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Hot Takes





Wrapped Up S1E11: Spiderman swings onto Disney+

Welcome back to another episode of Byte's news podcast, "Wrapped Up"! In this episode, Kellyn Harrison reports on this year's Academy Awards, updates on Discord's deal with Microsoft, future Mortal Kombat movies, and Spiderman swinging onto Disney+. 


Input 2 S9E5: The OG Mortal Kombat movie is a flawed victory

Welcome back to another episode of Input 2! In this episode, join us as we discuss the good, bad, and ugly Mortal Kombat movies. What was good about them, what could've been better? What are some things to hope for from the newest iteration of the Mortal Kombat film? Tune in for all this and more on this week's episode of Input 2! Hosts: Dylan Walter & Blake Chapman Edited by: Dylan Walter Graphic by: Taylor Sheridan



One lesson I have learned from my six favorite teen dramas

I watch teen dramas because they offer so much more than just a TV show to watch—they offer a lifestyle. They make you feel like you are living the character’s lives with them as they teach you lessons about love, strength, weakness, friendship, forgiveness and life in general. I have compiled a list of lessons that I have taken away from my top six favorite teen dramas; working my way up to my favorite lesson.



Students from the Ball State University Singers organization take off during the 2019 Ball State University Bed Race Oct. 18, on Riverside Ave. Bed races have been a Homecoming Week traditional at BSU since 1980. Kyle Crawford, Byte File

Ball State prepares for Homecoming Week in a new format

Nearly 14 months removed from the last Homecoming Week, Ball State is preparing to hold the annual event again April 26-May 1 with some significant changes. Other than the obvious rescheduling of Homecoming from the fall semester to the spring, the 94th annual week-long event will be held in a hybrid virtual and in-person fashion.


‘Batman: Arkham’ games ranked (Console releases)

The hugely popular Batman: Arkham franchise is one of my favorite video game franchises (alongside Uncharted and The Last of Us). I’ve been a fan of Rocksteady and Warner Bros. Games Montreal’s titles since I was 13, as they provided the ultimate experiences imaginable for me to become Batman. Now, while all of the Arkham series games are good at the very least, some are better than others. (Note: I will only be ranking the console releases. Therefore, I will not talk about the handheld entry Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate, which came out on the Nintendo 3DS and PS Vita.)


Big Monkey Fighting Radioactive Lizard: The good, the bad, and the disappointing

Everyone likes a good movie, but what exactly makes a movie good? That’s definitely a topic for debate. A movie can easily be so bad that it’s good. One example being The Room which is objectively a horrible movie, but that attribute is what makes it so entertaining and elevated it to a cult classic. Sadly though, not all bad movies get this honor, like Cats— which is just plain bad. A simple way to find both objectively and subjectively “good” movies is to check both critic reviews and audience reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives you both for a reason. So, why in the world am I talking about this? Big monkey fighting radioactive lizard, that’s why. Godzilla vs. Kong for those of you who didn’t immediately get it.