Youth Engagement Summit 2009:Preview

Observe the following situation.Your parents invited a few of their friends over for dinner.After the meal,they enjoy dessert in the living room,talking about whatever it is adults talk about.You,overhearing their conversation as you were passing,give them your insightful views or opinions of the matter.You,pause a while to let them absorb the full impact of your answer,expecting a retort or a pat on the back for your efforts.It didn't go as planned.The adults laugh simultaneously,shake their wrinkly heads,'compliment' you on your cuteness and resume talking.

Feels familiar?If you've ever found yourself in the above situation,you've definitely experienced one of the many pitfalls of being a teenager.Though you might think the adults would understand given they were young before,you cannot be far wrong.Age drains whatever memories they have of also being in your shoes.Grownups assume that kids these days are more concerned with technology and friends rather than the world,therefore are out of touch with current events.But not all of us act like our counterparts in those horrible American teen movies.We are capable of observation,analysis and problem solving,maybe a little better than adults.Our views should be given just as much respect and thought as another adult would have.

Some world leaders are aware of this,organising a variety of youth conferences.They declare that these conferences serve as a platform for youths to express their pent-up ideas,but are nothing more than showpiece events to subdue and appease potential voters.

So it is definitely a breath of fresh air for the Youth Engagement Summit to be held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre on the 16th and 17th of November.For starters,the organising commitee involve and receive input from prominent youth leaders like Khailee Ng,founder of YouthSays and various youth organisations in Singapore.Secondly,YES are bringing a number of influential people to speak,together with 500 delegates who recieved free air travel and accomodation.Finally,the whole thing is broadcasted live to leading unis across the globe such as Harvard and Cambridge,with a SEACHANGE Report at the end presented to world leaders.

I've been lucky enough to be accepted to represent The Star BRATs to attend YES2009.My tasks will mainly be conducting interviews with my peers,and updating the RAge website regularly on the day's events.

There is no doubt to the impact YES2009 would bring to getting youths worldwide heard.Our opinions and views are finally being compiled in a report for the presidents and PMs out there to read,with the chance that they would be taken seriously and acted upon.Now,there's something for the adults to laught at.

Which The Best Company In The World?

Valve,that's who!Famous for being the developers of popular games such as Half Life,Left4Dead,Portal and Team Fortress 2,the guys at Valve are also famous for their wonderful sense of humour.In this case,it's Team Fortress 2.

Saxton Hale,a fictitious CEO of weapons supplier Mann Co.,features prominently throughout the game,whether it be the spoof ads promoting the latest updates or as Easter Eggs in the class trailers.This time,his company's address can be seen in the most recent "Team Update".Curious gamers who note that oddity actually took the effort to mail inquiries to it.

Their work was not to waste.

Valve's writing team,assuming the character of Saxton Hale,replied to a few lucky senders with a hilarious form-letter and two random comic book covers.A reader of Kotaku posted about his experience on the website as soon as he received the surprise gifts.

"I guess I'll forgive them for not having my spy crab kit in stock,"says Wayne T.,"P.S. the woman probably wasn't impressed because I did not send enough money.I'll fix that next time."

Click on the images to enlarge em.Trust me,the effort is worth it.

A bunch of gamers who created a mock tenth class in conjunction with the update were also rewarded with a unique form-letters.They were personally commended by Saxton Hale himself,with the news that Mann Co. might be considering the production of the Guard Dog class.Of course,it was all just a joke as Valve have not expressed any intentions to introduce a tenth class anytime soon.

Despite being a big time developer that can afford to disregard a few of its fans,Valve stayed true to its creed of being a community-based company.The form-letters and comic book covers are not the only incentives that Valve has given to its fans.The company has been noted for organising free LAN parties and also occasionally play the game with the fans through their in-house gaming channel,Steam.

And that is why Valve is the best company in the world(well,at least to me).

16 Bad@$$ Video Game Pumpkin Carvings!!!

For the past couple of weeks,Kotaku,an American gaming website called upon its loyal readers to submit photos of pumpkin carvings based on popular video games.And boy,did the fans responded.Literally hundreds of submissions spammed the inbox of the Kotaku team,and they were hard pressed for space to publish them all.

For your convenience,here are a select few which quite frankly,blew my fuckin mind away.

Get an extra pair of pants.You're gonna wet your current ones.

Guilty Gear

Eddie Riggs from Brutal Legend

The Spy from Team Fortress 2

Ganon from The Legend of Zelda series

Black Mage from Final Fantasy

Generic Halloween pumpkin,foetus and Akuma from Street Fighter series

Master Chief from Halo series

Hellboy.Technically not a video game character,but its too pretty to pass over something like that.

Big Daddy from Bioshock.My favourite of them all.I would give my right arm to carve pumpkins as awesome as this one.

Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather.Well,the younger generation recognise the video game more than the film anyways.

Heavy from Team Fortress 2

Pipboy from Fallout 3

Sackboy from LittleBigPlanet

Wario from Warioware series

King Koopa from Super Mario Bros. series

Red Bean Pepsi,Anyone?

Ahh,Japan.Land of maid cafes,Harajuku fashion and used underwear dispensers(of which has since been banned).A place in which oddity is celebrated and sometimes,strived for.Take Pepsi for example.Not content with finishing second behind Coke in popularity,Pepsi Japan released three limited edition flavours synonymous with Japanese culture.

I'll bring you the least stomach churning one first.

Shiso flavour!Shiso is a Japanese term for Perilla,a herb belonging to the mint family and most households.Not surprisingly,it tastes like cough syrup.

Ice Cucumber flavour!A popular food during those hot sweltering summers,Pepsi has turned the vegetable into liquid form.Probably for those on the go who are to busy to prepare a meal out of it.Which is at least more appetising than the flavour.

Red Bean flavour!It can be found in paus,crisps,dumplings,sweets,chewing gum and now Pepsi!Though the last choice would not be a common sight in your refrigerator anytime soon.

Top 5 Best Video Game Cover Art

Video games are an art form.Don't scoff,it's true.Believe the stereotype portrayals on film and television all you want,it cannot be denied that some of today's best video games boast graphics and artwork comparable to the works of past great artists.And nothing can testify more to that fact than the cover art on the boxes.Big game companies have been answering the call for more attractive packaging in order to sell their products ever since stores across the world started stocking them on their shelves.I've been privileged to have played a great many number of the games featured below,and I would challenge you to a fight if you should ever pass the covers off as ugly.And I usually win.

#5. Final Fantasy series

Unlike their counterparts in the West,Square Enix prefer simplicity over cluttering the cover with copy-and-pasted screenshots.Though it may seem like a calculated risk,with the off chance of being ignored amidst the sea of colourful boxes,Square Enic has managed to attract the eyes of many satisfied buyers since using this method from the very first game.And it must have been succesful,as proven by the record sales each time a new version is released.A simple motif of an important element of the game,in this case Yuna from Final Fantasy X,does the job of selling what the franchise has always been famous for:great gameplay nestled in an engaging story.

#4. Fahrenheit

Maybe it's my affinity for white backgrounds.Maybe it's the blood soaked hands and wall.Maybe I like trenchcoat wearing men,a clear indication that this game has class.Whatever the reason,this cover caught my attention just as I stepped foot in the store.After a slew of tacky covers,Atari wisen up and applied a classic thriller film poster style to its box art.Unfortunately,they didn't stay with it after that.Take the recent Alone In The Dark cover for example.

#3. Ico

Before making a purchase,I usually practise my routine of first reading the plot and gameplay on gaming websites.If it piqued my interest enough,then I'd make the buy.Ico made me rush to the store the moment I laid my eyes on the cover while I was trolling though Gameaxis.I am unashamed to admit that I am a big fan of children picture books,particularly Where The Wild Things Are.Ico's cover immediately reminded me of Maurice Sendak's popular book.The handpainting-esque artwork was so unique at a time when developers lazily just place the game's protagonist on the cover.A definite must-have,both in disc and on a poster.

#2. Secret of Mana

Truthfully,the NES was not known to provide gamers with brilliant cover art.Phalanx and Mega Man anyone?But Square Soft(before the name change) rewrote the rules and released this beautiful piece in 1993.The forest seems to jump out of the confines of the box,and the three kids harkened back to the days of 80s Saturday morning cartoons.Soon,others follow suit,though not quite matching to its awesomeness.

#1. Shadow of Colossus


Yes,another game from Team Ico.But is it my fault that they produce such stunning cover art?Laying your eyes on that huge Colossi looming over the tiny protagonist is nothing short of epic.Which is the adjective to be used for the rest of the game.


Voila,5 of the best video game cover art I've ever seen.All deserving of adoring admiration,all deserving of a place in an art gallery.All we need to do is just change the perception of society.
I leave you now with a fan-made pic of a cross between Katamari Damacy and SoD.Enjoy.

If you have any ideas for future Top 5s related to video games,please leave them in the comments section or cbox.

China's RM284.80 PSP

The motherland's done it again.Each time a new console rolls out,China's top pirating brains would follow suit with their own version.The Polystation anyone?

But this isn't just any knockoff.Oh no.As gaming becomes more technologically advanced,why not the innovative Chinese?Dubbed the PXP(no points for guessing which name it borrows after),this little fake baby boasts a built-in camera,FM radio,drag and drop MP3/MP4 player,SD card slot and 4GB of internal memory.It also contains an emulator allowing it to play NES,Gameboy,Gameboy Colour and Sega Megadrive games.

Not only that,it contains an MP5 player,which hasn't even been invented till those brilliant scientists working at the pirating plants came up with it.

Here are the full specs of the PXP:

Memory: 2GB (holds 500 songs, or Countless Games)

External Memory: SD Card (4GB Max)

TV-Out Function

Display: 3.5 Inch QVGA(320×240) LTPS TFT LCD (16:9)

Video Format: AVI

Conversion formats: RM, RMVB, AVI, WMV, ASF, MPG, MPEG, MPE, MP4, DAT, MOV, DAT

Video Resolution: 320×240

FPS (Frames per Second): 25fps

Music Format: MP3, WMA, WAV, APE, FLAC, RM-Audio, AMR, AAC+

Bit rate: MP3 8-320Kbps WMA 5-384Kbps

Picture Format: JPEG, GIF, BMP with zoom

Record Format: WAV

Earphone Jack: dual 3.5mm

SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio): >90dB

Output of earphones: 2×23mW(16Ohms)

Output of Speaker: 23mW

Languages: English, Chinese

USB: 2.0

System: Windows 98/SE/ME/2000/XP Mac OS 10 Linux2.4.2

Power Source: Built-in Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

So what can we learn from this?That we should not be ashamed for wanting the PXP.

RM12,000 In The Mail

If this letter had come a little bit later,I would have suffered anxiety attacks.Since hearing news of calls from my friends who've also applied,I had been waiting by my handphone all week,never letting it out of my sight.Like a bitch.Like a pre-pubescent schoolgirl waiting for that guy in school to call back.

Well,the waiting is finally over!Yours truly managed to squeeze the rather generous sum of RM12,000 from the meaty paws of HELP University College's principal.This should pay off most of my Foundation in Art course fee,relieving my parents of one less financial burden come the time to finally get me a car.

A second hand Proton will do,thanks.

Anyway,I can't say that I hadn't expected to receive the scholarship.Though I failed 4 subjects in my midterm exams,I have the co-cu record that other applicants can only dream of.Which goes to show that a subpar student who has a life away from books is better than a straight A student with no life whatsoever.

Here's to many more scholarships I'll pry from the hands of other more deserving candidates!