Tuesday, March 19Royal Holloway's offical student publication, est. 1986

Author: Alex Whiteman

Super Seducer
Science & Technology

Super Seducer

With the suffocating presence of the pandemic refusing to retreat into the ether, the month of love has turned out to be even more painful than it usually is. Couples have had to go months and months without seeing their significant others, settling for impromptu long-distance (a famously difficult set-up even before the pandemic), without any real idea about how long this will go on, living in fear that a breach in the rules may result in punishment or, worse, their partner catching the virus. Meanwhile, as if the holiday wasn’t sad enough for single people, now dating has become even more complicated, since meeting people in person is literally prohibited by law until further notice, online dating is as tragic as it always was, and all the events that might help distract from your overb...
KFConsole: The Games Console / Chicken Heater That Exists For Some Reason
Science & Technology

KFConsole: The Games Console / Chicken Heater That Exists For Some Reason

When the odds are stacked against us, and it seems like the entire world wants to tell us “No, that’s not possible, surely it can’t be done”, we look  up to the stars and say “Just watch me”. Because we know that rules are made to be broken. We know that dreams were meant to be followed. The impossible was made to be possible.” This is a direct quote from the trailer for the next innovation in gaming, the latest console to hit the market, the high-power titan brought to you by KFC Gaming… Wait… What? Introducing…the KFConsole; the only video game console in the world that can also keep your chicken warm while you game. Where do I even begin with this? On 22nd December 2020, the official KFC Gaming Twitter unveiled the trailer for its new console, having been previously a...
Playstation 5 Vs Xbox Series X: How Green Are They?
Science & Technology

Playstation 5 Vs Xbox Series X: How Green Are They?

Alex Whiteman This November saw the release of the ninth generation of consoles; Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X. We’ve already heard a lot about their graphical fidelity, their frames per second, their system storage, their loading times (or lack thereof) and their slew of launch titles. It feels like we already know everything there is to know about these two (financial and physical) behemoths, but one aspect of their hardware has escaped much attention; their sustainability.  Unfortunately, the games industry’s carbon footprint is massive. A study by University of Cambridge’s Dr Claire Barlow and Dr John Durrell found that, in manufacturing and shipping the PlayStation 4, the equivalent of 89 kilograms of carbon dioxide is emitted per unit, totalling rough...
Animal Crossing: The Saviour of Lockdown
Science & Technology

Animal Crossing: The Saviour of Lockdown

Alex Whiteman So this is it. We’re back in lockdown.  Since Royal Holloway will remain open during Lockdown 2, many of you perhaps won’t notice its effect, and carry on as normal. But others, myself included, are worried about how our mental health will be affected after another month of isolation. As busy as we all must be, it doesn’t change the fact that we’ve become very limited in what we can do to wind down and forget about everything that’s going on. In preparation for another lonely month, I’ve taken a look back at the gaming phenomenon that took the world by storm back in March; Animal Crossing; New Horizons for the Nintendo Switch. The timing of its release could not have been better. A mere week after the UK went into a national lockdown, where no one could go t...
Ubisoft – A “Boys Club” Rife With Sexual Harassment
Science & Technology

Ubisoft – A “Boys Club” Rife With Sexual Harassment

If you haven’t heard of Ubisoft, you’ll have heard of their games. They’re the largest video game developer and publisher in Europe , with a vast repertoire of titles including Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Just Dance, Rayman, Watch Dogs, Rabbids and just about anything with the name ‘Tom Clancy’ it. In 2018 alone, they made over two billion dollars in with the release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Far Cry 5, and they have over eighteen thousand employees. They’re so big, in fact, that they are one of only seven publishers invited to give a press conference at E3 (the single biggest event in games media), alongside Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and EA. So now that mass allegations of decades of sexual harassment and predatory behaviour within the one of the company’s l...
Good Diversity in Games
Science & Technology

Good Diversity in Games

Alex Whiteman Before going into this topic, I acknowledge my privilege as a white, straight, cisgender male, and how it may not be my place to say which games do or do not represent women, people of colour or non-heteronormative people. Diversity is something that games tend to struggle with. Ever since the 80s, games have been primarily marketed (almost randomly) towards boys, and while progress has definitely been made, there’s still a significant imbalance in the kinds of people represented in games. So, to celebrate our diversity issue, I will be looking at a few games that portray different groups of people thoughtfully and intelligently. If you feel like you don’t see people like yourself represented in games nearly enough, take a look at the list below and see if any of th...
Esports and Accessibility; A Conversation with Royal Holloway’s Games Society
Science & Technology

Esports and Accessibility; A Conversation with Royal Holloway’s Games Society

Despite playing video games for most of my life, I can’t say I’ve had much experience with competitive gaming. I had always preferred single-player games, with the odd game of MarioKart or Street Fighter whenever I visited a friend’s house. As much as I love games, I cannot claim to be any good at them. Which is why the concept of esports, or competitive gaming, always seemed a little foreign to me. I spoke with the new team behind Royal Holloway’s Games Society, Mercedes Mayes, president, Yuji Aoyama, vice president, and Malik Hashi, esports representative, on the topic of the esports scene at Royal Holloway.  After our discussion I had just learned a ton about esports itself and its presence at Royal Holloway, and I felt confident I could get involved. We talked about what espor...
Coronavirus: Staying Safe and Avoiding Misinformation
Features

Coronavirus: Staying Safe and Avoiding Misinformation

We’re all incredibly scared about the coronavirus right now. Nothing like this has ever happened in our lifetimes, and no one quite knows what to do. It’s important to keep yourself informed about what you can do to contain coronavirus as effectively as possible. Unfortunately, when anything bad happens on this large a scale, people have a tendency to panic. And with panic comes the spread of misinformation. So here’s a small, informed guide on how to keep from catching coronavirus, who is most vulnerable, and what to do if you catch it. Coronavirus is, of course, very contagious, but that doesn’t mean you can immediately catch it simply from being outside. There’s very little evidence to suggest that it is airborne, and the research that does acknowledges that it’s under very specific, ...
Our House Is On Fire; The Message of Greta Thunberg
Opinion

Our House Is On Fire; The Message of Greta Thunberg

For anyone who hasn’t watched the news in the last couple of years, Greta Thunberg is a sixteen-year-old activist who gained insane media attention after striking from school to protest the Riksdag’s climate policies . Since then, she’s travelled across the world campaigning for drastic action regarding climate change, inspiring many kids to fight for climate change, and many celebrities to use their privilege and wealth for the benefit of the environment. Last year, she released 'No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference', a compilation of her speeches encompassing her attitude towards climate change. If you’re interested in her opinions, it’s an interesting little book that will only set you back £3. And once you’re finished, you might begin to see why Thunberg is such controversial a fi...
The Mature Student; What It’s Like To Start University In Your Twenties
Lifestyle

The Mature Student; What It’s Like To Start University In Your Twenties

So, a little background; I came to Royal Holloway when I was twenty-three years old. I’d just left a five-year career in accountancy behind to study English Literature, and as I stood on the footsteps of the Founders building with a suitcase in each hand, I wondered if I’d made the right decision. How well would I fit in with everyone, being older than them? See, here’s the thing about starting university in your twenties (for me, at least); at eighteen, it’s terrifying, new and unpredictable, but the one thing you can count on is that everyone is in the same boat. You jump straight out of sixth-form into the next stage of your blossoming career, and you keep your forward momentum going. For me, it felt like I hadn’t had that same momentum, like my life had been on pause for five years. ...