document_title: History of Monday Night Football

question_text: who defeated the new york jets in the first monday night football game in 1970

question_tokens: who defeated the new york jets in the first monday night football game in 1970

text: History of Monday Night Football

text: During the early 1960s, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle envisioned the possibility of playing at least one game weekly during prime time that could be viewed by a greater television audience (while the NFL had scheduled Saturday night games on the DuMont Television Network in 1953 and 1954, poor ratings and the dissolution of DuMont led to those games being eliminated by the time CBS took over the rights in 1956). An early bid by the league in 1964 to play on Friday nights was soundly defeated, with critics charging that such telecasts would damage the attendance at high school football games. Undaunted, Rozelle decided to experiment with the concept of playing on Monday night, scheduling the Green Bay Packers and Detroit Lions for a game on September 28, 1964. While the game was not televised, it drew a sellout crowd of 59,203 spectators to Tiger Stadium, the largest crowd ever to watch a professional football game in Detroit up to that point.

text: Two years later, Rozelle would build on this success as the NFL began a four-year experiment of playing on Monday night, scheduling one game in prime time on CBS during the 1966 and 1967 seasons, and two contests during each of the next two years. NBC followed suit in 1968 and 1969 with games involving American Football League teams.

text: During subsequent negotiations on a new television contract that would begin in 1970 (coinciding with a merger between the NFL and AFL), Rozelle concentrated on signing a weekly Monday night deal with one of the three major networks. After sensing reluctance from both NBC and CBS in disturbing their regular programming schedules, Rozelle spoke with ABC.

text: Despite the network's status at the time as the lowest-rated of the three major broadcast networks, ABC was also reluctant to enter the risky venture. It was only after Rozelle used the threat of signing a deal with the independent Hughes Sports Network, an entity bankrolled by reclusive businessman Howard Hughes, did ABC sign a contract for the scheduled games. Speculation was that had Rozelle signed with Hughes, many ABC affiliates would have pre-empted the network's Monday lineup in favor of the games, severely damaging potential ratings.

text: After the final contract for Monday Night Football was signed, ABC Sports producer Roone Arledge immediately saw possibilities for the new program. Setting out to create an entertainment "spectacle" as much as a simple sports broadcast, Arledge hired Chet Forte, who would serve as director of the program for over 22 years. Arledge also ordered twice the usual number of cameras to cover the game, expanded the regular two-man broadcasting booth to three, and used extensive graphic design within the show as well as instant replay.

text: Prior to 1978, Monday night games were not scheduled in the final week (Week 14) of the regular season. From 1974 to 1977, a Saturday night game was scheduled for Week 14 and televised live by ABC in lieu of a game on Monday night.

text: Cosell, Jackson, and Meredith[edit]

text: Looking for a lightning rod to garner attention, Arledge hired controversial New York City sportscaster Howard Cosell as a commentator, along with veteran football play-by-play announcer Keith Jackson. Arledge had tried to lure Curt Gowdy and then Vin Scully to ABC for the MNF play-by-play role, but settled for Jackson after they proved unable to break their respective existing contracts with NBC Sports and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Jack Buck was also considered, but when Arledge assistant Chuck Howard telephoned Buck with the job offer, Buck refused to respond due to anger at his treatment by ABC during an earlier stint with the network.[1] Arledge's original choice for the third member of the trio, Frank Gifford, was unavailable since he was still under contract to CBS Sports. However, Gifford suggested former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Don Meredith, setting the stage for years of fireworks between the often-pompous Cosell and the laid-back Meredith.

text: Monday Night Football first aired on ABC on September 21, 1970, with a game between the New York Jets and the Browns in Cleveland. Advertisers were charged US$65,000 per minute by ABC during the clash, a cost that proved to be a bargain when the contest collected 33% of the viewing audience. The Browns defeated the Jets, 31-21 in a game which featured a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by the Browns' Homer Jones and was punctuated when Billy Andrews intercepted Joe Namath late in the fourth quarter and returned it 25 yards for the clinching touchdown. However, Cleveland viewers saw different programming on WEWS-TV, because of the NFL's blackout rules of the time (this would apply for all games through the end of the 1972 season; beginning in 1973, home games could be televised if tickets were sold out 72 hours before kickoff).

text: One of the trademarks of Monday Night Football is a music cue used during the opening teasers of each program, a Johnny Pearson-composition titled "Heavy Action", originally a KPM production library cue (and also used as the theme music for the BBC programme Superstars), which MNF began using in 1975.

text: That success would continue over the course of the season, helping establish a phenomenon on Monday nights in the fall: movie attendance dropped, bowling leagues shifted to Tuesday nights and a Seattle hospital established an unwritten rule of no births during games.[citation needed]

text: Cosell's presence initially caused Henry Ford II, chairman of the Ford Motor Company, the program's main sponsor, to ask for his removal. ABC refused, and Ford had a change of heart once the show's ratings were made public. Cosell dodged another controversy when he appeared to be intoxicated on-air during the November 23 game between the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. Already ill, Cosell drank at a promotional party prior to the game, then ended up vomiting on Don Meredith's cowboy boots near the end of the first half. Jackson and Meredith ended up announcing the rest of the contest.

text: Cosell, Gifford, and Meredith[edit]

text: In 1971, Frank Gifford became available after his contract with CBS Sports concluded; Arledge brought him to ABC to serve as play-by-play announcer, replacing Jackson (who returned to broadcasting college football for the network, which he continued to do for the next 35 seasons). The former New York Giant had been an NFL analyst for CBS during the 1960s but had never called play-by-play prior to joining Monday Night Football. In that capacity for Monday Night Football from 1971 to 1985, Gifford was often criticized for his see-no-evil approach in regard to discussing the NFL, earning him the dubious nickname "Faultless Frank." Regardless, Gifford would have the longest tenure of any broadcaster on the show, lasting until 1998.

text: Cosell's abrasive personality gave him enough recognition to host a live variety show on ABC in the fall of 1975. That show is remembered today only as a trivia question, as its title, Saturday Night Live, prevented a new late-night sketch comedy program on NBC from using that title until the ABC show was canceled. That seeming popularity was in contrast to the repeated criticisms in the media, as well as bar room contests in which winners were allowed to throw a brick through a television image of Cosell.

text: After beginning with critical acclaim, Meredith began to take his weekly assignments less seriously, while also beginning an acting career. By 1973, his motivation for the broadcasts seemed highly suspect, given incidents during a trio of contests. On October 29, Meredith was drinking during the Buffalo Bills–Kansas City Chiefs game, which was preceded one week earlier by his pre-game analysis of the Denver Broncos–Oakland Raiders game: "We're in the Mile High City and I sure am" – a not-so-subtle reference to his use of marijuana at the time. Finally, during the Pittsburgh Steelers–Washington Redskins game on November 5, he referred to U.S. President Richard Nixon as "Tricky Dick."

text: Cosell, Gifford, Williamson, and Karras[edit]

text: Don Meredith would be absent from Monday Night Football for a broadcasting and acting career on rival NBC from 1974 to 1976. Fred Williamson, a former Kansas City Chiefs defensive back nicknamed "The Hammer" for his often-brutal hits, was selected by ABC to replace Meredith in 1974, but following a few pre-season broadcasts, proved so inarticulate that he was relieved of his duties prior to the start of the regular season, becoming the first MNF personality not to last an entire season (much less no part of the regular season at all). Williamson was replaced by fellow Gary, Indiana native Alex Karras, formerly of the Detroit Lions. The highlight of Williamson's MNF career was probably at the introductory press conference where he quipped that he was hired to "bring some color to the booth."

text: Karras made his debut on September 16, 1974 and immediately made an impact when he jokingly referred to Oakland Raiders' defensive lineman Otis Sistrunk as having attended "The University of Mars." That would essentially be the high point of Karras' three-year tenure, with a developing movie career often distracting him from showing any improvement (in reality, Sistrunk did not attend any college but enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after high school and played semi-professional football before getting a tryout with the Raiders; the Raiders team guide listed his college alma mater as "U.S. Mars").

text: Cosell, Gifford, Meredith, and Tarkenton[edit]

text: Meredith returned to the ABC booth in 1977, but seemed to lack the enthusiasm that had marked his first stint from 1970 to 1973. While the NFL moved to a 16-week schedule in 1978, Meredith was contractually obligated to work only 14 games, leaving Cosell and Gifford to work games as a duo or with newly retired Fran Tarkenton beginning in 1979.

text: From 1977 to 1986, ABC also aired occasional NFL games on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Each of these telecasts would be billed by the network as a "Special Thursday/Saturday/Sunday Night Edition of Monday Night Football".

text: One of the more somber contests in the run of the series came on November 27, 1978 when the San Francisco 49ers hosted the Pittsburgh Steelers. Earlier in the day, San Francisco mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk had been murdered at City Hall. Despite the complaints that followed, the NFL chose to play the game, a decision that mirrored the league's decision to play its scheduled games during the weekend following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy 15 years earlier.

text: The opening contest of the 1979 season saw a poignant moment as former New England Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley was introduced to a sellout crowd at the Patriots' Schaefer Stadium. Stingley had been paralyzed in a preseason game the year before and was making his first visit to the stadium since the accident.

text: John Lennon tragedy[edit]

text: One of the most remembered moments in Monday Night Football history occurred on December 8, 1980, yet had nothing to do with the game or football in general. During a game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots, Howard Cosell broke the news of famed Beatle John Lennon's assassination,[2] news that stunned a nationwide audience.

text:
“
Yes, we have to say it. Remember, this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City, the most famous perhaps, of all of The Beatles, shot twice in the back, rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, dead ... on ... arrival.
”

text: In 1974, Lennon had appeared in the Monday Night Football broadcast booth and was briefly interviewed by Cosell.

text: During the 1980 season, Monday Night Football continued its tradition of featuring notable guests during the half-time show, from a variety of different industries and backgrounds. During a Thursday Night Football special in Houston, 2 days after Ronald Reagan was elected to the White House, Vice-President elect George H.W. Bush was interviewed in the broadcast booth at halftime. Prior to the election, none of the candidates were invited on the program due to equal time regulations governing appearances during campaigns. Later that same season in Southern California, movie star Bo Derek, well known for her role in the movie "Ten", was the half-time guest and was interviewed by Howard Cosell. Some of the production crew teasingly referred to the segment as "The Beauty and the Beast".

text: 1980 also marked some key personnel moves for the top-rated ABC show. It was the first season of Monday Night Football produced by Bob Goodrich, who would lead the production team for another 6 years. In addition, 1980 was the first year a woman joined the traveling production crew of over 40 cameramen, engineers, producers and directors. Alexis Denny, then a sophomore at Yale University, served as the stage manager of the telecasts and wrote the script for the half-time highlights that Howard Cosell would voice over in a style for which he was known throughout his career.

text: Rest of 1980s[edit]

text: The NFL's television contract renewal in 1982 also put ABC in the Super Bowl rotation for the first time, giving it the broadcast rights to Super Bowl XIX in 1985. A second renewal of the television contract gave them the rights to Super Bowl XXII in 1988.

text: From 1983 to 1986, ABC also aired a Friday night game in the final week (Week 16) of the regular season, in addition to the normal Monday night game.

text: Cosell, Gifford, Meredith, and Simpson[edit]

text: Cosell continued to draw criticism during Monday Night Football with one of his offhand comments during the September 5, 1983 game, igniting a controversy and laying the groundwork for his departure at the end of that season. In a game between the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys, Cosell referred to Alvin Garrett, an African American wide receiver for the Redskins, as a "little monkey." Cosell noted that Garrett's small stature, and not his race, was the basis for his comment, citing the fact that he had used the term to describe his grandchildren. Later, a special on Howard Cosell showed him calling Mike Adamle (a white player) a "little monkey." Stung by the unrelenting barrage of remarks, Cosell claimed upon his departure from Monday Night Football that the NFL had become "a stagnant bore." In Cosell's book, I Never Played the Game, he devoted an entire chapter ("Monkey Business") to the Garrett episode. In the book, Cosell also said that ABC should have had the right to choose its own Monday Night schedule. In his mind, Monday Night Football is what elevated the NFL in popularity over Major League Baseball. He felt that this should have been ABC's reward for raising the league's profile.

text: That same year, O. J. Simpson replaced Tarkenton as a fill-in when Meredith or Cosell, who also was a broadcaster for the network's coverage of the Major League Baseball playoffs, was unavailable. The season would serve as a study in contrasts as one of the most exciting Monday night games ever was followed the next week by one of the most badly played in the run of the series. On October 17, 1983, the highest scoring game in Monday Night Football history took place in the Green Bay Packers-Washington Redskins game, with the Packers winning the game by a score of 48–47. One week later, the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals played for more than four hours before settling for a 20–20 overtime tie, MNF's only OT tie to date. The deadlock had come after dropped touchdown passes by Cardinal wide receivers Willard Harrell and Roy Green, and a trio of missed field goals by teammate Neil O'Donoghue, including two in the final 63 seconds of the overtime period.

text: Gifford, Meredith, and Simpson[edit]

text: When Cosell left prior to the start of the 1984 season, the trio of Gifford, Meredith and Simpson handled the duties. Cosell's departure seemed to have the greatest effect on Meredith, who many believed to be a poor analyst in his absence. Falling ratings also gave indications that much of the mystique that surrounded the weekly event had disappeared.

text: Gifford, Simpson, and Namath[edit]

text: After the 1984 season, ABC replaced Meredith with Joe Namath the following year, with the quarterback making his debut in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. In a coincidental twist, both Namath and Simpson were busy prior to the telecast with their induction into the shrine.

text: One of the more grisly moments in Monday Night Football history occurred during a game between the Washington Redskins and New York Giants on November 18, 1985, at RFK Stadium. Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann's career would end when Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor reached from behind to drag him down and Taylor fell heavily on the quarterback's leg in the process. On the play, which viewers could see in a gruesome slow-motion replay, Theismann suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula in his lower right leg.[3] The injury ended the playing career of Theismann, who had teamed with Gifford and Meredith on ABC's coverage of Super Bowl XIX in January 1985.

text: Two weeks after that painful memory, the program's most watched contest took place as the previously unbeaten Chicago Bears were defeated by the Miami Dolphins, which had not lost to a National Football Conference (NFC) team at home since 1976. That would turn out to be Chicago's only loss in 1985. The game broadcast earned a Nielsen rating of 29.6 with a 46 share.

text: Gifford and Michaels[edit]

text: Both Namath and Simpson would be replaced at the end of the 1985 NFL season, with critics noting their lack of journalistic skills in comparison to Cosell. In their place the following year came veteran broadcaster Al Michaels, who had previously anchored ABC's pregame coverage of Super Bowl XIX, and had been the lead play-by-play announcer of Monday Night Baseball since 1983. Michaels had also by this point, gained much notoriety at ABC for his 1980 "Miracle on Ice" broadcast.

text: Michaels served as the play-by-play announcer, teaming with Gifford for a two-man booth in 1986. During that season, the Miami Dolphins again made records with the biggest blowout in Monday Night Football history in a 45-3 rout of the then 10-1 New York Jets (the record was later tied and subsequently broken in 2005; see below). Also in 1986, when Al Michaels became unavailable because he was calling Major League Baseball's League Championship Series, Frank Gifford moved up into the play-by-play spot while Lynn Swann or O.J. Simpson filled-in as the color commentator. Gifford would once again call the play-by-play when Michaels was busy calling the World Series in 1987 and 1989 and the National League Championship Series in 1988.

text: Gifford, Michaels, and Dierdorf[edit]

text: In 1987, Gifford and Michaels were joined by Dan Dierdorf, returning the series to its original concept of three announcers in the booth. The trio would last for 11 seasons through the conclusion of the 1997 season. In 1989, television composer Edd Kalehoff created a new arrangement of Johnny Pearson's "Heavy Action", by that time fully synonymous with the series. This more or less replaced an original composition by Charles Fox. Also debuting in 1989 was Hank Williams, Jr. performing "All My Rowdy Friends Are Here on Monday Night", sung to the music of his 1984 hit "All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight."

text: As part of the league's television contract renewal with the network in 1989, ABC was awarded the television rights to Super Bowl XXV and Super Bowl XXIX, and the first round of NFL playoffs. The Monday Night Football announcing team anchored the telecasts, except for the first of two Wild Card Playoff games, in which ESPN's Sunday Night NFL crew of Mike Patrick and Joe Theismann presided over that telecast. However, the original crew for one of the two Wild Card Playoff games from 1990 to 1995 consisted of Brent Musburger and Dick Vermeil (both of whom did college football broadcasts for ABC during those two seasons).

text: From 1990 until 2005, ABC's MNF television package has included seventeen (eighteen in 1992 and 1993) regular season games (from 2003 until 2005, a Thursday game and 16 Mondays – no game on Week 17 because of playoff preparation disadvantages), the first two wild card playoff games (held on the first Saturday of the playoffs), and at times, the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl.

text: The October 17, 1994 episode between the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos featured a duel between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Joe Montana and John Elway. With 1:29 left to play in the game, Elway scored on a 4-yard touchdown run to put the Broncos ahead 28–24. But then Montana led the Chiefs on a 75-yard drive to score the game-winning touchdown with just 8 seconds to play. The final score was Chiefs 31, Broncos 28.

text: The October 31, 1994 game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears is notable for a very windy/rainy game, which also featured the Crypt Keeper deliver the famous phase, and also remembered with a 36-yard TD run by Brett Favre, who had a sore hip that night. Later dubbed the Halloween Monsoon by Bear fans, the Packers crushed the Bears, 33-6.

text: In the 1995 MNF regular season opener between the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants at the New Jersey Meadowlands, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones controversially brought Nike chairman Phil Knight down to the sidelines, representing Jones' individual deal with Nike, contrary to the NFL's policy of negotiating its marketing deals as a league.

text: In 1997, ABC began using a scoring bug showing the game clock and score throughout the entire broadcast.

text: Michaels, Dierdorf, and Esiason[edit]

text: In 1998, Lesley Visser became the first female commentator on Monday Night Football. She had been the first female beat writer in the NFL when she covered the New England Patriots for the Boston Globe in the mid-1970s, and was the first and only woman to handle a Super Bowl Trophy presentation when she was a sportscaster with CBS. Visser was followed by several women, notably Melissa Stark and Lisa Guerrero, on the sideline who were perceived as "eye candy", none of whom affected the ratings.

text: For the 1998 season, ABC pushed Monday Night Football back an hour (it has usually aired at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time). A special pre-game show was created, Monday Night Blast, hosted by Chris Berman from the ESPN Zone restaurant in Baltimore. The game would start around 8:20 p.m. Eastern for this particular season. Despite leaving the booth, Frank Gifford stayed on one more year as a special contributor to the pre-game show, usually presenting a single segment.

text: A mildly infamous incident came during the final 1998 telecast when Dierdorf asked Michaels, prior to a halftime interview with Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie, "Are you gonna tell 'em how you're sick of all this B.C. [Boston College] stuff?" Michaels (thinking that they had gone into a commercial break and that his microphone was off) replied, "No shit."[citation needed]

text: Nielsen ratings data for the first 17 weeks of the 1998–99 television season showed that Monday Night Football averaged a 13.9 rating, down 8% from the 15.0 average rating for the broadcasts in 1997 – the previous standard in ratings futility. In actuality, MNF ratings had been hitting all-time record lows for the previous four years.

text: Michaels and Esiason[edit]

text: Beginning in 1999, Monday Night Football telecasts used a computer-generated yellow line to mark where a team needs to get a first down, a method first used by ABC sister cable channel ESPN. 1999 also saw the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game being moved from Saturday afternoon to Monday night. It would remain on Monday night through 2005.

text: Boomer Esiason replaced Gifford in 1998, and Dierdorf left for a return to CBS in 1999. Esiason's relationship with Michaels was questioned leading to his firing. Esiason and Michaels reportedly never got along, and it led to ABC firing Esiason shortly after calling Super Bowl XXXIV together.

text: Michaels, Fouts, and Miller[edit]

text: Unexpectedly, comedian Dennis Miller joined the cast in 2000, along with Dan Fouts.[4] The move was ultimately regarded as a bust by many viewers and commentators. ABC briefly considered adding radio personality Rush Limbaugh before Miller was added to the broadcast team, despite having no prior sports broadcast experience (Limbaugh would instead be assigned as a commentator to Sunday NFL Countdown on ABC sister ESPN). Miller demonstrated a knowledge of the game and its personalities, although at times he tended to lapse into sometimes obscure analogy-riddled streams of consciousness similar to the "rants" of his standup comedy act. ABC even set up a webpage dedicated to explaining Miller's sometimes obscure pop culture references. Soon, it would become apparent that Miller's comedy did not mix with football.

text: In June 2000, Lesley Visser's career suffered a highly publicized setback when she was famously bounced as the Monday Night Football sideline reporter for a less experienced, much younger woman and a man, who did not have as extensive journalistic credentials as Visser. "It was staggering to me", Visser later recalled. However, she wound up returning to CBS Sports, philosophical as ever. "You can have a short career if it's based on looks and youth", she said, "but legitimacy is what lasts." Which ABC replaced her with both Melissa Stark and Eric Dickerson. This was part of the overhaul when ABC brought back Don Ohlmeyer to serve as producer, who installed Dennis Miller as an analyst (for ultimately two unsuccessful seasons). She sued ABC Sports for age discrimination, with Howard Katz and Ohlmeyer being named as co-defendants.

text: As previously mentioned, in 2000, Don Ohlmeyer, the program's producer up until 1977 was brought back.[4] After spending time at NBC, Ohlmeyer was lured out of retirement to spark interest and provide some vigor to the broadcast. Besides the on-air talent, Ohlmeyer's changes included clips of players introducing themselves, new graphics and music. In another rather irreverent move, the scoring bug began incorporating nicknames for the teams, such as "Skins" and "Fins" (for the Washington Redskins and Miami Dolphins) instead of their respective common abbreviations, WSH and MIA.

text: On October 23, 2000, the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins competed in what is now known as The Monday Night Miracle Trailing 30–7 in the fourth quarter, Vinny Testaverde led the Jets to score 23 consecutive points to tie the game. After Miami scored another touchdown, Testaverde threw to offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott to tie the game at 37-all. At 1:08 a.m. Eastern Time, the game having crossed into Tuesday morning, John Hall kicked a field goal in overtime to win the game 40–37. It was the second biggest fourth quarter comeback in NFL history and biggest comeback in Jets' history. Arnold Schwarzenegger predicted the comeback at halftime, where he was appearing with the MNF crew to promote an upcoming movie. With the Jets already down by 20 points he said, "Wayne Chrebet will catch a pass and the Jets will win. They're a great team."[citation needed]

text: The 2001 season of MNF featured a season-long campaign promoting the anticipated 20,000th point scored in MNF history. Denver Broncos kicker Jason Elam completed the task with a field goal during a 38–28 loss at Oakland on November 5. The three points also put Elam over 1,000 points for his career. In addition, the scoring bug reverted to using the team abbreviations, as opposed to the nickname scheme used in the previous season.

text: Michaels and Madden[edit]

text: In 2002, both Dennis Miller and Dan Fouts were dropped and John Madden joined Al Michaels in a two-man booth. Madden was a coach for the Oakland Raiders, namesake of the seminal Madden NFL video game series, and a successful broadcaster for 21 years – first with CBS until 1993 and then with Fox – before joining Monday Night Football.

text: In 2002, the broadcast debuted the "Horse Trailer" award, in which a picture of the game's top performer(s) is displayed, as chosen by the broadcasting crew. During the fourth quarter of a preseason game early that season, Madden was joking about doing some recording in the "Horse Trailer", a term the producers used for one of the ABC production trucks. It was, in fact, a custom-built trailer designed from the shell of a horse trailer, but housed sophisticated electronic equipment inside it. By the first week of the regular season, an idea to decorate the plain white trailer with MNF decor, the entire MNF schedule, and a weekly MVP, was born. Immediately following each game, the winner(s) is chosen, and his picture is affixed to the trailer in the corresponding location. When Madden and Michaels went to NBC in 2006, they debuted a similar feature, the Rock Star – in which the photo of the player of the game was attached to the top of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City (the "Horse Trailer" concept was reinstated for the 2007 season).

text: In addition to Fouts and Madden helming the regular season broadcasts, Brent Musburger and Gary Danielson served as commentators for that year's AFC Wild Card game, with Jack Arute serving as the sideline reporter.

text: After suffering through several years of dismal Pro Bowl ratings, ABC considered moving the game to Monday night. In February 2003, Madden declined to serve as color commentator for the game in Hawaii, citing his fear of flying; former MNF personality Dan Fouts took his place. The Pro Bowl held the following year was played on a Sunday as typical, but was moved to ABC's sister network ESPN.

text: In 2003, ABC and the NFL dropped the Monday Night Football game for the final week of the regular season. The move, which had been in effect for the first eight years of the broadcast (1970–1977), was the result of declining ratings, as well as problems involved for potential playoff teams, as there was a potential of only four days rest between their final regular season game and first-round playoff game. ABC replaced the telecast with an opening weekend Thursday night game, and in exchange ESPN got a Saturday night game on the final weekend.

text: Also during the 2003 season, Lisa Guerrero decided to leave Fox Sports Net's The Best Damn Sports Show Period to join the MNF television crew as a sideline reporter (replacing the pregnant Melissa Stark). Guerrero's performance on the broadcast was heavily criticized, and the following year (also in an apparent move away from the "eye candy" concept) ABC replaced her with longtime TV sports journalist Michele Tafoya. Guerrero defended herself by saying that the show hired her with the intention of going in a totally different direction with the job of sideline reporter – personality-driven and feature-driven – then discarded all of that and told her to just do the job in the usual fashion. She said that she never would have taken the job if she had known that they would change their minds like that. In 2005, Michele Tafoya sat out much of the season while on maternity leave, with Sam Ryan temporarily taking her place.

text: During the October 6, 2003 game between the Indianapolis Colts and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Indianapolis was trailing 35–14 with 3:43 remaining. The Colts had returned a Tampa Bay kickoff 90 yard to the 11-yard line, setting up a quick score. The Colts recovered an onside kick and scored again to narrow the margin to 35–28. They forced a Bucs punt and with less than two minutes remaining, Peyton Manning led an 87-yard drive to score the game-tying touchdown with 35 seconds left in regulation. In overtime, kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a 40-yard field goal, but Simeon Rice was called for a leaping penalty, a rarely seen unsportsmanlike conduct infraction that penalizes a player for running and jumping to block a kick and landing on other players. Vanderjagt's subsequent kick was batted and hit the upright, but fell in good, winning the game for the Colts. Vanderjagt went on to become the second kicker in NFL history not to miss either a field goal or extra point in a single season after Gary Anderson, who accomplished the feat in the 1998 season as a member of the Minnesota Vikings. Vanderjagt did not miss a kick in the playoffs either, making him the first kicker to accomplish that feat (Anderson missed a field goal in the 1998-99 NFC Championship Game).

text: On December 22, 2003, Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre put on one of the most defining moments of his career (while also ranking among his greatest game ever). The day before the contest against the Oakland Raiders, his father, Irvin, died suddenly of a heart attack. Favre elected to play, passing for four touchdowns in the first half, and 399 yards for the game in a 41–7 destruction of the Raiders (receiving applause from the highly partisan "Raider Nation"). Afterwards, Brett said,

text:
“
I knew that my dad would have wanted me to play. I love him so much and I love this game. It's meant a great deal to me, to my dad, to my family, and I didn't expect this kind of performance. But I know he was watching tonight.
”

text: On November 15, 2004, controversy shrouded Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens when he appeared with actress Nicollette Sheridan (one of the stars of the new hit ABC comedy-drama Desperate Housewives) in an introductory skit which opened that evening's MNF telecast, in which Owens and the Eagles played the Cowboys at Texas Stadium. The skit was widely condemned as being sexually suggestive (see video[5]) and ABC was forced to apologize for airing it (the Eagles went on to win the game, 49-21, with Owens catching three touchdown passes). However, on March 14, 2005, the Federal Communications Commission ruled that the skit did not violate decency standards, because it contained no outright nudity or foul language. Originally, John Madden was supposed to appear in the commercial.

text: For the 2005 season, which would become the network's final season as the MNF broadcaster and used through Super Bowl XL, ABC converted its scoring bug into a horizontal time-score banner placed across the bottom of the screen.

text: "Monday Night Massacre" (Seahawks)[edit]

text: On December 5, 2005, in a game dubbed "The Monday Night Massacre" by NFL Films, the Seattle Seahawks shut out the Philadelphia Eagles 42–0 with three defensive touchdowns (two interceptions, one fumble return) to tie the then-largest margin of victory mark in Monday Night Football history and set the mark for the greatest margin of victory in a Monday night shutout, as well as setting the NFL record for scoring the most points with less than 200 yards of offense. Andre Dyson scored twice for the Seahawks defense, once on a 72-yard interception return and the other on a 25-yard fumble return, earning himself the "Horse Trailer Player of the Game" as well as NFC defensive player of the week. A fourth interception return by Michael Boulware fell just short of tying another Seahawks NFL record of four defensive scores in a single game, set during a 45–0 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in 1984. The defeat was the Eagles third worst in team history. This was due to the Eagles' major injuries including star quarterback Donovan McNabb and also the situation with Terrell Owens[clarify]. The Eagles also lost their star running back Brian Westbrook due to an injury in this game.

text: End of the ABC era[edit]

text: Despite high ratings, ABC lost millions of dollars on televising the games during the late 1990s and 2000s. The NFL also indicated that it wanted Sunday night to be the new night for its marquee game, because more people tend to watch television on Sundays, and games held on that night would be more conducive to flexible scheduling, a method by which some of the NFL's best games could be moved from the afternoon to the evening on Sunday on short notice. Given these factors, as well as the rise of ABC's ratings on Sunday night, and the network's wish of protecting its Desperate Housewives franchise (which they knew would be costly), on April 18, 2005, ABC and the NFL announced the end of their 36-year partnership, with the Monday Night Football broadcasts being moved to ESPN starting with the 2006 season;[6] the move was criticized some Disney shareholders (as well as NFL fans and purists). However, ESPN's ability to collect subscription fees from cable and satellite providers, in addition to selling commercials, made it more likely that ESPN could turn a profit on NFL telecasts, as opposed to ABC's heavy losses.

text: The final Monday Night Football broadcast on ABC aired on December 26, 2005, when the New York Jets hosted the New England Patriots from Giants Stadium. Coincidentally, both the first and last ABC Monday Night Football game telecasts ended with a score of 31–21 with the Jets on the losing end. Vinny Testaverde holds the distinction of throwing the last TD pass in ABC's MNF telecast history; it was to wide receiver Laveranues Coles. Also, Testaverde's pass set an NFL record: most consecutive seasons with a touchdown pass, 19 seasons (1987–2005). Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel set a record of note during that last ABC telecast, becoming the first player to catch two touchdown passes and record a quarterback sack in the same game. The final play of the ABC era was a Pats kneeldown by 44-year-old reserve quarterback Doug Flutie. John Madden said at the show's ending:

text:
“
They can take football away from ABC on Monday nights, but they can't take away the memories.
”

text: During its final NFL television contract, ABC was awarded the telecasts to Super Bowl XXXIV, Super Bowl XXXVII and Super Bowl XL. With the end of ABC's contract, the Super Bowl XL broadcast was the network's final NFL telecast until 2016, when they simulcasted ESPN's Wild Card game production.

text: Move to ESPN[edit]

text: The changes to the NFL's prime time broadcasts took place with the 2006 season, as ESPN began airing the Monday night games at the same time NBC assumed the rights to the Sunday night package from ESPN. The Sunday night game is now the "showcase" game of the week on the NFL schedule.

text: While the ESPN broadcasts still carry the MNF name and heritage, NBC (like ABC) is a broadcast network, whereas ESPN is a cable channel not freely available to all Americans, though per a cause in the NFL's broadcasting rules, many ESPN games air on a participating broadcast television station in the home markets of each team to allow viewers who do not subscribe to a pay television provider to view the game. For that reason, NBC gained rights to the Thursday night season-opening game, the Wild Card doubleheader that has traditionally aired on ABC, as well as a share of the rotating rights to the Super Bowl (with CBS and Fox also in the mix).

text: Tirico, Theismann, and Kornheiser[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: ESPN had initially stated that its MNF team would consist of Al Michaels and Joe Theismann in the booth, with Michele Tafoya and Suzy Kolber serving as sideline reporters. However, on February 8, 2006, ESPN announced that former NBA studio host Mike Tirico would replace Michaels in the booth in 2006, joined by Theismann, and Tony Kornheiser. ESPN announced the following day that it had "traded" the contract of Michaels to NBC in exchange for some NBCUniversal properties, including rights to Ryder Cup coverage, and the return of the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (a Walt Disney creation) to ESPN parent The Walt Disney Company after nearly 80 years of Universal ownership.[7]

text: ESPN's first Monday night broadcast was a preseason game held on August 14, 2006, when the Oakland Raiders visited the Minnesota Vikings, publicized as the return of Randy Moss to Minnesota for the first time since the Vikings traded him after the 2004 season. The telecast debuted with brand-new graphics, including a time-score box placed in the lower center of the screen; a variation of the MNF graphics began to be used on almost all sporting events televised by ESPN and ABC (the former of which effectively took over full responsibility of ABC's sports division that year, which was rebranded as ESPN on ABC). The first regular season Monday Night Football game to air on ESPN was on September 11, 2006, featuring the visiting Minnesota Vikings at the Washington Redskins at FedExField, in which the Vikings won 19–16.

text: The September 25 edition of Monday Night Football highlighted the New Orleans Saints' first game back in the Louisiana Superdome following Hurricane Katrina to take on the Atlanta Falcons. The game had a Super Bowl-like atmosphere with performances by the Goo Goo Dolls, U2 and Green Day before the game. The NFL tapped producer Don Mischer and director Hamish Hamilton to produce the event. Former President George H. W. Bush handled the pregame coin toss. The Saints beat the Falcons 23–3 in what now ranks as one of the most-watched events in the history of cable television.

text: ESPN's October 23, 2006 game telecast between the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys drew the largest audience in the history of cable television at the time, besting the previous mark set by a 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) debate between Al Gore and Ross Perot. An average of 16,028,000 viewers (12.8 rating) watched as the Giants defeated the Cowboys, 36–22. ESPN's Monday Night Football telecasts now account for eight of the ten highest-rated programs in cable television history.

text: What would eventually be named the "NFL's comeback of the year" was played on Monday Night Football on October 16. Late in the third quarter, the massive underdog Arizona Cardinals led the Chicago Bears 23–3. Arizona seemed to have the game wrapped up, as rookie quarterback Matt Leinart was having a great day, and Arizona had forced six turnovers out of Chicago quarterback Rex Grossman. Chicago's defense then went on to score 14 points on fumble returns for touchdowns. With 2:58 left in the fourth quarter, and down 17–23, Chicago's Devin Hester returned a punt for a touchdown to take a 24–23 lead. Leinart then led the Cardinals down the field, only to have Neil Rackers miss a field goal, and Chicago went on to win.

text: At the conclusion of the 2006 season, ESPN had managed to secure all of the cable television audience records.[citation needed] Monday Night Football and its surrounding shoulder programming also became the most profitable franchise on cable television.

text: Tirico, Jaworski, and Kornheiser[edit]

text: Analyst and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski replaced Joe Theismann, who was offered a prominent football analyst job with ESPN, in the booth beginning with the 2007 season.[8]

text: On December 3, 2007, 17.5 million people watched the undefeated New England Patriots defeat the Baltimore Ravens, 27–24. The game became the most-watched single cable television program of all-time by total viewership, breaking the previous record set by the August 17 premiere of High School Musical 2, which was viewed by 17.2 million on ESPN corporate sibling Disney Channel (after the film was surpassed by the Patriots-Ravens game, High School Musical 2 retained the record as the highest-rated non-sports program in basic cable history).[9][10]

text: Revamp after disappointing 2007 season[edit]

text: After experiencing low ratings[11] and criticism[12] about the production during the 2007 season, ESPN announced that long-time sideline reporters Suzy Kolber and Michele Tafoya would have reduced roles for the 2008 season.[13]

text: As the 2008 season began, ESPN announced a new focus on covering the games as sporting events rather than as entertainment and cultural events. Among the changes were the removal of celebrity booth guests and a reduction in the number of sideline interviews. Tafoya and Kolber were retained to conduct those interviews and file reports from the field.[14] In addition, ESPN replaced the bottom center-screen time-score box introduced in 2006 (which was used until the 2008 preseason) with a horizontal time-score banner across the bottom of the screen.

text: The September 15, 2008 Eagles–Cowboys game, with a 13.3 rating and 18.6 million viewers, set a new record for the most-watched cable television program, surpassing the record set the previous October by the Patriots-Ravens game.[15]

text: 2008 election eve[edit]

text: The night before the 2008 United States Presidential Election, studio host Chris Berman interviewed both major party candidates, Republican nominee John McCain and Democratic nominee Barack Obama at halftime. The November 10, 2008 game featured the Washington Redskins losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 23-6.[16]

text: Tirico, Jaworski, and Gruden[edit]

text: 2009 season[edit]

text: Tony Kornheiser stepped down for the 2009 season and was replaced by former Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden. The rest of the team remained intact.[17]

text: The October 5, 2009 Packers–Vikings game was the fourth ESPN MNF broadcast to become the most-watched program ever on a cable channel, with a 15.3 rating and 21.839 million viewers. The record stood until it was surpassed by the network's telecast of the BCS National Championship Game on January 10, 2011.[18][19][20]

text: 2010 season[edit]

text: "Monday Night Massacre" (Eagles)[edit]

text: On November 15, 2010, the Eagles visited the Redskins, in what was Donovan McNabb's second game against the Eagles since being traded on April 4 of that year. The Redskins won the first meeting that season by a score of 17-12; however, in the first half of the game, Eagles star quarterback Michael Vick suffered a rib injury knocking him out of the game, resulting in Kevin Kolb taking over. After the game, McNabb gave a post-game speech in the locker room in which he stated the Eagles made a mistake by trading him. Before the game, McNabb signed a five-year contract extension worth $78 million, after being benched in the fourth quarter just a week earlier. The very first play of the game Vick threw an 88-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson.

text: The Redskins were criticized for their lack of coverage because the Eagles were known for going deep on the first play; the Eagles' next two possessions led to touchdowns. The very first play of the second quarter, with Philadelphia up 28-0, saw Vick throw a 48-yard touchdown to Jeremy Maclin. With Philadelphia up 45-21 at halftime, Vick threw a three-yard touchdown to Jason Avant in the third quarter to make the score 52-21. During the play, Vick scrambled, waiting for someone to get open when Albert Haynesworth (who signed a six-year $100 million contract with the Redskins the year prior) had fallen down and continued to lie on the field as Vick continued to scramble. The very next Redskins possession had McNabb throw a pick six to Dimitri Patterson, helping the Eagles score seven points.

text: The Redskins went on to score one more touchdown, however their seven-point run was not able to stop Philadelphia, which defeated Washington 59-28. McNabb finished the game with 295 yards on 17 for 31, along with two touchdowns and three interceptions. The Eagles finished with 593 offense yards (setting a new team record); Vick went 20 of 28 for 333 yards throwing four touchdowns, and also ran for 80 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. He became the first player with at least 300 yards passing, 50 yards rushing four passing touchdowns and two rushing touchdowns in a game. Vick's performance in the game also moved him past Steve Young for second place on the all-time list for rushing yards by a quarterback.

text: Secondary broadcast teams[edit]

text: Since the program's move to ESPN in 2006, the network has broadcast two games in a doubleheader on the opening week of the season, with the second game using separate announcers and production staff that are not used for the rest of the schedule. On September 11, 2006, the announcers for the second game were Brad Nessler, Ron Jaworski and Dick Vermeil. On September 10, 2007, the team of Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic (co-hosts of Mike and Mike in the Morning) presided alongside Mike Ditka. For both games, Bonnie Bernstein was the sideline reporter.

text: Greenberg, Golic and Ditka served as the secondary team for the September 8, 2008 game, with Suzy Kolber on the sidelines. The September 14, 2009 game had Steve Young join Greenberg, Golic and Kolber. On September 13, 2010, Nessler and Trent Dilfer teamed to call the second game, with Kolber again on the sidelines.

text: Hank Williams Jr. controversy[edit]

text: On October 3, 2011, Hank Williams Jr. made controversial remarks during an interview on Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends, when talking about a golf outing he went on that summer with Barack Obama, John Boehner, Joe Biden and John Kasich. Williams compared President Obama and Speaker of the House Boehner golfing together to "Hitler playing golf with [Israeli prime minister] Netanyahu", stressing their philosophical and political differences.[21][22] On October 6, 2011, ESPN subsequently announced that it would stop using "All My Rowdy Friends" as its theme song (as the song is still owned by Williams) and drop Williams from the show's opening. Williams commented on the matter: "After reading hundreds of e-mails, I have made my decision... By pulling my opening October 3, [ESPN] stepped on the toes of the First Amendment Freedom of Speech, so therefore me, my song, and All My Rowdy Friends are out of here. It's been a great run."[23] MNF was absent an opening sequence from Week 4 through the end of that season.

text: In 2017, ESPN re-hired Hank Williams Jr. for the intro.


document_title: Kingdom Hearts

question_text: when did the last kingdom hearts game come out

root

text: Kingdom Hearts

text: Titles[edit]

text: Games[edit]

text:
Timeline of release years

2002
Kingdom Hearts

2003

2004
Chain of Memories

2005
Kingdom Hearts II

2006

2007
Re:Chain of Memories

2008
Coded

2009
358/2 Days

2010
Birth by Sleep

Re:coded

2011

2012
Dream Drop Distance

2013
1.5 Remix

χ

2014
2.5 Remix

2015
Unchained χ

2016

2017
2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

1.5 + 2.5 Remix

2018
Kingdom Hearts III

tag: table

text:
Kingdom Hearts is the first game in the series, released in Japan on March 28, 2002 for PlayStation 2.[2][3] Tetsuya Nomura has served as game director, his first time in this position. Kingdom Hearts introduced the main characters (Sora, Kairi and Riku) of the series, and established the plot's framework involving hearts and dark beings known as the Heartless. It also established the role of Disney characters in the series, with character cameos from the Final Fantasy series. Kingdom Hearts was released in North America on September 17, 2002,[2][3] and featured additional content that was not in the original Japanese version. The game was later re-released exclusively in Japan as Kingdom Hearts Final Mix on December 26, 2002.[2][3] Final Mix includes the content from the North American release and additional enemies, cutscenes, and weapons.[4]
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is a direct sequel to the first game. It was released on the Game Boy Advance in Japan on November 11, 2004.[5][6] Chain of Memories was touted as a bridge between the two PlayStation 2 titles, introducing and previewing plot elements that would be explored in the next game.[7] The gameplay system is a departure from the original and employs card game mechanics in real time. Players construct decks out of cards that correspond to different actions in battle, such as attacking or using magic. It was remade into a PlayStation 2 game titled Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, which contains polygonal graphics instead of the sprites used in the original game. The remake was released in Japan as a second disc packaged with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix on March 29, 2007, and in North America as a standalone title on December 2, 2008.[8][9]
Kingdom Hearts II takes place one year after the events of Chain of Memories. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in Japan on December 22, 2005.[10][11] The game further explores the "heart" concept by involving a new group of enemies, the Nobodies, which are the cast-off shells of those who have become Heartless. The gameplay is similar to that of the first Kingdom Hearts game, with the addition of the Reaction Command, which performs context-sensitive actions in battle. Kingdom Hearts II was revised into Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, which contains more material than the original release, such as additional cutscenes and bosses. Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix was released with Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories in a collection titled Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+, which was released in Japan on March 29, 2007.[12]
Kingdom Hearts Coded is an episodic mobile phone game that picks up directly after Kingdom Hearts II. The "preinstall" episode was released exclusively in Japan on November 18, 2008 and eight episodes were released between June 3, 2009 and January 28, 2010.[13] The game was remade for the Nintendo DS as Kingdom Hearts Re:coded, and features updated gameplay combining that of two later titles in the series, 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep. Unlike the original version, Re:coded was released internationally: October 7, 2010 in Japan;[14] January 11, 2011 in North America;[15] and January 14, 2011 in Europe.[16]
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days was released for the Nintendo DS in Japan on May 30, 2009. It is primarily set between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, focusing on Roxas' time in Organization XIII and his motives for leaving. It is the first game in the series to feature cooperative multiplayer in addition to the traditional use of AI-controlled partners.[17][18] Gameplay is mission-based with optional objectives that yield additional rewards. The game also has a unique panel system which governs character improvement, special abilities, and equipped weapons.
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep is a prequel to the series, released for the PlayStation Portable in Japan on January 9, 2010, and in North America on September 7, 2010 with additional content.[19] The game is set ten years before the events of the first Kingdom Hearts game, revealing the origins of the villain, Xehanort.[20] It consists of four scenarios, three of which focus on one of the game's three protagonists, Terra, Ventus and Aqua. The game was re-released exclusively in Japan under the title Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix on January 20, 2011 with the content from the English versions as well as new features, such as an additional fifth scenario.
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance was released on March 29, 2012 in Japan for the Nintendo 3DS. The game focuses on Sora and Riku's Mark of Mastery exam under Yen Sid in anticipation of Xehanort's return and their subsequent conflicts with enemies from their past.[21] In addition to similar systems inherited from Birth by Sleep, this game features "Dream Eaters" which serve as both enemies and allies. Players may collect and breed friendly Dream Eaters and train them to become more powerful. The English edition came out on July 20, 2012 in Europe while it came out on July 31, 2012 for North America.
Kingdom Hearts χ: At Tokyo Game Show 2012, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts χ, previously known as Kingdom Hearts for PC Browsers.[22] It is a browser game for PCs, and is only playable in Japan since July 18, 2013. It features cartoon-like 2D models and is a prequel to the entire series, taking place before the Keyblade War.
Kingdom Hearts: Unchained χ: An international port of Kingdom Hearts χ that was released for Android and iOS devices featuring content from the original game's release while later diverging from it and providing all-new content.[23] Unchained χ was released in Japan on September 3, 2015,[24] in North America on April 7, 2016,[25] and in Europe on June 16, 2016.[26] In April 2017, it was rebranded as Kingdom Hearts Union X.[27]

tag: ul

text: Other[edit]

text:
A Kingdom Hearts game was developed exclusively for V CAST, Verizon Wireless's broadband service, and was released on October 1, 2004 in Japan and on February 4, 2005 in the United States.[28] It was one of the launch games for the V CAST services.[29] The game, developed by Superscape and published by Disney Mobile with no involvement from Square Enix, features gameplay akin to the first Kingdom Hearts game, modified for the input method of mobile phones.[30] The game's storyline features Sora struggling to free himself from a nightmare induced by Maleficent's magic.
Kingdom Hearts Mobile is a Kingdom Hearts-themed social game in which players can play mini-games together. Unlike Kingdom Hearts for the V CAST and Kingdom Hearts Coded, this game does not have a storyline and focuses more on socializing. The service operates in conjunction with Kingdom Hearts Coded—new avatar costumes become available after the player completes an episode of Kingdom Hearts Coded. Kingdom Hearts-related media such as wallpapers, ringtones, graphics, and other items can be purchased and downloaded through the service for mobile phones.

text: Collections[edit]

text:
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan on March 14, 2013.[31] The collection includes remastered versions of Kingdom Hearts Final Mix and Re:Chain of Memories, which include gameplay enhancements and trophy support. In addition, a "Theatre Mode" has been added, consisting of high definition cutscenes from Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.[32] The collection was released in North America on September 10, 2013[33] in Australia on September 12, 2013,[34] and in Europe on September 13, 2013.[35]
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix: After the announcement of HD 1.5 Remix, Nomura stated that it would be "pretty unnatural" if Kingdom Hearts II did not receive an HD update.[36] In the credits of HD 1.5 Remix, clips of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix, Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded were shown, hinting at another collection.[37] On October 14, 2013, the collection was announced exclusively for the PlayStation 3, and will include the previously mentioned games, with Re:coded appearing as HD cinematics, similar to 358/2 Days in HD 1.5 Remix.[37] The collection was released in Japan on October 2, 2014,[38] North America on December 2, 2014, Australia on December 4, 2014, and Europe on December 5, 2014.[39]
Kingdom Hearts Collector's Pack: HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: The Collector's pack features both Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix, a code to get an Anniversary Set for Kingdom Hearts χ, music, and a booklet with art from the series, with a release in Japan.[38]
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue: In the credits of HD 2.5 Remix, clips of Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance were shown as well as the inclusion of a secret ending related to the game, hinting at a possible additional collection.[40] In September 2015, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue. The collection features an HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance as well as Kingdom Hearts χ Back Cover, a cinematic telling of the backstory behind the events of Kingdom Hearts χ, and Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep – A Fragmentary Passage, a new game taking place after the events of the original Birth by Sleep, told from the perspective of Aqua.[41] It was released in Japan on January 12, 2017, and in North America and Europe on January 24, 2017.[42]
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix: In October 2016, Square-Enix announced a single-disc compilation release of Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix for the PlayStation 4. The compilation was released on March 9, 2017 in Japan; March 28, 2017 in North America; and March 31, 2017 in Europe.[43]

text: Upcoming titles[edit]

text: Though Kingdom Hearts III will be the end of the "Dark Seeker Saga" centered on Xehanort, it has already been decided where certain characters will end up, in order to potentially continue their story in future games.[44]

tag: p

text: Kingdom Hearts III: In an interview on September 14, 2010, Tetsuya Nomura stated that his team was too busy with other projects such as Final Fantasy XV (known as Final Fantasy Versus XIII at the time) to work on Kingdom Hearts III. He also stated that his team was doing research concerning the high-definition graphics of the game, and depending on the technical requirements of the next generation consoles.[45] On June 10, 2013, at the E3 Sony press conference, after years of rumors and speculations, Nomura introduced a teaser for Kingdom Hearts III, which stated it was in development for the PlayStation 4. It was announced the next day to be in development for the Xbox One as well.[46] In Kingdom Hearts III, the series protagonist Sora will search for the "Key to Return Hearts" while Sora's friends, Riku and King Mickey, search for Keyblade wielders. The game will conclude the "Dark Seeker Saga", but it will not be the final game in the series.[47] The game is scheduled to be released in 2018.[48]

text: Other media[edit]

text: Both Square Enix and Disney have released a wide variety of Kingdom Hearts merchandise including toys, figurines, clothing, and jewelry.[49][50] Two of the games, Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II, had a soundtrack released to coincide with the video games.[51][52] These were followed by a nine CD complete set which featured both soundtracks and unreleased tracks.[53] Kingdom Hearts has been adapted as a trading card game by the Tomy corporation of Japan.[54] An English version of the game was released in November 2007 by Fantasy Flight Games.[55] The video games have also been adapted into manga and novel series.

text: Like the Final Fantasy games, a series of "Ultimania" books were released in Japan for many of the games. These books include game walkthroughs, interviews, and extra information from the developers. Kingdom Hearts -Another Report- was released along with Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ and features game information, visuals by Shiro Amano, and a director interview.[56] In North America, Brady Games released strategy guides for each game. For Kingdom Hearts II, they released two versions, a standard version and a limited edition version. The limited edition was available in four different covers and included a copy of Jiminy's Journal along with 400 stickers.[57]

text: Printed adaptations[edit]

text: A manga based on the Kingdom Hearts storyline has been released in Japan and the United States. The story and art are done by Shiro Amano, who is also known for his manga adaptation of the Legend of Mana video game. The story follows the events that took place in the video games with differences to account for the loss of interactivity a video game provides. The manga was originally serialized in Japan by Square Enix's Monthly Shōnen Gangan and eventually released in tankōbon format. The first tankōbon was released in Japan in October 2003.[58] The manga was released in the USA by Tokyopop two years later in October 2005.[59] Yen Press now holds the rights to publish the books for the USA market. The first series, Kingdom Hearts, consists of four volumes, while the second series, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, has two volumes. The third series, Kingdom Hearts II, has had five volumes published and is currently on hiatus. A fourth series based on Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is being serialized. The games have also been adapted as a light novel series, written by Tomoco Kanemaki and illustrated by Shiro Amano. Like the manga series, it is divided into separate series based on the games. Kingdom Hearts is divided into two volumes; "The First Door"[60] and "Darkness Within".[61] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories is divided into two volumes. Kingdom Hearts II is divided into four volumes; "Roxas—Seven Days",[62] "The Destruction of Hollow Bastion",[63] "Tears of Nobody",[64] and "Anthem—Meet Again/Axel Last Stand".[65]

text: Common elements[edit]

text: Disney and Square Enix characters[edit]

text: Kingdom Hearts features a mixture of familiar Disney, Pixar and Square Enix characters, as well as several new characters designed and created by Nomura.[66] In addition to original locations, the Kingdom Hearts series features many worlds from Disney films. Sora must visit these worlds and interact with various Disney characters to protect them from enemies. Often, his actions in these worlds closely follow the storylines of their respective Disney films. The main characters try not to interfere with the affairs of other worlds, as it could negatively affect the universe's order.[67][68] Moogles, small creatures from the Final Fantasy series, are another common element in the games. They provide the player with a synthesis shop in order to create and purchase items used in the game. The main cast from The World Ends with You also makes an appearance in the series in Dream Drop Distance, and the upcoming Kingdom Hearts III will feature characters from Pixar's Toy Story series.[69][70]

text: Story[edit]

text:
Kingdom Hearts
chronology

Back Cover
(Unchained / Union) χ
Birth by Sleep
A Fragmentary Passage
Kingdom Hearts
Chain of Memories
358/2 Days
II
Coded
Dream Drop Distance
III

v
t
e

text: The series starts with Kingdom Hearts, where a 14-year-old boy named Sora is separated from his friends Riku and Kairi when their world, Destiny Islands, is invaded by creatures known as the Heartless. During the invasion, Sora obtains a weapon called the Keyblade that allows him to fight the Heartless. He soon arrives in another world, Traverse Town, where he meets Donald Duck and Goofy, two emissaries from Disney Castle sent to find the Keyblade wielder under orders from their missing king, Mickey Mouse.[71][72] The three band together and travel to different Disney-themed worlds, sealing the hearts of the worlds to prevent more Heartless from devouring the hearts of those worlds as they search for their companions. Along the way, they encounter a group of Disney villains led by Maleficent, who are controlling the Heartless to capture seven maidens called the Princesses of Heart, and use their power to open the door to Kingdom Hearts, the heart of all worlds.[73][74] Though they eventually defeat Maleficent, the three discover a sentient Heartless named Ansem to be the true orchestrator of the worlds' destruction. The three defeat Ansem and seal the door to Kingdom Hearts, but remain separated from Riku and King Mickey while Kairi remains home to await her friends' return.

text: In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, Sora, Donald and Goofy's search for Riku and Mickey leads them to Castle Oblivion,[75] a fortress controlled by a mysterious group of non-existent "Nobodies" called Organization XIII, who use the power of a girl named Naminé to manipulate the trio's memories. After defeating the Organization, the three are put to sleep for a year by Naminé to allow them to regain their memories, though they must lose the memories of their experience in Castle Oblivion.[76] Meanwhile, Riku arrives in the basement of the castle and ascends to the surface with the aid of Mickey. Discovering Sora's sleeping state, Riku helps Naminé keep him safe until he is awoken. In Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, a snag in the plan over the year forces Riku to capture Roxas—Sora's Nobody, who is born when Sora briefly becomes a Heartless in the first game—in order to enable Sora's reawakening.

text: In Kingdom Hearts II, Sora and friends awaken from their sleep and resume their search for Riku and King Mickey, learning of the Nobodies and becoming re-familiarized with Organization XIII. Sora once again travels to many Disney-themed worlds and resolves issues caused by the Heartless and Nobodies, and Maleficent's servant Pete. They reunite with King Mickey and encounter Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII and Nobody of Xehanort, revealed to be the human form of the Heartless Ansem.[77][78] The Organization's plan is also revealed: they seek to regain their lost hearts by creating their own version of Kingdom Hearts from the sum of all the hearts released from the Heartless slain by Sora's Keyblade. The three arrive at the headquarters of Organization XIII and team up with their friends. Ansem the Wise uses a device that dissipates some of Kingdom Hearts' power,[79] but it self-destructs, engulfing Ansem. At the top of the Castle that Never Was, Sora and his friends battle Xemnas.[80] After Sora and Riku defeat Xemnas, they get trapped in the realm of darkness, but a letter from Kairi summons a gateway for them, and the two are reunited with their friends at their home.[81]

text: Sometime later, Sora, Riku, and Kairi receive a letter from King Mickey. The letter, which was discovered by Mickey during the events of Kingdom Hearts Coded, describes the parts of their past that Naminé learned while restoring Sora's memory.[82] As they read the letter, they learn about the fates of three Keyblade wielders at the hands of Xehanort during the events of Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep (a decade before Kingdom Hearts): Terra is possessed by Xehanort; Ventus, whom Xehanort attempts to turn into the legendary χ-blade, sacrifices his heart to stop him and hides it within a four-year-old Sora's; and new Keyblade Master Aqua ends up trapped in the realm of darkness after sacrificing herself to save Terra.[83] King Mickey also discovers that the destruction of "Ansem" and Xemnas has led to the reconstruction of Xehanort.[84] To combat the new threat Xehanort poses, Sora and Riku take an exam to attain the Mark of Mastery that will allow them to become Keyblade Masters themselves.[85]

text: During the test in Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance, Sora and Riku enter the realm of sleep, where they encounter a young version of Xehanort with the ability to travel through time.[86] The two Keyblade wielders also learn of Xehanort's true goal: assembling thirteen vessels and incarnations of himself (Organization XIII) and pitting them against seven hearts of pure light (the Princesses of Heart) in an ultimate battle to recreate the χ-blade.[87][88][89] Sora is narrowly saved from becoming Xehanort's final vessel, and Riku learns about data Ansem the Wise had implanted within Sora during his year-long sleep, which may be used to save those connected to Sora.[90] At the end of the exam, Riku is declared a Keyblade Master, and Sora embarks on a new journey alone to train.[91][92] In the meantime, to defend the Princesses of Heart from Xehanort, Yen Sid assembles any available Keyblade users to combat Xehanort's thirteen vessels in the upcoming final battle.[93]

text: Gameplay[edit]

text: The Kingdom Hearts games contain elements of action role-playing video games with hack-and-slash elements. The games are driven by a linear progression from one story event to the next, usually shown in the form of a cutscene, though there are numerous side quests available that provide bonus benefits to the characters. In most games, the player primarily controls the principal protagonist of the series, Sora. Sora is usually accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy, who are artificial intelligence-controlled non-playable characters that aid Sora in battle. In the first and third game, their behavior can be altered to suit different combat objectives. The games feature real-time combat that incorporates physical attacks, magic, and summonings, though each game handles battles differently. The game also allows for items to be used on the field of battle to heal oneself or one's party members.

text: Gummi Ships are another common element of the series, which serve as the main mode of transportation between worlds in the games. The gameplay for the Gummi Ship sections is more akin to a rail shooter. Because it received negative criticism in the first game, it was modified in the third title.[94] Most games also feature a journal which is accessible from the main menu. This journal keeps track of information regarding the story, characters, enemies, and locations. In the first three games, the journal is kept by Jiminy Cricket, who was appointed by Queen Minnie as the royal chronicler.[95] In 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep and Dream Drop Distance, the main characters write their own journal entries.

text: The games are influenced by their parent franchise, Final Fantasy,[96] and carry its gameplay elements over into their own action-based, hack-and-slash system. Like many traditional role-playing games, Kingdom Hearts features an experience point system which determines character development. As enemies are defeated, the player gains experience which culminates in a "level-up", where the characters grow stronger and gain access to new abilities.[97] The amount of experience is shared with all party members and each character grows stronger as experience is gained.[98]

text: Music[edit]

text: The music for the series has been primarily composed by Yoko Shimomura. Kaoru Wada works as the arranger for orchestral music, including orchestral renditions of the main vocal themes and the ending themes.[99][100] The orchestral music was performed by the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra.[99][100] Soundtracks were released for the first and third installments following the release of their respective games. A compilation soundtrack was later released that included soundtracks for the entire series, including reworked tracks for the re-released Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories.[53][101]

text: While the themes for some of the Disney-based worlds are taken directly from their Disney film counterparts,[100] most of them are given entirely original musical scores. In addition to each world having unique background music, each is given its own battle theme rather than having a common theme to cover all fights. Several of the main characters have themes, and the final boss of each game has several themes played in the various phases of those fights. The fights with Sephiroth feature a modified version of Nobuo Uematsu's "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII.[101]

text: The main theme songs for the Kingdom Hearts games were written and performed by Japanese pop star, Hikaru Utada. The two main themes are "Hikari", from Kingdom Hearts and Chain of Memories,[102] and "Passion", from Kingdom Hearts II.[103] Each song has an English counterpart, "Simple and Clean" and "Sanctuary" respectively, for the North American and European releases. Utada was the only singer Tetsuya Nomura had in mind for the first Kingdom Hearts theme song.[104] This marked the first time Utada had produced a song for a video game. Both theme songs reached notable popularity in Japan. On weekly Oricon charts, "Hikari" reached No. 1 in 2002 and "Passion" reached No. 4 in 2005.[105][106]

text: Development[edit]

text: History[edit]

text: The initial idea for Kingdom Hearts began with a discussion between Shinji Hashimoto and Hironobu Sakaguchi about Super Mario 64.[107] They were planning to make a game with freedom of movement in three dimensions like Super Mario 64 but lamented that only characters as popular as Disney's could rival a Mario game. Tetsuya Nomura, overhearing their conversation, volunteered to lead the project and the two producers agreed to let him direct.[107] A chance meeting between Hashimoto and a Disney executive in an elevator—Square and Disney had previously worked in the same building in Japan—allowed Hashimoto to pitch the idea directly to Disney.[108][109] Development began in February 2000 with Nomura as director and Hashimoto as producer.[110] While Nomura had done previous work in the Final Fantasy series as monster designer and graphic director, he did not gain widespread recognition until he was the lead character designer for Final Fantasy VII. Kingdom Hearts marked his transition into a directorial position, though he also served as the game's character designer. Scenarios were provided by Kazushige Nojima who was a scenario writer for Square from Final Fantasy VII until he left in 2003. Originally the development focused on the gameplay with a simple story to appeal to Disney's target age range. After Kingdom Hearts executive producer Hironobu Sakaguchi told Nomura the game would be a failure if it did not aim for the same level as the Final Fantasy series, he began to develop the story further.[111] In June 2013, Nomura stated the name of the game came from him thinking about Disney Theme Parks, especially Animal Kingdom. However, Nomura could not get the IP with just "Kingdom", so the development team began to think about "heart" as a core part of the story, so they decided to combine the two to form "Kingdom Hearts".[112][113]

text: Nomura placed a secret trailer in Kingdom Hearts in hopes that fans would want a sequel. He was unsure if fans would want a sequel and felt that if they did not, then it would be best to leave certain events in the first game unexplained.[114] After Kingdom Hearts Final Mix was completed, development for Kingdom Hearts II began.[115] There were several obstacles to clear before development could begin on a sequel. One was the development team's desire to showcase Mickey Mouse more;[114] Mickey's inclusion in the first game was restricted to a very small role.[111] Nomura had planned for the sequel to take place a year after the first and originally intended for the events of that year to be left unexplained. To bridge the gap between the two games, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories was developed.[116] Nomura was hesitant about releasing a game on the Game Boy Advance because he felt the 3D graphics of the original game would not translate well into 2D. He changed his position after hearing that children wanted to play Kingdom Hearts on the handheld system.[117]

text: Creation and design[edit]

text: Though Disney gave Nomura freedom in the characters and worlds used for the games, he and his staff tried to stay within the established roles of characters and boundaries of the worlds.[118] Nomura has stated that though many of the Disney characters are not normally dark and serious, there were not many challenges making them so for the story, and despite this, their personalities shine because they maintain their own characteristics.[119] He also felt managing and keeping multiple worlds was problematic.[120] When deciding which worlds to include in the game, the development staff tried to take into account worlds with Disney characters that would be interesting and made an effort to minimize any overlap in the overall look and feel of each world.[111][121]

text: The inclusion of specific Final Fantasy characters was based on the opinions of both fans and staff.[122] Another criterion for inclusion was whether the staff felt the characters would fit into the storyline and in the Kingdom Hearts universe.[123] Initially, Nomura was hesitant to use characters he did not design, because he was unfamiliar with the backstory of such characters.[124] For Kingdom Hearts II, he changed his mind after receiving pressure from his staff.[122] Throughout the development of the games, Nomura has often left certain events and connections between characters unexplained until the release of future games. Nomura does this because he feels that games should have room for fans to speculate and use their imagination. He has stated that with speculation, even though a game gets old, people can still be happy with it.[114]

text: Promotion[edit]

text: The first Kingdom Hearts was announced at E3 in May 2001.[66] Initial details were that it would be a collaboration between Square and Disney Interactive, and would feature worlds developed by both companies and Disney characters. New characters were designed by Nomura and include Sora, Riku, Kairi, and the Heartless.[66][125] On May 14, 2002, a press release announced a list of the English voice actors. The list included Haley Joel Osment, David Gallagher, and Hayden Panettiere as the three new characters introduced into the game. It was also announced that many of the Disney characters would be voiced by the official voice actors from their respective Disney films.[66][126]

text: A secret trailer in the first Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts Final Mix hinted at the possibility of a sequel. Rumors for a sequel on the PlayStation 2 were spurred in Japan when a Japanese video game site, Quiter, stated that "an internal (and anonymous) source at Square Japan" confirmed that development of Kingdom Hearts II had begun.[127] It was not until Kingdom Hearts II was announced, along with Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, at the Tokyo Game Show in September 2003 that rumors were confirmed.[128] Initial details were that it would take place some time after Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, which takes place directly after the first game. Other details included the return of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, as well as new costumes. At the 2004 Square Enix E3 press conference, the producer, Shinji Hashimoto, stated that many mysteries of the first game would be answered.[129]

text: To help market the games, websites were set up for each game and demos were on display at gaming events. Each game in the main series was also re-released in Japan with additional content and served as canonical updates to the series.[130][131] The additional content foreshadowed later plot elements in the series. The rereleases of the main series games had the term "Final Mix" added after the title, while Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Coded were re-released as Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts Re:coded and released on the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, respectively, with 3D graphics, voice overs during some cutscenes, and new game content.[132][133]

text: Reception[edit]

text:
Aggregate review scores
As of April 12, 2017.

Game
Metacritic

Kingdom Hearts
85[134]

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
76[135]

Kingdom Hearts II
87[136]

Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories
68[137]

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
75[138]

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
82[139]

Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
66[140]

Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
75[141]

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix
77[142]

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix
81[143]

Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ
70[144]

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
78[145]

Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix
84[146]

text: The Kingdom Hearts series has been critically and commercially successful. As of March 2014, the series has sold over 20 million copies worldwide.[147] The three main games in the series all met with positive sales at the time of their releases. In the first two months since the North American release of Kingdom Hearts, it was one of the top three highest-selling video games.[148] Chain of Memories sold 104,000 units in 48 hours in Japan, a record for a Game Boy Advance title at the time.[149] Its positive debut sales placed it in the top spot of sales charts in Japan.[150] In the first month of its North American release, it was ranked 1st on GameSpot's ChartSpot for portable systems and 6th for all consoles.[151] Within three days of the Kingdom Hearts II release in Japan, it shipped 1 million copies, selling through within a month.[152][153] By the end of March 2006, the NPD Group reported that Kingdom Hearts II was the highest-selling console game in North America, with 614,000 copies.[154] In the month after its release in North America, Kingdom Hearts II sold an estimated 1 million copies.[155]

text: The games have also received high ratings and positive comments from reviewers. All of the main games in the series have scored a 36 out of 40 or higher from the Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu, known for its harsh grading.[156][157][158] All six games have been praised for their visuals. Game Informer considers the series the eleventh "must-play PlayStation 2" series.[159] The individual games have also won several awards. GameSpot commented that the concept of mixing the serious elements of Final Fantasy with the lighter elements of Disney seemed impossible, but was pulled off quite well. Because of that they awarded Kingdom Hearts "Best Crossover Since Capcom vs. SNK" in their 2002 Best and Worst of the Year awards.[160] IGN named Kingdom Hearts "Best Art Style/Direction" in their 2003 list of "Best Looking Games on PS2".[161] G4 awarded it "Best Story" at their 2003 G-Phoria awards show.[162] Electronic Gaming Monthly awarded Kingdom Hearts II "Best Sequel" of 2006.[163] It tied with Resident Evil 4 as Famitsu's Game of the Year 2005.[164] The manga series has also been well received. Several of the manga volumes were listed on USA Today's "Top 150 best sellers".[165][166][167] The highest ranked volume was Kingdom Hearts volume 4 at #73.[166] Every volume listed stayed on the list for at least two weeks; Kingdom Hearts volume 4 stayed the longest at four weeks.


document_title: Word frequency effect

question_text: a fairly common way to test for the word frequency effect is to

text: Word frequency effect

text: Examples[edit]

text:
Word
Ranking

The
1st[7]

At
20th

So
50th

Did
70th

Got
100th

Mind
300th

Chaos
5,000th

Falkland
20,000th

Marche
45,000th

Tisane
85,000th

text: Methods for Measuring the Word Frequency Effect[edit]

text: Most studies looking at the word frequency effect use eye tracking data. When words have a higher frequency, readers fixate on them for shorter amounts of time.[8] In one study, participants' eye movements were recorded as they scanned single sentence stimuli for topic relevant words.[9] Researchers used an Eyelink eye tracker to record the movements of the participants' eyes. Reading times were found to be longer when focusing for comprehension due to increased average fixation durations. Results showed that reading for comprehension rather than scanning for certain words took longer fixations on the text.[9]

text: A second method used to measure the word frequency effect is electroencephalogram (EEG).[8] The results collected using EEG data vary depending on the context of the word. Expected or high frequency words exhibit a reduced N400 response at the beginning of the sentence.[8] This study found that predictable words showed a lower N400 amplitude, but did not find a significant effect of frequency.[8] More research is needed to see how frequency affects EEG data.

text: A third method of measuring the word frequency effect is reaction time. Reaction time is used particularly when reading aloud. Participants pronounce words differing in frequency as fast as they can. Higher frequency words are read faster than the low frequency words.[10][11]

text: Cognitive Influences[edit]

text: The word frequency effect changes how the brain encodes the information. Readers began spelling the higher frequency words faster than the lower frequency words when spelling the words from dictation. The length of saccade varies depending on the frequency of words and the validity of the previous (preview) word in predicting the target word.[5] For higher frequency target words, the saccades as the reader approaches the word is longer when there is a valid preview word in front of it than for lower frequency words. When the preview word is invalid, there is no difference in saccades between high or low frequency words.[12] Fixations follow an opposite pattern with longer fixations on low frequency words.[5] Research has also found that high frequency words are skipped more when read than low frequency words. Gaze duration is also shorter when reading high frequency words than low frequency words.[12] Module connections are strengthened as words increase in frequency assisting to explain differences in brain processing.[6]

text: Real World Applications[edit]

text: Word Frequency Effect in Written Words[edit]

text: Leading Character Effect (LCF)[edit]

text: In many languages, certain characters are used more frequently than others. Examples of more frequent characters in English are the vowels, m, r, s, t...etc. In other languages such as Chinese, characters are morphemes that are individual words.[3] More than 100,000 words in Chinese are made of the same 5,000 characters.[3] As people process the first character of the word, they make a mental prediction of what the word is before reading the rest of the characters. If the character and other preprocessing information indicates that the word is short and familiar, the reader is more likely to skip the entire word.[13]

text: The character frequency may be more important when reading than the frequency of the word as a whole. In a study examining the Chinese language, reaction times for target words with a first character that was high frequency was shorter than those with first characters that were low frequency when simply naming the Chinese word. When making a lexical decision, target words with higher LCF took longer to respond to than low LCF. An example of a high frequency character in Chinese is the character for family (家) which appears before many other characters.[3] These effects were moderated by the predictability of the next words as well as the predictability of the target word given the previous word.[12] The surrounding words also being high frequency results In faster reaction times particularly when the target word is high frequency as compared to low frequency words.[3]

text: Test-taking[edit]

text: The quick recognition of a word would potentially be important during a timed written assessment. With a strict limit on time available to complete a test, the presence of higher frequency words on the assessment would be more beneficial to the test-taker than low frequency words, as the high frequency words would be recognized faster and thus time could be utilized on other areas of the assessment.

text: Bilingualism[edit]

text: With more people becoming fluent in multiple languages, the word frequency effect could present differently in a first language than a second language. One study examined differences in reading across participants who were bilingual in Spanish and English. The participants had varying levels of competence in the second language with more fluent participants demonstrating a stronger word frequency effect.[2] As the word frequency effect increased in both languages, total reading time decreased. In L1 (first language) there were higher skipping rates than in L2 (second language). This suggests that lower frequency words in L2 were harder to process than both high and low frequency words in L1. Familiarity of the language plays a large role in reacting to the frequency of words.[2] Reaction rates of bilingual adults could also be impacted by age. Older adults were significantly slower to respond to lower frequency words but were faster to process higher frequency words.[2]

text: Word Frequency Effect in Spoken Words[edit]

text: In several studies, participants read a list of high or low frequency words along with nonwords (or pseudowords). They were tasked with pronouncing the words or nonwords as fast as possible.[10] High frequency words were read aloud faster than low frequency words.[10] Participants read the nonwords the slowest.[10][11] More errors were made when pronouncing the low frequency words than the high frequency words.[10]

text: Word Frequency Effect in Physical Activities[edit]

text: Driving[edit]

text: Quick recognition of a word could also be important when reading road signs while driving. As a vehicle moves and passed road signs on the side of the road, there is only a short amount of time available to be able to read the road signs. The presence of higher frequency words on the road sign would allow for faster recognition and processing of road sign meaning, which could be critical in such a time sensitive situation.

text: Criticisms[edit]

text: Daniel Voyer proposed some criticism for the word frequency effect in 2003 after experiments on laterality effects in lexical decisions.[14] His experiments demonstrated two findings:

text: Voyer further posits that hemispheric asymmetries may play a role in the word frequency effect.

text: Future Directions[edit]

text: Psycholinguists believe that future study of the word frequency effect needs to consider the role of heuristics to determine the difference in eye movements between high and low frequency words.[12]