Black Isle
The Black Isle (Scottish Gaelic: an t-Eilean Dubh, pronounced [ən̪ˠtʲelan d̪̊uh]) is a peninsula within Ross and Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands.
It includes the town of Cromarty, and such villages as Conon Bridge, Muir of Ord, Munlochy, Avoch, Rosemarkie, Fortrose, Tore, North Kessock, and Culbokie.
Description
Despite its name, the Black Isle is not an island, but a peninsula, surrounded on three sides by water – the Cromarty Firth to the north, the Beauly Firth to the south, and the Moray Firth to the east. On its fourth, western side, its boundary is delineated by rivers. The River Conon divides Maryburgh, a mile outside Dingwall, from Conon Bridge which is the first village on the Black Isle from the north-western side. Its southwestern boundary is variously considered to be marked by either a minor tributary of the River Beauly separating Beauly (in Inverness-shire) and Muir of Ord (on the Black Isle in Ross and Cromarty), dividing the two counties and also delineating the start of the Black Isle; or alternatively, the River Beauly itself, thus including Beauly in the Black Isle despite its official placement in Inverness-shire.
Black Isle Studios
Black Isle Studios is a division of the computer and video game developer and publisher Interplay Entertainment. Black Isle Studios is a division that develops role-playing video games, and it previously published several games from other developers.
Black Isle is based in Irvine, California. The division was formed in 1996, adopting the name "Black Isle Studios" in 1998. The idea for the division's name came from the Black Isle in Scotland - founder Feargus Urquhart's ancestral country. Black Isle Studios is most famous for working on the first two games in the popular and influential Fallout series as well as the critically acclaimed Planescape: Torment. They also achieved success with the Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate series of role-playing video games, though they only published the Baldur's Gate series. In 1999, IGN's RPG Vault gave it the award for a Developer Of The Year.
On August 22, 2012, Black Isle Studios was revived with the motto "Our goal has always been to make the world's best RPGs" and the slogan "Black Isle is Back". As of May 2015 this new incarnation of the studio appears to be defunct.
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