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I did something very stupid about two weeks ago - I fell for the hype, became a sheeple, and bought a copy of Call of Duty:Modern Warfare 2, made by Infinity Ward, and distributed by Activision.

I should have tweaked to the issues in the weeks leading up to the release, because Activision started pulling all the YouTube vids of the game, citing supposed “DMCA” concerns.  Why would they do that?

So, I buy the game, settle in for a night of gaming, and finish the single-player campaign in about 4 hours! The content was gripping, but the ending was a bit, well, abrupt.  It certainly clears the way for Modern Warfare 3, or DLC content, given that Gaz and Soap are now international fugitives.

The strength of Call of Duty:World at War was the Zombies mode - you run around inside buildings, and repel hordes of zombies.  MW2 has taken a different tack, and introduced Spec-Ops mode - you complete set missions from scenes out of the single player campaign.  Same maps, same stories, rehashed in an interesting way.

But it’s the multiplayer aspects which has me in fits at the moment.  The maps are brilliant, and much larger than the CoD4 maps, have some amazing environmental effects (snow, blizzards, sandstorms, etc). Infinity Ward also added a lot of new weapons, new skills to master, new challenges, and both kill and death streaks.

In recognition of the fact that gamers are producing some ridiculous kill streaks (racking up the kills without dying), they added about 15 different streak rewards, from care packages (which drop random kill streaks), to UAV jammers, Predator missiles (which you can steer towards your target), various helicopters (one of which you can sit in the gunners seat), the AC130 (which is controllable), and even a tactical Nuke (which obliterates everyone on the map, and then ends the game in the Nuker’s favour).

There are also a bunch of new perks, including “pro” versions of the perks.

The number of ranks has increased to 70, and there’s still the ability to prestige too.

All up, sounds like a lot of fun, eh!?

So, why am I stupid for buying this?

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November 26th, 2009 | Tags: MW2 | Category: Rant | Comments (3)

I’ve been playing Flight Control on my iPhone since it was released, because it’s fun, and a great time waster whilst on the train.  It also prescribes to my flying ambitions.

Flight Control has spawned a bunch of related apps, including games like HarborMaster, which I also have, and enjoy playing.

The game play is pretty simple - aircraft appear on the screen at random times, and you have to route them into their proper airport, by drawing a track on the screen with your finger.  The game finishes when two planes collide.  Generally there are three types of aircraft (fast, medium, and slow movers), and a helicopter.  The action starts off slow but ramps up to the point where you can end up with 15 or so aircraft on the screen at once!  Quite a handful to keep separated, which I still have not worked out a reasonable strategy.

I discovered this morning on the train that Flight Control has been updated again with another map.  Flight Control has teamed up with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, so the map is themed after the Australian outback, with the usual two airports and a heli landing pad.

However, this is where things depart from the usual Flight Control gameplay, which I think is a great change from simply adding another themed airport.

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September 14th, 2009 | Tags: flight control, iphone | Category: Games, Reviews | Leave a comment

When Call of Duty:World at War was released earlier this year, I eagerly went down to JB Hifi and bought it.  Initially, I found the multiplayer quite daunting, as I’d started it late (though I bought the game the day it was released).  So, all the players were much higher ranks, with “better” weapons, skills etc.  As of this article, I’m still not at Rank 65, much less thinking about prestiging.

Because I’d previously played CoD4:MW (Call of Duty 4:Modern Warfare) to death last year (and ended up selling it in disgust due to the inaction by Infinity Ward towards fixing the ranking up bug), I quickly settled into my usual style of play for these games, being a sniper.

Many games passed, whilst I put up with and adjusted my game style to the horrible Springfield w/ scope - terrible weapon with a terrible scope.  I moved away from sniping (because I was too slow at sniping with the Springfield, and the maps are too small), I started using what I deem to be CQB weapons (the Thompson (which I love…), and the other rifles and MG’s).  Of course, because my style of play is as a sniper, I’m no good at CQB, and would often get smashed in the scoring.

Eventually, I ranked up enough to unlock the Russian Mosin-Nagant, and found it to be quite nice, and _then_ unlocked the scope for it.  Godly weapon! Back to sniping I went, even on relatively small maps.

A thought crossed my mind - how about I unlock the scope for the M1 Garand?  In the game, the Garand is a painful semi-auto, because of the stripper clip, and it’s weak power.  However, unlock the scope, and I found I could one-shot kill people across the map easily, and accurately to boot!

The Garand contributed to my slinking away into a corner to snipe away all game.  The end result, lots of games where I’d shot 4 rounds for 4 kills with zero deaths…

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September 7th, 2009 | Tags: CoD4 | Category: Rant | Leave a comment

Jerilderie 2009 has been staged for another year, and I didn’t do too badly this time around, finishing 26th out of 65 competitors.  I had some great backup from Joe Wurts, Steve Keep, Nick Chabrel, and Brian Hamilton, who all provided awesome and lasting advice.

Along with a great crew, I was flying a great glider, the NAN Models Xplorer, imported by Dave Pratley.  The Xplorer is a 3.5m F3J/TD fully moulded carbon/kevlar/fibreglass glider, which can be acquired from Dave in various colour schemes.  Extended tips are available.

The Xplorer is renowned for light air floating.  My Xplorer truly revelled in the Jerilderie air, and I regularly achieved 9:58 or better, with inside 2m spots.  I had two “bad” flights where we didn’t pick the air correctly, and I flew the X into crap air, and suffered.

Over the 5 days of flying, I only flew my F3B Icon a couple of times, and even then only during the Friday practice day.  I flew the Xplorer over all 8 rounds of the competition proper, and during several fun fly days back in Sydney recently.  I’m in total awe of the floatiness, and flat glide, that the X achieves.  With a setup fine-tuned by Steve Keep, the landing approaches are slow and predictable. A great glider, and a worthy addition to my quiver of gliders, very much beginning to replace the Icons.

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July 7th, 2009 | Tags: Icon, Jerilderie, xplorer | Category: Competitions, Gliding Events, Reviews | Leave a comment

A few weeks back, I witnessed a disgraceful piece of flying by a pilot in a full-sized aircraft - they decided to fly low and slow diagonally across the HSL field right into what I believed was the same patch of air that we were thermalling away in.  Because I couldn’t ignore this aircraft, I had to take my eyes off my own, and within a few seconds, lost an awesome glider.

When I looked away from my plane at the slow moving aircraft directly overhead, my eyes reacquired one of the other gliders flying in the same manner as my fingers were working my transmitter.  It just so happened that Fred had the same intentions as I did, and was flying slit-s turns to warn the pilot that there were model aircraft around him.  When Fred decided his glider was clear, he straightened up and flew upwind towards a lake.  I was flying his plane too, and my heart sank as I realised that I didn’t have control of it (believing it was mine, of course).

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April 15th, 2009 | Tags: Icon | Category: Gliding | Leave a comment

Yesterday, I took ownership of the most popular website covering the Australian ice hockey scene, HockeyPulse.  I’m absolutely thrilled and excited to take ownership, and hope that I can expand on the fantastic work to date by Rowan.

This site had been running for a number of years, and gaining in popularity because it was the only site catering to the rather close knit ice hockey community.  The previous owner (Rowan) decided to sell Hockey Pulse, because he couldn’t maintain the site due to other work and life commitments. As time slowly marched on, it became apparent that HockeyPulse wasn’t going to be sold in time, and thus, I decided to step up.

For me, it’s a commitment for the long haul, as it’s both a financial investment, and a hobby - it’s my opportunity to interact with the ice hockey fraternity more.  Because Ice Hockey in Australia is so small (and so unknown), the more information we can put out there, the more popular the sport will become.  Popularity, branding, sponsorship, exposure to the greater population, and I think ice hockey will expand in Australia

It’s a big step for me, as I never thought I’d be investing money into a website, but the opportunity to do so couldn’t be passed up.  One big benefit to me will be the branding aspects - I have a ready-made logo for branding my ice hockey photos.

Where do I plan to be in a few years time?  I’d love to provide some quality sponsorship to state and national teams.

If you’re interested in everything ice hockey, head on over to HockeyPulse.

March 15th, 2009 | Tags: hockeypulse, Ice Hockey | Category: General News, Ice Hockey | Leave a comment