Column:College Dorms

College movies such Van Wilder and a host of other movies have completely disturted alot of peple perception of what they will be living in once they begin to attend collge. They often see these magnificent open area wih single bedrooms for each student and they fit a full size bed in the room with a full kitchen and a lovely sitting area. However this scene is not true for most college dorms and unless you are willing to pay $20,000 just alone on a dorm you dont have a chance at achieving this.

This is not to scare future or current college student but to inspire you to strive for photos like that above. This room is around the average size of a dorm room but look at what they have done to it. They have made this there own. Lights hand from the ceiling giving it a more home feel; poster and other arrangements aline the walls that allows the students to personalize their space.

When you enter a dorm you cant just take the space and do nothing with it if you want to be be comfotable for the next 4-8 yrs depending on your major. Setting up your dorm room to best fit you. This is important and can be done easily with some help from your roommate. So take it in when you first visit or are looking at your current dorm and take a little time to make it your own.

Blizzard's turn to show their support for esports

Blizzard's, Battle.net World Championship is taking place on November 17th-18th in Shanghai, China. Starcraft 2 Wings of Liberty World Championship Series Global Finals will be broadcast on Twitch.tv for US fans. The prize pool is $250,000 to be spread out to all 32 qualified players. First place is $100,000 it isn't as much as other tournaments but this is a 1v1 format so of course it'll be less than team-based games like Dota 2 and League of Legends which require 5 people. More updates on the tournament after this weekend if you'd like to watch well be prepared to wake up early or stay up all night because of the time zone difference. All information for the Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft tournament can be found at the Battle.net BWC webpage.

Valve recently finished their tournament, The International 2 Dota 2 Championship. Invictus Gaming took first place, the Chinese Dota 2 team received $1 million for their fantastic play in Seattle, Washington. They beat last years champions Natus Vincere a Ukranian Dota 2 team that received $250,000 for second place. If you'd like to know what the tournament was like I recommend watching this video documentary of the tournament.

Riot also finished their League of Legends World Championship. Taipei Assassins a Taiwanese team won the tournament, beating Azubu Frost a Korean team. Taipei Assassins won $1 million and Azubu Frost received $250,000 for second place. The prize pool was $2 million spread out to the top 12 teams that qualified for the finals. Again, if you'd like to know what the tournament was like watch this recap video.

Overall I think it's fantastic that the companies that created these competitive games are putting the effort to continue their game being a source for competitive gaming. It's now Blizzard's to show their support for growing electronic sports by putting on two fantastic finals tournaments at the same time. 

UPDATE

Tournament was alright, I didn't watch much of it didn't stay up long enough to watch the matches played later on. It wasn't a great tournament though, because there were sound issues and lag since the stream came from China. The breaks in-between matches were just cut-scenes from Starcraft 2's campaign game. A korean won the tournament, Startale.Parting. He won $100,000 good for him. I was hoping an American would win it all, or at least a European. Koreans dominate tournaments too much. Even though this is set up as like the Olympics of Starcraft 2 it didn't feel like it since it was in China and the production for the English viewers was horrible. I was really disappointed with the tournament, luckily Blizzard will be having next years tournament in the US so production won't be bad and I can actually watch the entire thing. 

Xbox 720? Maybe Infinity?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YCCO-UJ4wI&feature=player_embedded

Column:New News Source

By Chris Moss

#RealNews. From Twitter, Facebook Tumblr and many other social networks have found a way to connect others together. The results of this have been good and bad. When a nation is being is being denied the privileged to express themselves by their government and a third party steps in to give them a voice; this is a good thing. When someone plops down in front of their computer and types hateful slurs across the internet; well this is bad.

Something that may become an issue in the future is social media becoming a main source of news. I'm not saying that someone should not go onto to Facebook or Twitter and find out about things around the world what I am saying is that the broadcast news should not do so. Where a single person chooses to recieve their information is their choosing, but too often the media is using celebrity Tweets and Post and passing them off as real news.

This is not journalism at all. This is lazier than typing them into Google. News broadcasters are constantly reporting on words posted by people on the web about topics that most of the time don't pertain to the artist. I don't believing I care on Vanilla Ice take on the bombing on the Gaza Strip or any celebrity at all.

Dave Chappell put it best "I wasn't sitting around after 911 wondering where is Ja Rule (rapper) at." I get it some people may believe that celebrities are special because they hopefully have some sort of talent, but that doesn't make them credible at all. Until I see a degree from Waka Flocka Flame (rapper) on intercultural study I don't need to know who he's voting for. Please news broadcasters stop reporting on tweets and post as though it took some degree of investigation to do so #ChannelChange.

Disney's Star Wars VII

Lucasfilms has been sold to The Walt Disney Company for $4 billion. What does this mean? The continuation of  the Star Wars films, continuing from Star Wars VI Return of the Jedi.
Fans of Star Wars are skeptical about what Disney will do with the films.While others have high hopes for what Disney will create, since Disney also owns Pixar and Marvel Entertainment. What is known so far is that George Lucas is going to be a creative consultant and Lucasfilms President Kathleen Kennedy will be a producer for the new Star Wars trilogy. Star Wars VII is set to be released in 2015 and episodes VIII and IX will come in two to three year intervals.
Not much is known about what kind of story Star Wars VII will have, but Lucasfilms has announced that award-winning writer Michael Arndt will write the screenplay for Star Wars VII. Arndt won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay for writing Toy Story 3 (2010). Arndt will have the option to work with Lucas' extensive film treatment for Star Wars VII. Lucas also has film treatments for the rest of the new trilogy, but it might not even be used because Disney and Lucasfilms have confirmed "It's an original story." There also isn't a confirmed director for Star Wars VII.
Well I for one am glad that the new trilogy's will be something new. Fans of the novels and graphic novels don't have to worry about being shown the same content they've already read. This does however raise concerns about pleasing fans, by bringing back old characters. Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher are all available and willing to come back which is great, but with an original story being made for the new trilogy. It seems unnecessary to add them in unless the story takes place when the trio are a lot older. Doing that would make sense to bring back these three actors to play their roles on the film. It would be great to see Han Solo, Leia, and Luke Skywalker back but not as the stars but as the older and wise characters they become in the novels. Still this is all speculation since it's going to be an original story the trio might not even be used. Either way I am excited for 2015 so I can enjoy some Star Wars that isn't animated.

Black Ops 2

The new installment to the  Call of Duty Black Ops franchise (separate from the Modern Warfare franchise) has finally arrived. One of my favorite and few games that I still play these days. Many lined up for the midnight release.

This marks the return of the Zombies and better graphics and game play. The setting of the game continues but much later down the road, about 12 years ahead in 2025.  I got a chance to briefly play the story mode (been busy this week) and am already addicted. The online play is exceptional as usual with brand new and one of the favorite maps for users is back, Nuketown 2025.

I really enjoy the online multi-player feature about Call of Duty the most. I recommend all fans of the Call of Duty Black Ops franchise to purchase the game, which most already have. I give it a 5/5.

Kendrick Lamar - Good.Kid.Maad.City

In Kendrick Lamar's debut album he lived up to the hype with this instant classic hip hop album. Being a music junkie and a fan of hip hop and good conscious rap, Good.Kid.Maad.City really spoiled me. In it's first week sales, K.Dot climbed to the top of the charts at #2 selling 246,000 units behind Taylor Swift who had 1.3 million units sold. In a time in hip hop where going  platinum is a long shot, 246,000 units is a great accomplishment, especially for a new artist.

GKMC (Good.Kid.Maad.City) is probably the most complete, content and substance filled albums I heard in a VERY long time. I'm talking old Nas (stillmatic, illmatic), old Jay-Z and back when hip hop really told a story and expressed a strong message. 

The last time I bought a cd was J Cole's debut album, which was great as well and before that it must have been since the early 2000's when I bought my last cd. Kendrick went over everyone's heads with this EP. From the beginning of the album, to the intro to the skits that followed at the end of each song, the correlation between the tracks and the smooth flowing story behind it was a breath a fresh air for a fan of hip hop like me. Hip hop has been watered down, lost it's substance and art form. Every song sounds alike. Every song talks about money, drugs, and women. It's more flashy these days.

Kendrick Lamar brought hip hop back to it's roots, back to the art of story telling. You can see the message slowly being conveyed throughout the album; a good kid in the rough neighborhood of Compton who encountered violence, death, and peer pressure from his surroundings. As the story continues and he explains his life growing up, and the things he witnessed which caused him and his friends to change their ways.

I don't want to give away too much of the album, but if your a fan of music period, you should listen to it. Each track relates to so many different situations and people. It truly is a classic. Good.Kid.Maad.City.

http://youtu.be/MEOmZvzW_RM

G4TV Changing Format

G4Tv is a place for Nerds, Gagic freaks and all around tech lovers to get all the information that they enjoy. Unfortunately for many nerds like myself this channel will no longer appeal to us.

Coming in 2013 G4Tv will change its format of shows elimating its most watched shows such as X Play and AOTS. They will begin to show programing that relates more to male lifestyle. This might not seem lke that much of a differnce to some but this is devistating to us video game lovers.

How will I get my daily news onTube videos showing people rage quit. This new format will showcase shows that appeal to the GQ male, but what about GTA San Andreas male. Once again the nerd has fallen to the jock. O yes we once had a proud station to go and watch people like us, until we took an arrow to the knee.

The biggest thing that blows about this switch is how forceful this change has come. I believe G4 began to have its fall all when a change in host for many of their programs changed. In the past couple of years alot of host got replaced with more attractive and seemingly less knowledgable people.

This is a sad time. With luck we can find another source for all things tech and gamer news worthy. Until then we can't do much more than stay positive and respect the creed.

Dishonored

Dishonored published by Bethesda Softworks and created by Arcane Studios came out in North America on October 9th 2012. It has been selling very well on all platforms it was released on and has received fantastic scores by most game critics.

I played Dishonored on PC and the game was everything that I expected it to be. I heard that Arcane Studios used the Thief series’ stealth mechanics as an example of what to do with Dishonored’s stealth mechanics.

It obviously went well but Dishonored also allows the player to play the entire game in whatever way they want. If you don’t want to assassinate the targets, you could get rid of them with another method. Usually by exploring levels you can find some information that would be useful later on, or doing side-quests you gain information or a favor from someone that could help out with an assassination.

Spoilers! Dishonored takes place in a steam punk styled, Victorian London setting, with supernatural powers being used by the main character and some enemies. Dishonored is about a bodyguard being framed for the assassination of an empress and kidnapping of her daughter. Corvo the main character is framed and scheduled to be executed but he is helped by loyalists to the old empress. Corvo escapes and joins the loyalists while also gaining supernatural powers from The Outsider through a dream.

Corvo's quest now is to help the loyalists take down the Lord Regent, whom is the same man who framed Corvo. The game continues with several assassinations and a big twist, there are two possible endings to the game one is good the other is bad.

Dishonored took me 20 hours to complete, I played on the hardest difficulty, and played mostly in a rush to beat it because I had to write this blog. It is a single-player game only so once it’s done you can choose to play the game again but I hardly ever do that right after completing the game the first time.

I have no idea if Arcane Studios is working on any downloadable content (DLC) for Dishonored. It shouldn’t need DLC, since the story had a clear ending, there could be some DLC or sequel but that would take away from the story or the gameplay in some way.

I say wait for the game to go on sale, but do not buy used. You should help the developers, Arcane Studios so that they can develop a new game in the future.

BORDERLANDS 2

Borderlands 2

Borderlands came out with their second installment to the franchise game. If you’re unfamiliar of the game, it’s basically a first person, role-playing shooter game. The main mission similar to the first Borderlands is to free Pandora from the captivity of the villain Handsome Jack.

There are four new characters in Borderlands 2 to ‘shoot and loot’ with: Axton, Zero, Salvador and Maya.  During the game you will be on a quest full of missions and side missions on your way to prevent Jack from unleashing an ancient alien known as “the Warrior” from Pandora’s box.

If you haven’t already, this is game you have to check out. A great 4 player co-op or splitscreen adventures you can experience with your friends!