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Abercrombie & Fitch (commonly referred to as ‘A&F’) is an American clothing company that specializes in producing fashionable sporting apparel and is considered an international designer label. It is a globally renowned brand of clothing, featuring their iconic men’s polo T-shirts with their trademark moose logo. A&F has a distinct style and cut and has termed their own apparel as ‘Casual Luxury’.

The brand operates three flagship stores and a whole multitude of smaller branches. The three flagship megastores are located in Fifth Avenue (New York City), The Grove (Los Angeles) and Savile Row (London). There are plans to open a new international flagship store in Tokyo in early 2009.

The distinctive features of Abercrombie & Fitch clothing is the graphical humour and unabashed jibes at certain parts of the American society. This drew mixed reactions from consumers in America, some being outraged at how sports or minority were being ridiculed; some adored the slapstick humour and blatant insults dished out. As a result of all the hype, A&F was labelled a brand pandering to the ‘white, American pretty boys and girls’ and is ‘all about sex, something this country is so cynical about’.

This generated much criticism for A&F, with many groups such as religious and minority groups boycotting the label. One example occurred in November 2005, when Abercrombie & Fitch launched a T-shirt that read ‘Who needs brains when you have these?’, in a blatant reference to large breasts and dumb females. The Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania launched a nation-wide ‘girl-cott’ of the store in response to the undermining of females. Eventually the company stopped production of the T-shirts, however, it left much negative publicity on the brand.

Gradually, the theme and styles of Abercrombie & Fitch clothing evolved. Less emphasis is put on loud and shocking designs on T-shirts, but rather more focus was put into improving the materials and cuts of their clothing. The iconic Abercrombie polo tees feature their distinctive muscle-fit and trademark stripes, made of high-grade sueded cotton. The moose logo is embroidered in most designs and they come with unique double-layer velvet neck taping.

Most complaints are that the A&F label is grossly overpriced. Also, there were many comments that A&F is racist, not employing minority sales personel and models. Yet, we still do see A&F using black and Asian models and sales staff, especially in New York.

Price, I feel, is a big deterrent for potential consumers. I refer to, not only the retail price, but also the absurb shipping costs A&F levy on overseas shipping. As A&F only have international outlets in London and Canada, most international buyers would have to pay for the item, as well as the shipping fees, which is more expensive than the item in most cases.

Basically, Abercrombie & Fitch is your trendy, upscale teen store but its successful branding sets it apart from others. You will definitely find the clothes to be of good quality, with exceptional materials and workmanship. The styles appeal greatly to the mainstream consumers, my personal favourite are the Muscle-fit and Classic-fit for men’s polo T-shirts. The trademark sueded material from A&F makes their clothing supremely comfortable to wear, even in the humid conditions in Asia. Even without physically entering the Asian market, it has already successfully carved out a niche for itself. Thus is the success of the branding of the label. Price aside, I do hope that Abercrombie & Fitch would expand further into Asia, as the styles are exceptionally trendy and fashionable, and spare me the agony of paying for shipping.

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Cabal Online is a Massively-Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG) that is built upon the legend of the ancient world. Players are taken into the world of Cabal, understanding the storyline and their purpose of existence. In the world of Cabal Online, players can choose among 6 character classes (known as Authentic Six), namely Warrior, Blader, Mage, Force Shielder, Force Archer and Force Blader. The first 3 are the ‘basic’ characters but without the power of the force, the latter three are the ‘advanced’ jobs, incorporated with the power of the force. Although the latter may all sound fanciful, there isn’t really much difference in those characters in terms of capabilities, it rather, depends on how one plays the character.

Currency: In Cabal Online, the currency used is known as Alz, and it is the most basic form of trade, unlike other games that depend a lot of jewels or other rare materials gotten from monsters. Also, Alz can be ‘earned’, like any other games, from monsters and selling items to shops.

Equipment: Each job has their own set of armoury. Although 2 characters would share the same type of equipment, the armour would require different stats to equip for each character. There are Martial armours, worn by Bladers and Mages, Battle armours for Force Bladers and Force Archers, and also Armour suits worn by Warriors and Force Shielders. There are several advantages for it being set this way. It makes it a lot easier to sell off your armours, since there is a large demand for it. However, this advantage brings about some obvious problems - it is awfully difficult to buy your items since there are others out there requiring the same items. It is up to the players themselves to get the best deals and become the strongest character.

Mission: The unique thing that differentiates Cabal Online from many other MMORPG games has to be the fact that the missions tend to be overwhelming and never-ending. The missions are linked to one another, with main missions and other side quests. The storyline is split into several main missions which will bring the player through different worlds and maps, leading them to exploration and the hunt on stronger monsters. This allows players to experience the storyline of Cabal Online, to understand truly what made Cabal possible. The earlier maps are Bloody Ice, Desert Scream and Green Despair. As players progress through the quests, they would be brought to other towns and areas such as Port Lux, Fort Ruina, Forgotten Ruin, Lake Side and Undead Ground. They would have to battle monsters that never tested their strength to such an extent, difficult battles await as the players explore the towns of Cabal.

Battle: In battles, Cabal Online follows the idea of 3D hunting. Players can move their characters in a 3D manner and engage monsters as they please. Although the levels of players determine the aggressiveness of monsters, some monsters would still be provoked once a player gets into its line of sight. There are combos for the players to throw out with their skills. By throwing in combos, players get skill experience at a faster rate and hence, skill up faster. Cabal allows PvP (Player Versus Player) combat, which means that players could be easily pit against one another to determine who’s the better of the two.

Skill: Cabal is similar to World of Warcraft (WoW) in the sense that skills have to be learnt. The experience level of a character matters lesser as compared to the skill level. A level 60 character with a very high skill rank could defeat a level 100 character who is much weaker in terms of skills. Skills are the basic form of offence. The skill is split into 2 parts, namely Sword and Magic skills.

All in all, for those who want a totally new experience in MMORPG but hate to grill for one single level, Cabal Online is the game for you.

For more information, log onto www.cabalonline.com
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Headshot! Bet that’s what many of you can achieve, or at least heard of this term before. Sounds familar, welcome to the world of Counter-Strike (CS). With this newest instalment, Counter-Strike: Source brings the world of CS to a whole new realm, with enhanced graphics as well as perhaps more realistic equipment as compared to its predessesor, Condition Zero.

Valve created a much better version of CS and personally I feel that it’s much closer to reality. An example would be the HE Grenade. (For those who don’t know what HE means, neither do I. All I know that it’s a grenade that can blast anyone sky high.) Previously, in Condition Zero, the HE grenade is awfully weak, more than often dealing less than 30% of the target’s health on a direct hit from in-between his legs. However, it has been revamped in Counter-Strike: Source. The damage from it could kill anyone with full health from a direct hit. (Trust me, I’ve experienced it before and you wouldn’t know what hit you until you look up to the top left corner of the screen and see that you’ve been killed by a grenade.)

I almost forgot. For those who still have no idea what CS is about, it is actually a First-Person Shooting (FPS) game. The game allows players to choose from a wide variety of arms, from the Semi-Automatic Machines Guns (SMGs) to rifles and even the shotguns. Common weapons found in the real world could also be found in the game, such as the M4A1 Carbine and the favourites of terrorists, the infamous AK47.

The game’s split into two teams, one being the terrorists and the other, the counter-terrorists. There are several game modes out there. One being the standard “Bomb” maps, where the terrorists have to go to one of the 2 bomb sites out there, set up a C4 charge, and prevent the good guys from defusing it. The second map type is the less-often played “Save the Hostage” maps. This time, it will be the terrorists that are camping at the sites where the hostages are held at. The counter-terrorists would have to move in and rescue the hostages, bring them to the save zone. But, there’s a catch. The hostages are not invulnerable, hence the extensive use of HE grenades to soften the hostage-held sites is not going to work. You’ll most probably end up killing all the hostages. The last map type is the “Eradicate the Other Team” type of maps. As the map type says so, the main objective of teams is not to plant bombs, nor rescue hostages, but shoot the other team to smitereens.

For those who have access to steam, you should be aware that some game modes are modified. For example, in a standard map, deathmatch is enabled. Meaning that you don’t have to wait for the round to end to restart if you’re already dead. Instead, you spawn almost right after you die, and could spawn at points spread across the entire map, making it impossible for someone to camp safely without being backstabbed.

Counter-Strike Source is a game that is actually featured in major competitive gaming events, such as the World Cyber Games (WCG) and the Championship Gaming Series (CGS). It is definite worth buying if you have been playing CS for quite a while. With a well-established online network already, one could play against players from many places at home, as longer as there’s access to steam.

All in all, it is a game that shifts the already massive population of Counter-Strike gamers to a new height, with the improved effects and all. Try not to get addicted though, this game is seriously addictive.

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No serious discussion of role-playing video games can possibly exist without any mention of the Final Fantasy series. Virtually no other game series has perpetuated so many consoles and lived such a long life. In its many manifestations, the Final Fantasy series is recognised as fantasy role-playing at its best (table-top classics such as Dungeons & Dragons notwithstanding, of course).

In any case, the Final Fantasy series is everywhere. The most popular instalment of the series, Final Fantasy VII, has even churned out a mini-series of its own. Known as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, the mini-series tells the complete story of the characters in the original Final Fantasy VII. This mini-series spans over many different consoles, and Crisis Core is its representation for the Playstation Portable console.

Crisis Core is in my opinion one of the best PSP games I have ever played. For starters, it is the only PSP game I have ever played to completion. In terms of gameplay, it is highly interactive with numerous mini-games and side quests to freshen you up whenever you need some relief from the central plot. The missions, accessible from any Save Point, are an excellent source of items and materia (which are basically orbs that enable your character to use certain skills) that help to make questing much easier. In fact, the missions sometimes provide valuable items that can save you from otherwise highly damaging attacks (hint).

Especially notable in Crisis Core is the rehaul of the combat system. Combat occurs in real-time, unlike in most FF games; the interface during battle is, in fact, especially convenient for real-time battles. The L and R buttons are used to browse between the possible materia and attacks you can use (which are shown as a row of orbs in the bottom-right corner of the screen). This allows quick selection of actions so you can respond immediately to what occurs on the battle-screen. The only issue with the system is the auto-locking target system which makes it difficult to control which enemy to attack. This especially causes problems in boss battles when you are trying to focus on the boss but the system automatically focuses your attack on a minion instead. Still, avoiding this issue is possible and overall, the auto-locking target system proves to be a rather minor problem.

The most major renovation in the battle system is the introduction of the Digital Mind Wave reel, or the DMW. The DMW is a reel that appears in the top-left corner of the battle screen and which churns out random combinations of pictures that you acquire as you progress through the game. The DMW provides certain benefits depending on how the numbers match up; sometimes there is no MP cost for using materia, sometimes you are invincible and cannot be damaged, and sometimes, two images match up at the side and the DMW pops up and fills the entire screen. At this point, if all three reels match, Zack (the character you play) will be able to perform a special attack, depending on what image shows up on all three reels. Occasionally, the reel changes and you get a chance of using a summon. It feels like a pity that you can’t use special attacks at will sometimes, but generally, the DMW makes combat feel a lot more exciting and can even save your life when things seem to be taking a turn for the worse.

In terms of the storyline, Crisis Core thankfully takes on the depth and complexity of most Final Fantasy plots. For those who have played FFVII before, Crisis Core provides a very powerful backstory (and tells you all about a character who barely appears in FFVII and makes a cameo appearance at the end of the Advent Children). For those who have not, the plot is intriguing and intricate enough to stand on its own. Of course, once you’ve finished the game, you can’t help but be fascinated at how the plot continues in the rest of the Compilation of FFVII series. In a way, Crisis Core then also functions as an excellent way to introduce yourself to the series, and to the Final Fantasy meta-series in general. In fact, with the way Crisis Core ends, you can’t help but stop thinking about the story, and finding out more about Final Fantasy VII (if you haven’t already played it) is an irresistible next step. But that, of course, is another story altogether so I shall not spoil it any further.

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(PRODUCT)RED is an initiative started by singer Bono (from popular band U2) and Bobby Shriver to raise both awareness as well as funds for Debt AIDS Trade in Africa (DATA) to combat proliferating diseases like AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. It has now become an established brand with partners like Apple, Gap, Motorola and numerous others.

The crux of this whole (PRODUCT)RED idea is for partner companies like Apple and Motorola to design and manufacture their own products, but in a bright crimson shade, thus RED. These products would be manufactured but in controlled quantities, instantly producing items of limited edition. These RED products are unique and are designed to appeal to the masses as something out of the ordinary. These products are then marketed extensively, with emphasis on helping fight AIDS in Africa, and are usually sold at a higher retail price than the same products not of RED origin. A certain percentage of revenue earned from selling these products would be returned to DATA to fund the AIDS campaign in Africa. The first country identified to receive benefits from (PRODUCT)RED is Rwanda.

Thus far, some RED products include the American Express RED Card, the iPod Nano RED and the Motorola RAZR RED. Some of these products are especially popular with consumers as the red hue gives these products a refreshingly new dimension. Also, many perceive the notion of owning something from (PRODUCT)RED as cool and chic, and it counts as doing a good deed as they would be helping the needy in Africa.

However, many people (inclusive of this author) have questioned the efficacy of the (PRODUCT)RED campaign. Sure enough, it has generated enormous volumes of hype and publicity, but is this publicity about the products being launched or for the beneficiaries of this campaign in Africa? Also I personally question the sincerity of partner companies. Is this partnership built purely on altruistic ideals or is there a profit-driven agenda? I believe that they have gained much monetary as well as intangible benefits from (PRODUCT)RED (massive publicity). Although a share of profits are donated, RED products are usually priced much higher than their non-RED counterparts (close to 30% more for the iPod Nano RED).

Despite its various shortcomings, it is impossible and unfair to ignore the level of awareness (PRODUCT)RED has brought about. Beneath the sensationalism, I feel more people now do recognize the plight of Africans. Moreover, I personally applaud the efforts of Bono in advancing the (PRODUCT)RED cause. He has traveled all over Africa, experiencing the suffering of the needy. He funds many events from his own pocket and urges his fans to help in any way they can.

On a lighter note, (PRODUCT)RED has created its own trend and created a following. (PRODUCT)RED is a must-have for the fashion-conscious youths of the generation. For the more pragmatic (let’s not use ‘old-fashioned’ shall we?), (PRODUCT)RED is a waste of hard-earned cash and entirely superfluous. I would feel better donating directly to the Red Cross Society.

Visit PRODUCT(RED) official website
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