The Lumberjack



Students Serving The Cal Poly Humboldt Campus and Community Since 1929

Tag: Video games

  • Mar’s Gaming Garage: HI-FI Rush

    Mar’s Gaming Garage: HI-FI Rush

    By Mario Orozco

    Every good game has music. Usually a game’s music plays in the background and has no actual effect on the gameplay. This week’s game uses music differently, it’s not just in the background of your gameplay, but part of the mechanics of the game itself. Justin Crittenden, a software engineering major, recommended “HI-FI Rush” to me, a rhythm-based action game released in 2023. Before I played this game, I was under the false impression that it would be like other rhythm games, but “HI-FI Rush” isn’t like anything I have experienced before. 

    This game has a really simple story, but it was well executed and had my complete attention throughout the playthrough. It did a fantastic job taking a simple plot and making it feel entertaining and fresh. One aspect of the game that I enjoyed was the art style. The characters are cel-shaded, giving the game a comic book like appearance and the main bosses of the game each had beautifully detailed freeze frames that contributed to this design. Another aspect I enjoyed were the characters; each character had clear motives and reasoning behind their actions which is extremely important. The characters were also very entertaining, the main cast had fantastic chemistry with each other and it was fun to see them interact and grow together. 

    The main aspect of the game that makes it memorable is the gameplay – the combat is amazing. There is a constant beat playing throughout the game and combos performed exactly on this beat increase the effectiveness of your attacks, which is also used to parry enemy attacks. The beat is useful in ways outside of combat too. It is used to move faster and assists in traversing through the levels. The style of gameplay temporarily switches a few times in specific portions, it even becomes like “Guitar Hero” in a few battles with buttons needing to be pressed exactly on time to the song playing in the background.

    Like always, there are a couple negatives that I would like to address. The first is the design of the levels. Most of them have a similar feel, following the same general outline. This is okay though, the main focus is the combat, which is fun enough for the repetitive nature to not really matter. The other issue is how difficult the timing can be. In the later stages of the game, there are just way too many enemies attacking you all at once to be able to focus on hitting your opponents with rhythm. Instead, it turned into me just dashing around chaotically, randomly swinging at everything close to me. If this is a problem, you can just turn the difficulty down and it’ll make staying on rhythm more manageable.

    “HI-FI Rush” took me a grand total of nine hours and one minute to complete. It is evident through playing the game that the developers had a blast making it, and it feels like a passion project. I rate this game a 4 out of 5, and if you like fast paced, hack-and-slash gameplay, then I strongly recommend this game to you. “HI-FI Rush” is definitely worth the purchase. 

    If you have any games you would like me to review you can email marsgaminggarage@gmail.com.

  • Arcane Review: Alternative Canon Done Right

    Arcane Review: Alternative Canon Done Right

    Two months ago, ‘Arcane’ dropped and took the world by force. The animated steampunk series is a League of Legends adaptation that debuts a few show-exclusive characters, most notably the villainous kingpin Silco.

    For people who don’t play League, ‘Arcane’ sets itself apart as an alternative canon to its video game predecessor – and it does it right, something that isn’t always the case for TV and film adaptations.

    ‘Arcane’ catches the viewer’s undivided attention within the first few minutes of the pilot episode and consistently maintains it throughout the course of the tumultuous, action-packed storyline. Beloved League legends roam the streets of the undercity and maneuver testy politics in the edifices of Piltover as the two worlds collide with explosive consequences.

    Viktor, a chronically ill Hextech inventor with a progressive disability, straddles both as undercity stock working far above the poisoned squalor of his original home. He and his research partner Jayce face various moral dilemmas as they make the push for progress, at great cost to themselves, particularly Viktor. An aged-up Ekko, a far cry from the young boy introduced at the start of the series, takes the helm of the Firelights, an undercity rebel group, with unabashed swagger and style.

    Caitlyn, the posh rifle-wielding daughter of a prominent council member in Piltover, finds her bearings in the undercity as Vi, tattooed and grisled from her formative years in the undercity and subsequently in prison, shows her the ropes. While the two women initially find each other at odds, they soon form a strong sapphic bond that defies the strictures of their respective differences in social status and upbringing. Korra and Asami from ‘Legend of Korra’ and Adora and Catra (and many more) from ‘She-Ra’ walked so Caitlyn and Vi could run.

    The unique art style, bombastic musical score, and thorough character development flourish the compact plot, which largely centers around the estrangement of Vi and her younger sister Powder, aka Jinx. The tragedy of Jinx lies in her inability to reconcile her younger self, Powder, with her present self. The inclusion of Silco is necessary to piece together Jinx’s elusive backstory while still maintaining congruence with the original canon of League, a feat that Arcane managed to pull off seamlessly.

    Jinx’s mental health issues are spurred on by Silco, who took on the role of her adoptive father at the end of the third episode and psychologically groomed her to become an explosive human weapon as a means to meet his nefarious ends. In the backdrop of this central conflict, mounting tensions between the elites of Piltover and the vagabonds of the undercity rise to a dramatic crescendo and abruptly halt with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger that leaves the viewer teetering on the razor thin edge of Jinx’s deteriorating mental health.

    When done right, TV and film adaptations embellish the canon of the original source material, not detract from it or contradict it. In the span of only nine episodes, Arcane succeeded and kept its viewers braced for the second season.

  • How to survive Among Us without being sus

    How to survive Among Us without being sus

    The best game about gaslighting your friends on a spaceship

    Among Us was released by InnerSloth in 2018, but remained in obscurity, averaging only about 30 players at any given time. This all changed in July, when it was picked up and thrust into the spotlight by Twitch streamers such as Sodapoppin.

    Today, Among Us boasts over 100 million downloads and 60 million daily players. Owing to its easy learning curve, low cost and social nature, the game took off. It’s deceptively simple but downright addictive.

    Among Us is a charmingly animated game with a distinctive visual style. Playing as colorful astronauts, players are divided into two teams: crewmates and imposters.

    Crewmates are charged with completing their tasks and investigating the imposter among them, while imposters must sabotage the ship and murder all of the crewmates before being discovered.

    The real action of the game occurs in the chat feature, where players bring out their best detective work to uncover the liars.

    As one of the 60 million Among Us players, the hype is real. I play as a lime green astronaut who wears a plastic flamingo on their head and it’s as delightful as it sounds. For crewmates and imposters alike, may I present: tips on not getting launched into the void of space.

    1. Always know where you are. Having an alibi is the best way to prove your innocence (or fake it). Be prepared to explain what you were doing and who you might have seen there.

    2. Know how to argue. Whether you’re accusing someone or defending yourself, have evidence. Did a crewmate see you do a visual task? Did you vote out the last imposter? Why were you following Red around the map? You have to be able to find reasons why people are or are not the imposter and persuade people that you know what you’re talking about. Which brings us to tip two and a half: Lying.

    3. Learn to lie convincingly. If you can convince just one or two crewmates that you’re trustworthy, that you couldn’t have been the killer, that you were in medbay the entire time, then you’ve just earned yourself another chance to strike. As in life, lying is a great way to eliminate your enemies with no repercussions.

    4. Find a buddy. If you’re a crewmate, you’ll have a friend who will witness and report your murderer, or simply stand by and protect you while you complete your tasks. If you’re an imposter, you either have an unsuspecting victim or a second imposter to team up with and lend an alibi to.

    5. Don’t be a cheater. If you’ve been murdered, don’t be that guy who calls their buddy and tells them who the imposter was. It’s a jerk move all around and ruins the fun of investigation.

    Good luck everyone, and don’t get murdered!

  • Coach Continues Creating Community

    Coach Continues Creating Community

    Arcata High School’s computer science teacher creates community for video gamers

    Jason Sidell is an Arcata High School teacher responsible for their Makers Program and esports team. The Makers Program is a curriculum written by Sidell, designed to engage computer skills, wood shop tools and various other equipment to make anything the students want to create.

    This year Sidell coached the Arcata High School esports team that played their first season this spring. Fisher Boroughs is one of the team’s League of Legends players who just started playing the game this season.

    “He [Sidell] doesn’t know much about League of Legends,” Boroughs said. “He knew as much as me, which is basically nothing when it started.”

    Sidell says it’s a lot more like an organized sport than people would imagine. It has all of the same stakes of ranking, a team name, regular practices and all of your fellow gamers sitting right next to you.

    “It’s been more intense than I thought it would be,” Sidell said.

    Anthony Womack is a senior on the Rocket League team and is in his second year of the Makers class. He describes the Makers class as an incredibly open environment where Sidell encourages students to follow their own ideas as well as giving those less inspired something to begin with.

    “You’re just making your own independent projects,” Womack said. “That’s pretty much the only assignment, just make something.”

    He recalls building an electric guitar from scratch as being his most impressive project he’s completed in the class.

    “I would spend every single lunch inside the class,” Womack said. “I wouldn’t even eat most of the time because I would just be busy working on stuff.”

    Sidell graduated from Loyola University in Chicago with a degree in biology but wasn’t sure what direction to take it. On a whim, he took a vacation down to Baja with a childhood friend of his, but when he drove his friend up to Humboldt County, he never left.

    “I love the Pacific Northwest and the environment up here,” Sidell said. “I just fell in love with it.”

    Like many others moving to Humboldt, Sidell had trouble finding employment. He first landed a dish washing job at Golden Harvest Cafe, then found work through AmeriCorp for two years.

    “I made a lot of connections in education that way,” Sidell said.

    He would lead backpacking trips on the Lost Coast Trail and can remember the positive impact it had on the youth who had never left the Northern Humboldt metropolis of Arcata and Eureka. Sidell began work on his Master’s in education focusing on curriculum writing. At the same time he began part-time work at another non-profit run by Carol Newetts, called Tiffany’s Garden for Children.

    “I remember one year I would teach in the morning at McKinleyville High, and then a class at Eureka High and then I’d end up at Fortuna High in the afternoon.”

    The program he headed was called CyberTribe. It was set up as a youth-run computer business where teens would teach each other how to use certain programs including graphic design and fixing computers. They would take on paying jobs from the community like graphic design and web design work.

    “It was 20 years ago, but I still remember all those kids’ names,” Sidell said. “It was a really empowering experience.”

    Sidell taught a variety of programs to the youth at CyberTribe, but a program that could be used to make video games became very popular. After seeing the interest, Sidell told his boss that he thought that it could be taught as a high school course. His boss agreed and Sidell created a six week module for the video game development course that he began teaching across the county.

    “I think I’ve taught at just about every high school in Northern Humboldt,” Sidell said. “I remember one year I would teach in the morning at McKinleyville High, and then a class at Eureka High and then I’d end up at Fortuna High in the afternoon.”

    After 15 years of work all around the county, Sidell settled down at Arcata High School where he wrote the curriculum for the Makers program after finding a grant focused on encouraging STEM at the high school level. The funding he secured solidified his own place at Arcata High, assuming that interest remained.

    “It was a great feeling,” Sidell said. “Especially because I had been struggling year-to-year to maintain my job.”

    Sidell believes he was meant to be a teacher and is passionate about creating a space that welcomes and respects his students. He believes that the best way to positively impact the world and leave a good mark on it is through teaching.

    “If you can teach someone an idea and give them skills,” Sidell said, “that knowledge and information can be passed on through history.”

  • Half-Life: Alyx Makes VR Worthwhile

    Half-Life: Alyx Makes VR Worthwhile

    Half-Life: Alyx is the first properly high budget virtual reality effort from a major studio

    The previous game in the Half-Life series ended on a cliffhanger, and since then, the franchise sat in limbo for over a decade. By the time Half-Life: Alyx was announced, most had given up hope of a sequel. The inflated expectations for a new Half Life game made constructing a sequel too daunting a task for developer Valve to ever release anything, but now they have. Does it live up to the hype?

    For the most part, yes.

    With the majority of people currently stuck inside, virtual reality is one of the best ways to pretend you’re not. The problem is the high price point. Currently the barrier for entry for a VR headset is a minimum of $400, and that doesn’t include a gaming PC that meets the hefty requirements of VR. Those PCs generally start at $600. Up to this point, small-scale games made up the majority of the VR catalog. VR lacked a system seller to justify the high price point.

    The game’s story is excellent, but can feel sparse at times. Some chapters should have more dialogue than they do, but the writing and performances that are there are excellent.

    Luckily, Half-Life: Alyx is an incredible game. It takes what made the older Half-Life games great on a 2D screen and translates them to the 3D space with an incredible amount of polish.

    In Half-Life 2, your main method of interacting with the world was the gravity gun, the weapon that could pick up and manipulate nearly any object in the world around you. In Half-Life: Alyx you have gravity gloves.

    These gloves let you aim your hands at nearly any object, press the grab button and flick your wrist to bring that item towards you. It’s an action so simple and satisfying to perform that since playing I have on several occasions found myself with the urge to perform it in my day-to-day life.

    The game’s story is excellent, but can feel sparse at times. Some chapters should have more dialogue than they do, but the writing and performances that are there are excellent.

    During those few encounters with human characters I was in awe at how life-like they were. If there’s anything about the game that is a disappointment, it would have to be the lack of melee weapons. You can pick up almost anything in the environment, but none of it can actually harm enemies. Half-Life is known for having the crowbar as a weapon, so it’s weird to not have that in this game.

    These are all nitpicks though. Half-Life: Alyx is proof that VR as a medium can work. It’s proof that virtual reality can be its own storytelling medium, with its own stories and experiences and that gets me excited for the future of gaming.

  • Travel Back in Time in ARCADA

    Travel Back in Time in ARCADA

    ARCADA opens soon for lovers of video games and drinks

    Correction: this story previously implied ARCADA serves liquor. ARCADA only serves beer, cider and wine.

    If you thought Humboldt State University’s parking meters had a strong appetite for your coins, it’s time to put your pocket change to better use, because Humboldt’s first bar arcade is set to open soon.

    The team work of Kristen “P-Nut” Thompson and Amber Saba went above and beyond to create an establishment for arcade fans. Thompson and Saba are well renowned for running local restaurant A Slice of Humboldt Pie, and the next step was to introduce Humboldt’s bar arcade.

    Thompson and Saba have been working on the ARCADA project for some time. They chose 6th and K Street in Arcata for their location.

    “In our minds this project has been in development for five years, but physically we have been working on that building for a year,” Saba said.

    The arcade machines are budget friendly, so there is no need to break the bank trying to finish a level. An urge to break a machine might arise, but that’s the joy of vintage games.

    Arcada held a preview opening Feb. 23 and invited a limited number of people to check out the establishment. Thompson said even though their credit card machines weren’t set up, it helped give off an old school arcade vibe.

    “Due to our credit card processing company we get to pretend that it’s the 80s,” Thompson said. “So we are only accepting cash transactions.”

    The arcade machines are budget friendly, so there is no need to break the bank trying to finish a level. An urge to break a machine might arise, but that’s the joy of vintage games.

    • Kristen Thompson and Amber Saba presenting a welcoming environment for their preview opening of ARCADA Feb 23. | Photo by Alberto Muro
    • A Jurassic Park-themed pinball machine to match the vintage theme of ARCADA. | Photo by Alberto Muro

    When it comes to playing video games, people tend to enjoy the experience by themselves. Saba had those people in mind while developing ARCADA.

    “We have some introverted gaming people in the community who are very excited to have a public hangout space,” Saba said. “Where they don’t necessarily have to talk to someone, or if you go alone you don’t have to sit and be awkward.”

    ARCADA will be open for business Feb. 26 from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., so don’t be alarmed if you come across heavy traffic from people waiting to get in.

  • This Week in Entertainment

    This Week in Entertainment

    By | Liam Olson

    Movies and Television

    Oscar’s Best Picture Mix Up

    During the 89th Academy Awards, there was a mix up for the Best Picture winner. It was falsely announced that “La La Land” won Best Picture; in actuality, the winner was “Moonlight.” A mix-up with the envelopes resulted in the mistake.

    The Academy Award Presenters Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty were accidentally handed the envelope for Best Actress that awarded Emma Stone for her performance in “La La Land.” The presenters falsely took it to mean that “La La Land” had won Best Picture.

    Resulting accepting speeches given from the “La La Land” cast were short-lived as the cast was soon informed by an onstage Oscar producer of the mistake. “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz opened up the correct envelope and showcased it to the audience that “Moonlight” had indeed won Best Picture. The cast of “Moonlight” was called onstage to give their acceptance speeches and the “La La Land” cast gave the Best Picture award to the “Moonlight” cast.

    Source: ABC News

    Studio Ghibli’s Hayao Miyazaki is out of retirement

    During a pre-Oscars interview having to do with Studio Ghibli’s Oscar-nominated film, “The Red Turtle,” anime film producer Toshio Suzuki announced that Studio Ghibli director, producer, animator and screenwriter Hayao Miyazaki has officially come out of retirement.

    Miyazaki is most well-known for his Oscar award winning movie, “Spirited Away.” Suzuki said that Miyazaki has come out of retirement to make a feature movie. Miyazaki recently learned computer-generated animation techniques and hopes to make the feature film using these new skills.

    Source: Kotaku, The Verge

    Music

    Rihanna Awarded Humanitarian of the Year by Harvard University

    On Feb. 23, Harvard University announced that singer Rihanna would be named as the 2017 Humanitarian of the Year. Rihanna was recognized on Feb. 28 for her charitable work improving cancer treatment in Barbados. She also created scholarship programs that help students from Caribbean countries attend college in the United States.

    Source: Rolling Stone

    Beyoncé Cancels Coachella Performance due to Pregnancy

    Beyoncé announced that she will not be headlining the 2017 Coachella music festival. She cancelled her performance due to her doctor’s recommendation to keep a calm schedule during her pregnancy. She is currently carrying twins which could lead to complications if under a stressful schedule.  Beyoncé was supposed to be headline Coachella with Kendrick Lamar and Radiohead, but decided to postpone her performance to 2018 after the birth of her twins.

    Source: USA Today

    Video Games

    New Overwatch Character Teased by Blizzard Entertainment

    For the past week, the video game company Blizzard Entertainment has been releasing various blog posts related to the upcoming new character coming to “Overwatch.” Even though Blizzard Entertainment has made in-game changes and left clues in videos to tease the release of the long awaited character Doomfist, they released a statement saying that the new character is not who everyone thinks. In the recent blog posts, Blizzard features an 11-year-old inventor and artificial intelligence genius named Efi Oladele from a location in the game called Numbani. Although Efi is not the new character, Blizzard Entertainment said that she has connections to the new upcoming character.

    It was speculated in a community post from January featuring other leaked game content that the upcoming character is a four-legged robot spider tank from Numbani that has been seen in multiple past photos and videos. There is a possibility that Efi is the one who created this new upcoming character.

    Source: Polygon

    20th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards

    The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences held its 20th annual D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Awards on Feb. 23 in Las Vegas, California. The awards ceremony was held to recognize 2016’s top video games in 24 different categories. “Overwatch” took home the award for Game of the Year, Action Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay and Outstanding Achievement in Game Design. “Overwatch” was not the only game to win many awards. “Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End” won Adventure Game of the Year and three other awards. The popular indie game, “Inside,” also won three awards during the awards ceremony.

    Source: Interactive.org

  • Pokémon GO is still around trying to bring back users

    Pokémon GO is still around trying to bring back users

    Niantic releases 80 new Pokémon in attempt to bring users back

    By | Curran Daly

    Niantic released 80 new Pokémon into the popular Pokémon GO game on Feb. 16, adding 80 new cute reasons to get out and explore the local area.

    The update adds new Pokémon, evolutions, gameplay animations, berries, and wardrobe options. The game dominated the summer months, according an article on the Business of Apps website daily user numbers surpassed Netflix, Spotify, and Twitter on Android devices.

    User numbers declined after the initial release. The decrease in users mimicked the percentages lost by other apps. However, according to SurveyMonkey, the larger initial audience meant that a 25 percent decline would lead to the loss of 3.9 million weekly users. The new update has been viewed as an attempt to bring back former users and appease consistent users.

    Connor Austin, a junior religious studies major, played the game when it was first released but has deleted the game because of repetitive gameplay and problems with the app working on his phone.

    “I literally just re-downloaded it two minutes ago,” said Austin. “It was kinda the fulfillment of my dreams as a kid, going out and catching Pokémon and seeing other trainers, but once it started to dwindle it waned for me.”

    The game garnered a loyal following after its release. Some of the success was attributed to the games connection with fans who finally got to live out their childhood dreams of becoming a Pokémon trainer.

    The game centers on high interest locations, like Humboldt State’s campus, while neglecting more isolated areas.

    “It depends on where you live, because before I lived on campus I was living on Giuntoli, and like even though I played it kinda sucked because there was only Pidgeys or Rattatas for miles, but here on campus it’s great,” said Austin.

    The abundance of common Pokémon was an annoyance for users when the game was released. However, with the games new update, there are new low level Pokémon that have joined them as the ever present Pokémon.

    Julianne Updike, a senior communication major, is happy to see the new Pokémon as they revitalize the game that was becoming stale.

    “Having more Pokémon in the game than it did before, definitely makes it more fun again,” Updike said. “But I think once we get used to those ones it will get kind of boring again.”

    The release of new Pokémon has generated more interest in the game, but it will not keep users satisfied forever. Many fans of the game have been waiting for the introduction of player to player Pokémon trading to be introduced into the mobile game. Trading was a feature promised before the release of the game and its absence has frustrated some users.

    Along with trading, people are hoping that the game will go on to further mimic the original Pokémon games with features like in depth combat and being able to interact with the Pokémon.

    “I get that the technology is new for this type of game, but I think they could’ve added a more dynamic combat system because the way you fight now is just like da-da-da-da-da, just mindlessly tapping the screen, when in the actual Pokémon games so much more goes into battles,”said Austin. “If it could mirror that better that would be nice.”

    These changes would be a welcome addition to the game for Lucas Arnese, a junior art education major, who has been playing that game since being a part of the beta. To Arnese, the game is addicting and connects him to his childhood growing up with Pokémon.

    “My grandma used to play with me as a kid, she would play and fight with us, I played before I could read,” Arnese said. “Then once I could read I really started to get more into it. It’s kind of cool to know that I grew up with Pokémon.”

    Nostalgia is a major force behind people playing the game. Niantic is hoping that this nostalgia will keep the game relevant while they continue adding features to create a more complete and diverse game.

    Woody Sundberg, a junior English major, thinks that the game will be able to outlive previous apps like Temple Run and Angry Birds. Pokémon Go’s use of location and augmented reality makes the game stand out, which Sundberg believes will help the longevity of the game.

    “It helps you explore areas and go places you’ve never been before and otherwise wouldn’t end up at like the murals in Eureka or the Arcata marsh at sunset,” Sundberg said.

  • Word on the Street: Pokemon GO

    Word on the Street: Pokemon GO

    Why do you think Pokemon GO is losing popularity?

    By Domanique Crawford

    Photo by Domanique Crawford

    Kairos Pacheco, Ecological restoration- “I already realize that when I am texting on my phone I am zoned in and not paying attention to the world around me. I don’t really like it [Pokemon Go] for that specific reason. people are just zoned out not paying attention to anyone else.”

    Photo by Domanique Crawford

    Steven Ramirez, Major Recreational  Physical Therapy- “It was really popular in the beginning. I played it a lot because my friends did, but now I only play every once in awhile because of the new generation. I might play twice a week.”

    Photo by Domanique Crawford

    Jake Ma, Business Major-  “Right now it [Pokemon Go] is losing popularity because after like two weeks of the release of the pokemon Go people are not playing because Pokemon go takes up too much battery on the phone. And also, they updated Pokemon Go and nobody liked the update, so people stopped playing.”

    Photo by Domanique Crawford

    William Nitzsche, major Environmental Resources Engineering- “Pokémon Go is just not my cup of tea.” “If it was Pokémon Go on a DS it would probably be more popular.”