What is the alternate name for the Dell Solution Station?

Dell service and support brands include the Dell Solution Station (extended domestic support services, previously "Dell on Call"), Dell Support Center (extended support services abroad), Dell Business Support (a commercial service-contract that provides an industry-certified technician with a lower call-volume than in normal queues), Dell Everdream Desktop Management ("Software as a Service" remote-desktop management, originally a SaaS company founded by Elon Musk's cousin, Lyndon Rive, which Dell bought in 2007), and Your Tech Team (a support-queue available to home users who purchased their systems either through Dell's website or through Dell phone-centers).


What Dell service offers certified technicians to tackle commercial technical support?


What Dell service offers remote desktop management?


What is the name of the Dell service that gives home-users a support queue?


What year did Dell lose its tech lead to Hewlett-Packard?

In late 2006[update], Dell lost its lead in the PC-business to Hewlett-Packard. Both Gartner and IDC estimated that in the third quarter of 2006, HP shipped more units worldwide than Dell did. Dell's 3.6% growth paled in comparison to HP's 15% growth during the same period. The problem got worse in the fourth quarter, when Gartner estimated that Dell PC shipments declined 8.9% (versus HP's 23.9% growth). As a result, at the end of 2006 Dell's overall PC market-share stood at 13.9% (versus HP's 17.4%).


What was HP's growth during the third quarter of 2006?


What was the rate of decline that Dell experienced in PC shipments?


What was Dell's market share at the end of 2006?


What toxic chemical did Dell set to eliminate from its products?

Dell was the first company to publicly state a timeline for the elimination of toxic polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which it planned to phase out by the end of 2009. It revised this commitment and now aims to remove these toxics by the end of 2011 but only in its computing products. In March 2010, Greenpeace activists protested at Dell offices in Bangalore, Amsterdam and Copenhagen calling for Dell’s founder and CEO Michael Dell to ‘drop the toxics’ and claiming that Dell’s aspiration to be ‘the greenest technology company on the planet’ was ‘hypocritical’. Dell has launched its first products completely free of PVC and BFRs with the G-Series monitors (G2210 and G2410) in 2009.


By what year does Dell plan to remove chemicals from its computers?


What activists protested at Dell's offices in response to the usage of toxic chemicals?


What year did Dell launch its first products that were free of toxic chemicals?


What percentage of Dell support calls were transferred?

In 2006, Dell acknowledged that it had problems with customer service. Issues included call transfers of more than 45% of calls and long wait times. Dell's blog detailed the response: "We're spending more than a $100 million — and a lot of blood, sweat and tears of talented people — to fix this." Later in the year, the company increased its spending on customer service to $150 million. Despite significant investment in this space, Dell continues to face public scrutiny with even the company's own website littered with complaints regarding the issue escalation process.[original research?]


How much did Dell originally spend to fix their customer service?


What amount did Dell increase its customer service budget to?


What does Dell aim to reduce by creating energy efficient products?

The company aims to reduce its external environmental impact through energy-efficient evolution of products, and also reduce its direct operational impact through energy-efficiency programs. Internal energy-efficiency programs reportedly save the company more than $3 million annually in energy-cost savings. The largest component of the company's internal energy-efficiency savings comes through PC power management: the company expects to save $1.8 million in energy costs through using specialized energy-management software on a network of 50,000 PCs.


How much does energy efficiency save Dell per year?


What is the largest contributor to Dell's energy efficiency savings?


How many PCs does Dell employ energy management software on?


What process begins after a death sentence is handed down at trial?

If a defendant is sentenced to death at the trial level, the case then goes into a direct review. The direct review process is a typical legal appeal. An appellate court examines the record of evidence presented in the trial court and the law that the lower court applied and decides whether the decision was legally sound or not. Direct review of a capital sentencing hearing will result in one of three outcomes. If the appellate court finds that no significant legal errors occurred in the capital sentencing hearing, the appellate court will affirm the judgment, or let the sentence stand. If the appellate court finds that significant legal errors did occur, then it will reverse the judgment, or nullify the sentence and order a new capital sentencing hearing. Lastly, if the appellate court finds that no reasonable juror could find the defendant eligible for the death penalty, a rarity, then it will order the defendant acquitted, or not guilty, of the crime for which he/she was given the death penalty, and order him sentenced to the next most severe punishment for which the offense is eligible. About 60 percent survive the process of direct review intact.


In a direct review, what type of court looks at the record?


How many possible outcomes are there of a capital sentencing direct review?


In a direct review, what court has its record reviewed by the appellate court?


What percentage of convictions survive direct review?


In what year was the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act passed?

Under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, a state prisoner is ordinarily only allowed one suit for habeas corpus in federal court. If the federal courts refuse to issue a writ of habeas corpus, an execution date may be set. In recent times, however, prisoners have postponed execution through a final round of federal litigation using the Civil Rights Act of 1871 — codified at 42 U.S.C. § 1983 — which allows people to bring lawsuits against state actors to protect their federal constitutional and statutory rights.


How many habeas corpus suits does the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act normally allow in federal court?


What is the US Code citation for the Civil Rights Act of 1871?


Why does a litigant initiate a lawsuit under the Civil Rights Act of 1871?


Who was executed by firing squad on January 17, 1977?

The moratorium ended on January 17, 1977 with the shooting of Gary Gilmore by firing squad in Utah. The first use of the electric chair after the moratorium was the electrocution of John Spenkelink in Florida on May 25, 1979. The first use of the gas chamber after the moratorium was the gassing of Jesse Bishop in Nevada on October 22, 1979. The first use of the gallows after the moratorium was the hanging of Westley Allan Dodd in Washington on January 5, 1993. The first use of lethal injection was on December 7, 1982, when Charles Brooks, Jr., was executed in Texas.


In what state was Gary Gilmore executed?


On what date was John Spenkelink executed?


In what state did Jesse Bishop's execution occur?


What was a common nickname for the electric chair?

Electrocution was the preferred method of execution during the 20th century. Electric chairs have commonly been nicknamed Old Sparky; however, Alabama's electric chair became known as the "Yellow Mama" due to its unique color. Some, particularly in Florida, were noted for malfunctions, which caused discussion of their cruelty and resulted in a shift to lethal injection as the preferred method of execution. Although lethal injection dominates as a method of execution, some states allow prisoners on death row to choose the method used to execute them.


What color was Alabama's electric chair?


What state notably had electric chair malfunctions?


Due to electric chair malfunctions, what method of execution became preferred?


Prior to the popularity of lethal injection, what was the preferred method of executing criminals in America?


What state has had only a single execution?

Other states with long histories of no death penalty include Wisconsin (the only state with only one execution), Rhode Island (although later reintroduced, it was unused and abolished again), Maine, North Dakota, Minnesota, West Virginia, Iowa, and Vermont. The District of Columbia has also abolished the death penalty; it was last used in 1957. Oregon abolished the death penalty through an overwhelming majority in a 1964 public referendum but reinstated it in a 1984 joint death penalty/life imprisonment referendum by an even higher margin after a similar 1978 referendum succeeded but was not implemented due to judicial rulings.


When was the last person executed in the District of Columbia?


When did Oregon reinstate the death penalty?


In what year did an Oregon referendum succeed in restoring the death penalty, only to be shot down due to a court ruling?


What state notably abolished the death penalty and then reintroduced it, but didn't use it again?


In the United States, how many murders are there for each execution?

Within the context of the overall murder rate, the death penalty cannot be said to be widely or routinely used in the United States; in recent years the average has been about one execution for about every 700 murders committed, or 1 execution for about every 325 murder convictions. However, 32 of the 50 states still execute people. Among them, Alabama has the highest per capita rate of death sentences. This is due to judges overriding life imprisonment sentences and imposing the death penalty. No other states allow this.


How many murder convictions occur in the US per execution?


How many states in the US have the death penalty?


What state has the highest rate of death sentences per person?


What does Alabama law allow judges to do that isn't allowed in other states?


What territory's constitution says "The death penalty shall not exist"?

Puerto Rico's constitution expressly forbids capital punishment, stating "The death penalty shall not exist", setting it apart from all U.S. states and territories other than Michigan, which also has a constitutional prohibition (eleven other states and the District of Columbia have abolished capital punishment through statutory law). However, capital punishment is still applicable to offenses committed in Puerto Rico, if they fall under the jurisdiction of the federal government, though federal death penalty prosecutions there have generated significant controversy.


What US state prohibits the death penalty in its constitution?


How many US states have passed laws outlawing the death penalty?


Under what jurisdiction can capital offenses still be committed in Puerto Rico?


In what year was the death penalty suspended in the US?

Capital punishment was suspended in the United States from 1972 through 1976 primarily as a result of the Supreme Court's decision in Furman v. Georgia. The last pre-Furman execution was that of Luis Monge on June 2, 1967. In this case, the court found that the death penalty was being imposed in an unconstitutional manner, on the grounds of cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Supreme Court has never ruled the death penalty to be per se unconstitutional.


What Supreme Court case resulted in capital punishment being suspended?


What amendment to the United States Constitution forbids cruel and unusual punishment?


In what year was the suspension of the death penalty in the United States ended?


What state's law says that death sentences must take place in an "enclosure"?

Present-day statutes from across the nation use the same words and phrases, requiring modern executions to take place within a wall or enclosure to exclude public view. Connecticut General Statute § 54–100 requires death sentences to be conducted in an "enclosure" which "shall be so constructed as to exclude public view." Kentucky Revised Statute 431.220 and Missouri Revised Statute § 546.730 contain substantially identical language. New Mexico's former death penalty, since repealed, see N.M. Stat. § 31-14-12, required executions be conducted in a "room or place enclosed from public view." Similarly, a dormant Massachusetts law, see Mass. Gen. Law ch. 279 § 60, required executions to take place "within an enclosure or building." North Carolina General Statute § 15-188 requires death sentences to be executed "within the walls" of the penitentiary, as do Oklahoma Statute Title 22 § 1015 and Montana Code § 46-19-103. Ohio Revised Code § 2949.22 requires that "[t]he enclosure shall exclude public view." Similarly, Tennessee Code § 40-23-116 requires "an enclosure" for "strict seclusion and privacy." United States Code Title 18 § 3596 and the Code of Federal Regulations 28 CFR 26.4 limit the witnesses permitted at federal executions.


What state's law requires that capital punishment occur "within the walls" of a penitentiary?


What law has similar language to Missouri Revised Statute § 546.730?


Along with United States Code Title 18 § 3596, what federal law limits the people who can witness a federal execution?


What state's law mandated that executions occur in ""room or place enclosed from public view"?


In what year was Gregg v. Georgia decided?

In 1976, contemporaneously with Woodson and Roberts, the Court decided Gregg v. Georgia and upheld a procedure in which the trial of capital crimes was bifurcated into guilt-innocence and sentencing phases. At the first proceeding, the jury decides the defendant's guilt; if the defendant is innocent or otherwise not convicted of first-degree murder, the death penalty will not be imposed. At the second hearing, the jury determines whether certain statutory aggravating factors exist, whether any mitigating factors exist, and, in many jurisdictions, weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors in assessing the ultimate penalty – either death or life in prison, either with or without parole.


Along with the guilt-innocence phase, what is the other phase of a death penalty trial under Gregg v. Georgia?


What is the only conviction that can lead to the death penalty?


Along with aggravating factors, what other factors are considered at the second hearing?


What is decided at the first proceeding?


Possibly in part due to expedited federal habeas corpus procedures embodied in the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the pace of executions picked up, reaching a peak of 98 in 1999 and then they declined gradually to 28 in 2015. Since the death penalty was reauthorized in 1976, 1,411 people have been executed, almost exclusively by the states, with most occurring after 1990. Texas has accounted for over one-third of modern executions (although only two death sentences were imposed in Texas during 2015, with the courts preferring to issue sentences of life without parole instead) and over four times as many as Oklahoma, the state with the second-highest number. California has the greatest number of prisoners on death row, has issued the highest number of death sentences but has held relatively few executions.


What was the number of people executed in 2015?


In what year did the reauthorization of capital punishment occur?


How many people have been executed in the United States since 1976?


Which state has the largest number of people awaiting execution?


In November 2008, who was on death penalty without a murder conviction?

As of November 2008, there is only one person on death row facing capital punishment who has not been convicted of murder. Demarcus Sears remains under a death sentence in Georgia for the crime of "kidnapping with bodily injury." Sears was convicted in 1986 for the kidnapping and bodily injury of victim Gloria Ann Wilbur. Wilbur was kidnapped and beaten in Georgia, raped in Tennessee, and murdered in Kentucky. Sears was never charged with the murder of Wilbur in Kentucky, but was sentenced to death by a jury in Georgia for "kidnapping with bodily injury."


In what state was Gloria Ann Wilbur murdered?


In what year was Demarcus Sears convicted of kidnapping?


A jury in what state sentenced Demarcus Sears to death?


When a prisoner is given a death sentence in a state, what is the first step of collateral review?

At times when a death sentence is affirmed on direct review, it is considered final. Yet, supplemental methods to attack the judgment, though less familiar than a typical appeal, do remain. These supplemental remedies are considered collateral review, that is, an avenue for upsetting judgments that have become otherwise final. Where the prisoner received his death sentence in a state-level trial, as is usually the case, the first step in collateral review is state collateral review. (If the case is a federal death penalty case, it proceeds immediately from direct review to federal habeas corpus.) Although all states have some type of collateral review, the process varies widely from state to state. Generally, the purpose of these collateral proceedings is to permit the prisoner to challenge his sentence on grounds that could not have been raised reasonably at trial or on direct review. Most often these are claims, such as ineffective assistance of counsel, which requires the court to consider new evidence outside the original trial record, something courts may not do in an ordinary appeal. State collateral review, though an important step in that it helps define the scope of subsequent review through federal habeas corpus, is rarely successful in and of itself. Only around 6 percent of death sentences are overturned on state collateral review. In 2010, the death sentences of 53 inmates were overturned as a result of legal appeals or high court reversals.


About what percentage of capital convictions are overturned due to state collateral review?


In 2010, how many death sentences were overturned due to reversals from courts or appeals?


What is an example of an issue that is raised in collateral review?


In what case did the Supreme Court allow Section 1983 to be used to challenge a method of execution?

Traditionally, Section 1983 was of limited use for a state prisoner under sentence of death because the Supreme Court has held that habeas corpus, not Section 1983, is the only vehicle by which a state prisoner can challenge his judgment of death. In the 2006 Hill v. McDonough case, however, the United States Supreme Court approved the use of Section 1983 as a vehicle for challenging a state's method of execution as cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment. The theory is that a prisoner bringing such a challenge is not attacking directly his judgment of death, but rather the means by which that the judgment will be carried out. Therefore, the Supreme Court held in the Hill case that a prisoner can use Section 1983 rather than habeas corpus to bring the lawsuit. Yet, as Clarence Hill's own case shows, lower federal courts have often refused to hear suits challenging methods of execution on the ground that the prisoner brought the claim too late and only for the purposes of delay. Further, the Court's decision in Baze v. Rees, upholding a lethal injection method used by many states, has drastically narrowed the opportunity for relief through Section 1983.


In what year was Hill v. McDonough decided?


What amendment of the Constitution does cruel and unusual punishment violate?


What case notably upheld the use of a method of lethal injection?


Along with Section 1983, through what means can a convict on death row challenge his execution?


How many people were killed in the largest mass execution in US history?

The largest single execution in United States history was the hanging of 38 American Indians convicted of murder and rape during the Dakota War of 1862. They were executed simultaneously on December 26, 1862, in Mankato, Minnesota. A single blow from an axe cut the rope that held the large four-sided platform, and the prisoners (except for one whose rope had broken and who had to be re-hanged) fell to their deaths. The second-largest mass execution was also a hanging: the execution of 13 African-American soldiers for taking part in the Houston Riot of 1917. The largest non-military mass execution occurred in one of the original thirteen colonies in 1723, when 26 convicted pirates were hanged in Newport, Rhode Island by order of the Admiralty Court.


On what date did the largest mass execution in American history take place?


In what state did the largest American mass execution occur?


What was the ethnicity of the people executed in the second-largest mass execution in US history?


In what year did the Admiralty Court hang 26 pirates in Newport, Rhode Island?


What act restricted the scope of federal habeas corpus?

After a death sentence is affirmed in state collateral review, the prisoner may file for federal habeas corpus, which is a unique type of lawsuit that can be brought in federal courts. Federal habeas corpus is a species of collateral review, and it is the only way that state prisoners may attack a death sentence in federal court (other than petitions for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court after both direct review and state collateral review). The scope of federal habeas corpus is governed by the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which restricted significantly its previous scope. The purpose of federal habeas corpus is to ensure that state courts, through the process of direct review and state collateral review, have done at least a reasonable job in protecting the prisoner's federal constitutional rights. Prisoners may also use federal habeas corpus suits to bring forth new evidence that they are innocent of the crime, though to be a valid defense at this late stage in the process, evidence of innocence must be truly compelling.


How may state prisoners seek to have a death sentence overturned in federal court?


In what courts can federal habeas corpus suits be brought?


If prisoners use federal habeas corpus to present evidence that they're innocent, what must the evidence be?


Along with New Jersey, what state commuted all life sentences when bills to repeal the death penalty were passed?

In New Jersey and Illinois, all death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life in prison without parole when the death penalty repeal bills were signed into law. In Maryland, Governor Martin O'Malley commuted the state's four remaining death sentences to life in prison without parole in January 2015. While the bill repealing capital punishment in Connecticut was not retroactive, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in 2015 in State v. Santiago that the legislature's decision to prospectively abolish capital punishment rendered it an offense to "evolving standards of decency," thus commuting the sentences of the 11 men remaining on death row to life in prison without parole. New Mexico may yet execute two condemned inmates sentenced prior to abolition, and Nebraska has ten death row inmates who may still be executed despite abolition.


The governor of what state commuted four death sentences in January 2015?


Who was governor of Maryland in January 2015?


In what state's supreme court was State v. Santiago decided?


How many people had their sentences commuted by State v. Santiago?


In what court was Bigby v. Dretke decided?

The United States Supreme Court in Penry v. Lynaugh and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Bigby v. Dretke have been clear in their decisions that jury instructions in death penalty cases that do not ask about mitigating factors regarding the defendant's mental health violate the defendant's Eighth Amendment rights, saying that the jury is to be instructed to consider mitigating factors when answering unrelated questions. This ruling suggests that specific explanations to the jury are necessary to weigh mitigating factors.


What court heard the case Penry v. Lynaugh?


What amendment to the Constitution did Penry v. Lynaugh address?


What sentencing factors did Bigby v. Dretke consider?


In what year was Tony Chebatoris killed?

Several states have never had capital punishment, the first being Michigan, which abolished it shortly after entering the Union. (However, the United States government executed Tony Chebatoris at the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan in 1938.) Article 4, Section 46 of Michigan's fourth Constitution (ratified in 1963; effective in 1964) prohibits any law providing for the penalty of death. Attempts to change the provision have failed. In 2004, a constitutional amendment proposed to allow capital punishment in some circumstances failed to make it on the November ballot after a resolution failed in the legislature and a public initiative failed to gather enough signatures.


When was Michigan's fourth Constitution ratified?


In what city was Tony Chebatoris executed?


In what year was there a failed Michigan constitutional amendment to allow the death penalty?


What article of the fourth Michigan Constitution forbids laws allowing capital punishment?


Under what federal statute are offenses punished by lethal injection?

The method of execution of federal prisoners for offenses under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 is that of the state in which the conviction took place. If the state has no death penalty, the judge must choose a state with the death penalty for carrying out the execution. For offenses under the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988, the method of execution is lethal injection. The Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana is currently the home of the only death chamber for federal death penalty recipients in the United States, where inmates are put to death by lethal injection. The complex has so far been the only location used for federal executions post-Gregg. Timothy McVeigh and Juan Garza were put to death in June 2001, and Louis Jones, Jr. was put to death on March 18, 2003.


According to what law are federal prisoners executed according to the procedures in place in the state in which they were convicted?


In what month and year was Juan Garza executed?


Who was executed by the federal government on March 18, 2003?


In what state is the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute?


In what year did the American Law Institute create a death penalty framework for the Model Penal Code?

In October 2009, the American Law Institute voted to disavow the framework for capital punishment that it had created in 1962, as part of the Model Penal Code, "in light of the current intractable institutional and structural obstacles to ensuring a minimally adequate system for administering capital punishment." A study commissioned by the institute had said that experience had proved that the goal of individualized decisions about who should be executed and the goal of systemic fairness for minorities and others could not be reconciled.


In what year did the American Law Institute change their mind about their contribution on the death penalty to the Model Penal Code?


What goal did the ALI's study say could not be reconciled with the goal of individualized execution decisions?


In what year was Coker v. Georgia decided?

In 1977, the Supreme Court's Coker v. Georgia decision barred the death penalty for rape of an adult woman, and implied that the death penalty was inappropriate for any offense against another person other than murder. Prior to the decision, the death penalty for rape of an adult had been gradually phased out in the United States, and at the time of the decision, the State of Georgia and the U.S. Federal government were the only two jurisdictions to still retain the death penalty for that offense. However, three states maintained the death penalty for child rape, as the Coker decision only imposed a ban on executions for the rape of an adult woman. In 2008, the Kennedy v. Louisiana decision barred the death penalty for child rape. The result of these two decisions means that the death penalty in the United States is largely restricted to cases where the defendant took the life of another human being. The current federal kidnapping statute, however, may be exempt because the death penalty applies if the victim dies in the perpetrator's custody, not necessarily by his hand, thus stipulating a resulting death, which was the wording of the objection. In addition, the Federal government retains the death penalty for non-murder offenses that are considered crimes against the state, including treason, espionage, and crimes under military jurisdiction.


For what offense did Coker v. Georgia forbid the death penalty?


Along with Georgia, what American jurisdiction allowed people to be executed for the rape of an adult prior to Coker?


What ruling forbid the government from executing child rapists?


Prior to Kennedy v. Louisiana, how many states criminalized child rape?


In what year was Nebraska's death penalty statute ruled unconstitutional by a state court?

Four states in the modern era, Nebraska in 2008, New York and Kansas in 2004, and Massachusetts in 1984, had their statutes ruled unconstitutional by state courts. The death rows of New York and Massachusetts were disestablished, and attempts to restore the death penalty were unsuccessful. Kansas successfully appealed State v. Kleypas, the Kansas Supreme Court decision that declared the state's death penalty statute unconstitutional, to the United States Supreme Court. Nebraska's death penalty statute was rendered ineffective on February 8, 2008 when the required method, electrocution, was ruled unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court. In 2009, Nebraska enacted a bill that changed its method of execution to lethal injection.


What state's court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional in 1984?


In what case did the Kansas Supreme Court rule that the death penalty is unconstitutional in Kansas?


What method of execution did the Nebraska Supreme Court rule unconstitutional?


After electrocution was outlawed, how were Nebraska death row inmates executed?


What death penalty drug ceased to be manufactured in 2011?

In the 2010s, American jurisdictions have experienced a shortage of lethal injection drugs, due to anti-death penalty advocacy and low production volume. Hospira, the only U.S. manufacturer of sodium thiopental, stopped making the drug in 2011. The European Union has outlawed the export of any product that could be used in an execution; this has prevented executioners from using EU-manufactured anesthetics like propofol which are needed for general medical purposes. Another alternative, pentobarbital, is also only manufactured in the European Union, which has caused the Danish producer to restrict distribution to U.S. government customers.


Up until 2011, who manufactured sodium thiopental?


What is the nationality of the company that makes pentobarbital?


Along with anti-death penalty advocacy, why has there been a shortage in drugs for lethal injections in the United States?


The EU outlawed the export of products that could be used in what activity?


In what year did the most polled American support capital punishment?

As noted in the introduction to this article, the American public has maintained its position of support for capital punishment for murder. However, when given a choice between the death penalty and life imprisonment without parole, support has traditionally been significantly lower than polling which has only mentioned the death penalty as a punishment. In 2010, for instance, one poll showed 49 percent favoring the death penalty and 46 percent favoring life imprisonment while in another 61% said they preferred another punishment to the death penalty. The highest level of support for the death penalty recorded overall was 80 percent in 1994 (16 percent opposed), and the lowest recorded was 42 percent in 1966 (47 percent opposed). On the question of the death penalty vs. life without parole, the strongest preference for the death penalty was 61 percent in 1997 (29 percent favoring life), and the lowest preference for the death penalty was 47 percent in 2006 (48 percent favoring life).


What percentage of polled Americans opposed the death penalty in 1966?


In a 1977 poll, what percentage of respondents preferred life imprisonment to the death penalty?


In a 2006 poll, what percentage of polled Americans preferred the death penalty to life without parole?


What is a notable capital crime in Louisiana?

Other capital crimes include: the use of a weapon of mass destruction resulting in death, espionage, terrorism, certain violations of the Geneva Conventions that result in the death of one or more persons, and treason at the federal level; aggravated rape in Louisiana, Florida, and Oklahoma; extortionate kidnapping in Oklahoma; aggravated kidnapping in Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky and South Carolina; aircraft hijacking in Alabama and Mississippi; assault by an escaping capital felon in Colorado; armed robbery in Georgia; drug trafficking resulting in a person's death in Florida; train wrecking which leads to a person's death, and perjury which leads to a person's death in California, Colorado, Idaho and Nebraska.


In what state is extortionate kidnapping a capital offense?


Along with Alabama, where is hijacking an aircraft a death penalty offense?


In what state is armed robbery a capital crime?


In what states is perjury leading to death a capital offense?


Along with Marshall, who believed that the Eighth Amendment forbade the death penalty?

In a five-to-four decision, the Supreme Court struck down the impositions of the death penalty in each of the consolidated cases as unconstitutional. The five justices in the majority did not produce a common opinion or rationale for their decision, however, and agreed only on a short statement announcing the result. The narrowest opinions, those of Byron White and Potter Stewart, expressed generalized concerns about the inconsistent application of the death penalty across a variety of cases but did not exclude the possibility of a constitutional death penalty law. Stewart and William O. Douglas worried explicitly about racial discrimination in enforcement of the death penalty. Thurgood Marshall and William J. Brennan, Jr. expressed the opinion that the death penalty was proscribed absolutely by the Eighth Amendment as "cruel and unusual" punishment.


Along with Stewart, what Supreme Court justice was concerned about racial disparity in death penalty enforcement?


Aside from Stewart, what justice believed that the death penalty could be constitutional?


Between 1973 and 2015, how amny prisoners were acquitted or received pardons or commutations of their death sentences due to possible innocence?

In total, 156 prisoners have been either acquitted, or received pardons or commutations on the basis of possible innocence, between 1973 to 2015. Death penalty opponents often argue that this statistic shows how perilously close states have come to undertaking wrongful executions; proponents point out that the statistic refers only to those exonerated in law, and that the truly innocent may be a smaller number. Statistics likely understate the actual problem of wrongful convictions because once an execution has occurred there is often insufficient motivation and finance to keep a case open, and it becomes unlikely at that point that the miscarriage of justice will ever be exposed.


What percentage of murderers in the United States are given a death sentence?

The death penalty is sought and applied more often in some jurisdictions, not only between states but within states. A 2004 Cornell University study showed that while 2.5 percent of murderers convicted nationwide were sentenced to the death penalty, in Nevada 6 percent were given the death penalty. Texas gave 2 percent of murderers a death sentence, less than the national average. Texas, however, executed 40 percent of those sentenced, which was about four times higher than the national average. California had executed only 1 percent of those sentenced.


How many murderers in Nevada were given a capital sentence?


What state notably executes 40% of those given the death penalty?


How much higher is the rate of execution in Texas versus the national average?


What percentage of murderers in California are given the death penalty and subsequently executed?


Under the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988 and Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, about how many crimes were punishable by death?

Congress acted defiantly toward the Supreme Court by passing the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988 and the Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994 that made roughly fifty crimes punishable by death, including crimes that do not always involve the death of someone. Such non-death capital offenses include treason, espionage (spying for another country), and high-level drug trafficking. Since no one has yet been sentenced to death for such non-death capital offenses, the Supreme Court has not ruled on their constitutionality.


What body passed the Drug Kingpin Act of 1988?


What is another term for the act of spying for another country?


Along with treason and espionage, what non-death offense is still a federal capital crime?


Executions resumed on January 17, 1977, when Gary Gilmore went before a firing squad in Utah. But the pace was quite slow due to the use of litigation tactics which involved filing repeated writs of habeas corpus, which succeeded for many in delaying their actual execution for many years. Although hundreds of individuals were sentenced to death in the United States during the 1970s and early 1980s, only ten people besides Gilmore (who had waived all of his appeal rights) were actually executed prior to 1984.


By what method was Gary Gilmore executed?


Aside from Gary Gilmore, how many people were executed in the United States between January 17, 1977 and 1984?


What tactic did inmates on death row use to delay their executions?


In what month and year was Troy Davis executed?

After the September 2011 execution of Troy Davis, believed by many to be innocent, Richard Dieter, the director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said this case was a clear wake-up call to politicians across the United States. He said: "They weren't expecting such passion from people in opposition to the death penalty. There's a widely held perception that all Americans are united in favor of executions, but this message came across loud and clear that many people are not happy with it." Brian Evans of Amnesty International, which led the campaign to spare Davis's life, said that there was a groundswell in America of people "who are tired of a justice system that is inhumane and inflexible and allows executions where there is clear doubts about guilt". He predicted the debate would now be conducted with renewed energy.


Who was the Death Penalty Information Center director?


What organization did Brian Evans work for?


How many execution methods are currently used in the United States?

Various methods have been used in the history of the American colonies and the United States but only five methods are currently used. Historically, burning, crushing, breaking on wheel, and bludgeoning were used for a small number of executions, while hanging was the most common method. The last person burned at the stake was a black slave in South Carolina in August 1825. The last person to be hanged in chains was a murderer named John Marshall in West Virginia on April 4, 1913. Although beheading was a legal method in Utah from 1851 to 1888, it was never used.


What was the most common historical method of execution in the United States?


In what state did the last burning at the stake take place in the US?


Who was the last person hanged in chains in the Untied States?


When was execution by beheading ended in Utah?


What percentage of American death row prisoners are African American?

African Americans made up 41 percent of death row inmates while making up only 12.6 percent of the general population. (They have made up 34 percent of those actually executed since 1976.) However, that number is lower than that of prison inmates, which is 47 percent. According to the US Department of Justice, African Americans accounted for 52.5% of homicide offenders from 1980 to 2008, with whites 45.3% and Native Americans and Asians 2.2%. This means African Americans are less likely to be executed on a per capita basis. However, according to a 2003 Amnesty International report, blacks and whites were the victims of murder in almost equal numbers, yet 80 percent of the people executed since 1977 were convicted of murders involving white victims. 13.5% of death row inmates are of Hispanic or Latino descent, while they make up 17.4% of the general population.


What percentage of people executed in the United States since 1976 have been African American?


What percentage of American prison inmates are African American?


What percentage of homicides were committed by Asians between 1980 and 2008?


What percentage of the American population is Hispanic?


In the United States, how many important steps are usually present in the administration of capital punishment?

The legal administration of the death penalty in the United States is complex. Typically, it involves four critical steps: (1) sentencing, (2) direct review, (3) state collateral review, and (4) federal habeas corpus. Recently, a narrow and final fifth level of process – (5) the Section 1983 challenge – has become increasingly important. (Clemency or pardon, through which the Governor or President of the jurisdiction can unilaterally reduce or abrogate a death sentence, is an executive rather than judicial process.) The number of new death sentences handed down peaked in 1995–1996 (309). There were 73 new death sentences handed down in 2014, the lowest number since 1973 (44).


Along with the President, what officeholder can issue pardons?


How many death sentences were issued in the period 1995-1996?


How many capital sentences were given in 1973?


In what year were there 73 death penalty convictions?


All of the executions which have taken place since the 1936 hanging of Bethea in Owensboro have been conducted within a wall or enclosure. For example, Fred Adams was legally hanged in Kennett, Missouri, on April 2, 1937, within a 10-foot (3 m) wooden stockade. Roscoe "Red" Jackson was hanged within a stockade in Galena, Missouri, on May 26, 1937. Two Kentucky hangings were conducted after Galena in which numerous persons were present within a wooden stockade, that of John "Peter" Montjoy in Covington, Kentucky on December 17, 1937, and that of Harold Van Venison in Covington on June 3, 1938. An estimated 400 witnesses were present for the hanging of Lee Simpson in Ryegate, Montana, on December 30, 1939. The execution of Timothy McVeigh on June 11, 2001 was witnessed by some 300 people, some by closed-circuit television.


In what state did the hanging of Adams take place?


How many people witnessed Timothy McVeigh's execution?


What institution does James Liebman work for?

James Liebman, a professor of law at Columbia Law School, stated in 1996 that his study found that when habeas corpus petitions in death penalty cases were traced from conviction to completion of the case that there was "a 40 percent success rate in all capital cases from 1978 to 1995." Similarly, a study by Ronald Tabak in a law review article puts the success rate in habeas corpus cases involving death row inmates even higher, finding that between "1976 and 1991, approximately 47 percent of the habeas petitions filed by death row inmates were granted." The different numbers are largely definitional, rather than substantive. Freedam's statistics looks at the percentage of all death penalty cases reversed, while the others look only at cases not reversed prior to habeas corpus review.


According to Liebman, about what percentage of death penalty habeas corpus petitions were successful between 1978 and 1995?


According to Tabak, what percentage of habeas corpus petitions were granted to death row inmates between 1976 and 1991?


In what year did Liebman announce his findings?


The last use of the firing squad between 1608 and the moratorium on judicial executions between 1967 and 1977 was when Utah shot James W. Rodgers on March 30, 1960. The last use of the gallows between 1608 and the moratorium was when Kansas hanged George York on June 22, 1965. The last use of the electric chair between the first electrocution on August 6, 1890 and the moratorium was when Oklahoma electrocuted James French on August 10, 1966. The last use of the gas chamber between the first gassing on February 8, 1924 and the moratorium was when Colorado gassed Luis Monge on June 2, 1967.


What method of execution was used on James W. Rodgers?


About how many American juveniles have been executed since 1642?

Since 1642 (in the 13 colonies, the United States under the Articles of Confederation, and the current United States) an estimated 364 juvenile offenders have been put to death by the states and the federal government. The earliest known execution of a prisoner for crimes committed as a juvenile was Thomas Graunger in 1642. Twenty-two of the executions occurred after 1976, in seven states. Due to the slow process of appeals, it was highly unusual for a condemned person to be under 18 at the time of execution. The youngest person to be executed in the 20th century was George Stinney, who was electrocuted in South Carolina at the age of 14 on June 16, 1944. The last execution of a juvenile may have been Leonard Shockley, who died in the Maryland gas chamber on April 10, 1959, at the age of 17. No one has been under age 19 at time of execution since at least 1964. Since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976, 22 people have been executed for crimes committed under the age of 18. Twenty-one were 17 at the time of the crime. The last person to be executed for a crime committed as a juvenile was Scott Hain on April 3, 2003 in Oklahoma.


In what year was Thomas Graunger executed?


Since 1976, how many Americans have been executed for crimes committed as juveniles?


How old was George Stinney when he was executed?


What method was used to execute Leonard Shockley?


What state employed Robert Patton in May 2014?

In May 2014, Oklahoma Director of Corrections, Robert Patton, recommended an indefinite hold on executions in the state after the botched execution of African-American Clayton Lockett. The prisoner had to be tasered to restrain him prior to the execution, and the lethal injection missed a vein in his groin, resulting in Lockett regaining consciousness, trying to get up, and to speak, before dying of a heart attack 43 minutes later, after the attempted execution had been called off. In 2015, the state approved nitrogen asphyxiation as a method of execution.


As of May 2014, what was Robert Patton's job title?


What gas did Oklahoma decide to use for executions in 2015?


What was Clayton Lockett's cause of death?


Along with gender, geography and race, what bias do some opponents of the death penalty see in its administration?

Opponents argue that the death penalty is not an effective means of deterring crime, risks the execution of the innocent, is unnecessarily barbaric in nature, cheapens human life, and puts a government on the same base moral level as those criminals involved in murder. Furthermore, some opponents argue that the arbitrariness with which it is administered and the systemic influence of racial, socio-economic, geographic, and gender bias on determinations of desert make the current practice of capital punishment immoral and illegitimate.


According to opponents of the death penalty, what does the death penalty cheapen?


According to death penalty opponents, on whose moral level does execution place the government?


What do death penalty opponents argue that capital punishment isn't effective at doing?


Who do death penalty opponents believe may sometimes be executed?


According to Thompson v. Oklahoma, what was the youngest age at which a person might be executed?

Sixteen was held to be the minimum permissible age in the 1988 Supreme Court decision of Thompson v. Oklahoma. The Court, considering the case Roper v. Simmons in March 2005, found the execution of juvenile offenders unconstitutional by a 5–4 margin, effectively raising the minimum permissible age to 18. State laws have not been updated to conform with this decision. In the American legal system, unconstitutional laws do not need to be repealed; instead, they are held to be unenforceable. (See also List of juvenile offenders executed in the United States)


In what year was Thompson v. Oklahoma decided?


In what month and year was Roper v. Simmons decided?


In Roper v. Simmons, how many Supreme Court justices believed juvenile execution to be unconstitutional?


Based on Roper v. Simmons, what is now the minimum age to be executed in the United States?


In what year did Missouri pass a law stating that executions should be inside of or near a jail?

Around 1890, a political movement developed in the United States to mandate private executions. Several states enacted laws which required executions to be conducted within a "wall" or "enclosure" to "exclude public view." For example, in 1919, the Missouri legislature adopted a statute (L.1919, p. 781) which required, "the sentence of death should be executed within the county jail, if convenient, and otherwise within an enclosure near the jail." The Missouri law permitted the local sheriff to distribute passes to individuals (usually local citizens) whom he believed should witness the hanging, but the sheriffs – for various reasons – sometimes denied passes to individuals who wanted to watch. Missouri executions conducted after 1919 were not "public" because they were conducted behind closed walls, and the general public was not permitted to attend.


What procedure did Missouri use to execute prisoners in 1919?


In the Missouri of 1919, who handed out passes to witness executions?


In approximately what year did a movement in favor of private executions begin in the US?


Who commuted all state capital sentences in 1986?

Previous post-Furman mass clemencies took place in 1986 in New Mexico, when Governor Toney Anaya commuted all death sentences because of his personal opposition to the death penalty. In 1991, outgoing Ohio Governor Dick Celeste commuted the sentences of eight prisoners, among them all four women on the state's death row. And during his two terms (1979–1987) as Florida's Governor, Bob Graham, although a strong death penalty supporter who had overseen the first post-Furman involuntary execution as well as 15 others, agreed to commute the sentences of six people on the grounds of "possible innocence" or "disproportionality."


How many women were on Ohio's death row in 1991?


In what year did Bob Graham become Governor of Florida?


Along with South Dakota, what state rejected a death penalty abolition bill in 2010?

In 2010, bills to abolish the death penalty in Kansas and in South Dakota (which had a de facto moratorium at the time) were rejected. Idaho ended its de facto moratorium, during which only one volunteer had been executed, on November 18, 2011 by executing Paul Ezra Rhoades; South Dakota executed Donald Moeller on October 30, 2012, ending a de facto moratorium during which only two volunteers had been executed. Of the 12 prisoners whom Nevada has executed since 1976, 11 waived their rights to appeal. Kentucky and Montana have executed two prisoners against their will (KY: 1997 and 1999, MT: 1995 and 1998) and one volunteer, respectively (KY: 2008, MT: 2006). Colorado (in 1997) and Wyoming (in 1992) have executed only one prisoner, respectively.


Since 1976, how many prisoners has Nevada executed?


Since 1976, in what year was a prisoner executed in Wyoming?


How many drugs are used to administer lethal injection?

Pharmaceutical companies whose products are used in the three-drug cocktails for lethal injections are predominantly European, and they have strenuously objected to the use of their drugs for executions and taken steps to prevent their use. For example, Hospira, the sole American manufacturer of sodium thiopental, the critical anesthetic in the three-drug cocktail, announced in 2011 that it would no longer manufacture the drug for the American market, in part for ethical reasons and in part because its transfer of sodium thiopental manufacturing to Italy would subject it to the European Union's Torture Regulation, which forbids the use of any product manufactured within the Union for torture (as execution by lethal injection is considered by the Regulation). Since the drug manufacturers began taking these steps and the EU regulation ended the importation of drugs produced in Europe, the resulting shortage of execution drugs has led to or influenced decisions to impose moratoria in Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, and Tennessee.


What lethal injection drug is manufactured by Hospira?


When did Hospira cease to manufacture its lethal injection drug for the United States?


In what country does Hospira manufacture sodium thiopental today?


What EU law forbids products used in torture to be manufactured in the European Union?


Who attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype?

The game pad controllers were more-or-less copied directly from the Game & Watch machines, although the Famicom design team originally wanted to use arcade-style joysticks, even taking apart ones from American game consoles to see how they worked. However, it was eventually decided that children might step on joysticks left on the floor and their durability was also questioned. Katsuyah Nakawaka attached a Game & Watch D-pad to the Famicom prototype and found that it was easy to use and had no discomfort. Ultimately though, they did install a 15-pin expansion port on the front of the console so that an arcade-style joystick could be used optionally. The controllers were hard-wired to the console with no connectors for cost reasons.


What was installed on the front of the console so the joystick could be used?


Why were the controllers hard-wired to the console with no connectors?


Where were the game pad controllers copied from?


What was the abbreviation for Nintendo Entertainment System?

At June 1985's Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Nintendo unveiled the American version of its Famicom. This is the system which would eventually be officially deployed as the Nintendo Entertainment System, or the colloquial "NES". Nintendo seeded these first systems to limited American test markets starting in New York City on October 18, 1985, following up with a full-fledged North American release of the console in February of the following year. Nintendo released 17 launch titles: 10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Pinball, Soccer, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew, and Super Mario Bros.h[›] Some varieties of these launch games contained Famicom chips with an adapter inside the cartridge so they would play on North American consoles, which is why the title screen of Gyromite has the Famicom title "Robot Gyro" and the title screen of Stack-Up has the Famicom title "Robot Block".


What day did Nintendo unveil the new systems?


Where did Nintendo start unveiling the new systems?


What was the name of the convention where Nintendo unveiled its American version of the Famicom?


In June 1989 who was Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing?

In June 1989, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing Peter Main, said that the Famicom was present in 37% of Japan's households. By 1990, 30% of American households owned the NES, compared to 23% for all personal computers. By 1990, the NES had outsold all previously released consoles worldwide.[better source needed] The slogan for this brand was It can't be beaten. In Europe and South America, however, the NES was outsold by Sega's Master System, while the Nintendo Entertainment System was not available in the Soviet Union.


In 1990, what percentage of American households owned an NES?


What was the slogan for the Nintendo brand?


What outsold the NES in Europe and South America?


Which cartridges were shaped slightly differently?

Japanese (Famicom) cartridges are shaped slightly differently. While the NES used a 72-pin interface, the Famicom system used a 60-pin design. Unlike NES games, official Famicom cartridges were produced in many colors of plastic. Adapters, similar in design to the popular accessory Game Genie, are available that allow Famicom games to be played on an NES. In Japan, several companies manufactured the cartridges for the Famicom. This allowed these companies to develop their own customized chips designed for specific purposes, such as chips that increased the quality of sound in their games.


Various companies in Japan did what to their games for certain specifics?


With the NES at its end, which competing consoles with less strict licensing terms were supported?

In the longer run, however, with the NES near its end of its life many third-party publishers such as Electronic Arts supported upstart competing consoles with less strict licensing terms such as the Sega Genesis and then the PlayStation, which eroded and then took over Nintendo's dominance in the home console market, respectively. Consoles from Nintendo's rivals in the post-SNES era had always enjoyed much stronger third-party support than Nintendo, which relied more heavily on first-party games.


Who was an example of a 3rd party publisher?


Nintendo relied primarily on what for its support?


Rivals in what self-identified era enjoyed much stronger 3rd party support?


Who caused Nintendo to take formal action regarding rentals?

As the Nintendo Entertainment System grew in popularity and entered millions of American homes, some small video rental shops began buying their own copies of NES games, and renting them out to customers for around the same price as a video cassette rental for a few days. Nintendo received no profit from the practice beyond the initial cost of their game, and unlike movie rentals, a newly released game could hit store shelves and be available for rent on the same day. Nintendo took steps to stop game rentals, but didn't take any formal legal action until Blockbuster Video began to make game rentals a large-scale service. Nintendo claimed that allowing customers to rent games would significantly hurt sales and drive up the cost of games. Nintendo lost the lawsuit, but did win on a claim of copyright infringement. Blockbuster was banned from including original, copyrighted instruction booklets with their rented games. In compliance with the ruling, Blockbuster produced their own short instructions—usually in the form of a small booklet, card, or label stuck on the back of the rental box—that explained the game's basic premise and controls. Video rental shops continued the practice of renting video games and still do today.


According to Nintendo what was the danger in renting games?


Blockbuster was banned from including what with their games?


What did Blockbuster do instead of use copyrighted instruction booklets?


Which company distributed the NES to the UK, Italy, and Australia?

In the UK, Italy and Australia which share the PAL A region, two versions of the NES were released; the "Mattel Version" and "NES Version". When the NES was first released in those countries, it was distributed by Mattel and Nintendo decided to use a lockout chip specific to those countries, different from the chip used in other European countries. When Nintendo took over European distribution in 1990, they produced consoles that were then labelled "NES Version"; therefore, the only differences between the two are the text on the front flap and texture on the top/bottom of the casing.


When did Nintendo take over European distribution?


Which three countries share the PAL A region?


What two versions of the NES were released in the UK, Italy, and Australia?


What were the two turbo controllers Nintendo made for the NES?

Nintendo also made two turbo controllers for the NES called NES Advantage and the NES Max. Both controllers had a Turbo feature, a feature where one tap of the button represented multiple taps. This feature allowed players to shoot much faster during shooter games. The NES Advantage had two knobs that adjusted the firing rate of the turbo button from quick to Turbo, as well as a "Slow" button that slowed down the game by rapidly pausing the game. The "Slow" button did not work with games that had a pause menu or pause screen and can interfere with jumping and shooting. The NES Max also had the Turbo Feature, but it was not adjustable, in contrast with the Advantage. It also did not have the "Slow" button. Its wing-like shape made it easier to hold than the Advantage and it also improved on the joystick. Turbo features were also featured on the NES Satellite, the NES Four Score, and the U-Force. Other accessories include the Power Pad and the Power Glove, which was featured in the movie The Wizard.


What did the Turbo feature allow players to do?


Which controller had a non-adjustable Turbo feature?


Which two accessories were featured in the movie The Wizard?


What year did Nintendo release the Famicom Disk System?

In 1986, Nintendo released the Famicom Disk System (FDS) in Japan, a type of floppy drive that uses a single-sided, proprietary 5 cm (2") disk and plugs into the cartridge port. It contains RAM for the game to load into and an extra single-cycle wavetable-lookup sound chip. The disks were originally obtained from kiosks in malls and other public places where buyers could select a title and have it written to the disk. This process would cost less than cartridges and users could take the disk back to a vending booth and have it rewritten with a new game. The disks were used both for storing the game and saving progress and total capacity was 128k (64k per side).


Where could the disks for the game be obtained?


When was the system originally supposed to be released?

The system was originally targeted for release in the spring of 1985, but the release date was pushed back. After test-marketing in the New York City area in late fall, retailers had reportedly stated the system "failed miserably".[contradictory] While others stated that Nintendo had an excellent nine-week market test in New York last fall Due to the moderate success launch in New York City, Nintendo tried a second time; the system was test-marketed further beginning in February 1986, with the nationwide release occurring in September 1986.


Retailers in what test area reported a miserable failure of sales?


When was the second time Nintendo test marketed the NES?


When was the nationwide release of the NES?


Where was the system released to two separate marketing areas?

In Europe and Australia, the system was released to two separate marketing regions. One region consisted of most of mainland Europe (excluding Italy), and distribution there was handled by a number of different companies, with Nintendo responsible for most cartridge releases. Most of this region saw a 1986 release. Mattel handled distribution for the other region, consisting of the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Italy, Australia and New Zealand, starting the following year. Not until the 1990s did Nintendo's newly created European branch direct distribution throughout Europe.


One region comprised the entirety of mainland Europe save for which country?


Who released cartridges in mainland Europe?


Who handled distribution in the other region?


When did the European brance finally directly distribute throughout Europe?


Which example of a system started to mark the end of the NES dominance?

As the 1990s dawned, gamers predicted that competition from technologically superior systems such as the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis would mean the immediate end of the NES’s dominance. Instead, during the first year of Nintendo's successor console the Super Famicom (named Super Nintendo Entertainment System outside Japan), the Famicom remained the second highest-selling video game console in Japan, outselling the newer and more powerful NEC PC Engine and Sega Mega Drive by a wide margin. The console remained popular in Japan and North America until late 1993, when the demand for new NES software abruptly plummeted. The final Famicom game released in Japan is Takahashi Meijin no Bōken Jima IV (Adventure Island IV), while in North America, Wario's Woods is the final licensed game. In the wake of ever decreasing sales and the lack of new software titles, Nintendo of America officially discontinued the NES by 1995. However, Nintendo kept producing new Famicom units in Japan until September 25, 2003, and continued to repair Famicom consoles until October 31, 2007, attributing the discontinuation of support to insufficient supplies of parts.


When did the demand for new NES software dry up?


What was the final Famicom game released in North America?


What year did Nintendo officially discontinue the NES?


How late did Nintendo continue to repair Famicom units?


Who did Atari attempt to force ceasing production of games for its system?

Nintendo's near monopoly on the home video game market left it with a degree of influence over the industry. Unlike Atari, which never actively courted third-party developers (and even went to court in an attempt to force Activision to cease production of Atari 2600 games), Nintendo had anticipated and encouraged the involvement of third-party software developers; strictly, however, on Nintendo's terms. Some of the Nintendo platform-control measures were adopted by later console manufacturers such as Sega, Sony, and Microsoft, although not as stringent.


Nintendo actively encouraged the involvement of what?


Nintendo's measures for third party game developers were also adopted by which later manufacturers?


Companies did what in an effort to circumvent Nintendo's console authentication?

Several companies, refusing to pay the licensing fee or having been rejected by Nintendo, found ways to circumvent the console's authentication system. Most of these companies created circuits that used a voltage spike to temporarily disable the 10NES chip in the NES. A few unlicensed games released in Europe and Australia came in the form of a dongle that would be connected to a licensed game, in order to use the licensed game's 10NES chip for authentication. In order to combat unlicensed games, Nintendo of America threatened retailers who sold them with losing their supply of licensed titles. In addition, multiple revisions were made to the NES PCBs to prevent these games from working.


Why did the companies circumvent the authentication system?


Where did unlicensed games feature a dongle?


What did Nintendo do to curb unlicensed game sales?


What is the abbreviation of Nintendo Entertainment System?

The Nintendo Entertainment System (also abbreviated as NES) is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer (Japanese: ファミリーコンピュータ, Hepburn: Famirī Konpyūta?) (also known by the portmanteau abbreviation Famicom (ファミコン, Famikon?) and abbreviated as FC) on July 15, 1983, and was later released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986, and Australia in 1987. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy (현대 컴보이 Hyeondae Keomboi) and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics. It was succeeded by the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.


When was the Family Computer (Famicom) released in Japan?


What was the console's most common problem?

Problems with the 10NES lockout chip frequently resulted in the console's most infamous problem: the blinking red power light, in which the system appears to turn itself on and off repeatedly because the 10NES would reset the console once per second. The lockout chip required constant communication with the chip in the game to work. Dirty, aging and bent connectors would often disrupt the communication, resulting in the blink effect. Alternatively, the console would turn on but only show a solid white, gray, or green screen. Users attempted to solve this problem by blowing air onto the cartridge connectors, inserting the cartridge just far enough to get the ZIF to lower, licking the edge connector, slapping the side of the system after inserting a cartridge, shifting the cartridge from side to side after insertion, pushing the ZIF up and down repeatedly, holding the ZIF down lower than it should have been, and cleaning the connectors with alcohol. These attempted solutions often became notable in their own right and are often remembered alongside the NES. Many of the most frequent attempts to fix this problem instead ran the risk of damaging the cartridge and/or system.[citation needed] In 1989, Nintendo released an official NES Cleaning Kit to help users clean malfunctioning cartridges and consoles.


The 10NES would reset the system how often?


What disrupted the communication as well?


What was one example of what users did to combat the blinking problem?


When did Nintendo release a cleaning kit?


How many units of the Famicom were sold in Japan by the beginning of 1985?

Subsequent plans to market a Famicom console in North America featuring a keyboard, cassette data recorder, wireless joystick controller and a special BASIC cartridge under the name "Nintendo Advanced Video System" likewise never materialized. By the beginning of 1985, the Famicom had sold more than 2.5 million units in Japan and Nintendo soon announced plans to release it in North America as the Advanced Video Entertainment System (AVS) that same year. The American video game press was skeptical that the console could have any success in the region, with the March 1985 issue of Electronic Games magazine stating that "the videogame market in America has virtually disappeared" and that "this could be a miscalculation on Nintendo's part."


What was this system to be called in North America?


What magazine stated that Nintendo could be errant in their anticipated product success?


Which console featured a top-loading design?

Near the end of the NES's lifespan, upon the release of the AV Famicom and the top-loading NES 2, the design of the game controllers was modified slightly. Though the original button layout was retained, the redesigned device abandoned the brick shell in favor of a dog bone shape. In addition, the AV Famicom joined its international counterpart and dropped the hardwired controllers in favor of detachable controller ports. However, the controllers included with the Famicom AV had cables which were 90 cm (3 feet) long, as opposed to the standard 180 cm(6 feet) of NES controllers.


The design of what was modified slightly?


the original design of the controller was what shape?


What was the new design shape of the controller?


How long were standard NES controller cables?


What year did Nintendo's market surpass all computer software?

By 1988, industry observers stated that the NES's popularity had grown so quickly that the market for Nintendo cartridges was larger than that for all home computer software. Compute! reported in 1989 that Nintendo had sold seven million NES systems in 1988, almost as many as the number of Commodore 64s sold in its first five years. "Computer game makers [are] scared stiff", the magazine said, stating that Nintendo's popularity caused most competitors to have poor sales during the previous Christmas and resulted in serious financial problems for some.


Who reported that Nintendo sold 7 million NES systems?


When did Compute! report the number of systems sold at 7 million?


The 7 million sold almost equated to which console's five year span?


Nintendo charged producers hefty sums to make what?

A variety of games for the FDS were released by Nintendo (including some like Super Mario Bros. which had already been released on cartridge) and third party companies such as Konami and Taito. A few unlicensed titles were made as well. However, its limitations became quickly apparent as larger ROM chips were introduced, allowing cartridges with greater than 128k of space. More advanced memory management chips (MMC) soon appeared and the FDS quickly became obsolete. Nintendo also charged developers considerable amounts of money to produce FDS games, and many refused to develop for it, instead continuing to make cartridge titles. Many FDS disks have no dust covers (except in some unlicensed and bootleg variants) and are easily prone to getting dirt on the media. In addition, the drive use a belt which breaks frequently and requires invasive replacement. After only two years, the FDS was discontinued, although vending booths remained in place until 1993 and Nintendo continued to service drives, and to rewrite and offer replacement disks until 2003.


What did companies do instead of making FDS games?


What broke frequently and needed replacement in the machine?


How long did Nintendo service drives and offer replacement disks?


Which company produced the Twin Famicom and the 19SC111 TV?

Although most hardware clones were not produced under license by Nintendo, certain companies were granted licenses to produce NES-compatible devices. The Sharp Corporation produced at least two such clones: the Twin Famicom and the SHARP 19SC111 television. The Twin Famicom was compatible with both Famicom cartridges and Famicom Disk System disks. It was available in two colors (red and black) and used hardwired controllers (as did the original Famicom), but it featured a different case design. The SHARP 19SC111 television was a television which included a built-in Famicom. A similar licensing deal was reached with Hyundai Electronics, who licensed the system under the name Comboy in the South Korean market. This deal with Hyundai was made necessary because of the South Korean government's wide ban on all Japanese "cultural products", which remained in effect until 1998 and ensured that the only way Japanese products could legally enter the South Korean market was through licensing to a third-party (non-Japanese) distributor (see also Japan–Korea disputes).


What was compatible with Famicom cartridges and FDS systems?


Hyundai licensed the Sharp 19SC111 TV with what name in South Korea?


Until how long did South Korea ban Japanese cultural products?


How could Japanese products only enter South Korea?


The Zelda games were manufactured in what color cartridge?

The back of the cartridge bears a label with instructions on handling. Production and software revision codes were imprinted as stamps on the back label to correspond with the software version and producer. With the exception of The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, manufactured in gold-plastic carts, all licensed NTSC and PAL cartridges are a standard shade of gray plastic. Unlicensed carts were produced in black, robin egg blue, and gold, and are all slightly different shapes than standard NES cartridges. Nintendo also produced yellow-plastic carts for internal use at Nintendo Service Centers, although these "test carts" were never made available for purchase. All licensed US cartridges were made by Nintendo, Konami and Acclaim. For promotion of DuckTales: Remastered, Capcom sent 150 limited-edition gold NES cartridges with the original game, featuring the Remastered art as the sticker, to different gaming news agencies. The instruction label on the back included the opening lyric from the show's theme song, "Life is like a hurricane".


What is the standard color of all other cartridges?


What color were cartridges produced by Nintendo for internal use?


What was distinctly made by Nintendo, Konami, and Acclaim?


What was the opening lyric from the Duck Tales theme show?


Nintendo was accused of antitrust behavior because of the strict licensing requirements. The United States Department of Justice and several states began probing Nintendo's business practices, leading to the involvement of Congress and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC conducted an extensive investigation which included interviewing hundreds of retailers. During the FTC probe, Nintendo changed the terms of its publisher licensing agreements to eliminate the two-year rule and other restrictive terms. Nintendo and the FTC settled the case in April 1991, with Nintendo required to send vouchers giving a $5 discount off to a new game, to every person that had purchased a NES title between June 1988 and December 1990. GameSpy remarked that Nintendo's punishment was particularly weak giving the case's findings, although it has been speculated that the FTC did not want to damage the video game industry in the United States.


Why was Nintendo accused of antitrust behavior?


Who interviewed retailers as part of their investigation?


How much were the vouchers worth that Nintendo sent out?


The NES can be emulated on many other systems, most notably the PC. The first emulator was the Japanese-only Pasofami. It was soon followed by iNES, which was available in English and was cross-platform, in 1996. It was described as being the first NES emulation software that could be used by a non-expert. NESticle, a popular MS-DOS emulator, was released on April 3, 1997. There have since been many other emulators. The Virtual Console for the Wii, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U also offers emulation of many NES games.


What was the first English available emulator?


What platform was NESticle available for use?


The Famicom contained no lockout hardware and, as a result, unlicensed cartridges (both legitimate and bootleg) were extremely common throughout Japan and the Far East. The original NES (but not the top-loading NES-101) contained the 10NES lockout chip, which significantly increased the challenges faced by unlicensed developers. Tinkerers at home in later years discovered that disassembling the NES and cutting the fourth pin of the lockout chip would change the chip’s mode of operation from "lock" to "key", removing all effects and greatly improving the console’s ability to play legal games, as well as bootlegs and converted imports. NES consoles sold in different regions had different lockout chips, so games marketed in one region would not work on consoles from another region. Known regions are: USA/Canada (3193 lockout chip), most of Europe (3195), Asia (3196) and UK, Italy and Australia (3197). Since two types of lockout chip were used in Europe, European NES game boxes often had an "A" or "B" letter on the front, indicating whether the game is compatible with UK/Italian/Australian consoles (A), or the rest of Europe (B). Rest-of-Europe games typically had text on the box stating "This game is not compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System". Similarly, UK/Italy/Australia games stated "This game is only compatible with the Mattel or NES versions of the Nintendo Entertainment System".


What was the lockout chip number for the USA and Canada?


What was the lockout chip number for most of Europe, save the UK and Italy?


What was the lockout chip number for Asia?


What was the lockout chip number for UK, Italy, and Australia?


Following a series of arcade game successes in the early 1980s, Nintendo made plans to create a cartridge-based console called the Famicom. Masayuki Uemura designed the system. Original plans called for an advanced 16-bit system which would function as a full-fledged computer with a keyboard and floppy disk drive, but Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi rejected this and instead decided to go for a cheaper, more conventional cartridge-based game console as he felt that features such as keyboards and disks were intimidating to non-technophiles. A test model was constructed in October 1982 to verify the functionality of the hardware, after which work began on programming tools. Because 65xx CPUs had not been manufactured or sold in Japan up to that time, no cross-development software was available and it had to be produced from scratch. Early Famicom games were written on a system that ran on an NEC PC-8001 computer and LEDs on a grid were used with a digitizer to design graphics as no software design tools for this purpose existed at that time.[citation needed]


The plans called for how many bits as a feature?


Who was the Nintendo president at the time?


Early Famicom games were written on what computer system?


What was the light gun controller called?

A number of special controllers designed for use with specific games were released for the system, though very few such devices proved particularly popular. Such devices included, but were not limited to, the Zapper (a light gun), the R.O.B., and the Power Pad. The original Famicom featured a deepened DA-15 expansion port on the front of the unit, which was used to connect most auxiliary devices. On the NES, these special controllers were generally connected to one of the two control ports on the front of the console.


What was the name of the auxiliary port used to connect additional devices on the Famicom?


How were the special controllers connected to the NES?


What year did the video game market crash?

The system's launch represented not only a new product, but also a reframing of the severely damaged home video game market segment as a whole. The video game market crash of 1983 had occurred in significant part due to a lack of consumer and retailer confidence in video games, which had in turn been due partially to confusion and misrepresentation in the marketing of video games. Prior to the NES, the packaging of many video games presented bombastic artwork which exaggerated the graphics of the actual game. In terms of product identity, a single game such as Pac-Man would appear in many versions on many different game consoles and computers, with large variations in graphics, sound, and general quality between the versions. By stark contrast, Nintendo's marketing strategy aimed to regain consumer and retailer confidence, by delivering a singular platform whose technology was not in need of heavy exaggeration and whose qualities were clearly defined.


The crash was caused in part by the confusion and misrepresentation of what in video games?


What specifically was misrepresented on game products?


Nintendo's marketing strategy aimed at what aspect of the consumer via realism?


How much was the selling price equivalent to in today's money?

For its complete North American release, the Nintendo Entertainment System was progressively released over the ensuing years in four different bundles: the Deluxe Set, the Control Deck, the Action Set and the Power Set. The Deluxe Set, retailing at US$199.99 (equivalent to $475 in 2016), included R.O.B., a light gun called the NES Zapper, two controllers, and two Game Paks: Gyromite, and Duck Hunt. The Basic Set, retailing at US$89.99 with no game, and US$99.99 bundled with "Super Mario Bros." The Action Set, retailing in 1988 for US$149.99, came with the Control Deck, two game controllers, an NES Zapper, and a dual Game Pak containing both Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. In 1989, the Power Set included the console, two game controllers, a NES Zapper, a Power Pad, and a triple Game Pak containing Super Mario Bros, Duck Hunt, and World Class Track Meet. In 1990, a Sports Set bundle was released, including the console, an NES Satellite infrared wireless multitap adapter, four game controllers, and a dual Game Pak containing Super Spike V'Ball and Nintendo World Cup. Two more bundle packages were later released using the original model NES console. The Challenge Set of 1992 included the console, two controllers, and a Super Mario Bros. 3 Game Pak for a retail price of US$89.99. The Basic Set, first released in 1987, was repackaged for a retail US$89.99. It included only the console and two controllers, and no longer was bundled with a cartridge. Instead, it contained a book called the Official Nintendo Player's Guide, which contained detailed information for every NES game made up to that point.


How much did the console sell for bundled with just the Super Mario Bros. game?


Super Mario Bros was paired with which game in the Action Set?


The Basic Set sold for how much at release?


What thrived after the NES was discontinued?

The unlicensed clone market has flourished following Nintendo's discontinuation of the NES. Some of the more exotic of these resulting systems have gone beyond the functionality of the original hardware and have included variations such as a portable system with a color LCD (e.g. PocketFami). Others have been produced with certain specialized markets in mind, such as an NES clone that functions as a rather primitive personal computer, which includes a keyboard and basic word processing software. These unauthorized clones have been helped by the invention of the so-called NES-on-a-chip.


The NES was duplicated on which medium in order to make clones easy to produce?


Nintendo produced toys and what other item before its game system?

The NES was released after the "video game crash" of the early 1980s, whereupon many retailers and adults had regarded electronic games as being merely a passing fad, and many believed at first that the NES was another fad. Before the NES/Famicom, Nintendo was known as a moderately successful Japanese toy and playing card manufacturer, and the popularity of the NES/Famicom helped the company grow into an internationally recognized name almost synonymous with video games as Atari had been during the 2600 era and set the stage for Japanese dominance of the video game industry. With the NES, Nintendo also changed the relationship of console manufacturers and third-party software developers by restricting developers from publishing and distributing software without licensed approval. This led to higher quality software titles, which helped to change the attitude of a public that had grown weary from poorly produced titles for other game systems of the day.


Nintendo's era was compared with who as another video game manufacturer?


Nintendo required what from its software developers?


What did licensing lead to regarding games?


Atari created NES products under which name?

Atari Games created a line of NES products under the name Tengen and took a different approach. The company attempted to reverse engineer the lockout chip to develop its own "Rabbit" chip. However, Tengen also obtained a description of the lockout chip from the United States Patent and Trademark Office by falsely claiming that it was required to defend against present infringement claims in a legal case. Nintendo sued Tengen for copyright infringement, which Tengen lost as it could not prove that the legally obtained patent documents had not been used by the reverse engineering team. Tengen's antitrust claims against Nintendo were never finally decided.


Tengen reverse engineered the lockout chip to develop what animal monikered prototype?


Tengen got a description of Nintendo's chip from whom?


What month and year did the Famicom receive a redesign?

In December 1993, the Famicom received a similar redesign. It also loads cartridges through a covered slot on the top of the unit and uses non-hardwired controllers. Because HVC-101 used composite video output instead of being RF only like the HVC-001, Nintendo marketed the newer model as the AV Famicom (AV仕様ファミコン, Eibui Shiyō Famikon?). Since the new controllers don't have microphones on them like the second controller on the original console, certain games such as the Disk System version of The Legend of Zelda and Raid on Bungeling Bay will have certain tricks that cannot be replicated when played on an HVC-101 Famicom without a modded controller. However, the HVC-101 Famicom is compatible with most NES controllers due to having the same controller port. Nintendo had also released a 3D graphic capable headset. However, this peripheral was never released outside Japan.[citation needed]


What did Nintendo release in Japan only?


The NES uses a custom-made Picture Processing Unit (PPU) developed by Ricoh. All variations of the PPU feature 2 kB of video RAM, 256 bytes of on-die "object attribute memory" (OAM) to store the positions, colors, and tile indices of up to 64 sprites on the screen, and 28 bytes of on-die palette RAM to allow selection of background and sprite colors. The console's 2 kB of onboard RAM may be used for tile maps and attributes on the NES board and 8 kB of tile pattern ROM or RAM may be included on a cartridge. The system has an available color palette of 48 colors and 6 grays. Up to 25 simultaneous colors may be used without writing new values mid-frame: a background color, four sets of three tile colors and four sets of three sprite colors. The NES palette is based on NTSC rather than RGB values. A total of 64 sprites may be displayed onscreen at a given time without reloading sprites mid-screen. The standard display resolution of the NES is 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels.


How many kb of Video RAM did the PPU have?


The system has how many colors available on it?


What is the standard display resolution of the NES?


Nintendo agreed with Atari to release the Famicom under what name?

Encouraged by these successes, Nintendo soon turned its attention to the North American market. Nintendo entered into negotiations with Atari to release the Famicom under Atari’s name as the name Nintendo Advanced Video Gaming System. The deal was set to be finalized and signed at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in June 1983. However, Atari discovered at that show that its competitor Coleco was illegally demonstrating its Coleco Adam computer with Nintendo's Donkey Kong game. This violation of Atari's exclusive license with Nintendo to publish the game for its own computer systems delayed the implementation of Nintendo's game console marketing contract with Atari. Atari's CEO Ray Kassar was fired the next month, so the deal went nowhere, and Nintendo decided to market its system on its own.g[›]


When was the Summer Consumer Electronics Show held?


Which company was illegally demonstrating a Nintendo game?


What was the name of the fired Atari CEO?


What was Nintendo's euphemism for "video game system?"

To differentiate Nintendo's new home platform from the early 1980s' common perception of a troubled and shallow video game market, the company freshened its product nomenclature and positioning, and it established a strict product approval and licensing policy. The overall system was referred to as an "Entertainment System" instead of a "video game system", which was centered upon a machine called a "Control Deck" instead of a "console", and which featured software cartridges called "Game Paks" instead of "video games". The 10NES lockout chip system acted as a lock-and-key coupling of each Game Pak and Control Deck, deterring the copying or production of NES games which had not first achieved Nintendo's licensed approval. The packaging of the launch lineup of NES games bore pictures of a very close representation of the actual onscreen graphics of the game, which were of sufficiently recognizable quality on their own. Symbols on the launch games' packaging clearly indicated the genre of the game, in order to reduce consumer confusion. A 'seal of quality' was printed on all appropriately licensed game and accessory packaging. The initial seal stated, "This seal is your assurance that Nintendo has approved and guaranteed the quality of this product". This text was later changed to "Official Nintendo Seal of Quality".


What did Nintendo use instead of the word console?


What was the term used by Nintendo instead of "video games?"


What was printed on all licensed games and accessories by Nintendo?


The seal of quality took on what eventual name?


How were the Famicom controllers attached to the console?

The original model Famicom featured two game controllers, both of which were hardwired to the back of the console. The second controller lacked the START and SELECT buttons, but featured a small microphone. Relatively few games made use of this feature. The earliest produced Famicom units initially had square A and B buttons. This was changed to the circular designs because of the square buttons being caught in the controller casing when pressed down and glitches within the hardware causing the system to freeze occasionally while playing a game.


The second Famicom controller lacked START and what other button?


What did the second Famicom controller have as a unique feature?


What shape were the A and B buttons on the earliest Famicom controllers?


What shape did the A and B buttons eventually become?


When did Sega finally permit third-party publishing?

Nintendo was not as restrictive as Sega, which did not permit third-party publishing until Mediagenic in late summer 1988. Nintendo's intention, however, was to reserve a large part of NES game revenue for itself. Nintendo required that they be the sole manufacturer of all cartridges, and that the publisher had to pay in full before the cartridges for that game be produced. Cartridges could not be returned to Nintendo, so publishers assumed all the risk. As a result, some publishers lost more money due to distress sales of remaining inventory at the end of the NES era than they ever earned in profits from sales of the games. Because Nintendo controlled the production of all cartridges, it was able to enforce strict rules on its third-party developers, which were required to sign a contract by Nintendo that would obligate these parties to develop exclusively for the system, order at least 10,000 cartridges, and only make five games per year. A 1988 shortage of DRAM and ROM chips also reportedly caused Nintendo to only permit 25% of publishers' requests for cartridges. This was an average figure, with some publishers receiving much higher amounts and others almost none. GameSpy noted that Nintendo's "iron-clad terms" made the company many enemies during the 1980s. Some developers tried to circumvent the five game limit by creating additional company brands like Konami's Ultra Games label; others tried circumventing the 10NES chip.


What was the name of the 1st company Sega permitted?


Nintendo was the sole manufacturer of what component for third-party developers?


As cartridges couldn't be returned to Nintendo, the developers took on the entirety of what?


What year was there a shortage of DRAM and ROM chips?


When Nintendo released the NES in the US, the design styling was deliberately different from that of other game consoles. Nintendo wanted to distinguish its product from those of competitors and to avoid the generally poor reputation that game consoles had acquired following the video game crash of 1983. One result of this philosophy was to disguise the cartridge slot design as a front-loading zero insertion force (ZIF) cartridge socket, designed to resemble the front-loading mechanism of a VCR. The newly designed connector worked quite well when both the connector and the cartridges were clean and the pins on the connector were new. Unfortunately, the ZIF connector was not truly zero insertion force. When a user inserted the cartridge into the NES, the force of pressing the cartridge down and into place bent the contact pins slightly, as well as pressing the cartridge’s ROM board back into the cartridge itself. Frequent insertion and removal of cartridges caused the pins to wear out from repeated usage over the years and the ZIF design proved more prone to interference by dirt and dust than an industry-standard card edge connector. These design issues were not alleviated by Nintendo’s choice of materials; the console slot nickel connector springs would wear due to design and the game cartridge copper connectors were also prone to tarnishing. Many players would try to alleviate issues in the game caused by this corrosion by blowing into the cartridges, then reinserting them, which actually hurt the copper connectors by speeding up the tarnishing.


The ZIF insertion used by Nintendo was set to emulate what device?


The force of pushing in the cartridge did what to the device over eventual use?


What material were the connector springs made of?


What material comprised the game cartridge connectors?


To address the shoddy hardware, what popped up across the United States?

In response to these hardware flaws, "Nintendo Authorized Repair Centers" sprang up across the U.S. According to Nintendo, the authorization program was designed to ensure that the machines were properly repaired. Nintendo would ship the necessary replacement parts only to shops that had enrolled in the authorization program. In practice, the authorization process consisted of nothing more than paying a fee to Nintendo for the privilege. In a recent trend, many sites have sprung up to offer Nintendo repair parts, guides, and services that replace those formerly offered by the authorized repair centers.


What was done to have the privilege of working on an NES for repair?


The HVC-001 featured which kind of mod output?

Video output connections varied from one model of the console to the next. The original HVC-001 model of the Family Computer featured only radio frequency (RF) modulator output. When the console was released in North America and Europe, support for composite video through RCA connectors was added in addition to the RF modulator. The HVC-101 model of the Famicom dropped the RF modulator entirely and adopted composite video output via a proprietary 12-pin "multi-out" connector first introduced for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Conversely, the North American re-released NES-101 model most closely resembled the original HVC-001 model Famicom, in that it featured RF modulator output only. Finally, the PlayChoice-10 utilized an inverted RGB video output.


The HVC-101 lost the RF and adopted which output for use in North America and Europe?


The Super NES had how many pins in its proprietary connector?


The re-released NES-101 model in North America went back to what perceived primitive output?