Category Archives: Entertainment

Books/Art

Gotham: One of the worst comic cities

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By: Munira Ahmadad

The city that Batman resides and fights crime in was first given the name Gotham in the 1940 comic ‘Batman #4’. In real life, Gotham has been used as slang for New York City. Originally, the term Gotham comes from ‘The Merry Tales of the Mad Men of Gottam’,  a 16th century fictional English town. The residents of Gottam were incredibly stupid, and a potential translation of Gottam is “Goat town” as goats are associated with stupidity. Gotham became an insult for New Yorkers, and more modernly “Gotham” is more connected to New York’s nightlife or the darker side of the city.

Unlike Metropolis, who’s major threats are from space, Gotham is filled with street-level crime. Even without the Arkham supervillains, the city has several issues like political corruption and the Gotham City Police Department’s higher members being involved in drug trafficking and being bribed by crime groups.

Not only has Gotham’s economy been controlled by numerous crime families for generations, we see in the 468th issue of ‘Batman’ Vol. 1, (1991),  that by the 1990s Triads had managed to take a billion dollars out of Gotham annually. There’s gangs, mafia groups, and also there’s the Yakuza operating in Gotham, too. Gotham has always been cursed to suck since the city was apparently built on top of where an ancient evil dude was sealed and imprisoned. He later names himself Doctor Gotham.

The mayors are often either incompetent or also corrupt, and since its origin, Gotham has been structured so that those taking part in gang wars, drug smuggling, organized crime, etc. don’t have any real reason to fear the law or authority. That was until Batman.

After Batman’s rise as a vigilante, he quickly became something trigger-happy criminals on the streets learned to be afraid of. Because of this, political figures in Gotham were more interested in using the law enforcement for finding and bringing the Batman down due to him taking the city’s issues in his own hands and becoming pretty much the only effective direct role for taking criminals out. The reasoning presented is that Batman is a criminal himself and a threat, but as we know the police force and government take part and aid crime themselves. Batman is a threat to them too.

One good thing about Gotham is that the dark and eery vibe is great for Halloween.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Barbie: Fairytopia’ (movie) 2005 – Review

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By: Christine Yang

What it’s about:

‘Barbie: Fairytopia’ is a movie about a fairy girl named Elina that’s from a place called The Magic Meadow. She would often be made fun of by other fairies due to her not having wings. But one day there was a rumor that an evil fairy, Laverna, from a “myth”, kidnapped Topaz, a powerful and guardian fairy from The Magic Meadow.

The next day, there was a green gas that prevented fairies from being able to fly and made them weak in The Magic Meadow, which was slowly creeping up to different places in Fairytopia. Elina and her friends Bibble and Dandelion want to find the answer to the disappearance of Topaz, but unfortunately, Dandelion can’t keep going through with the mission due to the gas affecting her. As Elina and her little friend Bibble go through the mission to find Topaz, they eventually uncover information that no other fairies would know, and only guardian fairies do know, and make new friends along the way. 

Review:

The movie ‘Barbie: Fairytopia’ is a good movie and has a good plot, but in my opinion I think the movie was rushed a little bit, like there could be things added between scenes.

The characters’ hair seems really “blocky”, the colors of the settings and characters also seem dull and not as detailed, especially the place Spooky Woods. Some of the creatures in the movie look like bugs because their eyes are really wide open.

Overall, the music in the movie was pleasant and more “classical”, which was only used about 3 times in the movie. There wasn’t really singing parts, which can make the movie not entertaining to others, but I wish there had been more.

In my opinion, I rate this 7/10.

I recommend this movie to younger kids like the age 4-7 years old, but anyone can watch this movie for nostalgic feelings or just for fun. ‘Barbie: Fairytopia’ can be watched on Amazon Prime Video (rent: $3.59  Buy: $14.69), Google Play Movie (Rent: $3.99  Buy: $14.69), Fandango at Home (Rent: $3.99  Buy: $14.99), YouTube (Rent: $3.99), and Apple TV (Rent: $3.99).

Also, the movie ‘Barbie: Fairytopia’ is in a collection with three other movies like, ‘Barbie: Fairytopia – Mermaidia’, ‘Magic of the Rainbow’, and ‘Mariposa and the Butterfly Fairy Friends’.

Tech/Games

JOYSTiCK Reviews Ep. 12: ‘Tetris’ – Block Tuah

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By: Daniel Kendle

Hey guys, welcome back to JOYSTiCK Reviews, and you know what I really hate? Climate change. But I’ve also taken a rather strong dislike towards popular games nowadays. So many terrible, terrible video games are coming out as of late, and unlike other poor saps who call themselves “gamers,” I’ve chosen not to lay down and take this blatant mediocrity.

‘Metroid Dread?’ Too scary. ‘Elden Ring?’ Too easy. ‘Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition?’ My mouth hurts. The only good video games as of recent are ‘PUBG’ and ‘Concord.’ Speaking of the latter, I was really sad the day it was announced it was being shut down after less than 2 weeks; I held a service for it and everything. Yeah, I missed my dog’s funeral, but it was a sacrifice I was willing to make (Much like my dog’s!).

That’s why I’ve been replaying old games lately, like today’s topic: ‘Tetris.’ Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the title. It’s one of the most popular video games ever, selling hundreds of millions of copies across dozens of platforms, and is still kicking around to this day.

But why is that? Has the game been updated throughout all these years due to it being a masterpiece? Or was this comically-large tracking device fastened around my leg because my opinions are, shockingly-enough, controversial? Let’s find out.

If there’s 1 word to define the game ‘Tetris,’ it’s this: “simple, yet complex” (math was never my strong suit). In my opinion, the game’s been in the public eye for the last few decades due to the notion of it being easy to learn, yet hard to master.

The gameplay’s simple in theory: players are given a tall grid, and 1 after the other, differently-shaped blocks fall from the sky, all being made up of 4 different cubes contorted into different shapes. Players can rotate, move, or speed up the block and its descent, eventually letting it settle along the bottom of the grid.

As the game progresses, a pile of blocks will form. Every time the player manages to get a vertical row of the grid entirely filled with blocks, it’s removed, and the pile shrinks in height. The point of the game is to try to last as long as possible without the pile overflowing, and to see how high of a score you can garner.

To bite the bullet, the game’s so great because of the diversity of each game. While I might be wrong about this, each game’s blocks are randomly-generated (except for select older editions of ‘Tetris,’ I believe). This means that there’s a virtually-infinite amount of ways a game can be played, as the 7 usable blocks’ different forms make strategic placement not just a necessity, but crucial in understanding the intricacies of the game.

The gameplay loop is short, but sweet, and this is why I think the game has that universal appeal. There’s no characters, no story, no wild controls, not even any slightly-abstract theming. It’s literally just blocks falling down. The closest the game has to surrealism is the fact that the blocks magically disappear when a row is formed, but that’s able to be construed by most as a game mechanic rather than a choice of world building.

Anyone, whether they’re 1 or 101 years old, can enjoy ‘Tetris.’ Its gameplay is perfect for what it is.

As it happens, the rest of the game’s experience is pretty good too!

The main musical theme of ‘Tetris’ might be one of the most iconic in gaming, and is definitely in my top 10 favorite songs of all time. Perfectly-melodic, beautiful, and wonderful, yet it has that bit of edge that makes each game feel tense. In fact, one of the best ways to describe ‘Tetris’ is through the word ‘dread.’ The combination of the slowly-falling blocks, foreboding, quick music, and knowledge of the consequences of misplacing your next move makes the game all the more engaging.

The graphics, while definitely not the game’s main point of praise, are still pretty good across the board. Since there are so many versions of ‘Tetris,’ it’s hard to properly articulate my feelings on its art style with specific notes, but I’ll try.

I think the game’s graphics have aged well, especially since the different developers for the games generally keep the blocky aesthetic intact for each version. Not that each version of ‘Tetris’ uses pixel art, mind you, but what I mean is that each edition still feels like the classic game from the 80’s: polygonal shapes with bright colors. There’s not a version of ‘Tetris’ with “hyper-realistic graphics” or anything of that sort (not that I’m opposed to it…I’ve been known to be fairly aroused by cubes in the past).

The visuals, in combination with the music, have both stood the test of time and are continually iterated-upon with each remake of the game. And overall, that’s how I’d describe ‘Tetris’ in a nutshell: a game that’s both able to retain its immortal charm, and yet still manage to iterate on its core concept. For example, ‘Tetris 99’ is a battle royale-style title exclusive to the Nintendo Switch that has 99 players pitted against one another. ‘Hatris’ is a much older example; a sequel of sorts to ‘Tetris’ that lets players stack…hats. And ‘Facetris’ is one of those games that, if you search it up, you understand why I’m omitting any details about it here (2 words: facial body horror).

…and I think that’ll do it for this review! ‘Tetris’ is a masterpiece, no getting around that. Its universal appeal is deserved, and expected based off of its simple, yet astronomically-fun gameplay. Combine that with stellar songs (or “song,” singular) and ever-changing graphical prestige, I’m very happy to award ‘Tetris’ with the coveted 10/10 rating, a rating I’ve only given out in this serial to 1 other game, that being ‘Metroid Dread.’ And just like ‘Dread,’ ‘Tetris’ is easily in my top 5 games of all time.

But now that that’s done and dusted, it’s time to wrap up for today. This little red dot on my ankle’s tracking device began beeping a bit into the review, and it looks like the police just outside my door – with an armed escort (Chuckles)! Oh well, glad to see someone remembered my birthday, even though it isn’t for…6 months.

But alas, that’s all the time we have for today. Thank you for reading this issue of JOYSTiCK, have a lovely October, and I’ve got a body to hide.

Travel/Food

Top 5 Christmas desserts

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By: Isabel Strack

Image created with Pixabay:https://pixabay.com/illustrations/ai-generated-christmas-8400419/

There are many dessert options for Christmas, but these are the most popular ones and here’s why.

Peppermint bark

Peppermint bark is a very popular Christmas dessert, and here is why. Many people like peppermint bark because it is very easy to make and tastes delicious.

You can bring it to family gatherings or even just to have in your house when you’re wanting something sweet.

To make it, all you need to do is melt a white chocolate bar, cut up some candy canes, and then you just chill it and it’s ready to eat. Peppermint bark is a big crowd pleaser and you will get many compliments on your baking skills.

Here is a link to a recipe for Peppermint bark: https://www.thepioneerwoman.com/food-cooking/recipes/a41534277/peppermint-bark-recipe/

Gingerbread cookies

Gingerbread cookies are also another big Christmas treat, and here is why. Many people enjoy these types of cookies because they just look and taste like Christmas.

These gingerbread cookies have been a popular dessert for awhile now, so many people will assume someone will bring it to a gathering.

These cookies started when Russian bakers would make these cookies as a replica for the people attending the party that day or evening.

These cookies will be very easy to bake as long as you have a cookie cutter.

Here is a link to a recipe for Gingerbread cookies: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/best-gingerbread-cookies/

Frosted sugar cookies

These cookies are very fun and easy to make. You can make these cookies into fun shapes, and cool designs that you can frost on.

Many people already have their own recipe for these cookies, and enjoy baking them with their family for the holidays.

These cookies are pretty easy to make and are a fan favorite.

Here is a link to a recipe for Frosted sugar cookies: https://sugarspunrun.com/easy-sugar-cookie-recipe/#recipe

Mint brownies

These brownies aren’t as popular as the desserts I talked about before, but still taste delicious and everyone will enjoy them. They are a little bit more hard to make than the others but are still pretty easy to make, and will be worth it in the end.

Many people don’t know about this dessert, but once you bring it to a gathering people will be telling you how delicious they are and asking what the recipe is.

Here is a link to a recipe for Mint brownies: https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/classic-mint-chocolate-brownies/#tasty-recipes-74358

Caramelized pecans

This also isn’t as popular as the other desserts, but it is one of the easiest and best tasting desserts you can make.

If you aren’t a very good baker or just don’t enjoy baking that much these pecans are the way to go.

Although it is very easy to make, it is still very good and will make your whole house smell like Christmas.

Here is a link to a recipe for Caramelized pecans: https://stripedspatula.com/stovetop-caramelized-pecans/#wprm-recipe-container-11234

Tech/Games

Breaking down all of the Minecraft ‘Life Series’ rules and general ideas

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By: Julia Yang

Before we start, what’s the ‘Life Series’?
The ‘Life Series’ is a multiplayer Minecraft series created by a YouTuber and Streamer that goes by the name Grian. Grian gathers around 15 of his friends and they all have to survive in this series for as long as they can until a winner is chosen.

‘3rd Life’

‘3rd Life’ was the first ever season of the ‘Life Series’ that Grian had created. This series was not an official ongoing thing when it came out since this was originally a test idea. The idea of ‘3rd Life’— and basically the overall idea of the ‘Life Series’, is that every player has a set of three lives.

  • If you’re on your first life, you have a green name tag and are a peaceful player.
  • If you’re on your second life, you have a yellow name tag and basically act the same as a regular green player.
  • If you lose both of those lives and end up on your third life, you gain your red name tag, become hostile, and go after other players to make them lose their remaining lives.
  • If you lose your third, and last life, you are out of the series and will no longer upload anymore episodes of the season.
  • The last player remaining wins the season.

‘Last Life’

In ‘Last life’, all players will start off by getting a randomly selected amount of lives, the minimum being two and maximum being six. Unfortunate players with two lives or less are lucky this season as this time, everyone is able to give out their own lives for the sake of other players with the command “/givelife”. For example, if later in the season I end up on my last life, I can bribe or threaten another player with more lives to lend me one of theirs to no longer be on my last life.

Another larger twist to better ensure drama is “The Boogeyman Curse”. This curse entails death and betrayal. A player will be randomly selected and be given the curse in every episode where they have to kill another player by the end of the playing session or else all of their lives will be taken and they’ll be set to their last life. When a player is the Boogeyman, all alliances and friendships tend to be thrown out the window in desperation of getting a kill and not losing their own lives. There can be multiple Boogeymen at a time. The last player standing wins.

‘Double Life’

In ‘Double Life’, the stakes are much higher than any other series. You see, in ‘Double Life’, your health bar is tied to another randomly selected player. If they take damage, you take damage. Which also means, if they die, you die.

The general rules still apply, green lives, yellow lives, and red lives all act the same, but it’s double the trouble. All you can really do is hope your “soulmate” isn’t an idiot.

The last pair standing wins.

‘Limited Life’

In ‘Limited life’, you have 24 hours to live. Just like every other life season, there are green, yellow, and red lives. In this season, if a player has 16+ hours, they’re on their green life, if they have 8-16 hours left, they’re on their yellow life, if they have less than 8 hours left they’re on their red life. When a player dies they lose 30 minutes off their time, if a player gets a kill, they gain hours.

In this series, yellow lives can kill green lives to get more time, but if they kill a non-green, they don’t get any time. Red players on the other hand can kill anyone and gain time.

This season they bring back the “Boogeyman Curse”. This time, if a Boogeyman gets a kill, they gain 1 hour and the victim gets -2 hours taken away. Thankfully, there can only be one existing Boogeyman at a time.

Last player standing wins.

‘Secret Life’

‘Secret Life’ is an extremely interesting and entertaining season. In secret life, things are of course changed up once more. Players are given 30 hearts of health, but these hearts will never regenerate. Once you lose a heart, that heart is gone forever.

The very special thing about this season is that all players will be given a secret task every episode. Once you successfully finish your task, you will walk over to the large statue at the spawn and press the succeed button. Pressing the succeed button will give you +10 hearts. If you have, let’s say, 26 hearts, you will get 4 hearts for succeeding and 6 valuable items because you cannot go over 30 hearts.

If you for whatever reason seem to not be able to finish a task or you’re up for a challenge, you can re-roll for a harder one. If you succeed at a hard task you get incredible items, if you fail, you get -10 hearts off of your health bar.

The normal tasks can range from stealing the torches out of 4 people’s bases without them knowing it’s you, or not moving when someone is looking at you. Harder tasks will be like summoning a boss, or jumping off a 100+ block tower and landing in a one block wide puddle of water.

You cannot tell other players what your task is unless the task says it’s okay to do so. If you tell your task when you weren’t allowed to, or another player manages to figure out your task and you confirm it, you have failed and will need to press the fail button.

All green, yellow, and red lives act the same behavior wise, but things have once again changed drastically. Green lives will remain the same, yellow lives however have a very special power. Yellow lives are able to investigate, stalk, and follow you to try and guess your task. If a yellow name guesses your task correctly, it is an immediate fail and you will have to press the fail button. Red lives are lethal in this season. Red lives will constantly gain tasks, once they finish a task, they immediately get another one. These tasks all have to do with causing harm or distress to other players who aren’t on their red life. When they succeed in their task, they gain +5 hearts. Failing to complete a task at the end of a session does not count as a fail for red names.

The last player standing wins.

‘Real Life’

‘Real Life’ was silly and only had one episode. This season, it’s basically a reiteration of ‘3rd Life’, but in VR. That’s it. Green lives, yellow lives, and red lives, but in VR.

One final time: the last player standing wins.

Grian plans to continue this series for as long as he can come up with his own little ideas, because obviously there’s only so many ways you can make things different in a series like this. In the recent Minecraft Championship (MCC), Grian states that he was sick for a little bit but it gave him a lot of time to think about a new ‘Life Series’ season and what he could do. So, if you missed watching all of the ones I mentioned before come out, you can look forward to the new one he’s planning to make.

Here are all of the ‘Life Series’ members’ (Minecraft) YouTube channels and names:

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Moana’ movie review

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By: Seng Yang

The movie ‘Moana’ released in 2016 and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, is an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It is set in the Polynesian islands of the South Pacific. The film tells us about a young girl named Moana who goes on a daring journey to save her island and discover her true destiny as the chosen one. Moana is the spirited daughter of Chief Tui on the island of Motunui. She has always felt a deep connection with the ocean and yearns to explore beyond the reef, despite her father’s wishes for her to become the island’s next leader.

When Moana’s island is threatened by a blight, she sets sail on a quest to find the demigod Maui who stole the heart of Te Fiti, the goddess who creates life. Moana faces challenges, learns about her people’s rich history, seafaring heritage, and discovers her own strengths.

In my opinion, I love the movie ‘Moana”’ as it is one of my all time favorites. I love how it explores the themes of courage, identity, and the importance of following one’s heart and embracing one’s heritage. On her journey to return the heart of Te Fiti, not only did she succeed and save her people and home, but she made connections on the way and she discovered herself and personal growth. She overcame obstacles, learned valuable lessons about leadership, empathy, and the interconnectedness of living things.

Some other things I love about this movie is that the movie is for all ages, not only for children. It includes one’s culture, vibrant characters, and great colors/animation.

I would rate ‘Moana’ a 5/5 because it’s one of those movies where it makes you want to show others that you can do anything and even if you face such challenges you shouldn’t give up.

Overall, I think the movie ‘Moana’ has a beautiful and inspirational message.

You can watch ‘Moana’ on Disney+.

Travel/Food

Best places to camp in MN

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By: Kara Fini

(View of Fenske Lake from campsite #7)

Minnesota has beautiful wildlife and nature which means it also has amazing places to go camping. Here’s a list of 3 of my personal favorite places to go camp.

Jay Cooke State Park is located in Carlton Country about 20 miles southwest of Duluth. Like most campgrounds they offer tent, RV, and camper cabin sites for a variety of ways to camp. They all Include a fire pit and you are able to buy firewood on-site. Why Jay Cooke stands out against other campgrounds is because of their famous swinging bridge which is now 100 years old. This bridge has stunning views over the St. Louis River and leads you to a bunch of amazing hiking trails. In total, there are 50 miles of hiking trails to explore and 34 miles of Nordic skiing trails in the winter. I would recommend Jay Cooke as a nice family camping trip or first time camper because of the variety of ways to camp and because of the many activities they provide.

If you are looking for a more secluded campground, Fenske is in my opinion the best place to go camping. Fenske Lake Campground is a small remote campground up in Ely, Minnesota. The campground has 16 campsites with 11 being RV accessible. The nicer sites have a walk in style meaning there is a small trail about 60 meters leading down to the campsite. This makes it harder to set up tents and bring stuff down, but it’s worth it when you’re in your own secluded campsite. Some campsites are connected to the lake. This means you can canoe, kayak, paddleboard or go swimming straight from your campsite. There are hiking trails, but they require a bit of a drive to get to. Overall, I would recommend Fenske for non-first time campers because it’s a bit rougher compared to other campgrounds like Jay Cooke. 

The Boundary Waters 4.3 million acres of interconnected lakes and rivers with beautiful forests that are home to much wildlife including moose, loons, bears, deer and many other animals. Camping in the Boundary Waters is a much different experience than a state park campground. First of all, there are no motorized vehicles allowed in the Boundary Waters area. The only ways to get into the Boundary Waters is by portaging, canoeing or hiking. Inside the Boundary Waters there are 2,000 campsites, most accessible from the lakeside. These campsites have an area to set up a tent, a small pit toilet and sometimes have a fire pit. The Boundary Waters can be difficult to plan and hard to navigate, but the memories and experiences of them make it worth going.

Movies/TV/Theaters

Top 10 Christmas movies to watch

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By: Grace Lopez

1. The Grinch’ (2018)

This movie is such a good and funny movie and a really family friendly movie. I really enjoyed watching it with my family when I was little, and still love watching this movie to this day.

2. ‘Elf’ (2003)

This movie is hilarious. When I was little I really loved watching this movie and to this day I still think it’s really funny to watch. This movie is a great movie to watch with friends, family and others.

3. ‘The Polar Express’ (2004)

This movie is about bravery, friendships and a lot of adventures with the little boy. This movie was really interesting with all his adventures so I would really recommend this movie to any family or to anyone.

4. ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’ (1993)

This movie is a combination of Halloween and Christmas so it’s a really good movie to watch for both holidays. This movie is really funny, sad, a little scary and relatable so I really recommend watching this movie.

5. ‘The Christmas Chronicles’ (2018)

This movie is really funny with the 2 siblings, but I won’t spoil it so i’ll just say that it’s really interesting and really funny, so I would also recommend this movie.

6. ‘The Claus Family’ (2020)

This movie is a sad Christmas movie but still fun to watch. The little boy learns a lot during the movie but I won’t spoil it. I would also really recommend this movie but it might bring some tears.

7. ‘David and the Elves’ (2021)

This movie is also about a young little boy. It tells you about the true spirit of Christmas and a lot more. This Christmas movie really values friendships and family.

8. ‘The Knight Before Christmas’ (2019)

This movie is kinda romantic. It’s about love and a really romantic connection and that theme really blends in with the magic of Christmas and it all combines together. It’s a really good movie to watch.

9. ‘Christmas on Mistletoe Farm’ (2022)

This movie is about a family. They learn a lot about the true meaning of family. During the whole movie, they are a really together as a family. This movie is really interesting and I really recommend watching it with your family.

10. ‘Klaus’ (2019)

This movie is really interesting. It talks a lot about toys. It’s a really kind and joyful movie. It really explores the meeting of friendships and a lot more. This is a really good movie. I would also recommend this movie. This one would be one of my favorite movies.

Editorials/Student Voice, Tech/Games

JOYSTiCK Non-Review: Is the PS5 Pro an allegory for economical collapse?

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By: Daniel Kendle

Hello everyone, welcome to JOYSTiCK Reviews, the world’s best source of video game reviews if your gaming console of choice is a turnip. That, or the societal equivalent that is the Xbox Series X.

The PS5 (PlayStation 5) Pro console has recently been unveiled, a successor to the PS5 that’s had rumblings about it for the past week. Those rumblings have, in fact, come from the elephant in the room: its pricing.

Yes, for the cheapskate’s price of $699.99 (£699.99), all of you at home can experience the definitive way to play ‘Madden NFL 25.’ Jokes aside, pretty much everyone seems to be upset with Sony for this decision, because $700 is indeed a metric-ton of money to be dishing out for the product, especially for a “pro” console who’s improvements are minimal compared to its sister device. Granted, that’s nothing to say of the YouTube tech channels who’ll be up in arms over the price to specs ratio, yet buy, like, 10 of these to “prove a point.”

Because I too enjoy eating maggot-ridden roadkill, then complaining about the lack of a built-in disc drive, today I’m not here to talk about the PS5 Pro’s lack of substantial improvements. Don’t be silly! No, today I’m here to ask one simple question, one that might rethink your standards of Sony as a whole:

“IS THE PS5 PRO AN ALLEGORY FOR ECONOMICAL COLLAPSE?”

Yes, you heard it here first, folks; Sony’s officially transitioned from hardware manufacturing to provoking currency-based philosophical debate (I always knew they had it in them!). But a multi-billion dollar company’s foray into the world of consumer dogma aside, I think this question in particular requires a bit of critical thinking.

In the anticipation towards a new console’s unveiling, the main thing people look out for is something briefly mentioned earlier: the ratio of improvements/new features to its pricing. The perfect balance of these 2 extremes. – the “Magic Ratio” – is very rare in consoles, but not unheard of.

The problem with the PS5 Pro isn’t with either its pricing or lack of innovation over the original PS5, but how the pair complement each other. The console is being shown off with… improvements, sure, but ones that don’t suffice for such a high cost.

Sure, a pro console may not, and probably shouldn’t be, very different from the original system, but for people who either do or don’t currently have a regular PS5, this new system won’t appeal to both groups. People who don’t have a PS5 will be turned off by the more expensive version, and seeing the lack of big upgrades will either skip the generation of devices all together or buy the current PS5, and people who do don’t want to buy a more expensive version of the console they already have will ignore it, noticing that it has barely any visible changes.

Overall, I see the new console as something of a stain on the PS5’s legacy, something that’ll make this generation less revered than others before. I’d go out of my way to say that the PS5 hasn’t been the most loved PlayStation device, but with the advent of its “superior” sibling, its critical future may be in further jeopardy (I’ll talk more about this latter point in a moment).

All of that was a long-winded way of explaining that, yes, the PlayStation 5 is an allegory for economical Armageddon. Kenichiro Yoshida, head CEO of Sony, must’ve been going to bed one night with his ‘Astro Bot’ jammies, ‘Ratchet and Clank’ action figures, and suspiciously-turnip-shaped Nintendo Switch, and thought, ‘our player base needs to be taught a lesson in consumer culture!’

To explain the “allegory” side of things, economical collapse can basically be defined as an abrupt and radical end of our current society’s method of exchanging currency. This in mind, I humbly see the original PS5 as a stand-in for the economy at hand; this untouchable, unmovable system (for the console, literally; for our economy, metaphorically) that was upended by the arrival of the PS5 Pro, who we’ll categorize as an imaginary, hypothetical new company whose stocks bring down the value of the US dollar to a point of no return. With the arrival of the new company means the tarnishing of the economy, and a collapse to consumerism.

This reflects on how the PS5 Pro has now given consumers a negative outlook on Sony’s newest generation of hardware, not helped by some poor releases as of recent, like ‘Concord’ and ‘Foam Stars.’

However, I don’t think that’s… all that the PS5 is supposed to say.

When Sony was summoning the PS5 Pro down in the caves of the underworld through means of dark magic, they must’ve intentionally priced it at such a high cost in order to sway potential buyers away from purchasing it, and thus spend more time with their friends, family, and community. The PS5 Pro is an allegory for economical collapse… but a lesson in how no video game can compare to the power of love.

So, in conclusion, yes, Sony’s newest console is a look into the potential downfall of our economy, but moreover, a look into the idea of love and kinship being a universal belief. Love, the binary code embedded into our veins, may be the same code written in the PS5 Pro, a new beacon for human connection. The PS5 Pro – or lack thereof – will be the product to immortalize humanity’s greatest treasure.

‘Wow,’ I thought to myself after writing that last paragraph, ‘never before in my life have I wanted to… kiss a company more than ever.’

And after reading this article, I think the feeling is mutual, friend! At the end of the day, the PS5 Pro sucks, and you know what? Maybe that’s okay. Maybe, instead of wailing about “improved graphical fidelity” and other nerd stuff like that, we can all go fishing, or something. But in the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed this glance into my psyche, have a great day, and keep eating your turnips.

Travel/Food

Garnell Sushi and Poke review

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By: Munira Ahmadad

Garnell Sushi and Poke is a sushi restaurant located in Cairo that my cousin recommended we go to when I was seeing my family in Egypt. The seating was pretty good, and the outside area of the restaurant was pleasing with a fountain and palm trees with lights on them.

The food was good; I can’t say I’m the most fit to judge how sushi is supposed to taste, as I don’t recall any time I had sushi prior to my summer vacation in Cairo, but the overall taste of the sushi was good. You choose what you want and select how many pieces off the menu, so I just picked things at random.

The texture of the rice was pretty good, the fish was flavorful, and the sauce topping was a good addition to the sushi pieces. I had difficulty trying to eat the ones with cooked batter over it because they were especially heavy and chewing through them and staying neat was a mild challenge. However, the sushi in general was very filling and I couldn’t eat much so my cousin helped a lot.

Service was okay as far as I can tell, because I don’t speak Arabic. My mom does, so the staff seemed pretty happy about that. The next time I do go to Cairo, I would like to revisit this restaurant and try it again, because I enjoyed Garnell and it was one of my favorite food-related parts of my trip.

Overall, I would rate:

  • The food: 7/10. The pieces were really big, and it would have been better if they had been smaller. The rice was also a little too sweet.
  • The ambiance: 10/10. I liked the palm trees and it looked especially nice at night.
  • The service: 8/10. I didn’t speak directly to them, but they seemed to act nicely to my mom. Again, not being able to speak Arabic made it hard at first, but then things got easier when they realized my mom spoke Arabic.