College Essay Question 4

     For this last English assignment on college essay, I will be writing about college essay topic number four. The question is, "Describe a fictional character. Be sure to point out what you do or do not like about the character and relate these attributes to yourself."

     The fictional character I will describe is a protagonist from the famous anime and manga, Death Note, Yagami Light. In the story, Light is a normal japanese highschool boy, who dislikes and disgusts the world and the society he is living in. Since his father is a captain police, he have a special hatred towards murdering and crime in the society. However, he knows that he cannot change or correct anything about these crimes, therefore, he decides to just ignore it, even if he sees someone getting robbed in front of him, he would just ignore it. This is the first point of Light's personality that is like me and also one of his attributes that I do not like. We know ourselves that we are powerless; we think that we cannot change or comment on anything we dislke, whether it is someone's personality, event, or status, therefore, the best way to continue ourlives among these things is to ignore it. I do not like this attribute even thought I have it and I am sure that Light also hates it, because if I hate something and that I have to live with it, I will want to change it, no matter how difficult it is; however, since I am incapable, ignoring it is my only option and I hate doing so.

     One day, Light finds a note book lying on the floor in his school, it prints "Death Note". Inside the book, it says that those that their names are written in this notebook will die. Light throws this notebook away almost immidiately, because he thinks that it is just some kind of joke, however, after a few steps away form the book, he changes his mind and takes the book. He tests the book, and its power is real; those people that Light wrote their names on the book died exactly as Light wrote. The first thing that Light does after he knows that the book's power is real is laught; there goes the second similarity between us. Since we think that we are powerless, we ignore everything that we dislike, however, as I state before, we hate to do so, therefore, we look for any glimpse of hope to help us change the way things are right now. Even though, out side, we deny it, deep down, no matter how stupid, fake, and hilarious that power sounds, we will be attracted to it; the same way as Light returns for the book. Now, once we posess the power that allows us to change things, we feel free; we feel as if we are no longer bound by the things that we dislike. We will test it, use it, improve it, and master it. Light goes on and kills every single criminal on the run that he sees on the news, the ones that laws cannot harm.

     The third thing that me and Light have in common is the sense of pride. After the police starts to realize that hundreds of people that die within the past few weeks are all criminals, and that they have no possible way to track down the killer, due to that Light kills people simply by writting their names, they hand the case to their best detective, L. One day, Light turns on his television and finds L making announcements world wide to Kira(Light is known to the outside world as Kira). L says that he was chosen to solve this case and that he will find Kira. He also declares offensively that what Kira is doing is wrong and that he will be brought to justice. Light, listening to these speeches, gets angry and writes L's name; the following minute, L dies in front of the camera world wide. This is the sense of pride I mention. Once we have that power, we will think that what we are doing is the right thing no matter how obvious it seems wrong. This is one of few personalities that we have in common that I like. L offensively attack that idea and makes our dreams and our freedom sounds stupid and meaningless. We will never take things like this easy, we are too arrogant and pride for that. We will never stay still while factors, people, or objects that we value are being disgraced and humiliated. In my personal opinion, if I do not stand up for something or someone I love, and I let him or her gets humiliated and demeaned, no matter how true those words are, then I will be among the lowest and foulest type of human.

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Metro 2033: Another Outstanding Post-Apocalyptic Game

     This time, I will be talking about another post-apocalyptic game called Metro 2033, which was developed by 4A Games. Metro 2033 was originally a Russian novel written by Dmitry Glukhovsky. The book talks about the adventure of a man named Artyom, who lives in the post-apocalyptic world where the surface of the earth is now inhabitable and people in Moscow are now living in the underground metro. Only after a few months of living underground, people in Moscow have begun to realize that the city they have left is no longer abandoned. Mysterious creatures with unknown origin started appearing on the surface of Moscow and attacked any human on sight. After they have taken almost full control of the surface, they have begun to, slowly, move down underground. After many years of fighting and protecting their last territory, mankind under Moscow are beginning to lose.

     The story starts with a man named Artyom, who is living in the station VDNKh. He wakes up one day and finds his friend, Hunter, returning from the surface to spread news. Hunter says that he learn that the creatures have leaders which he called them, the Dark Ones, and that he have a plan to destroy these Dark Ones and force away all the creatures. However, the leaders of VDNKh Station refuse to give any aid to this plan, due to that they cannot risk losing anymore men than they already have. Hunter, then, before leaving VDNKh, asks Artyom a promise that should he not return to VDNKh, then Artyom must go to Polis Station and inform the council about the Dark Ones. As expected, Hunter does not return, thus begins Artyom's adventure to Polis Station.

     4A Games did an impressive job on a very oppressive atmosphere and, in my opinion, a very stressful game experience. Not all enemies are the creatures, bandits and the Reds will open fire at the player on sight. Most of the time, the player will be travelling alone in the dark railway stations, therefore flash light is not an option. The player will need to be very careful on how he or she decide to venture through the railway; he or she must choose when to use night vision goggles, when to use lighters, when to use flash light, when to use gas masks, and many other considerations including avoiding traps and breakables, because one mistake and the player will be swarmed with enemies. Night vision goggles, flash light, and other equipment have limited batteries, therefore, the player will have to keep charging these tools using the universal charger, which requires time and effort. Currency used in this place is bullets, therefore, the player will have to be specially careful with conserving ammunition. Looting dead bodies is also not an option, even with your dead companion, for supplies are very scarce outside of each stations and every single bullet or oxygen canister counts.

     Equipment, such as gas mask, can be damaged through gun fights, therefore, choosing between stealth and non-stealth along with types of guns play a huge role of surviving in Metro 2033. A straight forward shotgun or machine gun seems to be a good way to waste ammunition on all enemies the player encounters, thus more and easier way to loot and collect valuables. However, a silent sniper rifle or a crossbow would seems, in my opinion, a much better way to pass enemies without emptying out all of your ammunition, thus your money, thought picking up valuables near living enemies appears to be much harder. Through all these factors and considerations, 4A Games makes Metro 2033 a very intense and stressful game to play, however, it forces the player to think carefully on every actions that the player will carry, thus making the game very realistic and interesting.

(post before new assignment announcement)
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Journey: An Unique Experience

     This time, I will be talking about one indie game called Journey. Journey is a very unique desert-exploring game, which is develop by ThatGameCompany exclusively for Playstation 3 console(hail to Playstation!!). Unlike common games, Journey ignores many conventional games traditions, such as, scorekeeping, lives, and statistics.

     The game starts off with you as a lone red-robed figure in a middle of a desert. The game provides no quest nor objective to the player; the player will have to explore the desert through purely their own instinct. Initially, the player can heads toward the mountain, landmarks, or any bright lights that he or she catches a glimpse of; it is entirely and purely up to the player to choose how and when they explore each part of the desert. ThatGameCompany did an outstanding job on graphics and details, such as the movements of the sands as the player step or slide on them and the affects of winds on the player's robe and sand as they blow by and as the storm is approaching. As the player explores the ruins and mountains, he or she will encounter fragments of cloths, scraps of the luminous scarf that allows him or her to fly.

" Journey is more an emotional investment than a game." (Ryan Clements)

     The game also consists of many emotional driven factors. Within each ruins, the player will encounter a statue which will tells the speechless terrible story about what happen to the place and, as the player explores more ruins, the player will get the implication that he or she might be the last one that is left. This makes Journey, somewhat, a very lonely type of game, however, that loneliness is what makes Journey intriguing. The multiplayer mode allows the player to, randomly and unexpectedly, meet with one other player who is in the same progress level as the player. The joined player is anonymous; the game will hide the ID name of both players and they will not be able to chat; he or she can be anyone from anywhere across the globe(our globe not the game's), and the only communication allows in the game is music that both players can chirp at each other. By withholding another player's identification, Journey makes the companion a complete stranger, however, simultaneously, Journey allows the player to experience the emotion of meeting with someone who is, same as the player, might be the last of what is left in the post-apocalyptic world. The player have no idea who his or her companion is, what he or she is capable of, and even how to communicate with him or her properly, however, due to both of them are left alone with tiny hope of ever find their own place, they will be attracted to each other through loneliness and melancholy. Exploring the desert with a companion is a powerful contrast to the loneliness of traveling alone through a mostly empty desert, and when one player decides to quit the game, they are drift apart forever, which is curiously but understandably sad.

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Bibliography -

"Journey Review". Clements Ryan. IGN.com

     <http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219641p1.html>

"Journey Review". Douglas Jane. GameSpot.com

     <http://asia.gamespot.com/journey/reviews/journey-review-6363693/>

College Essay Question 2

     Now for the third time, as part of my English homework, I will be talking about college essay topic number three. The question is "Tell us about a conversation you’ve had that changed your perspective or was otherwise meaningful to you." by the University of Stanford.

     I think the conversation that changes my perspective on my life is the one I had with my Dad a couple of years ago.It was the time when I was having an important exam coming up. This exam in my country is suppose to evaluate all of my abilities and skills in both academic and physical. It  is one of the most important examination that all schools and universities in my country will look at and will have a significant impact on their decision to accept me.

     I was just a kid back then; I thought that study hard and be a nerd is not cool (like most of all children think). I did not pay attention in my class, I did not prepare for any tests or final exams, and I got into many fights with my friends. Back then, I lived with my Mom; my Dad lived in another place because of his work, which resulted in him not knowing anything much about my personal life. However, after my carelessness toward education and social was told by my Mom to my Dad, he took me and my Mom out for a dinner on my birthday, which is what he usually did, come to see me and my Mom only a couple of times in a year. My birthday was only a few weeks away from the exam.

     After a nice dinner at a Chinese restaurant, he began to talk to me about all the things that I did and about my carelessness. He asked me questions that I did not understand the point of it, such as, what did I expect to gain from my actions and didn't I feel guilty toward my Mom, whom has been protecting me from all the bad consequences of my actions. My mind was blanked; I did not know why my Dad was saying these things to me but I could not answer either. Toward the end of the conversation and arguments, my Dad said a sentence that has changed my point of view forever. He said, "Do you want be "cool" like those people you see on the side of the streets, or do you want to be "cool" like those people that drives Porsche and Ducati?" I was stunned by this sentence. I have never thought about these things before; all the confusions from his previous questions and conversation have come together and began to make sense for me. Then my Dad went on saying that it was my choice to choose the kind of "cool" I wanted to be. It is my choice to choose what kind of a person I want to be, the cool that have nothing in his life other than friends whom are as empty as himself, or the cool that have everything he needs along with caring family and the means and abilities to support them. He did not speak much after that sentence; I think it was because that he knew that his words are very effective to me through my guilty face. After we have arrived back at my house, my Dad, somehow, knew that I have changed my self perspective completely and that I wanted to become the "cool that drives Porsche and Ducati."  He, then, told me what he has been trying to tell me in the beginning. He said that the way to become that "cool", for now, was to study hard. Along the path of study, I will gain, not only knowledge, but self responsibility and care towards things that I love.

     I changed after that day. I began to realize that being "cool" alone was not a good thing, it has to be "cool" along with self responsibility and care. I got a pretty good score on the exam, which my Dad was very happy with the score. After that day, I have become more responsible toward my life and aware of consequences of my actions toward all the people that I love. Right now, even thought, I do not own any car or bike yet, I am beginning to see the days that I ride those bikes clearer.

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Games Vs Cultures

     This time, I will be sharing a news article about games that their contents have had conflicts with culture from various places. This article is from IGN website by Craig Pearson.

Here is the link - http://games.ign.com/articles/122/1223127p1.html

     Eventhough games' story lines, characters, and settings are interesting, it is very hard for developers to both avoid the culture conflict with specific places and developing a good piece of art. There are games that some of its contents are conflicting with culture or belief of groups of people, which results in developers have to remove or alter the conflicting contents for the games to be sold in the conflicting areas. These are some of the games that have conflicts with certain places. I have chosen only some of the games from the original article that are interesting.

     The very first example of games that their contents has been altered is the well-known Fallout 3. Towards the end of one of the side-quests, you are required to trigger a nuke and destroy the entire city, leaving an irradiated ruin behind. This seems like a good way to loose karma and benefits to those playing as a bad person, however, Japan did not like this issue. Japanese required the publisher, Bethesda, to remove the mission before it was allowed to be published in Japan. Also, one of the game's weapon, the Fat Man, was censored by the Japanese. Fat Man is a mini nuke launcher which its original name mimics the nuclear detonator that United States detonated on Nagasaki in World War II.


     The second example is the game called Team Fortress 2, developed by Valve. The game mainly consists of multiplayer battles with violence actions and scenes, such as rocket death, head lopping, etc. This has caused the German censors to require the developer to remove these scenes before being able to publish in Germany. However, instead of properly remove scenes, Valve, naughtily, decided to replace the bloodied scenes with funny toys and springs falling out out the dead bodies.

     The third example is the game called Left 4 Dead 2, also developed by Valve. The game is about zombie-crisis survivors that have to fight through bloodied zombies to survive. The problem for UK was not the bloodied part, it was the cover image of the game. The first Left 4 Dead's cover for UK was not a problem, since to emphasize the "4" of the title, which means the four characters that the player gets to play as, the cover image is the hand with the thumb cut off to show four fingers. However this time, to emphasize the come back of the second game or "2", the cover image is the same hand with two fingers folded, leaving two fingers. Here was the problem, the hand showing off two fingers is colloquially known as "the vicky", which is very offensive to people in UK; this result in UK required the developer to change the cover. Valve, then, again naughtily, switched the hand around showing the peace sign in UK version cover.

     The last example is the well-known game for violence, GTA: San Andreas, developed by Rockstar Games. In the game, there was scene with a mini game where the player have to control the character as he switches his sexual positions with his girlfriend. This mini game was hidden within the code, which can only be unlocked through modifications. Following rumors about this mini game, the American rating board, ESRB, investigated the game and, after discovered the mini game, re-rated the game from M(mature) to AO(adults only). This resulted in Rockstar Games releasing a patch which removed this part of the game.

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Alice Madness Returns: The Spin Off Story and Interpretations (New Set)

     This time, I will be talking about the game called Alice Madness Returns, a spin-off from the well-known Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carrolls. This game features a different story about Alice and her Wonderland and an entirely different attitudes and themes of her Wonderland.

     The game takes place after Alice Liddell is released from a mental asylum and lives peacefully in Victorian London with a psychiatrist, Dr. Angus Bumby; however, memories of her lost family still hunts her and constantly drives her insane. One day, she gets into a trouble with Nurse Witless, who blackmails Alice for money. After an argument Alice sees Nurse Witless transforms into a Jabberwock and falls into the Wonderland. After she arrived in Wonderland, she finds her wonderland in chaos from the destruction of the Infernal Train. Alice, then, have to fight her way to the train in order to save herself and everyone in the Wonderland. Towards the end of the game, Alice learns that the Infernal Train is a result from Dr. Bumby's plan. Dr. Bumby feels that if he cannot fix Alice's mental problem, his reputations will fall, therefore, he decides to erase Alice's memory about her family, thus fixing her insanity. Alice, then, might kills Dr. Bumby.

     I know that my above summary might sounds a little confusing; this is because there are many interpretations on the situations and many metaphoric elements which can describe the story differently.

     Alice's Wonderland can be either a real magical land like in the original story, or hallucinations resulted from the mental breakdown due to the loss of her family. Her event with Nurse Witless might triggers a hallucination of a Jabberwock, thus creates a mental breakdown, which, to Alice, is returning to the Wonderland. The Infernal Train that tries to destroy the Wonderland is the result from Dr. Bumby's plan to destroys Alice's memories, which symbolizes that Wonderland is the representation of her sadness towards the death of her family. It can also means that the Wonderland symbolizes Alice's insanity and that Dr. Bumby's plan is actually fixing Alice's madness. In the last sentence of my summary paragraph, I said Alice "might" kills Dr. Bumby because the ending of the game is left unexplained by the developer. In the last scene, after Alice learnt about Dr. Bumby's plan, she meets with him in the underground train station. She, then, turns into her Wonderland dress and pushes Dr. Bumby in front of an incoming train, thus killing him. After she walked out of the station (with her Wonderland dress), she finds herself in the Londerland, the place where London and Wonderland have come together as one existence. This can be interpreted as two meanings. Alice might be having another enormous mental breakdown, creating hallucinations of her killing Dr. Bumby, which the Londerland might be an evident of her madness getting worse. Due to Dr. Bumby's surprise reaction when Alice turns into her Wonderland dress and many connections of the Wonderland and the real world, such as when Mad Hatter warns Alice about the fire in the asylum, might suggests that Wonderland is influencing the outside world and Dr.Bumby's death and Londerland are real and physical.

     I personally like this game because of it changes all the characters' looks and attitudes from the original Alice in the Wonderland. I also like this game because it takes the fairy-tales-like story and turns it into a horrifying story and theme. Here is the example of the new version of Cheshire Cat and the Card Guards.

     Here is the concept arts of Red Queen and her castle.

Bibliography: http://alice.wikia.com/wiki/Alice_Wiki

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College Essay Question 3

     Once again as part of my English homework, this will be an entry on college essay topic. This time the question is "What is the best advice you ever received? Why? And did you follow it?" from the University of Pennsylvania.

     Now that I think about it, I think that the best advise that was given to me was from my Dad; he said, "You don't have the choice. I'm not giving it to you." I know it does not sound like advice at all, but ever since I  have known my Dad, I can say that he is not the type of man that would give a soft and straight forward advice. His advice are always through harsh actions, lectures, and criticisms. This one was from when I was new to my current school. It is a boarding school in a different country, therefore I left almost everything I have known my entire life to get here, including my friends, families, and most of my possessions that I have grown up with. The first semester was not bad; I met a math teacher who understand my ability and skill in math, so he pushed me to Calculus within a semester of my ninth grade. The dorm I was living in the first semester was a temporary dorm; the dorm I supposed to be living in was under renovation, therefore rules were not very strict. I lived my ninth grade life in this school peacefully, until the second semester. The math teacher was expelled from the school because his teaching style dis not match the school's curriculum. I got thrown back down to ninth grade level math like everything that I have accomplished with my math teacher were meant for nothing. Not only that, but the renovation for the dorm was completed, the 10th to 12th graders will live in there, and the ninth graders will live somewhere else in the proper dorm. Life in the dorm for me was different, I suddenly have even less freedom in my own life than before. Gaming time, hot water time, sleeping time, and study time; they were even thinking about having movie time for us. I have fallen into deep depression that one day, a dorm parent almost confiscated my laptop for copying my homework into my pendrive three minutes after sleeping time. Depressed and angry, I threw a chair straight at him, which, though unexpected, he realized that what he did was not right and gave me back my laptop. These depressions and angers have given me the strong will to get out of this school. However, after I have talked to my Dad about everything that had happened, he said, "No, I will not let you change school. You don't have the choice to quit this school. I'm not giving it to you. You will live in that place until you graduate." in a calm but demanding voice; I went blanked for almost one entire day, I did not feel sad or angry, just simply blanked. After I felt better, I came to realize that my Dad's intentions for keeping me here is to train me to be able to live with anything in the world, even if it is something that I hated the most; therefore, those things that my Dad said to me are advice for me to stay strong and live through anything that come to my life. I followed it.

     I am in second semester of 11th grade now and my life is, so far, peaceful. I am still in the same school but, since I follow my Dad's advice, I was able to live through every bad things that come to my life and got used to it. I stayed strong and fought with my new math teacher (not literally) until he admitted that I can really skip levels of math; I skipped Algebra and Geometry that were meant for me in 10th grade and studied Pre-Calculus; now I am where I started, Calculus. This advice is the best advice in my life because it teaches me to stay strong and live through bad situations; therefore, after I lived through it and if I had not broken down and gave up, then I can fight back, like I have fought to get back to Calculus again, even though it is not a huge jump like I did in ninth grade, I can say that I have won over this school.

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A Boy Killed a Taxi Driver Imitating GTA 4

     As I have said before, I will also be giving some news article about bad influences from gaming. This one occurred in Thailand. A boy named Polwat Chino has stabbed and killed a taxi driver, Kuan Pohkang; he said he needed money to pay for games and since killing and robbing people in GTA 4 seemed to be easy,  he though it would be too in real life. This happened sometime in 2008, Polwat needed money to play games because money he received from his parents were not enough, so he called a taxi in Bangkok and have the driver drove to Soi Jaran SanitWong. When they have reached the destination, Polwat took out his knife and started stabbing a 54-years-old, Kuan, 10 times. After that he tried to steal the car but he did not know how to drive it; neighbors called in the police after Polwat drove constantly into walls of the street.
   
     I admit that parts of the blame goes to GTA 4. I do notice difference kinds of games and differentiate them; among those kinds, there are games that are made purely to stimulate lust, greed, and rage, which GTA 4 is one of them. Before I say anything else, the following thoughts are purely of my own and come only from my personal point of view. Games are like cars; you either give an Enzo Ferrari (a racing car) to a yesterday-approved-licence truck driver or give it to an experienced racing car driver. Types of games are unique, if the right kinds of games are given to the right kinds people in the beginning, then the result would be like me; playing games but still studying hard and preparing for universities. However, if the wrong kinds of games are given to the wrong kinds of people in the beginning, then the result would be like Polwat. People that cannot differentiate real world and game's world, people that are irresponsible, careless, and thoughtless, and people that their families do not care about them or care in the wrong way are the types of people that should not be given a kind of games like GTA to. Like I have said before, GTA is among the games that are made to stimulate lust, greed, and rage; this kind of games is best for people that have stress or depression, which the game will let them express their depression out to the game and enjoy doing something they know they cannot and must not do in real life.
   
     Also, everyone must agree that another part of the blame goes to parents. If Polwat's parents have taken good care of him and known what kind of person Polwat is, then they would never have bought games like GTA for him. Of course, Polwat might have just taken his personal savings and bought the game on his own, however, his parents should still, at least, care to notice what their son is doing whenever he has free time. If Polwat's parents care about their son and spent times with him, this event will never happen.

The article is called "Thailand Pulls GTA IV Following Murder of Taxi Driver" by Jane McEntegart. It was published on 5th August, 2008.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/GTA-stabbing-thailand-murder,news-2207.html

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Japanese Grandma Plays Bomberman for 26 Years

     An old news article for any of you that are having problem about parents lecturing you about playing games all the time or if you are one of the people that think that playing games is only just a waste of time. A 99 years old woman, Umeji Narisawa from Sendai, Japan has been playing the Bomberman for about 26 years! This is the video of a Japanese TV show that interviewed her a year ago.

     She says that she has been paying this game daily for about 26 years, since she was 63. Everyday she starts the game from the beginning and ends 50 stages in only two hours. The video shows the TV show staff  member playing Bomberman and fails terribly in the first few stages. This shows how good Narisawa is and sometimes, after she finishes the game once, she continues the game again from stage one and finishes it in another two hours. Towards the end of the video, it shows Narisawa still able to easily inserts thread through the needle even in this age. This shows that games are not entirely a waste of time. I admit that some games tend to have negative effects on the player, however, NOT all games are like that, in fact NOT even half of all games are like that. Imagine an old grandma just sitting on her seat and watch TV or sewing clothes for the rest of her remaining life, that is torturing. Like I said before, games can give experiences that I have never had before, it can also give a little adventure or experience for someone that do not or no longer have abilities to go out and enjoy those experiences. It can also keep old people intact of their skills as seen when Umeji inserts the thread; this is because her mind is always exercising whenever she is playing games. These are just some of many good sides that games can give; I will be giving more of the positive effects along with negative effects of gaming in the future posts; because I know that nothing can be completely good or bad, but I know that positive effects of gaming is more than negative effects.

The original article is called "Is This the Oldest Nintendo Fan in the World?" by Thomas East on 4th August, 2011.
Here is the link: http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/29255/is-this-the-oldest-nintendo-fan-in-the-world/

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Deus Ex - Human Revolution: Purity First's Side

     The Purity First is the same as the Humanity Front, the only different is that Humanity Front is much less extreme, for example, Humanity Front would peacefully protest and politically attack cooperation, but Purity First would aggressively protest using violent attack both physically and technologically. I will start this post with the Purity First's propaganda video.

     The main point of Purity First's attack on human augmentation is that are we playing God? The man in the interview says that if we do not augment our selves, then we will be less intelligent, less stronger, and less capable than the rest of the human race. No one would want to get left behind when the rest of human race are improving rapidly while you are staying at the same place; therefore, this will automatically persuade people to get augments, thus increasing population of the augmented. By getting augmented, you are sacrificing your freedom and privacy. Implanting data chips and getting various kinds of augmentations give away huge amount of informations regardless of your willingness; they would know everything you do at anytime any where. Also by admitting to neuropozyne, you are sacrificing your freedom to drugs only to maintain your augmentations; every seconds of your life will be depending on neuropozyne and without it, you might die.Cooperation have the power to make and persuade you to get augmentations, and after you are augmented, they have to power to know everything you do and anywhere you go at any time in your life; they also have the power to control your life through neuropozyne, they can shut down your limbs, they can sent messages to the data chips in your brain and control your thoughts, "as if they have the power of God."

     Though I agreed that depending my life on drugs and having people spying on me at all time is not a very good idea, those cases are too extreme. Neuropozyne is only temporary; like Megan's discovery, human will always find a way to overcome obstacles, in this case drugs. One day, someone will be able to develop a technology that allows us to be free from neuropozyne and live free from drugs. Also about cooperation able to get informations and turning off our body parts, through proper attention on augmentation laws, which I think will certainly have, I think that those cases will never happen. Human privacy is one of the things that are value the most, therefore, government will never allow cooperation to have access to our personal informations unless we accept terms and agreements. If government suspects that cooperation will violate this law or decide to access our augmentations without permission, then government, with support of all citizens, could create an entirely new government department to specialize in keeping track of cooperation's activities.

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Deus Ex - Human Revolution: Cooperation's Side

     This posts, I will be talking about ethical problem on human augmentations from the cooperation's viewpoint. I will start with the advertisement from Sarif Industry.

     From the Cooperation's point of view, human augmentation is the "hope" of mankind. Since the past when we were still salvaged and uncivilized, we were cold so we made fire, we were hunted so we made weapons, we wanted to travel so we made transports; every time we faces obstacles, we use our intelligence and creativity to overcome those difficulties. However, those solutions can only help us to overcome obstacles, but this, for the first time, we have the option to become solutions. We make weapons because we cannot fight with our hands, but this time, our hands can become weapons, we make transports because our legs are not good enough to take us far, but this time, our legs can become transports. We have the option to become more than any human could ever be. People with disabilities from birth can live the lives they suppose to have, not the lives they received by chance and made them less fortunate. Also human augmentation can also be, not only for the future but for the past. People with disabilities from accidents on both physically and mentally can now live their lives as normal people; they can go back and live the lives they used to have. For the first time, we have the power to correct and change something we have never been able to in the past. This is why human augmentation is the "hope" of mankind.

     I personally agreed to cooperation's point of view on human augmentation. Though I do not think about extreme cases like reducing my entire body to just a brain and live inside a tube to gain eternal life like in some sci-fi novels, I do agree that if I can fly just by using my hands as jet pack, then it would be wonderful. Human always wants to fly; in fact I think that humans always wants to become more than they were and have more than they have had. That applies to me too; if I have the chance to become more, then I would certainly take that option, because I am incompetent, because everyone ia incompetent, that is why human wants to become more. I will end this post with the game's ending on Sarif's side, which there is one quote I really like, "We can become the God we've always been striving to be, we might as well get good at it." (Adam Jansen)

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Deus Ex - Human Revolution (New Set)

     Hey, this time I will be talking about ethical problem that arise in the game called Deus Ex - Human Revolution. In this post, I will give a complete summary of the game's story line, then in the next two entries, I will be talking about the ethical problem.

     "It is a time of great innovation and technological advancements" The game sets at 2027 mainly in Detroit. A man named Hugh Darrow has found a way to successful and effectively augment human's body and capacity by replacing them with mechanics. With this technology, human can jump higher, run faster, see things better, and do many more things that normal human body cannot do. This  has brought a huge impact to the entire world.

People with physical disabilities can live their normal lives again. The blind can now see, the cripple can now walk, and the mentally ill people can now think and talk normally. Taking this core technology of augmentation, cooperation quickly developed and improved this technology for further and better use in both medical and military. However, for every gifts, there are always a price. Hugh Darrow's augmentation technology requires the augmented to take the medication called "Neuropozyne" for the rest of their lives, because human body will reject the augments and lead to rejection. This has risen a huge amount of black market trade of drugs and human kidnapping for experiment. Neuropozyne was called the most dangerous and addictive drug ever existed. This technology has also risen the black market trade of illegal augmentations and upgrades. Because of these problems, a groups of people have begun to go against the augmentations.

     Story begins in 2027. You take the role of a man named Adam Jansen, whom is the head security of one of the leading cooperation on human augmentation, Sarif Industries. In the beginning of the game, Adam's girlfriend, Megan Reed, one of the leading scientists on human augmentation of Sarif Industries, has found a way to fix Hugh Darrow's augmentation problem of taking neuropozyne. She has found a way to make augmentation completely drug free and "pure". At the beginning, Adam, Megan, and Sarif Industries' founder and CEO, David Sarif, are suppose to be talking about the conference about announcing this new technology. However, story starts when a group of anonymous mercenaries break into the compound, capture Megan and all of her team, and almost kill Adam in the process. Horribly injure and cripple, Adam is put on augmentations by the order of Sarif to save his life. Adam's 90% body is replace with augmentations to save his life, however, with this secret technology, Adam's body completely accept all of his augmentations, which result in him does not have to take neuropozyne. The player, then, begins the search for Megan and attempt the revenge on those mercenaries. After long search and travel, the player finds out that the people behind the attack are the Illuminati. For this mission, they operate mainly through one of the most famous political group that go against augmentations, the Humanity Front's leader, William Taggart and, same as Sarif Industry, one of the leading cooperation on human augmentations, Tai Young Medical's leader, Zhou Yun Ru.

After Adam rescue Megan and the rest of her team, Hugh Darrow is broadcasting his proposal to the world. He activates a machine that put all the augmented into hallucination and kill everyone in their paths. Adam, then, fly to Panchea to confront Hugh Darrow. After Adam gets to Darrow, he, then, explain that he sees his discovery as another means to control mankind and that it is no longer the "hope" of mankind. He continue to explain that the Illuminati's real plan is to use an advance network of quantum computers called the Hydras to put all the augmented under full control, but Darrow intends to use it to show to the world that augmentation is truly terrifying; he also have his recordings inside the Hydras that will broadcast to the world of how dangerous augmentation is. Knowing this, Adam fights his way down the Panchea to find and deactivate the Hydras, which along the way, he hears transmissions from both David Sarif and Wiliam Taggart; they were attending the broadcast of Hugh Darrow in Panchea, but after the breakthrough of the augmented, they were forced into hiding inside Panchea. After Adam reaches both of them and tell them of what happens, they will convince Adam to, instead of throwing away Hugh Darrow's broadcast, use it in favor of or against human augmentation respectively. Once Adam reaches Hydras, he confronts Zhou, whom intend to take back control of Hydras for the Illuminati.

    After Adam defeats Zhou and shutdown Hydras, he or the player will be faced with choices (like in Fallout). Adam will have to choose whether to broadcast in favors of the augmentations and blame the hallucinations on the Humanity Front and the Illuminati (Sarif side), against human augmentations and blame the hallucinations on the use of neuropozyne and augmentations (Taggart side), or against human augmentations and blame the hallucinations on both the Illuminati and augmentations (Darrow side). There is one more additional option for Adam. He can choose not to leave powers and answers to any individual's hand, including himself, destroy all the broadcasts and the Panchea, thus killing everyone inside. Doing this, mankind will not know what really happen and will move forward on their own without the leading of Humanity Front or Sarif or Darrow's idea.

     Well, that is the story in summary. The next two posts I will talk about who is the right one, groups people who think that human augmentations is bad or the cooperation that think human augmentation is good.

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Bibliography

http://deusex.wikia.com/wiki/Deus_Ex:_Human_Revolution 

     Hey everyone, this time I got a news article regarding the next generation of game controlling!

This is the link to the original article from Game Informer - http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/03/06/neurosky-mind-controlled-games.aspx

     Most of you may have heard of Kinnect but I will give a brief introduction to it anyway. Kinnect is a motion capture device that is developed by Microsoft, or to be simple, it is a technology that capture your movements in front of the camera and sent those information to the game character you are controlling. 

This time, a new technology that is developed by a company called NeuroSky has found a better way to enhance the way we control things. This technology reads our brainwaves and able to differentiate when we concentrate and when we are not. This technology has been published to use with Star Wars Force Training kit, which is a toys that reads your concentration levels and increase the fan speed accordingly to move the ball. The developers of this technology have been speaking in Game Developer Conference about the technology's use in games. The developers gave us examples of how this technology can be use in games. First example is, imagine looking through a sniper scope. If you are distracted, then the scope will shake, but if you are concentrated and focused, the the scope will be steady. Another example is in stealthy games, such as Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, Hitman, and Deus Ex; when we use normal controllers, it feels too easy to slip pass guards, but with this technology, you will be required to calm your mind and body to successfully infiltrate the building. 

     I really like this new possible way of controlling in games. For someone that plays games for experience like me, this would really bring games closer to real life. It is sensible to say that if this technology is successfully integrated into gaming, military training will find it benefit to actually use these technology with games to train soldiers. I'm not exaggerating here, US military has actually begun using games to train new recruits. I will post some article regarding that later, but if anyone want to find some information, search the topic America's Army.

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   This time, as part of my English homework, I will write about what I do in my own time that has nothing to do with academic work. Well, when I have free time, I always read news from forums and web boards. Other than that I play games, obviously, and watch anime, a lot. These things are my passion and I love to do these things over and over again as many times as I want. Though it sounds redundant and pointless to do the same thing again and again, however, there are more to it. Playing games and watching anime all the times may sound boring, but games and anime are NOT boring. Each game, each anime are different in everything, story, environment, character, character's development and emotions, technologies, and many more. Some may think that games and anime are pointless and useless, but in each game and each anime's stories, there are sadness, there are hatred, there are happiness, and there are tragedies that does not happen normally in our every-day life. This is why I love games and anime, because they allows me to do, experience, and acknowledge things that I will never get to know in real life. For example what I have recently reviewed, Fallout 3. Obviously our world is not devastated by nuclear yet, but I get to know that after those events, which are very likely to happen in future, how people will be like. Everyone is opportunists; there are raiders, there are factions, and there are good people. Is it really a bad thing to become a bandit and steal and kill people just to save your family? Is it really a good thing to purify the water and save everyone's lives including those that may, in future, attack innocent people? In real life, I never get to experience these things. I never get to experience, yet, how to react when my friend or someone I love is in pain from losing someone important. I never get to experience, yet, how to respond when someone I cared betrayed and turn their backs on me. However, I got a sense of how it might feel like, through these things that most people branded them pointless and useless. These are the reasons that games and anime are not boring; these are the reasons why I loved playing games and watching anime.

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     Hey everyone, a little update on Assassins Creed III. As everyone that knows Assassins Creed series knows, the game will take player back to important events in the history and meet with many important historical figures. This time, IGN has acquired informations regarding the new Assassins Creed, which they said to be related to American Revolution.

Here is the link - http://ps3.ign.com/articles/121/1219876p1.html

     Basically, the article says that IGN has received information, regarding the new AC, from Game Informer. The new assassin, which previously the player plays as Ezio Auditore, is named Corner. He is half British and Native Americans and was raised in Mohawk tribe. The game will set between 1753 to 1783 and will include important events, such as the Great Fire of New York. The player will meet with many famous historical figures, such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Charles Lee. The player will be able to travel between mainly New York, Boston, Lexington & Concord, and Corner's Mohawk Village. According to source, they say that the map will be about 1.5 times the map of Assassins Creed Brotherhood. In this new AC  , the game's engine(system) will include a weather system, which will constantly change between rain, sun, and snow. The game's new engine also introduces a hunting system. The player will be able to hunt or set traps to capture animals and sells them. Of course, the weather will effect your strategy on hunting these animals.

Here is the poster

     Well, if you ask me, unlike Ezio and his high class-ish, this guy looks like a beast. Instead of standard assassin's hidden blades and hidden pistol, Corner uses Tomahawk and a standard revolutionary pistol, which might implies that the fighting in this AC will be less stealthy and more face-to-face combat. According to the same source, they say that Ubisoft, the developer and publisher of AC series, says that AC III is the "largest project in Ubisoft's history" and that they spent more than three years and twice the production capacity of any Ubisoft games. As many hardcore gamer knows, Ubisoft has published many famous and outstanding games, such as Splinter Cell series, Far Cry series, Ghost Recon series, and many more. Knowing this and knowing that AC III is the biggest project in Ubisoft's history would make anyone excited about this AC III.

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Hello, everyone. Lets continue from where I left off.

     After a massive battle between the BoS and the Enclave, the player is able to take back the Project Purity. The player will have to make a choice whether to contaminate the project or leave it. The player will also have to make another choice. The control chamber of the project is contaminate with high concentration of radiation. The player will have to make a choice whether to sacrifices him or herself or to order his or her companion, Serah Lyons, a BoS that has been fighting alongside with the player against the Enclave, to enter the chamber. After making the choice, the game will end and follow by narration of the effect of the player 's option. These options will effect the player's karma and the endgame story.

     If the player has chose to enter the chamber himself, the player will die, leaving his legacy behind. The narration will go as follows, "But it was not until the end of this long road that the Lone Wanderer learned the true meaning of that greatest of virtues – sacrifice. Stepping into the irradiated control chamber of Project Purity, the child followed the example of the father sacrificing life itself for the greater good of mankind."

     If the player chose to have Serah enter the chamber, the player survives but with the cost of his or her friend. The narration will go as follows, "It was not until the end of this long road that the Lone Wanderer was faced with that greatest of virtues – sacrifice, but the child refused to follow the father's selfless example, instead, allowing a true hero to venture into irradiated control chamber of project purity and sacrifice her own life for the greater good of mankind."

     If the player choose not to contaminate the project, the Project Purity will function as it is meant to be and purify all water in the Wasteland, giving back its source of life and hope of future. The narration will go as follows, "Thankfully, when selected by the sinister president to be his instrument of annihilation, the Wanderer refused. Humanity with all its flaws was deemed worthy of preservation. The waters of life flowed at last – free and pure, for any and all. The Capital Wasteland at long last was saved."

     Finally, if the player chose to contaminate the project, the water released from the project will poison all unfortunate creatures, mutants or not, result in Wastelands becoming a graveyard. The narration will go as follows, "Sadly, when selected by the sinister president to be his instrument of annihilation, the Wanderer agreed. Humanity will be preserved but only in its purest form. The waters of life flowed at last – but the virus contained within soon eradicated all those deemed unworthy of salvation. The Capital Wastelands, despite its progress, became a graveyard."

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     Hello everyone, before I continue from my last post, I would like to give a little background of the Brotherhood of Steel. Brotherhood of Steel was a US military group of soldiers that was ordered to overseer the experiments on energy weapons. Story begins when the group discovered that those scientists, under the order of US government, which was renamed later as Enclave, were using involuntary human as specimens; the group then killed all of the scientists and declared themselves independent from the US army. The Great War started not long after that. The group survived the nuclear exchange and radiation by highly effective radiation protection protocols of the base. Not very long after the Great War, the group decided to desert the base, taking schematics and all experiment results with them. The group, then, with extremely advanced technological knowledge named themselves as the Brotherhood of Steel. 200 years after that, the BoS has gained enormous power and spread out into the ruins of US. The Washington DC division of BoS has taken the former Pentagon and renamed it as the Citadel as their headquarter in Washington DC; this is where the player and the scientists fled to.


     Before the story, the BoS was interested in Project Purity and has been offering help in many ways, however, tension rises for the BoS when their nemesis, the Super Mutants, begins to gain their power in Washington DC. The Super Mutants are humans that were infected by a virus called Force Evolutionary Virus (FEV) which was developed by US government themselves, and turned into monsters. The BoS, then, slowly back off from Project Purity to concentrate on these Super Mutants, and eventually left their support on Project Purity. The scientists of Project Purity, knowing the elder of the BoS, decided to flee to the Citadel with the player.

     After they have reached the Citadel and inform the elder about the death of player's father, the elder explained to the player that whatever the Enclave plans to do with Project Purity, it will require password and a technology called the Garden of Eden Creation Kit (GECK). The GECK is a technology that was provided within each Vaults. It contain technology that would, basically, create an Eden, a place habitable for human to live in without radiations and give life back to radiated soils for growing crops. This technology is required to run Project Purity, therefore the elder asks the player to retrieve this technology before the Enclave does. However, after the player has acquired the GECK, he or she is captured by the Enclave along with the GECK.

     The player is, then, taken to the Enclave's headquarter and meet with the President of the United States, John Henry Eden. The player learn that the present Eden is an artificial intelligence, or basically computers. Because he does not know the password to the Project Purity, Eden asks the player to make a choice. He gives the player a modified FEV virus and tells the player that if this virus is inserted into the Project Purity, the irradiated water, instead of purifying it, will turn into poisons that will kill many mutants along with many innocent people. Eden, then, free the player and leaves the choice to the player. The player returns to the BoS, with GECK, and begins the take back of Project Purity.

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             Hello, this time I will be talking about the gameplay and story line of the game called Fallout 3. Fallout 3 is a shooter game that is recreated based from 1950's American Dream and  from the original Fallout game released in 1997.

The story diverges from our history after the World War 2. After World War 2, things did not go calm like our history. Energy and oil runs low in US causing US to invade Mexico to seize its oil supply. Resource Wars begins when many nations in Europe goes bankrupt and responds with Middle East’s rise in oil price with military actions. United Nations fell apart through many intense debates and heated arguments. Seeking alternatives to oils, electrics and fusion cars begins to be manufactured. The Resource Wars ended when oil fields in Middle East run dry, result in the European Commonwealth to dissolves into separated nations, fighting over each other for the remaining resources. China, with its crisis on oil shortages, decided to invade Alaska. US, seeing Canada as key supply line, annex Canada in 2076. Finally the Great War begins in 2077 with the nuclear warheads exchanged by all nations worldwide. Who launched the first warhead is unknown, but other nations, seeing warheads flying, launched their own warheads. The Great War lasted for only two hours; the result is far worse than anyone could have anticipated. The earth’s crust shifted, radiations spread all over the world, black rain fells, resulting in plants and animals go rapidly to extinct or mutated. This is only the post gameplay’s story.

Before the Great War, the company called the Vault Tec has created nuclear shelters called the Vaults all over US. Many years after the Great War, vaults begin to open up, releasing millions of people into the remains of their nation. However, there was a vault called Vault 101; its inhabitant has decided to seal themselves inside the vault and refuse to interact with the outside world.  The story begins 200 years after the Great War, when the player’s father escaped from the Vault 101. The player, pursues by the vault’s security, also escaped and found him or herself in the ruins of Washington DC which is presently called the Wasteland. The player, then, begins the search for his father. 

The gameplay allows the player to explore Washington DC, talk and persuade people to get a lowered price in trading, hack computers to get information about the events, and pick locks to steal the content inside. The gameplay also featured the Karma system, which any bad actions you do, such as stealing and harming good people would result in losing Karma, and any good actions you do, such as helping others, fighting bandits, and saving peoples would result in gaining Karma. The player’s Karma level effects how people react to you when you pass by.
. 

Now, back to the story, after the player finds his or her father, their reunion was interrupted by the US government's soldiers, the Enclave. The Enclave sought to takeover the project that the player's father has been working on called Project Purity. The Project Purity is the project that aims to purify the water of entire Wastelands, to bring back life. The player's father, then, sacrifices himself to protect the project, though unsuccessful, he was able to give time for the player and other scientists to escape to their ally, the Brotherhood of Steel.

                                                               Bibliography
http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

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Hello, my first post will be about historical relation in the game called Assassins Creed Brotherhood. The player takes the role of an Italian man named Ezio Auditore who has joined the secret war between the religious Templar and the anonymous protagonist faction that fight against the corruption of the Templar, the Assassins. The game takes the player to the medieval era at 1500 AC when Christianity is very powerful that pope has more power than the government, which the player will get to explore the recreated world of 1500 Rome.

     First and the most important character that is chosen from history is Pope Alexander VI or Rodrigo Borgia. In the story, Rodrigo plays the role as a Templar that has discovered a weapon with technology from the civilization before the human's. With that weapon, he could manipulates people's mind and uses it together with his supporters to rise and become a pope in Rome. The player tracks down Rodrigo in Rome and finds out that the Papal's Cross is, in fact, the weapon. Though the official records claim that he died with sickness, the game's story follows the rumors that he died from poison by his son, Caesare Borgia, which the player watches from the window of the Castel Sant' Angelo.

     Second and the most famous character to be imported is Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was a friend to Ezio's family before they were killed. He then proceed to aid Ezio in crafting weapons and deciphering secret indexes from the previous civilizations that Ezio has found. These secrets contain many technologies that during 1500 was not discovered yet, therefore Leonardo uses these knowledge and implement them to his idea and built many crafting  that are known today for his work, such as Hang Glider and Steam Cannon. Though, according to the historical records, wheellock firearms was first made around 1517 AD by Johann Kiefuss, however one of the secrets that Leonardo deciphered for Ezio was the technology to make guns, therefore according to the game's story, Leonardo was the first person to make a wheellock firearms.

     The last of the most notable historical character in this game is Caterina Sforza. Caterina was a countess of Forli, a city in Italy. She joined and supported the Assassins side, which resulted in the Cesare Borgia's, son of Rodrigo Borgia, attack on Forli in 1499, though historical record says that Cesare's attack was to increase his family's power, but the game's story says that is because Cesare sought to attack on Ezio, whom he though is hiding in Forli. She was, then, sent to Castel Sant' Angelo as a prisoner. The spin-off from historical records is that Caterina was released by Rodrigo for giving up her claims to Forli, but the game's story says that Ezio infiltrates the Castel Sant' Angelo and rescues Caterina. She, then, like historical records claim, depart from Rome and from Ezio in pursue of reclaiming her city.








                                                                        Work Citation

"Wheel Lock". Silcom.com/~vikman/isles/index.html

     <http://www.silcom.com/~vikman/isles/scriptorium/firearm/wheel.html>

“Caterina Sforza”. WomenWhoLead.org

     < http://www.womenwholead.org/caterina_sforza.htm>

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