THE ELEMENTS | -1-

PIXELATEDA TV, VIDEO GAME, AND TECHNOLOGY PUBLICATION WINTER 2015

THE 2015 CONSUMER

ELECTRONICS SHOW

“PRINT IS NOT DEAD BUT IT IS BECOMING MORE PIXELATED”

VIRTUAL REALITY NEW TELEVISIONS 3D FOOD PRINTERS

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CONTENT

Technology

Gaming

Television

4 10

One Plus Two and Project Ara CES 2015

PIXELATED

Charles CottonEditor-In-Chief

Spencer LernerMatthew Harpe

Managing Editors

Jason GinsbergDesign Editor

Neil AhlawatDaniel Jin

Ian LeeJonathan LuContent Editors

Keith RennerFaculty Advisor

PIXELATED

by William He by Daniel Mindich

06 Future of MicrosoftBy William He

16 3D Food PrintersBy Grant Kaufman

18 Far Cry 4By Stephen Angelakos

07 Cyber CrimeBy Daniel Jin

08 Reddit: A Guide for the First Time UserBy Eric Schwartz

22 Elite Dangerous and Star CitizenBy Henry Hunt

24 Super Smash Bros. Wii UBy Michael Dimitrov

30 Better Call SaulBy Yoel Zaid

26 Project CARS: What Makes it so Special?By Vaughan Doty

32 The FlashBy Zachary Troyanovsky

28 Five Nights at Freddy’s 2By Arjun Swarup

34 EmpireBy Neil Ahlawat

THE ELEMENTS | -3-

Welcome everyone to Pixelated’s second installment of the

year, the Winter 2015 issue! After a successful fall issue,

we all worked hard on this one to match that and feel that

this will not disappoint. Our dedicated team of writers (both under and

upperclassmen) and editors have, as usual, put in the time and effort to

present the latest news in television, video games, and technology to

the Horace Mann student body. Here’s a brief summary of the issue’s

“greatest hits”.

For TV, we have reviews of three brand new shows, Better Call Saul,

Empire, and The Flash. Each is well reviewed; so if you’re looking for a

new show to watch, read these articles, and find out which might match

your tastes.

In gaming, there are reviews of the newest entries in the Halo and Far

Cry dynasties, along with the new Super Smash Bros. game which came

out around New Year’s.

In technology, there are detailed summaries of products unveiled at

CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2015 in all different fields, from

new televisions and new computers to 3D food printers! We have an

article on cyber security, an increasingly significant topic of debate, and

there are previews of some of 2015’s most anticipated smartphones.

As always, those mentioned are just some of the articles; check out the

table of contents for a full listing.

We are all proud to publish this issue, and I’d like to thank the writers,

the editors, and our faculty advisor Mr. Renner who have collectively

made it possible. Finally, a special thanks goes to Jason Ginsberg for

doing an exceptional job on the layout. That’s all for now; enjoy it!

Until next time,

Charles Cotton

Editor-in-Chief

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

20

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

14

New Television Technology

PIXELATED

by Armand Dangby John Abreu

06 Future of MicrosoftBy William He

16 3D Food PrintersBy Grant Kaufman

18 Far Cry 4By Stephen Angelakos

07 Cyber CrimeBy Daniel Jin

08 Reddit: A Guide for the First Time UserBy Eric Schwartz

22 Elite Dangerous and Star CitizenBy Henry Hunt

24 Super Smash Bros. Wii UBy Michael Dimitrov

30 Better Call SaulBy Yoel Zaid

26 Project CARS: What Makes it so Special?By Vaughan Doty

32 The FlashBy Zachary Troyanovsky

28 Five Nights at Freddy’s 2By Arjun Swarup

34 EmpireBy Neil Ahlawat

-4- | THE ELEMENTS

“HTC ONE M8 STANDS OUT AT FIRST GLANCE BE-CAUSE OF ITS ALUMINUM BRUSHED DESIGN”

ONE PLUS TWO AND PROJECT ARA BY WILLIAM HE

Last year, the OnePlus One was rated one of the

best smartphones in existence. A relatively low

price, combined with excellent specs, made it

a top contender and a top choice among phone en-

thusiasts and casual users alike, even if it was slight-

ly hard to obtain with an invite system that has been

scrapped in favor of a weekly Tuesday no-invite sale.

With the OnePlus One almost a year old, the One-

Plus Two plans to bring the phone line to new heights.

For inside hardware, there’s a new Snapdragon 810

processor along with 4 GB of RAM, making this phone

a powerhouse, as well as an improvement from the

One’s Snapdragon 801 and 3 GB of RAM. Coupled

with a 3300 mAh battery, 200 mAh more than the

One, the Two should offer as much battery life for

more power. As for the display, OnePlus CEO Carl

Pei stated that the OnePlus Two size would “surprise”

consumers, but as of yet, we have no idea what that

means. One source claims that the screen will be at

5.5-inches, but with 2K resolution, or 2048x1536 at

the minimum, and improvement over the 1920x1080

of the One. Since the display is the same as last year,

there’s a good chance that there’s going to be much

less bezel on the Two, which would make sense, as

screen size versus actual phone size are two different

things.

For software, OnePlus’ own custom ROM, Oxy-

gen OS, based on the Android 5.0 standard image, is

expected to be running out of the box.

A Q2-Q3 release date is expected, and the invite

PIXELATED

Speakers on the one M8 utilize BoomSound technology

A OnePlusTwo concept rendering

THE ELEMENTS | -5-

system is still likely. Business Insider esti-

mates the cost at around $500, putting it

at $150 dollars more than the One, but for

the upgraded specs, this may be worth the

extra cost. As of yet, very little is confirmed,

however, so keep your eyes and ears open for

any new news on it.

Although highly innovative, the OnePlus

phones still fit in with the current smartphone

norms. Project Ara, currently one of the least

known projects in the world right now, is

attempting to completely revolutionize the

industry, however. Part of Google’s Advanced

Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, this

design of phone is taking the idea of hardware

specs in a completely new direction.

The basic concept behind Ara is the fact

that it’s a modular phone, a term which hasn’t

really existed in the industry until now. Rather

than picking the phone due to the camera or

any other spec, you get to pick what “mod-

ules” you want on your phone, making the

customization and uses of this phone nearly

limitless.

If that paragraph didn’t get you excited,

then I don’t know what will. If you’re wonder-

ing why you’d want to switch out components

of your phone, I’ll tell you why: so you don’t

have you ditch a phone every few years. The

biggest differences between phones are

literally always new, better hardware. But not

every person needs a new phone. Maybe you

just want a new better camera. Maybe the

RAM appeals to you. Maybe you need more

memory space. Maybe you want something

else. Why buy the whole phone, waste re-

sources, and a lot of labor?

That was the whole point behind Project

Ara, where you get to build your entire phone

from a base, and then add the components

you want, not what a company dictates for

you. It’s an innovative idea, and if successful, it

may be the future of all consumer electronics

as we know them.

Project Ara is expected to be released in

Q1 2015, with an entry-level model to be in

the $50-$100 range. Individuals will be able

to set prices for their own modules in the Ara

Module Marketplace, which is where people

will buy and sell modules.

Should this product be a success, top tech

companies like Apple and Samsung may

have an even bigger competitor to compete

against.

PIXELATED

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In January, Microsoft held a press conference,

during which they revealed Hololens, and Win-

dows 10.

Windows 10 is Microsoft’s new operating

system. Building off aspects from Windows 8, what

was considered by many to be a flop, and taking

aspects from older versions like XP and 7, Micro-

soft has come up with a new revolutionary browser

that may be Microsoft’s key to revolutionizing the

computer industry.

The first improvement is the return of the iconic

start menu. A big aspect that caused many people

to not update to Windows 8 was the Metro Screen;

although many people have gotten used to it, this

screen has been removed. Microsoft chose to re-

place it with a new mix of the Metro screen and the

original start menu. As usual, you always have the

classic power options button, along with your Start

Menu, albeit with a slightly blocky Windows 8’ish

feel. There was, however, one major thing about

Metro that people did like; the widgets. Microsoft

realized this, and in a stroke of genius, blended the

Start Menu and widgets together. There’s still an

app store and all that, but all of that has been re-

duced to within a Start Menu. On the left, close to

the screen border, you’ll have your applications and

folders, while on the right, you’ll have your widgets.

Microsoft’s voice assistant, Cortana, named after

her Halo namesake, has finally appeared, and ap-

pears to be doing well in terms of recognition and

response.

Other than that, the File Explorer image was

changed slightly to a darker folder color, and as far

as I could tell, no apps open in full screen auto-

matically. Gaming may be the exception, but that’s

pretty untested. As long as you don’t think BIOS is

a form of plant-based energy, then the Windows

10 Technical Preview, with Cortana, may be a good

thing to download for free from Microsoft. Just

prepare for bugs and losing all your data, so don’t

do it on your main computer. I haven’t yet on my

laptop, but on my desktop, it seems to work fine.

Hololens was Microsoft’s newest innovation.

While Oculus Rift and Google have gone for virtual

reality with the Oculus headset and Google Card-

board which utilizes a phone, Microsoft has gone

for a “mixed reality.” Intended for everyday use,

Hololens uses the real world as a backdrop for a

head’s-up display (HUD) of notifications, programs,

and some games, like Minecraft. Some uses of

Hololens that have been shown include Minecraft

using tables and the floor, using the wall as a notifi-

cation wall, and playing Xbox games using Hololens

and displaying them on any surface you like. There

is currently not very much information available on

it, but Microsoft’s Hololens is certainly something

worth paying attention to.

FUTURE OF MICROSOFTBY WILLIAM HE

PIXELATED

2 mil.

the number of smart watches sold in the past year alone.

THE ELEMENTS | -7-PIXELATED | -7-

CYBER CRIMEBY DANIEL JIN

In 2014, cyber crime exploded. Data

breaches grew in both size and number.

Established security measures practically

collapsed. Hackers obtained information

seemingly at their will. Cyber crime is defi-

nitely on the rise, and it does not seem like

it will go away anytime soon. We must ask

ourselves, is any of our information really safe

in this age? Needless to say, 2015 will be a

crucial year for cyber security.

Last year, many companies lost data to

hackers. Adobe, for one, lost 152 million

records. Ebay lost 145 million. JP Morgan

Chase 76 million, Target 70 million, Home

Depot 56 million, and the list goes on.

TechCrunch estimates that the amount of

money lost to cyber crime last year was in the

hundreds of billions of dollars. Consequently,

many companies have greatly increased cyber

security spending. Still, just money won’t stop

hackers; the entire system of cyber security is

broken. The Intrusion Detection/Prevention

System (IDS/IPS) that most companies cur-

rently use was utterly useless last year. IDS/

IPS detects network threats for the security

operations team to deal with, but the sheer

number of hackers and the complexity of

their attacks proved too much for the system

to handle. This year, many enterprises will

turn to Automated Incident Response, which

responds instantly to threats, leaving nothing

unhandled. It remains to be seen whether

Automated Incident Response is the answer

to the world’s cyber security problems, but it

will surely work better than the human-oper-

ated IDS/IPS.

Last year, companies also realized that

cloud security was insufficient. Most relied

on the safety features provided by cloud ven-

dors, which usually did not fulfill the needs of

large enterprises. However, a large number

of new startups are creating programs that

will allow for improved data management

and threat analysis, which will undoubtedly

benefit IT departments this year.

Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) were

a huge problem last year. These attacks allow

hackers to stay hidden in a network for an

extended period of time before striking when

the system is most vulnerable. And not only

businesses have to deal with APTs – they are

often used to steal government information,

as well. Most notably, Sony was targeted

by North Korean hackers for making The

Interview, a film about a plot to assassinate

Kim Jong-un. The Chinese government is sus-

pected to be behind several lesser known but

equally scary incidents. In May, a Pennsylva-

nia jury indicted five Chinese military officials

for various offenses against several American

energy companies. And the U.S. is not even

China’s main target – according to Lt. Col.

William Hagestad II, China’s hacking oper-

ations are primarily geared toward Japan,

the Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Global

cyber warfare is very real and must be dealt

with seriously by the government.

There is no question that hackers need to

be dealt with. This year, there is tremendous

pressure on security vendors to deliver new

solutions. They will have plenty of resources,

though; venture capitalists are more willing

than ever to invest in cyber security. Accord-

ing to Gartner, the global security market will

grow 8.2% this year to reach $76.9 billion and

will grow to $93 billion by 2017. Innovation

is desperately needed, but it will have plen-

ty of support as well. So, who will prevail in

2015? Hackers or security? Only time will tell.

Global Security Incidents

(GSISS 2015)

Security incidents outpace GDP and mobile phone growth

The percentage of growth for global

security incidents is more than double

global GDP and global smartphone

users combined.

Global Smartphone Users

(eMarketer)

Global GDP

(OECD) 21%

22%

48%

-8- | THE ELEMENTS

REDDIT: A GUIDE FOR THEFIRST TIME USER

F or those of you who get your news from social media and are always introduced to new

and interesting things by other peo-ple, Reddit is a great website to al-low you to find new things and dis-cuss your interests with people who share those common interests.

The idea behind the site is to be a waypoint on

the way to anything and everything on the Internet,

which is why the title bar displays the words “reddit:

the front page of the Internet.” The layout of Reddit

might seem intimidating to the first time user, as it will

just look like a list a long list of links. This, however,

is somewhat deceptive because the site is organized

through a multitude of smaller categories called

subreddits. Essentially if you type reddit.com/r/ and

add in pretty much anything at all, you are bound to

find a subreddit you like. Subreddits are Reddit’s way

of concentrating a little bit. These are specific sites

for a specific interest. Every single thing that anyone

might be remotely interested in at all probably has a

subreddit. Anything from sports to science to music

to books and everything else under the sun will have

its own subreddit. Once again we come to Reddit’s

intimidation factor in which there are so many options

that it seems like you will never find anything. Well,

that is partly true. It would probably take months to

find every single subreddit because new ones are

being added every day, and anyone can make a new

one if it doesn’t already exist. Once you’ve made your

reddit account, you can subscribe and unsubscribe to

any subreddit you wish.

Now you are probably wondering what goes on

these pages. There are two kinds of posts you can

make. You can either post a link to something or make

a text post where you start a discussion or ask a ques-

tion or something else along those lines. People can

then comment on these posts as well. This is where

Reddit gets interesting and potentially risky because

people are anonymously posting whatever they want.

Standard internet/social media common sense still

applies here, i.e. don’t post any personal information

since literally anyone with Internet access can see it.

Many people might be wary of anonymous sites like

these where people can post anything, but there is

some regulation in the form of moderators and bots.

Moderators are real Reddit users that have juris-

MAGNISINTI OMNIM VOLESENIENT VOLUPTATUM VERCHILLANT ULLAM NOS EARUM IPSANT.

16Nis porisinis denihicae nistio to idemquo velit que rem ipis et ipis nonsent. Nis porisinis idemqu-osent.

Ciis estioss inimod qui bernatur, enis a conseriatur ressimusam

qui berem sitasperit, sitiatempos

Ari omnis

BY ERIC SCHWARTZ

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -9-

diction on a particular subreddit to monitor

posts and remove them as they see fit. Bots

are similar except they are not real people,

for they are simply programmed to automat-

ically remove posts that don’t fit a certain

criteria or to also post things

at given times. You have to be

careful of any posts marked

NSFW as this stands for “not

safe for work” (or school as

the case may be), meaning

that you should be careful

about opening these types

of posts because they may

contain content you might

not necessarily want people

looking at over your shoulder. But avoiding

these is as simple as not clicking on them. On

all subreddits there are also moderators who

can remove anything for not following the

rules of that particular subreddit.

Posts are organized using a simple system

of upvotes and downvotes. Reddit encourag-

es you to upvote anything interesting and rel-

evant, but it says that the downvotes should

be used only for posts that are completely

irrelevant as opposed to just a dislike or

disagree button. That being said, most people

will still wind up using it as a dislike button

anyway. Reddit also has some rather useless

incentives in the form of karma points. You

get link karma for upvotes received on links

and comment karma for comments. The site

calls it a measure of how much good you’ve

done in the community, but it does not serve

any purpose and can’t be redeemed for

anything. Similarly, there are achievements

that you can unlock from various things that

also serve no purpose whatsoever. Reddit

Gold is a premium service that can be bought

and gifted to people, and it gives you a few

extra features that, in my opinion, are far too

minor to justify spending real money. All in

all, Reddit is a place in which anyone at all can

share anything they think is worth sharing or

their own thoughts and ideas. It seems scary

at first, but if you give it a chance, it will be

worth your time.

PIXELATED

-10- | THE ELEMENTS

Computers

The Alienware 13, 15, 17, and the MSI GS30 Shadow are all

ultra-light gaming laptops, that feature an external graphics card

housing that allows the laptop to be ultra-portable, and when at

home have a top-of-the-line graphics performance that can blow

an Xbox One or PS4 out of existence (or at least graphics-wise).

While the Alienware computers come with a mobile graphics

card inside of the computer and feature this external housing,

the Shadow doesn’t; it includes an integrated graphics card, so

when using this laptop away from the base, the performance will

not match up in games. All of these laptops have a port at the

back for PCIe, which connects the laptop to the graphics hous-

ing. This allows for a portable laptop to have the graphics horse-

power of any graphics card you can find. This would allow you

to use only one computer and not need to have both a portable

laptop and a high-end PC with completely different files. While

these may seem really cool, in reality the user is still bound to

his or her desk in order to have the desktop-level performance.

It would be a better experience to have a desktop and a laptop

rather than a hybrid of the two that is also hard to move like a

desktop. Rather than this, if you want performance on the go, I

would suggest a high-end laptop, or if you really like this kind of

setup, a desktop and a small laptop is the right way to go.

CONSUMERELECTRONICSSHOW 2015CES, the Consumer Electronics Show, held its annual event from January 6th to 9th this year. In the show, there were many new innovations, including lots of computers, laptops, TV’s, Virtual reality devices, drones, cars, wearables, and many more things for all sorts of people ranging from hard-core PC enthusiasts to audiophiles and beyond.

BY DANIEL MINDICH

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -11-

MSI GT80

The MSI GT80 is a new laptop by MSI that has been leaked

months before its official announcement. This beast of a laptop

weighs just more than 10 pounds and has 2 of the best mobile

graphics card available in the same computer (2 980m’s in SLI),

plus a mechanical keyboard with Cherry Brown Switches. MSI

plans for this laptop to be easily upgradable for the next two gen-

erations of graphics cards, so it is built to last. This laptop, with

its immense weight is obviously something that you won’t be

bringing this places daily, so this is more for people who will use

this as a desktop replacement but may bring it to their homes if

they live in more than one place.

Intel Atom Compute Stick

The Intel Compute Stick uses Intel’s new quad core Atom

Chipset, in order to make a pocket sized desktop computer. It

connects to a monitor or TV via HDMI. The device could be a

contender to Apple TV’s and the Android TV’s like the Razer

Forge (also featured at CES 2015) or the Sony Bravia because

it can run a full version of Windows 8.1 or Linux, can connect to

the Internet in order to watch Netflix, and has local storage. All

that is needed to use this is a monitor that has an HDMI port,

and an USB- or Bluetooth-connected keyboard and mouse, and

then you are good to go.

Virtual Reality - OSVR

When I pay attention to CES, I always like to look at the new

innovations with Virtual Reality. In past years, things like the

Oculus Rift and the Avegant Glyph have made appearances. All

of these appeared again this year, along with a new one – OSVR.

OSVR stands for “Open Source Virtual Reality.” As the title

suggests, it is a completely open source hardware and software

Virtual Reality system. The OSVR is trying to do to with Virtual

Reality what the open source Android did to the smartphone.

It would make the new type of technology easy to make and

edit for both users and companies, who could make their own

products based off of it or make software for it, helping the VR

technology reach it’s potential in everyday media and speeding

up the development and sophistication.

PIXELATED

-12- | THE ELEMENTS PIXELATED

Ultrahaptics

Ultrahaptics is a technology that projects a “tactile feeling”

onto your hands without use of a glove or any other attachment

to your body. It uses ultrasound to create the feeling of the

feedback on your hand. It produces different sounds into the

air so when you touch an intersection of the ultrasonic waves;

it would actually feel like you are touching a small buzzing of an

object, just like how some phones today make a small vibration

when you touch one of the backlit buttons. While now this is just

a nifty object to have been invented, in the future, it could make

holograms or 3D models easy to control.

Dash

Dash is a pair of wireless in-ear earbuds with a built-in stor-

age for music, a heart rate monitor, and other fitness-related

monitors. They are very small and relatively unnoticeable while

still looking great. They aim to be fitness oriented, so they track

your heart rate, speed, duration of exercise period, and even

more cool and useful sensors that can be used to improve your

exercises.

DronesCES this year showed a lot of drones, from clearly profession-

al ones that can shoot 4K videos from up to 2km away with a

battery that lasts 2 hours, to consumer-centered small drones

with an 8-minute battery and a worse camera, to a wrist worn

selfie-centered drone that was written about in a previous and

amazing article. Parrot, a drone-centered company, has made a

few drones that can appeal to major hobbyists or curious con-

sumers. One of their drones, the Parrot Bebop, has a really great

1080p Camera that can move up to 180° and a built-in WiFi

hotspot. They also made a much more consumer-based drone

with an 8-minute battery that can take pictures and videos from

its downward-facing camera. This is a great invention and can

help popularize drones for everyday life. Both of these products

definitely have potential.

THE ELEMENTS | -13-PIXELATED

Mercedes-Benz Concept CarMercedes-Benz showed off a new concept car called the Mercedes-Benz F015 self-driving car at CES 2015. The car looks very futuristic, has

a silver finish, and looks a bit like an updated DeLorean. As the title states, this car can drive itself. The interior of the car looks like a luxurious liv-

ing room with comfortable seats that swivel to look to the center of the car. Although it is self-driving, there is a steering wheel that the driver’s

seat can swivel to. This car is also a hybrid, it has a battery, and it promises to deliver zero emissions. Mercedes Benz doesn’t plan to mass-pro-

duce this car, but they are just trying to display their concept.

-14- | THE ELEMENTS

Every year at the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES, new tele-

visions and technologies are announced with higher resolutions,

better contrast ratios, more connectivity, and new features.

Many of the new TV’s showcased at CES are intended to set new

standards and differentiate themselves from the competition, exam-

ples of this being 4K and higher, OLED, Curved, and Quantum Dots.

CES 2014 was the year of the 4K Television, evidenced by the increase

of UHD TV sales as well as the implementation of many new mediums

to record content for these new TV’s. Today we see 4K televisions

costing as little as $1,000 as compared to $150,000 just one year ago.

CES 2015 saw the introduction of Quantum Dot displays to the

consumer market. Quantum Dots are a new kind of backlighting that

can be applied to current LED technology. Current backlighting tech-

nology works through shining white light through red, green, and blue

filters hence the RGB color scale. However, quantum dot backlighting

promises to show colors by shining pure colorized light as opposed to

filtered white light. This results in a much brighter and energy efficient

image with richer colors and a wider color gamut. Many CES attend-

ees reported that these claims were in fact true but not very noticea-

ble in the techology’s current form. We will likely see more Quantum

Dot televisions within the next year, similar to the Ultra HD television

trend.

Speaking of Ultra HD televisions, 4K displays have become a

standard in the consumer market as they’ve been implemented in

televisions and computers for over a year now. This has prompted

consumer tech manufacturers to surpass 4K and introduce 6K and 8K

displays at CES 2015. These even higher resolution displays are truly

remarkable, although they currently lack any content to truly appre-

ciate the improved picture quality. This is partially the reason why 4K

is not yet the industry standard and why 6K & 8K displays will not see

mass appeal for another decade or so.

Many companies are setting industry standards for televisions

through improving our current TV’s as opposed to increasing resolu-

NEW TELEVISIONTECHNOLOGYBY JOHN ABREU

Nis porisinis denihicae nistio to idemquo velit que rem ipis et ipis nonsent. Nis porisinis denihicae nistio to idemquosent. Parianden-dae occulpa dollum ad eosant, volenisquo quunt, sam el mos mos ad10 Million

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -15-

tion. A prime example of this is OLED televisions which generated a

large amount of press at CES 2015. This is because OLED displays

have substantially improved contrast ratios as well as the color gamut.

OLED does not require any backlighting because each individual

pixel in a display generates its own light, so blacks are just turned

off pixels, and whites are just pixels turned on 100 percent, making

OLED displays significantly more power efficient. However, the lack

of backlighting means that OLED displays are not as bright as LCD

and Quantum Dot displays.

Meanwhile, many televisions manufacturers are aiming to change

the way we view televisions through changing the shape of our TV’s

as opposed to the quality of the image. This new form factor is the

Curved Display, which is exactly what it sounds like: a display that

curves outwards. These new Curved TV’s promise a more immersive

experience and better viewing angles as “The Curve” gives the perfect

view from every seat in a room. However, these advantages are very

niche because you need to be sitting within 30 degrees of the screen

to truly appreciate the heightened sense of immersion; the current

price bracket of these new displays doesn’t justify the gains. Inter-

estingly, companies like Samsung and LG have designed adjustable

displays that can function as both curved and traditional flat displays.

Nonetheless, these adjustable displays are also very highly priced at

the moment.

CES 2015 saw the popularization of many new technologies that

are soon to be in our living rooms. Some of these include Ultra High

resolution displays (namely 4K and higher), Quantum Dot displays,

OLED backlighting, and Curved TV’s. Many of these technologies are

not widely known in the consumer market due to their increased pric-

es or lack of implementation, but they will likely be setting new stand-

ards and joining the likes of Full HD and 3D, those which many of us

already boast in our living rooms and on our smartphone screens.

“Nis porisinis denihicae nistio to idemquo velit que rem ipis et ipis nonsent. Nis porisinis denihicae nistio to idemquosent.”

Magnisinti omnim volesenient voluptatum verchillant ullam nos earum esciist ipsus adic te sed mag-nime ndipisciamet est, sit volorit al-icae et doles atur, ipsant. Or alitem rem aritae nonsediti dolescia ditis as autaerioriam

PIXELATED

-16- | THE ELEMENTS

BY YOEL ZAID

3D FOODPRINTERS

BY GRANT KAUFMAN

PIXELATED

At CES 2015, an abundance of products were introduced to

the public. Like any other CES event in the past, there were

some products that blew the minds of many, but others that

were more of a letdown. Out of all of the new food related technolo-

gies that were introduced, including the ChillHub Smart Fridge and the

CocoJet, one in particular caught the eyes of many. This item was the

3D food printer.

The 3D food printer, also known as the XYZ 3D food printer, is able

to print different shapes of food by imputing pre-made designs from

the web or from a USB hard drive. The user also has the option to

easily choose a pre-set food shape from the printer itself. As of now,

this food printer only prints deserts such as chocolates and simple

cakes. In the near future, it may be able to print real foods such as

pizza, but there is one key downside to it. Once the printer finishes the

final product, the user must either heat it up or cook it in some fashion

THE ELEMENTS | -17-

The creators of the XYZ 3D

food printer didn’t have to worry

about transitioning from a stand-

ard plastic 3D printer because

it works just like their older

Da Vinci AiO 1.0. Much of the

software and hardware shared

similar features inside each print-

er. The only obvious change was

that instead of turning plastic

into 3D objects, the XYZ 3D food

printer turns raw ingredients into

uncooked food. Some basic ingre-

dients that are available for the

printer include: chocolate, dough,

or a combination of solid items.

The final products, as of now, can

be either cookies or decorations

on cakes. Like I mentioned earlier,

though, other foods such as pizza

will be up for grabs in the future.

Once the printer becomes

available to consumers, it will be

put to use in all kinds of scenar-

ios. For example, in the future, it

will be used to supply easy and

convenient food for astronauts

while in space. This will eliminate

the existing problem of meals in

space. The XYZ 3D food printer

could possibly be used at small

coffee shops or restaurants to

supply simple deserts and meals.

Of course, the most convenient

place to put the XYZ 3D food

printer would be in the comfort

of your home, but it may seem

a bit pricy to some at around

$2000.

XYZprinting, the company in

charge of making the XYZ 3D

food printer is striving to release

the printer as soon as possible

in order to beat other compe-

tition that is sure to provide a

challenge. To some consumers,

the XYZ 3D food printer will be a

letdown because it is far from the

utopian vision of food printers

that are able to print fully cooked

meals. As of now, the food print-

ing race is just beginning. In other

words, we may see food printers

in the future that are able to print

fully cooked meals with all of the

appropriate nutrients for a given

person. Who knows, only time

will tell! The XYZ 3D food printer

will be available in the second

quarter of 2015, and it will most

likely cost about $2000.

PIXELATED

Several sources believe that Apple will release the next iPhone in two sizes: 4.5 inches and 5 inches, both of which are increases from the current iPhone screen size.

Will a new centralized replay sys-tem improve the NHL? The costly change may set a new standard for other

-18- | THE ELEMENTS PIXELATED

FAR CRY 4

Far Cry 4 continues the trend in the Far Cry

series while bringing some new features to

the table. Far Cry 4, like the other games in

the series, is a first person shooter with open world

action. The game was published by Ubisoft, and

developed by Ubisoft Montreal; for those of you

who aren’t familiar with Ubisoft, they are a French

video game developer and publisher. Far Cry 4 is

available on various different platforms such as:

PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One,

and Microsoft Windows. The game released on

November 18, 2014 for USA, Europe, and Austral-

ia and on January 22, 2015 for Japan. Far Cry 4

offers two types of game modes, offline and CO-OP

action. The offline campaign takes place in a country

named Kyrat, located in a region of the Himalayas.

You play as a character named Ajay Ghale who was

born in Kyrat, but whose mother took him away

to the United States when he was young. After his

mother’s death, he returned back to Kyrat to fulfill

his mother’s wish, which was to “take me back to

Lakshmana”. This quote is prompted in the open-

ing scenes of the game, and for your information,

Lakshmana is a location in the country of Kyrat. Ajay

Bea que nonsequi odia cusciendae arum qui cumque velenis re aut pre volectem eum venimporem as modia volupti osamus.

BY STEPHEN ANGELAKOS

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -19-

brings his mother’s ashes back

to Kyrat and finds himself in the

middle of a civil war to over-

throw a dictator named Pagan

Min. The name of the rebel group

against this tyrant is called the

Golden Path, created by Ajay’s

father.

Aside from all the commotion

between Pagan and the rebellion,

there are many ways to upgrade

your character, Ajay Ghale. The

open world offers many missions

that require you to travel around

the entire map. You can upgrade

your artillery by purchasing new

guns with the profits that you

generate from prior missions.

Each weapon is designed in dif-

ferent ways, such that the player

can decide to run in and shoot, or

be sneaky and get the job done

without others’ knowing Ajay

was even there. There are mul-

tiple attachments that you can

place on the guns, such as differ-

ent scopes, silencers, extended

magazines, and many more!

As you progress in the game,

you pick up a lot of items. Far

Cry 4 offers a crafting feature,

which allows the player to

upgrade their weapon holster to

hold more guns, their wallet to

carry around more money, and

their ammunition bag to carry

more ammo, among many more

available upgrades. I personally

enjoy this feature as it allows

the player to aim toward a goal

in upgrading pouches, instead of

just focusing on completing the

story line missions.

Like I said earlier, the game

offers offline and online playa-

bility. The online play consists

of CO-OP capabilities, allowing

you to play missions with others

who have the game. The ability to

play the campaign and different

missions with friends who also

have the game makes the online

capabilities very useful.

One downfall I should point

out of Far Cry 4 is the fact that

it is VERY similar to Far Cry 3. If

you were to play Far Cry 3, you

would have the same experience

as actually playing Far Cry 4. The

crafting abilities are the same,

and the hunting is the same.

The only notable difference is

the plot in both of the games.

Personally, I enjoyed FC3 a lot,

so that is what inspired me to

purchase, and yet again, enjoy

FC4. If you are looking for exten-

sive changes and a redesigned

gameplay, you won’t get that in

Far Cry 4.

-20- | THE ELEMENTS

HALO: THE MASTER CHIEF COLLECTION

The Halo franchise has

made history by inspir-

ing millions of people to

buy consoles just to play it. Halo

is exclusive to the Xbox and The

Master Chief Collection only

platforms on the Xbox One, as a

first person shooter game. The

collection consists of four games;

Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2

Anniversary, Halo 3 and Halo 4,

the first of the three planned in-

stallments from 343 Industries

(343i). All of the games received

a graphical update for the release.

Access to the Halo 5: Multiplayer

Beta is also included. Each of the

games retains its original game-

play, multiplayer and story mode.

Halo 2 Anniversary is the star of

the show, with an exclusive re-de-

sign of its audio and visuals. Halo

2’s campaign mode is however

somewhat slow and has been

known to lag at times, as there are

occasional frozen enemies and

sometimes long loading screens

pop up before cut scenes, inter-

rupting the pace of the game. The

cut scenes, however, are flawless;

they were extended by Blur Stu-

dio using computer-generated

imagery and provide for a much

more modern looking Halo. Halo

2 runs two graphic engines at

the same time just like its prede-

cessor Combat Evolved. You can

switch between the 2004 and

2014 graphics at the push of a

button, enabling you to see how

the game has evolved. The game

includes six remakes of the Halo

2 maps. It was announced that

a remake of Halo 3: ODST and

BY ARMAND DANG

PIXELATED

The BBC show tracks the detective mysteries of a modern-day Sherlock

Holmes in 90-minute episode installments

THE ELEMENTS | -21-

one more re-mastered Halo 2 map would be released as downloada-

ble content for the collection sometime in 2015. Halo’s soundtrack has

always enhanced the experience for Halo players. Halo 2’s soundtrack

was re-mastered and it sounds bigger and fuller while still remaining

true to the original. The sound of the weapons has been replaced with

beefier, more aggressive versions. The battle rifle and sniper in par-

ticular have a satisfying wallop while the sound of the overcharged

plasma pistol and the musical energy sword can prove to be annoying.

Although the story mode and sound track appear excellent, Halo 2’s

multiplayer modes proved to be unreliable and bug ridden after the

release on November 11, 2014. Many parties are separated online,

there are extended wait times, some groups are put into the wrong

map or multiplayer mode and there are often uneven team pairings.

343 Industries does plan on fixing the bugs in future updates

Now, let’s discuss the company behind the Halo franchise: 343 in-

dustries. The Halo franchise was originally started by Bungie and was

meant to be a trilogy. Bungie and Microsoft had a disagreement and

Bungie started working with Activision instead. Microsoft, not want-

ing to end one of their best exclusives on Xbox, created 343 Industries

(named after a character in the game, 343 Guilty Spark) to continue

the Halo franchise. Many Halo fans say that after Bungie left, the Halo

series slowly started to decline. Others say that 343 saved the Halo

franchise. No matter what they say, all Halo fans cannot dispute the

fact that the Halo: Master Chief Collection is indeed worth its price.

This game is a great deal for $60 because you are getting four

games for the price of one, and eventually five once Halo 3: ODST

is released. Halo: Combat Evolved is as good as ever with its great

campaign and co-op mode, but does not provide any online play. Halo

2 does have online play and even though it is faulty, it is being fixed

as new updates are released for the game. The collection includes

Halo 3 and Halo 4, both of which have online modes that are as good

as ever. Halo 3 remains a great game, especially since it has the best

campaign mode. It does however feel its age because it does not have

the newly polished graphics that Halo and Halo 2 have, nor does it

have the advantage of being the newest game like Halo 4. Halo 4

does have a terrible story mode but compensates for it with its great

multiplayer co-op modes. Although Halo: The Master Chief collection

has its faults, it is a great reminder that Halo succeeded not because

of hype or flavor of the month popularity, but because of timeless first

person shooter deign. With excellent stories, great maps and amazing

graphics, Halo holds up well against modern shooters.

PIXELATED

Benedict Cumberbatch as computer scientist Alan Turing in The Imi-tation Game,

-22- | THE ELEMENTS

In 1984, the game Elite was published

by Acornsoft and developed by Frontier

Studios. It was a major innovator in early

gaming. Not only was Elite the first space sim,

the first game to feature an open world, and

the first game to use procedural generation,

it was also one of the first games to ever have

3D graphics. Both critically and commercial-

ly the game was a huge success receiving an

average score of 93 from magazines of the

time and selling 107,898 copies (huge sales

for the time). Needless to say, Elite led to

many sequels including Frontier: Elite II, and

Frontier: First Encounters. But with success

comes competition. In the year 1990, Wing

Commander was released as the sole compe-

tition to Elite in the space sim market. These

two gaming series were in harsh competition

throughout the 90’s. However, in the early

2000’s space sims fell out of favor, mainly due

to the rise of first person shooters.

In 2012, Chris Roberts the head developer

of the Wing Commander series announced on

Ignition Deck, a site for crowd funding video

game projects, and Kickstarter, another crowd

funding website, that he planned on making a

new space sim titled Star Citizen. Frontier

studios recognised its old foe and began de-

velopment on its answer to Star Citizen titled

Elite: Dangerous. Within a month Chris Rob-

erts and his studio’s (known as Cloud Imperi-

um Games) Kickstarter page had raised over 4

million dollars toward the making of this new

game. Evident here is not only many people’s

interest in space sim, but also their willing-

ness to put down money on these games even

before release. Frontier Studios, seeing the

success of CIG’s (Cloud Imperium Games)

Kickstarter launched one of their own. Fron-

tier Studios’ Kickstarter did not see nearly the

success of CIG’s; however, they have raised

two million dollars to date. Regardless, these

two new space sims seem to have revived

what was an entirely dead genre.

Elite: DangerousElite: Dangerous saw it’s official release at

the end of last year on December 16th; how-

ever, the game does not yet seem to be com-

plete. It is missing multiple features that are

supposedly be added after launch including:

• the ability to walk on Planets

• the ability to walk around your ships

• the ability to walk around stations (com-

ing in patch 1.1)

• Multi-crewed ships

• Only 15 of the 27 ships planned to be in

the game are currently in it.

• An offline mode

• The ability to capture and build stations

(coming in patch 1.1)

With so many basic features missing I don’t

really consider this a full game at this point.

Despite the setbacks, Elite: Dangerous shows

a lot of promise. I have tested out the game

myself and can vouch that the space combat

feels solid and is a lot of fun. The graphics are

not the greatest I ever seen, but considering

that it is an open world game, they are decent.

There are also a number of ways in which

Elite: Dangerous is quite unique:

• Vast Size: the galaxy of Elite: Dangerous

is actually, in terms of size, a 1 to 1 copy

of our Milky Way. Supposedly, if every

person in the world logged on right now

and played continually, it would take

around 10 thousand years for someone

to have gone to every Star System in the

game.

• High Scientific Accuracy: Aside from

the game’s allowing you to break the

speed of light, the gameplay is very accu-

rate in terms of the forces acting on it’s

stellar bodies. For example, the space

stations that many humans of the Elite:

Dangerous universe inhabit rotate at the

right speed necessary to create enough

centrifugal force to simulate the gravity

of Earth.

• A Dynamic Economy: Elite: Danger-

ous, instead of setting a flat price for

items like you might see in other RPGs

like Skyrim, uses a supply and demand

algorithm to calculate the cost of goods.

This means that the economy is actually

changing depending on what players are

doing. For example, when most players

are logged out, like at noon on a Monday,

the price levels will change to reflect de-

creased demand.

• Sound Design: I don’t know that this is

particularly unique, but the sound in this

game just makes things feel satisfying

(like the rev of the engines or the explo-

sion of an enemy ship) It does however

show their attention to detail.

ELITE DANGEROUSAND STAR CITIZENBY HENRY HUNT

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -23-

Star CitizenStar Citizen, despite being in development for a year longer

than Elite: Dangerous, is still behind in its overall development.

Currently, they are in a kind of public pre-alpha state. The way

they are releasing the game is through a system of modules.

These modules are essentially different pieces of the final game.

For example, back in August of last year, Star Citizen released

there dogfighting modules which was the space combat in the

game. Currently they have released the dogfighting module and

the hanger module. However, they have already scheduled the

releases of the remaining modules all the way up to the release of

the final game. Here is their current schedule:

• In March: Planetside / Social Module

• In April: First Person Shooter Module

• In July: The Alpha of the full game

This system of releasing the game allows for those supporting

the game to play the parts that are finished without the parts that

are still in development, or broken. Star Citizen will come out

sometime in 2016 for PC only..

ConclusionAs this age old rivalry rekindles and more details get released

on both games, there is no doubt that space sim will move back

into one of the main focuses of the gaming community. The large

support in crowd funding for these games shows that there is a

high demand for space simulation of this type, now it is just a mat-

ter of the supply.

PIXELATED

-24- | THE ELEMENTS

There is no doubt that Super Smash

Bros. for Wii U is one of the biggest

releases of the year. Critically ac-

claimed, SSB4 sold roughly 490,000 units in

its first weekend, making it the fastest selling

Wii U game in the U.S. As of January 2015,

the game has sold over 1.3 million domes-

tically. These figures are well deserved, as

SSB4 does nearly everything right. This easy

to pickup, hard-to-master franchise has long

been known among the gaming communi-

ty as one of the best, if not, the best, fighting

games since its original 1999 release on the

Nintendo 64. Everything from the game’s

focus on knocking opponents off the stage

rather than depleting their life bar, to the 30

years of gaming history has helped keep mul-

tiple generations of gamers, including myself,

coming back for more. Take a look in our senior

study room, for example, and you’ll see exact-

ly how popular the Super Smash Bros. fran-

chise is. SSB4 establishes itself as the perfect

follow up to these massively popular games.

It boasts a roster of 51 characters, 12 more

than Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Although

some were disappointed to see characters

such as Lucas, Pokémon Trainer, and Solid

Snake go, the roster has been freshened and

diversified with the inclusion of characters

such as Mega Man, Little Mac, Duck Hunt,

and Pac Man. Mega Man is actually the first

character with a ranged Neutral Attack. Excit-

ingly, Mew Two has also been scheduled for

a DLC release in the spring of 2015, bringing

him back for the first time since Super Smash

Bros Melee (2001). SSB4 also offers a bunch

of new game modes, as well as the return of

old favorites. The most sensational of these

is 8-player smash. In this new game mode,

up to 8 players can play on massive, specially

designed stages such as The Great Cave

Offensive. This game mode really captures

exactly what makes Smash Bros. so great, bat-

tling it out with a bunch of your friends, with

extremely detailed and unique characters, on

gorgeous stages. Another new feature is Spe-

cial Orders, a single player game mode where

players can spend the Smash Coins that they

have earned on special event matches. The

higher the difficulty of these matches, the

higher the payout.

However, not all of the new game modes

are as good. Smash Tour, where players take

control of Miis and play what is pretty much

a board game was quite disappointing. As

your Miis move across the board they collect

characters and power ups and have small,

relatively quick battles in preparation for a

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Oficid quaer-ferum do-luptin nonse-nis anti imus, oreptis om.

SUPER SMASHBROS.WII UBY MICHAEL DIMITROV

“Agnis invelia qui intese-dior seque pratis. Pel ea

volupta sperspicium harum.

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -25-

final battle. This game mode sounds fun in

theory, but in reality, it really takes away from

the Smash Bros. experience, as all the battles

are extremely short and random, removing

the element of skill Smash Bros. is known

for. In terms of online play, SSB4 succumbs

to the same issues all Nintendo multiplayer

games seem to suffer from. When it works,

it’s great, but because the connection type

is peer to peer, if you or your opponent has a

weak Internet connection, there will be quite

a bit of lag.

SSB4 also features a plethora of controller

options including the Wii U gamepad, the

classic Wii remote, the Classic Control-

ler Pro, the Wii U Pro Controller, and the

Nintendo GameCube controller. However,

the GameCube controller still remains most

people’s first choice, and it is the best option,

which leads me to one of the only tarnishes

on an otherwise perfect game. Unlike the

Wii, the Wii U does not directly support

GameCube controllers, making it necessary

to purchase a $20 GameCube controller

adaptor. Regrettably, Nintendo grossly un-

derestimated the demand for these adaptors,

making them only available with a pre-order

of the game. Some third party vendors were

selling adaptors for almost $150 during the

weeks after the game’s release. Not only this,

but the GameCube adaptor only works on

SSB4, which makes it difficult to justify the

purchase of one of these adaptors. As of yet,

Nintendo has not done anything to resolve

the issue. This makes it extremely difficult for

most people to be able to use their favorite

choice of controller.

In terms of graphics, everything about this

game is, as previously iterated, gorgeous;

stages are colorful and captivating, while

characters are portrayed in incredible detail.

SSB4 looks simply stunning in 1080p, and

even during 8-player smash on the most CPU

intensive stages, I’ve never seen the FPS fall

below 60. SSB4 utilizes the Wii U’s hardware

very well. All in all, I have to say that almost

everything about SSB4 is excellent and ex-

tremely well executed, and there is definitely

enough content to keep players coming back

for more.

PIXELATED

RATING: 9.0

-26- | THE ELEMENTS

136

P roject CARS (Community Assisted Racing Simu-

lator) is a realistic racing simulator produced by

Slightly Mad Studios and scheduled for release

for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Windows comput-

ers on March 17 in North America (March 20 in Europe

and Australia, and March 21 in the UK; there also may be

releases in the future for the Wii U, Oculus Rift, SteamOS

platforms, and Sony’s Project Morpheus). At first glance,

Project CARS may seem like another standard racing

game, but what differentiates this game from other well-

known racing simulators, such as Forza or Gran Turismo,

is its unique community created content.

The gaming community has been there throughout the

majority of the development of the game, from fulfilling

the original funding requirements to developing it in the

first place (though since then Bandai Namco Games has

taken up the position of publisher), to creating the very

content which will be seen in the completed project.

Community assistance is very rare in the case of major

releases, but it seems to have paid off in the case of this

game, as Project CARS is almost fully completed with

all of its intended content having been included in the

game. The game development’s progress can be shown

through the many Alpha pre-releases that donators and

pre-orderers have received. While for some people just

having the opportunity to work on a game is pay enough,

others may feel as if they need something to compensate

for their work. As a result, people who contributed to a

specific aspect of the game’s development will be com-

pensated and will receive a percentage of the total game

sales profits for the first 3 years it is available in stores.

Content-wise, the game has a lot to show for. It boasts

an impressive 52 tracks from all over the world on which

you can race, though some tracks do not use the official

real world names for licensing reasons. On those tracks

you can currently race with 67 different cars, with almost

anything, ranging from touring cars to Formula 1 cars

available to you; each individual car has its own distinct

textures, dynamic tire physics simulations, and handling,

making it feel as if you are actually racing inside the car

you had chosen, and making some cars better than others

in certain tracks and racing conditions. I say “racing

conditions” because the complete game will feature a dy-

namic weather system, with certain conditions affecting

both the track and the cars that race on it. What really

separates Project CARS from other racing simulators

is the “choose a path” play-style, where, upon selecting

career mode, a player will start small but as one advanc-

es, he or she will be able to choose what kind of tracks on

which to race and what cars to drive, molding their racing

career from the very beginning. Because of this unique

Oficid quaerferum doluptin nonsenis anti imus, et recae soloreptis exces et om.

PROJECT CARSWHAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL?

BY VAUGHAN DOTY

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -27-

gameplay feature, a player can start as a humble kart racer,

then become anything they want— from NASCAR driver to

Formula 1 superstar— it’s all up to the player.

This game is a new concept— a game created almost

exclusively by the community and for the community the

entire way, from funding to content creation to gameplay. It

has many impressive features to show off, particularly those

very realistic ones such as dynamic weather and ground-

breaking tire simulations (as well as the 67 different cars

and 52 tracks mentioned before). Though this game might

not be the biggest hit in the local video game store or online

marketplace, it will certainly be a milestone for racing fans

who have been waiting for a multi-platform game like this.

Project CARS will certainly revolutionize racing simulations,

and it may even make us think twice about community

assisted development on a broader scale. Ustis audanit officid quaerferum doluptin nonsenis anti imus, et recae soloreptis exces et omnimi.

PIXELATED

-28- | THE ELEMENTS

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is an indie survival horror

video game developed by Scott Cawthon. The PC

version was released via Steam on November 11,

2014 while the mobile version for Android and Windows

Phone were released on November 13, 2014 and De-

cember 5, respectively. Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 sports

six all new enemy characters as well as updated ver-

sions of the four enemy characters from the first game.

The original game, Five Nights at Freddy’s (FNAF)

is set in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a family restaurant

based loosely of off Chuck E. Cheese. You play as a

guard named Mike Schmidt, who recently started

working the night shifts, and Schmidt’s job is to guard

the establishment by keeping an eye on things from the

security cameras. As you progress through the game, the

previous guard dubbed by the Internet community as

“Phone Guy” leaves messages to help Mike adjust to his

new job. FNAF features four animatronic characters that

entertain the kids: The titular Freddy Fazbear, Bonnie

the Bunny, Chica the Chicken, and Foxy the Pirate Fox.

There is also a fifth un-named animatronic referred to as

“Golden Freddy” because of his color and resemblance

to Freddy Fazbear. Golden Freddy rarely appears, but if

he does, you automatically lose and the game quits.

In the messages left by the Phone Guy, he explains a

feature that the animatronics have called night-roam-

ing mode, a feature that allows for the animatronics to

wander the restaurant at night. The animatronics motors

lock up if they are turned off every night, so they are

left on to prevent any damage. If the animatronics roam

outside the night-guard’s office, the player can close

the doors and activate their power hungry door-lights

to keep them out. The cameras use power as well, and

if the player runs out of power, then the animatronics

can enter the office and attack the player. The player has

no defense against the animatronics, so power acts are

needed to get through the game.

FNAF 2 follows a lot of the same game me-

chanics as the first game with added features, such as six

additional animatronics. There are no doors, and instead

of door-lights, there is a simple flashlight. There is also

a music box that the player must constantly wind-up,

or else the animatronic named the Puppet comes and

kills the player. Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza is also much

larger and contains many more cameras increasing the

difficulty even more. All the new elements make the

game much harder and far more frustrating, but the new

challenges provide a gameplay that is also addicting. For

me, the part of FNAF 2 that makes it such a captivating

horror game is the plot. Without giving anything away, I

can honestly say that FNAF 2 has one of the best stories

I have seen in any horror game.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 has been given rave reviews

on gaming networking platforms, like Steam and Desura,

but on actual game review sites like IGN and Metacritic,

it has average ratings. Metacritic, for example, gave it

three out of five stars, which isn’t bad, but it is hardly a

great review either. FNAF 2 is mostly criticized for the

overwhelming amount of difficulty that the six additional

animatronics and the increased amount of tasks provide.

Despite this, I think that the addictive gameplay added

with the creepy plot make this game one of the better

and more unique in horror game history.

PIXELATED

FIVE NIGHTSAT FREDDY’S 2BY ARJUN SWARUP

NumbersTh new film hopes to follow the success of past Cinderella films

1634year the folk story of cinderlla was first published

$210mProjected total Domestic Gross

15Number of film and television Cinderella adaptations

THE ELEMENTS | -29-

-30- | THE ELEMENTS

In July 2012, Vince Gilligan hinted at a possible spin-off of the popu-

lar TV show Breaking Bad. By April 2013, the series was confirmed

and was titled Better Call Saul. AMC premiered Better Call Saul

on February 8th, and it set the record for the most views of a scripted

series premiere in basic cable history with a total of 6.9 million view-

ers. The show is focused around small-time lawyer James McGill, bet-

ter known as Saul Goodman the sketchy criminal lawyer on Breaking

Bad. James McGill is portrayed by Bob Odenkirk, known for co-cre-

ating and co-starring in the HBO sketch comedy show Mr. Show with

Bob and David. In Breaking Bad, Saul Goodman was largely comic re-

lief. With that being said, and along with the fact that Odenkirk has a

background in comedy, it was unexpected that Better Call Saul was

created as a drama instead of a comedy. The producers considered

making the show a half-hour comedy, but they decided to stick with

what they knew best, that being drama. In October 2014, Odenkirk

described the show as “85 percent drama. 15 percent comedy.” Af-

ter watching the first few episodes that description is a perfect sum-

mary of the overall tone of the show.

The series opens with a black and

white scene of Saul Goodman working

at a Cinnabon acting extremely para-

noid. The last time Goodman is seen

in Breaking Bad is when he gets into

a van and disappears to let the heat

die down that was hanging around

him with the police’s discovery of the

identity of Heisenberg. Based on the

opening scene and Breaking Bad’s past

tendencies to start at the end, Better

Call Saul will document how Goodman

got into the situation in which he was

at the end of Breaking Bad. The rest

of the episode shows the exploits of

Goodman; however, his name is not

NumbersSelma was released to com-merate the 50th anniversary of the march

$20mProduction Budget

$47mDomestic Gross

2Oscar Nominations: Best Picture and Best Original Song

BETTER CALL SAULBY YOEL ZAID

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -31-

Goodman it’s Jimmy McGill. Just

like Breaking Bad, which followed

the transformation of a high

school chemistry teacher into a

huge drug dealer, Better Call Saul

will most likely follow the trans-

formation of a moral small-time

lawyer into a successful criminal

lawyer, with a large emphasis on

the “criminal.” Based on just the

opening scene and the first epi-

sode, it’s obvious that Vince Gil-

ligan is exploring similar themes

in similar ways as he did in his

huge hit Breaking Bad. With that

being said, if you were hoping for

a brand new groundbreaking TV

show, you might be disappointed

with Better Call Saul. However,

if you’re looking for a new TV

show to help you cope with your

Breaking Bad withdrawal, you

will not be disappointed with

Better Call Saul.

Better Call Saul does a great

job with combining the cast of

Breaking Bad with some new

faces. It introduces Goodman

and Mike Ehrmantraut (a former

Philadelphia police officer that

works as a private investigator,

cleaner, and fixer for Goodman

on Breaking Bad) as complete

strangers, a relationship that

fans of Breaking Bad would love

to watch unfold on screen. Some

new additions to the cast include

Michael McKean as Chuck

McGill (Goodman’s brother who

is forced to leave his job at his law

firm Hamlin & McGill), Patrick

Fabian as Howard Hamlin (who

is hated by Goodman and is

co-founder of Hamlin & McGill

along with Jimmy’s brother), and

Michael Mando as Nacho Varga

(an ambitious criminal with some

familiar family ties). All of which

feel like their own character, and

not as an attempt at recycling

characters from the already suc-

cessful Breaking Bad, like some

other spin-offs.

Overall Vince Gilligan does not

disappoint with Better Call Saul.

For those who disliked the slow

pace of Breaking Bad, Better Call

Saul picks up the pace leaving

viewers constantly wanting more.

Better Call Saul feels familiar in

a way that it doesn’t feel like a

carbon copy of Breaking Bad, but

more like a standalone television

show executed in a similar style

as its parent material.

PIXELATED

-32- | THE ELEMENTS

THE FLASHBY ZACH TROYANOVSKY

The Flash follows CSI investigator Barry Allen (Grant Gustin)

who is struck by lightning during a particle accelerator explo-

sion, granting him super speed which he then uses to protect

his city. Gustin was previously known for his role as Sebastian Smythe

on the Fox series Glee, so his new role as the fastest man alive is whole

new experience; so far he’s gone above and beyond the expectations

set by the 1990’s TV iteration of The Flash. Even though Arrow (The

CW’s other superhero show) still holds the ratings record of the two,

no one has any doubts The Flash will soon surpass its sister show pure-

ly because of the show’s makeup; the two shows have almost exactly

the same premise and more or less the same episode structure , but

what sets The Flash apart from Arrow is the comedic angle the show

uses to portray the Scarlet speedster. The Flash brings a light-heart-

ed perspective to the DC film/TV universe going completely 180

from darker films like The Dark Knight or Man of Steel or even Arrow.

The Flash appeals to all audiences: it reaches out to newcomers to

the DC universe with its comedic scenes and numerous love interests,

and for the devoted DC fans, there are tons of hidden DC comics East-

er eggs and new impressions of classic comic book villains like Captain

Cold, The Pied Piper, Heat wave, and others. The newest superhero

television show on the CW started off its first season with a record 4.8

million viewers, proving to be a successful follow-up to the CW’s first

superhero show, Arrow. The show’s ratings flew even higher after its

first official crossover with Arrow, which producer Marc Guggenheim

has announced to be an annual event following the two episodes’

having the highest ratings on each of their respective shows.

The first season of the Flash centers on the origins of Barry Allen

as the flash, and notable DC comics’ Super villain The Reverse-Flash

(Tom Cavanagh) and many other minor DC villains redone in a more

modern and less cartoonish style. Both CW shows stem from one

PIXELATED

THE ELEMENTS | -33-PIXELATED

“2014 IS GOING TO BE A GAME CHANGING YEAR FOR THESE NEXT

GENERATION CONSOLES WITH NEW, UNBELIEVABLE TITLES BEING

RELEASED AS THE YEAR GOES ON. ”

superhero protagonist but the

real main characters of the shows

in both cases are the support

group for the hero. In The Flash,

the facility that caused the par-

ticle accelerator explosion now

helps Barry Allen fight crime and

improve his speed. One of the

main attractions to DC comics

fans for this new show was its

shared universe with Arrow,

which accounts for a large per-

centage of its viewership. Seeing

how the two shows cross-over

so commonly, it seems difficult

for anyone to only watch one of

them. After the widely successful

mid-season finale, a Supergirl

TV series (what will be the third

member of this superhero uni-

verse, along with The Flash and

Arrow) was announced for fall of

2015. The Flash airs Tuesdays at

8 on The CW. Be sure to check

it out!

-34- | THE ELEMENTS PIXELATED

Fox’s new drama, Empire, is about a family-run

hip-hop label and is the latest series to have

enveloped its own music into the show, similar

to the wildly popular Glee and Nashville. With an en-

semble headlined by Terrence Howard and starring

Taraji P. Henson, Empire’s success hinges on being

able to consistently produce good music. Fortunate-

ly in that category, the show has so far been able to

provide excellent and original hip-hop songs executed

with intense vocals as well as pop twists sure to ex-

cite viewers and listeners alike. Additionally, producer

Timbaland, known for working with artists from Jay-Z

to Nas and producing a number of hits such as Justin

Timberlake’s “Cry Me a River,” acts as a musical direc-

tor and songwriter for the show, adding profession-

al touches to the music, which is available on iTunes.

Supported by musical strength, Empire could still ben-

Blizzard’s newest game gives players the chance to take on the role of their favorite Bliz-zard characters in this online multiplayer battle arena game.

EMPIREBY NEIL AHLAWAT

THE ELEMENTS | -35-

efit from investing in its subplots,

which, while mildly interesting,

fail to engage the viewer enough.

Howard plays Lucious Lyon,

the CEO of Empire Entertain-

ment, the fictional label in the

show, who has risen from a drug

dealer on the streets to a music

mogul, his backstory being one

that mirrors the life of Jay-Z. The

show’s main plot revolves around

Lyon’s A.L.S. diagnosis, which

sets off a competition among his

three kids to determine a prede-

cessor to inherit the company.

There’s Andre, the oldest son, an

ivy-league educated corporate

executive working for the com-

pany, Jamal, the most talented

musically, and Hakeem, the

youngest. All three sons, how-

ever, have their flaws in the eyes

of Lucious. Andre suffers from

anxiety attacks and is married to

Rhonda, a white woman, whom

Lucious doesn’t fully embrace,

while Jamal is gay, something

Lucious has never been able to

accept. And finally, Hakeem, the

frontrunner of the three, argu-

ably because Lucious sees his

younger self in Hakeem, is brash

and capricious. Lyon’s ex-wife,

known as “Cookie” is played by

Henson, who dazzles in her leop-

ard print dresses and showcases

a flamboyant attitude, perfectly

fitting the personality of her

character and stealing the show.

After committing a crime that

provided the initial seed money

for Empire Records, Cookie

comes back looking for her share

in the company and to find the

lost bond with her sons. On the

surface, these characters seem to

be interesting; however, in seven

episodes so far, their develop-

ment hasn’t gone far enough. The

same subplots are explored con-

tinually, and surface-level images

of the characters stay intact. In

order to be more compelling, the

show’s writers must introduce

new storylines and delve deeper

into the ones that already exist.

While there still are a number

of question marks, Empire is a

show that’s certain to entertain,

succeeding, at least, with its

music. Soon, hopefully, Empire

will be able to find its tempo and

not only draw in viewers, but

keep them.

PIXELATED

-36- | THE ELEMENTS