Tokyo 2020: The calm after the storm

Tokyo 2020: The calm after the storm

Tokyo recently secured the right to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, beating bids from the other two candidate cities, Istanbul and Madrid, despite concerns regarding Tokyo's proximity to Fukushima following the nuclear disaster that occurred in March 2011.

The Japanese capital will become the first Asian city to host the Games twice, following in the footsteps of London, Paris and Athens, but the decision comes at a time when Japan is still reeling from the fallout generated from the largest nuclear meltdown since the infamous Chernobyl disaster of 1986.

One of the fundamental principles laid out in the Olympic charter is "to encourage and support a reasonable concern for environmental issues". With Fukishima and Tokyo less than 150 miles apart, the environmental issues surrounding the spill will be under close scrutiny and the lens will continue to magnify as the deadline draws ever closer.

Japan are attempting to deal with the remediation effort but have faced difficulties thus far. In July 2013 they suffered a major setback, as it was announced that radioactive water had been leaking into the Pacific Ocean since the original incident. More damning still was news that the operator of the plant, TEPCO, knew about the spill the whole time and decided to keep quiet.

For now, the International Olympic Committee seem to have been appeased. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to spend $300m to deal with the clean-up and they have a substantial amount of time before the torch arrives in Tokyo.

Residents who live in the "no-return-zones" surrounding the plant were told they must wait at least five years before it's safe to go near their homes, with the Olympics scheduled to arrive just four years after.

The safety of both competitors and fans must be of paramount importance to the IOC, but Japan would be the ones to face condemnation from the international community if they aren't able to facilitate a safe environment for one of the biggest events in the world, especially after they have pledged that the capital will be radiation-free.

 Tokyo first hosted the Summer Games in 1964, after the postponement of the 1940 Tokyo Games, (which were eventually moved to runners-up Helsinki) following Japan's involvement in WWII. The 64' games were a resounding success and helped Japan to become the economic powerhouse that we know today.

After the decision was announced, Abe said "Japan needs hopes and dreams". With the problems the country have recently faced, the Olympics will hopefully give Japan, Tokyo and the Fukushima effort the same boost felt by London, England and Great Britain in the build up and aftermath of London 2012. 

The season so far: EPL review part 1

The season so far: EPL review part 1

With the EPL season starting to gather pace and the transfer window now closed, let’s have a quick look at the teams taking part and how they’ve started the new season.

Arsenal

For the first time in a few seasons, the Gunners have started their campaign with a stronger squad than before and more importantly, they haven’t lost any key players to their rivals.

The signing of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid shows their intent to challenge for honors, but Arsenal are still short up front and may go for a striker in the January transfer window after losing out on a loan deal for Chelsea’s Demba Ba.

Arsenal currently sit at forth in the league, with their only loss coming in the opening game of the season against Aston Villa. Since then they have won four games including a derby at Tottenham, scoring nine goals and conceding two in all competitions.

  

Aston Villa

The Villians must be looking to improve on a poor 15^th place finish last season, but have faced a nightmare start to the season in terms of fixtures. Villa have had to play Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool in their opening trio of game and collected a respectable three points in their opener against Arsenal, as well as performing well against Chelsea.

Manager Paul Lambert did well to keep hold of Christian Benteke and the striker has started the season well, with a brace at Arsenal as well as a goal against Chelsea.

Villa currently lie 13^th in the league, but have played a number of stronger teams and collected 3 more points than most would have imagined.

Cardiff

The Welsh outfit announced themselves to the EPL with a magnificent 3-2 win over Man City and held Everton to a draw to show that their not just here to make up the numbers.

Cardiff were promoted as winners of the Championship last season with the joint highest goals scored in the league and bolstered their frontline with the signing of Peter Odemwingie, as well as smashing their transfer record with the £11m signing of defensive midfielder Gary Medel from Seville, who is known as “The Chilean Gattuso.”  

Chelsea

The Blues followed routine wins over Hull and Aston Villa with a disappointing draw at Man Utd, in which manager Jose Mourinho surprisingly played without a striker. (Although a point away from home against the Champions is usually lauded, the manner in which the team set out was very negative.)

Last years Europa League winners have improved their squad with a number of buys, including £30m Brazilian Willian and former Barca striker Samuel Eto’o, who should perform better than the oft misfiring Fernando Torres.

Chelsea are undefeated and only have Liverpool above them in the league. If they can start firing on all cylinders, they have a good chance to win the title in a season of upheaval at most of the big clubs.   

Crystal Palace

Palace have responded well to back-to-back defeats in their opening two league games with a win against Sunderland to collect their first points of the season. Manager Ian Holloway signed no less than 14 players during the window, including former Arsenal striker Marouane Chamakh and Adrian Mariappa.

Competition for places in the 25 man squad has led to trouble, with new arrival Florian Marange said to be “disgusted” that he didn’t make the squad. Striker Stephan Dobbie is another high profile player to miss the cut for Palace.

The team needs time to gel, even their win against Sunderland came after John O’Shea was sent off, (conceding a penalty which was scored) but they have a good squad and there should be improvement as they start to settle in.

Continue to PART TWO HERE:

The season so far: EPL review part 2

The season so far: EPL review part 2

With the EPL season starting to gather pace and the transfer window now closed, let’s have a quick look at the teams taking part and how they’ve started the new season.

Everton

Last seasons sixth placed finishers have paid for their fine form, losing long serving manager David Moyes to Manchester United, who took midfield enforcer Marouane Fellaini with him to bolster his squad.

Everton responded by appointing Roberto Martinez to the helm, as well as smart moves in the transfer market, completing loan deals for Gareth Barry and Romelu Lukaku. Barry will help to fill the void left by Fellaini’s departure and Lukaku is a proven goalscorer in the Premiership.

The Blues sit at 15^th in the league, but have yet to lose a game in their opening three games, instead collecting a trio of draws.

Fulham

The ownership of Fulham passed hands earlier this year to Shahid Khan in a smooth transition, but on the pitch results have been anything but.

Defeat against Arsenal and Newcastle in their last two games has undone much of the great work achieved in their opening day win against Sunderland, but loan deals for Darren Bent and Adel Taarabt should help Fulham to find that creative spark needed to win games.

Hull City

The Tigers have lost the games they were expected to, falling to both Man City and Chelsea, but won the game they had to against Norwich, giving the team a good, fighting chance to survive in the league.

Hull secured promotion to the Premiership through a second played finish in the Championship and have added to the squad with several signings, including former Tottenham midfielder Tom Huddlestone and Curtis Davies, who will add grit and experience to the squad.

Liverpool

Liverpool are top of the table and for the first time in a long time, look as though they may contend for the title properly. Brendan Rodgers has been given time to stamp his mark on the team and they seem to be responding to his methods, as they lie at the top of the summit, undefeated in three.

The combination of Daniel Sturridge and Luis Suarez will be tough for any team to contend with and the squad have further improved defensively with the signings of Mamadou Sakho, Simon Mignolet and Kolo Toure.

The recent win against Manchester United was a statement of intent, Liverpool are in good form at the moment and if they continue in this vein, there’s no reason why they can’t win the title this year.

Manchester City

City are somewhat of a conundrum. Having replaced manager Roberto Mancini with Manuel Pellegrini, they destroyed Newcastle in their opening game, but then lost to Cardiff in a match most expected them to win.

City are third in the league at the moment, but they must be disappointed that they aren’t in a higher position. Having spent over £56m on three new players, including the highly rated Jesus Navas and Alvaro Negredo from Seville, the team have to get used to the new manager and the loss of Gareth Barry and Carlos Tevez.

They’ve started reasonably well, although much is expected of the star-studded squad. Simply put, they can’t afford to lose against teams like Cardiff, although there’s no such thing as an easy game in the EPL.

Continue to PART THREE HERE::

The season so far: EPL review part 3

The season so far: EPL review part 3

With the EPL season starting to gather pace and the transfer window now closed, let’s have a quick look at the teams taking part and how they’ve started the new season.

Manchester United

It was always going to be hard when Sir Alex Ferguson finally retired, but the amount of difficulties United have faced is astounding for a club of their stature.

Failed transfer deals for a large number of targets have weakened the club and the position of new manager David Moyes, as well as a poor return of four points in three games.

The signing of Marouane Fellaini on deadline day improved the squad, but rivals like Arsenal and Man City have stolen a march on their rivals with more inventive transfer deals.

With only three games played, it’s too early for United fans to worry and two of their games were against upper-tier opposition. Yet again, the new manager needs time to get his ideas across to the squad, but at United, you also need to get results.

Newcastle United

Toon manager Alan Pardew is caught between a rock and a hard place. Almost a victim of his own success, he too has found his position at the club weakened due to the implementation of Joe Kinnear as director of football at the club.

The club failed to invest properly in new personnel whilst letting go of squad players, weakening the team even more. A win against Fulham was enough to ease the pressure building, but it looks like it may be a torrid season if injuries grip the threadbare squad.

Loic Remy will score goals for the club, but he will need to be in good form to help Newcastle avoid a relegation dogfight.

Norwich City

The Canaries have started the season well enough, gathering points at a steady rate. Chris Hughton’s squad will be aiming to improve on their comfortable mid-table finish last season and currently lie 11^th in the league.

The £8.5m purchase of striker Ricky Van Wolfswinkel and the £5m fee paid for Gary Hooper have boosted their attack and may cause the team to abandon the defensive style that served them so well last season, as they push for more goals.

Currently ninth in the league, results have been average so far for the Canaries, but by no means have they started poorly.

Southampton

Southampton recorded some impressive results last season, including beating Man City 3-1, Liverpool 3-1 and Chelsea 2-1 as they avoided relegation by just five points.

Newly promoted England striker Rickie Lambert is expected to get goals for the club and he opened his account for the season with a penalty against West Brom in the 90^th minute. However, he will be assisted this term by £15m Italy forward Pablo Osvaldo, signed from Roma.

The Saints have collected four points in their travels so far, with their solitary win coming against West Brom in their season opener.

Stoke City

The Potters said goodbye to long-term manager Tony Pulis at the end of last season, who was replaced by former Man City manager Mark Hughes. Two wins out of three so far in the league is promising form and they currently sit above both Man Utd and Tottenham.

Stoke’s strong back line has been reinforced by £3m signing Erik Pieters, who has started all three league games this season, whilst Stephan Ireland has been brought in on loan to give the Potters more creativity going forward.

Continue to PART FOURHERE:

The season so far: EPL review part 4

The season so far: EPL review part 4

With the EPL season starting to gather pace and the transfer window now closed, let’s have a quick look at the teams taking part and how they’ve started the new season.

Sunderland

The Black Cats were one of the busiest during the window with 12 players joining the club either on loan or full-time. Results have been terrible so far, with the club languishing second from bottom in the league.

Paulo Di Canio’s side only just avoided relegation last season (by a meagre three points) and if results don’t improve soon they’ll be facing the same again this term. Pressure is starting to build at the club and they face a tough game at Arsenal next.

The new signings have to make their mark if they want to improve on their solitary point.

Swansea City

The Swans impressed last season, finishing ninth and qualifying for the Europa League, but more impressively, they have managed to keep hold of manager Michael Laudrup and star striker Michu.  

The League Cup winners signed Wilfred Bony for £12m and the forward has already found the net for his new club and looks to be a hot prospect. One win in three isn’t the best form but at least the Man Utd and Tottenham games are out of the way now.

They aren’t out of the woods yet, with their next league game at home to league leaders Liverpool.

Tottenham Hotspur

Spurs have been on the attack since the close of last season, with some very astute buys in the transfer market, albeit at a massive overlay. The sale of Gareth Bale cushioned the blow massively and gave the club time to rebuild.

Tottenham recorded back to back 1-0 wins in their first two games, but the derby loss against Arsenal was a major blow for a team on the cusp of excelling their bitter rivals.

Despite their new signings, Tottenham were second best against Arsenal and Andre Villas-Boas needs to win games like these if he truly wants to take the club to the next level this season.

West Bromwich Albion

The Baggies finished 8^th last season, (although they were 12 points behind 7^th placed Liverpool) but they currently prop up the table, with just one point from their opening three games.

West Brom have yet to score in the league, but Nicolas Anelka is back from compassionate leave following the death of his agent to boost their ailing frontline. Wantaway striker Peter Odimwingie completed his move to Cardiff in the window and his goals will be sorely missed.

Shane Long, Anelka and Victor Anichebe have to pick up the slack if they want to get off the foot of the table anytime soon.

West Ham United

The Hammers are in a worrying position this early in the season, with some bookmakers lowering the odds on their relegation prospects after the injury to Andy Carroll. With Carlton Cole failing a medical West Ham are shockingly short up front.

West Ham played well in their 2-0 win over Cardiff but they were lacklustre against Stoke, conceding their first goal of the campaign, suffering their first defeat and their first home defeat since February.

Mladen Petric has signed for the Irons on a free transfer from Fulham, where he scored 5 goals in 23 appearances. At 32, he could still do well for West Ham in the coming months.

So, that’s the roundup. Anyone can lead in the title race when it’s so early in the season but Liverpool have done well to cement an early lead. Arsenal did well to beat Tottenham while there may be worrying times ahead for West Ham and West Brom.

Should the role of females in video games change?

Should the role of females in video games change?

Some people like to think that videogames are a work of art. By default they're designed to be open to critique and comment, (mostly) accessible and open to the users interpretation. 

The problem for some, is that a lot of games tend to be male orientated, or rather 'dudebro', macho, testosterone fuelled experiences, despite the fact that as of 2012 (1) females make up 47% of the 'game player' market.

The worst examples are pretty easy to find, but Dead or Alive is probably one of the most well known, vaguely misogynistic, series' to ever exist. This is a trailer for a piece of DLC released for DOA:5, unabashedly titled "Hotties Swimwear DLC".

Now, to be fair to the game, it does look pretty fun and it has a certain harmless charm, (even though it features a grown man repeatedly curb stomping a half-naked girl at a beach, whilst wearing flippers) but it does represent the way in which women are objectified in a lot of games. I'm sure the term 'jiggle mechanics' exists in my brain because of this series but as long as people continue to buy the games, they'll continue to be produced and underneath it all, the core fighting game is very good and usually receives high praise. 

 Here's an advert for Team Ninja's Ninja Gaiden Sigma II:

 Yeah. Sixaxis breast control.

Japan does seem to repeatedly offend. In Final Fantasy 13, the protagonist Lightning is a soldier, but goes to battle dressed like this:

No arrow to the knee jokes please.

However, this isn't to say that the west is blameless when it comes to female representation. Many titles claim to offer worlds in which men and women are equal, a la Mass Effect, but still show the player copious amounts of backside. 

Female backside obviously.

It must alienate female players to some extent, because it seems like no matter what, you'll end up watching Miranda from a 'man's point of view'. During half-time breaks in sport, adverts tend to be male orientated but that's because it caters to it's supposed audience. When 47% of your possible audience may be alienated by something as simple as a camera angle, maybe things should change.

The issue is hot at the moment because of comments made by David Ellis of 343 Industries, who tweeted; "This character design is disgusting. Our industry should be better than this." What character design, you ask?

This character design.

The character in question is Quiet, from the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 5 title. 

So, is the character design really 'disgusting' and does it really have a place in modern gaming? Titillation used to have shock value, but now that we've had near photo-realistic graphics for a few years maybe we should focus more on improving storytelling aspects of games, rather than ensuring female characters have an impressive rack.

Speaking out about the issue can only help to raise awareness and at the time of writing, the article concerning Ellis' tweets is ranked top of CVG's website. As long as people within the industry continue to speak out like he did, maybe there will be change, but sales show that there is a market for it, as long as the game underneath is enjoyable.