The Sting - January 2016 by Kennesaw State University Student Media

The Semester of Movies Features 4

Great Albums Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Never Heard Of Lifestyle 7

Shut up and Just Dance Games & Tech 12

KSU STUDENT LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE // JANUARY 2016 // KSUSTING.COM

EDITORAL BOARD

Editor-inChief To Be Announced

S t u d e n t

L i f e s t y l e

M a g a z i n e

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FOR THE Layout Joseph Lorren

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Copy Edit Eliza Jones

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Photo Alain Santos

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Web Griffith Knoop

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STUDENTS. BY THE

STUDENTS. The Sting is Kennesaw State University’s monthly student lifestyle magazine, and a part of KSU Student Media (KSUSM). As a student lifestyle publication we take the responsibility in engaging in conversations that build student engagement as part a community, and not just a university.

Features Gerron Green

features.sting@gmail.com

The Sting 1100 South Marietta Parkway Joe Mack Wilson Student Center Room A-246 Marietta, GA 30060 (678) 915-7310

Games & Tech Matt Dinoff

gamesed@gmail.com

Sports

@TheStingKSU Jeff Greene

Ed Bonza

ebonza@kennesaw.edu 2jgreene3@kennesaw.edu KSUSTING.COM / AUGUST 25, 2015

Feature 4

Great Albums You’ve Never Heard Of Lifestyle 7

Anno 2205 Games & Tech 8

Shut up and Just Dance Games & Tech 12

KSU Basketball: Progress Report

sports.sting@gmail.com

Administrative Advisor

The Semester of Movies

www.ksusting.com

Carson Long

Faculty Adviser

Inside the Issue

Sports 14

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016

FEATURES

The Semester of Movies

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice March 26 The classic debate finally comes to the big screen in DC’s Batman V Superman. Starring returning actors Henry Cavil as Clark Kent and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, as well as DC newcomers Ben Afleck as Bruce Wayne and Gal Godot as Diana Prince, this film revolves around the fallout from 2013’s Man of Steel as the world’s heroes respond to the discovery of the most powerful one among them.

by Gerron Green

he semester is in full swing but the cold is already biting hard. When it’s too cold to enjoy hiking in the Kennesaw mountains, why not go to a theater and enjoy one of the many great films coming to this semester. Source: DC Comics

Source: DC Comics

Deadpool February 12 The long awaited adaptation of the popular comic book anti-hero finally hits the big screen today. Starring Ryan Reynolds as the titular character, the film revolves around Wade Wilson’s early days with his powers, with him being tasked with rescuing a friend from his past.

Ratchet & Clank April 29

Zootopia

Source: FoxMovies.com

March 4 In an alternate world where mammals rule in a sprawling metropolis, a young bunny cop enlists the help of a con artist fox to solve the case of a mammal-gone-missing. With a cast consisting of big stars and relative newcomers alike, Disney hopes to bring out the kid in you again with this new look take on a classic idea.

Source: Tech Insider

The first of Sony’s adaptations of their popular video game franchises hits today. The story closely follows the plot of the first game as the last of a race of aliens known as the Lombaxes and a malfunctioning android team up to save their galaxy from a sinister plot by the evil Doctor Nefarious.

Captain Amercia: Civil War May 6

Source: TheStructureNetwork.com

The sequel 2014’s Captain America: Winter Soldier, as well as a follow up to 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, sees the titular hero dealing with the fall out of the previous two films. After going to great lengths to rescue his best friend, will Steve Rogers have to say goodbye to him thanks to those he once called allies? As old alliances break and new one’s are formed what could possibly be in store for our heroes?

Source: MoviesNowShowing.com

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016

LIFESTYLE

Great Albums You’ve Never Heard Of The Martian: Making Science Cool Again by Jordan Dollar

idley Scott’s The Martian is a tremendously enjoyable film that manages to hold the audience in thrall while dispensing with so many usual tagalongs that we’ve come to expect from modern sci-fi. There is no gratuitous violence or drama, nor clichéd villains or love interests. No, what makes The Martian so enjoyable is its straightforward narrative, which presents you with an immensely charismatic botanist for a protagonist and assails him with obstacles, all the while gripping you tightly for the ride. The setting is gorgeous, the soundtrack is on-point and pretty humorous, and the dialogue is not only witty but believable. But the strongest characteristic of the film has to be in its themes. We’re told a tale of human tenacity and ingenuity as we see the character of Mark Watney struggle to survive in the desolate and harsh landscape of Mars as the rest of the world looks on from home, cheering him in his successes and mourning his failures. This extends to the theater audience as well, and by the end the effect is evident: we all wanted to be astronauts again. Because this isn’t a story about fighting the bad guys or saving the planet, Bruce Willis doesn’t need to sacrifice himself, Will Smith throws no punches, and no deadly alien stalks the characters within the confines of their own spaceship. This is a story about NASA, and I think that’s just grand. Since Neil Armstrong first stepped on the Moon, public interest in space travel has sadly

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016

dwindled. While kids still dream of becoming doctors or musicians, the career of an astronaut has steadily become less and less appealing. Perhaps it’s because of budget cuts, or because there are now no soviets to compete with, but more and more people criticize the need for NASA at all. While it took eight years for America to successfully send a man to the Moon, it will be 2035 before Project Orion does the same for Mars, and that plan is already subject to change. No, what movies like Interstellar and The Martian are accomplishing is far more important than what the box office tells us. The characters are actually able to discuss things like the components of water and nitrogen without some macho protagonist ever demanding that they “speak English, please.” The story, impressively researched, manages to make things like Botany not only interesting but easy to understand, which deserves praise in and of itself. Throughout the film, the message is really quite clear: science is cool. Here are charming, handsome scientists doing amazing things on screen. There are no lab coats or nerdy, oversized glasses. These movies are showing the world that becoming an astronaut is not hopeless or unnecessary, but really quite awesome. That, I think, is the greatest strength of The Martian. Despite our hero being trapped on a barren, inhospitable planet 140 million miles away, the rest of the world not only looks on, but actually cares.

Source: http://www.foxmovies.com/movies/the-martian

by Carson Long

Album: Cheek to Cheek Artist(s): Tony Bennett Lady Gaga Genre: Jazz, Traditional Pop For Fans of: Frank Sinatra Amy Winehouse Bruno Mars Ray Charles

used to hate Lady Gaga. The songs I heard on the radio by her only served to drive me up the wall. The music videos I had seen of hers were strange and frightening. I used to hate Lady Gaga. Used to. I saw her perform a tribute to Stevie Wonder and, on a separate occasion, to The Sound of Music. Both pieces are very different, but showcased Gaga’s voice and talent extremely well. This led me to check out a new album she had put out with Jazz legend, Tony Bennett. Right from the first song, titled, “Anything Goes”, you know that this album is different than anything that Lady Gaga has put out before. She showcases the classic training that went into developing her voice. Tony Bennett, the Jazz legend who has been making music since the early 50s, gives an incredible performance as well; especially considering he was 87 years old at the time of the recording. The title track, “Cheek To Cheek” is definitely a high point on the album. It’s a song that you can bounce

Source: LATimes.com

to, with simple lyrics and a great melody that is guaranteed to be stuck in your head. This is one of the few songs that is able to pull of the slow, soft jazz before jumping to a fun, more upbeat tempo. Another fun, upbeat song is “Goody Goody” which will make you smile with the backing vocals by Gaga. The only downside to this album in my eyes is that some might find this music a little dated. It helps that a familiar face like Gaga is behind the album, otherwise I don’t think that many of this generation would give this album a chance. Luckily, some bands have been working on bringing back the “big band” sound. Panic! At the Disco’s Brendon Urie seems to be one of the few artists to pull of the true Frank Sinatra feeling with his new song, “Death of a Bachelor”. Bruno Mars is another artist who has been a prominent force behind bringing back the “big band” feel, but with more homage to James Brown than Sinatra and Bennett.

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016

GAMES & TECH

3.5 / 5 RATI NG

Anno 2205 by Robert Shonfelt Released: November 3, 2015 Publisher: Ubisoft Platform(s): PC Replayability: Moderate

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016

ave you ever thought about what it would be like to run a galactic corporation tasked with managing Earth’s dwindling resources while fighting space pirates? If any of those things sound appealing, you want to check this game out. Anno 2205 is a city-builder strategy game set in the year of its name. The earth has been destroyed by global warming and society exists in the form of corporations managing Earth’s remaining resources. You start off by managing a settlement on an island, collecting and managing resources in order to attract workers, earn currency, and grow your corporation. Once your earth

colony reaches a certain status, you’re able to build a spaceport and settle a new colony in a different region giving you access to new types of resources. You must then manage resources not only among multiple islands on a map, but between multiple maps which contain a settlement with worker citizens to supply and keep happy. In this game’s universe, humanity has managed to colonize the moon. A group of separatists calling themselves the Orbital Watch are attempting to take it over and are will terrorize various areas below on Earth. At certain points in the game, you’re able to choose military missions and engage the Orbital Watch

Source: en.RiotPixels.com

in sea combat on special maps. In addition to resources and experience earned in completing these missions, there are additional characters needing your assistance that will give you bonus rewards if you lend a helping hand. If combat strategy isn’t your thing, you can simply avoid most of the military missions and focus on city building. Similar to the Simcity series, there are numerous advisors to help you make informed decisions about the direction your colony should go in. The game looks great while you play, with a high level of detail for your cities that is fun to zoom in and observe everything going on. The tools and interface

for placing your structures was very easy to use and you’re even able to move buildings after placing them. There are numerous factors that come into play when it comes to placing your structures other than having enough room, such as electrical power and transportation logistics. So even though you can easily move a building after placing it, you can’t just place it wherever you want and expect your city to run properly, it still takes plenty of planning. Any factory types that produce resources can be upgraded with specialized modules to increase production or efficiency by adding onto an existing structure. I particularly enjoyed this feature of the game, as choosing not only which modules I should place,

but also where I could squeeze them in added an entertaining layer of design options for construction. The game could have been a bit more difficult. There isn’t much punishment for running out of resources, and I never came close to dying in any of the military missions I took on. All missions are given to you by characters that are acted well, which gives an enhanced immersion into the universe. If you’re a fan of simulation or strategy type games, you’ll have fun playing this one while you figure it out, while some will just get bored faster than others.

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016

GAMES & TECH

SOMA: A New Kind of Horror by Jordan Dollar

or many of us, horror games have slowly begun to replace their movie counterparts over the past decade. It’s considerably more enjoyable to pass the controller amongst friends in the comfort of your own home where you can laugh loudly, eat your own snacks, and take breaks during those more frightening of moments. Youtubers now make a living off of uploading their reactions to these particularly immersive scares online, granting these games extra publicity and breathing life back into the horror genre. Unfortunately, this has also lead to the market being flooded with cheap, carbon copies of more successful brands that make it difficult to find true quality. Luckily for us, today’s topic does not fall into that category. Frictional Games, famous for such popular titles as Amnesia: The Dark Descent and Penumbra, have once again returned to the front of the horror genre with SOMA. Placing

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4.5 / 5 RATING

SOMA’s narrative had left me feeling slightly shaken and deeply unnerved.

Source: Frictional Games & SOMA’s Steam Community

you within the darkest depths of the ocean floor, SOMA sets its pace not only with a new, terrifying location, but also with what will gradually become a deeply unsettling story. The narrative routinely tackles disturbing concepts, constantly testing the player with moral dilemmas that will leave you questioning what truly makes us human. Unlike most horror games, SOMA rewards the player not with cheap jump scares or repetitive chase sequences, but with a sense of genuine fear that leaves you afraid as much for your spiritual self as for your physical. That’s not to say there aren’t threats within the game of course. You will be repeatedly beset by robotic monstrosities, created from a twisted blend of human and circuits that will pursue you in their rage and confusion and yet, leave you feeling oddly sympathetic. The puzzles are intuitive and challenging, if sometimes frustrating, and the voice-acting is of the highest quality. Many times

while playing I would momentarily forget that I was not dealing with real people, often worrying for the safety of these virtual faces and feeling grief at their inevitable passing. It’s because of this connection to the characters and haunting story of SOMA that players will yearn not for action sequences but instead for the at-times philosophical dialogue, which repeatedly asks questions of us that we simply can’t answer.

glad that I did so in the first place, and would recommend SOMA to those gamers who have ever been left wanting more from modern horror.

Released: September 22, 2015 Publisher: Frictional Games Platform(s): PC and PS4

Upon completing the game I had to step away from the screen for a bit. Not because I was unsatisfied or frustrated with the ending, but because of its sheer impact. SOMA’s narrative had left me feeling slightly shaken and deeply unnerved. It truly is an original exploration of thought that masquerades as a venture across the sea floor, hiding poignant writing and tragic characters behind what at first appears to be just another scare-fair. While I’m not sure I will ever put myself through the game’s rigorous storytelling again, I am very

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016 11

GAMES & TECH

Shut Up & Just Dance

ooking for an alternative for going to the gym or taking a jog in this cold weather? Look no further! There’s no better way to have exercise and have fun rocking out than with the new Just Dance 2016.

(2016)

by Zachary North

Released: October 20, 2015 Publisher: Ubisoft Platform(s): Gen 7+ Consoles Replayability: Tons

Just Dance 2016 is the seventh game in the main Just Dance franchise, and just like every other game the object is to pick a song from the ones available and dance along to get a high score based on your accuracy. The game tracks the accuracy of your dancing via the motion sensing device of whatever platform you are playing on, whether it’s the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360 or Xbox One. If you play the game on one of the eighth-generation consoles and you own a smartphone, you can also use that for a controller by downloading the free Just Dance Controller app from the Apple or Google Play store, which I would highly, recommend doing; it works really well and allows for up to six players instead of the normal four. The game has multiple game modes for one to choose from. For those who just want to pick a song and dance, there’s “Dance Party” mode, which also offers cooperative or competitive multiplayer. There’s also “Dance Quests”, where you fight against multiple A.I. opponents to see who can rank the highest among three randomly selected songs. If you’re just interested in breaking a sweat, the “Sweat and Playlists” mode allows you to create your own dancing workout session. “World Video Challenge” is essentially the online multiplayer where you challenge people around the world to beat your hi-score and “JDTV” is where you can watch videos of other people dancing to the various songs on the game. In the Wii U, PS4, and Xbox One versions of the game you have access to “Showtime” mode, where you get to create music videos of select songs in the game.

5/5 R ATI N G

I would like to give Ubisoft many thanks for giving The Sting a copy of Just Dance 2016 to play with. Without their generous contribution, this review would not have been possible.

New to Just Dance 2016, is Just Dance Unlimited, a subscription based streaming service where you can play a plethora of songs from the older games in the series as well as new songs that they upload into the cloud. It’s a service that essentially gives you access to all of the games in one package, but make sure you are running it on a stable internet connection or you could disconnect mid-dance session. Overall, Just Dance 2016 is a really good game. It fixed issues I had with previous games of the franchise’s motion sensitivity with the inclusion of the smartphone as a controller. There are alternate dances for some songs so you don’t always have to play the same way. Lastly, the streaming service essentially makes this the definitive version of all of the Just Dance games. If you have never played a dancing video game or are looking for another one to get into, you can’t go wrong with grabbing a copy of this amazingly fun game.

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Source: ElDojoGamer.com

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SPORTS

by Jordan Alexander

t’s early January, meaning that finals have arrived and report cards will be coming out. In this reading, our KSU Owls play the FAMU Rattlers and will receive four grades, and then a final grade. The four categories are offense, defense, hustle, and teamwork.

Our Owls bested the Rattlers in a 61-41 blowout. Surprisingly, the Owls shot 37% from the field, which is a below average shooting percentage for a winning team. The Owls struggled to get their offense going in the first half only shooting 30% but improved in the second half with 46% from the field and a 6-0 run by the Owls led by redshirt Junior Kendrick Ray who scored all 6. The Rattlers played zone defense the majority of the game.

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The Owls displayed good hustle winning every loose ball, putting their bodies on the line to draw charging fouls, and achieved a rebound advantage of 14, yet struggled in transitioning from offense to defense. The Owls’ woes in transition caused the Rattlers to capitalize in the open court at the beginning of the second half. The Owls worked hard on defense and showed high work rates in the half court, but the effort is underwhelming in comparison to the half court defense.

The Owls had 15 assists to their 14 turnovers, which is underwhelming for a team that won by 20 points. The Owls may not have shown the fluidity of their teamwork on the offensive side, but it was on full display on the defensive end. The Owls’ defense allowed only six second chance points and only allowed one three point field which are trends that the team would want to continue.

The Owls’ defense was superb. They played man-toman defense the entire game and proved to be very effective as the Rattlers could only make 5 field goals in the first half, which amounted to 12 points. This trend of stifling defense eased up at the start of the second half as FAMU freshman K’Ja Johnson led the Rattlers on a run that brought them within a single digit deficit. Other than the run at the beginning of the second half the Owls showed the same fortitude on defense that they once displayed.

Overall the team played a great game, which scored the first basket and never fell behind the Rattlers. Despise the poor shooting from the Owls, defense wins games and it proved to be a dominating force for the Owls as they cruised to a 20 point victory.

KSUSTING.COM / JANUARY 2016 15

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