Back To The Blue

Parkway Drive will be dropping their new album, Deep Blue, in a few weeks (expect to see a dual review by Steve and myself) and there's only one thing Parkway does better than make music... Tour. The Deep Blue Australian Tour has been announced for September and will feature Parkway Drive (obviously) with opening acts The Devil Wear Prada, The Ghost Inside and 50 Lions. Once again Parkway Drive has managed to pull together a line-up of top Australian and international metal/hardcore acts and all for a great price (tickets between $40-$50). See picture for exact dates and locations (click to make it bigger).

/Rant V2.0... DRM and Piracy

Time for this week's rant and after much thought, i've settled on a topic i didn't want to rant about, but have to... Digital Rights Management, or as its better known DRM, and piracy.

Back In Your Nightmares

Avenged Sevenfold have released a new song. Nightmare is the first single off their upcoming album (also named Nightmare and due out in July). It is also the first song featuring Mike Portnoy of Dream Theatre on drums after the tragic passing of previous drummer Jimmy 'The Rev' Sullivan in December. The band have released a lyrics video (see below) and released the single on iTunes.

Is There Anything Ubisoft Cant Make?

Ubisoft have let slip with some of the games they will be showing at E3 in a few weeks time. Apart from Assassins Creed: Brotherhood you can also expect to see info on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Shaun Whites Skateboarding (Yes, skateboarding) and the first solid details on the Driver reboot. I'm sure they'll have heaps of other games to show us too so be prepared for a flood of gaming news from me in a little over 2 weeks.

iPad... Like An iPod With ADD

The latest Apple product is now on shelves in Australia. The iPad is part netbook, part oversized iPod touch and guaranteed to be found in the possession of every person who wants people to think they're up to date with the latest tech trends. I won't go into too much detail because Agus over at the gooseNstuffs blog is more of an expert on the subject and has been kind enough to post his thoughts on the iPad. Just thought i'd let everyone know that while they may not be the easiest thing to find, they are out now in Australia with prices ranging from a little over $600 to a little over $1000 depending on model.

Fox Hunt

With filming now underway for Transformers 3 it has been confirmed that Megan Fox has been dropped from the series (well actually, Paramount representatives say Michael Bay decided not to renew her role, meanwhile Fox's reps said she chose not to return). Personally i liked this news... She was a horrible actor in the first film and she was a horrible actor in the second film. Unfortunately it looks like we'll still have to wait to see a lead female who can act. Replacing Fox as lead female and new love interest will be English model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley... Yep, they've gone from an actress who couldn't act to a model who hasn't acted at all... Gotta love Hollywood. Transformers 3 should be due out around July next year.

Virgin To Start Gaming... Again

It was confirmed a while ago that Virgin (you know, that company that covers just about every market you could imagine) will be returning to the games scene. Richard Branson will be present at E3 this year to give details no doubt and i thought the announcement would be all we'd hear about this. Guess who was wrong. The games branch now has an official name (Virgin Gaming), and soon (about 430 hours from the time of writing this) an official site. It's said that the company will be focusing its energy on more casual games and digital downloads but back before Virgin Interactive closed down they were publishing some pretty big name games like Command & Conquer and the European (and Australian) releases of the Resident Evil & Dino Crisis franchises. Will Richard Branson soon rule over the Xbox LIVE Arcade and Playstation Networks? I don't know but for anyone who can't be bothered with the math, That countdown ends June 15th... The first day of E3.

The Joke's On You

Work on Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 is well underway, but developer Rocksteady Games might have a fun time trying to choose villains for AA3 (which we all know will come). Mark Hamill (AKA Luke Skywalker) the man behind the voice of The Joker in almost every form of animated Batman series had to be convinced to return to his role for Arkham Asylum 2. In an interview with IGN he stated he didn't think it would be possible to top the original and thought he should go out on a high note. While he WILL be back for Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 he has said it will definitely be his last. What that means is Rocksteady are faced with two options if they create Arkham Aslum 3... Write The Joker (Batman's arch enemy) out of the game, or try to find a suitable replacement. Either way it's going to be a hard task.

Back In Gear

In the odd chance that you've managed to complete all the games you planned to play this week, i thought i'd throw this piece of news out that has been mostly overlooked but might provide entertainment for people looking to get back to some old habits. Title Update 6 for Gears of War 2 is now live. Why would anyone be interested in playing Gears 2 you ask? The new title update includes the usual fixes to remove glitches and balance gameplay, but for anyone who owns the 'All Fronts' map pack, The people over at Epic have also randomly decided to add in new social matches. There is a list a mile long of what these social matches do but the short version is that you (or your party) can join and drop out of matches at will without sacrificing XP. You can join a match in progress and jump straight into the action and should anyone leave, A bot will take their place until a new player is found or the round ends, at which point the teams will automatically be rebalanced based on XP without splitting parties, The game will cycle to the next map and the new round kicks off. Basically this means better flowing social matches with little to no matchmaking required and balanced teams. Other changes include improved host selection with bandwidth testing, Improved precision when selecting weapons with the D-Pad and Improvements to client-side hit detection for ballistic weapons. So if you're looking for something to play and are about to throw in Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or Modern Warfare 2 for the billionth time, maybe you might wanna give Gears another chance. Keep in mind though, you will need the 'All Fronts' map pack, which is available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 800 points (Yes, it's seen a price reduction to coincide with the new update... Aren't Epic thoughtful).

Rocking Out

I have just been playing the Green Day: Rock Band demo and have to say i'm loving it. The demo only features 2 songs (Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Welcome To Paradise) but manages to keep the size down to about 300 meg. While 2 songs may seem a bit lacking, between the two the demo manages to demonstrate two of the three venues (The Warehouse and Milton Keynes), both ends of the difficulty spectrum (Boulevard being a beginner song and Paradise being for advanced players) and two very different era's of the band. Gameplay is exactly what you'd expect from a rock band game and the demo allows you to play any instrument. When the full game hits shelves it will feature 47 tracks including every song from American Idiot, Dookie and 21st Century Breakdown (although Breakdown requires 6 songs to be purchased separately as DLC) as well as selected songs from Nimrod, Insomniac and Warning. The splash screen when you exit the demo also adds that for a fee you can import all of the Green Day songs into standard Rock Band so they can be played on either disc (although presumably without the band / venues). The Green Day: Rock Band demo is available now via Xbox LIVE and the Playstation Network and requires instruments (both Rock Band and/or Guitar Hero instruments will work).

Armour Locked

So with Reach now being closed till release day and the release day confirmed, we now also have a pre-order bonus determined. Pre-orders will gain you a Recon helmet for your spartan. This adds to the Elite Officer armour being included in the legendary and special editions and the Exclusive spartan armour being included in the Legendary edition. So how do you know if the armour is going to look good, you ask? why click 'read more' and check out the pictures i've managed to dig up of all three armour sets.

Predictions & Past Events

I haven't been online in a few days, so you may or (more likely) may not have noticed a sudden lack in news posts around here, so i'll just quickly catch you up on what i'm up to and whats happened in the gaming world...

I have spent the last few days catching up on some older games and not having internet :(. I've been playing Heavy Rain, Metro 2033 and Secret of Monkey Island. I'm hoping to pick up Blur tomorrow and give you my thoughts on that though, so there's something to look forward to.

In news, changes abound for Microsoft as J. Allard and Robbie Bach leave the company. Instrumental in the creation of both Xbox consoles and major players since the creation of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, Allard will reportedly be staying on but only in an advisory position to CEO Steve Ballmer. On the other hand, Bach will be retiring all together after 22 years with Microsoft.

Insomniac Games (the wonderful people behind Ratchet & Clank and Resistance) are joining forces with EA Partners, Which means that they'll be working on an all new product to be released on both the Xbox 360 & Playstation 3. A bit of a shock coming from a company who usually releases PS3 exclusives.

A demo has gone out for Green Day: Rock Band... Not overly exciting news itself (unless you're a major Green Day fan... like me). however once you've finished the demo you're greeted with a screen that seem to be advertising Rock Band 3... this screen includes a large number 3, the usual guitar, bass and drum logo's, as well as a microphone logo that shows 3 mic's and a keyboard / piano logo. Looks like we can look forward to the Rock Band franchise once again adding stuff that Guitar Hero is yet to try.

Legendary Pictures has picked up the rights to make a Mass Effect movie and are reportedly talking to Mark Protosevich (The Cell, I Am Legend) to act as screenwriter. Personally i see this ending badly, but as long as they cast Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda i'll still watch it.
Finally, the Halo: Reach beta has closed and some interesting stats have come in, as well as a thank you video and a release date... Over the 18 day beta, more than 2.7 million people joined in on the action, clocking up over 16 million hours and 1.1 billion kills. Looks like there are still plenty of Halo lovers out there then. You may remember that merely 9 days ago, i predicted a september release date for Reach... Guess what? Halo: Reach will officially be hitting shelves on September 14th, so if you haven't put in your pre-orders yet, get to it.

Every Waking moment.

So I just finished Alan Wake.
First up, I'm just going to give impressions on the game and let someone (see Scoot here) do the real reviewing etc.

Now...It's pretty damn good! There is a good amount of content, nice game play and a very good job with the psychological horror aspect. Spooked me more than once just with the cool voicing style they use for some of the characters. My favourite line in terms of spookiness is when the main antagonist (not trying to give away spoilers) is controlling a diner worker...

After the diner worker hangs up the phone to you, it cuts to a visual of her and the baddy just saying "good girl". Obviously in a more creepy voice. And my favourite line just as is, starts of really high pitched and then turns into a low rumbling/triple voice kind of thing that just says (out of sight) "You take two pills in the morning and then YOU'LL BE CALM ALL DAY LONG!" Followed closely by "We're making a comeback tour, baby!" *As he bludgeons a nurse with a hammer*

But enough of that. It is a very fun game that I highly recommend you at least look into. Good graphics, I've read some forums and shit that get all uppity about it not giving a full 720p output or what ever, but honestly you don't notice it...Graphics are great throughout.
The whole light/torch thing is great gameplay aspect. The game is more realistic what without the aiming thing, reticle? So it feels more realistic to play. I'm also a fan (if a little annoyed at times during gameplay) at the design style of the game, in which they take away all your awesome gear at the end of each episode and such, usually forcing you to start from scratch in terms of guns and lights etc (they explain it rather well too). It forces you to use your flare guns and all your ammo so you can't horde for the later boss fight and such, which I think is quite a good way to play it, especially when you're playing a thriller game designed to keep you on edge.

The best bit...The (as that French term states that I can't spell...Cou de gra?) of it all however (WITHOUT GIVING SPOILERS) is the battle on the Rock stage...That's the most I'll say.

In closing, check the game out. It is quite awesome however I see that other than collectables there won't be much replay value so I recommend hiring it for a week. You'll get a good go out of it, and possible a good shock or too. (Made me feel awkward after a particularly hard bit at like 3am and then deciding to walk the totally empty dark hallways to go to the bathroom...I got jumpy to say the least)

Play it.

Thank you for having me, I've had a wonderful time.

Death In Slipknot

Paul Gray, the bassist and co-founder of the worldwide phenomena that is Slipknot, has passed away. He was found in an apartment in Urbandale, with no cause of death known. More information as it comes, for an article, check here.

Steve-O

/Rant V1.0

Hello all and welcome to the first edition of what i hope will be a weekly article. /Rant (pronounced End Rant) will be here every Sunday and the basic idea is that i take a current issue or piece of news from the gaming world, take a look at it from a neutral standpoint, offering up all the good and bad things about it... Then destroy my own neutrality by stating my opinions on the subject and hopefully get you guys talking and commenting because i'd love to hear others perspectives on the issue. So without further ado, Click 'Read More' to read the first /Rant... The EA Method.

This One's For You - Deez Nuts

Normally when a band names an album something along the lines of This One's For You, I'd have to believe it's an attempt to make more fans buy it... However, JJ Peters (The only recording member of Deez Nuts) has shown time and again that he really does make music for the love of it and is thankful for the fans and friends he's made because of it. Enough with that though, on to the album. This One's For You may not be the cleanest recording you'll ever hear, but it doesn't need to be. The album is 10 songs of heavy guitars, breakdowns and group shouts and that's all you would ever really expect from Deez Nuts. JJ's lyrics are catchy and cover a range of subjects including the usual... Partying, friends and doing things your own way. Not everyone is into rap, not everyone is into hardcore, but if you're into either then give This One's For You a listen and see if you aren't singing along with your middle finger in the air by the end. This One's For You is available now through Roadrunner Records and you can get a free song (Bonus track 'Free Music') from here.

Fabled Edition

Fable 3 has OFFICIALLY been announced for PC (although it will be through the Games For Windows LIVE Games On Demand service only) and a Limited Edition for 360 was announced. The limited edition carefully walks the line between physical items and DLC, But manages to provide plenty of both. Coming packaged in a Fable style book case (Alan Wake anyone?) the limited edition will include:

• An exclusive location, Ideal for settling down with the family you'll probably end up with
• A new breed of dog... The Boxer is a brave canine companion renowned for its loyalty.
• One unique outfit, An outfit from the land of Aurora, A new destination in Fable 3.
• A new quest, Travel to the haunted woods of Silverpine to retrieve the legendary sword, Wolfsbane.
• Fable 3 playing cards, Created by Lionhead, Will feature every type of character, Including Heroes, Villains, Royals & Rebels from all over the lands.
• A Guild Seal coin, One blue side (good) and one red side (evil), Because if you can't decide whether you want to be good or evil, Be like Two-Face.

No word on price here yet, But i'll let you know when something comes up. Fable 3 will be out late this year (read, Just in time for the christmas rush).

Cryptids Are Real!!!... Kinda

You can tell it's been a slow news day when you flip past the ninemsn homepage and see the headline 'Creature steeped in folklore. Lake monster feeds on otter, beavers, say locals'... The story tells of an animal corpse recently found washed up in Canada which appears to be a new species. Locals say the species has been known to them for generations with grand parents telling stories of similar beasts. A similar set of remains was found in New York in 2008, So surely with all these remains turning up, This has to be some new creature... Right? Probably not... It seems like this is all part of a viral marketing campaign, Linked to this website. What is this campaign drawing attention to you ask... Why a show on Cartoon Network of course. I'd love to be the guy who sat in a room and went, "I know how to advertise a kids show about creatures that may or may not exist... We'll throw fake animal corpses all around the world". Anyways, I'll include the pictures from the reports and while they aren't in any way frightening or disgusting i'll keep from putting them on the main page, So click 'Read More' to see the pics...

For the record, Police findings on the original corpse decided that they were the remains of a dog and there has been no confirmed link between the corpses and the above mentioned cartoon, So if you want to go on believing there really is something more to this story, Then by all means do.

Sonic 4 Delayed

Sonic the Hedgehog may be the fastest creature in existence but unfortunately the same can't be said for the dev team working on the new game. Sega announced today that Sonic 4: Episode 1 will be pushed back to "Late 2010" to allow the team to ensure the game is of the highest quality. In other word's they're either working on more content, Trying to fix bug's or they've fallen behind schedule. Sonic 4: Episode 1 will be the first numerically named sonic game in 16 years and return to the classic side scrolling action of the originals. It will be available on Xbox LIVE Arcade, Playstation Network, WiiWare & iPod Touch / iPhone. Sega was nice enough to provide a new trailer though, So check that out below and figure out how to work it into your 'Late 2010' gaming schedule.

Alan Wake

Remedy Entertainment's new psychological thriller Alan Wake is now out and i thought i'd share my thoughts on the game.

The Mikey Inflection - Part III

Last night I got drunk. Very drunk.
I do not remember the night.
More information as it comes to me.

Thank you for having me, I've had a wonderful time.

Collected Dreams

I got my Limited Edition copy of Alan Wake today and must say it's actually pretty cool. The limited edition includes the game (obviously), a code for the first piece of DLC, bonus DVD, Selected soundtrack and a book (The Alan Wake Files)... All inside special packaging that resembles a hardcover book. The first DLC won't be available till July, so it's a bit of a wait for that and i haven't watched the DVD yet (for fear of spoilers) but i have checked out the soundtrack and book and they're pretty cool. The soundtrack features 10 songs, Most of which are pieces of the score from the game and as such have a very creepy sound to them. The book is 130 pages and is set out as a set of documents put together by someone following Alan Wake. It includes character interviews, excerpts from the in-game manuscript (more about this tomorrow) and general background info on the setting, characters and elements of the game. All together it's a nice package and i like seeing special editions that aren't just the game + DLC. Depending on where you shop the limited edition will only set you back an extra $10-20 and i'd definitely recommend people with the extra cash check it out. Below are pictures of the contents and don't forget to come back tomorrow for my review on the game itself...

Morning News

I know how every loves their morning news... Okay, I lie, I just have a few pieces of news that i wanted to cram into one piece rather than flood the blog with new posts, So here's this morning's need to know information...

If you haven't seen it already, The first official Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer is out (as opposed to the tiny teaser i showed previously). It actually looks really good and i'm actually getting pretty psyched to see where this ends up going. Trailer here.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is set to have a Multiplayer Beta. No more info on it yet, But you can be sure i'll let you all know how to get into it as soon as i find out.

On the Xbox LIVE Arcade keep an eye out for a few price drops... Braid (was 1200, now 800), Cloning Clyde (was 800, now 400) and 3 on 3 NHL (was 800, now 400) are all on the receiving end of a PERMANENT price reduction. On the PSN, Pick up the demo for Modnation Racers (or just purchase the game, Which should be out today) to test out Sony's cross between Mario Kart and LittleBigPlanet.

Not interested in the arcade games but have some leftover points? The next DLC for Dragon Age: Origins (Titled The Darkspawn Chronicles) is available now on both Xbox and Playstation 3. 400 points on Xbox and $8.45 on PS3.

Been playing Skate 3? Want a new character? Type in the code DEADSPACETOO to unlock Dead Space lead character Isaac Clarke as a playable character. Yes, It works. Yes, It's free. Yes, It looks pretty hilaious.

Finally, Ubisoft have announced that they will be taking up the Ten Dollar Program (AKA The EA Method) to help combat used games sales and boost falling revenue. The Ten Dollar Program is an idea currently being used by Electronic Arts whereby people who purchase the game new gain extra content and/or features, While pre-owned buyers will need to pay a one-off $10 fee to gain access to the content/features. More info and my thoughts on the method on Sunday in the first of what is to become my weekly rant.

Australian Made

Obviously i don't expect you to spend every waking minute on The Arkhive (unless you really want to) so i thought i'd throw out a few quick suggestions for other stuff to do while on the internet. All Australian links, No less...

My good friend Agus, Over at the gooseNstuffs blog, Works selling computers and tech and often has up to date info for all sorts of technology. Check out his blog for the latest news on gadgets as well as the occasional music or gaming review (looks like he's gonna beat me to Alan Wake, but you can still read my review on Friday).

Check out the Game Arena Podcast (AKA The GAP) over at gamearena.com.au or on itunes. Great news, reviews and discussions on all things gaming. Hilarious guys, But beware of language and the occasion spoiler (Jason dies).

The latest awesome app on itunes (according to me) is Fruit Ninja. Fruit Ninja is a simple yet addictive game from Queensland developer Halfbrick Studios and will set you back $1.19. Get it here. Also, Check out the gooseNstuffs review here.

The only decent AUSTRALIAN show that specialises in video games is Good Game. Hosts Bajo & Hex review a couple of games and run gaming related pieces every Monday night at 8:30 an ABC2 or on, You guessed it, itunes.

Finally, remember to come back here when you're done coz we love having you, and if you've got any good links then feel free to leave them in a comment.

Sleepless With Anticipation

I know I post about them alot, but they deserve it.

Parkway Drive have released a track off their upcoming album "Deep Blue" on their Myspace.

Listen to Sleepwalker here - And hit "Read More" for my thoughts on the track

Hunted

The next movie in the Predator series has been announced. Simply titled 'Predators' the film will be produced by Robert Rodriguez (The man behind movies such as Sin City, Grindhouse and From Dusk Till Dawn) and star Adrien Brody, Laurence Fishburne and Topher Grace. Personally i think it's a bit of an odd choice in cast but i'm still interested to see how this turns out. Trailer below, although i recommend you actually visit youtube to watch it (higher definition and all that) and below the trailer you'll find a few more thoughts from me that will likely contain minor spoilers...



So if you've watched the trailer then you know that there will be multiple Predators in the movie and in my opinion, A movie like this requires some good actors to play opposite the good guys. IMDB has 3 people listed as playing the Predators... Carey Jones, Who has virtually no previous acting jobs but has been a puppeteer / make-up artist on many other movies (such as Jurassic Park 3, Terminator 3 & Drag Me To Hell). Brian Steele has had a few major stunt / background roles such as playing a Lycan in Underworld: Rise of the Lycans and the Tyrant in Resident Evil: Extinction. Finally the third Predator will be played by Derek Mears, Probably best known as Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th reboot. As for the story, it seems like some of Earth's toughest humans get kidnapped and dumped on a deserted planet as sport for a pack of Predators to hunt... No surprises there.

Naughty Naughty

While checking up the details for the previous post i got sidetracked when i noticed Game and JB Hifi are advertising a pre-order bonus for upcoming game Naughty Bear. If you haven't heard of this game then i don't know how to explain it other than a crude stuffed bear out to cause chaos in a world of happiness. You really need to see the teasers to understand the humour behind this game (reminds me of Conker's Bad Fur Day). Regardless, This isn't out for a couple more months and i can guarantee you'll hear more about it from me then, But i wanted to point out the bonus. Game is offering a Naughty Bear plush toy and JB Hifi is offering two extra DLC costumes (Freddy Krubear and Jason Slasher). Nothing from EB Games yet, but i'm sure they'll have something up their sleeve.

Secure Your Position Within The Brotherhood

Assassins Creed: Brotherhood is now available to pre-order from your favourite gaming stores. EB Games is yet to put up a price and have dated it as 'TBC 2011'... However, This contradicts the American EB games which lists the release as 1st November 2010 and JB Hifi who lists the date as 15th December 2010 and already has their prices up... $109 on 360 and PS3 or $79 on PC. My money will definitely be on the end of this year and it wouldn't surprise me if the JB price drops a bit lower closer to release, But keep in mind it's highly likely the PC version will feature the new EA DRM.

[UPDATE] Already an update... American retailer Gamestop are already providing a pre-order bonus. Can't guarantee we'll get the same here, But if we do then you can expect an extra multiplayer character. The creepily attired Harlequin...

The Last Huzzah... Until September

The Halo: Reach beta ends on wednesday, So i will be on most of tomorrow night (Tuesday) so everyone interested in getting in one good session before the beta goes down, Add me on LIVE and join me in game for a bit of fun.

On the topic of Reach, I pre-ordered my Legendary Edition the other day and was talking and in passing mentioned that i know when it's coming out, Which the guy at EB seems to have found odd. It would seem because there is no official release date yet, Some people have no idea when it will hit shelves. Personally, I have no doubt that Reach will be on shelves around September, Roughly the same time Halo 3 hit shelves.

Apart from Reach, I just got a copy of UFC Undisputed 2009... Yeah, I'm a bit behind but i'm not a fan of UFC, Nor am i a fan of sprts games in general. I might post my thoughts on it up here but i'll more likely give it a go then pick up 2010 and give that a review here... Also, Keep an eye out here for my review of Alan Wake on Friday, And finally, I'm going to start a weekly rant which i encourage people to comment on and debate about, So expect that on the weekend... Busy Times

Reaching The Limits

The final part of the Halo: Reach beta was unlocked today. Generator Defense allows 3v3 SvE action  where Elites have to shut down a series of generators while spartans defend them. Yes, It sounds a lot like Invasion but the difference here is that the Elites have to physically destroy the generators, meaning they can take them out from anywhere they can get a shot off, Meanwhile the Spartans can go to each generator and 'lock it down' making the generator invincible for 30 seconds. Along with Generator Defense the final map (Overlook) has been unlocked so now would be a really good time to get stuck into it before they close the beta down permanently in just 3 days time.

Fever Pitch

A look at the latest album, Fever, by Welsh metal band Bullet For My Valentine.

Steam Powered

I'm not much of a PC gamer, But that doesn't stop me from picking up a bargain when i see one. With Steam's new SteamPlay system (which allows players to play a game they've purchased on either Windows or Mac for the one price) Valve have decided to give out Portal to all members at the amazingly low price of... FREE. Get in quick though as this deal is only available till May 24th to promote the new SteamPlay system.

Valentines In September

Welsh metal god's Bullet For My Valentine have just announced a series of Australian tour dates. The band will be stopping by all the major cities in September this year and they're bringing UK hardcore kings Bring Me The Horizon and Canadian hardcore rockers Cancer Bats with them. You can check them out on...

5th September - Challenge Stadium, Perth
7th September - Thebarton Theatre, Adelaide
9th September - Festival Hall, Melbourne
10th September - Horden Pavillion, Sydney
11th September - The Riverstage, Brisbane

All shows are licensed All Ages except Melbourne which has licensed and unlicensed area's available, Tickets through the usual outlets from 9am on the 27th of May.

Personally i've already seen Bullet live and they put on a good show so you can expect to see me at the Perth show, and check back here tomorrow for my thoughts on their new album, Fever.

Keeping Up With The Creed

My coverage of Assassins Creed: Brotherhood continues... Ubisoft have now officially, officially announced the game (as opposed to leaked covers and obscure sites) as well as a few details. Brotherhood should be hitting shelves towards the end of the year and will throw you back into the shoes of Ezio (who is now a master assassin, leading his own brotherhood of presumably not quite so master assassins, but master assassins nonetheless) as he travels to Rome where there is a power struggle going on between Assassins and the Templar Order. A statement on the multiplayer aspect says "players can help the Templars by using Abstergo to train in the art of assassination to eliminate the Assassins once and for all"... Fighting fire with fire, huh. Apparently you will be able to select from a range of characters, Each with their own set of weapons and assassination techniques. So there you have it... Look out for Assassins Creed: Brotherhood on shelves before christmas and i swear i'll never use the word 'assassin' so many times in one post ever again.

Blue Sky Noise

A look at the latest album from Circa Survive.

Raising The Stakes

It's no secret that i love a good collector's edition package for a game, So naturally i'm always keeping an eye out for new one's being announced... For example, The collector's edition package for Fallout: New Vegas that was announced today. No idea if this will be available in Australia, but the package includes...

• "Lucky 7" poker chips. 7 poker chips, Each is designed to represent a different casino on the New Vegas strip or the Mojave Wasteland.
• Recreation "Lucky 38" chip. A platinum poker chip that is a highly sought after item in the game.
• A custom Fallout: New Vegas deck of cards. Each card is illustrated to show characters and factions from the game.
• "All Roads", A graphic novel that tells the events leading up to the game. Created with Dark Horse Comics and written by Chris Avellone.
• "The making of Fallout: New Vegas" DVD. Pretty self explanatory.

Bringing About Order

So it looks like Ubisoft have made their Assassins Creed: Brotherhood announcement. Anyone on the Ubisoft mailing list, Or anyone following their Facebook group, Will know that there is a new site... The site plays a short video before taking you to a small weapon select menu where you can take a look at what i presume are new weapons that will be in Brotherhood. There is also a glyph puzzle which, Once solved, Reveals another weapon. From what i can tell these weapons all belong to the Templars and the conclusion that i'm drawing is that the new multiplayer mode will be Assassins vs Templars. I could be wrong, I could be right. Head over to the site to check it out for yourself.

Rise To Power

Just a quick update to let people know that metal band As I Lay Dying have got their new album streaming off their Myspace in full. I have only listened to the first few songs as of present, but already I am absolutely loving the sound of it. I'll let you guys know more after a few listen throughs.

Listen to it here.

Steve-O

Waking Up

As the release of Alan Wake quickly approaches, Many people may have missed what is happening over at brightfalls.com. A 6 part live-action prequel has been made for the game and is slowly being revealed. All episodes are now available so you can watch it all before the game releases for us Aussies on Thursday. For anyone looking forward to this game i recommend you head over there to waste a bit of time and remember to come back here on Friday the 21st for my review.

[UPDATE 16/05] The final episodes became available today so now you can take your final trip to Bright Falls before stepping into the shoes of Mr. Wake himself.

Brothers In Arms

Who was looking forward to playing as a new assassin in Assasins Creed 3? Who thought it would be Desmond? For everyone who answered yes, SURPRISE, you're wrong. A placeholder slick (one of those covers they throw up in a store to advertise a game) was leaked to Kotaku and Ubisoft have since confirmed it is legitimate. The box reveals that the game, Titled Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, Will throw you back into the mind of Ezio as he returns to Rome. Ubisoft have promised more details next week so until then feel free to look at the pic and speculate away. Is it a side game to fill in a gap till AC3? Is this the end of the series? Will we meet Ezio's other uncle, Luigi?

The text on the back reads...

"Live and breathe as Ezio, Now a legendary master assassin, In his struggle against the Templar order. Lead your own brotherhood of Assassins and strike at the heart of the enemy. Rome.

And for the first time, Take part in an innovative multiplayer layer allowing you to embody an assassin of your choosing and define their killing style.

A never-before-seen online multiplayer experience.

Lead your own brotherhood of assassins, As Ezio, And conquer Rome."

Kicking Off The Weekend

I've just been to see Vampire Weekend live at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre.

That Time Of The Week

I'm currently in Adelaide without a LIVE capable internet connection, However i should be back home by monday and plan to start a public multiplayer session once a week. Still unsure on day or time but first session will probably be on the Halo: Reach beta. So i guess what i'm saying is if you're interested in jumping in on this then add me on Xbox LIVE and leave a comment here if you'd like to recommend a day/time. I'll post again on monday with more details.

Foresight

Things to look out for in the future, Yesterday (being Star Wars day and all)Lucasarts kindly gave us a North American release date for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (October 26th, So expect it around the same time here). As for Xbox LIVE, Check out the Deal Of The Week starting May 17th, The Secret Of Monkey Island at just 400 Points, Definitely pick it up now before the sequel hits the arcade. Finally, New Dragon Age DLC... Titled "Darkspawn Chronicles" there isn't much info about this yet other than the price tag of 400 points. As for upcoming Arkhive posts, Keep an eye out for an album review or two within the next week and my thoughts on tomorrow nights Vampire Weekend concert... Wanna know what the other Arkhive authors are up to? Add them on Xbox Live or just drop a comment on one of their posts and ask them :D

Infernal

The next lot of DLC has been announced for Mass Effect 2, However some players will be highly disappointed with this. The 'Equalizer Pack' will contain three new pieces of armour... The Capacitor Helmet will allow sheperd to recharge his shields faster while the Archon visor will reduce the cooldown time on abilities... The third item, you ask? The Inferno Armour is none other than the set of armour provided as a pre-order bonus at select stores (such as JB Hifi) and honestly, I find this rather disappointing. Now anyone who got their game from EB Games has the option to purchase the bonus they missed out on, While people who already have the Inferno Armour will likely have to pay the same price to get just the two items they don't already have. For anyone who wants to pick this up it will cost you 160 MS Points for the pack... Check back here later for the release date and any other info released.

Gamers. Breaking High Scores Is What We Do.

Just found this article over at new.com.au. It gives an update on the R18+ rating petition that's been floating around and explains that with 89,000 people signing up, It is now the largest petition in Australian history... Gamers of Australia, You have been heard.

Epic (AKA Legendary)

I wasn't really going to worry about this but seeing as how I've been called on it *cough* MIKE *cough*, Here are the details on the many editions of Halo: Reach that will be available. (click 'read more' for full details)

Hello Halo.

Hey there,
Have you guys noticed that there hasn't been a single (detailed or elaborated) post about the extremely close release of the Halo Reach beta and of course the Legendary/special and normal editions contents announcement. And from me the big Halo lover of the group.
Well to answer that question in three words:

I am lazy.

Thank you for having me, I've had a wonderful time.

Beta Get In Quick

If you've been onto your gaming forum of choice lately, Specifically the Halo: Reach board, You might have noticed the immense amount of people begging and pleading for early access codes. For those who don't know, The Reach beta is now open to people with special access codes, But the codes are mostly only issued by Microsoft and Bungie personnel as prizes, etc. For everyone else the beta should be available from the CAMPAIGN disc of ODST some time monday. According to Major Nelson, The beta should open late monday morning pacific time, So don't expect it to be available here till probably 3-6am Tuesday. The interest the beta is already seeing though makes me wonder if the servers are gonna be able to handle the traffic, So if you're really desperate, I suggest to keep your eyes open and get in ASAP.