01 22 2014

WEDNESDAY | 01.22.2014 | MaceandCROWN.COM | Vol. 56, Issue 14

Old dominion university

Mace & Crown

Ellison Gregg | M & C

commuters to see new tolls on area tunnels By: Sean Davis News Editor Mace & Crown Old Dominion University students commuting to and from Portsmouth may feel major pain in their wallet. After much contention, the new Elizabeth River Crossing tolls are set to arrive as slated on Feb. 1.

The new tolls have galvanized some in the community as well as at the state level, including Governor Terry McAuliffe who acted to lessen the costs in the short run, despite calling the larger contract with Elizabeth River Crossings a “bad deal.”

The Virginia Department of Transportation encouraged drivers who frequent the tunnels between Portsmouth and Norfolk to purchase EZPass transponders, including extending an offer for five free trips until the end of the month after heavy website traffic and a higher-than-expected number of EZ-

Pass purchases prevented some from taking advantage of the deal, which was originally slated to end Jan. 13.

Drivers without the transponders will not have to slow down because the tolling system relies on automated license plate identification, although they will be subject to higher costs. According to the Elizabeth River Tunnels website “Pay-by-Plate customers will be charged processing fees, which by Virginia law is capped at two times the base toll rate which in this case is $1.50.”

Unregistered drivers will receive an invoice in the mail, and nonpayment can incur an additional fee of $100.

On Jan. 16, The Daily Press reported that a plan drawn up by Governor McAullife and Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne passed the Commonwealth Transportation Board allowing for unallocated state funds to essentially buy half of the tolls. According to the article the new tolls “will be 75 cents for

automobiles and $2.25 for trucks during off peak times and $1 for automobiles and $4 for trucks during peak hours.” Although the news comes as a relief, there are no discounts for students or active duty service members.

The new tolls have been steeped in uncertainty after a group of Portsmouth residents and business leaders took them all the way to the state supreme court in 2012. That court ruled in favor of VDOT and ERC saying the tolls were “user fees” because “all revenue from the tolls goes to the integrated transportation network and does not fund unrelated projects or purposes.” The tolls were therefore not unconstitutional taxes as a lower court had ruled.

That ruling hasn’t quelled local frustration, especially in Portsmouth where businesses are expecting a decrease in revenues.

According to The Virginian-Pilot and a recent report by ODU economics professor James Koch, the city could see a “several-

million-dollar decline in taxable sales.” According to that report, over 31,000 commute across the river daily for work, and prior to the recent slashing of the tolls, each commuter could expect to pay about $1000 a year.

“Though the infrastructure of our crossings requires improving, I am not sure if tolls are the best method to raise revenue. These are tough times and [the cost] for the average commuter to get to work and back is not going to spur on our economy. If average citizens have to do more with less, then VDOT can as well by streamlining their budget and improving efficiency,” said Julius Lacano, chairman of the ODU College Republicans.

The tolls were instituted to fill the gap in federal, state and local funding for the Elizabeth River Tunnel Project. Elizabeth River Crossings, a “sole-purpose company” comprised of Skanska Infrastructure Development and Macquarie Infrastructure and

Real Assets, signed a $2.1 billion contract with VDOT to build and maintain the tunnels until 2070. ERC is the entity that is actually operating the tolling system.

The midtown tunnel, one of the two to begin tolling, has been hailed as the mosttraveled tunnel in Virginia by the state general assembly. According to the Elizabeth River Tunnels website it is the “most heavily traveled two lane road east of the Mississippi,” and has seen a 70 percent increase in population and 600 percent increase in usage since it was constructed in 1962.

The overall ERC project will see a doubling in capacity to the midtown tunnel, as well as maintenance and rehabilitation to the current tunnel and downtown tunnel. The project will also see modifications to several nearby interstate exits and entrances.

whats inside Don’t Be Evil

“Monarch Way”

A1

C1

Rave Master D1

Wednesday 01.22.2014 | MACE & CROWN | A1

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

MACEANDCROWN.COM

NEWS

EDITOR: JESSICA SCHECK | NEWS@MACEANDCROWN.

Mace & Crown Staff : Derek Allen Page

Editor-in-Chief editorinchief@maceandcrown.com Sean Davis News Editor news@maceandcrown.com Dominique Bailey Arts & Entertainment Editor artsandentertainment@maceandcrown.com Nate Budryk Sports Editor sports@maceandcrown.com Ellison Gregg Photography Editor photo@maceandcrown.com

Letter From the Editor By: Derek Allen Page Editor-in-Chief Mace & Crown

Dear readers, I hope you all are refreshed and ready for another semester. Judging by this past weekend’s activities on 42nd Street, I’ve surmised a large number of students have built up a tremendous amount of energy over the break that was subsequently relinquished when college party videographers from “I’m Shmacked” made an appearance Friday night, Jan. 17.

I’ve been around the block a few times when it comes to partying, but

as my time at Old Dominion draws to a close, I find that my old past times are not as appealing as they once were. Call it maturity, but ultimately it’s just a little common sense.

I’m all for having a good time and cutting the strings young students were once bound by in their formative high school years. It’s the quintessential privilege of making it to college. However, there is no excuse for the flagrant debauchery and rampant disregard for public decency and private property that took place the other night.

And for what?

A couple kids bring a camera to a party and suddenly everyone has an

impassioned desire to attain alcohol poisoning? Someone claims James Madison University can party harder so the natural solution is to make a bigger fool of oneself?

Rumor has it 52 people were arrested and 16 students were expelled as a result of the nights imbecility. For them, was it worth it? I’m sure the amateur videographers of “I’m Shmacked” sure thought so.

Need I remind the implicated that those behind the camera turn a profit with such folly?

Risking a shot at a good job is not worth catching a glimpse of yourself in some cheesy video hanging upside down over a keg while your girlfriend decides

that, for just that moment, she’s into girls.

It’s not worth a trip to the hospital to get your stomach pumped and it’s certainly not worth getting arrested over.

Guilty or not guilty, it’s imperative to remember that ones time in college is better used to develop a personal philosophy of the world you live in and obtain the knowledge you will need to be a successful, productive member of society.

I don’t mean to be a curmudgeon, but if all it takes to get people to act like a hoard of unrestrained, inebriated 6-yearolds is to wave a camera in their face and promise a DVD, then I’ve lost the last bit of hope I have for my generation.

Jonathan Kwok Senior Graphic Designer layout@maceandcrown.com Jason Kazi Advertising Director advertising@maceandcrown.com Sean Burke Webmaster webmaster@maceandcrown.com Nate Budryk Distribution Manager

Senior Writers: Jasmine Blackwell Brian Saunders Pamula Floyd

Staff Writers:

Don’t Be Evil

Alyse Stanley Mark Fulton Dri MayField Zakeya Murphy Joshua Stanton Mathew O’Brien

Staff Photographers: AJ McCafferty Claud Dargan Ari Gould

Mace & Crown is a newspaper published by and written for the students of Old Dominion once a week throughout each semester and once in the summer.

Originally founded in 1930 as the The High Hat, the paper became the Mace & Crown in 1961. The Mace & Crown is a primarily self-supporting newspaper,maintaining journalistic independance from the university.

All views expressed in this collegiate paper are those of the author, not of the University, Mace & Crown, or the editors.

Contact Information: Phone: 757-683-3452 Fax: 757-683-3459 Advertising: 757-683-4773

Viral Video Examines Internet Magnate’s Mendacious Policies By: Sean Davis News Editor Mace & Crown Internet titan Google was placed under the microscope in a viral art video shown Jan. 16 by Old Dominion University’s Institute of Humanities.

Andrew Norman Wilson’s “Leaving the Googleplex” spurred discussion about copyright ethics, corporate business practices and digital labor within the publicly traded, multinational corporation.

Wilson’s project exhibited pages of Google Books that were imperfect or distorted due to human error with the larger narrative of efficiency, automation and class-consciousness inside the company as the backdrop.

Seemingly in the vein of undercover documentaries, Wilson presents his work as a piece of art.

“I’m not an academic or a documentarian really. I’m a video artist and I create situations,” Wilson said. ”Leaving the Googleplex” was not necessarily critical of Google’s policies, but explored the absurdities of them and of the company as a whole. Prior to the video, he spoke about viewing Google in the larger historical context of race, class and labor.

After the film, several of the faculty speakers discussed the company’s dichotomy as an ostensibly “benevolent” and “progressive” institution whose ideals and practices live up to its “don’t be evil” slogan, and a massive corporation that exploits lapses in copyright law as well as free and cheap labor to sell its products and make a profit.

According to the video, Wilson, who at the time worked for Google, was initially perplexed by an underclass of Google employees that could not take advan-

tage of the same well-known privileges he and most other employees enjoyed.

They could not even be seen talking to other employees. These people were the “yellow badges” in the “ScanOps Department,” temporary low-wage workers who Wilson described mostly as people of color, who photographed pages of books for the Google Books program.

Wilson was reprimanded and eventually fired for filming the workers leaving their building and attempting to talk to them about their secretive jobs. In his video, the footage is compared to the 1895 Lumiére brothers’ film, “Leaving the Factory,” in which seemingly joyous and playful workers are seen exiting the factory where they work.

“The thing about that film is that there’s a joy about the technology in motion. When you see the people leaving the Googleplex here it seems like the most joyless occasion in the world and I found

that really interesting because that to me is really provocative given the fact that Google’s gadgets and a lot of the information objects being positioned are made to appear that they don’t have a labor cost to them,” said Tim Anderson, assistant professor of communications and theater arts.

The artistic aspect of Wilson’s exhibit of imperfect pages from Google Books emanates through the human presence in them. Pages that moved inadvertently during the picture, gloved-fingers that are visible holding down the pages and sometimes even whole hands. These serve as a flaw to the company’s myth of automated, labor-less virtual products, as well as an intimate glimpse into the work of the low-wage workers the company wanted to keep secret.

Wednesday 01.22.2014 | MACE & CROWN | A2

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ODU Gets S.M.A.R.T

WOMEN’S CENTER UTILIZES GRANT TO EDUCATE STUDENTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT By: Adrienne Mayfield Copy Editor Mace & Crown The Women’s Center held the quarterly Safe Monarch Advisory Resource Team (S.M.A.R.T.) and Sexual Assault Resource Team (S.A.R.T.) meetings on Jan. 16. These meetings brought together university officials and advocates to discuss the progress of the expansive Department of Justice Campus Grant the Women’s Center received in 2012.

The Women’s Center was awarded the prestigious $300,000 grant in the fall of 2012 intended to finance education and resources to reduce sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking on campus through September 2015.

“It’s a huge award. Not many universities in the United States get awarded. They usually have a large amount of applicants and they are only able to select a handful of them

to get the grant,” said Joann Bautii, grant project director and assistant director for the Women’s Center.

Now almost halfway through the duration of the grant, the Women’s Center has many accomplishments to report like expanding training for partners and faculty on campus, expanding S.A.R.T. and creating S.M.A.R.T. They are also working on different approaches toward educating incoming students including participating in the freshman preview, offering sessions during the week of convocation for new students and making residence hall visits.

“We’re sort of doing different layers and different approaches… We haven’t figured out the one-size-fits-all to educate everybody, so when we’re looking at the percentage that we’re educating now as opposed to last year, we’re up like 50 percent, which is good but we need to get as close to 100 percent as we can get,” Bautti said.

Other grant initiatives include expanding onsite counseling services, currently provided by clinician O’Neill Hunter, and developing protocols for domestic and dating violence and stalking through a developing project awaiting approval. These protocols will help guide the appropriate course of action for students who encounter interpersonal violence issues.

“We have support services for all areas of interpersonal violence for women and for men, providing options for medical care, reporting, and counseling. We the help of the grant, we can provide continuity of care for all students to compliment the compassionate approach we bring to empowering students on their journey to healing,” Bautti said. “We’re the voice.”

For any questions concerning interpersonal violence and the services offered by ODU’s Women’s Center call Joann Bautti at 757-683-4109.

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

CRIME LOG

Wednesday 01.22.2014 | MACE & CROWN | B1

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OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: DOMINIQUE BAILEY | ARTSANDENTERTAINMENT@MACEANDCROWN.COM

Dri Mayfield | M & C

Relief for the Philippines By:Adrienne Mayfield Copy Editor Mace & Crown

The Student Activities Council hosted its first ever benefit concert on Jan. 16 at 8 p.m. in the North Café. The concert was in support of UNICEF’s emergency response to Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines where over 6,000 people have died and millions of people are currently without homes.

The event was coordinated by SAC Concerts Director Amira Taylor in partnership with the Filipino American Student Asso-

By:Janah Stokes Contributing Writer Mace & Crown

ciation, Apasu and the Filipino American Center with promotion by WODU. Admission was free with a student I.D. but donations were accepted throughout the evening and a raffle was held for those who donated.

“I wanted to put on a benefit concert because the relief fund is something that’s a little bit more personal to me. I’m half Filipino and the majority of my mom’s family is in the Philippines. Some of them were affected by the typhoon so I really wanted to do something to give back,” Taylor said.

Technicians flooded the stage with a changing array of blue, purple, pink and yel-

low lights. The stage was also decorated with Christmas lights strung along colorful band equipment. The intimate concert featured three Hampton Roads alternative indie acts, Seamonster, The Aragona Project and The Dahus.

The first performance was the one man band Seamonster, an experimental electronic-pop act by Adrian Todd Webb in 2005.

Seamonster played a variety of melodic electropop beats from older releases to a few new pieces never before heard by an audience.

Seamonster released a two song vinyl

named “Baldessari” in 2012 that is currently sold out. In honor of the benefit, Webb handmade five CD copies of “Baldessari” that were available at the concert.

The second band introduced themselves by saying, “Hello, we are The Aragona Project and we are loud!” The electronic, indiepop band is comprised of vocalist and bassist Jessica D.,, vocalist and guitarist Mikeal T., vocalist and second guitarist Seth S., and drummer Mark A.. The band played a catchy set of original indie soft rock with dashes of witty banter between song changes.

The last performance, The Dahus,

brought the show to an exciting close. Bringing the hardest rock of the night, members Larry Frame (guitar, bass, keyboard and vocals) and Drew Orton (drums and backing vocals) played a set of indie, grunge and progressive inspired beats driven by an electric guitar and the pulsing rhythm of drums.

After the show The Dahus sold albums to students and donated 60 percent of their profits to UNICEF. SAC will be hosting a larger concert later in the spring with details to be announced.

The Inspiration Station

The Inspiration Station is Old Dominion University student Jessica Johnson’s way of sharing her faith and love of music while pursuing her dream as a radio show host.

Airing at noon every Tuesday on WODU, Inspiration Station plays the latest gospel music and features various interviews with ministers about relatable topics for college students and young adults.

“My goal is not to preach to people, but

instead, play the latest gospel music, discuss topics that relate to college students, and uplift my viewers by providing encouragement,” Johnson said.

She enjoys having her own radio show because she has the opportunity to live her passion of someday becoming a radio personality, and sharing her gift for spirituality with the campus and other viewers. Johnson’s gospel show promotes positivity in an entertaining and mature way. She captures her interviewees with understanding facts, which allow them to share intriguing information about the subject.

The 20-year-old mass communications major from Chantilly, Va. discovered her interest in broadcast media during her junior year in high school. After talking to various people and doing research on the industry, she found a passion and decided to pursue a career in radio.

Johnson’s views about the pros and cons of radio broadcasting sit on the fence.

“One main positive aspect of radio is how flexible the industry has become. Radio shows are being broadcasted and are available in the traditional form, online via streaming and/or live broadcasts, on mobile

applications, and more,” she said.

Johnson believes that her love for radio has curved negative aspects of broadcasting into positivity.

“Some people might say a negative of radio is that soon it will be outdated and extinct; however, I have to disagree. I believe radio is a medium that people will always want and need to have available to them,” she said. “I would love to be a personality on a morning radio show, and eventually have my own morning show. I believe being a radio personality is my God-given gift/talent, [so] why not have my own show.”

The Inspiration Station is in its second year on-air and continues to increase in viewers. The program earned the “History Defining Show Award” in the spring of 2013.

Inspiration Station is on air every Tuesday from noon to 1 p.m.

Students can tune in on ustream.tv and search for wodu radio, or on ODU campus channel 70. Follow the show on Twitter @ iStation_ODU, and like the show on Facebook @ InspirationStationODU.

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Wednesday 01.22.2014 | MACE & CROWN | C1

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

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SPORTS

EDITOR: NATE BUDRYK | SPORTS@MACEANDCROWN.COM

Sean Burke | M & C

Getting Back to the “Monarch Way” The lady monarchs snap usm’s 12-game home win streak By: Jasmine Blackwell Senior Writer Mace & Crown The Old Dominion Lady Monarchs secured their first ever win in Conference USA by defeating Southern Mississippi 92-82 and snapping their 12-game home win-streak.

ODU has improved to 8-9 overall and 1-2 in the conference while Southern Miss. fell to 13-3 overall and 2-1 in Conference USA. “To beat this team you have got to play hard for forty minutes and that is what they did,” Head Coach Barefoot said of the astonishing play that USM has shown on their home court this season.

The Lady Monarchs shot a ferocious 60.4 percent from the field while shooting 61.5 percent from behind the arc. Southern Miss. shot a disappointing 39.5 percent from the floor and 30 percent from downtown.

The Monarchs got off to a fiery start, leading by as many as 12 in the first half before Southern Miss. began to close the gap after going on a 7-0 run. Jerontay Clemons closed this run by banking in a half-court shot just before the buzzer sounded, putting the Monarchs ahead by just two points.

“Faulkner definitely was a key in keeping up in the game tonight,” Mcnelis said of Faulkner’s magnificent rallying efforts.

Southern Miss’ Jamierra Faulkner, who

leads the nation in assists this season dished out a stellar 36 points, five assists and four steals in the loss. Even with this major contribution from Faulkner, the Lady Eagles still could not manage to catch up to the fast paced and selfless play of Old Dominion.

“Every time we would close the gap against ODU, they would come right back and make plays,” Lady Eagles Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis said.

The Lady Monarchs came out in the second half determined to push their lead back to 12, leading 55-43 with 15:55 left in the second half. ODU never looked back from here as they led for the remainder of the game.

“We stayed aggressive and got back to the Monarch way which is playing hard, playing together and communicating,” Barefoot said of the Monarchs securing their lead in the second half. ODU definitely worked well together and managed to get everyone on the floor involved as all five starters ended the night in double figures.

Shae Kelley led the Lady Monarchs to victory with 25 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and two assists while recording her 11th double-double of the season.

Galashia Goodhope ended the night with 15 points, six assists, six steals and five rebounds. Other Monarchs that ended the night in double figures were Chelisa Painter

(17 points), Tiffany Minor (14 points) and Stephanie Gardner (11 points).

The Lady Monarchs had a total of 10 points come from off the bench compared to just two bench points from Southern Miss. ODU also had a total of 18 assists on the night while USM had 13.

The Lady Monarchs will travel back home to take on Florida Atlantic on Jan. 18 for Alumni Night and then facethe University of Alabama at Birmingham on Jan. 22 for Military Appreciation Night.

“We’ve really got to enjoy tonight and get back to work tomorrow. We are really excited to play our best on that day for our alumni and our program,” Barefoot said.

ODU CONTINUES UNDEFEATED IN CONFERENCE USA By:Brian Saunders Senior Writer Mace & Crown

The Old Dominion Monarchs men’s basketball team took its talents to South Beach, Fla. Jan. 17, securing a 52-36 blowout victory over Florida International (9-9, 1-2 C-USA).

In just its second Conference USA contest, the Monarchs secured a second straight road victory to improve its record to 8-9, 2-0 C-USA. ODU never trailed in the game and went on an early 8-0 run to take a 10-2 lead.

Although the Monarchs controlled the

game, neither team played exceptionally well on the offensive end of the floor.

ODU shot just 37 percent from the field including 25 percent from the 3-pont line.

Conversely the team showed a strong effort on the defensive end, forcing the Golden Panthers to a season-low 31 percent shooting night, in addition to a woeful 17 percent from behind the arc.

After losing its number one scoring option (19 points per game), Aaron Bacote a 6-4 sophomore combo guard from Hampton, Va. to an ankle injury with 10:20 remaining in the first half, ODU responded by committee to leave Miami with a victory.

As reported by Ed Miller of the Virginian-Pilot, Bacote’s status is up in the air for

ODU’s next game.

In Bacote’s absence, fellow sophomore and the other half of the Monarchs starting backcourt Keenan Palmore stepped up with 17 points. Dimitri Batten also scored in double figures with 11.

Paul Borden of the Sports Xchange quoted Palmore, “It was time for a guy to step up,” Palmore said. “We feel like we are a team, and one man doesn’t make this team. I felt like I had to step up, but it was a collective effort. It wasn’t just one person taking over.”

Monarchs coach Jeff Jones’ team played with a next-man-up mentality and stepped up big time.

“This was a game that clearly neither team was in sync,” Jones said. “You’ve got to find

a way, even when things aren’t going well.

You’ve got to find a way to grind it out and still get a win.”

The Monarchs built a 16-point lead (3620) with 15:51 remaining in the game.After a seven unanswered point stretch over the next minute; the Golden Panthers cut the lead to nine.

ODU never looked back, stretching the lead to as much as 19, 52-33.

FIU forward Tymell Murphy was a bright spot in a struggle-for the Golden Panthers.

Murphy connected on eight of his 13 shots for 20 points, the rest of his teammates connected on just five of its 29 attempts. It was a miserable night for the team in general.

“It’s frustrating sometimes when you

know you’ve got players who are capable of helping the team in multiple ways, not just scoring,” Murphy said. “Rakeem didn’t have his greatest game today.”

“It’s just tough when you try to get it going and it’s just not going.”

The Monarchs will stay in Florida and play Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the “Burrow,” in Boca Raton, Fla. The Monarchs look to keep pace with Louisiana Tech as the only two teams undefeated in conference play.

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Wednesday 01.22.2014 | MACE & CROWN | D1

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

MACEANDCROWN.COM

OPINION

EDITOR: DOMINIQUE BAILEY | ARTSANDENTERTAINMENT@MACEANDCROWN.COM

By: Kimberly Joy Ward Contributing Writer Mace & Crown A relatively bland anime could easily be a “Dragon Ball Z” knock-off because it does the same things–kill people off only for them to be brought back to life, have a halfdecent subbed version but a tragic dubbed version, no real themes, just a couple looselyrelated moral points, collected artifacts that will bring peace and save the world with an unspeakable power that can relatively do anything, and made for mindless entertainment with rare instances of pathetic pervy jokes and poor quality fanservice thrown in.

It is easy to see why it was discontinued not even halfway into the series, yet the manga it was based on has a little more merit.

In perspective, it is the first of several series penned by the amazing Hiro Mashima.

As comparing “Rave Master” to anime classics, it is necessary to grasp the full effect on the historical influences of the time the manga was written and the anime was created.

This gap between the two exhibitions of the same story explains all the mistakes that was made as a poor recreation to the past and the more relevant present in the world of anime.

Rave Master

Without any background to his work it could easily be quite boring, but watching with an appreciation for Mashima-sama’s work makes this anime feel almost nostalgic as many parallels can be drawn between the famous “Fairy Tail”.

The story starts with a classic in Mashima-sama’s work, the unceremonious destruction of a good percentage of a town by the town’s main protagonists. It is just a small percentage compared to its more famous counterpart, but it rather hilarious to see Elie turn a casino into ruble.

As the quest is established, the lack of details of how this universe works becomes evident. Haru, the new Rave Master, must gather all the stones of light called Rave stones to defeat the Darkbringer stones that the evil Demon Card use to dominate the many countries of the world.

With him, the amnesiac girl, Elie, and the leader of a gang of thieves, Musica, try to establish world peace by helping Haru collect the Rave stones with personal interests in mind. The viewer often has more questions than answers, and suspending belief often proves difficult as even the characters do not believe nor understand their world.

Plue, a highly favored supporting character, is a carrot-nosed dog, yet every new

character that is introduced must comment on the ridiculousness of his existence. Other than providing comedy, it also brings the viewer out of that universe even if for a second and needs to be pulled back into the story. This method of comedy works best in a manga, not in an anime, so the attempt was understandable.

The characters are 2-D and stereotypical at best or rather stereotypical in the world of anime. Elie is a tsundere, a lovely girl who acts like a cute happy-go-lucky until she gets angry and destroys everything in her path.

Musica is the bad boy and Haru is the good boy or the princely type. There is nothing extremely complicated about their personalities, but they do further the plot immensely as each of the three main protagonists have an entire story line behind them.

Each story line holds very interesting twist and turn that look rather nonsensical until the realization that the viewer must follow the stream of consciousness of multiple characters in order to piece together what really is happen on-screen to understand the layers of importance for Mashima-sama’s conceived ending. This makes the fact that “Rave Master” was discontinued very sad because as it stands now the most tragic thing was the full impact of the ending and

was never truly realized.

The ultimate fulfillment of a preconceived ending would have set it apart from “Dragon Ball Z”, thus making it a classic in its own right like “Inuyasha.”

Never watch the dubbed version. It is an insult to the voice-over industry and anime world. Tokyopop was definitely meant to be a manga translation and publishing company and not a dubbing company.

Still what they did to the masterwork that Hiro Mashima created was unforgivable.

The flaps hardly ever match the syllables and the nonsensical adlib in place of proper translation hinder the advancement of the plot and confuses the viewer.

In normal circumstances, references to American culture would be welcome, but this is ridiculous every other line is a halfhearted attempt on comedy. When genuine and serious moments occur, it is hard to see past the past three scenes of comedy as lead-up; although the implied intention of the translation seems to be intended for a younger audience that the original version, this also does neither excuses poor translation nor poor writing. Please, for sanity’s sake, do not watch this series in dubbed, even for the slow readers who must pause to read the subtitles.

“Rave Master” is a 51 episode, discontinued series with two Japanese theme songs and two Japanese endings songs. There was a specially made American theme song and ending song, which was quite catchy.

The music in the Japanese version is nice and accentuates moments properly. Due to its discontinued state, there were not a lot of moral points that converged to recognizable theme, but all fit under a loosely constructed umbrella moral lesson of “living with a purpose in mind, don’t throw away your life by fixating it on a condition.”

Keep in mind, this was not executed very were rather it was just vaguely touched on by each moral point. These moral points would happen around every eight episodes as the episodes acted as parts to a single chapter rather than actually episodes. It is obvious no creative license was taken to adapt the story more to an anime style presentation.

Unfortunately with the right creative licensing and Mashima-sama’s cooperation, this anime would have been made more relevant anime without altering it too much as still keeping a nostalgic feel. I feel this “Rave Master” can only be appreciated by people who can recognize the historical and artistic value within context, and overlook the lack of entertainment value.

Wednesday 01.22.2014 | MACE & CROWN | D2

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY STUDENT NEWSPAPER

MACEANDCROWN.COM

Resolve Daily COMPLETING YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONs By:Adrienne Mayfield Copy Editor Mace & Crown

Lucky Bee Press

By this point in the year, the glitter and glamour of New Year’s Eve has long passed and that list of “totally reasonable” resolutions you wrote seems a little heftier without the help of champagne goggles. Still, the New Year is a time to reflect and redirect and having resolutions is a great way to motivate yourself to make 2014 a healthier, happier year.

I hate to admit it, but in the past I’ve been guilty of making impassioned resolutions that promised to make me a perfect person.

I’ve also been guilty of having very little follow through after a few days of trying to radically change my habits.

That changed this year. As I reflected on 2013, I realized that I wanted to focus on my health and fitness. I have reasonable goals in these areas, but no idea where to start as working, schooling and interning leaves me too exhausted and overwhelmed to focus on creating and maintaining a wellness plan.

So this year I decided to change one simple habit.

I resolved to eat breakfast every day.

The task sounds easy, but for a woman who hasn’t eaten a daily breakfast since elementary school this was a test of commitment. Seventeen days into the New Year, I can proudly say I’ve only missed one breakfast. The best part about this is that changing one habit has led to other habit changes.

I now take vitamins with my morning meal and since I’m up earlier to make breakfast I’ve been finding extra time to exercise.

I can sum up the secret to my New Year’s resolution success into two words: resolve daily.

It wasn’t enough for me to write a wish list of what I hoped to change. I decided to change my habit one day, but I’ve also had to wake up every day since and decide again and again to change that same habit.

New Year’s isn’t the only time to make positive changes and it’s never too late to edit your resolutions list. Here are a few tips to making your resolutions ones that you can resolve to do daily.

1.

Keep it simple.

Focus on changing one or two habits at a time. Focusing on fewer changes allows you to put energy into following through with those changes. Developing one good habit will often lead to developing other good habits.

2.

Think it out.

Every morning wake up and think about the habits you have recently decided to change. Then decide to continue the change that day.

3.

Don’t pout.

Changing habits is hard and you’re bound to trip up along the way. If you do not meet your resolution one day, don’t give up. Use the negative feelings you may have on the days you don’t meet your resolution as motivation for the days that you do.

Crown Jewels & Mace Spray By: Adrienne Mayfield Copy Editor Mace & Crown There are a thousand reasons to love Jennifer Lawrence. From her badass portrayal of Katniss Everdeen to her publicly healthy stance on body image, J. Law exudes positivity. She has shown her good nature through several random acts of kindness, such leaving the middle of an interview to comfort a crying fan. She’s also displayed her humor through stunts like wearing a fat suit for Halloween after having to defend her weight on a public forum. Then there is her adorable penchant for revealing awkwardly hilarious life truths to the press.

Even after becoming a superstar, Law-

rence has maintained her status as a human being. What is the latest reason to love J. Law? Her acceptance speech at the Golden Globe Awards for best supporting actress in “American Hustle.”Lawrence was visibly surprised and nervous as she took the stage to accept her award.

She stumbled through a myriad of thank you’s and then, in the midst of all her emotional excitement, Lawrence admitted that being up on stage accepting the award was a good thing, but “terrifying” and that she was scared. She tried to continue with her thank you’s but again apologized to the crowd for shaking and exited the speech by saying “Thank you so much- don’t ever do this again!”

Lawrence is the epitome of a down to

earth soul and she’s continued to let that shine through her as she’s become a brighter star. In the midst of women, both at star status and ordinaries on social media, stripping down to the bare minimum and shaping themselves to be desirable, it is nice to see at least one role model who accepts her humanity with a laugh.

While Lawrence takes home the Golden Globe, Gov. Chris Christie has a few reasons to be terrified too. His new scandal, affectionately named “Bridgegate”, caused four days of traffic jams when the access lanes to the George Washington Bridge were abruptly closed. The jams held up commuters, school buses and emergency vehicles trying to cross the Hudson from New Jersey to New York.

Bridgegate was supposed to vindicate Christie by punishing Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing his re-election bid last year. Currently, Christie is claiming to have no prior knowledge or involvement in the scheme. Although, it is clear that it was at the very least orchestrated by his administration.

I don’t fully understand how inconveniencing hundreds of thousands of people to get back at one person seems like the best course of revenge ever, but then again I’m not a politician. I find it hard to believe that Christie’s administration would conduct such a scandal behind his back and with no direction from him. They must really love him if they took the Democratic Mayor’s actions so personally.

If the administration were able to pull Bridgegate off it must have been because Christie was preoccupied with something… like maybe wondering why his parent’s didn’t care enough to be more creative with his first name.

Whatever his level of involvement in Bridgegate, this gives something for future voters to ponder. Should someone involved in such an immature stunt be awarded the President of the United States and are we comfortable relying on a man who’s name sounds like he is the missing Kardashian sister? This issue goes beyond boys will be boys and raises interesting questions about who carries political power in this country and how they intend to use it.

Senioritis

New year, new you, same me By: Dominique Bailey Arts & Entertainment Editor Mace & Crown Three weeks ago, I watched my social media timelines fill with tips and suggestions on how to become a new, not revised, me in the upcoming year. While the messages were well-written, humorous and somewhat inspirational, I couldn’t help but think, why can’t I just build with the person I am now?

Then I remembered that I can.

Like countless others, I made a list of resolutions and goals for the New Year, all ranging from silly and momentary to intense and life altering. However, none of my resolutions or goals included ‘become a new person’. I’m not perfect and there will always be room for growth, but I like who I am and frankly, more people should like the person they are too.

I know “New Year, New Me” is not meant to be taken literally, but too many of us forget that. We take this mantra at face value and al-

low it to devalue our individuality.

At the core of “New Year, New Me” it suggests that the person you’ve been isn’t good enough. It suggests that any hardships or failure you may have experienced throughout the past year can be solely attributed to the core of you. That births the notion that you can only achieve success by being reborn into a textbook perfect person. In order to successfully achieve this rebirth that the “New Year, New Me” mantra promotes, you have to erase twenty plus years of memories,

experiences and life lessons.

That doesn’t sound like progress, growth or maturity to me, it’s backtracking.

Instead of using this mantra as a motivator to push ourselves to accomplish goals we’ve been too afraid to attempt, we use it as a crutch and become discouraged when we’re unable to achieve this impossible rebirth. At that point, all the goals and resolutions we set out to accomplish are tossed aside. We settle for mediocrity and hope that the next year will be better.

“New Year, New Me” is a cool concept, but it’s unrealistic if you cannot accept who you’ve been. The New Year is a time for change and metaphorical rebirth, but that doesn’t mean you should completely reject the person you are or have been. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to change negative aspects of yourself or picking up new hobbies. But work with what you have, not against it. That way change becomes a reality, not just a circular resolution.

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TECHNOLOGY & GAMING EDITOR: SEAN BURKE | WEBMASTER@MACEANDCROWN

What to Expect from the Gaming Industry in 2014 By: Noah Young Staff Writer Mace & Crown

This year is going to be a good year for gaming. There has already been two ports of games from last year, making improvements and widening their audience. First was the PC port of “Metal Gear Rising: Revengance” released Jan. 9 and second was “Assassin’s Creed Liberation,” making the jump to PlayStation 3 (PS3), Xbox 360 and PC on Jan. 15. “Tomb Raider” will also receive a next generation upgrade, which will be released Jan. 28. Even better – there is more yet to come.

Nintendo has some good games planned for this year. First is “Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze”, a sequel to “Donkey Kong Country Returns” which will come out for the Nintendo Wii U. Originally planned for release towards the end of last year, it was rescheduled to Feb. 21.

A week after that comes the 3DS conclusion to the second Layton trilogy, “Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy.”

Its developer, Level-5, has said this will mark Layton’s last appearance. After that will be “Super Smash Bros 4” for the Wii U and 3DS, which has yet to be given a release

By: Alyse Stanley Technology Editor Mace & Crown It is that time of year again, a time of new beginnings, life-attitudes and of resolutions that do not last beyond February first.

But why face change alone when you have the magic of technology at your side?

To aid you in your quest, we at the Mace and Crown have assembled a no-wherenear comprehensive list of the apps out there to help us stick to our resolutions - because there will be many times of weakness in the months ahead.

Have “get a new hobby” written on your list of New Year’s resolutions? Code Academy’s Hour of Code is an extension of the

date.

Also scheduled to be released this year but with no official date is Monolith Soft’s new title “X,” although this name is likely to change. This Japanese role-playing game will take place in a large open world with players piloting robots. Careful analysis of the trailers also reveal a potential online component.

“Mario Kart 8”, the latest kart racer, is also expected to come out this year. The last game Nintendo has planned is the “Zelda” and “Dynasty Warriors” crossover revealed last year, entitled “Hyrule Warriors.”

In a much anticipated press release at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month, Sony revealed its plans on launching the PlayStation Now service which will allow users to stream various PlayStation games from past generations to the PlayStation 4 (PS4) and many other devices.

“Infamous: Second Son” is pinned down for a release date of March 21. The player character is a superhuman, called a “conduit” named Delsin Rowe who, after coming in contact with another conduit, awakens it, and develops ability to absorb the powers of other conduits.

Sony also plans to bring the massively multiplayer online first person shooter,

“Planetside 2”, to the PS4. The alternate history action game, “The Order: 1886”, is also planned to be released this year. It focuses on an order of knights battling half-bred monsters and civil unrest.

Microsoft’s first game planned for this year is “D4”. Using cel-shaded graphics to achieve a graphic novel feel, the game is an episodic adventure in time where a man is sent through time by items left behind by his murdered wife as he attempts to stop the murder.

The next game planned for release this year is not a regular game but a game-making application called “Project Spark” that will be released on Xbox 360, Xbox One and Windows. It allows players to create worlds, events and audio to put together as a game using various input devices.

Microsoft’s last game planned for this year is the newest and yet untitled “Halo,” about which little has been revealed despite its upcoming release.

On the third party side, Ubisoft’s “Watch Dogs,” a third-person action game set in Chicago in the near future, is set to finally release for Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4 and PC. Ubisoft will also be releasing its open world racing game “The Crew” for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. Gamers

can also expect a new “Assassin’s Creed.”

The prologue to “Metal Gear Solid V,” titled “Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes,” will be released on March 18 with exclusive missions for the PlayStation and Xbox versions. Hopefully it will give players a taste of what the main game, “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain,” will be like.

“Minecraft” will be making the leap to the next generation this year with PS4 and Xbox One versions planned for release.

A two-dimensional puzzle game called “Teslagrad” that uses electricity in interesting ways will release on the Wii U later this year. Finally, “Octodad: Dadliest Catch” for PS4 and PC is one of the quirkier titles on this year’s lineup. In this game players assume the role of an octopus who tries to live a normal life and hide the fact he is an octopus from those around him and his human family.

This year will also see a shakeup in the PC gaming world as Valve will be releasing Steam Machines. Designed to be an alternative to building your own PC, these machines come in different varieties with their own power levels, allowing the buyer to get the machine best suited for them.

The end result is a PC/Console hybrid.

They will run the custom made, linux

Apps for New Year’s Resolution

world famous Codeacademy.com that helps develop basic programming skills. Though it is hardly as extensive as its parent website (it is free after all) this app does provide a crash course in what it takes to become an amateur programmer for those curious about making their own apps or programs.

With the popularity of websites like Instagram and Flickr, it seems like everyone has become an amateur photographer.

Camera+ compresses much of the photo editing software one would find on a desktop into one powerful little app. With a 6x time zoom, multiple filters, effects, and scene modes and the ability to easily sync with other devices to share photos, it just might become your new best friend.

We can all admit that at least once in our

lives we have had ”lose weight” on our New Year’s to-do lists. MyFitnessPal is a free app – so right off the bat there are no excuses – that acts as a daily log for calorie intake and exercise. It calculates how much you should be eating depending on weight and height, and even shows you in a simple pie chart what should be on your plate every day.

For those out there who need a little extra motivation, Zombies, Run! uses your headphones to provide gentle encouraging sounds in the form of a hoard of ravenous zombies groaning and snarling in your ear as they close in on your location.

While you run, supplies can be collected to build your base upon returning home.

The app also has a central story, written by award-winning novelist Naomi Alderman,

which slowly becomes revealed the more you exercise.

The Epicurious app, created by the people behind the website of the same name, is perfect for those who are attempting to eat better this year. It sends you daily recipes from its bank of over 30,000, creates shopping lists, and provides step-by-step instructions for creating nutritious alternatives to, say, a box full of Doritos Locos tacos from Taco Bell.

For an app that hits closer to home, ODU’s own Preston Brown has created iAchieveODU, a time management and study aid app available for free. Students can punch in their courses to help keep track of assignments, and complete goals to earn badges.

based, Steam OS, which users can download for free with standard machines. They are also designed to be used with televisions and have their own programmable controllers. Valve’s goal is to make it easier for players to enjoy their games anywhere in their homes. There are 14 different models made by different manufacturers, giving buyers variety right off the bat.

The most powerful is Chronos, made by Origin PC, featuring an i7 processor and two GTX Titan graphics cards, though no price or release date has been revealed. Tests run by the site Extreme Tech indicate the best Steam Machine based on value is the Webhallen model, which will cost $1500, and feature an i7 processor with a standard GTX 780 graphics card. The tests also showed the NC10, from Scan, has the worst value at a price of $1100 and using an i3 processor and a GTX 765M graphics card.

Given the release of the Xbox One and PS4 near the end of last year, an impressive line-up is to be expected, but the announcement of Valve’s Steam Machines, Sony’s PlayStation Now, and countless AAA titles getting new releases, this year proves to be an exciting one.

The “Study” tab has flash cards, study tips and suggestions, and a helpful list of academic services that the university offers.

In the “Getting Ready” tab, students can register for courses, contact their advisor, and access the course catalog. The interface is easy to use as well, allowing quick movement between sections with a single flick.

While everyone knows that apps cannot do all the work, they can at least help with motivation and monitoring success. So whether your resolution is to get good grades this semester, eat better or stay in shape, all of us at the Mace and Crown wish you the best of luck!

Though those Doritos Locos tacos are pretty delicious.

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Nikita King

ODU Video Game Design and Development Club By: Alyse Stanley Technology Editor Mace & Crown Old Dominion University has a Video Game Design and Development Club?

The short answer: Yes. The long answer: Not only has ODU’s Video Game Design and Development club nearly finished their first game, but they expect to complete plans to construct an arcade cabinet to play it in the Lion’s Den of the Webb Center within upcoming weeks.

All of this after only one semester as an official club.

In the style of such popular games as “Robot Unicorn Attack” and “Bit. Trip Runner,” the club’s first production, entitled “Ride the Lion,” is an endless running platformer set

in an environment that students and faculty will find all too familiar: ODU campus The story is simple. The police receive a tip that a dog has gotten free and is wandering around campus. To their surprise, it is not a loose dog they find but a loose lion – the Monarch statue come alive. Players take control of the lion as it springs from the fountain and begins hightailing it through the campus.

As they run past buildings such as the Batten Arts and Letters Center and the Perry Library, players have to dodge obstacles that ODU students will recognize.

Students on longboards fly past at breakneck speeds, belligerent golf carts block the sidewalks and rush at the player and pumpkins drop from the top of the physics building in celebration of the annual department

tradition.

“If I showed this to my friends and my mom, they’d understand what I go through here. Like it’s dangerous on these streets,” said ODU Senior Nikita King, laughing as she watched another student play.

As if on cue, the room let out a communal groan: on-screen, a longboarder clipped the player, costing him the last of his health, or in this case, the final tuft of the lion’s mane.

Health restorative items and power-ups are available throughout the levels, aptly themed to items that college students are unable to live without, such as ramen noodles, coffee and Red Bull which temporarily “gives you wings.”

A leaderboard will display the top highest scores, but it also has another function: students that enter their ODU email to ap-

pear next to their score will receive a message when they have been bumped from the ranking.

Dr. Moberly, an English professor at ODU said he was impressed with the progress the club had made in such a short time.

“They’ve really captured the flavor of the campus. You can recognize all the different buildings and references as you’re running through ODU. It’s like a take on the campus from a student perspective.”

Moberly is also currently campaigning for a game studies minor to become added to the university’s curriculum. The officers of the Video Game Design and Development club hope that their organization will act as a channel into making that possible.

Vice President of the organization, Stephen Dailey, stressed that the club is looking

to recruit students with all levels of experience and backgrounds in video game design.

“Essentially we’re trying to build video games, but along the way we’re trying to learn….that’s why we chose to [make “Ride the Lion” using] the program Gamemaker 8.1; it’s free so we figured everyone would have access to it and it could help get everybody’s feet wet,” Dailey said.

Future plans for adding other studentdesigned games to the cabinet are currently being discussed, with the hopes that students who have games they have designed independently will be able to feature their work as well.

Students wishing to know more about the club and its meetings should contact oduvideogamedesignclub@gmail.com.

The Consumer Electronics Show

By: Alyse Stanley Technology Editor Mace & Crown

Between January sevent and tenth, Las Vegas transformed from sin city into techie nirvana as the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) drew more than 152,000 attendees from 150 countries to witness the latest in technological achievement.

In a space covering nearly two million square feet, guests perused exhibitions of leading companies such as Sony, Samsung, Audi and Google as well as lesser known competitors like Voice Park and Zotac.

This year’s buzzword was “innovation,” and nothing exhibited that concept more than the flood of wearable technology products at CES 2014.

Many smartwatches debuted , ranging from heart and calorie monitors to glorified text message notifiers. Most worked with similar technology, using Blutooth to relay information from consumer’s smartphones.

Only one product, the Omate TrueSmart, could truly be called a smartwatch. Communicating directly with phone providers and installed with three GB of data, the Omate Truesmart can receive calls, texts, mail, and search the internet independently of one’s smartphone.

Since the unveiling of the Google Glass prototype last year, other companies have hastened to perfect and integrate head’s-up display technology into their own version of smartglasses. One of the few that shown out this year was Lumus’ DK40, as the Isrealibased company focused on demonstrating the use of its optics rather than its function in tandem to consumer’s smartphones.

Though only a prototype at the moment, the Lumus DK40 display shows reviews, twitter posts and mapping coordinates related to the area the user is currently standing.

As to the issue of limited visibility present in many other smartglasses prototypes, Lumus laced the glasses with prisms to facilitate switching focuses between real life and the head-up display.

Ultra high definition televisions were another popular trend at this year’s convention. Known as 4K TVs, so called because of their resolution of nearly 4,000 pixels versus the standard HD’s 1080p, the technology for these televisions has been available for nearly a year, but it was only until now that the media content was available to properly utilize it.

At the convention, Netflix formerly announced that they would be streaming 4K content as well as filming all of their programs in Ultra HD from now on. With such a strong contender gaining one of the first footholds in the market, the consensus from many leading news sources such as CNet, TechCrunch and Wired is that soon other production companies will scramble to catch up and, just as with the conversion from standard to HD, 4K will soon become a standard in most households.

A glimpse into the future of modular PC design came with the debut of Razer’s Christine: a gaming rig with a sleek, futuristic tower design that allows modules to be plugged

in and stacked interchangeably.

Razer proudly advertised that even people who know nothing about building computers will now be able to do so. Anything from additional RAM, graphics processors, speakers, Blu-ray drives and maintenance modules can be inserted and removed to create an easily customizable PC. Lenovo unveiled its Horizon 2 tabletop computer, a 27-inch touch screen display that can interact and exchange data with smartphones quickly and simply. For example, shaking one’s phone above the tabletop causes recent photos to “fall” onto the screen, transferring the files. The tabletop also interfaces with apps and is designed to have multiple people manipulating the screen at once.

Going with the trend of “smart” gadgets, smart home technology was also heavily featured at this year’s CES. Though the technology has been available for a few years lack of cooperation amongst developers has resulted in few successful products being released on the market.

Staples hopes to solve this problem with their new smart home hub, Staples Connect. The company plans to sell an entire line of products, including brand names like LG and Goji, which allow users to control their lights, thermostats, locks, and various other household items through their smartphones.

The hub will cost $99, considerably less than most other smart home devices, and all apps will be free. The store plans to release its line this November, and has already partnered with Smart-home platform provider Zonoff to expand its list of products in the future.

Though many of these products do not have release dates, and even those that do have prices high enough to make a college student cry, since its inception the CES has been a model for what is possible and hopefully a reflection of what is to come.

However, as CES President and CEO Gary Shapiro as he bid the show to a close: “The only constant in this industry is change.”

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Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance a Port Done Right By: Noah Young Staff Writer Mace & Crown

One of the first big games out of the gate this year was “Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance” released for the PC on January ninth, nearly a year after its console counterpart. It can be purchased from Steam for $29.99.

Unlike previous “Metal Gear” games, this newest entry is a third-person hack and slash action starring the character Raiden. Though stealth can be used to avoid some battles, the experience is hardly as rewarding. A good performance nets you “Battle Points” that can be used to purchase upgrades for your health and energy, new moves, new weapons and new skins that change Raiden’s appearance though they have no effect on the gameplay.

Players who prefer to take the stealth route will be happy because the series’

iconic cardboard boxes and oil drums have returned. Also assisting in stealth is the assassination move, which can be used to pick off enemies one by one.

The story takes place four years after “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot,” where private military companies (PMCs) have been adapting cyborg technology to strengthen and control soldiers. Raiden is working for the PMC Maverick Securities, and at the opening of the game is on a peacekeeping mission in Africa when his convoy is ambushed and the prime minister he was sent to protect is kidnapped.

When he catches up to the kidnappers, they explain that peace harms the PMC business and war economy, so they wish to start a war to boost the war economy and increase their profits. Raiden is defeated and heavily wounded in a battle with one of the kidnappers, requiring him to become even more reliant on cyborg technology.

This game begins with a prologue that

helps the player feel at home and adjust to the new play style. The heads up display of this mission resembles that of the other “Metal Gear” games, making it feel familiar.

However, early boss battles help solidify the key fact that this is not a “Metal Gear Solid” game by showcasing Raiden’s strength and new abilities, such as the ability to deflect bullets and slash enemies.

The game has three different graphics settings and also allows the graphics to be custom tweaked. It also has many different resolutions, so players can find the best one for their computers. The game features full support for USB XInput controllers, meaning it is compatible with a wired Xbox 360 controller or any other XInput controller.

However, the game is still playable with mouse and keyboard and features proper indication of what to press.

Despite the fact that this is the first game Platinum has ever made for PC the game is ported almost perfectly. It plays fluidly, only

lagging when too many moving parts are flying around the screen.

The prologue mission unfortunately contains a few glitches. One is insignificant: characters being stuck in the ground when they are supposed to giving chase. The other is game breaking. During the second part of the Ray battle when Raiden should be thrown into a building, the building will not spawn and restarting leads to an infinite loading screen. Lowering the graphics from High to Medium seemed to solve the problem, and more powerful computers may not experience the same issue.

As promised, all the downloadable content (DLC) from the original release is included. It may not seem that way at first, but by entering the Konami code on the splash screen – the screen that tells players to enter any key – the cutscene and codec options are added to the menu, as well as the Jetstream and Blade Wolf DLCs. Unfortunately, the nature of the splash

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screen prevents players who prefer using their keyboards from entering the Konami code and thereby accessing these features.

Platinum may release a fix for it or there may already be a way to unlock this content with a mouse and keyboard that just hasn’t been found yet.

The virtual reality missions – additional missions unlocked by finding hidden computers throughout the story - and character DLC packs definitely add to the experience.

The characters in these DLC both have their own unique play style making the game feel fresh again.

Players who enjoy the “Metal Gear” series owe it to themselves to get this game.

Although the action-centric gameplay may seem off-putting to some of the hardcore fans, playing the game shows it still fits in perfectly with the series. It exceeds its console predecessors and is a shining example of PC porting done right.

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SUNDRY

EDITOR: JONATHAN KWOK | layout@maceandcrown.com

CROSSWORD

Sudoku

ACROSS 1. Hodgepodge 5. Margin 10. Small brook 14. Mother 15. Accustom 16. Decorative case 17. Opinion 19. Bog 20. Bind 21. Extravagant self-praise 22. In shape 23. Collect discarded material 25. Overact 27. Lyric poem 28. Mystical 31. A high-pitched woodwind 34. Arouse 35. Big fuss 36. Alley 37. Scoundrel

38. Website addresses 39. Assist 40. Flexible 41. Heretofore (2 words) 42. Wrist jewelry 44. Fitting 45. Expert 46. Demean 50. Personal journal 52. Instruct 54. Meadow 55. Desire 56. Pretended 58. Accomplishes 59. Rowed 60. A single time 61. Terminates 62. Avoid 63. Require

DOWN 1. Leaves out 2. Female demon 3. Drive forward 4. Paddle 5. Countenance 6. Follow as a result 7. Wreckage 8. Monstrous 9. Poetic dusk 10. Distant 11. Travel plan 12. Attraction 13. Misled 18. Avoid 22. Carry 24. Cast a ballot 26. Pout 28. One more than seven 29. Doing nothing 30. Outlay 31. Flaccid body fat

32. Den 33. Pristine 34. Latent 37. Anger 38. End ___ 40. Tax 41. A quantity of no importance (archaic) 43. Gentle stroke 44. Choose 46. Old hat 47. Without company 48. Two 49. Alleviated 50. Guy 51. Weightlifters pump this 53. Beige 56. Enemy 57. Charged particle

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WORDSEARCH

X WORDS ANNEX APPENDIX CLIMAX COMPLEX CONVEX, CRUCIFIX DUPLEX EQUINOX EXECUTRIX FLUMMOX HELIX IBEX ICEBOX INDEX INFLUX JINX JUKEBOX LARYNX LETTERBOX MATCHBOX MATRIX MULTIPLEX ONYX ORTHODOX PARADOX

PERPLEX PREFIX REFLEX RELAX SPHINX SUFFIX SURTAX TELEX TOOLBOX TRANSFIX VERTEX VORTEX

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