2013 Console Releases

This year will see the two biggest Next-Gen consoles released; the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One.Scheduled to be released November 15^th and December 31^st, respectively.  These two new consoles will both include extensive boosts to the technology of their predecessors and hold plenty of new games to play.  The current announced prices are approximately $400 for the PS4 and $500 for the Xbox One.

            The Xbox One is going to operate on the same system of Xbox Live as the 360, and has a large focus on a few aspects of multi-player gaming.  First off, sharing moments in games is going to be made easier with a built-in system for game replays.  Secondly, the consoles will be utilizing cloud-based games.  This will improve the connection quality of most members of the game, decreasing lag time and allow for “persistent games”, in which game elements would remain constant (for example, if an object is destroyed, it stays destroyed even if the person leaves the game and returns later).  One of the most publicized features on the Xbox site is the addition of an improved matchmaking system, which will place players with people with whom they will enjoy a game.  And perhaps the most risky new feature is an advanced Artificial Intelligence that could allegedly act as a “mirror player”, imitating a human player that leaves a game to avoid interruption. 

With few hands-on reviews and the release still a while away, all of these features have yet to pass the public trial, so the Xbox One may fail, but if it works up to the rumors and reports, it will be a truly amazing gaming console.

  One hundred dollars cheaper and released a month earlier, the PS4 already has a distinct advantage.  One of the most notable features of the PS4 is the new controller.  The new controller, like the PS3 and Xbox 360 controllers, will be wireless and fitted for an easy grip.  But that is just the tip of the iceberg. The controller now comes with a touchpad, six-axis sensor, a light bar that games could use for information display (such as mission progress perhaps, or the team of the player), as well as a new and improved rumble pack and even its own built-in speakers and headphone jack.  The major downside of the controllers is that they cost $60.  Much like the Xbox One, the PS4 has few hands-on reviews and has yet to be released, so it still has to stand up to complete testing in public.  However, things look quite good for the new PlayStation, certainly better than the last.

            The two are at a virtual tie in terms of specs, with both featuring 8-core processors and top of the line graphics cards.  So what about the games that could be played on them? After all, a gaming console is fairly useless without a good game.  Both will be continuing the popular Call of Duty franchise, as well as featuring the Bethesda games MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online.  But there are clear differences everywhere else in their titles.  The PS4 will be sporting Assassins Creed Four: Black Flag, as well as numerous PC ported titles, a number of them free to play, and will likely have many hit indie games, such as Transistor (from the creators of Bastion) and Don’t Starve.  The Xbox One is planning mostly to continue producing titles for the Halo, Battlefield, DeadRising, and Forzaseries.  So with PC ports and indie games in addition to big titles, as well as a lower price tag and earlier release date, the PS4 could beat the Xbox One in profits, but with a somewhat larger fan base the Xbox One still has good chance to win out in the long run, as has been seen in the past with the 360.

By: Duncan McLeod

Review: Catching Fire

    

Suspenseful, intriguing to the eye, and amazingly breathtaking: these are just a few ways to describe Francis Lawrence’s Catching Fire which premiered on Thursday, November 21st. Theaters were packed and audience members were certainly pleased by this film: box offices totaled an astounding $297 million after two weekends. Based off of the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, the movies gave viewers more of a visual aspect of the games they've been reading about for the past six years.

     Although Catching Fire runs two hours, the audience is quickly pulled into the post-apocalyptic nation of Panem. Jennifer Lawrence is convincingly competitive and powerful as Katniss Everdeen, who wins the previous 74th annual Hunger Games with Peeta Mellark played by Josh Hutcherson. This dynamic duo fights viciously for control as leaders of District 12, and their relationship may suffer in the process. 

     I recommend this movie to people who are able to comfortably watch highly dangerous circumstances unfold before their very eyes. This movie was very well put together by a production team that clearly worked hard to do so. If you are up for the challenge, take a trip to your local movie theater and check out Catching Fire: may the odds be ever in your favor. 

By: Natessa Storm

Review: Thor

            

            “Thor: The Dark World” is a super-hero movie through and through. The directors understood this, and they used it to their advantage.

            As the years have gone by, super-heroes have been taking on bigger and bigger challenges. When many super-heroes started, they tackled low-level criminals. In current movies, they save the world. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) bests them all. In this movie, not just one but nine worlds need saving. And, predictably, he can save them all from Earth. However, in a nice break, the action centers in and around London. (New York City must still be rebuilding from “The Avengers.”)

            Watching the first “Thor” movie and “The Avengers” is helpful to understanding parts of this one, though not completely necessary. “The Dark World” does focus on Thor’s family relationships (when it’s not focused on the action). The best scenes are the ones with Thor and Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Their relationship is enjoyable to watch because it is dynamic. Loki consistently has the best lines.

            Characters who were brushed aside in both “Thor” and “The Avengers” feel more fleshed out in “The Dark World,” particularly Darcy (Kat Dennings), Frigga (Rene Russo), and Eric Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard). However, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) fell a little flat. Maybe it was all the evil matter coursing through her, but she and Thor do not have any chemistry.

            “The Dark World” is thoroughly enjoyable, and a must-see if you are a fan of Marvel’s other new movies. If super-heroes aren’t your thing, don’t bother.

By: Emma Morrison

Melrose Blood Drive

On November 7th, I became a first time blood donor for the American Red Cross. I have always wanted to donate blood and needles don’t affect me, so it made sense.  However before the 7^th, I did not know where I could donate blood.

The Melrose High school blood drive was the perfect solution for me. Being able to leave my class in order to donate, I headed to the Marcoux Gym to be one of the first blood donors of the day. After reading up about what I was getting myself into, a nurse checked some of my vitals and made sure it was safe for me to donate. Although lying on a table in the middle of the gym was odd, it only took 15 minutes.  Throughout the process extremely kind, presumably qualified, nurses took care of me, and making sure I was as comfortable as possible.

After donating, Student Council members took care of me and the rest of the donors, making sure we ate drank enough so that we wouldn't pass out. Even though I wasn't the least bit hungry, student council made sure I ate from the array of foods they had. After consuming a copious amount of  brownies, cookies, gummies and pretzels, I went back to class feeling healthy and proud.

Each donation can save about three lives, and it only takes about an hour. I understand that for some people needles are not an option, and others have medical restrictions, but I encourage anyone who may be physically and mentally able to donate to such an amazing cause. I’m proud to call myself a donor, and plan on donating again at Melrose High’s Spring blood drive.

By Olivia Terranova

Deep thoughts with Duncan, Vol. I

Mr. Girard and Geoff Rowe

Hello, readers of the Imprint blog. I, Duncan McLeod, have taken it upon myself to ask the hard questions to various teachers and students, these questions being of course, ones of deep philosophical nature.  For this article, my five questions focus around the concept of perfection, such as utopia, and my interviewees were the esteemed Mr. Girard, Physics and Chemistry teacher extraordinaire, and Geoff Rowe, snare drummer and student beyond compare.  So follows here the five questions and ten answers provided to your unhumble philosopher, Duncan McLeod.

Mr. Girard was asked: “Do you believe that a utopia or its opposite, a dystopia, could truly exist in this world?” His reply: “No, the way the world has been structured so far, it seems to me to be something we cannot actually achieve.”  I then asked if we are closer to, a dystopia or utopia, and his opinion on this was varied, stating we are closer to a “dystopia, but on some levels of society closer to a utopia.”  I proceeded to ask if a permanent world peace could exist, and he replied in a manner shadowing his answer to the first question. “Based on human history,” he said, “I don’t think that could ever happen.”  The fourth of the questions asked was “Can a perfect being exist?”  To this, he replied “an individual, yeah. It is rare, but possible.”  And the fifth and final questions asked was that of “If such a form of perfection can be achieved, how many paths in life lead there, is there only one path?” and he responded stating that it was “definitely not one path … It would be a long path.” He ended on the bittersweet optimistic statement of “we gotta live life hoping.”

To the student Geoff Rowe the same questions were asked, and his answers were recorded just the same.  When asked if he believed if a utopia or a dystopia could exist, he responded claiming “yes, though it would be unlikely to last particularly long,” and in answer to the second of the queries, he responded that he does believe we are closer to a dystopic society, and did not elaborate further.  When he was asked if he felt that a permanent world peace could exist under any circumstances, he claimed that “perhaps a long lasting peace, but it would eventually come to an end.”  As to the possibility of a perfect being, he believes strongly that it is possible, though whether he feels that there has been such a person he refused to say.  And as to the paths by which one might achieve world peace, utopia, or perfection, he states that if it is possible, there is an infinite number of paths.

Glossary of potentially confusing terms and words used above:

1. utopia: a perfect society, a paradise
2. dystopia: a flawed society, a horrible place
3. extraordinaire: a person of great regard within a field (term of respect and admiration)
4. shadowing: used here to mean resembling, or alike to
5. bittersweet optimistic statement: something positive with some negative interpretations
6. queries: questions