Emulator for Traktor Pro running on big multitouch screen.

Bon Vacances

So once again I have not been blogerifying (am I ever going to get a regular blog going...probably not methinks!), but this time I've been away for the past 3 weeks - another trip to Poland (more dentistry - more to follow...) & then 2 weeks with Madd Thoughts & her extended family (13 of us all told.

I think this blog might well turn into a bit of an epic one, but hey ho - we continue.....

Firstly, Poland & more dentistry, after the exploits of the last time I was in Poland, I had a felling there will be a lot more fun/pain/work to be done...I was right! This time 12 hours were planned & more rebuilds, fillings & an epic 5.5 hour root canal happened & then to top it off an extraction - definitely the most trouble so far. So a big burly polish surgeon firstly drilling hard with what felt like a regular industrial drill, then using what I can only presume (I kept my eyes tightly shut) was a corkscrew, then opening my eyes he had a scalpel (to open my gums up to let my wisdom though). When it was all over, my jaw as swollen, I couldn't eat properly for days, I was bleeding for a long time, oh & I had some stitches as well....


But next  fun (actual, much more real, fun) in France! So after the pains of Poland, I drove about 500 miles with Madds to northern France - a small village in rural Brittany, called Le Gouray. It was a long old journey, & so needed a couple of days rest, but it was all well worth it, when we eventually got to the house. It was simply huge, 7 bedrooms on 2 stories a massive garden & drive, all in the picturesque locale.

The beaches were no closer than 30 minutes, but were really good, sandy & not (completely freezing cold), but I was quickly struck with an idea - snorkeling! So after a great deal of searching, we found a pair of snorkels each, which just happened to come with some flippers as well - Madds got the hang of it very quickly - me, not so much! It was great to do not too much for 2 whole weeks & spending some quality time with Madds & her family. We swam nearly every day, went round great markets, had a hog roast, Nerf wars & I learned how to swim with flippers...underwater!

The only slight issue was my Kodak camera broke, which was expensive to replace, but a new Panasonic Lumix DMC ZX1 (here it is on Amazon) was acquired, which was a far superior machine & took some much better photos.



OK now onto other (arguably more boring) things - my whole department has moved into a new office - for the first time in it's short history (since 2002/3). It's a totally different environment - more professional & office-based & much less like a call centre - much better if you ask me. The only issue is that it's rather quiet, but when everyone comes back from holiday/training I'm sure it will get a little bit busier & more...homely.


I seem not let too many blogs go, without some form of wedding update...therefore: The Wedding has not really formed much of conversation recently, because of certain things getting in the way - my 30th birthday party, Madd's birthday, the holidays, etc. so not much has happened.

However, discussions have begun again - we might well bring the date forward & the budget may well become a little smaller was well - there is the possibility of ditching a formal reception, in favour of a much less formal affair - inviting all guests, rather than just the preferred selected dignitaries/necessaries. I think the reality is that because neither Madds or myself have a massive budget & I know that my family do not have the capacity to help in a financial way - therefore the budget is going to be seriously linked to what I can save myself.

From the beginning, my attitude was that I wanted not too much fuss, not too much pomp & ceremony & definitely not too much esxp- I am most interested in getting married to Madds - not in how good a party we can throw for people!


The final bit of this blog update has to relate to my plans to visit New Zealand next year. My good friends Doodles & Alan are due to be married in early March 2011 & I feel that I really need to be there for my friends, as does Madds (who is to be a bridesmaid...proved we can get there). The plan is to not go on another holiday till then - a long old time, but totally worth it methinks - skiing vs. New Zealand = no contest really!! But the big question that surrounds this whole idea is how on earth am I gonna pay for that?!

Even thinking as laterally as possible - £1k for flights another (conservative) £1k for spending, then £500 on car hire & then accomodation on top, unless I can do something like crash at various places/camp in places. That coupled with saving up for the wedding makes it look almost impossible...however, I think some deals will need to be done to try to fix it all up - seeking help wherever I can get it - say if flights/car hire could be taken care of that would take a serious amount away & speaking to some of the locals to see how much I really need when I'm out there & which sofa I might be able to blag - we shall see, or even could I do without a car. Finally - how are me & Madds gonna both be able to afford it - it's not going to be an easy ask/task methinks - expect updates...if things get going!

We continue.....

CoD6 MW2 DLC & Prestiging

OK a little random geekery for a Monday Tuesday - there have now been 2 lots of  downloadable content (DLC) for Call of Duty 6: Modern Warfare 2 & let's be honest - it's not been the most cost effective waste of my time I have ever know - 1200 Microsoft (MS) points for 5 maps, followed by another 1200 MS points for another 5 maps! Total 2400 MS points, at 85p/MS point = £21.25 for just 10 'new' maps. The most irritating part...the maps aren't even new - half of them are re-hashed versions of CoD4 MW! However, attempting (bitterly) to put this aside for a minute to concentrate on the gameplay - what do the new maps add? Variance, simply put, which is not necessarily a bad thing!

What I (& TC + Sparky, etc.) have all done is to 'prestige' - this is where you reset all unlocks (weapons/perks/equipment) in multiplayer, to progress further & unlock different badges. There is no real advantage (no new guns/perks are unlocked) but you get some new badges & the pleasure of starting from the beginning & using more basic weaponry & learning to love going back to the start, but this time with skills! All in all this has all lead to a little added value to the game & has kept people playing.

However, I think many people want to see either some new weapons or spec-ops/single-player missions - that would lead to some actual replayability.

Rant over...we continue

Crackdown 2

I love the original game - it was different to most of the other games of its genre (open sandbox/3rd person shooter). Several things set it apart - the cell shading look of the game &  he power-ups.

The cell shading made the game look like a comic-book or a cartoon-is, but not childish. It was a very accessible game & not unreasonably difficult to complete. 

This was aided by the power-ups (skills) which quickly gave the Agent's super-human traits: 

• "Agility", which increases the Agent's ability to jump, run, and swim;
• "Driving", affecting how well he can handle a vehicle; 
• "Explosives", which affects the power and range of explosive weapons; 
• "Strength" that increases the Agent's strength, namely by increasing his ability to lift and throw, as well as how hard he can strike an opponent;
• "Firearms", which improves the character's aptitude with weapons.

It really was an immensly satisfying game, with few limitations - mostly repitition & enemies (even bosses) which could be defeated in a few seconds (if you ignore the 30-40 guys guarding them & go stright for the boss) - where you could literally leap over a building in a single bound (Superman) or punch a car & spin it over your head (Hellboy) or smash/throw everything (Hulk). So imaging my gratitude for one of my young people from North Leigh 'borrowing it'...forever - fail!

But now there is a second game...Crackdown 2! Here's the low-down on this game:

A trailer was unveiled at E3 2009 revealing that the player-controlled Agent roams over Pacific City, which has become infested with urban-gang warfare, assisting the Agency in the battle for Pacific City against numerous crime lords who control the city. A recent article from Game Informer magazine stated that Pacific City is infested with mutants from the research facility in the first Crackdown. These mutants have over run most of the former Shai-Gen territory and completely over run the city at night. The remaining civilians, forming a group called The Cell, revolted against the Agency and the mutants. The Agents are tasked with sabotaging key Cell structures and raiding underground mutant tunnels."

Now I have had my hands on the game for a few weeks,  & it is not too dissimilar to the first game, but they have done what the best games do - add to the original, rather than reinvent the wheel (Gears of War, Call of Duty, Halo - we're looking at you!). It's a joy to play, but much more of a challenge - because this time the enemies get more tough - as tough as you when you begin to level up your character.

It's not a 5* game, but it's a load of fun - I would give it a strong 4* out of 5 - good times

How to make a Daft Punk helmet in 17 months

World Cup Reflection

So it's over for another 4 years, but it's the first World Cup where I've paid so much attention, & one which I have followed almost every game & as such enjoyed it most of all.

Firstly let's get over the disappointing teams: France & Italy - said about Italy, but they have just been limp & France were just terrible (a fiasco!)

However, as an Englishman (well I consider myself an Earthling/European in all honesty) the disappointment of watching my national squad of highly paid professionals play like a Sunday league pub football team was very frustrating. So a huge, epic, frankly pathetic 3 goal tally was not what was needed or expected by the nation (Australia scored the same amount ffs!) who were so behind the team & hopeful of progress with the likes of Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Stevie Gerrard, Frank Lampard, & the on-fire Jermaine Defoe, & the in-the-form-of-his-life Rooney.


However, here's what happened; the first game against the USA was blotted by an unforced error by Bobby Green, which left a 1-1 draw. But this was nothing, in comparison to the second game which was the worst I have ever seen England play - resulting in a 0-0 draw with Algeria?...yes Algeria! I have never felt so let down, especially against the lowest ranked team in the group - we all expected a wooping...but it never came! Then finally a win in the final group game, but it was still not exactly impressive. The final game for England in the 2010 world cup was a serious wooping...by Germany! All-in-all the most forgettable tournament (apart from Euro 2008, which they didn't even qualify for!), but they were not the only ones.


So Brazil & Argentina - although they didn't get that far, for former champions on multiple occasions, were still very exciting to watch & every match I saw, I did want them to score & some great goals they scored. I really did respect their efforts, with some of the greatest stars around at the moment & both managed by former world champions (Maradona & Dunga of course). They both scored really great goals, but were disappointing after the group stage & were knocked out by the Dutch & the Germans. But the excitement when Elano, Kaka, Messi, Higuain & Tevez got the ball was palpable.

The jabulani ball has been full of controversy, but for me, it's just a newly designed football. Therefore, (surely) sportsmen who are paid often millions of pounds annually should be able to cope with any ball, as the principals should apply to any ball, regardless of design changes - I think they're just making excuses!


But it has not exactly all been disappointing, there have been some serious success stories, namely the squads from Australia & especially New Zealand who drew all their games & were only 1 point from going into the next round. The most impressive displays have been from Germany, but for sheer heart & belief - it has to be the host nation - South Africa - they may not have the best squad, but they gave it everything they had & only went out on goal difference, but they were great value to watch.


In terms of extra curricular activities, I have already blogged about the fail of ITV's website, but the Fifa website had a really complete fantasy world cup league & a brilliant virtual sticker album. This has kept my department both entertained, but also engrossed in all the matches - not just rooting for  England.

Finally, looking forward to the wake of the final between Netherlands & Spain, Spain having never progressed to a final, but on the back of a Euro victory, meet a team they have never faced before, with neither of them having been crowned world champions before - an epic match should be ahead!





My reflection is simply that it has been full of great moments & superb goals, frustration that some world-class players didn't live up to their expectation (Ronaldo, Torres, Rooney, Kaka & Messi a little bit) but utterly exhillarating overall.

...we continue

Polish Reflection

So this is a post which I should have written as soon as I came back from Poland, but in reality life (well my party really!) seems to have got in the way a little.

So then what happened in Poland? It was definitely an experience, the city we went to was Kracow which was a surprisingly nice place to visit, witha  big population (getting on for a million) & a very tourist-heavy place. We flew from Luton > Kracow directly via cheesyjet...sorry Easy Jet & got to the hotel (guest house really) in good time to then unpack & head to the dentist.

The dentist itself was seriously state-of-the-art - everything was clinically clean & hygenic, the staff spoke brilliant english (superior to my polish by a very long way) & were serious professionals. The work involved was a large scale restoration job - repairing what could be repaired & fixing where fillings had gone bad, following on from a consult & a 3D electronic X-Ray which they then gave me a burn of [helpful].

So they did 3 cosmetic [but completely essential] fillings on the front, then 4 rebuilds (layered fillings, as far as I understand), in a seriously fast time & I definitely would recommend them - they were brilliant!

I'm going back & will report on that at the end of July, but for now - so far, so good!

Here's the before Xray  :)

Why I love cycling

So here's a very random post about my love for cycling. This reflection has come from my recent pedaling resurgence, as part of my fitness [& transport!] changes.

So I've literally got back on on my bike [that Trek 1200 which had been collecting dust over the winter] and been tearing around the streets of Oxford. I don't think I'm the best or fastest cyclist - I just love pushing myself to keep going faster - if I see any bikes in front of me - it is my raison d'être to catch them...all of them!


But where does this insanity stupidity awesomeness madness come from?



Well personally I like to blame the parents - no seriously, it's actually their fault this time! to be precise, it's actually my old man's fault - he taught me how to cycle when I was about 4 or 5 [I think, not too sure, as I was rather young!]  in the car park of Temple Cowley swimming pool on a hot summers day - first with stabilisers, then not so much! But it's not just that simple - he was also a gifted cyclist himself - having raced for several clubs in Cycle Speedway.

For those not au fait with this sport,  it's a pretty intense and gritty [yes, pun intended] form of cycling, where you ride round a short gravel track [in a similar way to motorcycle speedway - but with more human power, less petrol] on some crazy bikes - my old man's bike having sandpaper pedals (for grip - this was well before shoes with plates in them connecting to cleats) no brakes & only one gear! Originally him & a couple of his cousins made their own track and created a team - Headley Hawks [which sadly closed a couple of years ago, but was visible on Google Earth! now track destroyed] and later, more when I remember as a kid, for Horspath Hammers - who are still going strong - there are even still picture of the old man [with current team manager Robin Carter with his 'stache] on their website http://horspathcsc.co.uk/default.aspx.

But how has this affected me & my cycling? Well after learning how to cycle, I've progressed through a load of really not great bikes - all mountain bikes pretty much, until back in 2006 when I got a Trek1200 with my old man up in Leeds I've discovered a love of speed on a bike. It took a little while to get used to different handlebars, brakes and gears, but the amount of raw speed you can get on a roadbike is brilliant! It is really quite fun to try to catch up with & stick with cars/buses whilst riding through Oxford, quite literally tearing up the tarmac - rather exhilarating!

I think the big think that helps me is to have the appropriate tracks to keep the momentum, but also the blood that flows in my veins - cycling blood! I've got some of the old man's old cycling gear (trousers & zippy-top) & I think the emulation is quite apparent, so thanks RKH!

PENDULUM - The Island part 1 - 2

After such an appalling match last night, & to get rid of the English [football] depression - we need some special music - here it is, with a riff that will stick in your head all week, then a sting in the tail that "sounds like Deadmau5's twisted cousin"

...play it, enjoy it, get over it!

World Cup....frustration

So the world cup has got up & running & so far has been reasonable to watch on normal television. However there are some really nagging gripes for me, in this new hyper-digital age - why oh why is it so very difficult to stream video for those of us not lucky enough to have the whole month off?

The BBC has their own micro-website dedicated to the World Cup which is pretty reliable, with links to televised games, or where some [ok most] games have been poached/cherry-picked by ITV to BBC Radio Five Live. This is where I really do have a problem. ITV has their own dedicated micro-website for the World Cup...which has been the causes of much frustration of the past couple of days.

Now maybe this is just me using the BBC website too much, but I really like not having advertisements in my video streaming - you don't get it on the iplayer, you don't get it with any videos on the news site, or the sports site - just straight into what you are wanting to watch. 

However, when trying to watch the opening game - South Africa vs Mexico, then again when I was away at the weekend the Serbia vs Ghana match - the frustration of adverts was pretty high, I don't want to see at least 3 adverts (taking 1-2 minutes) before I can see live sports - that's not really on guys! However, this was nothing when looking at the quality of the video was a serious issue - it was a perpetual spot-the-ball competition, to say nothing of trying to establish which player was which. Then a final frustration - there was also a running (& particularly distracting) chat going on on the right of the screen - a twitter-styled messageboard which there was no way to get rid of - so much fail for such a plausibly simple task - show me football - is that too much to ask?!

Frustration aside, I really want these group stages to hurry along because the last 16 & onwards is looking highly interesting. My thoughts on the ones to watch - Brazil ,Spain, Portugal & the Netherlands (although we haven't watched them perform yet), Germany look really strong and Argentina have the strength up front for some serious destruction! England need to prove themselves to their country - no pressure guys, but improvements need to be made after that American game - I'm looking at you Emile Heskey & Bobby Green! I think that the dark horses are looking like South Korea and South Africa, but I think you should include Argentina/Portugal as well - wel shall see & we continue

brb lol!

OK this is going to be my last post for the next week or so, as I'm actually leaving these fair shores for a few days next week.

My grandfather gets his teeth done in Poland - for financial reasons (apparently it's loads cheaper), & last time he took my baby brother with him, so this time it's my turn. I know it's been a good 2 years or so since my last dentist appointment & I know there's going to be a lot of work needed to be done (2 very fail root canals plus half a dozen fillings...at a conservative guess).

I'll be in for some pain, but that's easily handled & I know my fiancee will appreciate the effort!

The last time, there were some complications with air travel which led to a major issue getting people back to the UK. It's the first time I've been on a plane for 18 months, so hopefully air travel has fully recovered from the knockback this caused.

We continue.....

Running till the wheels fall off

OK so I've been toying with the idea of trying to get into a better shape (yes, yes I know round is a shape...shhhh) for this here wedding coming up in a couple of summers time (and if you didn't already know that I got engaged...seriously dude?). I'm not the most self-conscious of people & for a very long time I've been of the opinion that, size is not important - I've been borderline-anorexic in my youth & for many years got out of the habitual eating practices. This has lead me to be more sporadic with my eating practices & me out of routing. This has then not only impacted my opinion of food & eating, but masked my love...for cooking!

However, I have, firstly with the help of my Aunt & Uncle/Godparents, & more recently, with the influence of a certain King family, been eating better & more regularly. With this has also also come into focus the fact that since finishing my degree, all my jobs have again been office-based. This means I'm spending a lot more time sat down on my backside playing with computers & not really getting out there amongst the world.


So it got me thinking - I need to get back on my bike- & not just the proverbial one, my actual, physical bicycle! So far I've tried to ride into work as many times as I can during the week, but have yet to actually do more than one day on the trot! What I really need to do would be to hit the gym & get me a personal trainer...however costs mean that it's not really that feasible - I am trying to save for a wedding.

So I struck upon an idea...employ a Cranston!

I had a rather frank chat with young TC to see if he might be able to lend me a little of his time, to try to get into shape for the wedding - my thought here is a friend who (probably!) won't take the mick out of me (the whole time!) & at the same time would not be afraid to kick my ass in to gear (read: encourage/empower) to keep going, even when my body needs a sit down. Also what was brilliant was getting me to stretch out afterwards & also he gave me to exercises to build on what we are attempting - so sit-ups & press-ups (both of which are totally alien to me) to attempt to begin the toning process.

I know that historically I definitely can run (Cokethorpe Cross Country winner in 1997 & shaving a minute off the record time) & it may be a little buried, but I know I have a determination in the idea - not for anyone else, but for myself - getting trim/into shape/fit, or whatever is something I feel I can achieve & it's no bad thing.

I've acquired some gear - all the essentials (shorts & shoes!) as running in Merrells/Vans is not so good for your feet! The first time was absolutely killer - we did about 3 miles & I was really hurting for a whole week. However, the second time was much better & I think once I start to get into this, I can effectively run on my own, without needing the encouragement that TC brings. I've cycled in a few times & started to get some reps going, but it's going to be a long road....no pun intended (well maybe a little one!)

...we continue

Random work-i-ness related stuff

So once again seem to be slacking, but this time it's my geekery taking over again! I've been epically html coding (with a little help from Dreamweaver) to try to revamp the internal website that my crew uses. Once again I've been tasked/self-tasked with kicking the old website into the new era of VLE's & 10 times the number of product.

To do this, I have slimmed it down, cut away/prune all the crud which was never used & streamline all the data.So rather than having 5 pages for one series of products, just make one! Rather than having a page for every single product done by the company, create links to the online FAQ's.

What I have effectively done is to create a portal with links to other websites, patches etc. but written in such a way as to be as customer-focused as possible, but written for the support crew to use as a platform to find out info. So where somethings already been created, html links work better than simply duplicating pages/data.

I've also been slowly talking to imbalance of a company who officially support OSX but in reality nobody really has a clue...apart from a certain person who's been using OSX since he left the company over 4 years ago(!). I've done a compatibility matrix which is essentially just a drop-down product list which will tell you instantly what is & is not OSX compatible. Hard work, but definitely very useful.


The other tasks I've done have been to do a VLE upload document (which I found out today I need to change...thanks oh nameless provider!) demonstrating the most effective method for 3 big providers. It's a bit of a thankless task, but useful in the long run.

I know that I work best with project work, & much as I moan (especially when I 'break' the intranet!) I love projects really!

..........we continue

For youthworkers - possibly useful

Life without 'essential' tech?!

A very random contemplation (I think aided by the epic fail of a support site recently) what would life be like without Facebook usage? There are not over 300 million (300'000'000) users (apparently) with most people conducting their lives on social networking sites we expect - the phrase "it's not true if it's not on Facebook" has become more & more prevalent & to some extent true.

In fact when I got engaged to Maddie - we conducted a little social experiment - let's just change our 'relationship status' to engaged & see what happens. The results were both scary & hilarious - it took less that 5 minutes for the first phone call! All this with a very slight change in 2 profiles.

But it did get me thinking - what would happen if there was an epic national power outage? Or if the Internet (which was not initially envisioned for, or designed to do) simply stopped working?

The amount of business, communications, news, media, searches etc. that are done on a minute-by-minute, hour-by-hour, day-by-day basis is epic...& growing daily! If that stopped it would be catastrophic fail worldwide.

The concept of the failing of those services is now almost too terrible to comprehend - it would almost be termed as science-fiction - a world without the internet! The same I would postulate would be true if there were no mobile phones - can anyone really remember a time before mobiles?

People born in the 90's almost certainly can't - when I was at school (a considerable time ago!) it was first pagers (ferociously expensive to use & now only used in hospitals & restaurants) then mobile phones properly kicked off when I was just finishing school in the mid-to-late-90's. I got my first when I was 18 & now struggle if I forget to bing my phone for any reason. The techology we now almost take for granted has come on leaps and bounds - you can call, sms, mms, email, take digital picture, web browse, listen to mp3's, and do a host of things with apps. There are multiple connection methods & they even take standard headphones, rather than original (i.e. terrible) sets supplied. the number of phones is always rising - there are always new models with new features - driving the technology forward & creating an easily disposable tool - all from an original concept by Marty Cooper.

I have no answers, just more questions - it's a 'what if' scenario - picture if you will, a world free from technology...


...We continue

Recent Slackness 2

OK a little more on the recent lack of Brianshare from the post from last week - with why I;m using my paper (huh? Oh wait I remember that!) journal, I'm basically writing down ideas as me & Maddie think about them, or other friends are giving helpful things to contemplate.

So although I'm not blogging - I'm being a super-keeno & have written down loads of ideas, mostly at a conceptual stage of the thinking process, with an overall aim of getting an overview idea for planning & more importantly getting a budget down.

So it's not only getting me brain on paper (as per last week's post)it's trying to get my brain going & stimulated to process things like what. who, when & where, then the little details like how much & who's gonna take care of what!

I know that the youthworker in me likes to organise things (sometimes) & plan (occasionally) but what I'm doing is getting effectively a proposal, so I've looked at things like:

• who I'd like to have as ushers & best man, 
• a provisional guest list, 
• what sorts of things could form a wedding list
• what sort of music would be good in & around the service
• what (provisional) budget/costs would be good
• honeymoon ideas
• stag 'do' ideas
• where to get married & live
• what to wears
• reception ideas

But I'm not trying to necessarily organise everything now - 2 years in advance - I know things change, but I thought it helpful to get some details down, so that we have a rough idea of how many people we're looking at inviting - do we want a reception & it so where & who might we invite. Also with numbers of ushers/bridesmaids, all this will help get a general feel as to what the rough costs might well be.

I know that I work best with a budget - so when planning for how to fill a youth centre with tech & having an almost open book that was hard to deal with, but when someone says here is X for this specific purpose, I then can begin to gauge what can be done to budget. So when someone says I want to get a new TV & my budget is £500, I can then come up with a couple of options to get the biggest/best for the money. Not because I'm a cheap-ass, but it's just that I need to have a rough idea of parameters to work within.

Right enough rambling for a mundane monday!

We continue....

Splinter Cell: Conviction Review

OK, I've managed to play through this over the past couple of weeks & have been introducing  some friends to it as well.

It's a tough & punishing game - if you run & gun you will not survive...literally! It's like playing on Veteran Mode (Call of duty Series) even on standard difficulty settings. So if you bash down a door & run into a room blasting at everything in sight - the enemy AI will get them hiding & ducking for cover, then proceed to light you up with heavy automatic weapons!

However, the key element is stealth.

I first started playing it with Sparks in co-op mode - a seriously challenging 4 levels which take in everything from infiltration, evasion & straight up rooms full of guards that you have to dispatch quickly & silently. It was a real team match & a proper challenge. In fact it was a welcome break from the intensity of CoD6:MW2!

There are some differences in the controls & there's a good cover system (a la Gears of War) which is very natural feeling. The weapons don't initially look very good, but they each have 3 potential upgrades which add things like extended mags, higher calibre or range bullets & in some cases scopes. There are also some cool gadgets - there's the standard frag & flash grenades, but also a sticky camera (which I've not really used that much yet) a very useful EMP grenade for knocking out the lights. However my personal favourite is the remote mine - it's like the C4 from CoD, but with much more range & immensely satisfying to use - it always make me chuckle!

The stealth elements are similar to another Ubisoft title - Assassin's Creed 2  - so you can climb on multiple surfaces (not all though a la AC2) like pillars pipes & rails, then rain down some 'Death from Above', or if you can sneak up to someone (crouched & from behind naturally) you can take them out swiftly & silently & it's immensely satisfying to do. You can also grab people who are foolish enough to peep out of windows near to where you are hanging from the ledge. If & when you do manage to do something special (not just shooting people in the face) the reward is a one-touch assassination - you hit the Y button & then your character will pop out of cover & do an impressive single shot kill.There are also some interrogations, which seem to have been influenced by Jack Bauer - gritty is all I'd say!

The main story seems to also be influenced by both 24 & CoD6: MW2, which is not detrimental at all. In fact there is a little bit of the Jason Bourne series as well. There's lots of variances on a theme (infiltration, extraction, etc.) but it's a very satisfying game to play & I would class it more in keeping with AC2, rather than the blammo action of CoD.

Another thing worth mentioning is the fact that Ubisoft are doing something unusual in the gaming world - giving you free 'stuff', just for playing the game well - there are achievements of course, but what the publishers have done is to release some DLC with free guns & equipment - every week there's something new to try. It doesn't feel lazy - quite the opposite - it feels like they're giving something extra - to try to keep you playing the game longer & that's definitely no bad thing.

Overall 4/5 only because the controls aren't completely intuitive but a solid 4, for sure!

Recent Slackness

OK I haven't really been a total writing slacker - just a Blogger slacker!

I've been keeping a Wedding journal - detailing our processes, but not just for me, but also as a written record for others in the future to read - that's how it's been written & therefore keeping my brain on paper. I've chaptered it & will (somehow) integrate the big to-do list when I can next get my hands on it!

Also coming up this weekend is my good friends' (Mark & Han V) daughter's first birthday - awwwww! Reflecting on this briefly - it's bizarre to spend some much time with such a tiny person - seeing her grow up. It's the first time I've spend so much time with a newborn (I seem to be seeing the whole family really regularly - thanks guys!) & this has definitely woke up my internal desire for parenthood - scary stuff!

We contine...

Try harder!

Splinter Cell: Conviction

I'm definitely a fan of the Splinter Cell series - which has been in direct competition with other stealth-approach games/series e.g. Metal Gear Solid, Hitman, etc. & loved the last game (Splinter Cell: Double Agent) so my expectations are reasonably high for this next game.

The press & previews that I saw for this game were good enough to make me buy the game on the release date (literally as soon as they put it on the shelves!) & I'm having my first run-through this weekend.

Review to follow