Misplaced Pages

Sly Cooper

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
#552447

177-486: Sly Cooper is a series of stealth and action-adventure and video games for the PlayStation 2 , PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita . The series follows the adventures of Sly Cooper, an anthropomorphic raccoon and master thief, along with his two partners in crime, Bentley the turtle and Murray the hippopotamus , all of whom are pursued by Sly's love interest, Inspector Carmelita Fox. The first three games in

354-427: A Sly Cooper film originally leaked in 2012 when a NeoGAF user discovered listings for a number of Sony Interactive Entertainment franchises in a film financing database. The project was officially announced by producer Brad Foxhoven , of Blockade Entertainment, on January 28, 2014. Sly Cooper is Blockade's third adaptation of a Sony video game series, after Heavenly Sword and Ratchet & Clank . Alongside

531-415: A gestation period of about 65 days, two to five young known as "kits" are born in spring. The kits are subsequently raised by their mother until dispersal in late fall. Although captive raccoons have been known to live over 20 years, their life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years. In many areas, hunting and vehicular injury are the two most common causes of death. Names for the species include

708-596: A snuff movie theme and allowed the player to kill antagonists with varying levels of violence, dependent on how much time was spent sneaking behind them. It was the first to show visual executions in the genre. The following year, Konami 's Metal Gear Acid combined the stealth gameplay of the Metal Gear series with turn-based strategy and tactical role-playing game elements as well as card battle elements from Konami's own Yu-Gi-Oh! games. In 2004, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater introduced camouflage to

885-659: A type-in program for the PET 2001 in RAM magazine in February 1980, it was developed by Hiroshi Suzuki and involves a boy entering a convenience store and attempting to shoplift by stealing "$ " symbols while avoiding the line-of-sight detection of the owner. If caught, the player is led away by the police. Suzuki presented the game to developer Taito , which used it as inspiration for their similar stealth arcade game , Lupin III (based on

1062-452: A "game over". Forbes called Dishonored one of the best stealth games of 2012, along with Hitman: Absolution and Mark of the Ninja . A sequel, Dishonored 2 , released in 2016 and was praised for improving upon the stealth elements of its predecessor. Mark of the Ninja put a twist on the stealth genre in that it is a 2D side-scroller . This posed some unique factors, such as

1239-476: A "three-class society". Samuel I. Zeveloff, professor of zoology at Weber State University and author of the book Raccoons: A Natural History , is more cautious in his interpretation and concludes at least the females are solitary most of the time and, according to Erik K. Fritzell's study in North Dakota in 1978, males in areas with low population densities are solitary as well. The shape and size of

1416-442: A Guinness World Record for being the first stealth game to feature collective artificial intelligence. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty sold 7 million units in sales, followed by Metal Gear Solid with 6 million units. After the mainstream success of the genre, stealth elements became increasingly incorporated into a wide range of video games, with numerous action games using stealth elements in some way or another. In 2002,

1593-524: A chance to become reacquainted with one of our most beloved heroes." Series creator Sucker Punch Productions is involved with the film. David Wohl , vice president of development at Blockade Entertainment and producer on the movie, was quoted as saying the film won't be an origins story: "Sly and the gang are already together, though they are far from being so great at what they do." The story will focus on Sly, Bentley, and Murray, but Carmelita and Clockwerk will also be included. Unlike prior incarnations of

1770-486: A dagger for close-range kills and a greater emphasis on disguising in enemy uniform. id Software 's updated 1992 remake Wolfenstein 3D was originally going to feature some of the original's stealth gameplay, such as body hiding, but this was cut to make the game faster paced. As a result of these changes, Wolfenstein would instead pave the way for later 3D action games, specifically first-person shooters . In 1981, Sega released an arcade game called 005 in which

1947-519: A diverse range of games, including Pac-Man (1980). Early maze games have been credited with spawning the genre, including Manbiki Shounen (1979), Lupin III (1980), Castle Wolfenstein (1981), 005 (1981) and Metal Gear (1987). The genre became a mainstream success in 1998, with Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , Metal Gear Solid , and Thief: The Dark Project . They were followed by later releases, like Hitman and Splinter Cell . Unlike most action games , stealth games challenge

SECTION 10

#1732772762553

2124-501: A few decades before the 20th century. Since the 1950s, raccoons have expanded their range from Vancouver Island —formerly the northernmost limit of their range—far into the northern portions of the four south-central Canadian provinces. New habitats which have recently been occupied by raccoons (aside from urban areas) include mountain ranges, such as the Western Rocky Mountains , prairies and coastal marshes . After

2301-511: A figure comparable to those of urban habitats in North America. Home range sizes of urban raccoons are only 3 to 40 hectares (7.5 to 100 acres) for females and 8 to 80 hectares (20 to 200 acres) for males. In small towns and suburbs, many raccoons sleep in a nearby forest after foraging in the settlement area. Fruit and insects in gardens and leftovers in municipal waste are easily available food sources. Furthermore,

2478-407: A following inflammation of the brain ( encephalitis ), causing the animal to display rabies-like symptoms. In Germany, the first eight cases of distemper were reported in 2007. Some of the most important bacterial diseases which affect raccoons are leptospirosis , listeriosis , tetanus , and tularemia . Although internal parasites weaken their immune systems , well-fed individuals can carry

2655-462: A full-time carnivore , but the molars are not as wide as those of a herbivore . The penis bone of males is about 10 cm (3.9 in) long and strongly bent at the front end, and its shape can be used to distinguish juvenile males from mature males. Seven of the thirteen identified vocal calls are used in communication between the mother and her kits, one of these being the birdlike twittering of newborns. The most important sense for

2832-408: A game to include stealth gameplay, the knowledge of the artificial intelligence (AI) must be restricted to make it ignorant to parts of the game world. The AI in stealth games takes into specific consideration the enemies' reactions to the effects of the player's actions, such as turning off the lights, as opposed to merely reacting to the player directly. Enemies typically have a line of sight which

3009-430: A goal with different pathways or styles of play. Players can hide behind objects or in shadows, and can strike or run past an enemy when the enemy is facing the other way. If the player attracts the attention of enemies, they may be able to hide and wait until the enemies abandon their search. Thus, planning becomes important, as does trial-and-error. Some stealth games put more emphasis on physical combat skill when

3186-618: A graphics overhaul to allow them to support modern 720p resolution. When in 3D mode the games run at 30fps, while in normal mode, the games run at 60fps. All three of the games also have trophies, with one platinum each. PlayStation Move supported mini-games and 3D support are available in the Collection, as well as trophies. Upon completing every game in the Collection, the Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time ("Sly 4") teaser trailer

3363-431: A greater emphasis on stealth than other games of its time, with the player character Solid Snake beginning without any weapons (requiring him to avoid confrontation until weapons are found) and having limited ammunition for each weapon. Enemies are able to see Snake from a distance (using a line-of-sight mechanic) and hear gunshots from non-silenced weapons; security cameras and sensors are placed at various locations, and

3540-456: A harder difficulty called " New Game Plus ", which further decreases visibility by adding fog behind the player and removes noise visualizations and enemy line of sight indicators. Throughout the 2010s, stronger technology allowed for larger environments and spurred the development of next-gen entries in existing stealth franchises. 2015's Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain concluded the main Metal Gear series, introducing an open-world for

3717-406: A high mortality rate, due, for example, to hunting or severe winters. While male yearlings usually reach their sexual maturity only after the main mating season, female yearlings can compensate for high mortality rates and may be responsible for about 50% of all young born in a year. Males have no part in raising young. The kits (also called "cubs") are blind and deaf at birth, but their mask

SECTION 20

#1732772762553

3894-646: A large number of additional sleeping areas exist in these areas, such as hollows in old garden trees, cottages, garages, abandoned houses, and attics. The percentage of urban raccoons sleeping in abandoned or occupied houses varies from 15% in Washington, DC (1991) to 43% in Kassel (2003). Raccoons can carry rabies , a lethal disease caused by the neurotropic rabies virus carried in the saliva and transmitted by bites. Its spread began in Florida and Georgia in

4071-406: A level designer for Splinter Cell , noted that this mechanic was in place at this point because the gameplay developers could not easily implement alternative player actions in the case of such detection; for example, on detection, a real agent may react by subduing the agent that found them, but this was not possible to program in at this point in time. Hocking recognized this would be frustrating to

4248-477: A major mechanic alongside the otherwise comedic tone of the game, leading to comparisons to Metal Gear Solid and Hitman. In 2020, The Last of Us Part II released which has been praised for how its level design encourages sneaking around enemies using stealth during combat encounters. It was also praised for its AI, enemies will search for the player using tracking dogs and change their search patterns upon finding dead bodies. 2021's Hitman 3 concluded

4425-405: A multiplayer component where players must hide in crowds from other rival assassins. The 2012 game Dishonored tried to incorporate stealth elements that were influenced by Thief , such as the importance of lighting and shadows. The developers later abandoned that system citing realism as a factor. The game instead relies on a system of "occlusion-based" stealth, using the vision cones of

4602-401: A noise that may attract other foes. He prefers to use sneak attacks when possible because of his little endurance. Due to his heritage, Sly has a number of special moves that he learns through the games that can also increase his stealth or speed, or allow him to eliminate foes silently. The player also may play as Bentley with his gadgets, or Murray with his strength, and many minor companions in

4779-588: A period triggered by increasing daylight between late January and mid-March. However, there are large regional differences which are not completely explicable by solar conditions. For example, while raccoons in southern states typically mate later than average, the mating season in Manitoba also peaks later than usual in March and extends until June. During the mating season, males restlessly roam their home ranges in search of females in an attempt to court them during

4956-407: A population explosion starting in the 1940s, the estimated number of raccoons in North America in the late 1980s was 15 to 20 times higher than in the 1930s, when raccoons were comparatively rare. Urbanization , the expansion of agriculture , deliberate introductions, and the extermination of natural predators of the raccoon have probably caused this increase in abundance and distribution. As

5133-856: A population previously established in Transcaucasia . The range of Soviet raccoons was never single or continuous, as they were often introduced to different locations far from each other. All introductions into the Russian Far East failed; melanistic raccoons were released on Petrov Island near Vladivostok and some areas of southern Primorsky Krai , but died. In Central Asia , raccoons were released in Kyrgyzstan 's Jalal-Abad Province , though they were later recorded as "practically absent" there in January ;1963. A large and stable raccoon population (yielding 1,000~1,500 catches

5310-642: A population to be hunted for their fur. Two of these introductions were successful – one in the south of Belarus between 1954 and 1958, and another in Azerbaijan between 1941 and 1957. With a seasonal harvest of between 1,000~1,500 animals, in 1974 the estimated size of the population distributed in the Caucasus region was around 20,000 animals and the density was four animals per square kilometer (10 animals per square mile). In Japan, up to 1,500 raccoons were imported as pets each year after

5487-455: A raccoon's home range varies depending on age, sex, and habitat, with adults claiming areas more than twice as large as juveniles. While the size of home ranges in the habitat of North Dakota's prairies lie between 7 and 50 km (3 and 20 sq mi) for males and between 2 and 16 km (1 and 6 sq mi) for females, the average size in a marsh at Lake Erie was 0.5 km (0.19 sq mi). Irrespective of whether

Sly Cooper - Misplaced Pages Continue

5664-442: A radar to plan ahead. The enemies had improved AI , including a 45-degree field of vision, turning their heads left and right to see diagonally, the detection of various different noises, being able to move from screen to screen (they were limited to a single screen in earlier games), and a three-phase security alarm (where reinforcements are called in to chase the intruder, then remain on the lookout for some time after losing sight of

5841-446: A recreation of Thief called The Dark Mod . The project began as a mod of Doom 3 but became a standalone project as of 2013. It features approximately 150 community-built missions and is one of the only open-source stealth games in development. 2010 saw the release of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood , the sequel to Assassin's Creed II , which is notable for continuing to evolve the series' social stealth elements by introducing

6018-542: A reflex of a Proto-Algonquian root * ahrah-koon-em , meaning '[the] one who rubs, scrubs and scratches with its hands'. The word is sometimes spelled as racoon . In Spanish , the raccoon is called mapache , derived from the Nahuatl mapachtli of the Aztecs , meaning '[the] one who takes everything in its hands'. Its Latin name, procyon lotor , literally means 'before-dog washer'. The genus Procyon

6195-410: A result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, raccoons are now also distributed across central Europe , the Caucasus , and Japan . In Europe, the raccoon has been included on the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union Concern since 2016. This implies that this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, or intentionally released into the environment in

6372-407: A result of escapes and deliberate introductions in the mid-20th century, the raccoon is now distributed in several European and Asian countries. Sightings have occurred in all the countries bordering Germany, which hosts the largest population outside of North America. Another stable population exists in northern France, where several pet raccoons were released by members of the U.S. Air Force near

6549-456: A security alarm sounds whenever Snake is spotted and causes all enemies on screen to chase him. Snake could also disguise himself in enemy uniform or a cardboard box, and use hand-to-hand combat to fight enemies. In 1988, Infogrames published Hostages , sometimes known as Rescue: The Embassy Mission . One of the game's three main segments required players to evade searchlights by rolling and ducking into doorways. Gamestop has observed that

6726-433: A short and wide facial region and a voluminous braincase . The facial length of the skull is less than the cranial , and their nasal bones are short and quite broad. The auditory bullae are inflated in form, and the sagittal crest is weakly developed. The dentition —40 teeth with the dental formula : 3.1.4.2 3.1.4.2 —is adapted to their omnivorous diet: the carnassials are not as sharp and pointed as those of

6903-587: A social element to the stealth game, where the player is able to hide among crowds of civilians by taking care to blend in. Stealth elements were incorporated into Crytek 's open world first-person shooter Crysis , multiplayer first-person shooter Team Fortress 2 , and first-person role-playing game Fallout 3 . Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare included a stealth mission called " All Ghillied Up " which has been considered one of greatest levels in video game history by critics. Also in 2007, Ben Yahtzee Croshaw published Trilby: The Art of Theft , one of

7080-488: A teaser trailer, the initial announcement revealed that Ratchet director Kevin Munroe and animation studio Rainmaker Entertainment would be helming the movie set for release in 2016. Also like Ratchet & Clank , the film is financed by Film Financial Services with lead investor Jiangsu Broadcasting Corporation from China along with Rainmaker, with international representation by Cinema Management Group . Commenting on

7257-434: A threat on occasion in other areas. Where still present, gray wolves may still occasionally take raccoons as a supplemental prey item. Also in the southeast, they are among the favored prey for adult American alligators . On occasion, both bald and golden eagles will prey on raccoons. In the tropics, raccoons are known to fall prey to smaller eagles such as ornate hawk-eagles and black hawk-eagles , although it

Sly Cooper - Misplaced Pages Continue

7434-529: A turtle who acts as brains of the gang; and Murray, a hippo, who acts as the brawn and the getaway driver of the team van. The trio, known as the Cooper Gang, perform elaborate heists across the world, often taking down large and dangerous organized crime groups. On their travels they are pursued by Sly's love interest, Inspector Carmelita Fox of Interpol . Sly Cooper was illustrated by Scott Steinberg with art direction by Dev Madan. The first concept of Sly

7611-694: A very dark coat are more common in the German population because individuals with such coloring were among those initially released to the wild. The dense underfur , which accounts for almost 90% of the coat, insulates against cold weather and is composed of 2 to 3 cm (0.79 to 1.18 in) long hairs. The raccoon, whose method of locomotion is usually considered to be plantigrade , can stand on its hind legs to examine objects with its front paws. As raccoons have short legs compared to their compact torso, they are usually not able either to run quickly or jump great distances. Their top speed over short distances

7788-451: A watering hole with a layout similar to a stream is not farther away than 3 m (10 ft). The widely accepted theory is that dousing in captive raccoons is a fixed action pattern from the dabbling behavior performed when foraging at shores for aquatic foods. This is supported by the observation that aquatic foods are doused more frequently. Cleaning dirty food does not seem to be a reason for "washing". Raccoons usually mate in

7965-749: A year) was established in Azerbaijan after an introduction to the area in 1937. Raccoons apparently survived an introduction near Terek , along the Sulak River into the Dagestani lowlands. Attempts to settle raccoons on the Kuban River 's left tributary and Kabardino-Balkaria were unsuccessful. A successful acclimatization occurred in Belarus , where three introductions (consisting of 52, 37, and 38 individuals in 1954 and 1958) took place. By January 1963, 700 individuals were recorded in

8142-476: Is 16 to 24 km/h (9.9 to 14.9 mph). Raccoons can swim with an average speed of about 5 km/h (3.1 mph) and can stay in the water for several hours. For climbing down a tree headfirst—an unusual ability for a mammal of its size—a raccoon rotates its hind feet so they are pointing backwards. Raccoons have a dual cooling system to regulate their temperature ; that is, they are able to both sweat and pant for heat dissipation. Raccoon skulls have

8319-494: Is a rare heist video game to successfully balance requirements and liberty when it came to heists. They are required to be completed to progress to others, but the player had control over how to do so. PlayStation Move Heroes , announced at E3 2010 , is a crossover between the Sly Cooper series, Jak and Daxter and Ratchet & Clank . It features Sly and Bentley as playable characters. The game uses PlayStation Move . It

8496-551: Is already visible against their light fur. The birth weight of the roughly 10 cm (4 in)-long kits is between 60 and 75 g (2.1 and 2.6 oz). Their ear canals open after around 18 to 23 days, a few days before their eyes open for the first time. Once the kits weigh about 1 kg (2 lb), they begin to explore outside the den, consuming solid food for the first time after six to nine weeks. After this point, their mother suckles them with decreasing frequency; they are usually weaned by 16 weeks. In

8673-431: Is easier to catch, specifically crayfish , insects , fish , amphibians and bird eggs. Raccoons are virulent predators of eggs and hatchlings in both birds and reptile nests, to such a degree that, for threatened prey species, raccoons may need to be removed from the area or nests may need to be relocated to mitigate the effect of their predations (i.e. in the case of some globally threatened turtles ). When food

8850-508: Is inconvenient, raccoons use burrows dug by other mammals, dense undergrowth or tree crotches. In a study in the Solling range of hills in Germany, more than 60% of all sleeping places were used only once, but those used at least ten times accounted for about 70% of all uses. Since amphibians, crustaceans , and other animals around the shore of lakes and rivers are an important part of

9027-588: Is not a significant cause of death, especially because larger predators have been exterminated in many areas inhabited by raccoons. Although they have thrived in sparsely wooded areas in the last decades, raccoons depend on vertical structures to climb when they feel threatened. Therefore, they avoid open terrain and areas with high concentrations of beech trees, as beech bark is too smooth to climb. Tree hollows in old oaks or other trees and rock crevices are preferred by raccoons as sleeping, winter and litter dens. If such dens are unavailable or accessing them

SECTION 50

#1732772762553

9204-471: Is not clear whether adults or merely juvenile raccoons are taken by these. In rare cases of overlap, they may fall victim from carnivores ranging from species averaging smaller than themselves such as fishers to those as large and formidable as jaguars in Mexico . In their introduced range in the former Soviet Union, their main predators are wolves , lynxes and Eurasian eagle-owls . However, predation

9381-422: Is plentiful, raccoons can develop strong individual preferences for specific foods. In the northern parts of their range, raccoons go into a winter rest , reducing their activity drastically as long as a permanent snow cover makes searching for food difficult. One aspect of raccoon behavior is so well known that it gives the animal part of its scientific name, Procyon lotor ; lotor is Latin for 'washer'. In

9558-535: Is still regarded as a separate species. The four smallest raccoon subspecies, with a typical weight of 1.8 to 2.7 kg (4.0 to 6.0 lb), live along the southern coast of Florida and on the adjacent islands; an example is the Ten Thousand Islands raccoon ( Procyon lotor marinus ). Most of the other 15 subspecies differ only slightly from each other in coat color, size and other physical characteristics. The two most widespread subspecies are

9735-479: Is the latest descendant in a line of master thieves. The Cooper Clan is notorious for only stealing from other thieves, and passes down their expert techniques from generation to generation in a book called the "Thievius Raccoonus." While the Coopers have accumulated a massive hoard of wealth, Sly places greater value on his friendship with his partners-in-crime, whom he met growing up in an orphanage together: Bentley,

9912-658: Is to photograph secret documents while avoiding alarms. Hideo Kojima 's Metal Gear , released in 1987 for the MSX2 and the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988, utilized stealth elements within an action-adventure framework, and was the first mainstream stealth game to be released on consoles. Since the MSX2 was not available in North America, only the NES version was released there. Metal Gear placed

10089-492: Is unlocked. However, these features are not available in the downloadable version. Developer Sanzaru Games impressed Sony with a demo for the then-unannounced Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time , and were subsequently tasked with porting the series' PlayStation 2 titles to the PlayStation 3. At this time, the games' original developers , Sucker Punch Productions , were working on the inFamous series. The Sly Collection

10266-502: Is usually between 5 and 12 kg (11 and 26 lb). The smallest specimens live in southern Florida, while those near the northern limits of the raccoon's range tend to be the largest (see Bergmann's rule ) . Males are usually 15 to 20% heavier than females. At the beginning of winter, a raccoon can weigh twice as much as in spring because of fat storage. The largest recorded wild raccoon weighed 28.4 kg (63 lb) and measured 140 cm (55 in) in total length, by far

10443-440: Is very agile, and is able to use many of the features of the architecture for stealth, indicated to the player by a blue glow, explained in-game as a visible manifestation of Sly's "thief senses." For example, Sly can perch on the top of sharp points, climb up pipes, sneak along a narrow ledge, walk across a tight rope, zipline down a rope, or use his cane to swing from hooks. Sly also uses his cane to defeat foes, although it makes

10620-565: The Desperados series and Robin Hood: The Legend of Sherwood . Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty , released 2001 for the PlayStation 2, further evolved the stealth gameplay series. It featured an array of new abilities, including "leaping over and hanging off of railings, opening and hiding in storage lockers," and sneaking up behind enemies to "hold them at gunpoint for items and ammunition." Metal Gear Solid 2 holds

10797-604: The Laon-Couvron Air Base in 1966. Furthermore, raccoons have been known to be in the area around Madrid since the early 1970s. In 2013, the city authorized "the capture and death of any specimen". It is also present in Italy , with one self-sustaining population in Lombardy . About 1,240 animals were released in nine regions of the former Soviet Union between 1936 and 1958 for the purpose of establishing

SECTION 60

#1732772762553

10974-458: The Metal Gear series in an episodic point-and-click stealth game. The game's unique play style required users to hack doors and surveillance systems from a bird's eye view in order to navigate their character through the environment. In 2014, Creative Assembly released Alien: Isolation , a stealth game which emphasized survival-horror. In this game, the protagonist is trapped on a space station with an alien xenomorph which they must avoid for

11151-592: The Rexroad Formation characterized by its narrow back teeth and large lower jaw. As of 2005, Mammal Species of the World recognizes 22 subspecies of raccoons. Four of these subspecies living only on small Central American and Caribbean islands were often regarded as distinct species after their discovery. These are the Bahamian raccoon and Guadeloupe raccoon , which are very similar to each other;

11328-624: The Sly Cooper television series would be moved to the studio, considering that projects such as Sony Pictures' Uncharted film also moved there. Sly 1 was a nominee for GameSpot ' s 2002 "Best Game No One Played on PlayStation 2" award. By July 2006, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus reached 800k units sold in the United States with the Sly trilogy selling a total of 2.2 million units. Next Generation ranked it as

11505-642: The Tres Marias raccoon , which is larger than average and has an angular skull; and the extinct Barbados raccoon . Studies of their morphological and genetic traits in 1999, 2003 and 2005 led all these island raccoons to be listed as subspecies of the common raccoon in Mammal Species of the World's third edition. A fifth island raccoon population, the Cozumel raccoon , which weighs only 3 to 4 kg (6.6 to 8.8 lb) and has notably small teeth,

11682-409: The abstract principles of the locking mechanisms and their learning speed was equivalent to that of rhesus macaques . Studies in 1963, 1973, 1975 and 1992 concentrated on raccoon memory showed that they can remember the solutions to tasks for at least three years. In a study by B. Pohl in 1992, raccoons were able to instantly differentiate between identical and different symbols three years after

11859-482: The biodiversity of an area. Hohmann holds that extensive hunting cannot be justified by the absence of natural predators, because predation is not a significant cause of death in the North American raccoon population. The raccoon is extensively hunted in Germany as it is seen as an invasive species and pest . In the 1990s, only about 400 raccoons were hunted yearly. This increased dramatically over

12036-590: The common raccoon , North American raccoon , and northern raccoon . In various North American native languages, the reference to the animal's manual dexterity, or use of its hands is the source for the names. The word raccoon was adopted into English from the native Powhatan term meaning 'animal that scratches with its hands', as used in the Colony of Virginia . It was recorded on John Smith 's list of Powhatan words as aroughcun , and on that of William Strachey as arathkone . It has also been identified as

12213-529: The crab-eating raccoon ( Procyon cancrivorus ), the ancestors of the common raccoon left tropical and subtropical areas and migrated farther north about 2.5 million years ago, in a migration that has been confirmed by the discovery of fossils in the Great Plains dating back to the middle of the Pliocene . Its most recent ancestor was likely Procyon rexroadensis , a large Blancan raccoon from

12390-471: The fauna ". Several prior attempts to introduce raccoons in Germany had been unsuccessful. A second population was established in eastern Germany in 1945 when 25 raccoons escaped from a fur farm at Wolfshagen (today district of Altlandsberg ), east of Berlin, after an air strike. The two populations are parasitologically distinguishable: 70% of the raccoons of the Hessian population are infected with

12567-522: The first installment of the Tom Clancy licensed Splinter Cell series was released, which attempted to add more realism to the stealth genre both in terms of graphics and in-game equipment. If the player is discovered in Splinter Cell , the guards will often raise a general alarm which can cause a difficulty spike or even result in automatic mission failure. Clint Hocking , who worked as

12744-685: The genre typically allow the player to remain undetected by hiding, sneaking, or using disguises. Some games allow the player to choose between a stealthy approach or directly attacking antagonists, but rewarding the player for greater use of stealth. The genre has employed espionage , counter-terrorism , and rogue themes, with protagonists that are special forces operatives, special agents , secret agents , thieves , ninjas , or assassins . Some games have also combined stealth elements with other genres, such as first-person shooters and also platformers . Elements of "stealth" gameplay, by way of avoiding confrontation with enemies, can be attributed to

12921-614: The manga and anime of the same name ), released in April 1980. In November 1980, Suzuki developed a sequel, Manbiki Shoujo ( Shoplifting Girl ). Castle Wolfenstein , originally available in 1981, employed stealth elements as a focus of the gameplay. Players were charged with traversing the levels of Castle Wolfenstein , stealing secret plans and escaping. Players could acquire uniforms to disguise themselves and walk by guards undetected. Beyond Castle Wolfenstein , released in 1984, included some additions to its predecessor, such as

13098-420: The mating season —or against other potential invaders. Such a group does not usually consist of more than four individuals. Since some males show aggressive behavior towards unrelated kits, mothers will isolate themselves from other raccoons until their kits are big enough to defend themselves. With respect to these three different modes of life prevalent among raccoons, Hohmann called their social structure

13275-706: The mythologies of the Indigenous peoples of the Americas surrounding the species. The raccoon is noted for its intelligence , and studies show that it is able to remember the solution to tasks for at least three years. It is usually nocturnal and omnivorous , eating about 40% invertebrates , 33% plants , and 27% vertebrates . The original habitats of the raccoon are deciduous and mixed forests , but due to their adaptability, they have extended their range to mountainous areas, coastal marshes , and urban areas , where some homeowners consider them to be pests . As

13452-476: The roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis , but none of the Brandenburgian population is known to have the parasite. In the Hessian region, there were an estimated 285 raccoons in 1956, which increased to over 20,000 in 1970; in 2008 there were between 200,000 and 400,000 raccoons in the whole of Germany. By 2012 it was estimated that Germany now had more than a million raccoons. The raccoon

13629-672: The tapetum lucidum behind the retina , visual perception is of subordinate importance to raccoons because of their poor long-distance vision. In addition to being useful for orientation in the dark, their sense of smell is important for intraspecific communication. Glandular secretions (usually from their anal glands ), urine and feces are used for marking. With their broad auditory range , they can perceive tones up to 50–85  kHz as well as quiet noises, like those produced by earthworms underground. Zoologist Clinton Hart Merriam described raccoons as "clever beasts", and that "in certain directions their cunning surpasses that of

13806-476: The "World of Assassination" trilogy and was highly praised for its sandbox and social stealth elements, with PC Gamer calling it the best stealth game of the year. A recent development in the stealth genre has been the rise of multiplayer stealth games using elements from social deduction games like Werewolf or Mafia . Games like Among Us and SpyParty are all about "hiding in plain sight" and blending in to avoid detection from other players. This has

13983-403: The 1950s and was facilitated by the introduction of infected individuals to Virginia and North Dakota in the late 1970s. Of the 6,940 documented rabies cases reported in the United States in 2006, 2,615 (37.7%) were in raccoons. The U.S. Department of Agriculture , as well as local authorities in several U.S. states and Canadian provinces, has developed oral vaccination programs to fight

14160-455: The 1990s by the ethologists Stanley D. Gehrt and Ulf Hohmann suggest that raccoons engage in sex-specific social behaviors and are not typically solitary, as was previously thought. Related females often live in a so-called " fission-fusion society "; that is, they share a common area and occasionally meet at feeding or resting grounds. Unrelated males often form loose male social groups to maintain their position against foreign males during

14337-469: The 2000 movie tie-in game The Grinch . Later, in 2005, Ape Escape 3 featured a mini-game based on the Metal Gear Solid series. Developers continued to meld stealth with other genres. 2003's Siren combined the survival horror genre with the stealth genre. Its sequel would later be released in 2006, with refined game mechanics and expanded difficulty options. Manhunt employed

14514-415: The 2013 spin-off game Bentley's Hackpack . Both an animated feature film and television series based on the series have also been in development, but neither has released. The games are primarily in third person . The player controls Sly or one of his companions through many missions of several levels, relying mostly on stealth to avoid encounters and alarms while collecting treasures or other items. Sly

14691-493: The 78th highest-selling game launched for the sixth generation of video game consoles between January 2000 and July 2006 in that country. GameSpy considered Sly Cooper to be the 5th most underrated game of all time in a 2003 listing. Sly 2: Band of Thieves frequently appears on all-time lists of PlayStation 2 games, ranking number 23 by GameSpy and SVG.com , number 24 by IGN , and appearing on unranked features by Digital Trends , and VG247 . Sportskeeda ranked it

14868-636: The Bahamas raccoon, Guadeloupe raccoon and Tres Marias raccoon were classified as endangered by the IUCN in 1996. There is archeological evidence that in pre-Columbian times raccoons were numerous only along rivers and in the woodlands of the Southeastern United States . As raccoons were not mentioned in earlier reports of pioneers exploring the central and north-central parts of the United States, their initial spread may have begun

15045-482: The Cooper Vault, a gigantic cache of wealth accumulated by his family over the years. In order to gain access he must defeat a villain known as Dr. M, who has taken over the island and made many failed attempts to break into the vault. Sly must regroup his old partners and recruit new members, defeating a variety of new villains along the way, in order to succeed at reclaiming his family's history, all while still on

15222-544: The Fiendish Five, a rival gang led by a giant mechanical owl named Clockwerk. Sly and his gang must steal back the book while keeping ahead of Interpol's Inspector Carmelita Fox, who promises to put Sly in jail for his crimes. Sly 2: Band of Thieves was released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2. After the events of Sly Cooper , the mechanical parts from the destroyed Clockwerk are stolen by the Klaww Gang. Together,

15399-618: The North American raccoon population is distemper , which can reach epidemic proportions and kill most of a local raccoon population. In areas with heavy vehicular traffic and extensive hunting, these factors can account for up to 90% of all deaths of adult raccoons. The most important natural predators of the raccoon are bobcats , coyotes , and great horned owls , the latter mainly preying on young raccoons but capable of killing adults in some cases. In Florida , they have been reported to fall victim to larger carnivores like American black bear and cougars and these species may also be

15576-466: The Patriots (PlayStation 3) introduced a battlezone element, where the stealth gameplay is incorporated into a battlefield fought between two armies, both of which can be infiltrated by Solid Snake. In 2009, Assassin's Creed II broadened its predecessor's elements of stealth by allowing the player to blend among any group of civilians, rather than specific ones. Assassin's Creed II also allowed

15753-583: The PlayStation Network. The game was released for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, iOS, and Android devices. It received 7/10 from Destructoid . A children's book titled, Sly Cooper: To Catch a Thief , was published by Scholastic Corporation on January 31, 2007. The novel was written by Michael Anthony Steele and the plot takes place in between Sly Cooper and the Thievius Racoonus and Sly 2: Band of Thieves . Production on

15930-427: The aggressive behavior seen in infected canids; rabid raccoons will often retire to their dens instead. Organizations like the U.S. Forest Service encourage people to stay away from animals with unusual behavior or appearance, and to notify the proper authorities, such as an animal control officer from the local health department . Since healthy animals, especially nursing mothers, will occasionally forage during

16107-445: The agility of the hands of primates . There is no observed negative effect on tactile perception when a raccoon stands in water below 10 °C (50 °F) for hours. Raccoons are thought to be color blind or at least poorly able to distinguish color, though their eyes are well-adapted for sensing green light. Although their accommodation of 11 dioptre is comparable to that of humans and they see well in twilight because of

16284-525: The artistic style of the characters and world." At Wondercon 2016, Munroe stated that the film had yet to enter production and that he doubted it would be released later that year, but was "standing by, waiting to jump on top of it. I'm just waiting for the phone call." On October 26, 2016, he revealed on Twitter that he hadn't personally worked on Sly Cooper in over a year and a half. In September 2016, Michael Hefferon, president and chief creative officer of Rainmaker, said that due to Ratchet' s failure,

16461-445: The benefit of providing a "real" stealth experience compared to a singleplayer game and acts as a continuation of the trend pioneered by the multiplayer portion of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood . Raccoon The raccoon ( / r ə ˈ k uː n / or US : / r æ ˈ k uː n / , Procyon lotor ), also spelled racoon and sometimes called the common raccoon or northern raccoon to distinguish it from

16638-413: The bushy tail which can measure between 20 and 40 cm (7.9 and 15.7 in), but is usually not much longer than 25 cm (9.8 in). The shoulder height is between 23 and 30 cm (9.1 and 11.8 in). The body weight of an adult raccoon varies considerably with habitat , making the raccoon one of the most variably sized mammals. It can range from 2 to 26 kg (4.4 to 57.3 lb), but

16815-529: The center of its distribution was probably in Central America. Coatis ( Nasua and Nasuella ) and raccoons ( Procyon ) have been considered to share common descent from a species in the genus Paranasua present between 5.2 and 6.0 million years ago. This assumption, based on morphological comparisons of fossils, conflicts with a 2006 genetic analysis which indicates raccoons are more closely related to ringtails . Unlike other procyonids, such as

16992-510: The company would have to reevaluate the timing, release plans, and budget for Sly Cooper. In 2017, Rainmaker left the project. On June 14, 2017, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that they were developing a Sly Cooper television series alongside Technicolor Animation Productions , with PGS Entertainment handling brand management. The series was to consist of 52 11-minute episodes, with half scheduled to premiere in October 2019, and

17169-511: The country. Due to its adaptability, the raccoon has been able to use urban areas as a habitat. The first sightings were recorded in a suburb of Cincinnati in the 1920s. Since the 1950s, raccoons have been present in metropolitan areas like Washington, DC , Chicago , Toronto , and New York City. Since the 1960s, Kassel has hosted Europe's first and densest population in a large urban area, with about 50 to 150 animals per square kilometer (130 to 390 animals per square mile),

17346-523: The day, daylight activity is not a reliable indicator of illness in raccoons. Unlike rabies and at least a dozen other pathogens carried by raccoons, distemper , an epizootic virus, does not affect humans. This disease is the most frequent natural cause of death in the North American raccoon population and affects individuals of all age groups. For example, 94 of 145 raccoons died during an outbreak in Clifton, Ohio , in 1968. It may occur along with

17523-545: The eastern raccoon ( Procyon lotor lotor ) and the Upper Mississippi Valley raccoon ( Procyon lotor hirtus ). Both share a comparatively dark coat with long hairs, but the Upper Mississippi Valley raccoon is larger than the eastern raccoon. The eastern raccoon occurs in all U.S. states and Canadian provinces to the north of South Carolina and Tennessee . The adjacent range of the Upper Mississippi Valley raccoon covers all U.S. states and Canadian provinces to

17700-466: The enemies, obstacles, and special abilities which determines whether or not the character is visible. Additionally, while other games had implemented such systems, Dishonored was recognized for having a forgiving stealth system compared with Splinter Cell , in that if detected, the player had several options available to either attack those enemies that detected them, distract them, or flee and outrun them by using parkour, rather than immediately reaching

17877-423: The facial expression and posture of other members of their species more quickly because of the conspicuous facial coloration and the alternating light and dark rings on the tail. The dark mask may also reduce glare and thus enhance night vision . On other parts of the body, the long and stiff guard hairs , which shed moisture, are usually colored in shades of gray and, to a lesser extent, brown. Raccoons with

18054-480: The fall, after their mother has shown them dens and feeding grounds, the juvenile group splits up. While many females will stay close to the home range of their mother, males can sometimes move more than 20 km (12 mi) away. This is considered an instinctive behavior, preventing inbreeding . However, mother and offspring may share a den during the first winter in cold areas. Captive raccoons have been known to live for more than 20 years. However,

18231-557: The features hold this opinion, already celebrating the series for its distinct combination of family-friendliness with stealth and "genuinely funny" comedy. Gameplay centered around scenarios similar to those in heist films , like Ocean's 11 (1960) and The Italian Job (1969), are commonplace in realistic open world crime video games, most notably the Grand Theft Auto series (1997–present), but rare in cartoon platformers. Commemorated USgamer ' s Jeremy Parish, it

18408-437: The fifth best all-time 3D platformer. Sly 2: Band of Thieves is generally considered by critics to be the best Sly Cooper game, a successful expansion of the qualities of the first game, its most highlighted aspects being the inclusion of three playable characters with distinct abilities and the variety and captivity of the worlds. Jesse Lab, writing for The Escapist in 2022, argued the series maintained its true identity by

18585-441: The film's production, Asad Qizilbash, senior director of first party games marketing at Sony stated: "As one of our most storied and fan favorite PlayStation franchises, we are excited to see the story of Sly premiere on the big screen for the first time. "We have a great partnership with Rainmaker and Blockade Entertainment and we're looking forward to seeing Sly reimagined in a full-feature movie to offer both fans and newcomers alike

18762-538: The first indie stealth games. The game features a rudimentary engine built in Adventure Game Studio . Because of this restricted approach, the game's maps are largely static building cutaways. Trilby's graphical style, combined with its stealth gameplay, has drawn comparisons to 1990's Bonanza Bros . In turn, Trilby likely influenced later indie stealth games such as 2013's Gunpoint and 2015's Master Spy. In 2008, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of

18939-534: The first known members of the family Procyonidae lived in Europe in the late Oligocene about 25 million years ago. Similar tooth and skull structures suggest procyonids and weasels share a common ancestor, but molecular analysis indicates a closer relationship between raccoons and bears. After the then-existing species crossed the Bering Strait at least six million years later in the early Miocene ,

19116-447: The first time in the franchise. In 2016, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided took a similar approach with a semi-open world designed around city hubs. 2016's Hitman reboot also drastically increased the size of its game maps. 2013's Splinter Cell: Blacklist was considered a return to form after 2010's controversial entry, Splinter Cell: Conviction , which departed from the series formula by forcing combat. Blacklist retained some of

19293-468: The fox". The animal's intelligence gave rise to the epithet "sly coon". Only a few studies have been undertaken to determine the mental abilities of raccoons, most of them based on the animal's sense of touch. In a study by the ethologist H. B. Davis in 1908, raccoons were able to open 11 of 13 complex locks in fewer than 10 tries and had no problems repeating the action when the locks were rearranged or turned upside down. Davis concluded that they understood

19470-408: The franchise which used cel-shading , the film is going for a contemporary CG art direction. Foxhoven stated that "the global film market can lean towards pure CG animated films. As much as we love the cel-shaded look of the game, we felt that it would not be held up on the big screen collectively." He also said that working with the creators of Sly Cooper would help the movie's look "remain true to

19647-585: The game "set important grounds and ideas for future stealth/tactical shooters," noting the game's use of time limits, cover mechanics, and tests of reflexes. The sequel Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake was released in 1990 for the MSX2. It further evolved the stealth gameplay of its predecessor and introduced most of the gameplay elements present in Metal Gear Solid , including the three-dimensional element of height, allowing players to crouch and crawl into hiding spots and air ducts and underneath desks. The player could also distract guards by knocking on surfaces and use

19824-486: The game with stealth elements. Another 2004 release was The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay , based on the Chronicles of Riddick series of movies. The game follows the character of Riddick as he attempts to escape from prison. Action and stealth gaming are combined seamlessly by allowing the character to hide, sneak, or fight his way past most situations. The game was critically acclaimed, and

20001-413: The game's stages. Additionally, Bentley assists Sly with his Level 3 Super attack, Murray appears as an unlockable minion and as part of Sly's Level 1 Super attack, and Carmelita appears as a downloadable minion and stage hazard in the "Alden's Tower" stage. Stealth game A stealth game is a type of video game in which the player primarily uses stealth to avoid or overcome opponents. Games in

20178-432: The gang, and Carmelita travel back in time to stop the various henchmen of the main villain, Cyrille Le Paradox, who is determined to replace the Coopers as the new master thief of the world. Along the way, the gang teams up with several of Sly's ancestors, all while Sly must deal with the aftermath of Carmelita discovering that he had faked his amnesia at the end of the previous game. The game was developed by Sanzaru Games ,

20355-443: The general behavior patterns of raccoons, Gehrt points out that "typically you'll find 10 to 15 percent that will do the opposite" of what is expected. Though usually nocturnal, the raccoon is sometimes active in daylight to take advantage of available food sources. Its diet consists of about 40% invertebrates , 33% plant material and 27% vertebrates . Since its diet consists of such a variety of different foods, Zeveloff argues

20532-471: The genre drifted towards action by allowing the option of direct confrontations. The Hitman series, the first installment of which was released in 2000, allowed this play style, but rewarded the player for stealthy and elaborate assassination of antagonists. Hitman: Codename 47 , the first of the series, was the first 3D game to employ the genre's device of disguises. No One Lives Forever , an espionage themed parody also released in 2000, again allowed

20709-467: The genre. Set in a jungle, the game emphasized infiltration in a natural environment, along with survival aspects such as food capture, healing and close-quarters combat. The game was also notable for its infamous stealth battle with a sniper, in which the player confronts the nearly invisible enemy in a boss fight that can take hours to complete. The following year, the updated version Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence added an online multiplayer mode to

20886-413: The highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid transformed its modestly successful franchise into a mainstream success. The increased power of the PlayStation console over previous platforms allowed for greater immersion in terms of both story and game environment. Metal Gear Solid has been credited with popularizing the stealth genre. Thief: The Dark Project is also credited as a pioneer of the genre. It

21063-456: The home ranges of adjacent groups overlap, they are most likely not actively defended outside the mating season if food supplies are sufficient. Odor marks on prominent spots are assumed to establish home ranges and identify individuals. Urine and feces left at shared raccoon latrines may provide additional information about feeding grounds, since raccoons were observed to meet there later for collective eating, sleeping and playing. Concerning

21240-427: The intruder, and then leave the area). The game also had a complex storyline and improved graphics. Although stealth gameplay had appeared in previous games, 1998 is seen as a turning point in gaming history because of the release of Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , Metal Gear Solid , and Thief: The Dark Project . The ninja -themed Tenchu: Stealth Assassins was the first 3D stealth based-game. Months later,

21417-418: The lack of corners for the character to hide behind, and the visibility presented in a side-scroller; the developers overcame this by adding 'fog' that prevents the player from seeing things that the character can not see, visually representing enemy line-of-sight and even visualizing the noise made by the character, including how far that noise travels. After the completion of the game, the player has access to

21594-409: The largest size recorded for a procyonid. The most characteristic physical feature of the raccoon is the area of black fur around the eyes, which contrasts sharply with the surrounding white face coloring. This is reminiscent of a " bandit's mask " and has thus enhanced the animal's reputation for mischief. The slightly rounded ears are also bordered by white fur. Raccoons are assumed to recognize

21771-410: The level design. Usually the player is able to disable certain light sources. Stealth games also emphasize the audio design when players must be able to hear the subtle sound effects that may alert enemies to their actions; noise will often vary as the player walks on different surfaces such as wood or metal. Players who move recklessly will make more noise and attract more attention. In order for

21948-409: The majority of the game, being unable to kill it. The game also uses feedback from the player's microphone to enhance gameplay as the alien is able to hear noises made by the player and can use them to detect their location. 2014's Styx: Master of Shadows was recognized by many reviewers as a "pure stealth" game that discouraged combat. It also provided a distinctive scouting game mechanic through

22125-610: The mating seasons from 1990 to 1992, about one third of all females mated with more than one male. If a female does not become pregnant or if she loses her kits early, she will sometimes become fertile again 80 to 140 days later. After usually 63 to 65 days of gestation (although anywhere from 54 to 70 days is possible), a litter of typically two to five young is born. The average litter size varies widely with habitat, ranging from 2.5 in Alabama to 4.8 in North Dakota . Larger litters are more common in areas with

22302-413: The members of the expedition of Christopher Columbus , who were the first Europeans to leave a written record about the species, taxonomists thought the raccoon was related to many different species, including dogs , cats , badgers and particularly bears . Carl Linnaeus , the father of modern taxonomy, placed the raccoon in the genus Ursus , first as Ursus cauda elongata ('long-tailed bear') in

22479-401: The modern conventions of the previous entry, most notably context actions, and was recognized for balancing action gameplay with pure stealth options. 2013 also saw the release of Payday 2 and the top-down Monaco: What's Yours Is Mine , both of which are cooperative stealth games focused around heists. Between 2013 and 2016, République reunited some of the developers and cast of

22656-512: The next quarter-century: during the 2015–2016 hunting season, 128,100 raccoons were hunted, 60 percent of them in the state of Hesse . Experiments in acclimatising raccoons into the Soviet Union began in 1936, and were repeated a further 25 times until 1962. Overall, 1,222 individuals were released, 64 of which came from zoos and fur farms (38 of them having been imports from western Europe). The remainder originated from

22833-769: The north of Louisiana , Texas , and New Mexico . The taxonomic identity of feral raccoons inhabiting Central Europe, Causasia and Japan is unknown, as the founding populations consisted of uncategorized specimens from zoos and fur farms. brachyurus (Wiegmann, 1837) fusca (Burmeister, 1850) gularis (C. E. H. Smith, 1848) melanus (J. E. Gray, 1864) obscurus (Wiegmann, 1837) rufescens (de Beaux, 1910) vulgaris (Tiedemann, 1808) dickeyi (Nelson and Goldman, 1931) mexicana (Baird, 1858) shufeldti (Nelson and Goldman, 1931) minor (Miller, 1911) varius (Nelson and Goldman, 1930) P. l. minor Head to hindquarters, raccoons measure between 40 and 70 cm (16 and 28 in), not including

23010-467: The other species, is a mammal native to North America . It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of 40 to 70 cm (16 to 28 in), and a body weight of 5 to 26 kg (11 to 57 lb). Its grayish coat mostly consists of dense underfur , which insulates it against cold weather. The animal's most distinctive features include its extremely dexterous front paws , its facial mask, and its ringed tail, which are common themes in

23187-453: The parts could be used to revive Clockwerk; separately, they each have special functions and are used for various crimes by the individual gang members. Sly and the Cooper gang are pursued by Carmelita and her new partner, Constable Neyla, while they track down the missing Clockwerk parts. Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2. On a remote island, Sly discovers

23364-455: The paws. However, the behavior observed in captive raccoons in which they carry their food to water to "wash" or douse it before eating has not been observed in the wild. Naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon , believed that raccoons do not have adequate saliva production to moisten food thereby necessitating dousing, but this hypothesis is now considered to be incorrect. Captive raccoons douse their food more frequently when

23541-419: The player and would remain an issue with stealth games for about a decade. In addition, Splinter Cell was notable for its state of the art graphics, including dynamic lighting and shadows. Like Thief , Splinter Cell featured a visibility meter which determined how much light was falling on the character. These effects not only contributed to the atmosphere of the game, but dynamically affected in which areas

23718-495: The player can avoid by hiding behind objects, staying in the shadows or moving while the enemy is facing another direction. Enemies can also typically detect when the player touches them or moves within a small, fixed distance. Overall, stealth games vary in what player actions the AI will perceive and react to, with more recent games offering a wider range of enemy reactions. Often, the AI's movements are predictable and regular, allowing

23895-424: The player could hide. The 2004 sequel, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow , added a multiplayer component to the stealth genre. The growth of the genre also led to the production of a number of E-rated stealth platformers aimed at younger audiences, most notably Sly Cooper , a cel-shaded game released in 2002. Other related games include 2001 Looney Tunes game Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf and

24072-451: The player is spotted. Some games offer a choice between killing or merely knocking out an enemy. When ghosting is optional, or not well-supported by a game, players may still attempt to avoid combat for moral reasons or as a demonstration of skill. Early on in the development of the stealth genre these games were referred to as sneak 'em up games. When hiding in the dark is a gameplay element, light and shadow become important parts of

24249-452: The player to avoid alerting enemies altogether. The core gameplay elements of the modern stealth game are to avoid combat, minimize making noise, and strike enemies from the shadows and behind. Completing objectives without being detected by any enemy, sometimes referred to as "ghosting" is a common approach to stealth games. Avoiding detection may be the only way to successfully complete a game, but there are usually multiple ways to achieve

24426-409: The player to combine or choose between stealth and overt violence. In 2000, the first-person action role-playing game Deus Ex also allowed the player the choice of taking a stealth approach. A USA Today reviewer found "At the easiest difficulty setting, your character is pureed again and again by an onslaught of human and robotic terrorists until you learn the value of stealth." 1998 also saw

24603-516: The player to devise a strategy to overcome their adversaries. One staple of many stealth games is an alarm phase or an alert phase, in which enemies more aggressively seek out the player character. Players can evade capture or engage in combat. This mechanic can also be used to increase difficulty over the course of the game, with missions that end immediately when the alarm phase is activated. Players are often given limited methods of engaging opponents directly in stealth games, either by restricting

24780-538: The player to distract guards by tossing coins or by hiring thieves and courtesans , and also featured a notoriety level, which made the player more recognizable until they paid off officials or tore down wanted posters . The same year, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Batman: Arkham Asylum incorporated stealth elements in different segments of the games. The multiplayer modes of Aliens vs. Predator in 2010 and Killzone 3 in 2011 also incorporated stealth elements. In 2009, independent developers began to work on

24957-413: The player to ineffective or non-lethal weapons, equipping adversaries with far superior equipment and numbers, or providing the player with a limited amount of health that makes most combat scenarios extremely dangerous. Stealth games sometimes overlap with the survival horror genre, in which players are forced to hide from and evade supernatural or occasionally mundane enemies as they attempt to track down

25134-599: The player's mission is to take a briefcase of secret documents to a waiting helicopter while avoiding enemy flashlights and use boxes as hiding spots. 005 holds the Guinness World Record for being the first stealth game. Mindscape's Infiltrator , released in 1986, combined a flight simulator with a stealth-based "ground mission". In this ground mission, the protagonist attempts to sneak into enemy territory using false IDs to avoid detection and knock-out gas to incapacitate enemies. The goal of this mission

25311-523: The player. While early stealth games relied on small maps and simple hitboxes , 3D stealth games have introduced more complex environments. Modern stealth games often give players the ability to quickly climb or maneuver objects, take cover with hotkeys, or mark a series of enemies for attack. According to Retro Gamer ' s John Szczepaniak, the first stealth game was Manbiki Shounen ( Shoplifting Boy ), published in November 1979. Published as

25488-515: The raccoon "may well be one of the world's most omnivorous animals". While its diet in spring and early summer consists mostly of insects, worms, and other animals already available early in the year, it prefers fruits and nuts, such as acorns and walnuts , which emerge in late summer and autumn, and represent a rich calorie source for building up fat needed for winter. Contrary to popular belief, raccoons only occasionally eat active or large prey, such as birds and mammals . They prefer prey that

25665-428: The raccoon as an emblem, causing them to be pejoratively known as "coons" by their political opponents, who saw them as too sympathetic to African-Americans. Soon after that the term became an ethnic slur , especially in use between 1880 and 1920 (see coon song ), and the term is still considered offensive. Dogs bred to hunt raccoons are called coonhound and coon dog . In the first decades after its discovery by

25842-650: The raccoon is called the Waschbär (literally, 'wash-bear' or 'washing bear') due to its habit of "dousing" food in water – two pairs of pet raccoons were released into the German countryside at the Edersee reservoir in the north of Hesse in April ;1934 by a forester upon request of their owner, a poultry farmer. He released them two weeks before receiving permission from the Prussian hunting office to "enrich

26019-635: The raccoon is its sense of touch . The "hyper sensitive" front paws are protected by a thin horny layer that becomes pliable when wet. The five digits of the paws have no webbing between them, which is unusual for a carnivoran . Almost two-thirds of the area responsible for sensory perception in the raccoon's cerebral cortex is specialized for the interpretation of tactile impulses, more than in any other studied animal. They are able to identify objects before touching them with vibrissae located above their sharp, nonretractable claws . The raccoon's paws lack an opposable thumb ; thus, it does not have

26196-572: The raccoon's diet, lowland deciduous or mixed forests abundant with water and marshes sustain the highest population densities. While population densities range from 0.5 to 3.2 animals per square kilometer (1.3 to 8.3 animals per square mile) in prairies and do not usually exceed 6 animals per square kilometer (15.5 animals per square mile) in upland hardwood forests, more than 20 raccoons per square kilometer (51.8 animals per square mile) can live in lowland forests and marshes. Raccoons are common throughout North America from Canada to Panama , where

26373-640: The release of Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines , a real-time strategy game with heavy stealth gameplay. Players control a team of several soldiers, each with different limited sets of abilities. Missions are completed by navigating or clearing densely layered enemies patrols with "vision cones", similar to the Soliton radar in Metal Gear Solid. The game is recognized for its difficulty, demanding precision and memorization of hot keys. Commandos gave rise to other sequels along with third-party clones such as

26550-742: The remaining in July 2020, though the broadcast network was never determined. On May 20, 2019, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that they had opened a film and TV production studio on the Sony Pictures Entertainment lot in Culver City, California called PlayStation Productions , which will develop and produce projects based on the company's catalog of more than 100 games. Sony Pictures will distribute these projects, but Sony Interactive Entertainment will handle production firsthand. This announcement had many fans speculate that

26727-702: The run from Carmelita. This game also has some levels that can be put into 3D mode and the PS3 version in The Sly Collection allows the full game to be played in 3D. The Sly Collection (titled The Sly Trilogy in PAL regions) is a remastered port of the first three games in the series, released in November 2010 for the PlayStation 3 on a single Blu-ray Disc as a Classics HD title. The games were ported by Sanzaru Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment America . On November 29, 2011, The Sly Collection

26904-467: The same development team behind The Sly Collection , instead of Sucker Punch Productions , who turned their focus to the Infamous series. If players unlock the game's secret ending, a clip is shown that hints at a potential future installment in the series, but on November 14, 2014, Sanzaru Games released a statement that they are not developing a future game. Bentley's Hackpack is a collection of

27081-399: The same large level. There is typically a boss fight at the end of each heist as the conclusion to the mission. The Sly Cooper series takes place in a fictionalized version of the real world that's populated by anthropomorphic animals, with film noir and comic book motifs as well as the presence of super-science and magic. The main protagonist, a young adult raccoon named Sly Cooper,

27258-468: The second edition of his Systema Naturae (1740), then as Ursus Lotor ('washer bear') in the tenth edition (1758–59) . In 1780, Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr placed the raccoon in its own genus Procyon , which can be translated as either 'before the dog' or 'doglike'. It is also possible that Storr had its nocturnal lifestyle in mind and chose the star Procyon as eponym for the species. Based on fossil evidence from Russia and Bulgaria,

27435-415: The second game, moving past the rigid platforming tropes, such as simply getting to the end of the level, for open-world gameplay with various missions and task to complete. It is also considered unique from most other video games, particularly stealth and platformer games, for its Saturday morning cartoon nature, humor, lightheartedness, and caper-centric gameplay. IGN ' s PlayStation 2 ranking, one of

27612-658: The series were developed by Sucker Punch Productions , while Sanzaru Games developed the fourth. The first three games were also remastered into high-definition for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita by Sanzaru Games, in a compilation titled The Sly Collection . Sly Cooper himself has become one of the most popular of the Sony video game characters, and has appeared in other Sony games such as cross-overs PlayStation Move Heroes and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale . The series has spawned two comic books and

27789-458: The short initial learning phase. Stanislas Dehaene reports in his book The Number Sense that raccoons can distinguish boxes containing two or four grapes from those containing three. In research by Suzana Herculano-Houzel and other neuroscientists , raccoons have been found to be comparable to primates in density of neurons in the cerebral cortex , which they have proposed to be a neuroanatomical indicator of intelligence. Studies in

27966-480: The species' life expectancy in the wild is only 1.8 to 3.1 years, depending on the local conditions such as traffic volume, hunting, and weather severity. It is not unusual for only half of the young born in one year to survive a full year. After this point, the annual mortality rate drops to between 10% and 30%. Young raccoons are vulnerable to losing their mother and to starvation, particularly in long and cold winters. The most frequent natural cause of death in

28143-407: The spread of the disease in endangered populations. Only one human fatality has been reported after transmission of the rabies virus strain commonly known as "raccoon rabies". Among the main symptoms for rabies in raccoons are a generally sickly appearance, impaired mobility, abnormal vocalization, and aggressiveness . There may be no visible signs at all, however, and most individuals do not show

28320-498: The subspecies Procyon lotor pumilus coexists with the crab-eating raccoon ( Procyon cancrivorus ). The population on Hispaniola was exterminated as early as 1513 by Spanish colonists who hunted them for their meat. Raccoons were also exterminated in Cuba and Jamaica , where the last sightings were reported in 1687. The Barbados raccoon became extinct relatively recently, in 1964. When they were still considered separate species,

28497-520: The success of the anime series Rascal the Raccoon (1977). In 2004, the descendants of discarded or escaped animals lived in 42 of 47  prefectures . The range of raccoons in the wild in Japan grew from 17 prefectures in 2000 to all 47 prefectures in 2008. It is estimated that raccoons cause thirty million yen (~$ 275,000) of agricultural damage on Hokkaido alone. In Germany – where

28674-413: The third game. There are also mini-games scattered throughout the gameplay. Each game is broken into a series of heists, and to accomplish the heist, Sly and his gang must complete several missions. In the first game, each mission was located on a level accessed from the main hub level, while the second, third, and fourth games used a non-linear, open world approach to have various missions located around

28851-410: The three- to four-day period when conception is possible. These encounters will often occur at central meeting places. Copulation , including foreplay, can last over an hour and is repeated over several nights. The weaker members of a male social group also are assumed to get the opportunity to mate, since the stronger ones cannot mate with all available females. In a study in southern Texas during

29028-977: The use of clones. 2016 saw a comeback of Commandos -like stealth games with the release of Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun , published nine years after the previous Commandos-style game Helldorado . In 2020 Shadow Tactics developer Mimimi produced a new entry in the Desperados series, titled Desperados III . In 2021 the developer announced a standalone expansion to Shadow Tactics called Aiko's Choice . Recent years have also seen procedurally generated and randomized stealth games including 2015's turn-based Invisible Inc, and 2017's top-down action stealth game Heat Signature . In 2019, Asobo Studio's A Plague Tale: Innocence and FromSoftware's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice were recognized for their stealth elements. 2019 also saw Untitled Goose Game by Australian developer House House utilize stealth as

29205-418: The various hacking mini-games found in the main campaign mode of Thieves in Time , with additional levels, challenges, and prizes. It was developed by Sanzaru Games and was released for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita alongside Thieves in Time . This game is a part of Sony's cross-buy initiative, allowing purchasers of the PlayStation 3 version of the game to receive a free copy for the PlayStation Vita via

29382-610: The whole of the European Union . Though previously thought to be generally solitary, there is now evidence that raccoons engage in sex-specific social behavior . Related females often share a common area, while unrelated males live together in groups of up to four raccoons in order to maintain their positions against foreign males during the mating season and against other potential invaders. Home range sizes vary anywhere from 3 ha (7.4 acres) for females in cities, to 5,000 ha (12,000 acres) for males in prairies . After

29559-412: The wild, raccoons often dabble for underwater food near the shore-line. They then often pick up the food item with their front paws to examine it and rub the item, sometimes to remove unwanted parts. This gives the appearance of the raccoon "washing" the food. The tactile sensitivity of raccoons' paws is increased if this rubbing action is performed underwater, since the water softens the hard layer covering

29736-495: Was "J.T." which stood for "Jewel Thief", but was scrapped when Sucker Punch discovered it could be confused for Japan Tobacco . Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus , released as Sly Raccoon in Europe, was released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 . Sly and the gang are looking for the missing pieces of Sly's family book, the Thievius Raccoonus, which contains all of the Cooper Clan's secret thief techniques. They trace it to

29913-659: Was announced in June 2010, and released on November 9, 2010. It was made available on the PlayStation Store on November 29, 2011. On April 20, 2013, the PlayStation Vita port of the collection was revealed after it was rated by the ESRB . It was officially announced on February 10, 2014, with a release date of May 27, 2014. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was officially announced during Sony's 2011 E3 Keynote, and

30090-570: Was followed with The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena in 2009. Hitman: Blood Money released in 2006 and introduced a "notoriety" system where the player's actions in missions affect the difficulty of the stealth gameplay. If Agent 47 is recorded by camera surveillance or witnessed committing a crime, his notoriety will rise and NPCs will be able to spot him more easily in later missions. Conversely eliminating witnesses, destroying surveillance footage or bribing officials will reduce notoriety. In 2007, Assassin's Creed employed

30267-563: Was named by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr . The animal's observed habit of "washing" or "dousing" (see below) is the source of its name in other languages. For example, the French "raton laveur" means "washing rat". The colloquial abbreviation coon is used in words like coonskin for fur clothing and in phrases like old coon as a self-designation of trappers . In the 1830s, the United States Whig Party used

30444-401: Was officially released on February 5, 2013. Sly Cooper and the whole gang return with an epic brand new adventure for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Vita systems. The pages of the Thievius Raccoonus are disappearing and Bentley, now the keeper of the ancient book, must round up the gang and save the Cooper Clan legacy from being destroyed forever. With Bentley's newly-invented time machine,

30621-427: Was once a protected species in Germany, but has been declared a game animal in 14 of the 16  German states since 1954. Hunters and environmentalists argue the raccoon spreads uncontrollably, threatens protected bird species, and supersedes indigenous competitors. This view is opposed by the zoologist Frank-Uwe Michler, who finds no evidence that a high population density of raccoons leads to negative effects on

30798-409: Was released as a digital download on the PlayStation Store , with each title in the collection available as a separate purchase. The collection also includes a set of mini games . On May 27, 2014, the collection was released for the PlayStation Vita . Sly 1 and 2 are featured on the game card, while Sly 3 is accessed through an included download voucher. For the remastering, all three games have had

30975-504: Was released on March 22, 2011, in North America. Sly Cooper appears as a playable character in the crossover fighting game PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale . In the game's arcade mode, Sly finds that several pages from the Thievius Racconus have been stolen and begins battling the other fighters in an attempt to locate them, including a rival battle with Nathan Drake . The Sly Cooper version of Paris also appears as one of

31152-545: Was the first stealth game using the first-person perspective , dubbed a "first-person sneaker". Among its contributions to the stealth game was the impact of light and dark areas, the latter which could be used for concealment, and the sound design approach that allowed players to track the movement of unseen enemies, while at the same time making the player-character's movement across certain surfaces louder, such as on stone, than on other surfaces, like carpetting, and helping in their stealth. With further releases, many games in

31329-575: Was to be a thief. Scott Steinberg made different designs such as a pillow or alien, each with their own different personality. The choice to make him a raccoon was settled when the development team found it humorous for a raccoon to wear a thief mask. During the design stage, different staff members of Sony gave different inputs leading Scott Steinberg to make multiple designs that filled an entire folder. Sony of America wanted him to be "cool", Sony of Japan wanted him to be "cute", and Sony of Europe wanted him to be "Dark" and "Edgy". The original name for Sly

#552447