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Daithi / Literature / Next Gen Gaming

V O L U M E I I I S S U E 3

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Taking a slightly different tact this week, I’m actually writing specifi-cally about an actor today: Ryan Gosling. There has been a wave of Ryan Gosling fanaticism of late. Yes, Gosling-mania has been running wilder than ever, with his devoted fans throwing themselves at his films, such asThe Notebook, Lars and the Real Girl (which bagged Gosling an Oscar nomination), Drive and Only God Forgives. Actually, I remember a crowd of dejected people leaving a screening of Only God Forgives early on in the film when it got rather ultra-violent and the second Google result for Ryan Gosling is “Workout”...I guess his appeal will always just be a mystery.

Now celebrating its fiftieth anniversary, John le Carré`s magnum opus is worthy of a rediscovery. More romantic than the best of Fleming, more exciting than the works of John Buchan and more politically astute than Greene, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a cracking read. Only The Ipcress File and 1984 can rival The Spy for paranoid descriptions and subjugated characterisations. Long before the Jason Bourne books spoke of the chilling realities of espionage, le Carré shocked readers with an incredibly uncompromising look at the world.In an age when cinematic heroes have demons the size of nations, The Spy may read better now than it ever did. It really is as good a time as any to read the great work which authorities once tried to restrain from publishing. Publisher Weekly named it “The Greatest Spy Novel of All Time” in 2006- and they`re right!

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I think we all know that feeling, when you hear an amazing song for the first time and you just can’t stop singing it. Well, over the past two weeks, it happened to me with this song; Another Love by Tom Odell. The catchy tune details Odell’s struggle to forget a previous relationship when he thinks he loves someone else. Like all good songs it starts simply, with just vocals and piano,then over the course of the song it gathers steam. Odell becomes more frustrated, the louder and more instrumental it becomes. Regardless of wheth-er you can relate to the lyrics, it’s impossible not to sympathise with him, even though it seems he may become the male Taylor Swift.

These last few weeks, with college getting into full swing, I haven’t been playing quite as many games as I’d like to be playing. One game however, that came into my life in the same way a disease might catch you, has by now wasted a number of hours that I could have spent productively. That game is Cookie Clicker. My housemates and friends quickly caught the bug. Although on the one hand I keenly urge you NOT to play this game, if you do feel like wasting hours of time for reasons you can’t quite explain, simply Google Cookie Clicker and go to the top link: a simple interface will open and find you clicking a cookie. Repeatedly.To get more things. To buy more cookies. Ad infinitum.That’s it, that’s the entire game. Play at your own risk. Skinner boxing at its finest.

Contributors: Bella du Toit

Cathal Dennehy Mark O’ Sullivan

Kate Clerkin Fiona White

Chris Boyle Richard Coffey

Words: Ellen Desmond, Entertainment Editor

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@theCircleGuy

@EoghanLyng

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@ellen_desmond

E D I T O R I A L

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Entertainment Editor: Ellen DesmondArts & Literature Editor: Eoghan Lyng

Gaming Editor: Brian Conmy

Music Editor: Meadhbh Crowley

Film & TV Editor: Robert O’ Sullivan

Aaron Elbel

Robert Byrne

John McCarthy

Aoife Gleeson

so-called “friend” of mine recently noted my involvement with this fine publication and recognised it as, “Oh that thing that fell out of the Express? What’s that about?” I only cried for about a day, don’t worry. However, my stream of feel-good editorials officially ended as those lines were spoken.

To clarify, this is the entertainment supplement of the UCC Express Newspaper. The words “entertainment”, “supplement” and “newspaper” can each be researched further online. We at Verge are an accepted and loved part of UCC’s official newspaper and when we fall out of it unexpectedly, it does not define who we are as people. There are many impressive sections, in the Express but Verge gets its own cover and hipster name because all the cool college papers give their entertainment sections aesthetically pleasing attire. This is probably be-cause entertainment writers are usually a creative bunch and so I assume we’re difficult to work with and need to be distracted by looking at pretty things. Verge existed last year as a physically attached part of the Express but this year we’ve stepped it up a notch and soon it shall be ruler of all UCC media. Oops…did I say that in print? I should probably refrain from giving such public insights to my evil power-hungry plan of seizing glory in this wild world of student journal-ism; lest it unsettle those in ranks high enough to unseat me from my throne. I think my recent fascination with Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series has changed me. It’s probably for the best that I didn’t mention that the rest of the Express is merely a protective layer that Verge uses to travel around in and soon this fantastic supplement will consume said outer shell, to stock up on resources - winter is coming. We’ll leave the Features section for lastfor last but tell the News Editor and The Others that the Lannisters of Verge send their regards. Gods, I really need to stop paraphrasing random themes into these things. The use of the plural “Gods” there was another attempt at paraphrasing Game of Thrones, thought I should ensure that one doesn’t go overlooked. So if you would like to jump on the bandwagon before we take over the world and be able to claim that you weren’t at all shocked when Verge put both the rest of the Express and Motley out of print, then feel free to email entertainment@uccexpress.ie (that’s me) and I’ll be happy to speak with you about contributing for us. We publish articles about art, performance arts, comedy, theatre, literature, film, TV, gaming and anything else you suggest that I, as supreme overlord of amusing cultural-themed articles, deem appropriate after you ask me. Now I shall hope that clarifies mat-ters once and for all, it being 5.08 am (editor’s hour) I shall end the lecture there.

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E N T E R T A I N M E N T

by Stephen King:

Premiere orPublication?

imagination have climbed to their highest heights specifically through the perfor-mance of an actor. Kathy Bates is another who gave a performance so stirring that it will be frozen in the memory of many forever, this time in the onscreen adaption of King’s Misery. Even after considering myself a fan of King’s for quite a while I found myself shocked to discover The Green Mile was originally a novel by him. Before unearthing this information, the first thing that ever came to mind when considering The Mile, was Tom Hanks or the emotionally provoking portrayal of John Coffey by Michael Clarke Duncan. Sitting in the shadow of this fairly long and mighty string of box office successes, you’re unlikely to find many people aware

to unearth the mystery but it’s quite plainly really badly written, in a fairly obvious way. There’s nothing satisfying about fin-ishing a book that feels like nothing more than an intentional stepping stone to a screen. It’s unimpressive for any reader to think dedicated time and attention was not focused on the basics of the art, regardless of the unique imagination behind it all.Perhaps King’s aim is not to let the words get in the way of telling an impressive tale, and if so, he has hit the nail on the head but every work of his begs the same ques-tion; when’s the movie premiere? Perhaps the time has passed for books to stand alone and be closed shut when finished as the one, definitive and almighty produc-tion of the work but the ability to respect the book as a complete and independent art form is really the minimum one should expect from a novel. Doctor Sleep is well worth the read. The last we saw of Danny Torrence he was sitting at the end of a dock in the afternoon sun, with no hints to the possibility of a sequel. King fans, and pretty much anyone who watched the Shining, will be very far from disappointed as they approach this publication with an appetite to find out just what happened to the young after the boiler incident and as he grew up. The usual standard remains present though, so if you don’t have the time to sit down and read about the events that unfolded in Danny’s older years, you might as well just wait for the film to come out. I wonder which unknowing actor is about to make this one a classic. King’s latest stands as much the same as the rest of his bibliography. It’s a chill-ing and original tale; an easy read; a highly enjoyable page-turner; soon to be a major motion picture.

that these plotlines were all inspired by King’s novels. The list of King films that stole the novel’s limelight is unending, think of films Carrie and It. In this respect it’s difficult not to see the release of King’s latest sequel as a market-ing ploy. He embarked on this publication with the knowledge that The Shining has by now hit the status of horror cult classic, and any sequel he pens will most likely find itself in cinemas faster than in public libraries -no doubt turning over more than a pretty penny for the already much es-teemed author. With over seventy literary works produced in thirty years, it’s easy to question if the quality of his writing could possibly remain at an impressive constant throughout an almost conveyor belt stream of publications. From the perspective of someone who has read more than twenty of King’s works and found each to be an enjoyable and infectious page turner, it is interest-ing to note that I’ll be among the first to agree with the argument that his stories do often make for better films than works of literature. Could it be that King writes with the potential movie playing in his head? His writing skills, in a technical sense, often really do leave more than a lot to be desired. It’s unarguable that King is a master story teller and a legend of our time; his imagination has produced some of the most influential tales and terrors to date yet, retrospectively, each story always seems to be a great plot line or an out-standing idea, jotted down by a highly un-impressive pen. Having finished any novel by King, I’m often left with a lingering hope that someone will rewrite the whole damn thing and publish it afresh. Blaze is a perfect example of this - anyone will be itching to get to the end of this rough read “

With over seventy literary works produced in thirty years, it’s easy

to question if the quality of his writing could possibly remain at an impressive constant through-

out an almost conveyor belt stream of publications.

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: El

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Entertainment Editor .

The end of September saw the release of Doctor Sleep, a novel by master of horror, Stephen King.Three decades have passed since its prequel, The Shining, first made it to print but only now has King decided to revisit its characters. In Doctor Sleep King elaborates on the later life of Danny Torrance, the young boy of the family which The Shining is centred around. The blurb on the back of The Shining describes Danny as “only five years old but […] he is a ‘shiner’, aglow with psychic voltage”. Danny Torrance unarguably is the perfect creation for an author to return to. As an already developed character with a back-ground, and a traumatic “story to tell”, a book about his later life was always going to be a success waiting to happen. Yet, with this much publicised release there comes a shock for many. It would appear the majority of young people only know The Shining as a film, made famous by an impressive performance by Jack Nicholson, and it’s the advertising around this new novel that has made them realise The Shining’s true origins. This is a recurring issue with Stephen King’s works because, as an author, he really does have a reputation for churning out potential blockbusters.The classic example here being The Shawshank Redemption, originally penned by King in a compilation of four novellas entitled Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, the film version is pretty much the human race’s proudest example of a good solid watch-able movie. The performances given in Shawshank have become legendary, most notably that of Morgan Freeman, and the production was nominated for a total of seven academy awards in 1994. In an unusually high number of cases like that of the Shawshank film, stories born of King’s

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Suas Educational Development and UCC Suas Society hosted the 8x8 Documen-tary Film Festival on campus last week. The festival ran from Monday the 30th of September to Friday the 4th of October. It was one strand of a bigger project, called Global Campus, led by Suas Educational Development and sponsored by the EU and Irish Aid to raise awareness of global issues and development. UCC was one of five campuses across the country to host a segment of the festival. The showings were launched with a screening of Wasteland on Monday. This uplifting documentary focuses on the “art and beauty of the hu-man spirit” and ultimately set the tone for the week to come and for what Suas aimed to provoke in attendee. The festival’s infor-mation booklet promised to “get your brain firing, your blood boiling and your heart racing […] in a way that will challenge you to sit up, stand up and want to take action” and that it truly did. Over the next four days, a stunning array of inspiring, emotional and diverse documentaries were screened, with the in-tention being to highlight eight of the most pressing issues relevant to our generation. From some of the films, the audience left with the feeling of responsibility to ensure we don’t allow a mistake to occur again, and from others still, the audience left buzzing- full to the brim with good inten-tions to improve the world and tackle the problems they had seen on screen. Touch-ing and true to life insights were given to audiences throughout the week - showing different lives, in different cultures, facing different problems. Perhaps the most im-pressive element of the choice of docu-mentaries was the different viewpoints the

Words: Ellen Desmond, Entertainment Editorof governments”, something it succeeded in wholly. Once the audience had finally finished applauding the film, Director Emer Reynolds took to the microphone with Dr Mervin O’ Driscoll of the UCC History Department. Many in attendance commented on the impressive and unbi-

ased key witness accounts of the documentary, among them Ted Sorensen, JFK’s personal advi-sor, and Sergei Khrushchev, son

of Nikita Khrushchev. It was noted in particular that extremely balanced interviews were given by all three sides involved in the Crisis. Reynolds herself admitted that she “was surprised at how […] honest they were all prepared to be”. Argu-ably the most moving of these witness accounts was that from the man who pressed the button

launching the missile that killed pilot Robert Anderson, the sole casualty of the Crisis, when he looked directly into the camera and said “I hope I’m not seen as a murderer”. The aim of the week was to inspire students to take action and form intelligent and informed opinions about the concerns of today. Reynolds was heard to speak about how we are the ones who put the power into the hands of our leaders and mentioned repeatedly how difficult it is to manage the great cultural divides of today and the importance of “who you want to have that power or have access to it”. Here Was Cuba, in particular, embodied the

line-up managed to capture, when tackling the portrayal of these issues. Among the eight films was Oscar nomi-nee Five Broken Cameras, which revolved around the daily struggle of a Palestinian villager, Emad Burnat. An intimate, honest and up-close documentary, Burnat went through five smashed cameras in the process of recording the events, protests and attacks that took place around him every day, with each new camera soon becoming representative of a new chapter in his life. Other documentaries screened around campus included Rafea: Solar Mama, Fire in the Blood, Give us the Money, Town of Run-ners and Living on One Dollar. Possibly the highlight of the week took place in Devere Hall on Thurs-day evening. This stirring showing of Here Was Cuba was accompanied by a Q&A session with one of the film’s co-directors, Emer Reynolds. This film was included as part of the festival as a “cautionary” story, and included first hand testimonies from those directly involved with the debates during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The documentary captured the raw, tense fear that had completely swallowed up the lives of the people during what has become known as the most dangerous thirteen days in the history of mankind. Full of espio-nage and tension, this movie is different to other documentations of the Crisis in that it was aimed to be “a story of men and not

meaning behind the 8x8 Film Festival. The point was made throughout, and during the Q&A session after, that the actions of one individual person can make the difference to the lives of countless people. Humans respond to new stimuli in unexpected ways due to lack of familiarity. The cautionary screening was an example of how differ-ent individuals choose to take action in different ways. The position of John F. Kennedy in particular was highlighted and the fact that, had he followed the opinion of most of his advisors and attacked Cuba, the world would be a different place now - or even completely wiped out now. Dr Mervin O Driscoll explained the need for each individual to be as educated about global issues as possible by putting it quite simply; “accidents do happen when humans make decisions and […] inadvert-ently so”. Having experienced the week I was left with one of the event’s main ques-tions emblazoned on my mind, “Are we going to be one of these self-destruct planets?” or are we going to develop into a generation prepared to take a stand on the issues of poverty, prejudice, corrup-tion and war? Could we be the generation that is remembered for the eradication of nuclear weaponry or the exposure of cor-rupt pharmaceutical testing and uneven distribution? I think it’s a stretch to say the revolution began in UCC as a result of this festival, but it made its point and who knows, someone in attendance could someday make the decision of a lifetime and look back on that week for moral inspiration. Overall the festival was an undeniably roaring success for both Suas and the UCC students involved.

“Are we going to be one of these self-destruct planets?” or are we going to develop

into a generation prepared to take a stand on the issues of poverty, prejudice, corruption

and war?“

Review and

experience of an

inspiring festival at UCC

AW

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Woody Allen’s had a so-so career since the turn of the century. Excellent movies like Midnight in Paris and Vicky Cristina Barcelona were undermined by flops like Cassandra’s Dream and Whatever Works. Many have cried out that the man has lost his spark, that his recent work is nothing compared to his “early, funny films”. Seemingly in response to the mixed reac-tion to last year’s To Rome with Love, Woody has silenced the naysayers with what might be the best movie he’s made since he stopped working with Mia Farrow. Blue Jasmine seems at once “vintage Woody”, yet something of a departure. The trademark humour is still there, but slightly more subdued than usual. There’s a surprisingly caustic streak totally unlike the frothy comedies he’s been doing recently. And when it gets serious, it might be the most devastating film he’s done in over thirty years. The story structure mimics The Godfather II, following the fall from grace and the subsequent effort to start over by spoiled socialite Jasmine (Cate Blanchett). After her millionaire hus-band (Alec Baldwin) is exposed as a con man and hangs him-self in jail, Jasmine is left with nothing. Desperate, she leaves New York to live with her working class sister Ginger (Sally Hawkins) in San Francisco, where she attempts to get back on her feet. Meanwhile, flashbacks reveal the circumstances that led to her husband’s arrest and her family’s meltdown.If the pampered rich girl in a blue-collar environment sounds like a predictable morality tale, the film wisely avoids senti-ment or cliché. Jasmine just may be the most petty, narcissistic,

Words: Rob O’Sullivan

R U S H

Words: Cathal Dennehy

After Ron Howard’s disastrous foray back into com-edy with 2011’s The Dilemma, it’s great to see the usually very reliable director get back to his comfort zone and take a more dramatic, intelligent approach to a film. Rush tells the story of the epic rivalry be-tween James Hunt and Nikki Lauda during the 1976 Formula 1 season. Some would have entered into the film with trepidation, fearing that it wouldn’t be enjoyable for non-F1 fans. However, like most of the best sports movies the focus is solely on the characters and story itself, with the sport element incorporated only as a background feature. With that said, no prior knowledge or even interest in the sport is required to enjoy or understand the film. Unfortunately, as the film is more of a biopic than a sports movie, it does succumb to some of the usual pitfalls associated with the genre. For example, the film doesn’t really take off until about a half an hour in, having to establish the characters, their person-alities, the sport itself and the stakes involved in the story. Also it does add a little ‘Hollywood drama’ to the end (much like Argo). Presumably the events weren’t quite as nail-bitingly tense in real life, but hey it’s a movie! As the film is less concerned with the F1 races themselves, one would imagine that the central characters should be interesting and well rounded in order to carry the film and this absolutely is

the case. Chris Hemsworth pushes his machismo up to eleven as the charming Englishman James Hunt, while Daniel Brúhl is the stoic, calculating but endearingly determined Austrian Nikki Lauda. The actors have great chemistry when depicting the fascinating dynamic between the two drivers. The pair’s relationship is mutually beneficial in that one needs the other as much as the other needs him and so the pair drives each other on, infuriate each other, insult each other and ultimately complete each other as drivers. It being a story of two F1giants going head to head, our sympathies, grievances and interest shifts between the two drivers constantly and the film is very even-handed in its treatment of them so that neither ends up as a clear protagonist or antagonist.

In the same vein, a central focus of the story is both men’s search to find what kind of person they really are. This is mirrored by what kind of driver they want to become. Hunt; while incapable of having a mature rela-tionship with his wife (a sadly underused Olivia Wilde) is serious in his pursuit of becoming world champion. Lauda, on the other hand, must try to let go of his de-termination to dominate his profession and think about what’s actually important to him. It’s a simple yet grip-ping transformation that the characters go through. Rush is a very welcome return to form for director Ron Howard. The film is anchored by two fantastic central performances, while overall its greatest success is that one needs no knowledge of the subject matter to understand or engage with the story, some-thing that all good biopics should do.

delusional, neurotic character Woody Allen has ever created (any fan will tell you this is no mean feat). She drinks heavily, talks to herself, throws frequent tantrums and chugs antidepres-sants as though they were Smarties. She hopes to find a job and a new man, but she has no skills, no education and no grasp of the concept of work, and her refusal to come to terms with her controversial past undermines her current relationships while preventing her from starting new ones. This part takes an extraordinary actress to pull it off, and Blanchett is at the top of her game. Wisely, she avoids any attempt to make the character warm and likeable, instead settling for making her eventually understandable and tolerable.Blanchett sets the bar high for the Best Actress race in the upcoming awards season. What makes Woody Allen’s dramas so powerful is that, even when he paints in broad strokes, like he does here, his charac-ters never feel anything less than genuine. Credit here must also go to the supporting cast. As the outwardly jovial but sleazy con artist and adulterer, Baldwin merely has to show up to nail the part. As the conflicted sister trying to put up with Jasmine long enough to help her get going again, Sally Hawkins is absolutely wonderful. Credit also goes to Bobby Cannavale as her rough but big-hearted boyfriend Chili. In the end though, when I try to think of Blue Jasmine’s MVP, my mind keeps coming back to Woody. The stars may be on top form, but it could never be possible without his assured direction and magnificent writing. In today’s world, his status as a cinematic treasure is undeniable, and here, he reminds us why. Rarely has he been this good, even in the heyday of Annie Hall, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Hannah and her Sisters. And, at the age of 77, I’d doubt he’ll be this good again.

At the time of writing, it is less than 24 hours since the end of AMC’s Breaking Bad. What has been dubbed

one of the greatest television shows of all time, and was given

the title of “Highest Rated TV Show of All Time” by the people over at Guinness,

did not have an easy beginning. Creator Vince Gilligan brought the show to Showtime, FX, HBO and TNT in the US, with all of them turning down the show. Some of the networks liked the show, but turned it down due to the drug-related aspects of the show. It wasn’t until Breaking Bad was brought to AMC, the company also responsible for shows like Mad Men and the Walking Dead, that it found a home. The show, which began in 2008, had slow begin-nings, with people not flocking to televisions screens for it until as late as its third season. Although the show will be remembered for a long time for itself, of internest now is thethe future of the people involved. Will Bryan Cranston be able to escape Heisenburg, as he did with his previous immortal role as Hal on the comedy show Malcolm in the Middle? I think we all hope that the Seinfeld curse doesn’t strike the stars of Breaking Bad, but the signs are already there: Aaron Paul has already reprised his role on several comedy shows and of course Bob Odenkirk is going to become Saul Goodman again in the prequel spin-off Better Call Saul. Only time will tell the success or failures of the Breaking Bad aftermath. For those of you just starting to watch the show, I encourage you to begin this endeavour. I know it’s often said that you just HAVE to watch a show, but if it ever was true it’s for Breaking Bad. And for those of you delaying the finale, take the plunge.

BREAKING HEARTS

BLUE JASMINEKate Clerkin gives reason to believe Cate Blanchett steals the show in Woody Allen’s newest

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M U S I C

You can listen to this playlist at : spoti.fi/190SSYQ

Where did you get the inspiration to write the song?We were being a little cheeky, brash and going for ridicu-lously over the top guitar-pop sound. We came upon the general riff, added the weirder guitar lead bits from another unfinished tune and just took it from there.

The single also features on your forthcoming album, Nothing Good Gets Away, how are you feeling about its impending release?Excited. Eager. Scared. Happy.Relieved. We demoed it in August 2012 so it’s the end of a long process. Our emotions are run ragged!

Was it a difficult album to come together in the end?The songs have all come together quite naturally. We had some of them already and we went out of our way to demo others. About 25 or so, and many more unfinished songs, were whittled down to ten.

And finally, any advice for the musicians of UCC ?Listen to as much as possible. Play with conviction and if it feels good follow it.

Bouts were a surprise to many when the headliners for Arthur’s Day were announced. When researching in prepara-tion for the interview, I discovered there is very little made public about their origins or other vital information. I was left with just their first single, 6.0, which soon made it clear why they were chosen for the prestigious event. Right before they began rehearsals in their secret venue, the Odeon in Dublin, they took time out to talk exclusively to the students of UCC.

What are you most looking forward to this Arthur’s Day?Playing two gigs back to back, in different venues, an hour apart, with some quite amazing international artists. Can we tell you who? Or where? Of course not! It will be hectic and it will be fun. This we can confirm.

What do you think makes Arthur’s Day different from other events you’ve played?The completely secretive nature of who plays where and the fact we’re playing in pubs to a different audience than we might normally...

Your recent single, 6.0, has an unusual name to say the least, why did you choose it ?It’s a lyric from the song. Most of our songs get named this way. The numerical aspect of it just makes it that little bit different.

Méadhbh Crowley catches an Arthur’s Day

headliner for a ques-tions and answers

session

Finding initial attention from an Irish talent show in 2009, Galway-based producer Daithi has come to the attention of many DJs, radio presenters, agents and producers thanks to the summer underground hit, Chameleon Life, featuring singer, Raye. The title comes from change. It is applicable and accessible to the mass market as the initial idea behind it, Daithi explains, “the idea of adapting to any situation and enjoying yourself”. The track took one week produce in the bedroom of Young Wonder’s, Ian Ring, and Raye’s vocals were added in half a day with one day of vocal processing before the track was sent to London to be mastered. The video for Chameleon Life, which was filmed in Connolly’s and has nearly fifty thousand views on YouTube, can give you a small example of what to expect from Daithi. Daithi’s live show however is something that can only be experienced in person. Hawaiian shirt, live fiddle playing through a Boss ME-70 effects pedal, with ableton and two Kaoss pads to “build white noise and effects”. For those who are not tech-savy, they are two large boxes with a whole load of colourful buttons on them, the shirt is bright, and the desk is surrounded by LED lights. “Why the Hawaiian shirt?” I ask, “Why not Hawaiian

Living the Chameleon Life

Fiona White chats to

Galwegian producer Daithi ahead of his

gig in Cyprus Avenue.

The WantedThere’s been a lot of buzz around The Wanted this week and not just because of their ever changing relationship statuses. The long await-ed new album “Word of Mouth” has been set for release in November,having been delayed by nearly a year.With their world tour to be an-nounced next month, the Wanted have made safe their place as Verge’s Artist of the Week.

Keywest- Electric Love After the success of their first album “The Message”, Keywest have now released their new EP featuring the title track “Electric Love”. The song which was re-corded in LA and London, promised big things and delivers just that. With its tight vocals and catchy melody it will be stuck in your head for a long time.

Kodaline – In A Perfect WorldKodaline have been making themselves known since early this year and over the Summer released their album “In A Per-fect World”. With well-known tracks such as “High Hopes” and “All I Want”, the album proves an enduring presence and won’t be getting boring anytime soon.

This week’s celeb playlist comes from J90

1. Bell X1 - A Thousand Little Downers 2. Chromeo - Night by Night3. Oingo Boingo - Weird Science 4. QOTSA-The Vampyre of Time and Memory5. Animals as Leaders - An Infinite Regression 6. Alter Bridge - Addicted To Pain7. Justin Timberlake - Pusher Love Girl 8. David Foster - Winter Games 9. The Stranglers - Golden Brown10. J90 - Tears

Album o f t h e Week

Artist o f t h e Week

Single o f t h e Weekshirts is the real question.” he replies. The energy he brings is amazing as he furiously plays the fiddle and the smoke and lighting add to the journey of the fusion between trad and electronic music. Nobody knows what is happening but judging from the positive reaction of the crowd at Connolly’s, Electric Picnic, and Castlepalooza (to name but a few), nobody really cares. Daithi will be touring with La Galaxie and Funeral Suits in November and is aiming to have an album out in the New Year which I can already tell you, will be one to get. I asked if he has experienced any snobbery from fel-low artists based on the use of his Kaoss pads or introduction of the traditionalfiddle rather than “cool” percussions such as the drums. He explains, “People put up this image of snobby DJs and producers debating about what real dance music is, but to be honest all I've found is people looking to have a good time. I’ve never had as much fun playing as I do now.” I can confirm that, he really is having fun and secondly, if you see him live, so will you. I have a suspicion however that you will also be seeing something really big in the making. Try to see him now before you have to fly internationally or pay an extortionate amount to see a performance.

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M U S I C

Us Irish are an undiscerning bunch; engrained into our psyche is the habit of building anything we can call our own up to mammoth levels before dropping it the moment it becomes too popular (U2, the Catholic Church…). The latest in a lengthy line of hyped Irish acts are four young lads from that hotbed of musical creativity;Cavan. Along the way to achieving a recording contract with Virgin EMI, the quartets blistering live performances have garnered approval from the duke of rock himself, David Grohl, and even a brief nod of approval by Elton John on American television. So can four teenagers, seemingly immune from wrongdoing at both home and abroad relight the long extinguished fire that is sixties rock and roll through their debut LP Snapshot? I think not. Let’s start with lyrics; the poetry of song; the primary vein of connection to the listeners’ emotions. But the quality of lyrics from The Strypes is very poor. For example, in “Queue Blue Collar Jane” lead singer Ross Farelly sings “Always has a teacup when she knocks upon my door/ she just wants some milk and sugar but all I want is her/- You got a four wheel drive? /You know that’s how she gets around”. In my opinion, every lyric contained in Snapshot makes “the Teletubies” seem like high intellects. Sadly, the musical misery sees no sign of ceasing in this LP; with the exception of the somewhat passible faux-Zeppelin blues of Angel Eyes, each recording follows an identical route; undercooked guitar solos, a light dash of harmonica, off kilter singing and more lyrics á la Google Translate. Every inch of Snapshot screams marketing product, discharging corporate ooze for young impressionable teenagers to latch onto. In many respects, The Strypes are a parasite in today’s music industry. At least pop bands such as One Direction make no attempt to impart a musical integrity ontoits listeners. It would be a truly worrying prospect if The Strypes ascend into legendary star-dom, will Snapshot be seen the White Album for future generations? Will Nick-elback become the next Led Zeppelin? Life is precious and there are so many things you could do in the thirty-five minutes that Snapshot limply stretches over; clean your housemate’s dirty dishes, watch someone sleep or maybe start a stamp collection, just please don’t waste it listening to Snapshot. You’ll regret it.

The Strypes: Snapshot

-Robert Byrne

Cork’s Fortnightly

Music Forecast

It’s hard to believe that it’s only been four years since Arthur’s Day debuted across the globe, to celebrate 250 years of the “black stuff ”. Since its inception, the aim was notonly to provide world famous artists in intimate venues, but also raise money for the Arthur Guinness Fund which supports causes (in countries where Guinness is sold) where individuals and communities are trying to make a change for the better. This year €7.4 million was raised for The Arthur Guinness Fund, funded in part by revenues derived from ticket sales for the global Arthur's Day event. Now in 2013, Arthur’s Day has gone from strength to strength and is celebrated not only in Ireland but also worldwide, where acts such as The Wanted performed in Ma-laysia and One Republic played to a sell-out crowd in Singapore - it seems that everyone is getting into the Arthur’s Day spirit. Arthur’s Day this year may have been a disappointment to Corconians, as the amount of headline acts was limited com-pared to those of 2012, a year which saw stars such as Ellie Goulding and Fat Boy Slim grace Cork’s venues.Speaking from personal experience, I on the other hand, thought the atmosphere of the day was much improved on last year, with a variety of acts from every genre and a plethora of tastes catered for.

Probably luckier than most Arthur’s Day celebrants, I managed to see not one, but two, of the headline acts that were here in Cork; Kodaline and Janelle Monáe. Don’t get too jealous, 17:59 was as hard a time for me as everyone else. I too was in the depths of conflictionwhen deciding which venue to hit first. After a brief chat with my sources, I headed to the Old Oak, oblivious to who would be performing there. The Old Oak was nowhere near as packed as I had expected and I instantly felt regret and I feared I had made the wrong decision.Then, the MC came from behind the stage and announced a clue to who would be performing: the clue was the letter J. Everyone racked their brains, pulled out phones and conferred with friends, as I screamed inside, “it’s Janelle Monáe!” After what felt like hours, a riff started to play and the small crowd instantly knew they had a headline act and relished in the idea that they were seeing a Grammy nominee for free. Soon, curiosity got the better of me and I headed to Reardan’s, blagged my way through just in time to hear one song in the exclusive-ly paid-entrancevenue (you definitely hate me now). As soon as I walked in the door I knew exactly who it was, the undeniable sound of the Swords band Kodaline, playing my favourite song “High Hopes”. It was the mo-ment I knew that all the running around had been worthwhile and defined this Arthur’s Day as the best I’ve ever had.

Words: Méadhbh Crowley

To Arthur! - A Music Editor’s Christmas

10th October Fred at the Pavillion

11th OctoberAltan at the Pavillion

11th OctoberKILA 25th Anniver-

sary concert in Cyprus Avenue

12th OctoberHeartstring in the Pavillion

13th OctoberCaroline Moreau

in Cyprus Avenue

13th OctoberRynne Dunny Barou in the Pavillion

A R T S & L I T E R A T U R E

8 VERGE

The Great Literature Debate:

A case for and against the e-reader

“Bye, Book” - Aaron Elbel shoots down the idea of going by the book

The Necessary Persistence of Literature - Bella du Toit likes to turn pages

?Here’s an interesting fact, the most popular e-reader of all, the Kindle, takes its name from the Old Norse for candle, kyndill. Apparently, this word was plucked from Vol-taire’s famous statement in the Enlightenment-era; ‘The instruction we find in books is like fire. We fetch it from our neighbours, kindle it at home, communicate it to others and it becomes the property of all.’ Now, you can interpret that as PR bullshit if you want but there is no question that Voltaire might as well be describing modern e-reading. Of course, I won’t deny the unexpected drawbacks that come with e-books. The hardest hit by this new shift to the digital era of e-book consumption is unquestion-ably totalitarian dictators. The Arab Spring has already shown the role digital mass media can have in destabilising governments and organizing the people, and now, with the advent of e-books, dictators can no longer fall back on that beloved totalitar-ian staple – the mass burning of dangerously intellectual books. Let’s face it, if you really want to destroy every intellectual work (or, every copy of Twilight – but I’m not trying to tell anyone how to do their job) for the last 200 years, then ironically enough all it takes is one Kindle, half a firelighter and a couple of matches. That’s not enough to toast even a small bag of marshmallows. But after all that, those books can be downloaded onto a different e-reader in all the time it takes to paint an anti-author-itarian slogan or two. The thing is, much to the disappointment of dictators everywhere, the essence of Voltaire’s point is even more relevant today than it was when he wrote it. In the tran-scendence of books from the page to the internet it’s become harder to be ignorant in today’s world. Whether carved on stone, painted on papyrus, penned on vellum, typed between the covers of your favourite hardback, (or for that matter, scrawled on the back of a stained beer-mat), the important thing is that the words are read and the idea spreads from one person to another. This burning in the mind, as Voltaire might put it, is like some kind of literary venereal disease. In this respect, accessibility is vital. Sticking with the STI imagery here, the easier it is to access something, be it novels or horny first-years, the more likely it is that you’ll end up with something in return. Whether that’s literary enlightenment or an uncomfortable trip to the GP depends on what you get up to in the evenings. There are an impressive number of e-books for sale, or even for free with sites like Project Gutenberg, and all available at the click of a button.In the short space of time since getting an e-reader I’ve read quite a few books that I probably wouldn’t bother buying otherwise, such as Alice in Wonderland, The Island of Dr Moreau, a Sherlock Holmes collection and I’m currently eyeing up War and Peace with some trepidation.On the other hand though, a lot of people complain that e-readers, unlike paperbacks, can run out of power, which does ruin the reading experience. This is fair enough if you live in Burundi. However, in 21st century Ireland, it’s not that hard to keep an e-reader charged, except in the case of a total societal meltdown, in which case not being able to finish the Hunger Games will be the least of your problems (oh, and do bear in mind that if Skynet does take over, than at least our merciless robot overlords will be well read). Don’t get me wrong, I do like physical books. There really is nothing like relaxing at the beach with an actual book in your hands without worrying that it’ll overheat and explode and kill you. But I do also like e-books, and as a way of keeping books alive, relevant and, most of all, accessible in today’s digital age, there really is no beating them

Some of the soundest advice I’ve ever received comes from that mysterious literary master, Mr Lemony Snicket: “Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them”. Books make stories that have entertained the imaginations of generations, bored and disillusioned by reality, as solid and real as the hated chores and monthly bills that mark those hours spent away from the beautifully crafted worlds that wordsmiths have given us. Books lend a physical dimension to the act of reading – picking up the weighted cover, hearing the soft crack of a new spine, flipping the pages on which the faint smell of fresh ink sometimes still linger. These sensory qualities, which accompany and add to the wonderful tradition of book reading, are but a part of what eBooks fail to offer us. Yes, the words are on the ‘page’, but with a page that is a mere projection, an illusion of a story. This is the age of the computer screen, but the paper book is not yet ready to retire, and the reading public is not yet ready to allow it. In an opinion piece written for the Wall Street Journal in 2012, acclaimed American essayist Joe Queenan articulates the need of self-proclaimed book hoarders like himself to own the physical object, despite the fact that e-readers offer the type of comfort and mobil-ity that massive stacks of ‘to-be-read’ books never can: “People who need to possess the physical copy of a book, not merely an electronic version, believe that the objects them-selves are sacred. Some people may find this attitude baffling, arguing that books are merely objects that take up space. This is true, but so are Prague and your kids and the Sistine Chapel”. The sacredness attached to physical books stems from, as Queenan argues, the fact that we know that they are full of the words and phrases that make up the stories we love. We can touch and feel them as a part of our world. They are also singularly devoted to the word, an attractive quality in the digital age. Whereas e-readers often double as computers or internet browsers that gives the reader the opportunity to flit between different texts and platforms, books function only as that – books. Author and media commentator Tom Chatfield applauds the democratizing of reading that multi-platform readers has provided the public with in that we can filter and choose from a vast pool of information which has the capacity to enrich our learning and reading experiences, but also voices his concern about texts which are engaged with for the pleasure of reading or storytelling becoming a part of this technology ebb-and-flow. I share Chat-field’s concern – there is a type of seriousness and value attached to the printed word that comes to us through a long tradition of knowledge being made available through books. The absence of the book object seems to somehow take away from this value, reducing the need to concentrate and focus on the words which become but another part of realm of hypertext. It is not only literature lovers who still gravitate towards books; academics also prefer working from the physical object. Jisc and RLUK’s recent survey of about 3500 academics revealed that, although many choose to read electronic versions of journal articles (many of which do not appear in print anymore), 86% of them don’t see eBooks replacing books in the near future as the object is still an integral part of research. Around 90% of respondents also indicated that they find it easier to conduct in-depth reading of entire print sections, and that library collections of books are still integral to the research process. It would seem that Northrop Frye’s contention that “The most technologically efficient machine that man has

ever invented is the book” rings true to many. It is naïve to deny the advantages that eBooks offer us. For us as students it

offers mobility and sharing options that previous generations did not enjoy (not to mention the money saved on printing and photocopying extensive

chapters!). But the book is not dead, nor is it dying. It has become an integral part of the tradition of carrying over knowledge and stories. The time and effort put into creating beautiful cover designs that reflect something of the magic inside testifies that people still value the printed word.

Ed note: What do you think? Send any comments to

arts@uccexpress.ie, the UCC Express Facebook page or website

IA R T S & L I T E R A T U R E

9VERGE

return home. Nolan’s sculpture powerfully represents the nature of our relationships with dispersed family members. A steel structure composed of differently stretched and compressed elements, it represents how those geographically closer to us sometimes feel more like family than distant relatives. Trish Morrissey’s photographic series “Front” is a major element of the exhibi-tion with her bright and cheerful works intermittently placed around the gallery. In each photograph, Morrissey places herself in the midst of families holiday-ing in the British seaside. Around every corner in exhibition, Trish can be found whollyintruding on a family, taking the place of the mother figure. Whilst in some Trish appears to be ‘one of the family’, in others it is quite the opposite. Critically, these family portraits again raise questions within us, regarding what truly is a family in the modern day?

this is truer than ever with many families composed of half-siblings, in-laws, part-ners and friends Modern Families tries to put contemporary relationships under the microscope through artworks by a range of both Irish and International artists. The artists of this exhibition explore this famil-iar theme through their own unique and dynamic perspectives and a multiplicity of mediums from video, sculpture, painting, audio and photography. “Soft Stillness and the Night”, the beautifully crafted sculptureby Isabel Nolan,greets visitors on entry to the exhibition. A series of elegant and poetic curves, it both resists and entices the viewer, as one searches for meaning. Here the viewer quickly discovers that all mean-ing to the exhibition is found through one’s own experiences with modern family life. 2013 was branded as the year of the gathering, with many of us trying to entice loved ones abroad,both near and far, to

There is something very engaging and interactive about the exhibition that manifests itself through the variety of mediums and forms of which the artworks take. Marko Maetamm’s contribution takes the form of 30 Stories which explore the darkly humorous side of family and relationships. These satiri-cal and revealing cartoons are almost impos-sible to break away from as they uncomfort-ably discuss ugly truths and dark fantasies of modern relationships.The strength of Modern Families lies in its ability to strike a chord with anyone who wishes to engage with it. Familiarly is often a double edged sword, on the one hand offering engagement and relate-ability, regretfully on the other,it can be a rehashed and jaded subject matter. Mod-ern Families mercifully falls on the former providing abeautifully inventive and relevant take on contemporary family and relation-ships. Once again the Lewis Glucksman team have made us remember what it is like to feel human.

In recent times, the Lewis Glucksman gal-lery has proved itself to be unequivocally relevant, with both timely and relatable exhibitions such as the haunting and poignant Living/Loss, which discussed the timeless themes of illness and death through art. The current exhibition is another thoughtful and timely exhibition, presented by Glucksman curators, Chris Clarke and Matt Packer. This exhibition, Modern Families, delves into the emotive world of family and relationships in con-temporary life. The word ‘family’ seemsal-most inappropriately simple for its endless connotations. It can ignite every emotion imaginable, yet it can be summed up in just seven letters.“Family”, a word so solid and certain,comes to us in life asmany different shapes and forms. Families have always been complex, however today

M o d e r n F a m i l i e s : Relatives and Relationships in Art

Modern Families has been on show since the

25rd of July and runs until the 3rd of

November.

Words: John McCarthy

candle lit tables, somewhat reminiscent of a scene from “Casablanca”. Placid and sombrely, Ross Browne, the night̀ s Master of Ceremonies opened the night. His edgy humour had certain Frankie Boyle nuances, perfectly suited for the majority of the audience in question. Browne had the crowd in stitches with his digressive comments about the Irish stereotypes and towards the audience. Browne s̀ other anecdotes revolved around Mickey Mouse digressions, Christy Moore im-personations and general laments about the lack of a musical called “Fermanagh”. Resident Cork comedian John Cronin (perhaps Cork s̀ answer to Graham Clarke or Glen Wool) finished the night̀ s first half with his stories about other Irish stereo-types, life on the dole and reverse paedophiles (don t̀ ask!). Gloriously distasteful, Cronin left the stage to much fanfare and applause. Cronin and Browne s̀ routines may have skirted around offensive topics, but their general stage charisma and gregarious energy made such taboo subjects that bit easier to laugh off, leaving the small crowd hungry for the main act. And boy, did the main act deliver! Foil, Arms and Hog s̀ erudite sketches were profoundly original, energetic and entertain-ing. All three were completely on the ball throughout the show, making for a routine

of ensemble mastery. No genre was off limits for Sean Finegan, Conor McKenna and Sean Flanagan (who is what according to their allusive title was never explained. It̀ s of little relevance anyway. Nobody ever asked the components of Monty Python who they represented in their odd title!)Period dramas, passable movie trailers and political ramifications were all discussed within

the first twenty minutes – and they didn t̀ even break to change their costumes!

Memo- rable highlights included the

blues based

“Ryanair Song”, reality television satire “Who s̀ a Prick (You r̀e a Prick!)” and the hilarious por-trayal of “The Net People” (they have head like sieves, you know!). Again, it is hard to praise one performer over another. The three worked excel-lently as a team, none outsmarting or overstep-ping the others. Infectious, inventive and anarchic, and distinctly Irish in tone, the festival darlings left their audience in stitches of laughter. Their unas-suming conversation with the audience at the bar afterwards was a reminder of what we had seen on stage; three down to earth, Dublin lads

who had not forgotten their roots. Egos free, with talent to spare, “Foil, Arms and Hog” were a cracking form of entertain-

ment! “Foil, Arms &Hog” may have been aided by

the fantastic acoustics within the venue (credit must go to the City Limits venue for

this), an intimate atmosphere (again, credit to City Limits) and an enjoyable first half of comedy. But

even without any of these luxuries, they would undoubtedly still have won

the audience over; their humour is simply that brilliant. This is what sketch comedy should be; an art form of unadulterated ecstasy. The best Irish sketch comedians of their generation? Based on that one gig, it is a resounding yes!

Foil, Arms & Hog: C i t y L i m i t sWords: Eoghan Lyng

TThere s̀ always something exciting about sketch comedy. Free from the rules and regulations of situation based comedy, sketch comedy allows comedians the chance to go places that they ordinarily could not go; thus, their imagination is stretched to the maximum. And that is what the auspiciously titled “Foil, Arms & Hog” are espe-cially good at. Whatever else you can say about them, the three Dublin comedians are consistently energetic, passionate and most of all, imaginative. While their humour may be on the alternative spectrum, these Irish performers are not as polaris-ing as, say, “The Mighty Boosh” or “The League of Gentlemen”. Their humour is unconventional, yes, but not erratically so. Certainly, the crowd who gathered to see them on Saturday 28th September,in the great City Limits venue, saw great humour behind their jokes; there were even moments the crowd s̀ reaction was so great the performers themselves sniggered profusely at the scenarios in question. As the gig began, the audience sat behind

G A M I N G

10 VERGE

With a next generation of consoles just around the corner and a gamut of games, big and small scale, an-nounced there are some I look forward to. As a huge InFamous fan Second Son looks pretty stellar, Knack looks like it’s tapping directly into the games of my youth, such as the much loved Spyro, Crash Bandicoot and Ratchet and Clank. However what I look for in a next gen game is a next gen experience. Neither the Xbox One nor PS4 has so far shown off anything that I don’t see being possible on current generation sys-tems. As a matter of fact the Wii U had the best opportunity of doing this through its new control scheme that we haven’t quite seen before. The Wii U though has not lived up to any level of early promise and while the PS4 and Xbox One easily seem more promising there is no new style of game, no particularly new ideas, no pushing of the hardware limits. Surely this is what we must look for with new hardware? The leap from cartridge to CD gaming, the jump from CD to DVD and from DVD to Blu Ray all heralded an expansion of gaming as a medium. In particular pushing the visuals to stunning heights but also allowing for the creation of games like GTAV or Skyrim with huge awe inspiring maps to explore and game systems that required more power than already existed to run. Though the new focus Sony has put on indie gaming and the focus Microsoft has on violently changing its policies on a moment’s notice are both exciting, neither are bringing out the kind of experiences I had hoped for. It’s early days though and as seemingly powerful as the consoles are, eventually a game will arrive that shows why the upgrade to new hardware is worthwhile. Truth be told, the Steam controller is the thing I am currently most excited for, though I’m not a PC gamer. While these are only a few of the games being released soon for our new batch of consoles, there are plenty more to look forward to: Drive Club, Dead Rising 3, Resogun, Deep Down, Knack and so many more. What are you looking forward to?

With a new generation of consoles

just around the corner, Sony and Microsoft are showing off a

plethora of games for their respec-tive consoles, some small scale ones

and some large scale ones Here are fourof the most anticipated games of the next generation

chosen by gamers:

Most Anticipated N e x t G e n G a m e s

Speaking as a Sony fanboy, the PS4 seems to be a heck of a stand-up compared to current gen consoles. Having chosen to buy the PS4 over the Xbox One, the next problem is which of the 22 launch day titles grab enough of our attention to warrant forking out sixty euro. Of course, there is the standard annual titles; Fifa 14, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Battlefield 4 (which looks and feels stunning) and Assassins Creed 4: Blackflag (which has the most engaging multiplayers from the series that I've seen). Yet, the title I'm most anxious to get my hands on is a lesser known title, Ubisoft's Watchdogs, set in an open world and densely packed Chicago. The world as we know it is run, organised and operated through an omnipresent camera networkand intensive surveillance system of its citizens, known as ctOS. It connects trains, phones, social networking, media, and security systems; anything which has technology. This is where our anti-hero protagonist comes in, Aiden Pierce. Pierce is a former criminal and thug, but now a brilliant hacker. After his criminal ways led to family tragedy, and feeling that the government failed him; Pierce seeks revenge and justice for those he lost. As it stands, we know very little of Pierce's history and how he became the hacker he is today, let alone how he manages to have more advanced technology than the government - all of which is neatly packed into a concise handheld smartphone. From this you'll have real time control over the city allowing you to manipulate the world around you to your every need, from hacking into bank accounts, cars, security cameras, personal accounts, control public transport, and a whole lot more. This allows every mission to be done in any way you find admirable, use stealth and shadows to your advantage, or go in guns blazing "tearing the place up", as it were. The full storyline, Pierce's history and all the extent of his intentions, in regards to vengeance, are not fully known as of now. Yet, from the small few details we do know, this game looks to be monstrous. With a free roam and open world to rival that of Grand Theft Auto 5, weapon, technology and hacking possibilities to give Call of Duty a shakeup, the stealth and secrecy to challenge even the most dedicated Assassins Creed fan and a storyline to give even Beyond:Two Souls a wakeup call. Set to come out the launch day of Playstation 4, Ubisoft's Watchdogs is one I highly recommend looking out

Mark O’Sull ivanWATCHDOGS

As a kid there was one thing that I loved above all else: Star Wars. I had all the movies, the figurines, and the games. Showing my age here, the first VCR I owned was the re-mastered original trilogy. I had the Lego, the books and the Star Wars encyclopaedia. I was never a console gamer following the event in which my little sister poured milk over my PlayStation 1 and my family PC wasn’t good enough for anything other than pinball or solitaire, so when we got a new one I was really excited that I could play games. That Christmas I got a real game. Star Wars Battlefront 2. I played that game for four years on and off, messing around between being a bad-ass Jedi and shooting some rebel scum. So I was super excited when they announced the sequel at this year’s E3, simply, called Star Wars: Battlefront. All we saw from the trailer was snow, meaning Hoth and an AT-AT. So we don’t know much but the game is being developed by DICE - the guys behind the Battlefield series. This means we can expect large maps, excellent driving and flying, as well as a multiplayer fuelled experience. I’m excited because rumours have been circling about maps which allow you to run around, shooting some Noobs, then hopping into your spaceship and whizzing off to join the orbital battle above, which sounds quite impressive. The last related game was 2006, so an increase in the quality of graphics, sound and physics engines will make this a truly spectacular game. Who doesn’t love shooting or Star Wars? Combine the two and you have yourself an epic game. If they bring back Darth Maul, I may even have to have a little lie down.

Star Wars: BattlefrontChris Boyle

Power. That's what InFamous has always been about for me. Thunder dropping onto a street and then unleashing a lightning storm to cause a swirling vortex of chaos and destruction is breath-taking, not to mention cathartic. Thankfully, Second Son is looking like it's going to top its predecessor in every conceivable way by letting us wreak beautiful chaos all over again, making it easily my most anticipated game of the next gen. Set seven years after the ending of Infamous 2 (and taking the ending as canon) the protagonist of this game is Delsin Rowe, a 24-year-old Native American with a dislike of authority and a penchant for civil disobedience and street art. The game takes place in Seattle, which has become something of a police state run by the DUPwho find and detain any conduits, who have now been labelled 'bio terrorists'. This is a clear parallel to the US's TSA; security at the price of freedom being a big theme in the game. When Delsin comes across a crashed van of these detainees he discovers his powers when aiding one of them, which is to absorb the powers of others. Starting off with smoke powers, which allow him to phase through things like chain link fences and air ducts, he will gain others as the game progresses. This may be where the morality system comes into play this time around, pos-sibly with a system like that of Bioshock's saving/harvesting of the Little Sisters. With absolutely beautiful visuals, particularly those of the smoke and dust around Del-sin, an organically destructible environment and powers that look to be a blast, Second Son is looking to be a must have. Don't miss this one.

InFamous: Second Son Aoife Gleeson

N O N E Brian Conmy

G A M I N G

11VERGE

Growing up I was always a gamer. Starting with the classic grey brick Gameboy and eventually working my way up to a Playstation and beyond. I always had an affinity for platformers and RPGs and, in particular, the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts series. I liked these for a multitude of reasons but mostly for one thing: the story. These long games, often with sprawling open worlds, had storylines that were unparalleled at the time and not seen in most forms of the western media that I had access to. With the evolution of Western gaming development and the increased availability of access to a wide variety of games, these interesting stories are no longer isolated to JRPGs. In fact, more western games are coming forward with a level of sto-rytelling that surpasses anything we’ve seen before, Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us leading the pack in this area. As such,gaming has never been more worthwhile if you’re in the hunt for a rewarding story experience. However what if you are in search of a more mind numbing or time wasting experience? Recently I heard tell of a game called Cookie Clicker. The free game, available online, simply involves clicking a cookie to get more cookies, to buy upgrades to get more cookies, to buy more upgrades. Forever. There may be a mild type of narrative being told through funny messages at the top of the

screen but that’s narrative used in a loose sense of the world. With that description it may sound like I didn’t particularly en-joy the game but I sat and played it for a straight six hours. By the end of that time, my two housemates were also mindlessly clicking away at that cookie. Although that’s the last time I played the game, a few more of my friends have invested much more time into it lately. This

led me to consider why people invest time in these games at all. Often the players aren’t what some may call “hardcore” gamers but in truth what is the difference between so many hours spent on Cookie Clicker or Call of Duty? Each is a repetitive system designed to give you a sense of progression with no real benefit and yet both have eaten up too many hours of people’s lives. As someone who writes about games by choice, and enjoys it, it took me a very long time to come to a simple conclusion: gaming is a pastime. It’s about passing time, whether this is be-cause you’re hunting a strong character to relate to, looking to test your skills on Call of Duty online or just passing time on a bus by crushing some candy. With time being such a commod-ity in college between societies, clubs, course work, lectures and friends and family sometimes it’s hard to feel good about time spent on a game that has no bearing on your life. With that said sometimes that little break is all you need. After six hours of repetitive clicking on a cookie to get more cookies to get more cookies and laughing at how silly it all was along the way, I basically came out of the ordeal with a funny story, a better perspective on why I play games and what games I want to spend time on but also a slightly clearer head. I had spent five hours not worrying about impending deadlines and anything else going on in my life. Maybe Cookie Clicker is as good a game to distract you as any other.

G a m i n g : t h e r a t i o n a l i s a t i o n o f a w a s t e o f t i m e ?Brian Conmy

Oh Valve, what a tease you are! The game company which runs the computer game marketplace Steam gave us three very special announcements this week. Each one spaced out two days apart and kept me checking my computer every ten minutes to watch the counter roll down. The first announcement was for a new operating system, based off Linux which would be orientated around Steam, and would be designed to run off a TV. This announcement caused much speculation as Valve has been hinting for a while that they would be coming into the TV/console mar-ket. This comes with problems however. Steam has roughly 3000 games for sale on their market place, some of them the triple-A titles that we know and love such as Battlefield and Bioshock. Others are small indie games which sell for a couple of euros. Most of these are windows only games, with about 500 available for Mac and only 300 available for Linux. To combat this, any device which is running the Steam OS will be able to stream games from a windows computer allowing you the full access to your Steam library. This announcement has us all reeling, with two announce-ments to go, it looked like a precursor to something BIG. And so it was, there have been rumours flying around about the Steam Box for years, a pc based console that Valve were supposed to be developing. Valve laughed theatrically at the legions of internet conspiracy theorists

and said close but no cigar. What they announced were the Steam Machines, a whole cohort of consoles running the new Steam OS built by various hardware developers and all with different specs. On their announcement page, Valve said “Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS.” Most importantly, the hardware is hackable, changeable and open source.It’s a box, a completely upgradable, variable, do with as you please box. “Can I hack this box? Run another OS? Change the hardware? Install my own software? Use it to build a robot? Sure.” The whole project is built off of user prefer-ence and their ability to do with the console whatever they wish. Valve are selling you the tools to build the product you want, X-box and PlayStation are selling you the finished article. For eons passed, PC games have revolved around two components, a keyboard and a mouse. Saying that you were entering the living room is all well and good but I don’t really fancy balancing my keyboard on my lap as I shout at the N00bs playing Arma 3. The only problem is that while many steam games facilitate a controller plugged into your pc, some games, particularly, strategy, or role playing

games, were built with a keyboard and mouse in mind. Step forward, the Steam controller. Built using dual track-pads as well as a touch screen, this controller is designed to be used for all pc games even those which would normally only have mouse compatibility, and allowing us out of our bedrooms and onto the couch. Steam machines and controllers are shipping sometime in 2014 meaning that they will be in competition with the new Xbox and PlayStation. Microsoft Executive Phil Harri-son stated during the week that “Valve are a very impressive company and obviously we’re going to be watching what they do with great interest.” Sounds like someone is shak-ing at the thought of someone muscling in on the console market, and keeping a beady little eye on their progress. What this means is that those people who were complaining about the DRM policies on the Xbox One and didn’t see the PlayStation as a viable alternative now have a new option. The Steam machines will probably never have the same market share as the Xbox or the PlayStation but it allows people who have never played PC games before a compro-mise between the two, and an excellent compromise it is. Valve are currently looking for 270 people to fill a closed beta test of the first Steam machine and controller that Valve themselves are building. Anyone can enter so do it! Do it now!

S t e a m a n n o u n c e m e n t s g a l o r e !

In a big week for the PC gam-

ing community, Chris

Boyle gives us the run down on Valve’s newest venture

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