Post #2: U.S. Supreme Court

The Supreme Court

Before this video I knew only the surface details of what the Supreme Court was and a small base on how they operated. After watching the two parts of the video however I was surprised by many aspects of how the Supreme Court operates and the powers they hold. 

Firstly I learned the process in which a potential law or petition must go through in order to first reach the Supreme Court and then the process it goes through within the Supreme Court to either be accepted or denied. Learning the steps in how this bureaucracy works was very interesting to learn and comforting as knowing the steps that our government has to go through in order to make something into law helps me feel more at ease knowing that there is an effective balance of power in place.

Secondly, I feel that the most important takeaway from the videos is that the Supreme Court needs the trust of the people in order for their acts to be respected and upheld. Due to the vague circumstances around the article describing how the Supreme Court functioned, it had to work very hard to establish itself in equal standing to the other powers of the United States government. One of the main reasons it managed to do this was by challenging congress and ruling that certain laws they were trying to pass were unconstitutional which helped the people gain trust with them as power to counterbalance the U.S. It is because of this trust that lets the Supreme Court be seen as a final say and if that trust is lost they could lose a large amount of their power.

The most surprising thing to me while watching the video was how the Supreme Court must treat any petition that manages to reach them with equal standing. So no matter if the petition comes from a convict or the president they must be treated with equal standing. AT first glance this feels weird but thinking more about this it helps to let every voice that can be heard if the country has deemed it important enough to let it reach the Supreme Court.

After watching this view I view the Supreme Court as a large stabilizing factor within our way of life that acts as a balance to the other branches of power. Through the process of looking at the constitution to see if upcoming laws are constitutional or not they help the United States evolve to a better nation while also upholding the freedoms we have been given.

Post #1: 5 Game News Sources

 I'm not the sort of person who looks at the news of the world super often. When I look at tradition news outlets such CNN or Fox I don't find myself reading the articles and more just taking a glance at headlines to get a quick understanding of what is going on. There is however one area where this differs and I take deep dives into articles and analyze what is in them and that is news articles relate to games and the game industry. These new outlets allow me to understand what is going on in the field I wish to enter and help me prepare for when I ultimately enter the industry. With this in mind there is a few that I read more than others that help me understand the industry.

Game Informer

While having the downside of being a subscription service, I would say Game Informer is one of the best new sources for every relevant topic within the game industry. Each article that they write is extremely well crafted and communicates clearly what is going on with the topic they are covering by proving parts of interviews, answering common questions about the topic, and providing important statistics and dates about the topic. I often find their articles fueling my imagination as I read through how different companies are inspired make their games and value the different perspectives the write about to widen my own views. Though not the best new source for a quick glance on a topic , I recommend taking a look at Game Informer if you want a more detailed and closer look at aspects of the game industry.

IGN

IGN is a great news source when it comes to looking for a quick article about something going on in the world of the game, film and television industries. Their articles are exceptionally useful at providing reviews on current release game or major game industry events in a easy to consume way as they divide their articles into different sections based off the information they feel is the most helpful to their readers. I personally use their articles to help me understand a general over view about a recently released game or game inspired show to allow me to build base to build other research upon what worked and didn't work for the game at launch. If you want a quick overview on a new game or major event in the game industry IGN is good new sites to start looking into it.

Kotaku

Kotaku is another game news site that is extremely to similar to IGN in terms of the content it covers and can also be used to help create a base understanding of a game related topic but that is not what I read it for. What makes Kotaku unique is that one of their focuses is how games affect the culture of our world. It often looks at how games have trickled into our culture in various ways such as NBA players using Nintendo sound affects when the score or how games inspired voice actors to pursue a jobs within the game industry to voice the characters they love. I highly recommend Kotaku if you want a look at how games have impacted our modern culture.

GameRant

GameRant is the game news source I turn to when I want a different perspective on a game related topic as it tends to have a different and sometimes opposing views to other game news sites. This is very valuable to have as the game industry is normally divided on almost everything that occurs within it so having multiple views from two different news sources is extremely valuable when looking at how to make a certain type of game. I primarily use GameRant to look at their perspective on potential games that are similar to those I would want to make and what opinions were on their release. I recommend using GameRant to help expand your views into areas you normally wouldn't.

Tabletop Gaming News

I have a personal love for board and table top games that are often overlooked by larger game sites such as IGN and GameRant. Tabletop Gaming News helps to fill in that gap by providing the current news on board and tabletop games as well as kickstarterss for new ones. This helps me expand my view on the unique different game mechanics and game systems that these games often have helping me to be exposed to gaming systems I otherwise would of never seen. If you have a love of board and tabletop games then I would recommend you look into Tabletop Gaming News.