Rise of the Planet of the Apes Movie Review

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Rise) is an AWESOME MOVIE!!!! However... I recommend watching the first planet of the apes because there are some refrenses to the first film (kinda like tron legacy only better) So basically Rise is about the a scientist names Will Rodman (James Franco) who has discovered the cure to a variety of brain diseases. They test out the serum on apes. One ape escaped and they had to put all of the apes down, but Will Rodman manged to save a baby ape and named him ceasar (Andy Serkis). Andy Serkis is awesome as always as Ceasar. James Franco has improved greatly with his acting and is very good in this movie. So overall Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an awesome movie and I give it a 9/10

Remember to Chek it or Regret it

Top Five Movies (GameGuy)

5. Batman: Under the Red Hood More Info!

4. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King More Info!

3. The Dark Knight More Info!

2. The Count of Monte Cristo More Info!

1. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers More Info!

Top 5 Movies (GameDude)

5. Rise of the Planet of the Apes More Info

4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest More Info!

3. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers More Info!

2. Batman Under The Red Hood More Info!

1. Batman Begins More Info!

Terminator Review

-By GameGuy

 Terminator is a violent movie with a violent storyline. It is 2035 and robots have taken over the earth. A group of freedom fighters end one of their guys back to 1984. They are trying to stop a terminator robot from trying to kill a mother of her unborn son. So, the son is the leader of the freedom fighters. It is entertaining if you are extremely bored. The special effects aren't good. The terminator Robot is stop motion at the end of the movie. There are scenes where The Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) shoots and kills countless people. I recommend the movie for 12+. It isnt that exciting, I would definately watch the 2nd over this. We rate this a 5.4/10

Uberstrike Game Review

Written by: Game Dude,

Uberstrike for the mac is a very good game and here is why. Uberstrike is a first person shooter where you have 8 types of guns, melee weapons, handguns, machineguns, shotguns, sniper riffles, cannons, splatterguns, and launchers. now if you are a parent and you think that uberstrike is bad for kids then you would be wrong unless the kid is 7 years old, uberstrike is 100% kid friendly no blood, no gore, nothing bad like that. as you eliminate other players you gain xp then you level up and you can unlock new guns and you will be able join clans (you need two reach level 4) clans allow you to privet chat with people and they will be on your team if you play. You can promote people in the clan if you made it which is a neat touch. If you want to join our clan its called TheGameGuildreviews clan all you need to do is chat with GameDude6400 (me) we will invite you to the clan if you want the good thing about clans is that you need to specifically invite someone to the clan. Uberstrike has no single player its all online multiplayer. I give Uberstrike a 9/10 it is very good and now you can get it for free on the app store!!!!

Chek it or Regret it, 
 
 

Bolt DS Game Review

 Written by: Game Dude,

Bolt for the DS is based on the movie that came out a long time ago and was kinda ok, but anyway, "Bolt" is a third person action game the Y button does a normal attack, the X button does a more powerful attack, the B button jumps, the A button ground slams, and the touch pad is used for becoming invincible. There are also button combos such as Y Y Y and Y Y X and so on. One of the issues of Bolt is that the levels are way WAY WAY to long which is not good for a handheld device such as the DS. The reason most DS games are good because they have short levels so that you can just pull it out of you pocket on the bus and beat a level and that is why I give this game a 6/10 Bolt needs shorter levels otherwise I would have given it a higher score.

Chek it or Regret it

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS) Game Review

 Written by: Game Dude,


Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games for the DS (MSOGDS) is an awesome game!!!! MSOGDS is basically a glorified minigame collection and a good one at that. The best part about MSOGDS is the replay ability, The only gripe about the replay ability is that there are to few good events. Each character has their own stats there are four groups of skill typs speed, skill, power, and all around which means that you will need to chose your charictor wisely. For instance if you were going to do the 100 meter dash you would need a speed charictor and so on. You also have an achievement system which just adds even more to the replay ability. Overall MSOGDS is VERY VERY AWESOME!!!!!!! I give it a 9/10.

Coming soon: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games DS Review 

Batman Arkham City!!!!!

Batman arkham city is the sequel to the epic batman arkham asylum. Now keep in mind that this is not a review I really wish it was but it is not because I do not own the game. Batman arkham asylum is on the app store now unfortunately I am not allowed to play teen rates games dew to the supreme command (my mom) I have been trying to get game guy to buy it but to no avail. anyway batman arkham city is is a third person action game and it is awesome I will not spoil what happens in the beginning (I wached  walkthroughs). If you cant tell we here at the game guild absalootly dc nerds we love dc so naturally if there is a good dc game on the market then we will want to buy it emedetly well at least some of us. so overal buy the game I cant so you should one we get it then we will do walkthroughs and all that awesomeniss. so anyway this has been the game dude and buy batman arkham city now. Chek it or Regret it  

Captain America: The First Avenger Review

By GameGuy

  Captain America was a great movie that is definitely worth the watch. The main character is Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America. He starts out as a skinny little guy with a lot of courage. Doctors see the Courage in him and transform him into Captain America! The Villain in this story is "Red Skull." Red Skull has the same stuff that made Captain America, except he has an early stage of the serum so he has a side effect that makes his face red. The special effects are exceptional, but like most movies they have flaws. This is movie has a great storyline and I enjoyed every second. Captain America will return in The Avengers. I give this movie a rating of  8.7/10

Minecraft Game Review

Written by: Game Dude,

Minecraft at first glance is a boring lame low quality game that everyone just really seems to love, kind of like Twilight. But once you start playing the game that’s when it becomes awesome, but why is it awesome? Well you have almost unlimited possibility’s I say almost because you have a limited block list. When you first open the game you will need to find a shelter and some wood. You get wood by going over to a tree then you hold down the left mouse button and in a few seconds bang, you have wood after that you can make a crafting table for crafting items I suggest that you open this link whenever you need to craft on Minecraft  Minecraft Wiki

    There is also another mode called "Creative Mode." On Creative Mode you have unlimited blocks, you cant die, and you can fly. Which is awesome for building huge structures. Well that is it I hope you guys get Minecraft it is a very, very awesome game I give it a 9/10

Book Review: Design Thinking by Peter G. Rowe

Written by: Szeedawg,

Following is a critical review of the book Design Thinking, by Peter G. Rowe. 

Introduction

Design Thinking (Rowe 1987)[i] provides a synopsis of the eponymous topic and provides specific context to architecture. It provides a serviceable overview of the historical progression of design thinking procedure, and it offers a specific examination of the topic from the perspective of architecture. On a meta-level it may also point to useful method for applying normative analyses of design thinking to a discipline-specific framework. The book was published before some important recent work on design thinking appeared, so an updated edition is necessary. Lastly, it would be better organized if it made more integrative use of the philosophy of science content in the final chapter. 

Case Studies & Method

Rowe outlines the overall objective of the book as follows: To “account for the underlying structure and focus of inquiry directly associated with those rather private moments ‘seeking out’ on the part of designers…”[ii] He starts the discussion with some practical examples of designers tackling real-world challenges, following the method discussed in Hayes (1981, 51-57)[iii] and Pohlman (1982)[iv] of reconstructing the steps and procedures used by the designers as they recall their interior thought processes. At this stage it would have been helpful for the author to openly declare his specific methodology and philosophy of science approach instead of leaving that discussion to the end of the book, and then doing so in a general, synoptic manner. Had he been more clear about is nomothetic, interpretive approach at the outset it would have put his subsequent survey of design inquiry approaches into sharper relief.[v]

Two further criticisms of the case study examples are worth noting. First, the thought processes in each case study were not clearly presented and their summarizations were not clearly outlined. The sketches are unhelpful because they are reproduced in a virtually illegible size and are not well incorporated into the inquiry process description. Second, the cases are only peripherally referred to in the rest of the book. Instead of referring back to the cases and the summarized learnings, the author uses the cases as interesting anecdotes in the subsequent inquiry of process and normative guides, but leaves them otherwise unrelated to the book’s findings. A tighter connection between the research and the findings would have made this a stronger work. 

The cases were nevertheless valuable illustrations of the fact that many challenges faced by designers are brought upon themselves: By committing to a concept without sufficient inquiry into the project’s practical requirements, by forcing a style into a project where it may not be the most appropriate, and by failing to reconcile two competing ideas at the outset of a project. This sets the stage for the remainder of the book by showing that design thinking cannot be examined on a purely procedural basis because its episodic nature inevitably requires a normative discourse to guide the problem solving at each stage of inquiry. Procedure is a necessary but not sufficient condition for successful design.[vi]

Procedure

Before tackling design thinking procedure the author offers a broad and useful overview of problems and problem solving theory. The author eventually lands on the information processing theory of problem solving from Newell, Shaw and Simon (1957),[vii] which the author indicates is the then-current dominant school of thought. As noted before, this finding comes abruptly, without sufficient substantiation, and without consistent reference throughout the rest of the book.

The remainder of the procedural section contains helpful summaries and overviews of important concepts of problem solving. He rightly concludes that there is no single, definitive design process because process alone is limited epistemologically to “knowing-how” versus “knowing-what.”[viii] For the reviewer, this overview was helpful and effective in summarizing what at the time of publishing was the most recent thinking on the subject. 

Normative Positions and Application 

Having identified the inadequacy of procedure on its own, the author turns to normative positions and their application to design thinking. Of most interest to the reviewer was the normative framework of analysis, because of its possible use in applying design thinking to other disciplines and fields beyond architecture. Across the top of the grid we move from common to divergent elements (orientation, leitmotifs, style) and against these themes we mark the major categorizations of subject matter thought: functionalism, populism, conventionalism and formalism. This method of mapping large-scale objectives of the discipline against specific, existing schools of thought can provide a useful way to apply design thinking normative inquiry to other disciplines, and merits further analysis.

This brings us to one of the primary criticisms of this book, which relates to its currency. Being published in 1987, the author predates some of the more recently influential work on design thinking that presumably would have influenced some of this analysis. For example, had Krippendorff’s (1989)[ix] contribution on circular cognitive processes been available it likely would have informed the author’s discussion of the interplay between process and normative decision-making, possibly bringing to a more integrative conclusion. A similar statement can be made about the body of work by Martin[x], Verganti,[xi] Buchanan[xii] and other more current design thinkers. 

Realms of Inquiry

The author finishes the book with an overview of two realms of inquiry into architecture: external and self-referential. First, he covers architecture’s relationship to the external world by canvassing the major philosophies of science and their approaches to architecture as a social endeavor. He covers the current dominant philosophy, functionalism, planning orthodoxy, systems approaches,[xiii] and then the usual “alternative” scientific approaches, including humanism, structuralism, tacit conventions, phenomenology, and logical falsification. The second approach to inquiry is self-referential within the field of architecture. The author concludes, pointing to three modes of re-interpretation and outlines some corresponding challenges.

The author’s analysis would have been more coherent had this final chapter appeared early in the text and formed the backdrop against which the survey of design thinking unfolded. Had the author gone one step further and taken an approach similar to Burrell and Morgan (2008),[xiv] in which they clearly define and delineate the entire scope philosophical approaches at the outset and then discuss the various applied positions in detail, this work would have formed the basis for an enduring analysis of design thinking as applied to architecture.

Conclusion

Design Thinking made a useful contribution but it needs a new edition in order to incorporate recent contributions to design thinking. The book would also benefit from a tighter integration of the research, and from using the philosophy of science inquiry as a logical thread to give this broad topic more internal consistency. 

---

[i] Rowe, Peter G., (1987). Design Thinking. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.

[ii] Ibid. p. 1.

[iii] Hayes, John R. (1981). The Complete Problem Solver. Philadelphia: Franklin Institute Press, in Ibid. p. 2.

[iv] Pohlman, Richard W. (1982). “A System for Recording  Bahavior and Occupying Design.” In Omer Akin and Elanor F. Weinel, eds., Representation in Architecture, pp. 121-138. Silver Springs Maryland: Information Dynamics, in Ibid. p. 2.

[v] This research method is of particular interest to the reviewer for reasons of expected subsequent design thinking inquiry, and the reviewer would have preferred more in-depth description of the method.

[vi] Parenthetically, the discussion of episodic nature of design inquiry reminds the reviewer of Kay, Regier, Boyle, Francis (1999), and related open systems thinkers, whose work on self-organizing holarchic open systems, in the sense of their application of systems theory to complex systems that respond to exergy by adapting until it can no longer be absorbed, at which time the self-organization becomes chaotic and must re-establish a new homeostasis. (Kay JJ, Regier HA, Boyle M, Francis G, An Ecosystem Approach for Sustainability: Addressing the Challenge of Complexity, Futures 1999;31:721-742.)  In terms of the reviewer’s subsequent research open systems and complexity theory will be of particular interest in identifying a framework for design thinking analysis.

[vii] Newell, A., Shaw J.C., and Simon H.A. (1957). “Elements of a Theory of Problem Solving.” Rand Corporation Report P-971, March.

[viii] Schoen, Donald A., (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books., in Ibid. p. 112.

[ix] Krippendorff K., “On the Essential Contexts of Artifacts or the Proposition that “Design is Making Sense (of Things),” in Margoulin, V. and Buchanan, R., eds., The Idea of Design, MIT Press, 1995, pp. 156-184.

[x] Martin, Roger, (2009). The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press.

[xi] Verganti, R., (2009). Design-Driven Innovation: Changing the Rules of Competition by Radically Innovating What Things Mean. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business Press.

[xii] Buchanan, R., “Wicked Problems in Design Thinking.” In Margolin, V. and R. Buchanan, eds., The Idea of Design, MIT Press, 1995, pp. 3-20.

[xiii] An interesting outcome of this discussion, from the reviewer’s perspective, is that closed systems approaches can at times be problematic to designers insofar as they may require a restrictive categorization of variables as exogenous to the system; an approach antithetical to a holistic, design-based approach.

[xiv] Burrell, G. and Morgan, G., (2008). Sociological Paradigms and Organizational Analysis: Elements of the Sociology of Corporate Life. Aldershot, England: Ashgate Publishing Company.