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

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

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

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

Steve-O

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

Peas In A Podcast

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

Gimme A D... Or Not

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

Heart & Soul

A look at the latest Pokemon offerings

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

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

Graphics

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

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

Audio

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

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

Gameplay

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

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

Final Thoughts

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

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

The Rev.

http://vimeo.com/8777801

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

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

Steve-O

A Room With A View

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

Totally Mawesome

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

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

Trial By Fire

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



Trials HD

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

You can try out a flash version of the game HERE

Extended Play

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

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

MA Steps Down As AG

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