My Little Brony -a look at one of the most recent cult-followings by Conor McCarthy Those who managed to read the first issue of Cloud of Think without falling into a bored slumber will have read my short story entry for that issue. Thus, the following disclaimer is for you: although the editor added the words “To Be Continued” at the end of that story, you can and should ignore them. I have no intention of continuing that story. It’s been weeks since I wrote it so I want to give it the silence it deserves. I have so much more to offer now.     Instead, I’ll write something else for this issue. I was initially considering submitting the first chapter of my Zarith novel but that would have been taking the easy way out. No, I’m stepping outside my comfort zone and submitting a review of a television series. This is my first television show review so please forgive me if it’s rubbish. (Hate mail can be sent to the usual address.)     The idea for this review came during my most recent trip with the school’s mountaineering club, when several people criticised the show and its fan base. It became increasingly obvious by their comments that they never even watched an episode of the show: they couldn’t even name the mane characters!     So, what is this TV show?     My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, a cartoon used to sell the toys of the same name.     This show’s not even worth reviewing as it’s only for little girls, right? WRONG! As frequent Internet users are no doubt aware (as the show’s spread epidemic-like across the web), this show has gotten a very large fan-following of people of all genders who...

The future is bright, the future is green, the future is… free? People have always dreamt of free clothes, free money, and most of all free food. There certainly seems to be progress towards that: now there are free papers, free-to-play games, your favourite social networking site, and in one case, a hotel which let people eat and repay by working it off on bikes connected to the electric system to create a better source of energy; it isn’t exactly free but it’s good, since you can eat your favourite foods, then balance your health by exercising when you see fit. People nowadays spend 40 euro plus buying games while not having checked out the free-to-play equivalents, with Battlefield play for free, CoD personified in Blacklight Retribution and Halo in Halo online, or play the mix in Planetside 2. People have tried boycotting things until they became free but it hasn’t worked… yet. MIT currently provides free online education, where you could learn quantum physics or get a head start on what you really want to study. You can take student notes, online lectures, and read the online textbook, but it won’t account for any actual college credit. Sites like Pet Finder allow you to adopt animals for free, from rabbits to horses. So whatever you might be hoping for, it must include a free, green and bright...

The future is bright, the future is green, the future is… free? People have always dreamt of free clothes, free money, and most of all free food. There certainly seems to be progress towards that: now there are free papers, free-to-play games, your favourite social networking site, and in one case, a hotel which let people eat and repay by working it off on bikes connected to the electric system to create a better source of energy; it isn’t exactly free but it’s good, since you can eat your favourite foods, then balance your health by exercising when you see fit. People nowadays spend 40 euro plus buying games while not having checked out the free-to-play equivalents, with Battlefield play for free, CoD personified in Blacklight Retribution and Halo in Halo online, or play the mix in Planetside 2. People have tried boycotting things until they became free but it hasn’t worked… yet. MIT currently provides free online education, where you could learn quantum physics or get a head start on what you really want to study. You can take student notes, online lectures, and read the online textbook, but it won’t account for any actual college credit. Sites like Pet Finder allow you to adopt animals for free, from rabbits to horses. So whatever you might be hoping for, it must include a free, green and bright...

Wii-U Review by Michael Soderlund   Back in November of 2012, Nintendo released their next generation console, The Wii-U, and my parents (“Santa”, for those of you under 10) had a hard time tracking one down for me at Christmas. Nevertheless, I had a Premium Black Wii-U waiting for me on the morning of December 25th and I couldn’t have been happier. Could it be a worthy opponent to the PlayStation 4 and the next X-Box, or will Mario lose his last life? In the last 10 years, Nintendo’s consoles seem to have been groundbreaking through their use of gimmicks to hook the player into their systems. You have the DS with its two screens, and touch capabilities, the Wii’s motion controls and the 3DS’ 3D. The days of just having a gamepad seemed long gone for Nintendo. Until now, that is. The only thing close to a gimmick present in the Wii-U is the controller with a touch screen on it.  Everything else seems to be going back to the idea of just having the system and the controller (and a TV), and I couldn’t be happier. Graphically, the Wii-U is capable of the same HD graphics as the PS3 and Xbox 360, so this will hopefully mean no more watered down Wii ports for mainstream games. Indeed, the graphics on the Wii-U look great so far, and we have yet to see the games that will push the system to its limit. Game-selection wise, it hasn’t got too much to boast as of now. The best games I’ve played are Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed, a racing game also found on the Xbox 360 and PS3, Nintendo Land, a title developed to show off some motion capabilities of the new controller, and...