I The Behrend Beacon Vexing video game violence By Anthony Cianciosi staff writer ith: I 64 0 , p,u.edu It seems like such a long time ago, hut do you remember when you could deliver all your newspapers, take on a barrel-throwing gorilla, slay vampires. he a jungle commando, rescue a princess and knock out Mike Tyson all in one day? Those were simpler times in the video game world, when all we knew were eight Bits of graphics and the same repetitive soundtrack. I bet if you think about it really hard, there is one game's soundtrack that has stuck with you all these years and you can hum it in its entirety. But as time moves on and the technology improves, video games have moved into a more realistic Mario and his brother Luigi pwn some 1337 Halo 2 players in team vs mode after fragging a camper QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Silly pizza man, you can't eat a dollar." Random Ramblings: Cows So Id like he on the bus, and the bus would stop. I'd get to school half an hour later. and the teachers would ask why I was late. I'd tell them it was the cows. They would just sit in front of the bus. The teachers would say, "Ok." They knew, they were used to cow crossings. When the construction workers were on our road, because it was paved, you know, they'd ask what the smell was. It was cows. "How can you stand it?" they asked. "It's just cows," we said. Then the cows were near the truck. I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I. ONE FREE CUT IN LINE 11-25-05 Cut the long line this Black Friday courtesy of Tbe Humor Page and get the stuff you want sooner This coupon Cash value $O.OOl approach. So real, in fact, that eliminat ing enemies is no longer an innocent task such as jumping on or shooting a fireball from a magic flower. Today's video games have realistic graphics and violence and they have become the con cern of many parents and politicians alike. Rockstar Games, the company who has created some of the most popular games in the industry such as the Grand Theft Auto and Midnight Club series, released its newest game into their own violence universe recently. If you ever wanted to feel what it was like to be a part of a West Side Story type gang without all the choreographed dancing, (which would more than likely cause you to get killed in public regardless if in a gang or not), then Tte Warriors is By Michelle Vera Suroviec photography editor mis 121 @'psti.edu le at any retail store in America 3.3.-26-05 Mgt . .~~k. .... ~> ~.:; -Eric Bell with other (f -r I UM OR I 1- The wo)le t . 11() unim gill 'et it imamLlza.Amllo,i=miladhimimliatlzAok.milmmgmaAidealmaku the game for y New Program Unveiled at Behrend Last Friday, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences announced a new program geared towards students who want a Penn State degree without any of the effort. This new program gives students the opportunity to get a Master's degree in an increasing subject: the obvious. love knowing that I have mastered the obvious. I think this will really help me in the real world. Hey, your shoe's untied," said program director, Ms. Hilton. Ms. Hilton was formerly teaching these graduate-level classes at several Ivy League schools, including Harvard. As to why she decided to turn down the seven figure income offered by Harvard and share her knowledge with Bchrend students, her reply was, "Snow is hot! Snow! That's so hot!" A student can earn their degree by attending an intensive three-week course offered at night. Topics such as colors of Canadian curly fries invade Food is a great thing. There's nothing more glorious than Americans shoveling sizable pieces of cow or grass into their mouths. However, there is a food that threatens the very existence of America itself. That food is curly fries Curly fries co::ie from foreign and exotic places like Canada; whereas American foods like hot dogs and squid guts come from American places like Indonesia. However, Canadian curly fries are slowly taking over America. "They've been doing it for years," said an FBI agent by the name of Richard Litz, who wish- es to remain anonymous. "But it wasn't until now that the killer Canadian curly fry horde emerged A Canadian curly fry attacks a trio of business students near Dobbin, in full force." The Warriors is a fighting game that is based on the 1979 cult film by Walter Hill and is expected to be a top seller this year. The game follows the plot of the movie, which is centered on a multicul- tural street gang in New York City that has been accused of mur der and has to fight its way home though the Bronx to Coney Island (sounds like a typical night for any Yankee fan). Anything in the game can he used as a weapon to fight off hoards of thugs, such as baseball bats, chains, garbage cans, televi sion sets and even toi lets; but mainly it's a game to test your char acter's hand-to-hand By Michelle Vera Suroviec photography editor 121 2 1 p s edu By Dale Harvey contributing writer dmhso49 psu.edu combat This isn't the first time that Rockstar Games has based a game on a movie. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was based on the movie "Scarface." In an inter view with the New York Times, Vice President of Rockstar Games, Dan Houser said, "Games are going to take over movies as the mainstream form of entertainment, but why is that happen ing? Well, books tell you something. Movies show you something. But games let you do something..."( Like beating the crap out of the cop who tries to arrest you for running over a hooker with a stolen car.) The company has been under tire recently because interim hackers found a sex mini-game hidden in the computer code of the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That part of the game was never orig inally supposed to be a part of the game, but someone with a lot of time on their hands found it and caused a huge uproar. Senator Hillary "My name has been in a headline with the word SEX way too often" Clinton, has called for a fed eral investigation into the company say- the sky, whether dogs have hair and belong in purses and other environmental issues are the highlights of the program. The program also boasts impressive job placement statistics. Everyone under the guidance of Ms. Hilton has been able to find lucrative careers. "Like, I told my ex-best friend this technique and she total ly got it," commented Ms. Hilton. Part of the reason for the program's success is the fact that it looks notable on a resume and also gives each participant effective skills that can help in a job interview, and also in any real-life experi ence. Part of the allure of the program is the hands-on experi ence given to the participants. Field training takes place reg ularly at shopping plazas around the city. "I love Wal-Mart. They sell more than walls," said Ms. Hilton. For more information about this program, an information al seminar will be held at Bruno's next Sunday at 7 p.m. "It's a cafeteria, not a dog," said Ms. Hilton. Just yesterday, for example, a battalion of killer fries attacked Theresa's Deli, a restaurant on East 38th Street, right near an Arby's, which sells curly fries, but is really a curly fry army front Friday, November 18, 2005 ing that they are trying to corrupt the youth of America. Is it really that Rockstar Games is try ing to corrupt the youth of America, or is it that the generation of kids who played video games when it was still in its infancy are growing up? Video games are a way for people to sit back, relax and enjoy doing something that they normally couldn't or wouldn't do in their own lives. Someone can drive a Formula I car, relive a battle in WWII, go on a covert operation or even steal cars and gun down anyone in their way. Sure, some video games may be violent these days, but you don't have to play them. There are other options out there. And just because someone plays a game that involves being in a gang or the mafia doesn t mean that they will go on a killing spite. I played Mario Brothers when I was y 'Ringer, and I never dressed up as a plumuer, climbed in and out of pipes and ate random mushrooms I found in giant floating question mark blocks... All right, well there was that one time, but that story is for another time. "Death to all foods but us!" one fry was heard to say as they burnt Theresa's down. So what exactly is caus ing this outbreak of insan ity? Sources say the source of these attacks is the curly fry leader, known only as "Earthquake," who wields the legendary weapon known as the soul stick, an evil pogo stick that devours souls and ncess, and then Hot Coffee mod spleens "We're doing everything we can," said Richard, an anonymous FBI agent. "We even pulled the two guys looking for Bin Ladin." "Earthquake" must be found before the curly fry scourge can be purged. Then, and only then, will the quest for the Holy Grail be brought to a suc cessful conclusion.