2014 - A year in gaming

   2014 was the first full year of the next-gen (now called current-gen) consoles. There was a constant struggle between the PS4 and the XBox One, but the Wii U really had its moments this year as well, making a very powerful comeback with its exclusive titles! Many new games, many shocking announcements, lots of expos and a lot of cool new gadgets is what 2014 left the gaming world to remember. Let's take a look! (Due to the massive amount of games that were released in 2014, this blog will only make reference to the games that received the greatest attention.)
   January may have started things off a little slow. The biggest release of this month was an unexpected one, and came as proof that independent developers had a lot to give to the industry. Broken Age Act 1 received such attention and praise that it forced Sony to approach  Double Fine studios who were behind the creation of this game in order for them to bring the title to the PS4 and so that they may have exclusivity of the eventual Act 2 of the series. Also, the definitive (a.k.a. remastered) edition of Tomb Raider was released for next-gen consoles, with a major upscale in graphics.
   February saw Nintendo's "counter attack" finally begin. The first game out of their arsenal was Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freece, a title that combined the old-style feeling of the classic SNES Donkey Kong Country games with some of the new capabilities of the Wii U. It received many good reviews.
   In March a few of the most anticipated titles began to drop on the PS4 and the XBox One, with Titanfall being the greatest among them. There was a lot of buzz for the colossus battling shooter and it was obvious that this was a title that Microsoft had a lot to wager on. On the other hand, Sony released Infamous Second Son almost simultaneously, so the flames of the console war began to ignite anew. Other titles that released in March that made an impact in the industry were Dark Souls II and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (a mini-game that served as a prequel to MGS V: The Phantom Pain). Last-gen also got a whole lotta love in March however, with South Park: The Stick Of Truth, Bioshock Infinite: Burial At Sea 2 and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD.
    April and May served as the calm before the storm that is E3 for the gaming industry. However there were a few interesting titles released such as the indie developed game Child Of Light that received a lot of praise throughout the year and, of course, Mario Kart 8. One of many titles for the Wii U that was just too much fun not to notice. This game was what pretty much forced the gaming community towards Nintendo's console and to go out and buy it as opposed to the other two. Of course, there was a lot more to come...
   The month of June was dedicated to the gaming industry and for no small reason. E3 was once again held in San Francisco and everyone's eyes were glued either on the stages or on their live-streaming screens to see what cool new stuff they would have to look forward to. A lot of new games were announced and shown: Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Mass Effect 4, Far Cry 4, Assassin's Creed: Unity, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, The Division, a new Legend of Zelda and a new Star-Fox game. Also Sony showed off a new product called PlaystationTV, a tiny gadget that would allow the user to play his PS4 on any TV just by connecting it (provided he has WiFi connectivity).
   In July, one of the best (if not the best) games of 2013 was re-released. The Last Of Us was remastered for the PS4 so that the people that got to experience this adventure can relive it, and those who never did can do so in the marvelous graphics that the PS4 can provide.
   August shifted the gaming world's attention to Europe and more specifically, Cologne, Germany, where the annual Gamescom expo was held. At the local Sony Conference, it was announced (among other things) that the creator or Metal Gear Solid, Hideo Kojima and well-known Hollywood producer, Guillermo Del Toro would be collaborating in the creation of a new Silent Hill title. In fact, they brought with them a small playable trailer tentatively titled "P.T.". Whoever played it or even saw it could say that it was one of the scariest games ever. Meanwhile, at the XBox convention, Microsoft was announcing and showing off a plethora of their own games such as FIFA '15, Fable Legends, Halo: Master Chief Collection and Quantum Break. But the most shocking news was the exclusivity of Rise Of the Tomb Raider for the XBox One!
   September was when the big guns finally started to come out. A lot of games released for the next-gen consoles including The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter, Middle Earth: Shadow Of Mordor but Sony's major title was undoubtedly Destiny. A lot of players had joined up for the alpha and beta trial stages of this game and when it released it gathered the attention of even more. Nintendo also released Bayonetta 2 that was well sought out throughout the year. But more news came from Japan, where the annual Tokyo Game Show was held. Square Enix released a trailer for the long forgotten title Final Fantasy XV and announced the release of a demo of the game called "Episode Duscae" along with the release of Final Fantasy Type-0 HD.
   In October, Microsoft released yet another exclusive. Sunset Overdrive was a fun, colorful shoot-em' up title that gave killing zombies a whole different side. Super Smash Bros came to the 3DS and showed that the handheld industry also has a lot going for it, especially in the Japanese market!
   So many major titles released in November it was hard for gamers to keep track or choose! Dragon Age: Inquisition, Alien Isolation, Assassin's Creed: Unity, Assassin's Creed: Rogue, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Little Big Planet 3, Grand Theft Auto V (for next-gen) and if that wasn't enough, Pokemon Alpha Ruby/Omega Sapphire and Super Smash Bros Wii U all hit stores within the same month! This was a bit of a taste for the things to come, that were shown off in...
   December! The month of the Video Game Awards, where gamers worldwide also got a glimpse of the epic-scale projects that are yet to come to their systems. No Man's Sky, Metal Gear Solid V Online Mode, Adrift, The Witcher 3, Godzilla, Bloodborne, King's Quest, The Legend Of Zelda Wii U, are all things that were shown off at the event and players can look forward to in 2015. And as if that wasn't enough, PS4 owners got to see even more at the Playstation Experience, an event held by Sony at Las Vegas as a sort of "thank you" for the over 10 million(!) of PS4 units sold within its first year. An expansion to Destiny was shown, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, Persona 5, Grim Fandango: HD, Day Of The Tentacle HD, Final Fantasy VII (the original), Shovel Knight, Ultra Street Fighter 4 and Street Fighter V, Bastion and more are all titles that PS4 owners can anticipate within the next year (or two). As for the releases of the last month of the year, things were kind of slow, with Kingdom Hearts 2,5 HD ReMix (for the PS3!) being the most noteworthy release.
   And there you have it! It's been a year full of new things for the games world. And even though players got a bunch of new games, they still look on to 2015, each one having his/her own game that they "can't wait to get their hands on"! So here's to a year full of new adventures, races, matches, epic battles, record breaking, and lots of trophies and achievements!! Happy 2015 to all gamers!!!

2014 - A year in review

   As yet another year comes to its close and we prepare to usher in a new era, it is a custom to always take a look back at what the past 12 months have left us with so that we can recall those events and learn from them as we move forward in the year to come. Let's see what each month of 2014 brought to the world.
   January: Latvia officially joins the eurozone as its 18th member and adopts the Euro as its official national currency. Meanwhile in Ukraine, the violent protests are still going on due to the political measures taken and in Israel former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon passes away. In Switzerland, there is a United Nations meeting for a peace negotiation between the U.S.A., Syria, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Russia.
   February: The month of the Winter Olympic Games. They were held in Socchi, Russia, despite many terrorist threats and were considered in general a great success. In Ukraine, the protests continued even more violently leaving 100 people as casualties, which resulted in the parliament voting the removal of Viktor Yanukovych and him being replaced by Oleksandr Turchynov. The Ebola virus outbreak begins in Africa, with over 7,000 people dead and 19,000 infected.  Protests continue in Venezuela as well, as a result of the very strict economical measures taken by President Nicolas Maduro's government. Three people are left dead after the struggle between police and rioters and Maduro warns that they are facing a "coup d'etat". The opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez is blamed for igniting the flames for the riots, so he turns himself in to the authorities, which results to even heavier protests. In the meantime, in Switzerland there is a second round of negotiations led by the United Nations for a peace treaty between the U.S.A., Russia, Turkey, Syria and Saudi Arabia.
   March: Russia sends its troops to Crimea in order to defend the Russian people living in the area from the violent protests. This begins a series of events which results in the area seceding from Ukraine and seeking annexation by Russia, that it eventually succeeds in doing after Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a treaty on March 18th. Although the treaty is not considered valid by the majority of the UN, not to mention forces them to remove Russia from the G-8, halt all peace negotiation talks with them and move the G-8 meeting from Socchi to Brussels. In other news, an airplane from Malaysian airlines going from Beijing to Kuala Lumpur suddenly goes missing from the radars over the Gulf of Thailand. Not much is known about its whereabouts or the 239 people onboard. The violent protests continue in Venezuela. President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the police to use pepper spray, water cannons and tear gas in order to stop the outbreak.
   April: Despite an initial agreement of the U.S.A, Russia and the European leaders for the situation in Ukraine to deflate, Russia does not maintain their end of the deal, keeping their 40,000 troops on the Ukraine-Russian borders. Also, there are many pro-Russian protesters and militants in many central buildings of main Ukrainian cities (Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kiev) that refuse to leave their posts and recognize the government. In response to these actions, U.S. President Barrack Obama imposes sanctions and bans to people and companies close to Vladimir Putin, including (but not limited to) travel ban, freezing of assets and inability to trade with the U.S.. In Nigeria, 276 girls and women are abducted from a school in order to be used as sex slaves. Former Olympic runner Oscar Pistorius is put on the stand for his murder trial against his former girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. During the testimony, Pistorius breaks out in tears and testifies that he shot the door four times in order to get it to open and, eventually, find his dead girlfriend's body behind it. 
   May: As the Ukrainian crisis comes to a conclusion, the U.S. and Europe threaten Russia with even heavier sanctions and polls show that only the people in favor of the annexation were actually voting in Crimea. As a result, Vladimir Putin withdraws his troops from the border, he urges separatists to abandon plans for a referendum or autonomy and begins reaching out to the other nations in order to begin negotiations, although he is met with much skepticism. Despite all that, the pro-Russian separatists attempt to take over the airport in Donetsk, with 50 of them killed as a result. Petro Poroshenko, a.k.a. the Chocolate King, is elected the new prime minister in Ukraine. In Nigeria, the Islamic group Boco Haram takes responsibility for the abduction of the 276 girls from the school. Their leader is seen in a video saying "I have your girls". Meanwhile, the U.S. and the Taliban complete a 5-year prisoner exchange negotiation, with the American military retrieving Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and 5 Taliban leaders headed for the Qatar prisons, where they will remain for one year. Scientists and doctors identify the spread of poliomyelitis in 10 countries.
   June: King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicated, leaving his son Felipe VI in his place on the throne. Meanwhile, a group called ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) take control of the Mosul and, with the joined effort of government troops and officials who are simply 'fed up', head for the capital of Baghdad in order to overthrow the Shiite government itself. The FIFA World Cup begins in Brazil, despite numerous protests from the population.
   July: After 3 Israeli teenagers where kidnapped and murdered and in response, one Palestinian was killed by the Israeli, the tension in the area began to rise, with the death toll reaching the thousands. Malaysian Airlines 777, a boeing type airplane traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was shot down on the eastern Ukrainian border, the part of the country that was controlled by the separatists. All 298 people on board went missing. The plane was presumably shot down by a Russian surface-to-air missile. This was a violation of the U.S.-Russia 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and as a result, forces the U.S. and Europe to take further actions against Russia or anyone doing business with them. Argentina defaults on its debt yet again, ISIS declares its ground in Iraq and Gremany go on to win the FIFA World Cup, after embarrassing the hosts to a 7-0 defeat in the semi-finals.
   August: After ISIS take control of the largest dam in Mosul and threaten every Christian in town to convert to Islam, U.S. President Barrack Obama has ordered his troops to perform limited airstrikes on the group. However, in retaliation, ISIS released a video to the public in which American reporter James Foley was beheaded. After fighting for 7 weeks, Israel and the Hamas agree to an open cease-fire thanks to Egypt. The casualties are heavy, especially for the Palestinians, with over 100,000 people left without food or shelter. Famous actor Robin Williams was found dead in his apartment in California. Apparently he took his own life due to his depression.
   September: In a nationwide vote, the people of Scotland elected to stay within the United Kingdom. However, this was only by a small margin as the vote ended in a 55-45% difference between the voters. Meanwhile, the actions of ISIS in the Middle-East leads over 130,000 Kurdish people to seek refuge in neighboring Turkey, with the European country unable to sustain such a huge amount of people. In Iraq, ISIS release yet another video showing the execution of American journalist Steven Sotloff, who worked for Time magazine. After this, Barrack Obama requests extra funds from the Senate in order to train rebel troops for ground strikes and gives a worldwide speech in which he addresses ISIS as "ISIL". Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. join the U.S. in their airstrikes against ISIS. The 2014 World Nobel Peace Price Award ceremony to be held in Cape Town is suspended after the South African government's refusal to issue a visa to the 14th Dalai Lama.
   October: The U.S. airstrikes against ISIS continue. In Bolivia, President Evo Morales wins a third consecutive election by 61%. A man is shot and killed after attempting to attack the Canadian parliament. This is linked to Canada's association with the airstrikes against ISIS. 
   November: According to the final part of the 5th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world faces "severe, pervasive and irreversible" damage from the exclusions of CO2 to the atmosphere. The U.S. and China reach a revolutionary agreement that will see both nations use cleaner energy sources like windmills in an attempt to reverse the climate change. Also, humanity managed to land a spacecraft on a moving comet, with the Rosetta spacecraft's Philae successfully reaching Comet 67P. Meanwhile, five people were killed in a synagogue in Israel by Palestinians and 43 Mexican college students were abducted and murdered presumably by the local police, an act which led to nationwide riots. In Egypt, the local militia voiced their support to ISIS and a local court dropped all charges on former president Hosni Mubarak for his crimes against humanity.
   December: An Iranian man held people hostage in a coffee shop in downtown Sydney, Australia. The situation continued for over sixteen hours and resulted in the death of the armed man and another two people. The Taliban attacked a school in northern Pakistan, leaving 145 people dead, most of them children. A man who had been sentenced to prison in Cuba for 15 years was released by the local government, which resulted to the U.S. President stating that his country would resume diplomatic relations with Cuba.       
   And there you have it. A year with many events, some of them positive, others negative, but with many things to learn nonetheless. Let's hope we can use this year as a foundation upon which we can build a better future for the generations to come after us to this world. Happy new year everyone!!!

15 years of life lessons

   About a month ago, the story of Naruto came to an end. Masashi Kishimoto, the mangaka (author) of this epic that broke Japan's borders and spread around the world, decided it was time to close the curtain on the 16 year old knucklehead ninja's story. Across the 15 year lifespan of this incredible journey, the readers were spectators to how hardships can be overcome in order to find a better future. Many feelings and life lessons were portrayed throughout the course of events and the plethora of characters that were featured. Let's take a closer look.

  Loneliness. The main struggle during the many chapters of the manga was the issue of loneliness. It was a problem for the main character of Naruto, who had to deal with both the fact that he didn't have any parents and to add insult to injury, everyone in his village ostracized him, due to the fact that he possessed the spirit of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox Spirit inside of him. The other main character, Sasuke Uchiha, also had the same problem as his entire clan (Uchiha) was killed in front of his eyes by his older brother Itachi, leaving him all alone. Secondary character Gaara was also a possessor of a Demon Spirit and so he was forced to deal with the pain solitude brings.

   Being an underdog. Naruto was considered by many to have no talent as a ninja. He was told so time and time again and he was forced to watch his teammates surpass him. Yet, despite all that, he put his all into his efforts and eventually turned a lot of heads and gained a lot of attention, so much so in fact that he was able to unite the entire ninja world!
   Hatred and revenge. Sasuke was fueled by his hatred for his older brother Itachi. Everything he did, he did in order to surpass him and eventually kill him for what he had done to the Uchiha. After discovering the horrible truth behind his brother's actions though, Sasuke becomes even further blinded by anger and his hatred becomes stronger, leading the whole world (even his former friends and teachers) to consider him a lost cause. Only one person thinks of him as a friend to the very end.

   Love. The exact opposite feeling was also on full display as Naruto learned the truth of how and why his parents placed the spirit of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside of him and also when his mother Kushina helps him take part of the monster's strength. Love is also an issue for one of the main antagonists Obito Uchiha, who has a crush on his teammate Rin Nohara that leads him down a very dark path. Sakura Haruno also struggles with her feelings for Sasuke as she knows he is a criminal (and even comes close to killing her himself) but can never get over him. Hinata Hyuuga secretely supports and admires Naruto throughout his childhood and teenage years.

   The bond between teacher and student. There are many displays of this special bond in Naruto's story. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke to Kakashi Hatake. Sakura and Ino Yamanaka to Tsunade. Kakashi and Obito to Minato Namikaze. Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru to Hiruzen Sarutobi. And many more. But the two most shown off were the ones between "Team 10" (a.k.a. Shikamaru Nara, Ino and Choji Akimichi to Asuma Sarutobi) and Naruto to Jiraiya. Naruto may have had Iruka Umino and Kakashi as his first teachers, but his master was most definitely Jiraiya. Considering Jiraiya was also Minato's (Naruto's father) teacher, he knew pretty much everything there is to know about him and was immensely strong himself. He taught Naruto his first serious techniques including the Rasengan and the Summoning technique, but mainly he was the closest thing to a fatherly figure that Naruto had. He taught Naruto his way of life and how to stay true to himself. When Jiraiya was killed by the hand of another of his former students, Nagato, who proceeded to attack and destroy the Leaf Village in an attempt to find and capture Naruto himself, Naruto almost lost himself in his rage. But it was Jiraiya's teachings that ended up saving him from himself and the path of senseless revenge.
   Power. Quite a few characters have an obsession with power. It's actually another driving matter of the series as there is a legend behind it and it goes like this: "Once there was an all powerful ninja called the "Sage of the Six Paths". The ninja had two children, the eldest who thought strength was the way to peace and the youngest who considered love to be the solution. On his deathbed, the Sage called both of his children by his side in order to name his successor. Even though the eldest thought he would be the one to succeed his father, the Sage ended up choosing the youngest son to carry on his will. Blinded by rage, the eldest son declared war on the youngest. That war has gone on for generations. The eldest son's descendants are known as the Uchiha. The youngest's descendants are known as the Senju."

It is mainly those affiliated with the Uchiha that have this lust for power. Even Sasuke in his attempt to take revenge on Itachi tries every means necessary to become stronger and goes to the point of becoming a test subject for main villain Orochimaru. The criminal organization "Akatsuki" hunt Tailed Beast Spirits in their quest for power. And Madara Uchiha, the founder of the Uchiha clan, took the eyes of his own brother Izuna in order to reach greater heights. In the end, even the Sage of the Six Path's mother, Kaguya Ootsutsuki was obsessed with possessing all the chakra in the world.
   Despair. When feelings of love are lost, they can turn to despair. As was the case for Obito Uchiha. As mentioned before, he had a childhood crush on his teammate Rin. But he was forced to leave her in the hands of their other teammate Kakashi, since he thought he was going to die due to a giant boulder having crushed his entire right side. However, Madara found Obito and healed him. Obito was on his way to recovering when he was told about an attack on Kakashi and Rin from ninja from the village hidden in the mist. Obito got there just in time to see Kakashi's hand pierce Rin's heart, which led him to rampage on the Hidden Mist ninja and decide to cooperate with Madara's "Eye of the Moon" plan, which pretty much meant taking on the entire ninja world.

Nagato's case was very similar as his parents were murdered by Hidden Leaf ninja during the Third ninja War when he was a child. But what actually led him to despair was the fact that his best friend Yahiko was killed during what was supposed to be a peace negotiation between Yahiko's newfound "Akatsuki" group and the village hidden in the rain's leader Hanzo of the Salamander. When Madara Uchiha lost his 4th and final brother Izuna at the hands of Tobirama Senju, he seemed lost in despair as well. However, Hashirama Senju's efforts brought him back in to the light long enough for Madara and his Uchiha clan to join forces with the Senju clan and create the village hidden in the leaves. But it wasn't meant to last as Madara had lost all he had to protect and his despair was far too great. In the end, he attacked the village he had helped build. Even Kakashi had issues with despair as he had lost so much throughout his life. All his teammates and his teacher were killed and he felt there was nothing left to live for. Until Team 7 came into his life that is...

   Teamwork. The manga is called "Naruto", but if it were just him alone he wouldn't have accomplished much! Even in the final battles when Naruto has grown stronger than ever, it takes the help of his teammates, classmates, teachers, the former Hokage and everyone else in the ninja world to survive the crisis. 

   Sacrifice. Naruto's parents sacrifice themselves in order for their son to save the future. Itachi Uchiha decides to carry the burden of an entire clan and his brother's hatred in order to avoid an internal conflict. Even Jiraiya could have escaped the battle with Nagato but decided to sacrifice himself in order to find out his true identity and send that information to his comrades in the Leaf.

   The next generation. This was a point made by the relationships of Naruto and Konohamaru Sarutobi and also Asuma Sarutobi, Shikamaru Nara and Hiruzen Sarutobi. Everything we learn, we learn in order to one day be able to pass on to the younger generations of children that will succeed us. In the same manner that Asuma was killed in order to give Shikamaru the information on how to kill one of the Akatsuki members that was after Naruto. Shikamaru then vowed to protect and teach Asuma's unborn child in the same way that Asuma had taught him everything.

   These are just a few of the many things Naruto had to say about life. It was definitely worth the ride and whenever Naruto decides to tell us another story of his life, whatever form it maybe in (movie, manga or anime), there will be a whole lot of people who will be happy to learn all about it!