INSIDER 05.02.16 | Vol. 18 | Issue 16
KYMENLAAKSON UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES
FINNISH GAME JAM 2K16 IN THIS ISSUE
Stay Caffeinated, Julia R채ssa, Apps & Books & Did you know?, Corn Milk, Megadeath: Dystopia, The Hateful Eight
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is published and printed at: Kymenlaakson Ammattikorkeakoulu Paraatikenttä 7 FI - 45100 Kouvola Phone +358 44 702 8758 Fax +358 5 230 2433 E-mail insider@kyamk.fi Website insider.kyamk.fi Personal e-mails first.last@student.kyamk.fi INSIDER ISSN 1457-1587 Copyright © Insider 2016 Editor in Chief: Hugh Clack
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EDITORIAL
INSIDE INFO HELLO INSIDER READERS!
Khue Do
We hope that you all are still doing well with school and life so far. It is now the beginning of February already and you know what, it’s Leap Year! So congratulations, you can have 24 more hours to take a break or just keep continuing with your either fun or boringly pathetic daily life.
Actually spending some few minutes to take a piece of Insider from the bookshelves around the campus might not be a harsh punishment at all. That work will be highly appreciated since it barely helps empty the shelves when we need to place the new issue. So this week issue would take you the Finnish Game Jam 2016 in the Kymenlaakso area which took place on 29 January until 31 January under the view of a jammer. What’s more? The Insider team is introducing you the new App called Swarm for the first time ever, so just search for more details by stalking this week’s issue.
SPORTS Basketball: Kouvot – KTP-Basket Mansikka-ahon urheiluhalli 05.02. - 18:30h
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OTHER STAGE with King.com Kyamk Kotka 05.02. - 13:00h
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3
FEATURE
STAY CAFFEINATED Sleep is for the weak By: Karoliina Niemi
“I drink my coffee with honey and milk. I think that is a great mix as the honey makes the coffee sweet”
How to “Coffee” in Finnish Kahvi Sumppi Maitokahvi Kahvi mustana Santsikuppi Irkkukahvi Yksi kahvi, kiitos! Kädet ylös ja laita kaikki kahvisi tähän mukiin! Onko sinulla kuppi valmiina?
Coffee How old people call coffee Coffee with milk Black coffee Refill Irish coffee One coffee, please! Hands up and give me all your coffee in this mug! Do you have a cup already?
Did you know that according to some statistics, Finland is the country that consumes the highest amounts of coffee per person per year? Statistics from 2013 reveal a whopping 9.6 kg per capita.
But why is coffee so popular in Finland? Well it makes sense as it has been scientifically proved - Coffee improves your performance when working out and helps your body burn fat, you are less likely to develop a liver cirrhosis or Alzheimer’s disease and it bumps up your levels of dopamine making you happy. Also, anyone who has ever woken up in a morning knows that the caffeine helps you just to get out of the bed. The Finnish people drink coffee always when they have a chance. It is not just the two or three cups that you drink in the morning, but always when you have a chance. The workplaces have regular coffee pauses throughout their workday. Coffee drinking is not restricted only to the workplaces, but usually normal people meet up to gossip over a cup of coffee. But how do our students drink their coffees? Insider staff did a little research and it is not just a black coffee that people drink. “I drink my coffee with honey and milk. I think that is a great mix as the honey makes the coffee sweet”, says one of our students. However, the black coffee is still popular... At least in Insider office, where we do not have any milk.
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PROFILE
JULIA RÄSSA
2nd year Game Design student By: Frank van de Voorde Last week I talked to Hanni Hätinen and she wanted to ask you what makes you happy in life? I’d say seeing my friends mostly and of course the things I love doing which are painting and designing like for instance character design and environment art. Well, also eating and I like cooking. I also like comics and storyboarding. Do you have any other interests or hobbies besides the ones you have already mentioned? I like fashion and pretty things. I usually have periods of everything. I like watching a lot of different animation series. I like playing on my synth. I recently got a synth from my friends for my birthday. I also read a lot about history and mythology. Usually it involves researching for some story idea I have. So I have a pretty solid basis. Mostly northern European history from the 8th century – Scandinavia and western Russia. What do you like the most about studying game design? It makes me feel that I am at the right place in my life at the moment. I really enjoy the lessons because I can directly see how things are developed. I guess also because I actually get a feel of what I really want to do specifically in this field. I actually really like that recently they started implementing things like the Unity engine in the game development course and also 3D Max because those are things I wouldn’t just pick up by myself. Do you already have some experience working in the gaming industry? In my career life I am a very
tion fees. First I wanted to go to Sweden but I didn’t see them offer anything like that in English. Actually, back then I was looking for some illustration degree but then when I saw there was a game design degree in Finland I didn’t really realize such a study existed. It got me really excited.
Who is Julia Rässa? Julia Rässa is a second year game design student and a tutor from Estonia who is really interested in doing concept art in the future.
boring person. I always studied well in school and did a lot of things out of self interest in my free time but right after school I came here to KyAMK and I don’t really have any working experience. I had one internship already, but well that was not really a true internship but more a student project here at KyAMK. Why did you decide to study in Finland? You want to know the truth? First of all I wanted to go to a Nordic country but Finland actually offered a game design course in English without tui-
What would you like to say to new students? Come here, study here, try things but don’t limit yourself to what the main programme offers. Try other courses that are available here at KyAMK even if they are in the Finnish language because you can still work something out. Don’t be afraid to later change your mind and study some other degree, go on exchange or even transfer. KyAMK has a lot to offer but in the end you choose what you really want to study. Did you have any problems adapting to the Finnish culture or language? Honestly, right now I don’t remember. Of course there were some moments two years ago when I did not understand some things. I would directly call out Finns: “How can you live like this?” Even though I come from Estonia which is close, these countries still have quite different cultures in the end. Mostly I would say Finnish people are shy. They also like safety; they really like being safe all the time. They are not the most adventurous characters. Finally, what would you like to ask from the next person? The next person is actually a class mate of yours, Olli Simanainen. How are you so great at painting?
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COVER STORY
FINNISH GAME JAM 2K16
Text by: Roope Sorvo | Photos by: Sarah Rosenthal
Every January Global Game Jam (or “Game Gem” as we in the Insider office affectionately call it) brings together over 30 000 students, professionals, and hobbyists alike, scattered to 663 jam sites all across the world, with 22 of them located in Finland. This year the Finnish Game Jam of Kymenlaakso took place at the business building of Kouvola Region Vocational College, in the scenic heart of Kouvola. What is a Game Jam, you ask? Well, depending on the context, it may be a particularly competitive jazz session or a jelly made from a freshly shot deer; however, here it means the following: people spend a weekend in enclosed space, staring at their computer screens; feeding themselves with junk food and countering their lack of sleep
with unhealthy amounts of coffee and energy drinks. The key difference to an average LAN party is the fact that here the people are not there to play games, but to create them. Of course, nobody is expected to build a game out of nothing by themselves; most people prefer to work in groups of three to dozen people. One of the best opportunities the Game Jam presents is the chance to network with new acquaintances, as most jammers tend to enter the venue without a predetermined team. Upon registration the jammer is given a possibility to express their area of expertise by differently coloured labels, symbolizing different levels of skills in programming, art, modeling, sound and other relevant areas. These are a great way to fast forward the awkward speed dating phase when people are going around
in circles asking one another whether they know how to use Unity or if they’re just here to check the scenery. So after more or less everybody has found themselves a team, the newly found parties are given a cop show deadline of 48 hours for creating their game. Given that most bigger titles in game industry are made by studios containing multiple dozens of people and take several years to make, you’re obviously not expected to make the next Skyrim in a weekend; just some sort of simple demo showcasing your idea is more than enough. The genre, idea and implementation are all up to you. You can make a card or a board game just as well as a digital one, if you don’t feel like dabbling all that programming. The only guideline is the theme of the year, which
COVER STORY
in 2016 was revealed to be “Ritual”. However you decide to interpret that is completely up to you. In addition to the official theme, the GGJ Team also releases a bunch of Diversifiers, which are additional challenge guidelines one can implement into their game. This includes such additional goals as making the game revolve around the works of Shakespeare, changing the game content depending on the player’s location, and creating a game where all information is conveyed through audio, among many others. Checking the diversifier list is a great way to get ideas for your game if you’re missing the basic principle for your game, given that often the only official guideline is a fortune cookie aphorism like “We don’t see things as they are but as we are”. However, this year the applicability
of the theme was not a problem: the result included a Lemmings-inspired puzzle game where you lead a group of boys in the jungle to help them get through their rite of passage; a rhythm game where you use the dance mat to perform a mating dance; a game where you act as a seeing-eye dog for a blind man on his daily walk to the post office; among many, many, others. And these were just the contenders from FGJ Kymenlaakso: globally, almost 6800 more or less working, games were uploaded on the site during the weekend. On Sunday evening, after the 48 hours have come to pass; everyone presents the fruits of their labor in their bug-riddled glory. One of the games presented would make it to compete to be the best game of Finnish Game Jam 2016, and
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the winner there would become a contender to be the best game of Global Game Jam. At the end of the weekend everyone drags their overworked carcasses home exhausted but satisfied. Whether or not you managed to finish your game, and how well it does or doesn’t work is ultimately irrelevant; the important thing is that you showed up, tried your best, and maybe even met new interesting people. Even though you feel like you need to hibernate for the next three weeks straight to recover from the sleep deprivation and vow that you’ll never participate in a game jam again, it has a curious magnetism to it, something to bring you back year after year. Every time you swear you’ve learned from your mistakes, but you’ll never do. Somehow you’ll find yourself here again.
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DID YOU KNOW
APPS
BOOKS
Out and about
You should read
By: Sarah Rosenthal
Recommended Writer: John Green
Foursquare helps you find places you’ll love, anywhere in the world. Find the best places to eat, drink, shop, or visit in any city in the world. Access over 75 million short tips from local experts.
Genre: Young Adult Year: 2006 When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type happens to be girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. Writer: Irvine Welsh
Swarm is a mobile app that allows users to share their locations within their social network. A spin-off from and companion app to the older Foursquare, Swarm allows users to check-in to a given location, as well as make future plans with friends and see who is nearby.
Genre: Short Stories Year: 1994
Yelp is the best way to find great local businesses People use Yelp to search for everything from the city’s tastiest burger to the most renowned cardiologist. What will you uncover in your neighborhood?
know?
#ultimatecampuskouvola What would like ultimate campus in Kouvola? Tell, draw or express your ideas about ultimate campus in Kouvola. Only the sky is limit at this point. To different places at the campus there are wallpapers or whiteboards etc. to do this of February. If you want to have some inspirations, please check Staff or Student and search with campus vision 2030 or dream campus, and you will get ideas of Mamk produced. Ideas will be used when learning environments and facilities are kept up-to-date or improved for students and staff. Ideas will be processed further by students and staff together. Looking forward to your ideas!
God turns a hapless footballer into a fly; an acid head and a newborn infant exchange consciousnesses with sardonically unexpected results Writer: Walter Isaacson Genre: Short Stories
DID YOU
Year: 2014 Following his blockbuster biography of Steve Jobs, The Innovators is Walter Isaacson’s revealing story of the people who created the computer and the Internet. It is destined to be the standard history of the digital revolution and an indispensable guide to how innovation really happens.
If you want to read more articles, check out your horoscope or find information on our sponsors - check out our website:
insider.kyamk.fi Horoscopes
8
RECIPE
CORN MILK
The Vietnamese Alternative to Bubble Tea By: Hong Hoa Truong
Spring has been around the corner but the snow just doesn’t stop, a cozy dinner with friends, family or your spouse can be fulfilled with a cup of corn milk. With the following recipe, you can serve 10 people or even for the next morning breakfast. This corn milk is my all time favorite, it is easy, cheap and quick to make, so I want to share the recipe with you guys.
How to make corn milk?
Ingredients:
Firstly, mix the corn with milk and put the liquid into food processor for 1 minute (until it is proccessed). To make the liquid more smoothly, place it through a sieve. Boil the liquid along with condensed milk and sugar, add the rest of milk, stir and wait. You won’t want the corn milk to spoil all over the place, to make sure that when it is almost boil, pull it out.
• 1 pack of frozen corn in S-Market (or a can of corn in Lidl) • 1 litre of milk (whatever kind of milk you like) • ¼ cup of sugar • ¼ cup of condensed milk
The corn milk is supposed to be yellowish and smooth. So you are done and the milk is ready to be served, enjoy!
Ainokset • 1 pussi maissia • 1 litra maitoa • ¼ kuppi sokeria • ¼ kuppi kondensoitua maitoa
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MUSIC REVIEW
MEGADETH DYSTOPIA By: Roope Sorvo
Genre Thrash Metal Producer Dave Mustaine Chris Rakestraw Released January 22, 2016 Rating When discussing music, or art in general, I try to evaluate the work of an artist separately from its creator, no matter how unlikable or despicable that person might be. It’s about whether or not you like the painting on the wall; the fact that it was painted by someone who murdered a busload of people should be irrelevant. That is, unless the painting depicts a busload of corpses. Context is everything. And this is how we get to Megadeth and its frontman Dave Mustaine. For years, mister Mustaine has been known for views so controversial they make Donald Trump look absolutely charming. But as I have mentioned, Mustaine’s personal views, no matter how outlandish or politically incorrect, should not affect me as a music consumer. That is until all this starts to bleed into his music. And that finally happened on the band’s 15th studio album, Dystopia.
It’s pretty hard not to read into Mustaine’s xenophobic attitudes on immigration when he ominously repeats the title of “Death From Within”. “Lying in State” continues on similar themes; “Post American World” showcases his jingoistic views towards foreign policy; even the instrumental piece “Conquer or Die!” manages to convey Mustaine’s attitudes through its unfortunate name. Not that the lyrical writing is exactly Shakespeare to begin with: rhymes like “You make me sick / You prick” on track “The Emperor” make the listener either chuckle in disbelief or want to punch someone in the face. That is a shame, since musically Dystopia is probably the sharpest Megadeth since the 90s. Guitarist Kiko Loureiro and drummer Chris Adler, the newest additions who happened to walk in through the revolving door called Megadeth lineup, bring their own energetic influences into the mix, kicking the performance into second gear. Despite its half-assed lyrics “The Emperor” showcases great musicianship, and the lead single “Dystopia” manages to be just vague enough lyrically to not cause the listener to cringe. Dystopia is probably the most divisive album of Megadeth’s career: musically, it’s closer to the aggressive barrages of Megadeth’s classic albums like Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? or Rust in Peace, but the lyrical content is a bitter pill to swallow. However, if you can ignore the questionable messages, Dystopia is easily the best Megadeth album in two decades, and a competent thrash metal album overall.
Kivimiehenkatu 6 45100 Kouvola 040 8095091 www.bardowntownkouvola.com
06.02.
Nykyaika Kova Ajo Flippipuisto Juice Normaali
12.02.
Aurinko Enter Rana Silence Through The Rain
13.02.
Paperi T
19.02.
The Souls
20.02.
Tumppi Varonen & Problems
26.02.
The Crescent Isengrim Author
27.02
The Mutants
Deezer
Spotify
iTunes
10
MOVIE REVIEW
THE HATEFUL EIGHT No one to trust. Everyone to hate. By: Karoliina Niemi years after the American Civil War. The movie is about eight strangers who are trying to escape a blizzard in a stagecoach stopover… And as you would expect, these eight strangers happen to be violent and everyone wants to kill everyone. Unlike Tarantino’s previous movies, The Hateful Eight starts out slow. However in the end movie turns out to be typical Tarantino with guns, blood and pieces of brain. The bounty hunter. The Hangman. The Confederate. The Sheriff. The Mexican. The little man. The cow puncher. The prisoner. Genre Crime, Drama, Mystery Director Quentin Tarantino Starring Samuel L. Jackson Kurt Russell Jennifer Jason Leigh Rating
The 8th film by Quentin Tarantino Eight strangers. One deadly connection. Quentin Tarantino’s movies are known to be brutally good where the blood spills and brains explode. The Hateful Eight is a traditional TarantinoMovie that you should not go watch with sensitive people. This Hateful Eight is a Western movie that takes place few
The movie has some familiar faces from other Tarantinomovies, like Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell. Just like in every other movie that Samuel L. Jackson has ever been in, his character is an aggressive man who shouts a lot. He plays his character well because that is the only type of acting he can do. The movie has some new faces too, like Jennifer Jason Leigh, who has a big role in the movie. Although the Hateful Eight was exactly what you would expect from Quentin Tarantino, there was some surprises throughout the movies. For example, Channing Tatum had his shirt on during the whole movie. To watch this movie you need three hours. To be honest Tarantino would have been able to fit the storyline within one and a half hours. However, if you do enjoy watching Tarantino, the movie is worth a watch. Even if it is not Tarantino’s finest work, it is exactly what you would expect from him.
Kymenlaaksonkatu 1 45700 Kuusankoski 05 3792082 www.studio123.fi
Studio 1 Alvin ja Pikkuoravat reissussa (7) | 10€ | 1h50min Every Evening 17:00 The Hateful Eight (16) | 12€ | 2h48min Sun 19:00 (2) Mon-Tues 18:50 Thurs 19:00 (2) Tanskalainen tyttö (16) | 11€ | 1h59min Fri-Sun, Wed-Thurs 18:50
Studio 2 Järven Tarinna (S) | 10€ | 1h20min Every Evening 17:20 Sat-Sun 15:45, 17:20 The Revenant (16) | 11€ | 2h36min Fri-sat, Mon-Wed 19:00
Studio 3 Jättiläinen (12) | 10€ | 1h41min Sat-Sun 15:00 (1) Mon-Tues 17:30 Kunnon Dinosaurus 2D (7) | 10€ | 1h20mins Finnish Sun 15:15 Love Records (12) | 11€ | 1h51min Fri, Sun, Thurs 17:20 Nuotin Vierestä (7) | 10€ |1h38min Sat, Wed 17:30 Tappajan Näköinen Mies (12) | 10€ | 1h36min Every Evening 19:30 Opera De Paris: Ballet Russes (12) | 23€ | 1h50mins Sat 6.2 @ 14:15