Jack's News Chair

By Jack Cranmer Brandons Xbox in the aftermath (Credit: @Jonzey8828 via X) When Brandon Jones left his local GameStop in his hometown in Southern Utah in the United States having purchased his brand-new Xbox Series S, he would have been excited to play and experience his new console and new games. I’m sure he expected his life to change, in a small, fun way, with his new console, but this console would have a huge impact on his life. While riding his bike home from the store, Brandon was struck by a truck. After the initial impact Brandon initially managed to stay above the steel bumper of the truck but eventually, he was dragged under as the truck continued to drive, having not seen Brandon. He was slammed against the ground and should have died, but the depth of the Xbox in his backpack saved his head from fully colliding with the concrete road, surely saving his life. With the truck showing no signs of stopping, Brandon somehow did not panic, speaking on what he did next, he...

Sony revealed a new gaming system that could allow the users to smell their surroundings and environment within the games.  The proprietors of the PlayStation system unveiled its Future Immersive Entertainment Concept at the tech showcase CES 2025 and have followed this up with a trailer for the kit. However, this is a large, kit so PlayStation fans will have to contain themselves for the moment, it may be years before you can smell the aromas of your favourite titles. The trailer sees gamers playing through acclaimed developer Naughty Dog’s classic title ‘The Last Of Us’ with the additions of both new dialogue and the smells to create what Sony have described as “completely new experience”. The visuals of players traversing through a zombie infested wasteland, inhaling the decay makes you wonder what other games would actually be made more enjoyable by being able to be smelled? One game I’d love to be able to smell, however is Minecraft, a simple answer, but I get the feel...

Credit: Glasgow Times - Berwick Rangers celebrate the only goal in a win over Rangers in 1967. Rangers eased to a 5-0 win over Highland League side Fraserburgh at Ibrox yesterday as they began their Scottish Cup campaign. There was no shock defeat for the Gers this time but Rangers are not without fault in this competition and have been on the end of some shock results, we’ll take a look at some of these shocks below: (Dis)Honourable Mention: Rangers 1-1 Albion Rovers (9 th March 2014) I have decided to include this one despite it not being a defeat. However, this was definitely a shock, and a shocking result. Ally McCoist’s then League One side hosted Rovers, who finished 7 th in League Two that season, still unbeaten in what would be an invincible title winning campaign in the third tier. Following the new year, Rangers early season form and intensity had fallen off a cliff, and this result showed that this side thought they could win games without going full pelt and the vis...

Rangers away form is rotten and the mood within the support is becoming ravenous for manager Phillipe Clement’s dismissal with many feeling that the form that seen his predecessors Michael Beale and Giovanni Van Bronckhorst sacked has regressed further and is beyond repair for the Belgian. With 3 wins in 11 away matches, and only 3 wins in total from their last 9 matches, the mood at Ibrox has become toxic, fans want answers and someone to blame and that someone has been Phillipe Clement. Following a fourth consecutive away game in which Rangers failed to win away to Dundee at Dens Park on Thursday night there was a need for answers from above and finally, on Saturday they came. New Rangers CEO Patrick Stewart and Chairman Fraser Thornton met with the media to give an update on the current situation at Ibrox. On the managers future, Stewart said: “cutting to the chase, we are backing Phillipe at this time as a board.” Stewart went on to give the board’s reasonings behind this b...

Credit: Glasgow Life Glasgow’s Riverside Museum are set to open their new special exhibit tomorrow, January 11th to run until April 6th. Titled ‘Sci Fi Galactic Adventures’ the new exhibit will allow fans of the genre to visit the museum and see many of their favourite characters in real-size model form, replicas of space speeders and other transportation models, sets and props from famous titles and even a famous asteroid. Focusing primarily on the Star Wars film and television franchises, even casual sci-fi fans will be able to recognise the major characters and settings from the ever-popular space adventure series. There are life size versions of fan favourite characters from the original trilogy Obi-Wan ‘Ben’ Kenobi, Chewbacca and even the villainous Darth Vader to name a few. This has been a long-term project for the museum with Riverside Museum manager Stewart Thompson said: "A long time ago, I took my young son to Kelvingrove, where we encountered the full-size replica of a...

Scottish Premiership side Motherwell do not have a trophy-laden history but they do have the distinction of being one of the few non-old firm clubs to have completed the grand slam of Scottish honours with 2 Scottish Cup wins, most recently in the famous 1991 final, as well as a League Cup triumph in 1951 and a solitary League Championship victory in the 1931/32 campaign, but the one trophy many do not know the 'Steelmen have been victorious in is the most surprising, in the May of 1927, Lanarkshire based Motherwell travelled to the then home of Spanish giants Real Madrid, the Estadio Chamartín to face the home side in the (unofficial) Copa Del Rey final. With Real Unión surprisingly defeating Madrid in the semi-finals of the official tournament of the 1927 campaign, Madrid decided to take matters into their own hands and decided to create their personalized version of the cup in the hopes of guaranteeing some silverware for themselves and their eager support. Invited to compete in...

If I were First Minister I would have a lot of issues on my plate, many of a high level of scrutiny, but one of the biggest issues as a simple member of the public on the ground right now is , in my opinion, the simple hygiene and cleanliness standards of our major cities.     As a nation that prides itself on its natural beauty, and the rural areas of Scotland are incredibly picturesque, but our cities are becoming filthy. Litter, graffiti and general untidiness are rampant in our city centres.    A notable example of this is Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow, which in the past was the bustling, jumping heartbeat of both Glasgow’s daytime shopping and its nightlife hub. It is now a broken mess, with burnt out buildings, cardboard and shutters, graffiti and litter being the main sights as you walk along the road.   These problems, whilst always slowly creeping in over the passage of time, seemed to accelerate with the June 2018 fire at the O2 ABC Glasgow, when a f...

If you’ve watched any decent amount of American television or films over the past few decades, then you will have heard of Chuck-E-Cheese’s family restaurant. Famous for its mouse mascot, adorned with his purple t-shirt sporting his own initial and for its cheesy pizza and arcade games, the chain has announced it is looking to expand to the UK, with Glasgow as a potential target for one of its new signature franchises. Founded in 1977 by the inventor of the Atari games consoles, they currently have stores across 47 states. Aimed at families with young children the food is not the main attraction to this eatery chain, it’s the experience. With locations offering a limited menu of pizzas, chicken wings, sandwiches and desserts. The experience is moulded to entice families. Arcade games, claw machines and air hockey tables are common. Different experiences such as trampolines and sensory experiences are also available at select locations. The franchise was also the inspiration behind the ...

  Scottish football is modernising across the board at the top level with the introduction of VAR across the Premiership and in the nation’s premier cup competitions. However, the lower levels of the game in this county remain as they have done for decades, at least on the park. Ticketing and fan engagement company Fanbase are making an impact at this level off the park with both supporters and with clubs themselves, offering a digital ticketing service for lower league clubs. Fanbase’s customer success manager Ruaridh Allen explained the company’s aim, he said: “it is to give the 99% access to the same technology as the 1%” by providing this new online service via their app. Fanbase work with clubs to offer their supporters the chance to pre purchase tickets for their matches through their app. This allows them to keep the ticket saved on their phones nullifying the need for a physical, traditional paper ticket. For Ruaridh the biggest benefit of this to the clubs is the tim...

  The landscape of Scottish football is changing both on and off the pitch. Scottish football media is being produced and consumed in a variety of new, more modern ways instead of just the traditional print media that was once so dominant in the industry. Statistics from both Reach and Statista indicate that printed newspaper readership is on the decline. The decline has been attributed to many things such as the decline of public commuting, the instant availability of news at our fingertips due to smartphones as well as simply the rising prices of the papers themselves. Statistics on Scottish papers show that The Daily Record averaged 60,000 daily sales in January of 2023, which was down from 102,000 in January of 2020, right before the Covid-19 pandemic. The Daily Mail's sale in Scotland was at 51,400 as 2023 began which was under half of what it had been a decade prior. In Scotland, the leading newspaper is statistically, The Scottish Sun, who announced they still maintain...