The Phoenix - Hills Road Sixth Form College

22 The Phoenix | 4th April 2014 COMMENT & DEBATE The Phoenix | 4th April 2014COMMENT & DEBATE23COMMENT & DEBATEComment & Debate8th Generation; which is the ?By Henry SandersonIt seems that only 8 years agothat the 7th generation hadgraced the gaming industry withits presence, maybe because itwas. Released on November 22,2005, the Xbox 360, colloquiallyknown as the ‘360’, brokenew ground with the coming ofa new generation. It also brokepeople’s hearts as one by oneeach console contracted the “RedRing of Death”, sealing the fateof the console, without sendinga hefty revival fee and the consoleaway to Microsoft. Almosta year later on November 17th2006, the PS3 hit the scene, beingridiculed for being both expensiveat $599 (almost £370)and coming out extremely late inthe UK, 5 months later in March2007. It was also made fun of forits extreme lack of an exclusivegames library, causing peopleto migrate to the Xbox scene,regardless of its glaring issues.Oh and there was somethingcalled the Wii, butI’m sure that was fictional.Sony, learning from theirmistakes, made an effort tomake the PS4 the choice of thegamer; and they didn’t evenneed to do anything, as Microsoftabsolutely failed to appease tothe gaming crowd and almost insultedthem. Sony were not firstto deliver their speech at the E3expo in the summer, and for thisthey were able to derive greatpraise and humour from theirrival Microsoft. Upon announcingthat the PS4 would actuallyuse circular, shiny, spinning datacontainers known as “disks”, theworld came together in one bigcrowd and pointed at Microsoftand laughed together in unison.Sony dropped bombshellafter bombshell for things thatwould be considered a mandatorybaseline feature, such as notrequiring a Skyne- I mean Kinectperipheral to function, andnot requiring an internet connectionto turn on the console.Sony definitely came out on topout of the 8th generation startinggates. As a side note: “XboxOne” is a terrible name. Youcan no longer refer to the originalXbox as the “Xbox 1”; ratheryou must now call it the “OriginalXbox”. Thanks Microsoft.Apparently there is somethingcalled the “Wii U”, whichsounds like an ambulance whenrepeated out loud. But I neversaw any commercials for it; Nintendo’smarketing campaign wasnon-existent, as I know peoplewho still think that the Wii U isan add-on to the Wii, or don’t eventhink it’s real. Don’t believe me?Believe the figures – the PS4 hadsold 1 million consoles a day afterrelease in the US. It took a weekfor the Wii U to sell 440,000 units.So which console is goingto suit you? The Xbox One madehistory in that it was the firstconsole in recent gaming historyto have undergone a change fromcolossal amounts of backlashfrom critics and gamers alike.The Kinect 2.0 is no longer required(but still ships with theconsole), no internet connectionlimitations remain, and diskswere not made extinct after all.However, if you are one of thoseperfectionists that thinks that720p resolution in your gamesis horrible and must be purgedin fire, then the PS4 may serveyou better at its 1080p and withits far more powerful innards.The PS4 also has some free-toplaygames that the Xbox Onedoes not own, like the massiveshooter Planetside 2, and theninja gunner focussed Warframe.The PS4 also costs £80less than the Xbox One, but maynot offer you as much multipurposeactivities. The Xbox One, astouted by Microsoft, is “the allin-oneentertainment system”,which explains the terrible namingrubric. However, you cannotargue that having the ability towatch TV, and have the internetand Skype in the backgroundwhile having the luxury of playinggames is can definitely makeup for the extra £80; but onlyif you are interested in thosefeatures. If you don’t care forthese extras then you are probablygoing to default to the PS4.Generally, if you don’thave your eyes on at least fivegames that you would definitelywant to own and you cannot playby any other means, you shouldhold on forking over the cash tobuy a console. Things like launchissues and flat launch line-upsof games can really put a seriousdowner on your experience.The 7th generation is over, but itdoesn’t mean that people aren’tstill playing on those consoles;neither does it mean that it is asymbol of shame to be “last-gen”.There are people that boughtthe console solely for the nextCall of Duty, which was releasedfirst on the 360 and PS3. Othershopped on for Battlefield, Assassin’sCreed, even for the luxuryfeatures the Xbox offers. If youwant the definitive, cutting edgenext-gen gaming experience,then aim for the PS4. If youwant a slightly less refined gamingexperience but want a bloatof luxury features to complementit, aim for the Xbox One. And ifyou just feel that you are “casual”,or prefer a family-friendlyconsole, go for the Wii U (but ifyou still enjoy Gamecube games,I wouldn’t trade in your Wii).Urban Outfitters: Glamorising Mental IllnessBy Kaitlin ThorntonUrban Outfitters, the popularhigh street shop that we all lovefor its cool and quirky clothinghas taken to extremes in orderto gain publicity and propagatetheir ‘edginess’. Their offenseis releasing a crop top adornedrepeatedly with the word ‘depression’.And we all know depressionboosts confidence andmakes people want to show offtheir torso, right? Almost one infive people in the UK suffer fromdepression, so this controversial,attention-seeking act by UrbanOutfitters is rather insensitive.This is not their only item ofclothing highlighting a mentalillness though. In 2010, theysold a t-shirt emblazoned with‘eat less’: what a great messagefor the teenage girls they’re sellingto. If this wasn’t bad enough,in the years between then andnow they’ve shown off theirsupport and respect for equality.In 2012 they sold a noveltycard about a ‘closet tranny’ andin 2013 they were selling sockswhich depicted the Hindu Deity,Ganesh. Respectful, no?On the subject of the‘eat less’ t-shirt, actress SophiaBush, who is an advocate forpromoting healthy body imagesfor women, wrote an open letterto Urban Outfitters on herblog addressing the t-shirt. “Youshould issue a public apology,and make a hefty donation to awomen’s organization that supportsthose stricken with eatingdisorders. I am sickened thatanyone, on any board, in your giganticcompany would have votedyes on such a thing, let aloneenough of you to manufacturean item with such a hurtful message”adding that “it’s like handinga suicidal person a loadedgun. You should know better”.To some people, this maynot seem all that extreme. Butimagine how a person with depressionwould feel. Labelled?Definitely. Mocked? Probably.Mental illness isn’t a trend, andshouldn’t be portrayed as one,whether it’s by the media or inmusic or fashion. It’s a seriousillness which affects many andisn’t something to be encouraged.This isn’t the kind of examplewe should be setting toyoung people. We should be encouragingthem to be healthy,telling them that curvy is justas good as any other body shapeand making them believe thatthey can overcome anything.Since their customers complainedabout the ‘depression’top, Urban Outfitters announcedon Twitter that it would no longerbe sold on their site, but thedamage is already done. They’vealready told girls that theyshould ‘eat less’ and that depressionis trendy, and received thefree publicity they wanted fromit. Before I found out about thisI was a fan of Urban Outfitters.They’re a cool shop. However, isit worth spending your money ina shop that tells young girls thatthey’re not skinny enough andthat depression is fashionable?When digging a little deeper,it’s not difficult to find otheroutrageous examples of UrbanOutfitter’s insensitive, harmfulitems. To begin with racism, UrbanOutfitters have managed toA Veil over Justice?By Ramganesh LakshmanWe live in an increasingly multiculturalsociety, but where do wedraw the line between toleranceof different cultures and keepingpeople safe? One area where thisissue has become increasinglysignificant is in the courtroom.A recent case that is particularlyrelevant occurred in Blackfriarscrown court, where Judge PeterMurphy ordered a woman to removeher niqab- a Muslim veilthat covers the whole face exceptthe eyes- whilst giving evidence.This is the first case to do this,but was it the right decision?And how will this ruling affectour courtrooms in the future?Judge Peter Murphy gavea 36 page ruling to back up hisdecision, focused on the key ideathat the courts duty to open andfair law trumps the right of peopleto express their religion. Certainly,this argument has merit-offend the Irish, Mexicans, theJewish and black people withtops containing writing suchas ‘Kiss me I’m drunk, or Irish,or whatever’ and ‘New Mexico,cleaner than regular Mexico’.Perhaps the worst, though, istheir knock-off Monopoly game‘Ghettopoly’ which had propertiessuch as the ‘crack house’ and‘cheap trick avenue’. As a finalexample, but certainly not thelast of Urban Outfitter’s offenses,is a t-shirt, released in 2008,displaying a blatant anti-Israelmessage as it depicted an armedPalestinian youth with the word‘Victimized’ splashed across it.it is important for people of allfaiths that the system of law andorder is fair and infallible. Moreover,if women are to be allowedto wear the niqab in court, whatis to stop other defendants demandingthe right to cover theface in the interests of fairness?Juries rely a lot on facial expressionin terms of deciding whetheror not a witness is lying, andso the covering of the face couldbe said to infringe the workingsof law and order. But does it?Recent psychology studiesshow that using facial expressionto decide on whether a witness islying is notoriously ineffective.On deciding whether people werelying or not, participants had asuccess rate of 48%- barely betterthan chance. A practiced liarcan easily fool a jury, and in themodern age many defendantsreceive coaching on how to appearconvincing and trustable.A bombardment of complaintsfollowed, with claims that theshirt glorified child abuse andexploitation, as well as terrorism.Almost all of these itemswere retracted by the company.Conditions like depression andanorexia are not fashion statements,and shouldn’t be glamorisedby corporations like UrbanOutfitters. Racism certainly isn’tfashionable. But maybe you disagree.So while I can’t dictateyour opinion on Urban Outfitters,and I wouldn’t try, but I will askyou this: do you think it is rightthat these are the messages theyare sending to young people?Moreover, the scary environmentof the courtroom can often makewitnesses nervous- making themseem unsure of themselves anduntrustworthy even if they aretelling the truth. In the case ofa woman who has been placedin a position of discomfort dueto having been forced to removeher niqab, this effect could beamplified. Perhaps then, allowingwomen to wear the niqab incourt could help the course ofjustice, rather than hinderingit. Indeed, perhaps witnessesshould give all evidence as transcript,so that juries make a decisionbased on the evidence,rather than false facial cues.However this would requirea dramatic change inthe legal system as we knowit, and such a change is likelyto come up against massiveresistance. It seems thatthe debate is here to stay.