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I don't know about anyone else, but I have been eagerly anticipating Cobus Potgieter's latest series of videos. To anyone that doesn't know, Cobus is a well known drummer who does covers of popular songs. In essence, he takes any old crap and shines it up extremely well.

His newest series has been a painstaking wait, but finally he today revealed his first video in the series.

Cobus - Owl City - Fireflies (Drum Cover/Rock Remix)

Let me know in the comments what you guys think of the cover. Personally, it's an odd choice, but it's a damn refreshing take on an overplayed song. Love it.

Steve-O

Scoot's Note: You can check out Cobus's youtube channel HERE

Peas In A Podcast

For me, Study means a 2 hour trip by public transport each way. Luckily modern technology has provided me with a way to keep myself entertained on these trips... Podcasts. For anyone who doesn't know, A podcast is an episodic series of audio or video files offered for people to download and watch/listen to at their leisure (much like a tv or radio show, but available whenever you're ready to listen). The reason for bringing this up is because there will soon be a podcast released starring Scoot (that'd be me), Agus (find his blog here), Jason (blog here) and Aaron (will update with details when i know them) talking gaming, Technology and anything else that comes up. I'll post more info here when i have it, In the meantime, Check out the Game Arena Podcast for funny gaming news and reviews, or head onto iTunes and check out the podcasts area to find something that interests you.

Gimme A D... Or Not

Aussie hardcore kings Parkway Drive have entered the studio to begin recording on their yet to be titled third album. The surprise here is that they've chosen not to return to Adam D (who produced previous albums Killing With A Smile and Horizons) and instead are working with Joe Barresi. Who is Joe Barresi? Barresi has some impressive production credits under his belt in the form of several Queens of the Stone Age albums, The Butterfly Effect's Imago and Alexisonfire's Young Cardinals. What effect will this have on the new album? Parkway frontman Winston McCall says that this album will be "heavier and more melodic", but what band DOESN'T say that before a new release... Expect to see the new album on shelves in a few months time.

Heart & Soul

A look at the latest Pokemon offerings

Scoot: So Scoot has been playing Pokemon HeartGold and Mike has been playing Pokemon SoulSilver and thought we'd share our thoughts

Mike: I certainly Have Scootimus, I certainly have and what can I say...This is fan-fuckin'-tastic.

Graphics

S: One word for the new look here... Wow. The updated graphics and design makes the world of Johto nearly unrecognisable from the original Gold & Silver, but in the best way possible. Everything has been brought up to the graphical standards of the more recent pokemon games and some places (such as the gyms) have received a complete re-design. Overall the game looks amazing but still has that original Gold/Silver feel.

M: Really upped their game with this one. They don't differ drastically for the most part from Diamond/Pearl/Platinum but it's the little things, like the start menu. Or the first gym's 'access' system for lack of a better word. All the knew Pokemon/character sprites look much, much better in my opinion and the background world has really advanced. And battle effects, although much to my dismay still not updated to the stage of showing my Arcanine actually biting the Pidgey with burning fangs, it's all been juiced up. Looks good. All in all it is a great improvement.

Audio

S: Audio stills contains the same familiar songs and sounds, but updated to make the sounds clearer and higher quality... Not really much else to say here.

M: I concur with Scoot really. Much of the muchness. However the Radio songs are entertaining to listen to for a while.

Gameplay

S: Everyone is familiar with how a pokemon game works so i'll just point out the newer features and how they affect the game. Firstly, there is no start menu, everything you could ever need (and some stuff you don't need) all appears in easy to tap form on the touch screen, including a rather nifty auto run button that means the end of holding down B for hours on end. (M - Assuming you're as committed to Pokemon as we are)

M: Fun on the bun. Keep it simple. The new menu touch screen system is fast, efficent and cleaner than ever before. It makes life easier for the hard working trainer or breeder. Also the auto run button...Pure awesomeness. Once selected...Permanent. I could go into a battle, cut scene, conversation, building any thing and I'll always be running. Never have to worry again. Just brilliant.

Final Thoughts

S: Honestly, i am not a fan of Diamond/Pearl, so when i discovered that all the new pokemon would be available in this game it made me pretty unhappy, and i still don't agree with it, but the upgrades and new features make this game well worthwhile and the newer pokemon aren't necessary, more of a feature for newer fans i guess. All the general graphical updates and gameplay updates make this a far superior game to the original and the pokewalker is a nice little distraction. As much as i don't agree with the new pokedex and it's availability in this game, for those who DO want to collect 'em all, the amazing range in connectivity will make this easier and more enjoyable.

M: I don't mind there being EVERY Pokemon in the game that's been made so far, it just means I'll be hunting Pokemon for quite some time. And as Scoot said, the updates to the game outweigh anything bad you could find in this game easily. It's the same old Silver or Gold...Just...Better.

The Rev.

http://vimeo.com/8777801

Anyone who has any idea about anything will know that late last year we lost an amazing drummer and musician, Jimmy Sullivan. He was exemplary at absolutely everything he did, both in his personal and professional life. Please go watch that video, and read the words beneath it from M. Shadows. It is an amazing and heartfelt tribute to an outstanding person, and no matter who you are, what you know or don't know about Avenged Sevenfold , or even if your interested in music at all, this video will touch you.

R.I.P Rev. We all miss you.

Steve-O

A Room With A View

So after a bit of an embarrassing start, Microsoft's new Game Room is finally open for business on Xbox LIVE and Windows LIVE. If you haven't heard of the game room yet then allow me to explain. The game room is a virtual arcade, Which allows you to add and play old Atari, Intellivision and Konami arcade games. Games will set you back 240 MS Points, or 400 points will allow you to play the game on both xbox and pc. Cool features of the game room are the ability to add theme's and decorations to your arcade, the ability to have a shot at a game you don't own for in game currency (coins) which can be obtained when a friend visits your arcade and plays games. Yes, Friends are a big deal here, You can visit friend's arcades and play the games they own (at a price) and they can visit yours, Plus if there are any games you both own, Then you can send out challenges to friends. Overall it's a nice little package that seems like it will be entertaining, but the constant drain on MS Points will probably mean this is something i wont use all that often.

Totally Mawesome

The Maw - Available now from Steam and Xbox LIVE Arcade (800 Points).

The Maw is a platformer about a small blue alien who gets captured by bounty hunters and has to befriend a small purple blob named Maw (and labelled as the deadliest organism in the galaxy) after the bounty hunters ship crash lands on a strange planet. This game is a platformer through and through with simple but effective controls, bright and colourful environments and charming characters who manage to keep you entertained without even needing to speak a line of dialogue. The only downside here is that the game will only last 2-4 hours and doesn't have much replay value, But if you're looking for a cheap arcade game to keep you occupied for a little while or to entertain the young ones, Then The Maw is as good as it gets.

Trial By Fire

After becoming addicted to Perfect Dark (again) upon it's release to the Xbox LIVE Arcade last week, I started to take more interest in the arcade and decided to pick up a few new arcade games.



Trials HD

Trials is a very interesting game. Part motocross, Part puzzler, The idea of Trials is to ride your bike across an obstacle course and reach the goal in the shortest time and with the least amount of falls. You may think this sounds very simple but the game is happy to show you just how wrong you'd be. With 35 tracks ranging greatly in difficult from the very simple to the extremely hard, you'll spend quite a bit of time trying to perfect this game, but never really feel frustrated because you just end up having so much fun, even when you're failing. In the event that you do manage to pass all the tracks, The game also offers a level editor allowing you to create your own tracks with all the parts and obstacles used in the main tracks, Plus 12 'Skill Games' to play, Which range from riding your bike inside a giant steel ball as it rolls down a track, To intentionally bailing with the intent to break as many bones as possible. Overall Trials HD is a challenging but fun distraction from that game you've probably already played twenty times this week. The only downside is the games price tag (1200 MS Points) which may seem a bit steep but with the level editor and more tracks and items being added via DLC it's something that you'll probably end up playing more than a few times.

You can try out a flash version of the game HERE

Extended Play

Apparently EA Games will be trying out a new marketing tool soon... They have intentions of releasing premium DLC BEFORE a game releases. The idea being that you can pay an amount (supposedly $10-15, which i presume would be in the 1200 MS points range) to play a sort of 'extended demo' of a game before it's release. The story behind this is that EA are looking to save money and want to use this as a way of scoping interest in a game before it ships AND as a cheap way to bring more notice to a game. This all SEEMS fair enough, but then you really have to ask, If a standard game takes about 6-8 hours to complete, then will you essentially be paying to play a quarter of the game early, then having to pay the FULL retail price on release, despite the fact you already have a portion of the game. This isn't a problem with the standard game demo because there is no fee. Which also makes me wonder about the future of demo's... If companies start making you pay for these extended demo's, then surely this will mean a reduction in demo's provided free of charge and could in fact result in less sales as people choose not to buy games they can't try out first.

UPDATE: After this news hit the wires and gamers started sharing their opinions (much of which was critical) Jeff Brown, EA's VP of Corporate Corporations (yes, that seriously is his title), made a statement to Kotaku saying that they would NOT charge for "traditionally free game demos"...

MA Steps Down As AG

So anyone who has taken an interest in the whole R18+ rating for video games debate knows that for the rating to be accepted, there must be a unanimous vote by the Attorney-Generals, and every previous vote has been stopped by a single man, South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. This led to a gaming political party running for Atkinson's seat in Croyden this year, and while they managed to make an impressive effort (pulling about 3-4% of votes at last update) the seat of Croyden was retained by Atkinson. However, Reports are saying that Atkinson has chosen to step down from his role as Attorney-General to make way for new blood. What this means is that hopefully we will soon see the creation of an R18 rating for games and maybe an acknowledgement that gaming is more than a hobby for thieves and criminals. So, Congratulations to Gamers4Croyden for making an effort to better represent gamers and giving them a voice to be heard, and congratulations to Michael Atkinson for his electoral win... even if i would have voted against him.

A Very Long Drive

So, I was bored this arvo, and decided to see what songs had the biggest playcount on iTunes. And I got some very interesting results. I did some maths (oh dear god) to come up with some figures, and this is what I got.

My top 10 most played songs are -

1. Carrion - Parkway Drive - 109
2. Boneyards - Parkway Drive - 102
3. This Calling - All That Remains - 93
4. Smoke 'Em If Ya Got 'Em - Parkway Drive - 89
5. Guns For Show, Knives For A Pro - Parkway Drive - 88
6. The Siren's Song - Parkway Drive - 87
7. Gimme A D - Parkway Drive - 80
8. Idols And Anchors - Parkway Drive - 79
9. Dead Man's Chest - Parkway Drive - 70
10. Anasasis (Xenophontis) - Parkway Drive - 70

As you can see, there is alot of Parkway Drive in there (9 out of 10). So then I thought "I wonder how long I've spent listening to the song Carrion?" The answer? 5.7 hours.

But then I had an even greater thought. How many hours have I spent, not including concerts or live DVD, listening to the band Parkway Drive? So heres the figures.

I have a total of 23 Parkway Drive songs on my computer/iPod. I have listened to these 23 songs a total of 1555 times (wow). After going through and painstakingly working out each songs individual total playtime and adding them together, I found that in total I had listened to these 23 songs for:

- 5369.68 minutes OR

- 89.49 hours OR

- 3.73 days.

Epic. 23 songs. Listened to for nearly 4 days. Not including their live concert I went to, or the amount of times I have examined their live DVD. I'm honsestly not sure whether to be ashamed or proud of myself.

I'm going with proud.

Steve-O

Toys, explosives and War!

So I just bought myself the full version of the Xbox Live Arcade game Toy Soldiers.
Worth every cent.

Simple little idea for a game, and brilliant execution/innovations that make the game so much fun. Basically it's a tower defense game. However the little innovation that I told you about is the ability to take control of a unit that you placed. For example you can build yourself a mortar gun and then while your anti-infantry guns are blazing, thrust yourself into the mortar and aim, fire and even guide the shells personally. It's really, really, really addictingly fun.
So much carnage but at the same time none at all. It's a sort of comedic spin on the horror that was WWI...In stead of limbs and blood flying, howling screams, there are these little funny animations as the literal toy soldiers break apart into pieces of clock work.
So much possibilites and a nice little 3rd person add-in.

Which is only enhanced by the addition of multiplayer! You can go online and play against some randoms in an epic of WWI battles. Now you can only have 2 player and before you get dissapointed, I think you need to realise that this game is in essence a tower defense game...Which focuses on defending...Not attacking. Which means it's damn good of them to have multiplayer in the first place. It's challenging for sure, but ever so much fun.

Even the menus which are all done in the old sort of grainy film style are entertaining and music is of the period, nice and relaxing. However what I think I like the best, is in the ending of a match a little message appears and it simply says something like "Grenadist, you expected victory and you achieved victory!" A nice little personal boost, also in the summary of the match they have amusing things writen like "Highest flying soldier: 141.7 feet." Beacuse we were all dying to know!
They even throw in bits of random WWI facts, so for those that are interested in history, well heres some things you might not know, or want to touch up on...For those that don't know their history that well, thank me when you pass your WWI history test/exam.

All in all, I highly recommend this game to one and all. Lots of missions, lots of replay value and lots of multiplayer fun to be had.
Get it now.

Hands Held High

Raise your hand if you have an arcade or premium xbox360... Now raise your hand if, Like me, Storage has become a bit of an issue... Well there is good news and bad news. The good news is that with a system update later this year Microsoft are said to be adding compatibility for USB storage devices, Which means all your game data, Movies, Music, DLC and yes, Even games copied to the HDD can now be stored on an external device which likely has more memory than your 20gig HDD. The bad news, You just pointlessly raised your hand, Because i can't actually see you...

Friends In High Places

OK, No news this time, But Mike asked me to give a bit more background info on the people blogging here and how we know each other so any readers can maybe understand who we are a bit more... So currently there are 3 people contributing to The Arkhive... Steve reports in from sunny Queensland and takes an interest in music, mostly in the metal and rock forms, so expect to see album reviews and music news from him... Mike is reporting in from his uni dorm room in Adelaide, Where he tries his best not to game all night and sleep through his classes. You can expect him to post on a multitude of topics ranging around gaming and his daily life... Scoot (that would be me) reports from Western Australia and spends most of his waking hours (which outnumber his sleeping hours at a disturbingly high ratio) playing games. So how is it that 3 different people from all over Australia form one awesome blog making team? Well we all ran into each other in random online games of Gears of War so many years ago and have chatted nightly ever since. These days there's less online playing and more work or uni, but if anyone wants to have a friendly game with us you can add us on xbox LIVE... Steve = Skooba Stevos / Mike = Grenadist / Scoot = Scoot338 or if you have any questions for us, feel free to leave a comment.

...Hive?

Arkhive? More like Rakk hive!

So I've been staring at my copy of Borderlands over the last few days. It hasn't said much in return but I like to think I'm starting to make a connection. I've heard some buzz about the DLC being two thirds of fan-fucking-tastic and I am still contemplating if I should fork out the cash and get me some of that sweet, sweet digital loving.
So if you see me on XBL (Grenadist is the name) give me a shout and tell me if it's worth it.

Also got the lastest issue of Gameinformer, main story Portal 2...Shit looks amazing. I'll post a more detailed run down later in the day, but I thought I'd give you a quick update and show you I'm still around.

Cheerio lads and ladettes.

36 AwesomeFists

So I got a copy of the new 36 Crazyfist album, The Tide And It's Takers. First listen through? So much potential (Also found a scratch, but worked that out). Second listen through? It got even better. Best song on the album so far is looking like The Back Harlow Road. So keep an eye out for the full run through and review, which should be up by end of next week at the very latest (working 7am-5pm every day till then, love it)

Steve-O

P.S. - I'm Steve. Hi.

Pretty Dark

So I've just spent the last few hours playing the new XBLA release of Perfect Dark. I have to say it's pretty awesome. Everything from the original N64 game is still there, From the exact level designs, Down to the enemy spawns and even all the sound effects. The only thing that has really been changed within the main game is the textures. Every surface, Every character, Every object have all been re-textured to give the game a much needed graphical touch-up, But otherwise the game is a direct port from the N64 title. There is one other main addition though, And that is of course, Xbox LIVE compatibility, Meaning that the awesome fun you used to have with your mates after school can now be repeated with people from all over the world. If you were a fan of the original Perfect Dark, then this isn't something you'll want... It's something you NEED. If you never had the pleasure of playing this when it came out nearly a decade ago then i highly recommend you pick it up now... And if you're a fan of N64's Goldeneye 007, Then this will likely be the closest you'll get on the current gen.

Perfect Dark is available now from the Xbox LIVE Arcade for 800 Microsoft Points (roughly $15)

Plastic Beach... A little too plastic?

Now i don't claim to be an expert on Gorillaz (or in fact ANYTHING), But i know what i like and i LIKED Demon Days. So what do i think of Plastic Beach? I think that over-all the album flows well, and there's quite a line-up of cameo's, but in the end it rings to a different tone than Demon Days. Plastic Beach has a much lighter feel, with the heavier bass beats replaced with higher electronics and synths. All together the album sounds nice and has a nice continuity, but in my opinion, doesn't stand up to their previous efforts.

Geared Up For 2011

Are you looking forward to some games coming out soon? Thinking what a great year this will be? Well, have you started thinking about next year yet? No? That may be about to change as Edge-Online (and their trusted US publishing source) report that you can expect Gears of War 3 to be dropping into our laps in April 2011. Could this be true? We'll find out soon enough as the source goes on to state that you can expect the first announcement on April 8th, exactly one year ahead of the planned launch. The reason for the long wait is to avoid competing with Halo: Reach (Coming at you around September) and Project Natal (Hitting shelves during the holiday season). If you are interested in the full article you can check it out HERE. So while Gears fans have a long wait ahead of them, I'm sure we'll be flooded with enough teasers and advertisements to keep us excited... That or you could just play one of the many other amazing games coming out this year.

Bioshocked

Did you purchase the new DLC for Bioshock 2? If you did then I'm sure you would have noticed that there wasn't much of a wait to download the pack, due to it being minuscule in size, in fact it weighs in at 108KB... However this has put 2K games into the line of fire as many players begin to question whether the content was on the disc all along and the 400MS points where merely spent on an unlock key. 2K Elizabeth, 2K Games community manager, posted a response on the forums to address the issue, but the post doesn't deny the claims but rather avoids giving an outright answer at all. So with DLC becoming more popular and lucrative, do you think it's fair for developer's to charge us for content that was ready before the game shipped, or is this just blatant money grubbing?

Good news everyone!

I have Xbox Live again! Hooray! It took me a failed attempted and then a working attempt. So I'd just like to say, hooray for the monetary refund system! So all in all, I'm back online again. Huzzah.

Prophetic

Who doesn't love a free game? Well, A friend recently put me onto a game called Ahriman's Prophecy, it's a retro-style RPG, made using RPG Maker XP, And best of all, It can be downloaded completely free. Created by Amaranth Games and a prequel to their Aveyond series, Ahriman's Prophecy offers traditional RPG game play similar to the original Final Fantasy or Dragon Warrior. If You've got some time to kill and enjoy retro games then you can download Ahriman's Prophecy HERE. And if you enjoy the game then check out Amaranth Games other titles which offer more great game play at a low price...

Green Dayted

The latest addition to the Rock Band franchise has received an official release date. Look out for Green Day: Rock Band on a shelf near you from the 8th of June. I'm sure we are all familiar with how the Guitar Hero and Rock Band games work so I'll just say that Green Day: Rock Band will feature 47 song's from the entire career of Green Day, although only 5 tracks have been confirmed at the moment. And for anyone wondering, the Green Day DLC that has already been released for the standard Rock Band will be compatible. So for all you Green Day and Rock Band fans out there, pick this up and give it a shot. At least until Rock Band 3 releases at the end of the year.

Classic living.

So I'm in my university room, it's tiny, I can't yet get my 360 connected to Xbox Live and I have a stack of games that mostly require (not literally but half the fun is online play these days) XBL. So what do I do? I re-live some classic gaming that's what!
So I've just now started up a Morrowind game on my 360 and let me tell you...It's simply beautiful. Sure visually it looks blocky and jagged, but it's these faults and little details that make it so loveable and pure fun. The game play of Morrowind is just so free, and fresh (to me) compared to games today. I mean sure they are old but also fresh. All the gameplay mechanics of Oblivion or Fable 2 or Borderlands and so on, are unique and new and mostly built up off of the more original mechanics from their predecessors. So jumping back to Morrowind (admitadly not the oldest game I've played but by far on of the best) just reminds me of my first experience with it all. The excitment of such a massive world and total freedom of exploration and quest line.
It's such a great game and I advise you all to go back and re-live some of your classic gaming memories. Go back to your first MMO, your first RPG, your first FPS, adventure, action, puzzle what have you. Just go back to what got you interested in the genre, go back and submerge yourself in the old style, the old fun. And then go back futher or try some classics that you never played. History helps us understand our future and our lives...The same can be said of our old school videogames. They are the reason most of the games we play now are so good. We think of the storyline from the first or the different elements that made it so fun and how they are going to be translated into the sequel.
All in all, having no Xbox Live and a stack of old games has made me realise I really, really missed them, until now.

I'll see you guys later.
Cheerio.

XIII

I just picked up my copy of Final Fantasy XIII Collector's Edition and thought that other people might want to see what it includes before deciding if they want to spend the extra cash or not, so you can find pictures of everything it includes HERE

... And The Cherry On Top

Ok, so contrary to my previous post, i now have the first info on Portal 2 so here goes...

SPOILER ALERT

Portal 2 will be set several hundred years after the original but will feature the return of both GLaDOS and Chell as the antagonist and playable hero respectively

The personality orbs will return, this time with their own areas of the labs to watch over

Co-op is now available with each player playing as a bi-pedal robot

The Aperture Science labs are now overgrown with vegetation and wildlife giving the game a more detailed look and atmosphere

Reflection Cubes... Used to redirect laser beams... WOOT

Physics will now play a part in puzzles, allowing you to use fans to suck things through portals, etc

"Paint" mechanics... certain liquids will have different properties and can be transferred between areas via portals

Most importantly, THE PORTAL GUN IS BACK... Completely untouched and still capable of shooting our favourite form of transportation

The Cake Is A Lie...

Portal... if that one word doesn't send mental images of blue and orange flashes and a psychotic robot into your mind, then read no further but for everyone else, i ask you this, Would Portal be as good if it were a full retail release? More levels, More detail, More... Well, MORE. It seems we'll soon find out the answer to this question as details for Valve's Portal 2 start to surface. Valve are saying it will release in the holidays, but Gamestop have gone as far to list it as releasing on the 26th of October... look out for the first info and pics from Portal 2 in the April issue of Game Informer magazine

Stuff to say...

Well first of all I just realised that I invited everyone to email me with questions and such without actually giving you an email adress to send to, so Cartographer@live.com.au is the one you need to know. Of course I could have just posted this in a comment but I have other things to say so yay!

Secondly, my posts (for those that may eventually care) may be frequent or they may be few and far between. University life can get hetic and being in a mock/joke marrige isn't helping that.

Thirdly, I created my very first steam account (I've never really had a decent computer and as such have relied on console gaming). But now I'm all set up, I'll post more on that when I actually get some games for it.

That is all.
Cheerio.

Why hello

Hey there I'm Mike, a fellow blogger that will talk about just about everything that comes to mind.
About me? Well I'm witty, charming, intelligent, handsome and modest. I like writing, reading, gaming, sleeping and good company.
That's about it so far as I can see, if you have any questions just send me an email and I'll be sure to at least attempt to pretend to read it.
Cheerio.

Welcome...

Hello and welcome to The Arkhive.

I am Scoot and my intentions for this blog are to give any and all information i deem relevant or just entertaining on games, music, movies and pretty much anything else i take an interest in. Pretty soon i will be adding a couple more people as authors and i'm sure they'll take the time to introduce themselves, and hopefully soon after that we'll get some relevant info up for people to read...