Wish fulfillment is the satisfaction of a desire through an involuntary thought process. It can occur in dreams or in daydreams, in the symptoms of neurosis, or in the hallucinations of psychosis. This satisfaction is often indirect and requires interpretation to recognize.

Sigmund Freud coined the term (Wunscherfüllung) in 1900 in an early text titled The Interpretation of Dreams. It corresponds to a core principle of Freud's Dream Theory. According to Freud, wish fulfillment occurs when unconscious desires are repressed by the ego and superego. This repression often stems from guilt and taboos imposed by society. Dreams are attempts by the unconscious to resolve some repressed conflict.

Origin: Freud's Theory
Sigmund Freud's fundamental work The Interpretation of Dreams marks an important date in the history of psychoanalysis. For the first time, a scientific approach to dreams was attempted. On the one hand, it was a moment of systematisation of the analytical theory that would become metapsychology, and on the other hand, it was a book that made psychoanalysis known, but not without raising a lot of criticism.

In The Interpretation of Dreams, challenging the dominant scientific theories of his time for which the dream is not a mental act, but a somatic process revealed only by certain psychic signs, he argues that dreams are "psychic acts" and that they are "nothing more than a special form of our thinking, which is made possible by the conditions of the sleeping state". Since his analysis of neurotics had taught him that the most complicated thought activities can take place without the intervention of consciousness, he asserted that dreams are proof of the existence of unconscious psychic acts, demonstrated that they have a meaning and can be interpreted by a "scientific method", that of psychoanalysis.

The first of the dreams, a dream of Freud's reported and analysed in The Interpretation of Dreams, the dream known as "Irma's injection", is a dream that can be said to be inaugural and founding. With this dream, dated 1895, he begins the presentation of his method of interpretation and argues that, through his analysis, for the first time the "enigma" of dreams has been revealed. He concludes at the end of his analysis: "When the work of interpretation has been completed the dream may be recognised as the fulfillment of a wish."In other words, dreams are the fulfillment of unconscious wishes that are suppressed by the conscious mind, either because they are deemed unacceptable or because they conflict with societal norms. Therefore, they constitute a source of information about the dreamer's deepest desires and fears, as well as the unconscious conflicts that may be holding them back in their waking lives. However, the meaning of a dream must be interpreted, since the desires are not represented as they are, because at the same time, the reactionary formation opposing this fulfillment of the desire is brought into play. The manifest content of the dream must be freed from the deformation it has undergone. The dream thus presents itself as a valuable means of knowing the neurosis.

In the last pages of this work, he wrote: " The interpretation of dreams is the via regia (Royal Road) to a knowledge of the unconscious element in our psychic life."  A "royal road" that he had begun to follow a few years earlier and which led him to the elaboration of a theory of dreams in which the dream takes on the value of paradigm. According to him, dreams always contain in germ the entire psychology of neuroses, the structure of dreams is "susceptible of universal application", and the "complete psychic act" that is the dream makes it possible to shed light on the mechanisms of other psychic formations as well as to account for a normal or pathological process.

Method and studies

Freud's method of analysis
The conclusion that every dream reveals itself as the fulfillment of a desire derives from Freud's extensive work when he was exploring the unconscious. The method used involves interpreting the content of a large number of dreams in order to uncover the underlying latent meaning and to identify the unconscious desires and conflicts that are causing psychological distress.

Dream analysis usually involves the patient recalling their dreams and describing them to the therapist, who then helps them to identify the symbolic elements and associations in the dream. Particularly, Freud used a method called free association, which involved the patient saying whatever came to mind in response to specific elements of the dream. The therapist would then use this information to uncover the unconscious thoughts and associations that contributed to the symbolism of the dream. It was thus through extensive repetitions of psychoanalysis that Freud was able to develop then verify his hypothesis  that the latent content of dreams was often related to unconscious desires or conflicts, and that dreams represented a compromise between these desires and the constraints of waking life.

Related studies
Succeeding Freud's fundamental work inaugurating the science of dreams, numerous studies have been carried out with the goal of acquiring greater understanding of the function of dreams.

Some studies have shown that dreaming is triggered by engagement of the Mesocortical-Mesolimbic Dopamine system in the Ventromesial quadrant of the frontal lobes, which, according to findings in affective neuroscience, plays a key role in activating motivated behaviour, curiosity and expectations of the external world, that is, the "SEEKING"  or "wanting"  system.

Other studies have taken a more focused perspective on children's dreams. While supporting Freud's wish-fulfilling dream theory, they also investigated the distinction between children's and adults' dreams, and concluded that the major difference lies in the nature of the underlying wish.

Debates and criticisms
Freud's ideas about dream interpretation have been dropped as counterfactual or untestable by evidence-based psychologists in disciplines such as cognitive psychology. The major objections to Freud's dream theories relate to the fact that he relied heavily on his clinical experiences for his research. Critics have argued that his theories were derived from observations of patients with severe psychoanalytic issues. Moreover, this theory has also been doubted when considering the existence of dreams associated with negative feelings such as nightmares. Finally, some authors have also argued that dreams in themselves have no psychological meaning or motivational basis, and that dreaming is merely a "random by-product of the REM sleep state". Despite advances in dream science, key questions about the meaning and functions of dreams remain open in dream research and theory.

References

Belief
Dream
Existentialist concepts
Existential therapy
Magical thinking
Motivation
Freudian psychology

Wish fulfillment


Joachim "Benny" Bendorff (born August 1946, died 2016) was a German bass guitarist, vocalist, trumpeter and composer, best known for his long tenure as bassist for the James Last Orchestra.

Born and raised in Hamburg, his mother Lya Bendorff was an opera singer, and his father Siegfried Bendorff was a ballet dancer, teacher and guitarist. He, his parents and his sister Monika Bendorff performed as a family in a cabaret act. Young Benny also became an accomplished trumpet player, performing as a soloist with the NDR (Norddeutscher Rundfunk, or North German Radio) orchestra at the age of 12. In his teens, Benny became more interested in the burgeoning rock scene, especially the English musicians who performed in Hamburg's Reeperbahn district. He took up the guitar and played in an instrumental band influenced by The Shadows, eventually switching to bass guitar and coming under the spell of The Beatles. He worked regularly in the Hamburg club scene and was also active as a studio musician.

In 1969, Bendorff was hired to play session with the James Last Orchestra. The session was for Last's version of the rock musical Hair, and Last (an accomplished acoustic and electric bass player himself) was looking for a rock-oriented bassist strictly for the one session. As it turned out, Bendorff impressed Last so much that he was hired to replace the previous bassist Fiete Wacker and promptly came on board in time for a tour of Canada. Bendorff remained as bassist for the next 33 years. He co-wrote many songs with James Last and drummer/percussionist Barry Reeves (born Barry Roy Reeves, 1944, Birmingham, Warwickshire, died 6 February 2010), who was also a Last band member. One of the Last/Bendorff/Reeeves compositions, Manja, was released as a Bendorff solo single in 1971. Bendorff was often featured as a vocal soloist for both recordings and concerts by Last, usually singing Paul McCartney songs like "Live And Let Die", "Mull Of Kintyre" and "Silly Love Songs". Bendorff's love of The Beatles was further evident in his 1985 solo album Flowers Of Liverpool. He cites Paul McCartney and Jet Harris of The Shadows as the main influences on his bass playing. He also composed original instrumental music with his sons Christoph Leis-Bendorff and Florian Leis-Bendorff, most of which was sold to television stations for background music.

From the 1990s onward, Bendorff had been increasingly involved in country-oriented music, playing in the Hamburg country band Third Coast. He retired from the James Last Orchestra in 2002. His son Florian Leis-Bendorff, a guitarist with the Austrian band Zillertaler Schürzenjäger, committed suicide in 2005.

References

1946 births
Living people
Musicians from Hamburg
German male musicians
German bass guitarists
James Last Orchestra members
German male guitarists

Benny Bendorff


The Beaver Creek Bridge near Finley, North Dakota, also known as Newburgh Bridge, is a Pratt through truss bridge that was built in 1913.  It is a pinned Pratt pony truss bridge and is "the oldest documented bridge in Steele County constructed by a long-term county bridge builder, the Fargo Bridge and Iron Company. Fargo built bridges in Steele County in almost every year between 1904 and 1920."

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.

It is owned and maintained by Steele County.

References

Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in North Dakota
Bridges completed in 1913
1913 establishments in North Dakota
National Register of Historic Places in Steele County, North Dakota
Pratt truss bridges in the United States
Transportation in Steele County, North Dakota

Beaver Creek Bridge (Finley, North Dakota)


Stefan Paweł Rowecki (pseudonym: Grot, "Spearhead", hence the alternate name, Stefan Grot-Rowecki; 25 December 1895 – 2 August 1944) was a Polish general, journalist and the leader of the Armia Krajowa. He was murdered by the Gestapo in prison on the personal order of Heinrich Himmler.

Life

Rowecki was born in Piotrków Trybunalski. In his home town he was one of the organizers of a secret scouting organization. During World War I he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army and later into the First Brigade of the Polish Legion. He was interned in August 1917 after the majority of his unit had refused to pledge loyalty to the Emperor of Austria. In February 1918, he was released from the internment camp in Beniaminów and joined the Polska Siła Zbrojna. After the establishment of the newly independent Poland, he joined the Polish Army.

Rowecki fought in the Polish–Soviet war (1919–1920). After the war, he remained in the army and organized the first military weekly periodical (Przegląd Wojskowy). From 1930 to 1935, he commanded the 55th Infantry Regiment in Leszno.

World War II

From June 1939, Rowecki organised the Warsaw Armoured Motorized Brigade (Warszawska Brygada Pancerno-Motorowa, 7TP, TKS tanks). On 1 September 1939 the Nazi-German Army invaded Poland. Although Rowecki's unit did not reach full mobilization, it did, however, take part in the defense of Poland.

After the Polish defeat, Rowecki managed to avoid capture and returned to Warsaw. In October 1939, he became one of the leaders, then in 1940 commander, of the Union of Armed Struggle (ZWZ). In 1941, Rowecki organized sabotage in the territories east of the Polish pre-war borders Wachlarz. From 1942, he was commander of the Armia Krajowa (Home Army).

As commander of the Home Army, Rowecki instituted policies favorable to Jews. In February 1943, he ordered the Home Army to help the Jewish underground seeking to mount ghetto uprisings. In particular, Rowecki authorized aid to the Jewish underground in the Warsaw Ghetto before and during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by providing arms and mounting diversionary attacks.

On 30 June 1943 he was arrested by the Gestapo in Warsaw and sent to Berlin.  Rowecki was arrested due to his betrayal by Ludwik Kalkstein "Hanka", Eugeniusz Świerczewski "Genes" and Blanka Kaczorowska "Sroka" who were Gestapo agents. All of them were members of the Home Army but in fact collaborated with the Gestapo. Swierczewski, Kalkstein and Kaczorowska were sentenced to death for high treason by the Secret War Tribunal of the Polish Secret State. The sentence on Eugeniusz Swierczewski was carried out by troops commanded by Stefan Rys ("Jozef"). Swierczewski was hanged in the basement of the house at 74 Krochmalna Street in Warsaw. Kalkstein received protection from the Gestapo and was not harmed. He fought in a Waffen SS unit during the Warsaw Uprising of 1944 under the name of Konrad Stark. After the war, he worked for the Polish Radio station in Szczecin and was later recruited as an agent by the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa. In 1982, he emigrated to France; he died in 1994. Blanka Kaczorowska also survived the war. Her death sentence was not carried out because she was pregnant. After the war, she also worked as a secret agent for the Urząd Bezpieczeństwa and later for the renamed Służba Bezpieczeństwa. She emigrated to France in 1971. She died in 2002.

In Berlin he was imprisoned at Oranienburg and was questioned by many prominent Nazi officials (including Ernst Kaltenbrunner, Heinrich Himmler and Heinrich Müller). He was offered an anti-bolshevik alliance, but refused. He was probably executed in August 1944 in Sachsenhausen.  His execution was ordered by Heinrich Himmler.

There have been claims that the arrest of Rowecki on 30 June 1943 was a result of a wider intelligence operation against the Polish Underground State with the goal of eliminating top commanders and political leaders of the Polish resistance. During the same period, the Gestapo arrested the commander of National Armed Forces (NSZ), Colonel Ignacy Oziewicz on 9 June 1943. On 4 July 1943, General Władysław Sikorski died in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances. Within a period of two months, the Polish Army had lost three top commanders.

Medals
 Order of the White Eagle, posthumously (11 November 1995)
 Virtuti Militari Golden Cross (1942; Silver Cross in 1923)
 Polonia Restituta, Officer's Cross
 Cross of Valour 8 times, 4 times for Polish-Soviet War and 4 times for Polish Defensive War of 1939
 Gold Cross of Merit twice
 Cross of Independence with Swords
 Medal Pamiątkowy za Wojnę 1918-1921
 Medal 10-lecia Odzyskania Niepodległości
 Armia Krajowa Cross, posthumously (1967)
 Star of Perseverance (Gwiazda Wytrwałości, posthumously)
 Legion of Merit Commander, posthumously by Ronald Reagan (USA 9 August 1984)
 Légion d'honneur, Officer's Cross (France 1937)

See also

General Stefan "Grot" Rowecki Bridge - a bridge named after him in Warsaw
FB MSBS Grot - a Polish modular assault rifle named after his WW2 pseudonym

References

1895 births
1944 deaths
People from Piotrków Trybunalski
People from Piotrków Governorate
20th-century Polish male writers
Austro-Hungarian military personnel of World War I
Polish people of World War I
Polish legionnaires (World War I)
Polnische Wehrmacht personnel
Polish generals
Polish Rifle Squads members
Home Army members
Officers of the Legion of Honour
Polish Scouts and Guides
Military personnel who died in Nazi concentration camps
Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta
Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari
Recipients of the Cross of Independence with Swords
People who died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland)
Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)
Recipients of the Armia Krajowa Cross
Commanders of the Legion of Merit
Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War
Polish military personnel killed in World War II
Executed military leaders
Polish people executed in Nazi concentration camps
Executed people from Łódź Voivodeship
20th-century Polish journalists
Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)

Stefan Rowecki


The 1st Marine Raider Battalion (1st MRB) is a special operations forces of the United States Marine Corps and a subordinate combat component of the Marine Corps Special Operations Command. The Battalions' organization was finalized in 2006 and is one of three battalions of the Marine Raider Regiment.

History

Organizational
In October 2006 Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) was created at Camp Lejeune North Carolina. The 1st and 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalions were created along with the Marine Special Operations Advisor Group (MSOAG, the predecessor of the 3rd Marine Special Operations Battalion). The majority of the combat personnel assigned to the battalion was drawn from the Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance. The battalion consists of four companies, each company consisting of 4 fourteen-man Marine Special Operations Teams (MSOT).

Operational
The Marine Corps' Special Operations proof of concept consisted of Det One deploying to Iraq with Navy SEALs from Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in 2004. The initial force structure for the Marine Special Operations Battalions were the 1st and 2nd Force Reconnaissance Companies which then deployed elements to Afghanistan in 2007. The first deployment was marked with controversy and Marines from 2nd Raider Battalion were relieved from their operational charter in the country by an Army General from USSOCOM after claims were made that the Marines reacted inappropriately and caused excessive civilian casualties. In September 2009 the 1st Raider Battalion returned to Afghanistan in command of a joint special operations task force in the northwest of the country.

See also
Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command
MCSOCOM Detachment One
Marine Raiders
United States Army Special Forces
United States Navy SEALs
United States Marine Corps Reconnaissance Battalions & Force Reconnaissance Companies

References

External links
 1st MRB Homepage
 ShadowSpear Special Operations MSOR Page

Battalions of the United States Marine Corps
Special operations units and formations of the United States Marine Corps
Military units and formations established in 2006

1st Marine Raider Battalion (MARSOC)


Swan Boats were an attraction at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It was in operation between May 20, 1973 till August 1983. It originally took a D ticket.

The Swan Boats officially opened in 1973 and quickly became a popular attraction at Magic Kingdom.  The boats took guests on a ride around the hub of the Magic Kingdom and the Swiss Family Treehouse.

History

Originally there were 12 boats when the ride opened, but this was reduced to 11 when one of the boats was converted to clean the canals.  By the end of the rides operation, there were only 5 boats operating.  The reason for closing was because of the cost to keep the boats running.  They constantly had issues with their natural gas engines and guidance system.  Originally the guidance was done with an electronic system but was changed to use water propulsion to turn the boat.  Eventually the boats were removed and sold.

See also
Magic Kingdom attraction and entertainment history

References

Former Walt Disney Parks and Resorts attractions
Amusement rides that closed in 1983
Magic Kingdom
1973 establishments in Florida
1983 disestablishments in Florida

Swan Boats (Magic Kingdom)


The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are a union territory of India. The name is often shortened to A & N Islands, or ANI.

The islands are in the Indian Ocean, in the southern part of the Bay of Bengal. The capital of this territory is the Andamanese town of Port Blair.

It is made of two island groups - the Andaman Islands and the Nicobar Islands - separating the Andaman Sea to the east, from the Indian Ocean. These two groups are separated by the 10° N parallel, the Andamans lying to the north of this latitude, and the Nicobars to the south. The channel that separates ANI is the 10° degree channel. This islands have the only active volcano in India, Barren Island. These islands are also uninhabitated. It also has the lowest point in India, The Indira Point

The territory's population in the last (2001) census of India was 356,152. Added together, the total land area of the territory is around 6,496 km² or 2,508 mi², it is larger than the Palestinian territories but smaller than Georgia territory of Abkhazia.

Territorial symbols of Andaman and Nicobar

References

Commonwealth dependent states
Islands of India

Andaman and Nicobar Islands


The debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham on the question "Is Creation A Viable Model of Origins?" was held February 4, 2014. The event took place at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky. Ham is the founder and chief executive officer of the Young Earth creationist (YEC) ministry Answers in Genesis (AiG). He challenged Nye, science educator. Nye is best known for hosting the 1990s television series Bill Nye the Science Guy. This happened after Ham took exception to a YouTube video. Nye was worried that a large number of people in the US do not accept the theory of evolution. Tickets to the event sold out within minutes. The televised event drew over three million viewers. Debates such as this one have been going on since Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species in 1859.

The debate
Nye stepped onto the stage in front of a hostile audience. It wasn't Nye's first time debating. Since his show on PBS ended in 1998, he has been making speaking tours at colleges and universities. He has also appeared on several cable television programs. It was Ham's home turf. Ham is the head of the museum as well as the Christian outreach organization called Answers in Genesis. He argued the Bible was the ultimate authority on natural history. During the debate, Ham talked about his model of the universe's origins. Nye cited observations from a variety of scientific fields to defend the majority scientific consensus that the Earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old.

Science versus creationism
Bill Nye said that "Creation is bad for science." Ken Ham then referred to several scientists who were young earth creationists. Ham asked Nye how he could explain the laws of logic and physics in a naturalistic worldview. Ham asked Nye for an example of something that could only have been invented from an evolutionary worldview. He also showed the difference between what's called historical science and observational science. Ham gave an example of biological adaptation. He brought up Tiktaalik as an example of a scientific prediction. He added, "Mr. Ham and his worldview does not have this capability". Ham claimed the mainstream scientific community has made creationists afraid to speak out. He went on to say they need "scientific freedom" to speak.

Dating
Nye offered several objections to Ham's young-earth position. He stated that ice cores and tree rings show that a young earth view is wrong. Nye also offered radiometric and carbon-14 dating to show that a young earth view is wrong. Ham disagreed; he called radioactive dating "assumptions".
 He said the only authority was the word of God, the Bible. Ham stated he saw two kinds of science. One called "observational science" which is science that can be observed. The second he termed "historical science" meaning fossil records and similar artifacts. Ham stated "I assert that the word 'science' has been hijacked by secularists in teaching evolution to force the religion of naturalism on generations of kids".

The results
Many scientists were critical of Nye for accepting Ham's invitation. They claimed his participation in the debate gave Ham's views undeserved legitimacy. Two humanist groups—the American Humanist Association and the Center for Inquiry praised Nye's decision. Scientists from both camps generally agreed that Nye won the debate. However they did not agree on how convincing the victory was. Ham later announced that the publicity from the debate helped fundraising for AiG's planned Ark Encounter theme park. It allowed the ministry to begin construction.

A related book by Bill Nye, Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation, was just released. Ken Ham released a book after the debate titled Inside the Nye Ham debate: is Creation a viable model: revealing truths from the worldview clash of the century.

Notes

References

Other websites
 Bill Nye Debates Ken Ham - YouTube

2014 in the United States
2010s in Kentucky
Evolution

Bill Nye–Ken Ham debate


Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North, and published by Rockstar Games. The tenth instalment in the Grand Theft Auto series, the game was initially released as a PlayStation Portable exclusive in October 2006. A PlayStation 2 port was released in March 2007. Set within the fictional Vice City (based on Miami) in 1984, the game is a prequel to 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (set in 1986) and follows the exploits of ex-soldier Victor "Vic" Vance, a minor character originally featured in said game. The story centres around Vic's attempts to build up a criminal empire alongside his brother Lance. With the initial intention of raising money for his sick brother Pete's medication, Vic comes into conflict with rival gangs, drug lords and other enemies.

In addition to the traditional gameplay elements and side missions of the series, the game features a unique empire building system, in which players must expand their criminal syndicate from the ground-up by taking over businesses from rival organizations, and completing missions specific for each of them to increase their income and unlock additional rewards. Like its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, the PSP version of the game includes a multiplayer mode through a wireless ad hoc network, which allows up to six players to engage in several different game modes.

Vice City Stories received generally positive reviews from critics, and has sold over 4.5 million copies as of March 2008, making it the second best-selling PSP game of all time, after Liberty City Stories. The next installment in the series was Grand Theft Auto IV, which released in April 2008.

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is an action-adventure game set in an open world environment and played from a third-person perspective, structured similarly to other releases from the Grand Theft Auto series. The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large environment in which to move around. On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, running, swimming, jumping, as well as using weapons and basic hand-to-hand combat. The player can drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, boats, planes, helicopters, jet-skis and motorcycles.

The open, non-linear environment allows the player to explore and choose how they wish to play the game. Although storyline missions are necessary to progress through the game and unlock certain areas and content, they are not required, as the player can complete them at their own leisure. When not taking on a storyline mission, the player can freely roam the game's world. The player can partake in a variety of optional side missions. The traditional side missions of the past games are included, but have been moderately upgraded and enhanced compared to previous titles. An addition to the game is "Beach Patrol", in which the player's character Victor must deal with bikers on the beach by beach buggy (by ramming or shooting to knock them off their bikes) or throwing life preservers to drowning swimmers by boat or by taking a paramedic around to injured people on the beach.

The combat system was overhauled in Vice City Stories. The targeting mechanism has been tweaked to "intelligently target"; enemies posing a threat or attacking the player will be targeted over pedestrians. The biggest changes concern the hand-to-hand combat system, as the player can perform grappling moves and throws, and stand on top of enemies lying on the ground. The player is able to bribe policemen or hospital staff when "Wasted" (killed) or "Busted" (arrested) to lower their wanted level, and keep weapons that ordinarily would have been lost.

One of the key gameplay elements in Vice City Stories is "empire building". New to the Grand Theft Auto series, it borrows a few ideas from Vice Citys "properties" and San Andreas "gang wars" systems. To make money, the player must open and operate various businesses on property taken over from enemy gangs – these can range from protection rackets to brothels or smuggling compounds. Once a player removes a gang from a specific business, it becomes available for purchase. There are several different types of business, and each comes in different sizes, which can later be changed to adapt to the player's needs. Each business comes with unique missions which, upon completion, reward the player with various bonuses, as well as an increased income for said business. The player will occasionally have to defend their owned businesses from attacks by gangs looking to take them back, until all businesses in the city have been acquired, at which point the attacks will cease.

The hidden package system from previous Grand Theft Auto games returns in the form of 99 red balloons scattered around the city. This is a reference to Nena's 1984 hit "99 Luftballons", which was featured in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Improvements to the graphics since the release of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories include new animations, faster load times, a longer draw distance, reductions in clumping of pedestrians and vehicles, more complex explosions, and increases in the density of objects, vehicles, and non-player characters.

Like its predecessor, the PSP version of Vice City Stories features a multiplayer mode, for up to 6 players through WiFi ad-hoc mode (local area). The game features 10 different modes of wireless multiplayer gaming, which incorporate the use of automobiles, aircraft, and water-based vehicles. Various pedestrian and character models from the single-player mode are available as player characters. These multiplayer modes are not included in the PS2 version.

Synopsis

Setting
Vice City Stories takes place in 1984 within Vice City, and forms part of the "3D Universe" canon of the Grand Theft Auto series. Set two years before the events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the game's setting features several areas that are different from the 1986 version of Vice City, including locations being constructed or whose plot used to house something different. An example of this is the site of a car showroom completed in 1986 still being under construction in 1984, while the business is located in a smaller building down the road.

Plot
In 1984, Corporal Victor "Vic" Vance (Dorian Missick) is stationed in Vice City's army base, Fort Baxter. To raise money for his sick asthmatic brother Pete's medication, Vic agrees to help his corrupt supervisor, Sergeant Jerry Martinez (Felix Solis), finding himself involved in the city's drug trade. After a deal goes awry, Martinez frames Vic for hiding drugs under his bed and bringing a prostitute to the base, resulting in Vic being charged with high treason and dishonorably discharged from the army. Forced onto the streets, Vic assists eccentric gunrunner and self-proclaimed Vietnam War veteran Phil Cassidy (Gary Busey), whom he met during his work for Martinez, in exchange for a place to stay to rebuild his life. Martinez hires Vic and Phil to do more jobs for him, only to betray and try to have them killed, leading to the pair cutting ties with him after escaping the trap. Meanwhile, Vic works for Phil's brother-in-law Marty Jay Williams (Jim Burke), leader of a street gang called the Trailer Park Mafia, who frequently abuses his wife Louise (Chelsey Rives). Angered over Vic's growing relationship with his wife, Marty eventually attempts to kidnap her, forcing Vic to kill him and save Louise.

With Marty dead, Vic takes over his gang and renames it the Vance Crime Family. Aided by his recently arrived brother Lance (Philip Michael Thomas), he slowly begins to take over rackets from rival gangs to increase his power and convert them into his business assets. In the process, he earns the respect of the Los Cabrones, a Cuban street gang led by Umberto Robina (Danny Trejo), for taking out their rivals, and deals with a corrupt DEA agent (Daniel Oreskes) who was posing as a drug dealer to steal the Vance brothers' money. Upon stealing a major drug shipment, Vic and Lance find themselves kidnapped by the Mendez brothers, Armando (Yul Vazquez) and Diego (Ruben Trujillo), Vice City's biggest drug lords and the shipment's owners. Lance lies to them that Martinez, who regularly deals with the Mendezes, is an undercover DEA agent and stole the drugs as evidence. After being released, Vic and Lance begin working with the Mendez brothers, who introduces the former to transsexual film director Reni Wassulmaier (Barbara Rosenblat). While assisting Reni and their friend Barry Mickelthwaite (Timothy Spall), the talent manager of Phil Collins (himself), Vic finds himself tasked with protecting Phil from Mafia hitmen, to whom Barry is indebted, before and during his concert in Vice City.

Reni introduces Vic to Ricardo Diaz (Luis Guzmán), a drug baron who seeks to take over the Mendez brothers' operations and employs Vic and Lance for several jobs. However, Armando and Diego grow distrustful of them, and eventually make an attempt on their lives after Martinez exposes their lie. After escaping the Mendezes' trap, Vic works with Diaz to bankrupt them as revenge. The Mendezes retaliate by kidnapping Louise and Lance, leading to Vic assaulting their mansion and killing Armando, though he fails to rescue Louise, who dies from injuries she received while in captivity. Swearing revenge against both Diego and Martinez, Vic works alongside Diaz and Phil one final time to track them down and steal an army chopper from Fort Baxter. Using the chopper, Vic assaults Martinez and Diego's hideout and kills both men. After Lance arrives too late to assist, he tries to persuade Vic into taking part in another drug deal that he plans to set up. Vic firmly stands his ground and states that he has no interest in drugs anymore. Lance accepts Vic's choice and the two brothers leave Vice City to give Pete money for his medication.

Development
Take-Two Interactive originally announced the title was to be released in North America on 17 October 2006 and in Europe on 20 October 2006, but an announcement in early September stated that the game's North American release had been delayed  until 31 October. It was announced that the game would be released on 10 November 2006 in Australia. Moreover, in Europe (excluding the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland) the game suffered another delay, from 3 November 2006, to 10 November 2006, the same as Australia.

PlayStation 2 port
On 7 February 2007 Rockstar Games announced plans for a PlayStation 2 port, released on 6 March. It was confirmed by Rockstar Games that the PlayStation 2 version of the game would be an almost straight port. The port has improvements such as enhanced graphics (including the addition of bloom effects, enabled via a "trails" option), draw distance, and performance as expected, and includes a few new side activities that were not in the PSP release such as five new odd jobs, six additional unique jumps, five more rampages, and a new Easter egg.

While other Grand Theft Auto ports have had extra features added (such as replays or custom soundtracks), this is the first port of any Grand Theft Auto game to include extra in-game content.

The PS2 version of Vice City Stories was announced as a digital release for the PlayStation 3 in 2012, as a PlayStation 2 Classics title, and was released in April 2013 via the PlayStation Network. It has since been removed from PSN.

Reception

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories has received "generally favorable" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.

The PlayStation 2 port of the game was criticised for having the same coding as the PSP version and for fixing very few issues and removing some things, but was praised for better lighting. As of 26 March 2008, Vice City Stories has sold 4.5 million copies according to Take-Two Interactive. Hyper'''s Eliot Fish commended the game for using "the slick veneer of the 1980s [and the] story is well integrated into missions".

The game's PlayStation Portable version received a "Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 300,000 copies in the United Kingdom.

 Accolades
Received IGN''s award for the best licensed soundtrack on PlayStation Portable in 2006.
Best Handheld Game - Golden Joystick Awards 2007.

Notes

References

External links

Rockstar Games' official Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories website

2006 video games
Action-adventure games
Vice City Stories
Multiplayer and single-player video games
Open-world video games
Organized crime video games
PlayStation 2 games
PlayStation Network games
PlayStation Portable games
Rockstar Games games
Take-Two Interactive games
Video game prequels
Video games about the illegal drug trade
Video games developed in the United Kingdom
Video games featuring black protagonists
Video games produced by Dan Houser
Video games produced by Leslie Benzies
Video games set in 1984
Video games set on fictional islands
Video games written by Dan Houser

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories