The Fourth Wall
page 5
Book Review:
By Ashley Moore
Staff Writer
Barack Obama, who is a Writer,
Lawyer, Senator, Husband and
Father, writes a captivating memoir
about retracing his lineage while
searching for his place in society.
The book entitled Dreams of My
Father begins with Obama
receiving devastating news about
his father’s tragic death and ends
with a personal discovery.
Born in 1961 to a white American
women and a black Kenyan
student, Barack was named after
his father. Having grown up
without his own father, Obama was
forced to seek advice from his
mother. “She helped me over come
conflictions, by talking about them.
She helped me push on with my
life, despite my dreads, my denials,
my sudden constrictions of the
heart. I owe my success to her.”
Throughout the beginning of the
book, Obama talks about his
childhood, his parents’
relationship, and his struggle with
race. Being mixed, Obama went
through a phase when he felt he
did not belong to either race. With
the help of his mother, his
grandparents, and other family
members, Obama came to the
conclusion that it did not matter
what race he was; he was just
happy to be alive. Obama’s
and the history of his family sum
up the first part of the memoir.
The second half of the memoir
begins with Obama searching to
find the missing part of his family,
which was his father’s side. After
Obama receives the news of his
father’s death in the first half of the
By Justin Zickar
Editor-in-Chief
Since the gaming generation
began a mere 30 years ago, the
industry has revolutionized itself
time and time again. The past few
years have marked a turning point
in the big name console
showdown. Now with all of the
anticipation of new releases over,
we take a deeper look into who had
the better system launch, as well
as the most efficient console for
you, the consumer.
Rising above their opponents,
Microsoft put it all on the line; they
were the first to unveil their new
entertainment system, the Xbox
360. In the late spring of 2005, at
E3, the Electronic Entertainment
Expo, Microsoft announced they
would be the first to release their
next generation console later that
year to the public. With a slated
November 2005 launch, Microsoft
gave themselves a year lead on
both of its competitor’s systems.
With the 360’s predecessor, the
original Xbox, having one of the
most successful launches in
history, Microsoft aimed high to
overcome the obstacle of a bad
launch. Yet with the Xbox’s
previous launch success mostly
being attributed to its surprise first
person shooter, Halo, the first 360
Halo expansion wasn’t due out for
over a year. Microsoft then relied
on its well known and other
exclusive titles to stabilize its much
anticipated launch. The more
popular Call of Duty 2, Project
Gotham Racing and Perfect Dark
Zero were among the 360°s elite
Madden 2006 was released
offering limited game play to its
users, but did manage to prove the
360°s visual capabilities. More
most sold and successful game has
amazed critics as well as fans
everywhere, proving the power of
Microsoft's Xbox 360.
One of the more important
features of the gaming system was
its ability to allow backwards
compatibility to most of the original
Xbox games, a few were left off the
list. Unfortunately, for sport fans,
book, he makes the decision to find
out more about his father. His quest
to find his lost loved ones leads
him to a small town in Kansas. It is
here where he meets his father’s
African side of the family and learns
the truth about his father’s past.
Obama, who thought of his father
as more of myth, begins to reflect
on his past experiences with his
father. :
Though his father was never
really in his life, Obama spent one
summer at his father’s house in
Kenya. Obama was ten when he
spent his summer in Kenya. His
mother wanted him to get to know
his father, which was the reason
why she sent him there. It is during
this summer that Barack begins to
question his father’s love for him.
An example of this can be seen
when Barack gets yelled at for not
understanding the importance of
Xbox 360, left, Playstation 3, middle,
and Wii, right, each look to make their
presence in the gaming world felt.
most of the regular genre titles are
unavailable to be played on the 360.
Nintendo decided to bring a new
approach into the gaming
generation. With both of their
competitors having high price tags
to set there game system under
$300. Prior to release information
being available, Nintendo brought
forth that their new system, Wii,
would cost an affordable $249.99.
The cost may not even have come
as the biggest shock. At E3,
Nintendo showed off their new
machinery. Wii was beyond
anything imaginable. Most
African literature. “Is it my fault I
don’t understand who I am? Or
where I come from?” Barack
questions the readers. “My father
could or would never understand
the struggles I faced with the
struggles of my skin.” Barack, who
characterizes his father as
commanding, begins to believe his
father does not love him. This
thought plagues Obama, until he
learns the truth.
Throughout the ‘months he
spent with his father’s family,
Obama learns that his father did
not hate him. Obama’s father was
scared that if he stayed in his son’s
life Obama might end up like him: a
failure. Obama begins to
understand why his father
sacrificed his relationship with his
son and mentally forgives him for
not being there when he needed
his father the most. Through this
Wii Controller interactively. And
with a large amount of ridicule the
Wii Controller, unknown and
widely disputed because of it’s
appearance, was finally put to the
test. But after a hearty
demonstration by Nintendo game
designer, Shigeru Miyamoto,
technology buffs sat in
amazement.
Wii offered a new innovation to
gaming, physical interaction,
which seemed to be some. Another
added feature was backwards
compatibility with Nintendo’s
previous system the Gamecube
and its games. Moreover, the
Gamecube’s controllers and
memory devices are easily
accommodated and workable on
the Wii's operating system. Even
more alluring was the fact that all
of Nintendo’s previous console
games could be downloaded on
the Wii, which sent avid fans crazy.
Sony seemed to come into the
playing spectrum without a clear
set of mind. The high end
Playstation 3 appeared to be just
a knock off of Microsoft and
forgiveness, Obama starts to find
his true path and calling in life. He
writes, “When I found out who
exactly my father was and how he
lived life. When I met his side of
the family, and heard his side of the
story, I knew I was changed. I no
longer looked at life the same, I no
longer held grudges or wrong. My
father had given up his relationship
with me, so that I can prosper.”
The book, Dreams of My
Father: A story of Race and
Inheritance, is a great read for
those who are looking for
themselves. Obama writes this
memoir to teach us a lesson: no
matter how much you have been
hurt, ignored, or forgotten, you can
always forgive. Barack Obama is
running for the democratic
nomination for President in 2008,
but either way, his memoir is a must
read.
Nintendo’s well designed consoles.
In November, Nintendo and Sony
squared off, launching their new
consoles within a week of each
other. The infamous Blu-ray
technology that the Playstion 3
offered did not catch the attention
of buyers and game gurus like Sony
had hoped. Even during the
Playstation 3 launch, Sony only
made available 15 playable games,
delaying its biggest investments.
Resistance: Fall of Man, one of
Sony’s only Playstation 3 success
stories, has been hailed the only
console worthy game. The system’s
high end graphics, in the end, don’t
show - much difference to
Microsoft’s widely popular Xbox
360. With a $599.99 price tag, most
consumers have shunned away
from this technological blunder.
After all is said and done,
Nintendo and Microsoft have
proven themselves worthy to be
labeled true front runners in the
gaming market. Sony inevitably
took unthinkable risks to better
their franchise, but did this step
cost them their future in the gaming
world?