body to breathe.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Some people with sleep apnea have a combination of both types; its prevalence ranges from 0.56% to 18%. The condition is generally detected when obstructive sleep apnea is treated with CPAP and central sleep apnea emerges. The exact mechanism of the loss of central respiratory drive during sleep in OSA is unknown but is most likely related to incorrect settings of the CPAP treatment and other medical conditions the person has.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The treatment of obstructive sleep apnea is different than that of central sleep apnea. Treatment often starts with behavioral therapy. Many people are told to avoid alcohol, sleeping pills, and other sedatives, which can relax throat muscles, contributing to the collapse of the airway at night.


title: Sleep apnea

text: More than half of people with obstructive sleep apnea have some degree of positional obstructive sleep apnea, meaning that it gets worse when they sleep on their backs. Sleeping on their sides is an effective and cost-effective treatment for positional obstructive sleep apnea.


title: Sleep apnea

text: For moderate to severe sleep apnea, the most common treatment is the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) or automatic positive airway pressure (APAP) device. These splint the person's airway open during sleep by means of pressurized air. The person typically wears a plastic facial mask, which is connected by a flexible tube to a small bedside CPAP machine.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Although CPAP therapy is effective in reducing apneas and less expensive than other treatments, some people find it uncomfortable. Some complain of feeling trapped, having chest discomfort, and skin or nose irritation. Other side effects may include dry mouth, dry nose, nosebleeds, sore lips and gums.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Whether or not it decreases the risk of death or heart disease is controversial with some reviews finding benefit and others not. This variation across studies might be driven by low rates of compliance—analyses of those who use CPAP for at least four hours a night suggests a decrease in cardiovascular events.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Excess body weight is thought to be an important cause of sleep apnea. People who are overweight have more tissues in the back of their throat which can restrict the airway, especially when sleeping. In weight loss studies of overweight individuals, those who lose weight show reduced apnea frequencies and improved apnoea–hypopnoea index (AHI). Weight loss effective enough to relieve obesity hypoventilation syndrome (OHS) must be 25–30% of body weight. For some obese people, it can be difficult to achieve and maintain this result without bariatric surgery.


title: Sleep apnea

text: In children, orthodontic treatment to expand the volume of the nasal airway, such as nonsurgical rapid palatal expansion is common. The procedure has been found to significantly decrease the AHI and lead to long-term resolution of clinical symptoms.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Since the palatal suture is fused in adults, regular RPE using tooth-borne expanders cannot be performed. Mini-implant assisted rapid palatal expansion (MARPE) has been recently developed as a non-surgical option for the transverse expansion of the maxilla in adults. This method increases the volume of the nasal cavity and nasopharynx, leading to increased airflow and reduced respiratory arousals during sleep. Changes are permanent with minimal complications.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Several surgical procedures (sleep surgery) are used to treat sleep apnea, although they are normally a third line of treatment for those who reject or are not helped by CPAP treatment or dental appliances. Surgical treatment for obstructive sleep apnea needs to be individualized to address all anatomical areas of obstruction.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Often, correction of the nasal passages needs to be performed in addition to correction of the oropharynx passage. Septoplasty and turbinate surgery may improve the nasal airway, but has been found to be ineffective at reducing respiratory arousals during sleep.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Tonsillectomy and uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP or UP3) are available to address pharyngeal obstruction.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The "Pillar" device is a treatment for snoring and obstructive sleep apnea; it is thin, narrow strips of polyester. Three strips are inserted into the roof of the mouth (the soft palate) using a modified syringe and local anesthetic, in order to stiffen the soft palate. This procedure addresses one of the most common causes of snoring and sleep apnea — vibration or collapse of the soft palate. It was approved by the FDA for snoring in 2002 and for obstructive sleep apnea in 2004. A 2013 meta-analysis found that "the Pillar implant has a moderate effect on snoring and mild-to-moderate obstructive sleep apnea" and that more studies with high level of evidence were needed to arrive at a definite conclusion; it also found that the polyester strips work their way out of the soft palate in about 10% of the people in whom they are implanted.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Base-of-tongue advancement by means of advancing the genial tubercle of the mandible, tongue suspension, or hyoid suspension (aka hyoid myotomy and suspension or hyoid advancement) may help with the lower pharynx.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Other surgery options may attempt to shrink or stiffen excess tissue in the mouth or throat, procedures done at either a doctor's office or a hospital. Small shots or other treatments, sometimes in a series, are used for shrinkage, while the insertion of a small piece of stiff plastic is used in the case of surgery whose goal is to stiffen tissues.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Maxillomandibular advancement (MMA) is considered the most effective surgery for people with sleep apnea, because it increases the posterior airway space (PAS). However, health professionals are often unsure as to who should be referred for surgery and when to do so: some factors in referral may include failed use of CPAP or device use; anatomy which favors rather than impedes surgery; or significant craniofacial abnormalities which hinder device use.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Several inpatient and outpatient procedures use sedation. Many drugs and agents used during surgery to relieve pain and to depress consciousness remain in the body at low amounts for hours or even days afterwards. In an individual with either central, obstructive or mixed sleep apnea, these low doses may be enough to cause life-threatening irregularities in breathing or collapses in a patient's airways. Use of analgesics and sedatives in these patients postoperatively should therefore be minimized or avoided.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Surgery on the mouth and throat, as well as dental surgery and procedures, can result in postoperative swelling of the lining of the mouth and other areas that affect the airway. Even when the surgical procedure is designed to improve the airway, such as tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy or tongue reduction, swelling may negate some of the effects in the immediate postoperative period. Once the swelling resolves and the palate becomes tightened by postoperative scarring, however, the full benefit of the surgery may be noticed.


title: Sleep apnea

text: A person with sleep apnea undergoing any medical treatment must make sure their doctor and anesthetist are informed about the sleep apnea. Alternative and emergency procedures may be necessary to maintain the airway of sleep apnea patients.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Diaphragm pacing, which involves the rhythmic application of electrical impulses to the diaphragm, has been used to treat central sleep apnea.


title: Sleep apnea

text: In April 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted pre-market approval for use of an upper airway stimulation system in people who cannot use a continuous positive airway pressure device. The Inspire Upper Airway Stimulation system senses respiration and applies mild electrical stimulation during inspiration, which pushes the tongue slightly forward to open the airway.


title: Sleep apnea

text: There is currently insufficient evidence to recommend any medication for OSA. This may result in part because people with sleep apnea have tended to be treated as a single group in clinical trials. Identifying specific physiological factors underlying sleep apnea makes it possible to test drugs specific to those causal factors: airway narrowing, impaired muscle activity, low arousal threshold for waking, and unstable breathing control.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Those who experience low waking thresholds may benefit from eszopiclone, a sedative typically used to treat insomnia. The antidepressant desipramine may stimulate upper airway muscles and lessen pharyngeal collapsibility in people who have limited muscle function in their airways.


title: Sleep apnea

text: There is limited evidence for medication, but 2012 AASM guidelines suggested that acetazolamide "may be considered" for the treatment of central sleep apnea; zolpidem and triazolam may also be considered for the treatment of central sleep apnea, but "only if the patient does not have underlying risk factors for respiratory depression".


title: Sleep apnea

text: Low doses of oxygen are also used as a treatment for hypoxia but are discouraged due to side effects.


title: Sleep apnea

text: An oral appliance, often referred to as a mandibular advancement splint, is a custom-made mouthpiece that shifts the lower jaw forward and opens the bite slightly, opening up the airway. These devices can be fabricated by a general dentist. Oral appliance therapy (OAT) is usually successful in patients with mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea. While CPAP is more effective for sleep apnea than oral appliances, oral appliances do improve sleepiness and quality of life and are often better tolerated than CPAP.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Nasal EPAP is a bandage-like device placed over the nostrils that uses a person's own breathing to create positive airway pressure to prevent obstructed breathing.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Oral pressure therapy uses a device that creates a vacuum in the mouth, pulling the soft palate tissue forward. It has been found useful in about 25 to 37% of people.


title: Sleep apnea

text: There is increasing evidence that sleep apnea may lead to liver function impairment, particularly fatty liver diseases (see steatosis).


title: Sleep apnea

text: It has been revealed that people with OSA show tissue loss in brain regions that help store memory, thus linking OSA with memory loss. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the scientists discovered that people with sleep apnea have mammillary bodies that are about 20% smaller, particularly on the left side. One of the key investigators hypothesized that repeated drops in oxygen lead to the brain injury.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The immediate effects of central sleep apnea on the body depend on how long the failure to breathe endures. At worst, central sleep apnea may cause sudden death. Short of death, drops in blood oxygen may trigger seizures, even in the absence of epilepsy. In people "with" epilepsy, the hypoxia caused by apnea may trigger seizures that had previously been well controlled by medications. In other words, a seizure disorder may become unstable in the presence of sleep apnea. In adults with coronary artery disease, a severe drop in blood oxygen level can cause angina, arrhythmias, or heart attacks (myocardial infarction). Longstanding recurrent episodes of apnea, over months and years, may cause an increase in carbon dioxide levels that can change the pH of the blood enough to cause a respiratory acidosis.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study estimated in 1993 that roughly one in every 15 Americans was affected by at least moderate sleep apnea. It also estimated that in middle-age as many as 9% of women and 24% of men were affected, undiagnosed and untreated.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The costs of untreated sleep apnea reach further than just health issues. It is estimated that in the U.S., the average untreated sleep apnea patient's annual health care costs $1,336 more than an individual without sleep apnea. This may cause $3.4 billion/year in additional medical costs. Whether medical cost savings occur with treatment of sleep apnea remains to be determined.


title: Sleep apnea

text: Sleep disorders including sleep apnea have been become an important health issue in the United States. Twenty-two million Americans have been estimated to have sleep apnea, with 80% of moderate and severe OSA cases undiagnosed.


title: Sleep apnea

text: A type of CSA was described in the German myth of Ondine's curse where the person when asleep would forget to breathe. The clinical picture of this condition has long been recognized as a character trait, without an understanding of the disease process. The term "Pickwickian syndrome" that is sometimes used for the syndrome was coined by the famous early 20th-century physician William Osler, who must have been a reader of Charles Dickens. The description of Joe, "the fat boy" in Dickens's novel "The Pickwick Papers", is an accurate clinical picture of an adult with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The early reports of obstructive sleep apnea in the medical literature described individuals who were very severely affected, often presenting with severe hypoxemia, hypercapnia and congestive heart failure.


title: Sleep apnea

text: The management of obstructive sleep apnea was improved with the introduction of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), first described in 1981 by Colin Sullivan and associates in Sydney, Australia. The first models were bulky and noisy, but the design was rapidly improved and by the late 1980s, CPAP was widely adopted. The availability of an effective treatment stimulated an aggressive search for affected individuals and led to the establishment of hundreds of specialized clinics dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders. Though many types of sleep problems are recognized, the vast majority of patients attending these centers have sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep apnea awareness day is April 18 in recognition of Colin Sullivan.


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" is set in Boletaria, a kingdom consumed by a dark being called the Old One, following its release through the use of forbidden Soul Arts. Players take on the role of a hero brought to Boletaria to kill its fallen king Allant and pacify the Old One. Gameplay has players navigating five different worlds from a hub called the Nexus, with a heavy emphasis on challenging combat and mechanics surrounding player death and respawning. Online multiplayer allows both player cooperation and world invasions featuring player versus player combat.


title: Demon's Souls

text: The game's early development was troubled due to a lack of coherent vision. Despite such issues, FromSoftware designer Hidetaka Miyazaki was able to take over the project and helped to turn the game into what it eventually became. The game's difficulty was intended to both evoke classic video games and provide a sense of challenge and accomplishment for players. This aspect proved demanding for Miyazaki, partly because of his fear that Sony would ask the team to lower the difficulty in order to make the game more accessible.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Announced in 2008, early reactions to the "Demon's Souls" demo were seen as negative, and the game's high difficulty prompted Sony to pass on publishing the game outside of Japan. While the game met with middling reception and sales in Japan, it became a commercial and critical success in the West. The game was praised for its difficult combat and addictive gameplay, subsequently winning several awards. "Demon's Souls" introduced many of the core elements that would define the eventual Soulslike genre and it has since been cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. Its success sparked a spiritual successor, "Dark Souls", in 2011. A remake by Bluepoint Games was released as a launch title for the PlayStation 5 in November 2020.


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" is an action role-playing game where players take on the role of an adventurer, whose gender and appearance are customized at the beginning of the game, exploring the cursed land of Boletaria. Aspects of the customization impact various statistics (stats) related to gameplay. The player character is granted a starting character class, which further influences their stats, though they can be altered later in the game and effectively change a player's class combined with a different weapon choice. The world is divided into six areas; the Nexus hub world and five additional worlds subdivided into four areas which each end in a boss encounter. Combat is reliant on timing for weapon strikes and blocks, with different weapon types opening up a variety of combat options and altering the player's movement speed. Most actions drain a stamina meter, with its management forming a core part of combat. By defeating an enemy, the player acquires Souls, which act as both experience points to raise various statistics; and the game's currency for purchasing new weapons, armor and items. As the player invests, the number of souls required increases. Along with souls, players can retrieve items such as weaponry and ore for upgrading.


title: Demon's Souls

text: When a player is killed during a level, they are sent to the beginning of the level with all non-boss enemies re-spawned, while the player returns in soul form with lower maximum health and the loss of all unused souls. If the player manages to reach their bloodstain at the point where they were last killed, they regain their lost souls. However, if they are killed before then, the souls are lost permanently. Upon defeating a boss, the player can choose to re-spawn back to that location, marked in the form of an Archstone. When not exploring a level, players reside in the Nexus, a realm that acts as a hub where players can exchange souls, store items and travel between regions. After completing the initial portion of the first region, players can choose to progress through any other of the newly available regions.


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" makes use of asynchronous multiplayer for those connected to the PlayStation Network. When navigating levels, players briefly see the actions of other players as ghosts in the same area that may show hidden passages or switches. When a player dies, a bloodstain can be left in other players' game world that when activated can show a ghost playing out their final moments, indicating how that person died and potentially helping the player avoid the same fate. Players can leave pre-written messages on the floor that can also help others such as forewarning safe or hostile positions, trap locations and tactics against enemies or bosses, among general comments. Co-operative play allows up to three characters to team up in a host world where visiting players appear in soul form that can only be returned to their bodies when a boss is defeated. In competitive play, players can invade another world as a Black Phantom to engage in combat with the host player. If the Black Phantom kills the host, they can be returned to their body in their own game, whereas if killed themselves, the host gains a portion of the Black Phantom's souls as well as the phantom losing an experience level. Some multiplayer elements are incorporated directly into gameplay events.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Several mechanics in the game are covered by World and Character Tendency. Character Tendency impacts the entire game, while World Tendency only affects a particular region. Character Tendency is influenced by a character's behaviour; starting from neutral, the player can shift their Tendency to black or white. Black tendency is triggered by actions such as killing NPCs and being antagonistic towards other players, in addition to dying repeatedly in a world. White tendency is born from helping others and being supportive to other players, and defeating bosses. World Tendency exists separately from Character Tendency; black tendency raises the difficulty by increasing enemy health while giving more valuable rewards, while white tendency allows more item drops and makes enemies weaker at the cost of rare items. World Tendency is also influenced by the overall Tendency of worlds on servers. At either end of the Tendency spectrum, exclusive events occur and new areas can be unlocked.


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" takes place in the kingdom of Boletaria. In ancient times, due to the misuse of magic known as the Soul Arts, Boletaria was attacked by a being called the Old One. The world was nearly consumed by the magical "Deep Fog" and the soul-eating demons it created. The Old One was eventually lulled to slumber, saving what remained of Boletaria, while some survivors became long-lived Monumentals to warn future generations. In the game's present, Boletaria's ruler King Allant restored the Soul Arts, awakening the Old One and its demon army. Boletaria is now being consumed by demons, with those humans without souls turning into insane monsters. Players take the role of an adventurer entering the fog engulfing Boletaria. After being killed, the player wakes up in the Nexus and meets a benevolent demon called the Maiden in Black, as well as various other characters.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Now bound to the Nexus until the Old One is returned to slumber, the player travels to five regions of Boletaria, killing the powerful demons controlling those areas and absorbing their souls to increase their power so they can face King Allant. However, the King Allant the player faces is revealed to be a demon imposter. After defeating the false King Allant, the Maiden in Black takes the player—now dubbed the "Slayer of Demons"—to the Old One. The Slayer of Demons faces the true King Allant, who has been transformed into a helpless blob-like demon, within the Old One's body. The Maiden in Black then arrives to put the Old One to sleep again.


title: Demon's Souls

text: If the Slayer of Demons leaves the Old One, they are hailed as the hero of a restored, though damaged, Boletaria, becoming a new Monumental to support the world as the knowledge of Soul Arts is lost. If the Slayer of Demons kills the Maiden in Black, the Slayer becomes a new, powerful demon in service to the Old One to sate their hunger for souls as the fog continues to spread.


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" was developed by FromSoftware, a developer noted for creating the "King's Field" and "Armored Core" series. The project was first proposed and supported by Japan Studio. "Demon's Souls" was directed by Hidetaka Miyazaki, who had joined the company in 2004 and worked as a coder on the "Armored Core" series. The game was co-produced by FromSoftware's Masanori Takeuchi and Sony's Takeshi Kajii. The concept of reviving a "lost breed of action game" was first proposed by Kajii. Due to the team lacking a coherent vision, the original project had run into difficulties. Hearing about a high fantasy role-playing game which was considered a failure within the company, Miyazaki decided that if he could take over the project he could take it in any direction he wanted. Since it was already flagging, it did not matter if his own efforts failed. Including this early work, production of the game took approximately three years. The team was made up of veteran developers and older staff members.


title: Demon's Souls

text: The initial concept for "Demon's Souls" came from FromSoftware's "King's Field" series, with Miyazaki citing its dark tone and high difficulty as the main inspirations for the game. Despite these inspirations, Miyazaki did not want to connect "Demon's Souls" to "King's Field", and despite his urging otherwise many have termed the game as a spiritual successor to "King's Field", while "USgamer" also notes similarities to FromSoftware's "" (2002). Miyazaki hoped to take gaming back to its basics, creating a challenging gameplay-based experience he felt was dying out in the gaming market of the time. He wanted to create a game which would recreate the dark fantasy and hardcore feel of classic RPG titles (such as the "King's Field" and "Wizardry" series) on modern consoles, along with incorporated online elements. Miyazaki acknowledged some similarities to other video games such as "Monster Hunter" and "Bushido Blade", but said the team did not have any specific video game influences in mind when creating "Demon's Souls". After the first design documents were created, the game concept changed little during development. The final game did not come together in a playable form until very late in development, and even then there were network and framerate problems. The team were given a high amount of creative freedom, only possible due to what Kajii called "fortunate timing and release schedules".


title: Demon's Souls

text: The Souls system was a frequent subject of discussion during development, with the current system being decided upon as there being no risk of loss for souls would rob the game of any accomplishment for players. The unconventional death mechanics forced Miyazaki to carefully phrase the Soul mechanic during design document pitches to Sony, as he was worried they would insist on changes if they knew the full details. When creating the high difficulty, Miyazaki kept quiet about that aspect when talking with Sony, as he was sure they would insist upon the difficulty being lowered. He talked it over with Kajii, who agreed to keep that aspect quiet until release. Despite its reputation as a hard game, Miyazaki never intended the game to be hard, instead aiming for a challenging and rewarding experience for players. One scrapped idea was to introduce permanent death, but this was seen by staff as going too far. Variety was added to combat by changing how different weapons affected the character's movements, similar to "". All the bosses were designed based on a simple premise, in addition to being "varied and exciting".


title: Demon's Souls

text: The multiplayer mechanics were inspired by Miyazaki's experience of driving on a hillside after some heavy snow. When cars ahead stopped and started slipping back, they were deliberately bumped into and pushed up the hill by the cars behind them, thus allowing the traffic to flow. Unable to give his appreciation to the drivers before leaving the area, he wondered whether the last person in the line had made it to their destination, thinking that he would probably never meet those people again. Miyazaki wanted to emulate a sense of silent cooperation in the face of adversity. This gave birth to the Phantom systems, with the implementation of Black and Blue Phantoms designed to increase the variety of experience of players. The messaging system was intended to be nonintrusive, with Miyazaki comparing them to text messages. This system proved difficult for Miyazaki to explain to Sony, with him eventually comparing his messaging to the brevity of an email over a phone call so executives could understand it. The team wanted to avoid the formation of questing parties between players; the multiplayer was designed more to enhance the single-player content rather than be a separate mode. The Old Monk battle, which involved summoning another player as a Black Phantom during the boss battle, caused trouble due to the high number of bugs the team needed to sort out.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Describing the narrative, Kajii said the team's aim was to "sidestep preset narrative" to focus on gameplay. The world view and tone of the world drew from that of "King's Field". The tone was influenced by both Miyazaki and Kajii, who were both fans of dark fantasy. When creating the world, Miyazaki drew inspiration from European folklore and mythology, contrasting with the trend of Japanese action RPGs to use Japanese folklore. Direct influences included Arthurian and Germanic folklore, the fantasy movies "Conan the Barbarian" and "Excalibur", and the artwork of Frank Frazetta. The team were also influenced by old gamebooks. This darker art style was partly influenced by their goals with the gameplay. The art style was also influenced by Western titles more than those from Japan. The Maiden in Black was put in at Kajii's request as he wanted a heroine as part of the narrative. As she would be seen in close-up and eyes were the weakest aspect of character models, the team designed her without eyes. Miyazaki had several more worlds in his early design, with the latest to be cut being a world called the Library and an outside area for the Nexus. The Tower of Latria and Valley of Defilement were built around the respective themes of man-made and natural evil.


title: Demon's Souls

text: The fully orchestrated music was composed by Shunsuke Kida, who had worked on few video games but was famous for composing music for several Japanese television series. He was brought on board due to his skill at orchestral composition. The music was dark in tone, with many pieces for solo violin or piano, while other tracks made use of a full orchestra. The vocal work was all choral, maintaining the game's dark atmosphere. Three tracks included vocal work from Japanese singer Kokia.


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" was first announced in early October 2008 through that week's issue of "Famitsu", with the game being playable at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) the following week. Reaction to the TGS demo was described by Kajii as "nothing short of a disaster" due to its unexpectedly challenging nature. Many people assumed the game's combat was still in development, with Kajii lamenting that the game was unsuited for a demo environment. Sony president Shuhei Yoshida was also dismissive of the game. When he play-tested it, he spent two hours playing the game and failed to get beyond the starting area. Believing it to be simply poor quality, he called it "an unbelievably bad game".


title: Demon's Souls

text: "Demon's Souls" released in Japan on February 5, 2009 by Sony Computer Entertainment Japan. Due to negative feedback from Sony staff and the Japanese press, Sony decided against localizing the game for Western markets, a decision Sony and Yoshida in particular later regretted. Sony did create an English text version of the game for the Asian market. This version was translated by Active Gaming Media. The Chinese language version was released on February 26.


title: Demon's Souls

text: The game's voice acting was in English for all versions. Due to its Medieval European setting, the team decided against using American English actors, asking Sony to handle that aspect. Most of the actors were Scottish. The game was again localized from Japanese to English by Active Gaming Media. Active Gaming Media's James Mountain was the game's primary translator. He tried to translate and localize the dialogue as naturally as possible. While he never saw any art or video assets from the game, he interpreted the original text's tone to a "knights, dragons, demons-type action-oriented RPG". With this in mind, he included archaic words such as "thee" "thy" and "thou". His early draft used a lot of archaic dialogue, but upon a second look Mountain decided to rewrite parts of this as they felt lacking.


title: Demon's Souls

text: The game was licensed for release in North America by Atlus USA. While Sony was reluctant to license out a game for third-party publishing, it wanted the game to find a suitable niche and first-party publishing was no longer an option. The North American localization mainly addressed "grammar/inaccuracy issues" from the overseas version. Atlus USA was aware of the game's high difficulty, but was impressed by the game's quality and decided to take it on. Also due to the high difficulty, it planned for conservative sales figures. The game released in North America on October 6, coming in both standard and limited edition.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Before the game's release in the United States, publication in PAL-region territories was made unclear after Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Atlus announced that they both had no plans to publish the game. On April 16, 2010, Namco Bandai Partners, a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Games, signed an agreement deal with Sony Computer Entertainment to allow the former to distribute and publish the title in PAL territories. The European version came in standard and limited editions. The game was released across PAL territories, including Europe and Australia, on June 25.


title: Demon's Souls

text: The North American servers for "Demon's Souls" were originally planned for shutdown in October 2011, two years after the game's release in the region. Atlus decided a month before to keep the servers running until May the following year. Later, after unspecified new developments, Atlus announced that it would keep the servers running "indefinitely". They were finally discontinued worldwide in February 2018. Their discontinuation meant the end of multiplayer functionality, messaging, and the World Tendency mechanics. A few months after the servers went offline, a group of fans created a private server which restored all online functions.


title: Demon's Souls

text: A remake by Bluepoint Games for the PlayStation 5 was announced at the console's reveal event in June 2020. Production on the remake began following completion of the studio's 2018 remake of "Shadow of the Colossus". "Demon's Souls" released as a launch title for the console on November 12, 2020.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Upon its release in Japan, "Demon's Souls" was generally well received by critics. "Dengeki" scored the game 95/85/85/85, adding up to 350 out of 400, saying that "fans of old-school games will shed tears of joy." "Famitsu" gave it 29 out of 40 (9/7/7/6), with an editor Paint Yamamoto scoring it a 9 and calling it "a game you learn how to play by losing – you'll face sudden death frequently. But! Keep playing... and you'll realize how deep it really is." However, another editor, Maria Kichiji, gave it a 6 and found the game to be "far too stoic... it's not a game for everybody."


title: Demon's Souls

text: Upon release in North America, the game received critical acclaim with an average critic score of at Metacritic. Despite the game's high difficulty, many reviewers found it to be a positive aspect, making the game more rewarding to play. "GameSpot" called the high difficulty "fair", saying players will "undoubtedly take a lot of damage until you learn the subtleties of fighting each enemy, but combat feels just right." "IGN" echoed this view, saying that players who "can remember the good ol' days when games taught through the highly effective use of negative reinforcement and a heavy price for not playing it carefully should scoop this up instantly." "Game Informer" called it "one of the first truly great Japanese RPGs of this generation, and certainly the most remarkable." "Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine" however, while commending the game overall, said "Demon's Souls" was "best left to the most masochistic, hardcore gamer."


title: Demon's Souls

text: GameZone commented on the online aspect as being "innovative" and "perfectly blended into the game", while "Game Revolution" felt it "turns a solitary experience into a surprisingly communal one." On the technical and design side "GamesRadar" called it "graphically stunning, too, looking more like the old Ultima games than anything that’s ever come out of Japan," while "GameTrailers" said the game "nails the dark fantasy look" along with what they considered "music from actual instruments", although they mentioned certain issues with the physics engine being "jittery". Shortly after its North American release, "ScrewAttack" named "Demon's Souls" as the eighth best PS3 exclusive to date.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Prior to the game's release in Europe, European critics reviewed import copies. "Eurogamer" called "Demon's Souls" "stoic, uncompromising, difficult to get to know, but also deep, intriguingly disturbed and perversely rewarding" while "Edge" explained their positive view on the difficulty by stating "if gaming’s ultimate appeal lies in the learning and mastering of new skills, then surely the medium’s keenest thrills are to be found in its hardest lessons", concluding "for those who flourish under Demon’s Souls’ strict examination, there's no greater sense of virtual achievement."


title: Demon's Souls

text: During its first week on sale, "Demon's Souls" debuted at second place in the charts with over 39,000 units sold, coming in behind the previous week's top-seller "". The game sold through 95% of its shipment during its debut, selling out in several stores. According to Miyazaki, initial sales for "Demon's Souls" were slow in Japan, which combined with negative reactions from trade shows made the team fearful that the game would be a failure. However, positive word of mouth eventually allowed the game to sell over 100,000 copies, which the team considered a success. It sold 134,585 copies in Japan by December 2009.


title: Demon's Souls

text: Atlus had estimated the game's sales at 75,000 units, only preparing initial shipments of 15,000 units before positive word of mouth and critical acclaim caused sales to take off. In North America, the game was the eleventh best-selling title during its month of release, posting sales of 150,000 units. By March 2010, the game had sold 250,000 copies in North America. According to Atlus, the game sold triple their original estimates by April 2010. During their fiscal year report, Atlus' parent company Index Corporation reported profits of over $3 million. This was almost entirely attributed to the commercial success of "Demon's Souls". In September 2010, Atlus announced that "Demon's Souls" would be released in North America under the Sony Greatest Hits label with a price cut following strong sales, higher than previously expected by the publisher. Its status indicated regional sales of over 500,000 units.


title: Demon's Souls

text: In the United Kingdom, the game's special edition sold out very fast apart from "dribs and drabs". This was classed as a success by Namco Bandai Partners, particularly due to the long delay between the North American and European releases. While units sold did not reach hundreds of thousands at the time, Namco Bandai were confident in the game's future commercial success. "Demon's Souls" favorable review scores made the fiscal performance of the game unique because of the lack of a supporting marketing campaign. Gaming analyst Jesse Divnich commented ""Demon's Souls" is probably one of the most statistically relevant games released in the gaming world as it helps answer an often asked question: how much would a high quality game sell if it was supported by no mass marketing, released by a little known publisher, and was a new intellectual property." As of 2011, the game has sold over one million copies worldwide.