If you’ve played any other Elder Scrolls game, or any other game by Bethesda (the Fallout series comes to mind) you’ll understand the games they create are masterpieces. They grab you by the torso and suck you into your TV.

To start out, this game is huge. There wasn’t much time for me to fully accomplish everything in this massive world. But this game did take up most of my Veterans Day break.

My first note about Skyrim is how stunning the environment is. It takes place in the fictional region of Skyrim, an enchanting, vaguely Scandinavian land filled with hills, calm rivers and all kinds of interactive critters. The game does an amazing job of immersing the player into the environment.

Skyrim has a nonlinear game play style. This open-ended approach to role-playing is what made the Elder Scrolls franchise so popular. The game has a straight-forward story arc that involves the player being the only person in the land capable of killing dragons and devouring their souls. The narrative style is bland in the beginning, however, as the game opens up to the player, the manner in which the story is told expands and becomes more interesting.

Aside from the main arc, there are many other things the player can do that make the game massive. The player can work as a thief, assassin, bounty hunter, etc. There are various odd jobs townspeople have you do which is about 80 percent of the game.

There are also  caves and wilderness areas to explore, which are  very in-depth and imaginative. You can also learn several types of trades for both an economic and character strength increase.

In Skyrim I feel like I am actually in my character’s shoes. The controls are simple and straight-forward. Amazingly the left trigger of your controller controls what your left hand does, same with the right. There was an issue in the game’s predecessor Oblivion with casting magic, but now with simplified combat controls, magic casting is far smoother.

There is so much to this game I haven’t touched on; it’s just too massive. From what I’ve played and what I’ve seen, the only real  drawback was the beginning cut scene.

With a game like this, there really isn’t any other way to start out. Every other aspect made up for the dryness of the opening of this masterpiece. The fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series is a massive success. Bethesda does it again with Skyrim and I look forward to losing myself in this world on more than one occasion.

When you hear zombie game, you’re probably thinking about either Valve’s Left 4 Dead series, or maybe the Resident Evil series. Both of which are very basic video games- point the gun at the undead and shoot. In Dead Island, at least in the first chapter, you have to physically beat the undead with a stick (or an oar) until they’re back to being lifeless corpses.

Survival-horror games tend to have the player simply jump from one end to the another, completing objective after objective without much freedom. Dead Island literally throws you into the middle of an infectious outbreak in Papua New Guinea, and gives you a beautiful setting to run around doing various missions for your fellow survivors.

When you start up Dead Island, you’re given four characters to choose from. There is Xian Mei, an immigrant worker at the resort that is under siege by the undead, Sam B, a has-been rapper booked at the resort for a gig, Logan, an old NFL star taken under by the fame and fortune, and Purna, a recently fired cop working as a bodyguard.  All of these characters have their own characteristics to bring to the table.

Each of these characters has his or her own skill tree for melee, throwing, or guns. As you progress in the game by killing more and more zombies, you level up and get skill points to upgrade to particular skills. Eventually you become an unparalleled dealer of zombie re-death and destruction.

Multiplayer in Dead Island is pretty straightforward. When playing, you can just have a friend or a random player jump in your game through the Internet and help you fight the undead. It’s simple, fun and isn’t necessary to move the story forward. If you’re training for the zombie apocalypse, this isn’t a bad simulator.

The game has solid graphics for the amount of open space it has. For an open-ended-sandbox game like Dead Island, graphics are important, however, they can’t match up to other games. It is more focused on gameplay than graphics.

Overall, the game has some solid gameplay, controls and a great multiplayer aspect. It spins and pulls the standard survival horror game in a new direction and gives you your own options to do literally anything you want. It gives you the best of both worlds and helps prepare people for a zombie apocalypse.

I’ve really only seen two 3-D movies: “UP!” and “Jackass 3-D”. To be honest, they weren’t all that great. The idea and concept of 3-D film is mind blowing, new and interesting.

3-D essentially enhances the eyes depth perception, which gives you the illusion that something is popping out at you while you and your friends sit safely in the audience. It gives the viewer an amazing visual and attempts to actually put them into the action. The bullet flying toward the screen or the house attached to millions of balloons pop out at the viewer, making them more involved and attached to the story as a whole.

There have been a handful of styles and techniques developed and patented over the 60-odd years 3-D technology has been around. Practically all of these styles were too expensive or too much trouble to actually take off.

The first waves were rather harsh for this little concept. The Great Depression was a reason for people to not see movies in 2-D already, so the concept of paying more for something else just didn’t work out.

The second wave had two projectors running at the same time, this means there had to be two identical reels of film created after production of the film. This also means that two projectionists needed to work at the same time, and if one of the reels got out of sync, the picture would be unwatchable. This technique, though tricky to pull off, spawned a short list of successful 3-D films.

The third wave, around 1980s to 2000s was a single strip technique that only needed one reel of film. This yielded some success, but not enough to really take off.

3-D seemed to be something rather obscure and a gamble to watch. Now, however, it has gone so mainstream that almost every film has a 3-D counterpart. Most computer-animated, horror or computer-generated image (CGI) intensive films latched on to this digital 3-D train.

From my perspective, 3-D is just as much of a gamble now as it was 30 years ago. It just isn’t appealing to me. Movie tickets are already expensive and tacking on some more money just to see it pop out at you isn’t worth it.

I guess you can say that I’d rather stand on the sidelines while Johnny Knoxville rides a bike down a flight of stairs than be on the handlebars.

How do SDSU students feel about 3-D movies?
“My thoughts on 3-D movies are that some concepts seem excellent, but the end result is still very novice. Not all movies that are coming out these days need to be in 3-D. ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Deathly Hallows Part 2’ was in 3-D. The ‘Glee’ concert was in 3-D. I saw the ‘Glee’ concert in theatres and I found the whole experience to be completely unnecessary!
On the thought about ‘The Lion King’ being in 3-D, I am quite excited about it just because it’s a piece of our generation’s childhood that is continuing on. There are certain aspects (Pride Rock, the wildebeest stampede) that would look excellent in 3-D.”- Nic Nelson, junior communication studies and theatre major

Aubree Van Keulen (right) checks out the HoboTech audio station with Ben Lamb (left). The audio station is part of the new addition to the bookstore

Headphones are almost necessary for campus life; there is nothing like having some music playing when you’re trekking across the tundra to get to chemistry lab on time. Luckily, the new addition to the bookstore, Hobo Tech, has new headphones to help us all stay sane.

As the dust settled on the new bookstore renovation, Hobo Tech appeared. It is an Apple certified expansion that sells Macbooks, iPads, iPods, various kinds of software, and last but not least, mid-to-high range quality headphones.

Staring at the west wall of the new bookstore, I’m greeted with various kinds of treats an audiophile would love. Skullcandy, Beats by Dre and a brand I had actually never heard about before, UrbanEars, hang off this wall.

The rather new Swedish UrbanEars headphones stuck out more than the other brands because of the color and simplicity of the boxes they rest in.

“Their name is only on a small tag,” said Royce McDaniel, the Hobo Tech sales manager. The tag is located on the very edge of the headband on the right side. He showed me around the sales floor of the new shop and held up a pair of UrbanEars.

McDaniel chose UrbanEars because it doesn’t have the name plastered all over its products. Each set of headphones is only one color; there are no graphics, quotes or UrbanEars labels, just color. The minimalistic look of the UrbanEars allows for a broad personal statement.

“It gives them their own identity,” said McDaniel. Showing off a pair of Plattan headphones with a Hobo Tech sticker on the earpieces. Being plain allows students to sport them with nothing, or do what they want to them.

There are 3 different kinds of UrbanEars headphones hanging on the wall:  Medis, Plattan and Bagis. They are all different styles of headphones and have rather low prices. Each headphones sport a cloth cable, so getting tangles on your headphones is not a problem if you go UrbanEars. They also have a microphone on each cord for cell phone use. According to McDaniel, UrbanEars considers putting that on their products “common courtesy.”

The first is Medis, which fit over your ear. The earbuds I own, as of now, go into my ear like earplugs and cancels all the noise around me. That can be rather annoying sometimes. On the other hand, regular earbuds just kind of sit on your ear and can fall out at any given time.  The Medis changes this game by having a piece of silicon that forms to your ear, keeping the earpiece intact and unable to fall out.  This is a nice characteristic for these headphones because the earpieces won’t fall off when you turn your head too quickly or move suddenly. This allows you to actually move about and still hear your surroundings. These are ideal for working out in the Wellness Center, running around campus or simply listening to music while studying. These headphones will cost you $44.99.

The second style is Plattan, which have standard over-the-ear headphones.  These have a ball joint at the earpieces, allowing the listener to move them to their comfort. What is really cool about the Plattan is a second headphone jack on the right earpiece. Allowing someone to hook his or her headphones up to the Plattan and listen to the same thing. “It’s a built-in Y-Splitter,” said McDaniel. Simply plug in the other set of headphones and you’re set. Not only is the design of these headphones simple and chic, the advances made are also simple yet effective. The Plattan range from $54.99-$59.99. The difference comes between the Plattan and the Plattan Plus. The Plus version includes volume control on the cord. Not a bad price for what you get.

The third is Bagis, this includes your standard earbuds with adjustable sleeves. They fit in your ear like a plug. These are the cheapest headphones UrbanEars has to offer with a price tag of only $24.99.

The simplicity and uniqueness of these headphones is what really stuck out to me.  The ability to simply have one color for your headphones really lets the listeners be themselves. No matter the preference in styles, Hobo Tech offers a variety for all students. I suggest forgoing the cheap Walmart headphones, which will break in a week and invest in a quality pair of headphones.

The PlayStation 3 is now $250, a $50 reduction in price. Now at its new price, it can compete with other consoles and Blu-ray players in the market. This was a smart move by Sony. With many of their big titles coming out later this year, they can sell more consoles before the influx of game releases.  So yeah, good move, Sony.

The price drop of the PS3 leads me to Nintendo’s new console, the Wii U. Now, we all know that Nintendo is known for bringing their awesome, innovative ideas to the gaming market. With the new Wii U, Nintendo is having its controllers boast a touch screen, allowing the user to have more interaction with the game and even allow them to play a game when the TV is off.  I can’t wait to try this bad boy out.

This summer wasn’t all great, however. Electronic Arts has been showing off Battlefield 3 a bit too much since its announcement. Every time I turn on my TV I hear about BF3 and every time I go to a gaming related website, BAM! BF3 ads. This game is simply over-hyped and it’s a disappointment. It’s something neat and new, obviously, and I’m going to buy it at launch. However, I lost my thirst to play it. After so many ads, the excitement just turned into annoyance.

You can’t swing a cat around without hitting something BF3 related, which is easily the most disappointing thing about gaming this summer. So lame move, EA.

Overall, it’s been an enjoyable summer if you’re a geek like me. New hardware to look forward to and price drops are always good signs for the next generation of consoles are coming out. However, sometimes companies need to learn when to stop beating something into the ground.

From South America to Sioux Falls to all around the world electronic music is spreading like wildfire thanks to its fluid style and great dancing beats. Leo Silva, an electronic music disc jockey, loves to make music that people love dancing to.

Silva has been a disc jockey for 3 years, performing at venues such as The 9 Nightclub in downtown Brookings and various clubs in uptown and downtown Minneapolis. Silva was born in Brazil and later moved to Sioux Falls where he lived and played in the drum line at Lincoln High School. Silva now attends SDSU and is a psychology student.

“I have always been interested in music.” Silva said. “Being a DJ is so creative and expansive, you can create your own music.”

The overall dynamics of electronic music and the popularity of electronic music fueled Silva to become a DJ.

Silva claims there is less competition within the electronic music scene, because of the variety of ways to re-mix the music.

“A lot of electronic music is the reworking of other people’s music.” Silva said. “I’ll take your music and remix or rework it to make it better for a club scene.”

Much of this reworking is done using advances in technology that allow tracks to be stripped or layered. DJ’s can now mix two songs together to create something completely organic.

Silva claims that being a DJ is about mixing songs together or altering certain songs for a new effect.

“Technology really leveled the playing field for this style of music.” Silva said.

The growth of electronic music has played a big role in the growing nightclub scene. Clubs are starting to play electronic music more than other more common styles. The ability to mix and alter songs gives DJs the power to make electronic music appealing to everyone.

“Music is universal” Silva said. Silva has also spent time abroad, in Brazil, and claims that electronic music in South America is huge, bigger than it is in America. In other countries, the over all attendance at electronic music concerts tends to be greater than ones in America.

“In America, Dave Matthews puts on a sold out show of 60,000 people. In South America or Europe there are close to half a million at some shows.” Silva said.

Electronic music is a booming dance and club genre of music. Silva will continue DJ’ing events and making more people dance when they are listening to his music.

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