The Arkhive Tumble's On

It's no secret The Arkhive has slowly been dying... Mikey has been keeping it updated thanks to his fascinating stories of life and randomness, but there hasn't been much else happening. You might think this is a post about how The Arkhive will be closing down and we're sad to say goodbye... NEVER. In an attempt to make life slightly easier for everyone, and allow us to get more content out, we're moving to Tumblr. The new page is already up at www.TheArkhive.Tumblr.com but there's still some adjustments to be made there before we can consider it to be fully operational. Expect to see the rest of the staff from here pop up as authors, as well as hopefully some new blood. Oh, and possibly a change in layout or two... dozen. Plus i'm hellbent on moving our fish over to Tumblr as well, so yeah. Check it out, and we hope to be back in full Arkhive mode soon.

Not because it's big

Here you go Arkhive...You want an update, well hold onto your face or something.

About a month ago I was diagnosed with depression. This I can assure sucks. I have since started taking anti-sads which seem to be working I don't know. Last night however they sucked ass and I don't like it. Last night shit went down that was not fucking pleasant. I don't want to think about it, I don't want to relieve it but it's all I can seem to do at the moment. So fuck that.

I can tell you that I don't like it one bit.

Thanks for the free vent space 'Kive.
Now onto other things...My books FINALLY arrived. It was very nice, and so far they have been a good read. I quite like them! STEAMPUNK WOO!

Boneshaker is promising to be a good read but I'm only a small way into it. Not because it's big or anything, but because I'm lazy.
I don't have anything new for you. I think I'm doing shit in uni this semester. Oh well. I'll still love you.

My name is Mikey and this has been a long time coming.

Title? TITLE?! I'LL GIVE YOU A TITLE!

STEAMPUNK!

I ordered a lot of steampunk based books today. Can't wait! WILL BE FUNS!

Lots of love,
Me.

My name is Mikey and you done messed up now boy.

You know what?

I apologise for nothing.

So it hasn't been updated in a while...You know what that means? We've been busy/lazy or a combination of the two. So no, I won't apologise for having a life and wasting it.
Gosh.

But seriously, hey guys. Sorry it's been a while.
You know what I've been watching?

Please take this time to guess, email correct answers to Cartographer@live.com.au

ERRR WRONG! Too late, I've been watching Zoids: New Century Zero. And do you know why?

Don't bother emailing.


Because it is fuckin' baddass! So that's mostly what I've been doing...That and pretending to do my uni work. Yay for that.

That is all.

My name is Mikey and GPO BOX 2100.

Well...This is awkward...

Well this is awkward indeed.
It's been a while and for the most part I can blame my absence on University. However Scoot and Stevo were supposed to be bringing something big to ball park and that seems to have just faded away...Sorry about that.

For most of all of the parts, I have just sort of been existing. I go to uni a bit, I eat, I game, I hang with friends...Hell I even sleep occasionally. Weird I know.
I'm playing a lot of Zelda because it is awesome and watching a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender because it is equally as awesome.
Oh I simply cannot wait for the next thing to come out but the Airbender guys, it's called The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra. It takes place 70 years after the original, in the same universe of course and follows a Water Tribe teenager called Korra who is the next Avatar. It mostly takes place in Republic City which is a sort of Steam-Punk Mega city created to be accepting of all Nations after the aftermath of the Fire Nations war to take over the world.

It looks really cool but at the same time makes me nostalgic and wary because I love Steam-Punk but I don't want to universe to change too much and get too technology based. I also loved/got attached to the 'old' characters and voice actors so I don't know what I'm ultimately going to think about it. Also there needs to be more Airbender's.

Well I guess that's all I have to say for now...Better get back to class because you know...Class.

I think I shall say good day to you all.

Cheerio,
My name is Mikey and a typo is only a typo if you notice it.

And the battle continues...

So it has been a while since I started the Zelda: OoT Master Quest and I haven't progressed very far. This is mostly due to my own laziness but still I just thought I should let you guys know because you know...Sharing is caring.

Other than that, I am back in uni...Yay.

I only have 2 days of uni out of 7...Lots of free time and I like to use that time for sleep.

Hmm I have nothing really to say which is a bit annoying. But at least I took time out of my day to say it. Or not if you get what I mean...

I wonder when Scoot and Stevo will be done with that 'project' they said they were bringing to the 'Kive...Interesting...

My name is Mikey and this is some writing.

Round 2...START!

And the game is on. I am back. Back at university, the mid year break is over, class is underway and I want to go to bed. So hooray for that.

I only have two days of class each week but still...I want more free time. I was used to it. I don't like change.

I'm currently in my writing picture books class because well why not? Picture books rule.

Well class is actually starting now so maybe I better go. I'll see you again some time, I'm sure of it.

My name is Mikey and this is a sign off message.

Waiting In The Shadows

If you were looking forward to The Darkness 2 then you'll have to look forward a little further. It would seem that the sequel to 2007's quad-wielding shooter based on a graphic novel has been delayed a few months and will now be stepping into the light come February next year. This means it will no longer release around the same time as many other gaming heavyweights such as CoD, Battlefield and Skyrim but rather extend out the xmas release schedule along with Final Fantasy XIII-2 which is now confirmed to be releasing in January.

Insane Collectors Edition

As the release of Batman: Arkham City approaches, we start seeing details on pre-orders and special editions... Like the special edition that was just announced. If the game by itself isn't awesome enough for you then you can grab it with a cool statue made by Kotobukiya, an art book, early access to a challenge map (Iceberg Lounge) and skin (The Dark Knight Returns skin), digital copy of the Arkham City soundtrack and a dvd copy of the animated movie, Batman: Gotham Knight. If this sounds appealing to you the you can pre-order the special edition now for it's release at the end of October.

Tis The Season To Arcade

Microsoft's Summer of Arcade begins today (in the middle of winter for us aussies) with the release of Bastion. over the next 4 weeks we'll see the release of 4 more high quality arcade games including From Dust, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, Fruit Ninja Kinect and Toy Soldiers: Cold War. Each title will be 1200 ms points (except Fruit Ninja, which comes in at 800) and if you buy all 5 you'll also receive a free copy of Crimson Alliance... Huzzah for free stuff you only get by spending ludicrous amounts of money on not free stuff.

(Insert sexual reference here)

Hey what do you know, Scoot lives. I thought it was touch and go there for a second but the bastard has come through. Hooray for that.
So here I was, coming to update you guys on what's happening with my life and some 'Kive based stuff.

Such as I bought a 3DS and most importantly Ocarina of Time - LOVING IT! Finished the classic game just today actually and am starting on the Master quest in a bit.
So far for me the console hasn't let me down. I would like a few more wicked titles to get into but as of late I'm blown away with it and want to see more and more from it.

Other than that, Uni holidays are going swimmingly, very relaxed and mostly just alive.
Now I'm all ancy about what's coming from Scoot and Steve...(Insert sexual reference here). I should jump on the old internet conversation thing and ask old Scooty about it.

Right well I think I'm done...Oh I've been playing a fair bit more XBL over the last month or so, so if want jump on and join me or at least talk to me. Other than that FUCK OFF...I jest.

My name is Mikey and apricots have invaded Sweden.

Something New Is Coming...

... When i'm not such a failure xD.

We here at The Arkhive (By that i mean me, with some assistance from Steve) are working on something a little different because we know how much we've sucked at updating over the last few months (not Mike... Mike's been awesome like that). We'd already have something to show you now, but there was some technical issues which caused delays, but rest assured there is some new stuff in the works and i swear i'm trying to get back to updating here.

3D Time and the Links that clever title understand.

Scoot posted this on http://www.nationalgamingleague.com.au/tgp/ but I thought it definately deserved to be here. So here it is. Can't wait til I can afford a 3DS and This game...The only reason I think I'm getting one.

From Hyrule to Termina, The Great Sea and even the twilight realm, Link has come a long way since he first made the transition into the third dimension back on the Nintendo 64 and yet The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is still considered a highlight in the history of gaming. After 13 years Ocarina of Time is back and it’s shinier than ever, but can Link now lead the charge into the era of 3D gaming? Ocarina of Time 3D brings with it not a port of the original, but a complete upgrade from the ground up. New visuals, new controls, new features and 2 extra modes (Master Quest and Boss Rush) just in case you haven’t had enough adventuring.

Now with more than 3 pixels for a nose

As soon as you start the game up you’ll see the extent of the graphical upgrade, as the recognisable logo appears in great detail, floating over images of Hyrule, Link and Epona in the background. The upgrades haven’t just been given to main characters and objects though as a quick wander around Kokiri Forest will reveal… Every surface in Ocarina from the giant bosses, down to the weeds growing off dungeon walls has been rebuilt and textured in detail that never would have been possible on the 64. It’s also obvious that the game was specifically built for 3D as well, with added vegetation and detail giving more depth to the world. Often when older games are updated for modern audiences, there isn’t enough effort put into fixing the graphics, so any new players who pick it up can be turned off by the games looks, but that isn’t the case with OoT3D… It easily rivals every current 3DS title in the looks department.

Familiar, and yet pants browning on a whole new level

In many Zelda games since the 64, one of the key aspects has always been music. The music of the game has to fill out the wonderful land of the game, not be so repetitive you get sick of it before you’ve finished the game AND be something you can play on the ocarina. When it comes to the music in Ocarina of Time 3D there hasn’t been much change from the original, but that’s a good thing. I’ve played through the original Ocarina multiple times and even now playing through OoT3D i still haven’t got sick of the music. It now plays louder and with a clarity beyond the original, but beyond that it’s still the same. The cheery tune as you run the length of Hyrule Field, the tune of the Lost Woods that will no doubt become burned into your brain for months to come and the creepy sound effects as you explore Dodongo’s Cavern.

Sadly the ocarina controls are slightly different

Another thing that has remained the same for the most part is the actual gameplay. You’re not going to find any amazing new gadgets that will reshape the game or anything, just your faithful slingshot, fairy bow and boomerang. The thing that has changed from the original though is how you use all these items. Gone are the days of C-buttons, now being replaced with some squares on the touch screen. Changing your setup is as simple as opening your inventory, tapping the item you want, then the button to assign to. You’ll have 4 item slots (X, Y and two touch buttons labelled I & II) plus the Ocarina now gets it’s own dedicated touch button, allowing you to explore more without having to open your inventory to switch equipment as much. There is also a Gear screen which allows you to change shields and tunics with a quick tap, although your selection of boots have been moved to your inventory, allowing you to assign them to a button and equip or unequip them with the touch of a button. The move of all the buttons to the touch screen also means the game screen is virtually HUD-free with the exception of a semi-transparent A button and mini map, allowing a clear and more open view of your surroundings. All item’s that would normally be fired from first person view (slingshot, bow, hookshot, etc.) can now also be aimed with the 3DS’s gyroscope, allowing you to move the console itself to aim. The entire game also seems to be quicker as a result of the upgrade… I’m not sure if this is an intentional design, or just a side-effect of improved framerates.

Thankfully "chest hair" wasn't on the list of things to be made 3D

Gamers who never played Ocarina of Time on the 64 will definitely be able to pick up OoT3D and still feel what everyone felt when playing the original, without the drawback of dated graphics and controls, but that’s not to say this will be the same old thing for veteran players. Upon completing the game you’ll unlock the Master Quest mode, which some might be familiar with from the special edition of Wind Waker on the Gamecube. Master Quest makes some simple but crucial changes to the game… Firstly, the entire game is mirrored, every dungeon, every environment, even Link starts swinging with his right hand… Secondly, all damage is doubled, this means even those lowly enemies you’d normally run straight past can now take a nice chunk of Link’s hearts if you’re not careful… Finally, every dungeon in the game has been altered, the rooms and layout remain the same, but everything else was open season. Memorised those enemy locations? Chances are there will be completely different enemies. Know the dungeon layout like the back of your hand? You’ll now need to take an entirely new route. Got those chests memorised? Think again. As a veteran player, i can clear Dodongo’s Cavern in under half an hour, but on Master Quest i found myself stumbling around in there for well over an hour and a half. Master Quest brings everyone back into the word of Hyrule, then punishes those who think they know all of it’s secrets.

HI-HO EPONA, AWAAAAAAAAY

Overall Ocarina of Time 3D brings back everything from the original but expands upon it in several key ways that make the entire experience smoother and more enjoyable. Link has stood the test of time well (Yeah, i went there) and shows that a great RPG never goes out of style. New and old players alike will definitely find something here and i get the feeling Ocarina of Time will survive one more generation, being called one of the best games ever created… Oh, and Navi is still a pain in the ass.

Good

• Great use of 3D
• Same epic journey, spectacular new sights
• Updated controls (particularly gyroscope aiming) make gameplay smoother

Bad

• Some framerate issues during one particular boss fight (pretty sure that was present in the original too)
• Moving the console to aim can ruin the 3D effect
• Still no option to mute Navi

Well...This is awkward...

So how long has it been ey? Since E3...Hawkward indeed.
I can't really say why there has been a delay in posts. I mean, I have university to keep my lonesome occupied and Scoot has...Nothing? And for Stevo well I assume he is dead now. (Sorry buddy but you have to face the facts you are dead).

Oh well, I will try and keep the posts alive during my midyear break. Other than that I can only say sorry and I think I will get some posts up about some books I'm reading.

Bye I guess.

My name is Mikey and I said I would call you after...I lied.

Almost Time

E3 kicks off shortly with Microsoft's press conference beginning in a little over an hour... I'll throw things up in a mass post at the end of each press conference, but for up to the second news check out my twitter at www.twitter.com/scoot338 or head over to the special E3 section that's been set up at The Gamers Pad

The Previous Post Stole My Best Joke

E3 approaches... Less than 3 days remain till E3 2011 kicks off with Microsoft's press conference and it's gonna be a big year. Nintendo will reveal their new console, Microsoft may or may not have word on a new console but they always have more Halo news anyway and Sony... Well Sony can say they're back online. I'll likely be staying up late each night to hear the latest news and bring it to you here if you actually have a life and/or job that requires you sleep on occasion. Yes, i am back and i plan on bringing news with me. As to what i've been doing lately... Not much. A heap of gaming, a bit of travelling (i went to a concert in Brisbane, plus a trip to Sydney to catch Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy), some studying and the occasional report for another site. I might see who is staying up for E3's opening night and see if we can organise some sort of live chat/tweet session.

A lot of my time recently has also been spent on Minecraft... I'll throw up a gallery of stuff i've built soon-ish and provide details if anyone wants to check that out.

E = MC 3.

So that was a pretty lame title...But I tried and I think that's what counts...?

So everyone else pumped for E3 in the next few days? I know I am. I think it will be sweet, and I can't wait to see the next console that Nintendo are announcing! Hope it's sexy and as cheap as the Wii which I highly doubt but it's worth a shot.

What else is there? OHHH TOTALLY WANT MORE SKYRIM INFO!

Really hope we get some juicy information on that front. Would be awesome.

Hmm that's all I've got to say really. So I hope you enjoy that.

My name is Mikey and HOLD THE FORWARD LINE!

Guess where I might be?

Have you figured it out?
I am at uni...But what class?
NO YOU IDIOT! I'M NOT IN CRITICAL REASONING! I'M IN MY CREATIVE WRITING CLASS!

Gosh you're such an idiot audience.

Any how here I am, in this class. Just sort of existing.
I have a story to workshop and I will get to that I'm sure. But you know, lazy.

I had a strange dream last night. It consisted of Scoot asking me how I wanted my Zombie Avatar to look for the forums of this website.
Why Zombie? I'll never know, but that is what he asked me.
It was strange none the less.

So yeah I'm pretty keen to get the Zelda Occarina of Time 3Ds special edition...Comes with an actual Occarina! Plus some music sheets to play some songs...
I don't have a 3DS (Yet) but by gosh do I want to get the game just for the Occarina.
I think I might.

That's my bit done.
I guess I should pay attention to my final tute.

My name is Mikey and I don't like change.

Guess where I am?

So I'm posting my weekly 'Kive update...
Guess where I am then?

THAT'S RIGHT! MY CRITICAL REASONING CLASS!

You are a champion. I like your style.
But why do you do this in class Mikey?
Well I'm glad you asked, my answer is that because I'm so good at not working, while pretending to work, I manage to actually get some work done for another thing. Such as posting updates on the 'Kive.
Couldn't you use this time, if not paying attention to your actual class, to work on your other uni based work?
Well persistent imaginary voice, I don't like to do work that might actually benefit me. So there.

I think I'll be off now. I am out of class and about to head home. Now it just feels dirty to post here while not at class.

Bye!

My name is Mikey and I'm better than most garden plants.

A Post. Deal with it.

Here is a post. I hope you enjoy it. (Side note: This is slightly different form my tumblr version of this post.)

Here I sit, once again at university.

Hooray for not getting shit done.

There has been lots going on for me. I'm not in a class right now, I'm just in the library. Listening to music, posting stuff online, pretending to be vaguely interested in the things the occasional person I know says to me.
You know, socialising when one doesn't really want to socialise.
I'm pretending to essays right now. I say pretending. I'm trying, my brain just doesn't want to let me. I blame it on you. All of you individually.
I have no grounds for this accusation obviously, I just thought it might be nice to include you to my insanity. Well possibly insane to you, to me I suppose it has become my normalized reality.

Oh look a squirrel....

Where was I? Right the popcorn. That's a lie, I wasn't talking about popcorn, I was just testing myself to see that I could write about anything soon as it entered my brain. I wasn't going to edit that idea, I wasn't going to think of something more funny or witty for the post. I just wanted to write the first thing. It was popcorn. I am a bastion of creative thinking. Hooray for broken imagination. Or really good. Depends how you look at it and what your mind can do with popcorn. NOT THAT YOU SICK FUCKS.
Maybe that.
Of course the problem with this is, that while I am writing it, I am the editor and such so that you don't know if I actually have edited it so that what I wrote initially may not have been popcorn.
Live in fear reader. Live in fear.
Okay it was popcorn. I didn't alter anything. BUT I COULD HAVE.

Wow, I get ranty. I mean rant in the sense that I just go on and on, with no real purpose and or structure I just write. I wanted to write a book that incorporated this at some stage. I think I might get back on that track. It was fun to write and sort of just did it's own thing. I don't know what genre the book fell into. It was weird. I mean it actively engaged with the reader and then commented on the fact that engaging with a reader was impossible in real time and that breaking the fourth wall is fun. It was fun to do. It also had some of my short stories in there because well why not?
My observations are in there too. Not all of them, but some. I can always observe more.

Man I wish I was wearing a full silk outfit. It would be just so nice right now. I don't really know why but I like the idea.
Give me something to muse on. Someone. Any one?
Fuck you guys are useless.

See there I go again. I can't break the fourth wall and have reaction/response in real time.

Well I can end this here. I know I can because I am the writer. I decided when I stop. So there.
I shall say good day to you all.


My name is Mikey and I SAID GOOD DAY!

Where oh where is shadow?

Well I don't know what's happened to the others, but I guess I'll have to get onto that.
I'm going to keep going with the blog so GO ME! yay!

I am, as you may have guessed, in a university class right now. Hooray for not doing work while pretending to do work.
I'm in my Philosophy class Mind and World. It's pretty good. Keeps me entertained at the very least.
We are talking about perception in relation to the Identity Theory. If you don't know what that is then congratulations, you are the same level with me.
Wow...It's been a while since I started writing this. I am now three classes further into my day. You know what that means?! If I haven't posted this blog/have written anything for it since I entered that means....I'M LEARNING?! WHAT THE HELL!? I'm focusing attention on my lectures than what ever the hell I want? What is wrong with me?

Oh well, I am here now, waiting for my Critical Reasoning class to start. You know the one...The one with the lecturer who famously coined Cerdibilkity.
I am really lost with this class which isn't a good thing. I am doing poorly in terms of assignments for my other classes but at least I know what is going on. This class I just straight up forget everything we've talked about.
Oh well. (My favourite new phrase it seems).

I guess I should get going. I'll leave a comment if my lecturer gives me any more classic class moments to think about. But otherwise I better just call it a day.

My name is Mikey and all that glitters has a high refractive index.

We meet again...

Ah the University Mid Semester break is over and here I am, once again, sitting in one of my classes writing a blog post.
At last a semblance of order has been restored to my world.
Right now there is utter quite...Not a whisper...Everyone is too busy pretending to be busy with readings and such.
In fact the dead must envy such silence as this.

Oh great the class is getting somewhat important...
I have to go.

Bye!
My name is Mikey and this sentence is followed with my disdain.

I thought with them...

It seems an age since the 'Kive's last update. Well I am here to rectify this situation.
I won't talk long but I will talk happily!

Are you thinking with P squared?
I have bought, played and finished Portal 2. I got it a few days early as my local store decided to break release date.
Summation...IT WAS AWESOME.
Okay so I went in with trepidation as I thought, it has a lot to live up to. Expectations, the first game and all that jazz. Well it didn't disapoint. I can say that much for sure. It was amazing. Lots of fun, great, simply superb dialouge and it was a fair bit longer than the first one which is always a bonus.
I love the characters so much. Wheatly, GLaDOS and of course our Apperture Science founder Cave Johnson. Great roles.

Oh I might post some more details about the game in a bit, I just wanted to let everyone know that we are still kicking.

My name is Mikey and this is a statement.

Frozen Feast

The Humble Bundle is back. The Humble Bundle has been and passed a few times already now and acts as a great way for indie game developers to get their game out there, while raising money for charity. This time around the bundle is brought to you by Frozenbyte and includes 3 full games (Trine, Shadow Grounds & Shadow Grounds: Survivor), a pre-order for upcoming title Splot, plus an unreleased protoype called Jack Claw (which sadly only runs on windows and currently requires an xbox control to function). All titles are completely DRM-Free and can be copied and installed on as many computers as you see fit. So how much for such an awesome bundle you ask? That's entirely up to you. The Humble Bundle allows YOU to decide how much you're willing to pay for the bundle and how you want your money to be split with proceeds going to developer Frozenbyte and/or charities Electronic Frontier Foundation & Child's Play. Having bought Humble Bundles in the past, i know how great value these bundles always are and highly recommend everyone pick this up. The games included are often of fantastic quality and might help you develop an interest in games that you might not normally play. The 3 main games in this bundle come in at well over 500mb each, but the HB team has been working hard to ensure fast download speeds by using cloud storage and geographical  caching to optimise speed, plus making a bittorrent download available.

Australia's War on Kombat

If you haven't heard by now then... well, it's probably coz i think i was too slack to report it, but Mortal Kombat is officially banned in Australia. This isn't too surprising, but what was a little surprising was a story that hit the internet saying people caught importing the game would be facing up to $110,000 fines. This seems a bit harsh, so i recently looked into the story (it's 1:30am and i'm bored, don't judge me). The first problem was that every version of the story i could find was directly quoted from Gamespot, and with all due respect to gamespot, i'd trust wikipedia before i'd trust their research. Delving deep into Customs documentation (at least as far as i could go while still making heads or tails of it) i found that it IS indeed illegal to import any game rated as RC by the classification board. It's right in the document Gamespot quoted (Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956 - Section 4A-1A-F) however the quoted document doesn't actually make any mention of penalties. A quick search (or following this link) reveals a notice from Customs that shows a familiar figure... People can in fact be fined $110,000 for importing prohibited items, in quantities of 25 or more... oops. The fine can be given to people caught importing large quantities of prohibited items or if they have intent of selling, distributing or exhibiting said items. So what WILL happen if you're caught importing a copy of Mortal Kombat for your own personal use... In short, I don't know. I failed to turn up any relevant documentation on the penalties, but people in the past have had their games destroyed and warned not to try again, with rare cases of people being fined, but nothing as extreme as $110k. So for those considering importing it the consequences are not nearly as bad as stated by gamespot's source (who likely misunderstood the question, or just wanted to spook people from trying), however it IS still illegal and if caught Customs is in their right to hand out penalties. IMPORT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

In which stuff happens...

So it's taking me a while, not because it's hard but because I just haven't felt the urge, I'm still working on Pokemon Black.
So far the thing rocks! And for reference I'm up to the Elite Four.
I'm loving the new graphics of the game and the new sprite animations. However I'm not to keen on the sprites of the fifth gen. Pokemon.
So I will get to that in the next few days I hope. From what I understand however after the Elite Four there is still a fair bit to cover. Good long chunk of side quests and such to do.

What I've also had a lovingly long play with is my friends 3DS...It's pretty awesome.
I admit it's not everything I could want it to be and I think it may need more work, such as a longer battery life. I guess that the 3DS Lite will fix that. I assume they will release it. It will make them more money that they definitely don't need.

Oh I also really want to have Jeremy Irons' voice box. That is all.

My name is Mikey and this is a matter of Pride.

Back To The City

So my report last week about Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City was correct (woot, go me) and Capcom have now confirmed it. Obviously i'm not here to brag though, in fact i bring you more Resident Evil-ness in the form of the new ORC teaser trailer. Check it out below in all it's zombie filled glory and let me know what you think... and Yes, that IS a zombie getting curb-stomped at 0:45

The Arrival Continues...

The final piece of DLC for Mass Effect 2 has now launched, and with Arrival out of the way, that lets Bioware focus on Mass Effect 3, which they obviously plan on doing. Reports suggest that we'll be seeing a massive increase of information on the third installment of the franchise next month, when it appears UK PSM3, GameInformer and French Playstation Magazine will all be running stories. Naturally if you don't feel like tracking down all those magazine's next month you could just keep an eye on your favourite gaming news outlet (like say, The Arkhive) to catch all the details when they leak.

Exploiting The Platform

Crytek have released a message over on their blog letting everyone know that people using exploits on Crysis 2 will be penalised. The general opinion I've found though is that the console releases have been relatively cheat and hacker free, so this message must be aimed at the PC community, which like any game has seen it's share of hackers. That's not to say the game runs perfectly on consoles either though, with people begging for patches to fix numerous problems, rather than promises to stop cheating.

Bringing The Payne

The Twitter account for Rockstar went off recently with links to two pictures and a simple message... "He's Coming". It seems Max Payne is slowly making his way back to the world, although exactly how much hair he'll have is questionable... One picture shows Payne shooting at something, looking a little rugged with a full head of hair, stubble and a bandaged and bleeding arm, while the second pic shows Payne lurking in the darkness, completely bald, looking like a Hawaiian shirt wearing Agent 47. Max Payne 3 will be the first Max Payne game created solely by Rockstar and not written by series creator Sam Lake, so it looks like we won't have to wait too much longer to see if Rockstar can keep the series alive on their own.

Great...It's a thing. (2+2=4!)

Fuck. Look what you've done university.
Here I am, once again in my Critical Reasoning class, learning about lovely new material which has been completely going over my head as I update Tumblr and the 'Kive. Right now my lecturer is talking about camping.
I have no fuckin' clue why.

Shit...

Right so this is about 17 minutes after the stuff above and right now we are learning about the self evident truth of 2 + 2 = 4...
Wow university...Really? You want to go there? I mean I'm not a maths person but I do know that.

I guess there are reasons for it, but I have glossed over in my mind and lost track of what is going on.
All that is sticking with me is 2 + 2 = 4.
...
Wow demon possession?! How did we get to that? Maths to demonic rule over a mortals fleshy meat sack?
Okay I'm impressed.
It has something to do with appraising arguments by their self evident truths. Not entirely sure where demons factor in but I'm still impressed.

Well I guess that is me done. I should pay attention so that I don't you know, fail.

My name is Mikey and demonic possessions + wandering mind = creative blog post ending.

Kombatants Revealed

A spoilerific screenshot has been leaked which appears to reveal the entire line-up from the upcoming Mortal Kombat game. The list has yet to be confirmed or denied by Netherrealm Studios or Warner Bros, but it looks pretty legit. To avoid spoiling anyones day, i'll put the list and screenshot after the jump, so click through to find out if your favourite fighter has returned. Remember though, at this point in time Mortal Kombat is still banned from sale here in Australia, so unless you're visiting from another country or plan on importing, this list won't help you much.

Returning To Your Residence... Evil

Survival horror fans rejoice, as it is now confirmed that Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica X will be making their way to your favourite console via digital downloads. Both games will be given the HD touch-up and will be released around the end of the year, to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the franchise.

If you're hoping to get back further in the history of Resident Evil though, keep an eye out because a story that has apparently been leaked from the upcoming issue of OXM has details on the next Resident Evil game, titled Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City. ORC will apparently take you back to the 1998 Raccoon City incident, but will see you make your way through the city as a 4-man team of Umbrella Security Service Operatives. Named Vector, Beltway, Bertha and Spectre, the operatives are based around Resident Evil 2's secret character Hunk.

**********SPOILERS**************
The team will be tasked with covering up the epidemic and eliminating survivors, and as such, will end up fighting not just the zombies but also survivors and Spec Ops soldiers. ORC will also allow you to rewrite major parts of the Resident Evil history by killing key survivors such as Leon Kennedy.
*******END SPOILERS*************

So it's looking to be a busy year for Resident Evil fans... The Operation Raccoon City story is yet to be confirmed, but should be soon, so keep watch for more details and for the release dates and any further info on the RE4 / RE:CVX releases.

This shouldn't be a habit...

I may have just found a way to get regular posts done. However it's not a good one.

University.

How are you enjoying my university?...I'm one of my English classes right now. We have just finished a writing exercise.
It was nothing spectacular, I mean what I wrote was...Clearly.
But the setting we were given was to write about a character at a bus stop who has just had the most amazing news possible. Something wonderful has happened, however we aren't allowed to say what it is and just sort of give the impression about what the character sees around them.
Then, unsurprisingly we have to take it all away from them.

It was an interesting task. I wrote in second person, which is a first for me. If you don't know, second person is all "You noticed something on your arm" etc.

The room I am in is a small, boxed in little hot box. There are 12 people sitting, while comfortable, we don't seem to want to make eye contact. Not me. I'm amazing. Just so you know. I'm the only one who answers questions, talks and reads my stuff out loud.
I'll let you decided what is wrong in that paragraph.

So yeah this shouldn't become a habit.
My name is Mikey and right now we're talking about the metaphysics of insects.

University makes me smarter.

So here I am. Right this second as I type this, sitting in my Critical Reasoning class.
And I am learning how to argue fairly well. This is just an elective class. As some of you may know, I aim for nothing but to become a published author. However this class is fuckin' entertaining.
And it's fun to argue for a class. You raise a good question/point at the start of the class, you all go off on a tangent and avoid any real work. So hooray for that too.

But the highlight of this class, and maybe my year so far, is without a doubt my lectures horrible spelling/attention to detail.
While talking about credibility of an argument he wrote:

Cerdibilkity. As I have now taken to be the greatest word in the world and with a pronunciation much like this Cer-dib-ilk-ity

18 Minutes after what I just wrote: While writing the above I got a fair bit distracted from the lecture itself and missed a bit. So this next section of the post is a little late compared to the first however overall irrelevant to you reading it.
Right now we are talking about cork hats and the people who wear them. While that may sound weird, or your average Friday night, it does make sense in context.

I lost quite a bit of what was being said.
Oh well. So I just wanted to say, I'm still here, I've got more stuff for the 'Kive coming (POKEMON BLACK REVIEW WOOO!)

Thanks and I will see you all soon.

My name is Mikey and cerdibilkity.

A New Experience

A video has been leaked that is supposedly a Microsoft internal video, showing their intentions on changing the pc gaming experience to be more like that of Xbox Live. The WGX (that's Windows Gaming eXperience) will link several of Microsoft's software and internet technologies together to make everything more social as well as see your Avatars make their way to PC. While this video is more concept than actual proof of what is to come, i wouldn't be surprised if we see some of it's functionality coming to your pc soon, in fact this video is reportedly from march 2010, so some of the avatar functionality we saw added to xbox.com and the Windows Phone may have been from this. Check out the video below and let us know what you think...

Silent Hill... A Great Place To Hang With Friends

Radek Marek, art director on Silent Hill: Downpour, has told italian xbox magazine that Downpour will not have multiplayer, however he worked in mention of a possible multiplayer game in the future. He stated that Konami are looking into making a seperate game for multiplayer, and while his studio (Vatra Games) doesn't have much info on it, but "that most players have to survive in the town of Silent Hill" if it goes ahead. He also mentioned it would be coming to the Xbox Live Arcade.

[UPDATE] This has now been cleared up and confirmed as false. Apparently something was lost in translation between Marek and the interviewer as there is definitely no XBLA game coming at all.

Hail To The Kings

There may be a lot of red and blue, but you'll find no space marines here... Details about the multiplayer of Duke Nukem Forever have started leaking and they sound interesting to say the least. Forever will support up to 8 players (mostly designed for 4v4) online but in typical Nukem style, don't be expecting much character customisation. Looks will simply depend on what team you're on, with one side playing as Duke's in red shirts and the other as Duke's in blue shirts. The typical gametypes are also there in dukematch, team dukematch and hail to the king (Forever's version of king of the hill), but rounding out the games is the Forever version of everyones favourite capture the flag. Capture the babe will see the teams attempting to capture the opposing teams babe and drag her back to your base. Easier than it sounds when the babe will apparently resist your attempts to move her, occasionally requiring you to give her a 'gentle smack' to calm her down. The game will feature 10 maps to play on at launch (presumably more will be released as DLC too) including a remake of everyones favourite Dukeburger (where all players are mini Dukes inside a giant fast food outlet), the old west town of Morningwood and even a vegas casino map. The confirmed list of weapons so far pretty much covers all the classic Duke Nukem guns and gadgets, including pistol, shotgun, ripper, pipebomb, rpg, shrinker, railgun, freezer, devastator & tripbombs (which apparently can now be placed on players and enemies). The jetpack will also appear in certain maps, but won't make an appearance in single player. Finally there will be some customisation options, but not sure on what they are, just that you can earn points to upgrade by getting kills, and bonus points for one off kills like killing someone with the holoduke or accidentally blowing yourself up with a pipebomb.

Arriving Soon

With Mass Effect 3 announced and Dragon Age 2 recently hitting shelves, you could be forgiven for thinking Bioware is done with Mass Effect 2. Of course, You'd still be wrong. The final piece of DLC for Mass Effect 2 has now been officially announced and dated and Arrival looks to send the game out with a bang. Looking to bridge the gap between Mass Effect 2 and 3, Arrival will see Shepard having to figure out how to deal with the impending return of the Reapers. Sheperd gets sent to the edge of the galaxy to recover an undercover agent with evidence of the Reaper invasion, oh and we finally run into Admiral Steve Hackett (still voiced by sci-fi icon Lance Henrikson). Arrival will be hitting our xboxes on March 29th for the typical price of 560 points.

Molyneux Makes More Than One Fable

When it comes to Fable and Lionhead Studios in general, we're more than used to hearing Peter Molyneux say things that don't end up in the game, but during his BAFTA fellowship speech last night, Molyneux admitted he'd fabricated things to keep the press interested. He said he could " name at least 10 features in games that I’ve made up to stop journalists going to sleep" during an apology to the press and his team. It might be interesting to see if his comments during the speech have any effect on his acceptance of the BAFTA fellowship which is awarded in recognition of outstanding achievement in the art forms. Molyneux will now be only the 4th person to be awarded the fellowship for work on video games, following in the footsteps of Shigeru Miyamoto, Nolan Bushnell and Will Wright.

Return of the Lawsuit

A full year after the whole shitstorm that is the Activision vs. West / Zampella lawsuit started, things seem to have now escalated to the maximum level as Activision have succeeded in having EA added to the $400 million lawsuit. EA are accused of having held secret meetings with Jason West and Vince Zampella back in August 2009 while they were still working for Infinity Ward and allegedly pursued confidential information from the ex-IW heads. The trial, which will now see Activision take on West, Zampella, 40 ex-Infinity Ward employees, and now EA, will commence in may. Personally i expect all parties involved will end up settling this whole affair an an undisclosed settlement to avoid bringing any more publicity upon themselves, but i'm sure we'll hear more in the next few months.

The 'Kive - Past, Present & Future

It has certainly been quiet around here, and i'll get into that in a moment, but first, let me just say that The Arkhive has now been up for over a year, that's right, we've actually had our first birthday. Back in March last year, The Arkhive came about due to a friends constant nagging for me to start a blog, my insistence that i wouldn't have enough shit to say to actually fill a blog, and some late night convo's convincing other people to help me fill it with whatever random shit we wanted. Several hours later (about 10 minutes filling out details and 4 hours 50 minutes trying to find a semi-decent available name) The Arkhive was born and we started posting, not knowing if anyone would read it (they mostly haven't), what the future would hold (gaming news, rants and random mikey-ness mostly) or how long it would last (admittedly, much longer than i suspected). As of recently The 'Kive (as the authors affectionately call it... ok, as i call it when i'm yelling at my monitor because something broke) has become inactive, largely as i lost interest and got tired of just spamming it with the latest news. Mikey has taken made an effort to keep it up, but with uni back on, i suspect he won't be able to sustain it for long. Which brings us to the future portion of this article... and here's a surprise, i have NO intention of calling it quits. Over the next week or so, i'll be getting in contact with Mikey and Steve to discuss the future of The Arkhive, what we want out of it, and what we want to put into it. Whether that ends with us deciding it is time for The Arkhive to be sealed and buried, or whether it means breathing new life into it via whatever crazy methods we think of (i'm betting psychotic artificial intelligence) will be seen. So keep checking back and we'll see what happens.

P.S. I'll see about getting some news flowing through again until we figure shit out.

DS, Sickness and Love.

So I just got myself a DS cartridge thing (DSTWO) that allows me to play any DS game, GBA game, or even Snes game I desire on my DS.
*Cough* Completely legal.
So far it's going great and I love the ability to jump between say Mario Kart and then Space Invaders Extreme. All in all I think it is damn awesome.

So for the past few days I've had the flu something shocking...My body shakes, it's hot all over (Bow Chicka Bow Wow) headaches are a bitch and well it's just plain not nice. I'm taking all sorts of herbal remidies...Wait no, that stuff is bullshit....What I meant to say was that I'm taking prescription drugs and this bitch just won't leave me.

On the plus side, I'm back at University! Woo! And Orientation Week was a blast (Though lots of it is shrouded in alcohol caused mystery). So with my new (very open) schedual I think I can get back into the posting of frequently on here.
Also, as Scoot mentioned, farewell MCG, you will be missed.

My name is Mikey, and the condom factory owe me money.

Farewell MGC

mygamercard.net is a site that a lot of xbox users have used, but most probably never saw how much effort went into it. MCG was the first and one of the most popular site that allowed you to create your own gamercard to display your xbox live information and achievements wherever you wanted, plus they put together achievement based leaderboards for the whole world for those competitive gamers. Sadly site owner, Morgon, has chosen to close up shop as support from Microsoft has waned and bandwidth costs (coming out of his own pocket) increased with 13 million daily gamercard requests. Apart from just being a gamercard service, MGC was home to some of the most helpful and friendly forums on the web. As the site shuts down, all of the people using gamercards from there will find them replaced with a farewell image, which you can see 3 times in our contact info on the right, because i intend to leave them there as long as possible as a sort of tribute to the site. You can head over to http://www.mygamercard.net/ to read Morgon's full statement about the closure and find a detailed timeline explaining how MGC came from being a proof of concept all the way back in 2005 to the time when Microsoft stopped caring. So from myself and hopefully all the other gamers who used your service, thank you MGC and farewell.

Destiny

I had never planned to post on this topic, but things continue to escalate and the air is full of overblown opinions on both sides, so here we go... Kotaku vs Bungie. Kotaku recently posted an article claiming they had been in contact with an unnamed source who had been, along with over 30 others, fired from Bungie. The report claims a large number of contractors from various departments had been released due to project sensitivity and budgetary restraints, although apparently Bungie told their contractors it was performance related. Bungie responded to this with their own message stating that there had been no layoffs or group firings of any kind. Not to let things end there though, Kotaku has now turned up a second "100% verified" source who confirms a history of poor treatment to contractors at Bungie, and they point out that Bungie's response never addressed their details about Destiny, that it would be an MMO with FPS elements.

OK, so that's the story so far... Here's how i see it. The original Kotaku post reveals one line of possibly leaked information about the new game, while the rest of the article is a story about Bungie mistreating and firing contractors. Bungie's response covers the story of the contractors and ensures that Bungie are dedicated to their staff. Kotaku turn up a second source who can confirm Bungie mistreats contractors, but DOES NOT say anything about the recent firings and/or leaked info. Kotaku's latest story also latches onto the point that Bungie's response didn't address their leaked info at all, but why would they? If i posted right here that the new Bungie game is going to be a racing game featuring characters from Call of Duty and World of Warcraft going head to head, i wouldn't expect Bungie to respond to the claim at all. Kotaku's story seems more focused on the contractors, so it's in Bungie's best interest to respond to that and preserve their reputation, but they have no need to comment on speculation as to what their new game is.

In closing, until Kotaku can provide something more than unnamed sources complaining about work conditions, i'm calling this story 110% bullshit.

[Original Kotaku post HERE]
[Second Kotaku post HERE]

So who wants to see me on Youtube?

Well the bad news is...I am on Youtube...The good news is I hate you so you can't see it.

I just wanted to post something.

LOVE YOU!

The Darkness Returns

The Darkness came out a long time ago and while it wasn't one of the most well received games, i actually rather enjoyed it, and i know a lot of other people who did too. Well, luckily for me (and any one else who liked it) The Darkness 2 has now officially been announced and it will be coming our way before the year is through. The Darkness 2 will see the return of Jackie Estacado, who is now the don of the Franchetti family. After an assassination attempt, the Franchetti's are thrown into an all out mob war, which isn't helped by The Darkness deciding it wants out of the symbiotic relationship it shares with Jackie. Digital Extremes are taking over development, replacing Starbreeze, who done a fantastic job on the first game. The Darkness 2 will also be taking on a new look as the style changes to a more hand drawn look to closer match that of the comic series the game is based on. Keep an eye out for The Darkness 2, hitting shelves at the end of the year.

Stealth and Acrobatics Making A Comeback

One of the things that is pretty commonplace on the PS3 now is releasing compilation discs with touched up versions of PS2 games. Well it seems that trend may no longer be Sony-exclusive as ratings from ESRB suggest that the latest collections will be coming to Xbox too. Released a short time ago was the Prince of Persia HD collection which included the whole Sands of Time trilogy, and coming soon is the Splinter Cell HD Collection, which includes the original Splinter Cell, as well as Pandora Tomorrow and Chaos Theory. There is still no official confirmation of this, but if it does turn out to be true, it'll be interesting to see if they go the PS3 route, releasing the bundles in disc form, or release each title separately through the Xbox Live Arcade.

Combat Never Changes

Before i state the first line of this actual post, i want to say that at the time of posting, this is nothing more than speculation and alleged report from "anonymous sources"... right, so that's said. Halo: Combat Evolved HD is said to be hitting shelves in November. Joystiq have quoted anonymous sources, saying that the remake of the ever popular first installment of the Halo series is being worked on by Saber Interactive (creators of Timeshift) and that they intend to have it released on November 15th (to coincide with the originals 10th anniversary). Supposedly the update won't just be a touch up in terms of graphics though, as the game is now said to be in full 1080p, 3D compatible and running on a completely new engine, DIFFERENT to the Reach engine. Multiplayer is still under construction, with the possibility of online co-op (the original had 2 player split screen co-op). Personally, i'm calling bullshit on this for now, as i find it hard to believe Microsoft would be having another studio put their name on a title that's sure to sell millions of units, but the rumours of a Halo remake have been persistent for quite some time now, so you never know.

Method 413

ZST: Zombie Survival training.

Hello all and welcome to another edition of ZST! Today I’m going to share with you method 413 of surviving the Zombie Apocolypse!

Zombie survival method 413 is as follows, feel free to adapt as required.

Zombie survival tips…By ME!
1. Get all your smelly clothes together.
2. Find a big printer or any printer really.
3. Print hundreds of copies of yourself.
4. Stick them to walls, traps, doors, what ever.
5. Rub your smelly clothes over them to ‘bind’ your smell to it.
6. Watch with ammusement as Zombies struggle to comprehend what’s happening.
7. Live life in Zombie free paradise.
8. YAY!

And there you have it, another helpful tip from the ZST Hand book.

Written by, well…Me.
I like coming up with creative solutions at 5am.

Are you playing?

So I'm playing the waiting game now...Damn this game. I've sent in my story and all that so I'm just waiting for the news...I have no idea when that's going to happen either so yeah...

Also I've been playing LOTS of Halo Reach over the last few days, getting back into it so woo.
I've also started exploring the wonderful world of online flash games and such which I always recommend.
You Have To Burn the Rope is one of favourites...You can finish it in seconds and then there's an AWESOME song that is currently on my ipod. Woo.

So yeah are you playing the waiting game like me? Let me know if you are or just come on XBL and play some Reach or something.
Oh finally, I downloaded the Bulletstorm demo on XBL and so far I really enjoyed it. I think I will get the full game NOT just for the Gears of War 3 beta.
It was damn fun, and I look forward to seeing more of it.

BYEEE!
G.

Every Waking Moment

GAH! I'm so nervous!
So here's what's up...I've written that story for the scholarship! I have it all done, I'm on my second draft I'm just so worried it won't be good enough and such!

I mean this scholarship is worth like 10 grand! Or 5 grand...Hell I'd kill for 3rd or 4th place which pay 2.5 grand.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I hate writers block...Which has something to do with the story a little too actually.

Well that's me done.
F. I think that's a note...

Demo's Galore

You may or may not remember that i reported there would be a Bulletstorm demo going live on the 25th. Well turns out EA isn't happy with just taking over your life for the half hour it takes to finish that demo, because now they've revealed a Crysis 2 online multiplayer demo will be hitting the same day. The demo will only include 1 map and 2 game modes, but should give you the opportunity to try out the highly anticipated online multiplayer before the game releases. Oh and on the topic of Bulletstorm, i may or may not know of someone who may or may not have played it and may or may not have thought it was good, but may or may not be allowed to talk about it... but my suggestion, go out and pick up the demo before you drop your hard earned cash on it.

The Duke Returns

The people over at Game Informer have managed to discover and leak the release date of Duke Nukem Forever. While the May 6th (May 3rd for U.S.) release date is closer than most suspected, it's not really that big a surprise as Gearbox have already had the game running in Brisbane's Mana Bar. Ever the joker, Gearbox executive producer Randy Pitchford had the following comment concerning the leak, "Somehow the guys at Game Informer magazine discovered Duke Nukem Forever's launch date before I did,".

Team MW3

A report from the LA Times has claimed that Activision has got Sledgehammer, Infinity Ward AND Raven Software (creators of Singularity) all working on Modern Warfare 3. Supposedly Sledgehammer and IW are both working on the single player aspects while Raven Software fiddles around with the online multiplayer. There's no real evidence to back this up yet other than Activision confirming they'll have yet another new CoD game to release in the usual end of year time slot. On top of this, Sledgehammer is still working on a completely different CoD project, which has apparently been put on hold until MW3 has been wrapped up. Activision responded to the article by sending the following statement to IGN... "There's been much speculation recently. We look forward to releasing details for the next Call of Duty in the near future."

Slayer Of Aliens... And Dragons Too

EA loves their cross-promoting, and it has reared it's head once more in a somewhat predictable way. Planning on buying Dead Space 2? What about Dragon Age 2? If your answer to both those questions was yes, then you're in luck. When you purchase Dead Space 2, you'll now get an unlock code for a full set of armour that resembles the Dead Space hero, Isaac Clarke (plasma cutter not included). Not his first excursion into other games, Isaac was also a hidden character in Skate 3.

Hudson Loses Control

Hudson Entertainment, creators of such gems as Bomberman, will be undergoing some changes as of April 1st. Konami, who currently owns a majority 54% share of Hudson, will be doing a complete takeover of the company.Current Hudson CEO Michihiro Ishizuka is apparently set to step down on March 31st, making way for Konami's Kazuhiko Uehara to take over. This doesn't actually seem like a completely bad thing, as it will allow Konami a more serious role in the creation of new titles in the Hudson franchises and allow the talented developers at Hudson to help out more on Konami projects. So the biggest change you may see will be in name form, as Konami is considering changing the studio's name as part of the acquisition.

No More Propoganda

Creators of Tron: Evolution and the 2008 Turok reboot, Propaganda Games, has now closed it's doors. The developer had a Pirates of the Caribbean game in the works which got cancelled back in October and the team there stayed on just long enough to release Tron: Evolution and it's subsequent DLC, but with that now done the studio has now officially closed.

A Bizarre Ending

The eleventh hour is upon Bizarre Creations who have been given the recommendation to close up shop. Activision previously gave the studio a 90 day warning as it looked into other possibilities, but after failing to find a suitable buyer for the studio, Activision has officially recommended Bizarre Creations close their doors. Bizarre's most recent efforts come in the form of Blur, which according to Activision failed to find a commercial audience and 007: Bloodstone which performed poorly in the sales department. The closure of Bizarre Creations will see 200 people jobless, but Activision will be offering assistance with counseling and external placement services. Personally, i quite liked Blur and i know people who loved Bloodstone, plus the Project Gotham Racing series was always good, so the team clearly has talent and it will be sad to see the studio close, but i'm sure everyone there will have luck finding new opportunities elsewhere.

Epic Exile

A new trademark and logo has turned up which reveal what may be a new Gears of War game. Gears of War: Exile could be absolutely anything, but my money is on the rumoured Gears Kinect game. Check out the logo below and let me know what you think... Is it a Kinect game? Is it a spin-off game? Perhaps it's a top down shooter Arcade game where you play as an exiled Locust trying to survive in the underground tunnels as COG's flood in to bring an end to the Locust... I don't know, but i'm sure we'll find out soon.

A Special Death

Deathsmiles is a sidescrolling shooter that has already been released in most parts of the world, and finally it will be coming to PAL regions too... in a shiny special edition. The 3 disc Deluxe Edition will include a 23 song soundtrack, a desktop accessory and a game disc that includes 3 versions of the game (Original arcade version, Xbox arcade version and a completely new version, Version 1.1) plus the Mega Black Label DLC. This is all a bit hard to explain, but basically if Deathsmiles looks like it might be your thing, the Deluxe Edition is well worth the extra money.

Packed For The U.S.

You may have heard already, but the Gears of Ware triple pack was revealed not too long ago. The pack includes Gears of War, Gears of War 2 and the Gears of War 2 All Fronts Pack. Here's the kicker though, Microsoft has confirmed the pack "is a US regional promotion", so it's highly unlikely we'll be seeing it on Australian shores.

Home 2.0

I'm home now...Well actually, I'm out of my birth place home, I'm in Adelaide again, getting ready for university and such.
But I thought I'd let you fair people know that I'm back and should be ready for a more set schedule of posting and such.

HOORAY FOR PANTS!

C
On that note...I WILL SLAUGHTER THE FIRST BORN OF ANUBIS!
BYEE!

Advanced Animus Training

Ubisoft has now released the second load of DLC for Assassins Creed: Brotherhood. As with the first Animus DLC, the Animus Project 2.0 pack includes a new map, Pienza, and a new game mode, Chest Capture, and comes to you for the low, low price of free. Pienza is the typical acrobatic friendly type of map you should be expecting of AC:B by now, while Chest Capture is a whole new way to play. In Chest Capture, players will be split into 2 3-man teams, with one team being given the goal of following their radars to chests which need to be looted, and the other team trying to stop them. Sure, it's basically just the Assault gametype you'd expect to see on any FPS, but as with everything else, the unique style of Brotherhood's online mode makes the game more ridiculous than usual.

The Pulse Beats Once More

After rumours last week about a discovered Final Fantasy XIII-2 website, Square Enix officially announced the game at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premiere press event. Not only is the game in the works, but it must be a fair way into production already as the game has been slated for a 2011 release. So presuming we don't see any delays, we'll be seeing the 2nd true Final Fantasy sequel hit shelves before the end of the year.

Chaos Before The Storm

If you're like me (and hopefully you're not) then when a game like Bulletstorm comes up, you're a bit cautious about it. Personally, i'm not remotely sold on the upcoming shooter yet but many people seem to be ready to dive into it headfirst (digging up their Gears 3 beta codes at the same time). Well if you ARE like me, or just can't stand the wait till release then i have some good news... Bulletstorm will be getting a demo, which you'll be able to grab from the marketplace from January 25th. This should give people a chance to actually decide whether they like the game based on stuff other than it's overuse of swearing and crude humour, like say, it's gameplay.

Dreams Become Reality

We've previously reported rumours that Sega was planning to release a Dreamcast Collection game and this news has now been confirmed. Sadly the SEGA Dreamcast Collection disc will only include the 4 games already available on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace (being Sonic Adventure, Crazy Taxi, Space Channel 5 Part 2 and Sega Bass Fishing). So if you haven't picked any of those up yet, then look out for the collection to be hitting store shelves at the end of February on Xbox and PC.

A Bee In The Web

Developer of the latest Spiderman game, Beenox, have been confirmed to be taking charge of the production of Spiderman games for Activision from this point on. The latest game, Shattered Dimensions, was a success in comparison to other recent spidey titles and Activision have said they're excited to see where Beenox can take the franchise next.

Numeric Squared

Actual sequels are a somewhat rare thing amongst the games of the Final Fantasy franchise. Only one game in the main series has received a direct sequel (Final Fantasy X) and there haven't even been many in the spin-off games. Well that number may go up soon, as it was noticed that Corporation Service Company, the company who acts as Square Enix's registrar, recently purchased the online domain of FinalFantasy13-2Game.com... This would seem a sequel is in the works for Final Fantasy XIII, and while Square Enix has yet to confirm anything, they have a event coming up where it's rumoured other Final Fantasy titles including Final Fantasy Versus XIII and Final Fantasy XIII Agito will be making an appearance, so maybe we'll find out soon.

Hammer Your Fears Away.

WHAT MADNESS IS THIS!? MIKEY POSTING NEWS!?!

Yeah that's right...I'm posting gaming news...I'm a gamer too...Just a lazy one...Scoot does most of the news stuff...I just sit back and relax...Until now.
Okay, okay to be fair in this scenario Scoot was just not online and forwarded me the information to post FOR HIM...So yeah here is the news, you've earned it!

First up, Fear 3 the next in the line to inherit the well made and popular Fear franchise from Warner Bros has pushed back it's release date this year from the 22 of March to May...No reason has yet been given. Boo to them I suppose.

And finally we have some news from Sledgehammer Games. The studio that brought us (well headed) Dead Space, has some recent job listing things...These job listings IMPLY, I stress imply that they are working on the next Call of Duty game... and not a spin-off but the next title in the main series.

Looks like we have a bad news good news situation...Yay!

BYEE!
Also G...That's a note isn't it?

There's got to be a pattern to it...

So you know what I don't understand? The common saying "random strangers".
Such as; "I just threw the fliers at random strangers" etc.
If these people really are strangers, does it matter if you selected them randomly or not? Could you even select them in an order?

I guess you could sit down, estimate the number of people on a street at any given time and make a pattern to the ones you throw things to...Such as two people on the right, three on the left...
But really...They are still strangers...Does it really matter?!
WHY BE RANDOM!?!

I also want to know where such a phrase originated from...I want to know it's history. Etymology is a hobby of mine and I do enjoy discovering the genesis of a word or phrase.

Uhh well that was a interest tangent for my brain to run off...I had a plan for this nice new post but my fingers just sort of got into a rhythm...

D.
And on that note, BYEE!

Dirt and Grime Have Never Looked So Good

Following the reveal of the new Tomb Raider reboot in Game Informer, we now have the first pictures of the game and boy does it look shiny. There's a few of them, so rather than putting them all here and making the home page a mile long, i'll put them after the break, so click through to check them out...

Bouncing Back

With Halo: Reach pretty much done with, it was only a matter of time before info started turning up on exactly what Bungie would take their hand to next. Obviously, i wouldn't have started the post that way if i didn't have such info, so here we go... Bungie filed a number of trademarks back in July last year which might give us an idea where they're going. They registered trademarks on 4 names, specifically, Seven Seraphs, Osiris, New Monarchy and Dead Orbit. It also turns out that a series of web domains were taken out by Bungie Aerospace, which you can see clearly shows the Bungie logo and redirects to bungie.net when clicked. The web domains registered are:

• deadorbit.com
• deadorbit.net
• deadorbit.org
• newmonarchy.org
• sevenseraphs.com
• sevenseraphs.net
• sevenseraphs.org

What does this all mean? No idea, but i thought you'd like to know.

Have you heard of the block?

I'm sure you all know what Writers Block is.
It's that lovely cube that most writers blame their writing based woes on. I have some of it now, nothing stopping me from writing random shit for the 'Kive or my Tumblr, but it is stopping me from writing any real good works.
Which is where I have my problem.
I have stumbled across a rather perfect scholarship for me to try my hand at, a literature scholarship in which I have to write a short story between 1000-3000 words by the end of this month. The scholarship itself is worth 10k, or 5k for second OR 2.5k for third and fourth.

My biggest problem is that I can't think of something to write that would be awesome enough for even fourth place!
Woe is me and the cube that causes my problems.

Suggest a serious idea! It could be fun! I'll send you the story too, once I write it.

I'll keep at it, see if I can't turn this cube into sphere...Smooth those cocky corners.

C Sharp.
And on that note, I'm done.
BYEE!

The Gold Standard

Are you an awesome gamer? Spent a lot of time on Castle Crashers? Well then sharpen up your... whatever it is you use to kill things, because The Behemoth has a competition for you. To celebrate Castle Crashers reaching 2 million players, The Behemoth are starting up the tournament of champions. Here's how it works... Get yourself into the top 100 spots on the Weekly Ranked Arena leaderboard and still be there at midday on the 28th of January (American PST time) and you'll be entered into the tournament. Those 100 people will then have to compete in 1 on 1 arena matches on February 5th to see who eventually turns out to be the champion of champions. Whats in it for you (apart from a cool title), you ask? All 100 players will receive a prize, the top 24 will receive an extra prize, plus there will be major prizes for the top 3 players... Third place can curl up in bed at night and sob about how close they came in the company of 250 squishy chickens. Second place can practice more on the Castle Crashers themed Elite Xbox console they pick up. And finally, First place can spend a few hours staring at their shiny shiny reflection... on the side of the 24-Carat gold coated Xbox console they'll win...

/Rant - Online Multiplayer (Or How The Internet Destroyed Gaming)

I was having an extremely in depth thought about online gaming (actually it was 4am and i was thinking about it while completely zoned out from the game of Audiosurf i was playing) and i realised that i have a reputation for hating multiplayer games, when in actuality i only hate certain aspects that people probably haven't noticed went down the toilet around the same time online multiplayer took off. So i thought i'd write a rant about how being online has changed the dynamics of multiplayer gaming. As mentioned, i'm known to hate multiplayer, so you can expect this rant to be 100% unbiased and clearly show the evidence for both sides of the argument... but seriously, once you've finished reading, please direct your hate mail and death threats to the comments section at the bottom of the post.

More Kombatants

More details continue to leak from Game Informer's February issue, however this time the game in question is Mortal Kombat. While the confirmed roster is still fairly small, Kratos was added to the PS3 version during the VMA's and now we have two more to add. Both Goro and Jade will be making their way into MK2011 with Goro taking o his familiar appearance and lair from the original, plus having the ability to throw projectiles, meanwhile Jade's appearance will mix her looks from Ultimate Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Deception. Also, there WILL be an Xbox exclusive character but it's not that they're trying to keep it under wraps... The problem is that the extra fighter hasn't actually been decided on yet. There's also mention of post launch DLC, which could be anything, but popular rumour seems to be that it will come in the form of more fighters.

P.S. i was going to make a title that was some weird amalgamation of "Go On" and "Goro" but the only thing that came to mind was Goron, which seems like more of a Zelda reference

I have my lucid moments...Oh Deja Vu.

Guess who's lazy but really enjoyed what I wrote so I thought I'd double it up. Me! Go Tumblr!

Dreaming.

Isn't it wonderful. I love to dream. It might sound fan-boyish or cliche, but Inception had the right idea when they talked about the freedom of dreaming, the pure creation of it all.

I think I'm addicted to the act of dreaming.

Is it possible?

Why wouldn't it be. To dream is to experience life like no other person could, like you never could. I love being in a dream and you understand what is happening, you take control and shape the dream how you wish, you change things, alter your new reality.

Talk to the dreams, see what they have to say for themselves. Dream of that special someone....Naked. *Wink*

Or experience life through the eyes of an animal or mythological beast. That's the beauty of dreams. They are what you want them to be. Experience things that could never exist in the world, creatures only limited by your ability to think of them.

I am trying to learn and master lucid dreaming so that I can at least be a master of something. And so that I can experience my dreams in a much more real way.

I love to dream.

E Flat

And on that note,

I'm out.

BYEE!

Born of the Dragon

Game Informer magazine are set to unveil The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in their February issue, but in true Arkhive fashion, i'm going to go ahead and give you the details early. So Game Informer spoke to Bethesda's Todd Howard who gave them a whole heap of inside info, which pretty much translates to the following...

• Story
• Skyrim will take place 200 years after Oblivion and isn’t a direct sequel in the traditional sense of things – from a story perspective.
• You take the role of one of the supposed last remaining Dragonborn, a true dragon hunter, and will no doubt be tasked to stop the huge dragon God, Alduin, also known as the World Eater.
• Esbern, your in-game mentor of sorts, is one of the last surviving Blades and will be voiced by Max Von Sydow
• Your hero will be tasked with walking 7,000 steps to the high retreat of High Hrothgar to get dragon slaying training from a group of mysterious old men that reside there called the Greybeards.
• Game World
• There are said to be “six or seven really different environment looks” in Skyrim, says Bethesda's Todd Howard.
• There are 5 massive cities to explore. Yes, you can fast travel to previously explored places.
• There are 10 races in Skyrim.
• There are a variety of tasks to do in Skyrim as well, including crafting new weapons at the forge, creating poisons and potions through alchemy and you can enchant items with magical powers.
• You can also get involved in mundane tasks if you wish, like farming, woodcutting, mining and even cooking.
• Dropping weapons in the street can end in different outcomes; for instance, it could remain there forgotten, it could be picked up by a small boy and returned to you, or two men could fight over its ownership.
• The game world is said to be much more alive and detailed than in Oblivion, and boast incredible draw distances. Everything is said to be traversable.
• The game world is populated with a variety of animals from saber-tooth cats to woolly mammoths.
• Lesser dragons roam the game world, meaning they will play a far more significant part this time around. They are a big part of Skyrim and won’t be held back until the end.
• Missions
• Thanks to something Bethesda are calling the Radiant story system, the game’s lesser missions will react to who you are and where you are, and present you with quests that are “flavoured dynamically.”
• That’ll take into account where you’ve been, who you’ve killed, what skills you’ve upgraded, who are your friends and who are your enemies. For instance, a magic user may give a fellow magic user a quest, but not someone who levelled up their weapon skill.
• If you kill a shopkeeper that was going to give you a quest, his sister will inherit the store and may give you the quest out of anger or frustration instead.
• The ability to duel in the streets is mentioned.
• Through missions, the game will encourage players to go places they’ve never visited. For instance, a woman might ask you to save her kidnapped offspring and the game will send you to a dungeon you’ve never been before. It’ll then set enemies that are appropriately matched to your strengths and weaknesses.
• NPCs
• Faces have been dramatically overhauled, giving them more emotion and making them as realistic as they ever have been in a Bethesda game.
• Conversations are revamped and no longer zoom in on a rigid character. Instead, characters will often get on with what they are doing with the occasional glances at the player character, for instance.
• Characters can overhear details from other people’s conversations that they can do with as they see fit, from hearing about missing items or unusual situations. All of which are stored in a log.
• Combat
• Skyrim welcomes the two hands/two options approach, enabling players to mix and match what each hand holds, whether it’s a spell/weapon combo, a weapon/weapon combo, a spell/spell combo or a weapon/shield combo. Whatever you want is possible.
• You can setup loadouts and change them in combat with only a momentary pause.
• There are finishing moves now that are weapon and opponent specific.
• Bows take longer to draw back this time, but are much more powerful.
• There are only 5 schools of magic in Skyrim – there was 6 in Oblivion – with Mysticism being cut. Howard insisted that with them jiggling stuff around, it became redundant.
• Bethesda has slowed down how fast you move backwards too, so you can’t just backpedal in combat. Apparently being able to move as fast backwards as you can forwards made your character look ridiculous in third-person view.
• Enemies don’t necessarily charge at the player when they see him this time and some will have unique patterns and tendencies.
• Players can learn unique abilities called “dragon shouts” by absorbing the souls of dragons – one of the benefits of the dragonborn - of which there are over 20 in the game and each is formed from three words of power. They can push enemies away, slow down time, transport you and even summon a dragon, amongst other things.
• Levelling Up
• There is no class system per se in Skyrim and how a player plays depends on what skills the character gains. Use a one-handed weapon, watch that skill increase, etc. You get experience for everything.
• Skill increases contribute to your overall level growth. Each level gives you a boost in health and a chance to boost health, magika or stamina.
• There are 18 separate skills in Skyrim, including such things like Illusion, Destruction, Restoration, Enchanting, etc.
• It seems like there are 50 main levels, with Howard mentioning levelling up to 50 is roughly the same time as it would be to level an Oblivion or Fallout character to 25.
• You can level up past 50, but it’s a dramatically slower increase than before once you get past that threshold.
• Todd Howard confirms that Skyrim will use the perk system that they used in Fallout 3, noting that there was an automated perk system in place in Oblivion, but in Skyrim, the user has control over it. There are dozens of perks to choose from, that may increase dagger damage during stealth attacks and may mean your mace attack may ignore your foe’s armour skills.
• On the official forums, Bethesda responded to questions about the game’s scaling system that many didn’t like in the original. “All our games have had some amount of randomness/levelling based on player level. Skyrim's is similar to Fallout 3's, not Oblivion's,” said Bethesda’s Senior Community Manager on the forums.
• General
• You can play Skyrim HUD free.
• The third person perspective is said to be improved.
• Characters can now sprint, using up stamina from their stamina supply.

So yeah, plenty of stuff to digest there, and the February issue of Game Informer will also be chock full of screenshots (which i may or may not end up putting up here when i can). Skyrim is already sounding like it's going to put Oblivion to shame, a feat i wasn't sure was possible.

News Never Sleeps

So i've fallen a bit behind on the latest in gaming news over the last week or two, so here's a quick catch-up on what you may need to know...

• Microsoft have re-confirmed Kinect as a success by announcing the sensor has managed to sell 8 million units in it's first 60 days.
• Microsoft announced Avatar Kinect, a program which seems to use the Kinect sensor to capture your facial movements and apply them to your avatar for the purposes of having chat sessions with others. Avatar Kinect will be free to gold subscribers within the next few months.
• The demo of Avatar Kinect got people talking when it showed finger movements on the avatars, however Microsoft has officially responded to the chatter by saying "The Steve Ballmer Avatar Kinect animation was a video created using some of the Avatar Kinect technology for the Microsoft Keynote at CES. Avatar Kinect, which launches this spring on Xbox LIVE, will have some of this functionality."  So it looks like while MS have the finger tracking technology in the works, they're not ready to release it yet.
• THQ are bringing back the online pass used on games such as UFC 2010, but this time it will be found on Homefront. New copies of the game will come with a free one-use pass allowing full online multiplayer access, and pre-owned buyers can buy a pass for 800 MS Points. People without a pass can still play online with full access to all maps, however will be unable to pass a level cap of 5.
• Assassins Creed: Brotherhood has received another free multiplayer map, although this one is really only half new. The Rome At Dusk map is a dusk version of the game's Rome map.
• Xbox Live Arcade fans keep an eye out as the Arcade House Party will be kicking off in two weeks. Seeing the release of 5 new games in 5 weeks, the party will start on February 16th with the release of Contra prequel, Hard Corps: Uprising, which will be followed by the releases of Full House Poker, Bejeweled Blitz Live, Beyond Good & Evil HD and finishing off with a console port of the hugely successful Torchlight.

Well thats pretty much it, but you can expect my usually gaming news coverage to return from this moment on, plus i'm sure mike and steve will continue posting whatever they choose, so welcome back to The Arkhive for 2011.

If one's a Theory, then what's the other?

So guess how lazy I am...C'mon guess...Extraordinarily is the answer yes.
Here, this is what I wrote for my tumblr page. I liked it, thought I'd post it here too because well..I wanted to post here.

So I was watching some TV, as one young adult at university should be doing, when I heard the reference to the 'Many Worlds Theory'. Now I immediately thought, "Man I could really use an Iced Tea right about now..."

However slightly later but with the same amount of passion and curiosity I thought; "What is the difference between the Multiverse Theory and the Many Worlds Theory?"

Now I haven't looked up anything about the Many Worlds Theory (MWT) because from my knowledge it is exactly the same as the Multiverse Theory (MT). Both postulate the idea that there are an infinite number of universes where every possibility is played out, changes may be virtually non-existent or ridiculously radical. Now to be fair I'm not 100% on these as the theories behind the Theories, but it is my understanding.

My driving question, the bullet point of this blog if you will, is why are there two names? And why have I only heard of the MWT recently...Why is it becoming more and more popular in mainstream TV Shows?

Also if they are the same thing, why say Many Worlds Theory...The Multiverse sounds so very much cooler.

Because I haven't looked up the answers to these questions I just plain don't know, but I'm just guessing that the MT was a registered copyrighted name to someone and they got all annoyed about people throwing it around so they just came up with the MWT.


Well there you have it...Me being me because I can.

BYEE!

Sleep is for the weak...I guess that's why we need it.

So it's 5:32am, I woke up at 4 after spending much of the day going shopping for new clothes and buying a whole load of books instead. I think it was a productive effort.
Among my book based purchases was a perfect conditioned, hardback cover of the book MYST: The Book of Ti'Ana. Which is based on the ever huge Myst universe.
Oh and it was $5.00.
I was ever so pleased.
However this is where the problem comes for me...I don't really know much OF the Myst universe. I haven't played the games, I have looked at them from time to time, but I don't know heaps. From my understanding and reading so far, the book I bought is a stand alone in the series, which is awfully convenient because I don't know much about it as I explained.
Oh and it did come with a lovely map...It is fuckin' gorgeous.
I like maps by the way, mostly fantasy ones.
So from the books acknowledgments and such, I've discovered it took quite a few people to translate the language of Myst for the book itself, which means there is so much Nerddom that I am not aware of.
I just want to know more about the universe now, I want to see if it was based of one guy making up a language and just developing a world for it or if it was the other way around etc...

Well that's about me done, and I just wanted to let you know that I have a good day.
BYE!

Laying It Out

You may or may not have noticed there have been a few layout changes over the last week... Mostly it's just me messing with bits and pieces trying to find cool ideas. The current layout is entirely the work of Mike and is also not the final design. It will be changed soon-ish, namely when i stop being slack and finalise a proper design, or when i tell Steve how to change it and let him go crazy.

Of course you would trust Badgers with your personal security..Who wouldn't.

So uh, I've noticed that over the last few weeks, Badgers have been my 'go to' animal when it comes to using an animal reference in well...Any given scenario.
I'm not sure where it started. I mean I like badgers, I think they are pretty cool. And the Honey Badger is just badass! (Look that crazy bastard up, that is one fearless cute thing.)

But overall I don't know why it has come about. I should do some soul searching and see what the reason is...You know deep in side and what not.

Also I know it's not very new (in fact not at all) but I've really been getting back into an online game called Ogame. If you haven't played it, it is this fun game set in space where you create a galactic empire by developing planets, research and colonize new planets and go to war with other players from around the world and form guilds and such.
It is one of those time based games where you upgrade your metal mine, wait two minutes then upgrade again and such while also researching laser technology or something.
So yeah it is simple and it is pretty fun. Kills some time at the very least.

That is me done.
BYE!

Ha can you believe they fell for it?!

So we come into the new year with just about as many readers as before, lots of fond memories and lots of potential for new things.
So given the spirit of change and growth and newness and new things and all that stuff that new years are supposed to do...
I thought I would let the other admins, Scoot and Steve finally know my secret...
I am not who I have been pretending to be. I am not the loveable quirky writer you all know and love (or at least tolerate)...
I am in fact...
A god.
Let that settle in.
Now that we have that sorted...
I'm sooooooo bored.
Someone give me a game to play. I want to review something and be awesome again.
Tired...Must post..
Because...post.

Happy year that is slightly used now...I wonder if we can get a refund on this thing...Or maybe get the deposit back when the lease is up...I think it ends some time around 31st of December or something.

Oh well.
BYE!

DICE Hasten Things Up

The world was promised an extra map on Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam when the players on their platform succeeded in performing 69,000,000 team actions. While the PC players steamrolled right through that and unlocked the Operation Hastings map, both the xbox and ps3 players have been a bit behind (i choose to believe they were busy playing a certain other vietnam war game that maybe didn't do so well on the PC). Well DICE have decided that being the new year and all, they're going to go ahead and unlock the extra map for PS3 and 360 players too. So what do you think? Generous unlock by DICE? or failed marketing campaign to get more players?