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(11/15/18 5:00pm)
Chloe Fellwock is a freshman advertising major and writes “Full Dis-Chlo-sure" for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Chloe at cfellwock@bsu.edu.
(11/12/18 4:00pm)
Tenacious D is a comedy rock/metal band, they are not supposed to be taken seriously and never have been by their fans. Jack Black and Kyle Gass have been making wacky rock music since 1994, and with each record there came a new theme. The first, a group of crazy rock songs, the second, a movie, the third, a ginormous tour with a giant inflatable penis onstage. So, what is new about this one? Well, Jack Black confirmed that it is a direct sequel to their second album and movie ‘The Pick of Destiny,’ but this album did not spawn a movie. Instead, Jack Black drew an entire YouTube cartoon series himself.
(11/12/18 2:00pm)
Disclaimer: This review is of the Xbox One version of the game.
(11/11/18 9:45pm)
by Tanner Kinney
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
Pokemon is one of the most beloved game franchises of all time. Millions around the world are engrossed in the franchise, whether it be through the main series games, getting deep into competitive battling, or valiantly trying to reclaim to local gym at the Pizza Hut for Team Valor in Pokemon Go, it’s hard to escape the franchise. I’ve never stopped loving Pokemon, and of course have my own personal favorites, but that’s lame to talk about. Personal favorites usually suck anyways and are low-tier trash Pokemon.
Today, we’re taking a different approach to selecting the best Pokemon. To celebrate the release of another Gen 1 remake/sequel/reboot in Pokemon: Let’s Go Pikachu and Eevee (pronounced roughly like “Ay-vay,” as shown by the first trailer for the game), we’re going to analyze using hard science to determine which ten Gen 1 Pokemon are objectively the best. This hard science will include exclusively classic Gen 1 Pokedex entries, competitive tier lists, anime appearances, and strength in the manga Pokemon Adventures. In some cases, Gen 1 logic (Psychic-types having only one weakness, broken critical hit system, etc.) will be used to determine Pokemon strength. There will also be no ties, because ties are a cop-out and there’s always a way to decide, objectively, which Pokemon is the best.
By deciding objectively, not only is this list superior to biased “top ten Pokemon” lists, but surely no one on the internet can argue with the hard science presented in encyclopedia entries written by actual 10-year-olds and then interpreted by nerds on the internet. There are a few noticeable absences though, and I’ll get those out of the way now: the legendary bird trio (Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres) are absent because to dispatch two of three of them you just need to chuck a rock at them. Mewtwo is also absent because this list is organic and GMO-free, for your health and mine.
(11/09/18 4:00pm)
As someone who grew up on the music of Queen, The Rolling Stones, and Led Zeppelin, I was ecstatic when I heard about Bohemian Rhapsody. It looked like it would be an epic tribute to a legendary band and Freddie Mercury specifically. After anticipating its release for almost a year, there had been plenty of time to build up my expectations for the film. In many ways, this film surprised me, and while it met or surpassed my expectations in most areas, there were moments where it definitely did not live up to my standards, detracting from what could have been a great film.
(11/09/18 1:00pm)
Disclaimer: This review is of the PC version and was conducted on a PC with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960, i7, 8GBs of RAM.
(11/08/18 11:13pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
Since the announcement of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, which is based on the rise of the British band, Queen, there has been much speculation over how the story would be depicted. The controversy, particularly focuses on the band’s late frontman, Freddie Mercury. Everyone wanted to know if the movie would do him justice, or if Bohemian Rhapsody would bite the dust.
(11/06/18 10:17pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
Over the last few years, gun violence in America has become a broadly controversial topic. School shootings have been particularly controversial, as there are varying opinions about what needs to be done to keep children safe while they are in school.
Regardless of any of those opinions, one thing that be agreed upon: keeping children in school safe is of the utmost importance. School officials around the country are scrambling to find the next way to protect students and staff. There have been stories of bulletproof backpacks, safe room installations, and even a panic button app.
For Mt. Vernon High School, about an hour away from Ball State, the utilization of such technology has become a prominent part of employee training. Recently, faculty and staff have been trained on how to use the Rave Panic Button.
This app connects users, specifically teachers and other school staff members, to authorities and emergency services with just the touch of a button.
“Each teacher received training on how to use the app last year during our prep period. At the training, we had to download the app as well as run through all of the functions of the app,” said Shannon Schiller, a teacher at Mt. Vernon. “After the training, we were told to use the app if the need arises. The school brought in trainers who work for the app company in order to make sure we could ask questions and get instruction directly from the source.”
There has been an exceptional amount of discourse surrounding what the solution to school shootings is. Whether that be new gun legislation or provisions like this app, something that is agreed upon across the board is that something needs to be done to keep students in this country safer.
This app, as well as similar technologies, are being used in states across the nation. For example, Arkansas has implemented the use of this same app statewide. Use of this app has also been reported in Michigan and Florida.
There is something to be said for an app that would improve student's overall safety.
“The app allows staff members to get in touch with emergency agencies outside the school, so it basically eliminates some of the wait time that would ensue if we have to contact administrators first. It also allows us to let emergency services know what is happening in case the administration office is not able to,” said Schiller.
Many schools are mainly concerned with how to protect students and ensure that they can get an education without a lingering fear of harm of any kind.
“The Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation takes student and staff safety as our number one priority. We frequently update our crisis plan and are continually examining ways to improve safety for our students and staff. The app is one more safety tool to be used in the classroom if necessary,” said Maria Bond, the Mt. Vernon Director of Community Relations.
An app like Rave could be the future of emergency safety in schools, especially in the instance of an active shooter.
“I would not be at all surprised if this app or similar ones start being used by schools. The ideology behind it seems very sound. I think everyone is for anything that makes it easier to report and respond to emergencies,” said Schiller.
The Rave Panic Button app is just a small look into the added safety that technology could bring to schools around the country.
(11/06/18 10:45pm)
Zach Piatt is a sophomore journalism major and writes “Dugout Chatter" for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Zach at zapiatt@bsu.edu.
(11/06/18 4:00pm)
It is typical of artists in their first studio album appearance to produce content that may seem lackluster. A possible cause of this could be the signer trying to find their own sound. Maybe it is simply inexperience in the industry at that point. Joji on the other hand seems to have the entire situation solved down to a tee. Through the evolution of his work on multiple singles and joining the popular rap group 88rising, Joji has gained the experience of a veteran in his genre even at such a young age. With the release of Ballads 1, Joji pushes the boundaries of his sound in a natural and pleasing way, but it is not free from overly creative errors that lack meaning.
(11/06/18 1:00pm)
Disclaimer: This review contains spoilers for this episode and previous episodes of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
(10/31/18 7:39pm)
by Tyler Wheatley
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
Friday the 13th, the game, has been in a bit of a pickle as of last summer. Victor Miller, the original film screenwriter in the 1980 classic, claims that he was not employed when he wrote the movie. He has since terminated a grant of rights and reclaimed ownership of property. These claims can be made because of the Copyright Act’s termination right, which states that, “The Copyright Act permits authors or their heirs, under certain circumstances, to terminate the exclusive or nonexclusive grant of a transfer or license of an author's copyright in a work or of any right under a copyright.”
If you have not heard of the game, Friday the 13th is a survival-based horror game. The game can up to eight players in one multiplayer session with one player as Jason Voorhees and the others as counselors. The player that is randomly selected to be Jason has the objective to kill the counselors before they can escape the map. There are nine versions of Jason that are playable and fourteen counselors that are playable. Each version of the characters has different strengths and weaknesses. The game is either won when Jason kills all the players, resulting in a Jason win, or a counselor/ all counselors escaping.
All of this might be a bit much to sink your teeth in to. All of this started back in 1979 when Sean S. Cunningham and Victor Miller collaborated in the making of Friday of 13th after the success of Halloween. This was not Miller and Cunningham’s first project together, and over the course of Miller and Cunningham working together, Miller entered into a “Writer’s Flat Deal Contract” with the Manny Company, “an entity” made by Cunningham. The contract is a brief agreement with blanks that both parties fill in stating, “[t]he Company employs the Writer to write a complete and finished screenplay for a proposed motion picture . . . presently entitled or designated Friday 13.”
Turns out the only boxes that were marked on the contract stated that Miller was only liable for the first draft of the screenplay and the final draft. With this kind of open-to-interpretation contract, Miller claimed that he was work-made-for-hire. U.S. District Court Judge Stefan Underhill, ruled in favor of Miller and had this to say about the case, "I hold that Miller did not prepare the screenplay as a work for hire and that Miller’s Second Termination Notice validly terminated Horror’s rights to the copyright in the screenplay to Friday the 13th.”
With all of that wrapped up about as simply as possible, we can finally get into what has been happening to Friday the 13th the game. Gun Media, the company that is partnered with Horror Incorporated, the company in the lawsuit, is in a complete standstill when it comes to making content for the Friday the 13th game. They are not able to make updates to game, add maps, Jason's, etc. There was a leak last year regarding a new Jason and a new map, but that was stopped even before 50% completion according to Gun Media.
With Miller winning the case and a complete standstill in the Friday the 13th games, will fans of the game/ genre ever receive what they are looking for in terms of gameplay, or will they be stuck playing what could be a cult classic for years to come?
(10/31/18 6:45am)
Jordan Rhodes is a senior english major who writes "Shepard’s Corner" for The Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Jordan at jbrhodes@bsu.edu.
(10/31/18 3:41pm)
by Sam Lantz
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
One of the most vivid memories of my childhood is of my father taking me to a massive Halloween store near Chicago. I remember walking in and being in awe of the sheer size and scope of the building, with tall shelves packed with masks, props, and more skeleton themed items than I think I have seen since. It was like a spooky labyrinth just begging to be explored, and my younger self loved it.
There is a reason Halloween is often jokingly called “Spooky Season” and not “Terror Time” or “Horror Month,” and it is because what is fun and exciting about Halloween has a lot more to do with escapism than it does with horror. When something is spooky, it is often tantalizingly familiar with something just slightly off, just slightly beyond the boundaries of expectation about it. That’s what made those early memories so special. I was excited to see things beyond my expectations.
As we get older, some of the magic of Halloween gets lost. Not because we ever stop loving the holiday and all the “spookiness” it entails, but it loses the magic of surprise it has when we’re young. This is why Dark Souls and the other FromSoftware-produced games that perpetuate its formula make such good games to play during Halloween. They allow you to feel the magic of experiencing the unexpected.
At the beginning of Dark Souls, you are a mangled, rotting flesh-bag of a being—barely alive, yet certainly undead, left to wither in a cell in the Undead Asylum. The trappings of the world of Dark Souls are vaguely familiar. There are dragons, sorcery, and knights clad in plate armor. For every familiar trope, however, comes another that tests your preconceptions of what sort of fantasy world you’re in. Its sister game, Bloodborne, is much the same in its mangling of tropes, switching out the dilapidated European high fantasy setting for a twisted Victorian horror romp tainted with a Lovecraftian twist. Both games take a familiar setting and push it beyond the player's expectations.
As is often said with these games, you are offered very little in the way of direction going in. Traditionally, most video games contain a very set and easily digestible linear narrative. Bloodborne and Dark Souls in particular are different in that they are stories that are very hard to piece together. It is possible to come up with a coherent narrative if one really studies the information the game gives you, but generally what drives players is less the excitement of narrative, but the interest of exploration. Each area you visit in both games tends to get more and more unexpected the further you get into them. The games are also littered with secrets that makes exploring these areas thoroughly rewarding.
When you do find items in Dark Souls, it is seldom clear what exactly they do. If you had never played Dark Souls, and I were to say, “I found a Homeward Bone!” I highly doubt your first instinct would be to use that item to teleport back to a save point.
That’s not to say anything of the atmosphere the games project either. Of the two games, I find that Bloodborne uses atmosphere with more specificity. In particular, Bloodborne uses sound design and color to give its world an unmistakably haunting and beautiful quality. I can still vividly remember looking out over the decrepit streets of Yharnam, bathed in purple light from a massive red moon while hearing the groans and cries of the city people losing their minds.
Many games intended to be released near Halloween do little that is truly unexpected. Even the fantastic Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, at its core, recycles tropes from other pieces of horror media. The influences in that game, from The Evil Dead and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, are neat, but they make the game feel more like a collage of other pieces of media the creators liked.
When I play games near Halloween, I want more than the thrill of a jump scare. I want to feel lost, and I want to see things that are genuinely unexpected. Ultimately being scared is never the thing that made me love Halloween. Putting on a costume and going to a party with other people is not fun because you think you are going to be scared, it is fun because it allows you to escape the normalcy of real life, to become something new, and open yourself up to the possibility of the unexpected. When I think of the games, or even pieces of media in general, that have genuinely given me that feeling, it is hard to think of anything that captures the terror of the unexpected like Dark Souls and Bloodborne.
(10/31/18 7:00pm)
During the final day of this year’s Heartland Film Festival, every single finalist was shown to the public one last time, although all the winners were announced the day prior. Taking home the coveted grand prize for “Best Narrative Feature” was a foreign film titled The Elephant and the Butterfly. Going into this film as my final screening of the event, I had high hopes that it would surpass all other narratives I had seen prior. While it didn’t do that, there’s a clear reason why it won the grand prize. The Elephant and the Butterfly is a heartwarming story about family, achieving its purpose of being a feel-good film almost too well.
(10/31/18 4:00pm)
(10/31/18 1:00pm)
The most important thing I’ve learned while studying history is that there are so many great stories left untold in a modern age. There are so many great, culturally significant events that just get lost along the shuffle of time. Father Time doesn’t care about who you are or the things you’ve done, it comes down to society to remember who you are. There are many great people who never get their stories told. Fortunately for the radium girls of the late 1920’s, directors Lydia Dean Pilcher and Ginny Mohler have created a phenomenal film depicting the long untold tale of young laborers fighting against the system in ways that (almost) changed the world.
(10/30/18 11:12pm)
Disclaimer: This game was played on a PS4 using smartphone controllers. This copy of the game was provided by the developer for review purposes.
(10/30/18 6:45pm)
Demi Lawrence is a sophomore journalism news major and writes "Unspoken" for The Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Demi at dnlawrence@bsu.edu.
(10/29/18 4:36pm)
by Baylie Clevenger
The opinions and views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the opinion of Byte or Byte's editorial board.
After three weeks of releasing enthralling hour-long videos, Shane Dawson’s “The Mind of Jake Paul” series has finally come to a close.
From the beginning, this series has raised an overwhelming amount of controversy and, now that it is over, the controversy has not ceased.
About three parts into the series, I made some predictions about what I thought Dawson’s goals were with “The Mind of Jake Paul.” Some of my expectations were upheld and some of them were not.