Mark Thomson

Lost on a desert island

1:02 PM

So we went off for a weekend on Coochiemudlo Island, which sounded lovely. And probably would have been if the weather was better and not the current monsoon conditions we're getting. As it was, if your planning on going to visit there, you probably want to know some things:

[1] Apart from the beach, there isn't anything much there. I'm told there's a 9 hole golf course, but if its raining you won't be using that. Its got plenty of beaches, which looked quite nice, although I hear they get jellyfish! If your stuck indoors, make sure you take something to do, otherwise its a trip back to the mainland for you! Thankfully that doesn't take very long, and the ferry runs pretty regularly.

[2] Not much in the way of food/dining options - take your own supplies with you. Otherwise it's a trip back on the ferry again. The closest thing we could find to a restaurant, was a kiosk with a barbeque behind it the would burn meat on demand, or a fish'n'chips shop near the beach. Functional, but not very romantic!

[3] But the worst thing was how utterly uncomfortable we were at the Seminara Apartments. The place was lovely, quite modern, and very tidy, but features one of the hardest beds I think I've ever had to try to lie on. The fold out bed/couch was missing its mattress, so it had no support or comfort to it either. We both felt pretty bruised and exhausted by the end of it - not the relaxing getaway we were envisioning. We certainly couldn't sleep in or relax, and were up every morning at 5. So I'd suggest taking whatever you need to be comfortable. If that means taking an inflatable mattress, or your own pillowtop, I'd say do it!

Anyway, that's enough complaining. I think if the weather had been nice and we were able to get outside, we'd probably have enjoyed the beach, and walking the island. We had a few hours of sunny weather when we first arrived, and did manage to walk part way around the island which was quite nice. It's not very big, and I think you could probably walk around it in an hour.

The people were also quite friendly, and were happy to talk with you. Little things were quite nice, but overall I think Coochiemudlo needs some effort to be come a proper destination for people to go too.

doctor who

Doctor Who Xmas Special Promo

9:52 AM

xbox

COD: Modern Warfare 3

11:05 AM

After noticing we didn't have anyone to play on COD: Black Ops anymore, cos they've all scurried over to MW3, which meant we had to get the new game.

I haven't played any of the other Modern Warfare series so far, mostly just confined to the historical ones - World at War, Airborne, Black Ops. So far the campaign has been a ton of fun! The missions have been very exciting with a good mix of things to do - lay mines on a submarine and infiltrate, escape on an inflatable boat, fend off terrorists on a plane as it crashes, pilot a Predator drone, and fight through New York streets!

The only frustration I've had so far has once again been the multiplayer. Don't get me wrong, its very well done and tons of fun - if your not playing against people that are so far ahead of you in levels that they are virtually invincible. Its pretty frustrating to spend multiple games dying repeatedly, especially when you emptied your entire clip into the other guy! I get up, run about and die. Rinse, lather, repeat! All I seem to be doing is levelling up the other guy, acting as cheap cannon fodder! Why don't they match you up with people your own level, until you climb up the ladder a bit.

I also find you don't end up getting much support from your teammates. Often they just bugger off, and its an every man for himself situation. I don't know if there's better ways to encourage teamwork - although the assisted bonus is a nice touch if you help a teammate kill an enemy. I get the assisted bonus a bit, but its mostly just me trailing around behind people - not any real cooperation on their part.

I ended up giving up in disgust with my last batch of multiplayer, because any fun was just sucked out of it! The other guys were shrugging off a crap storm of lead from me, and would put me down with a single shot. Sometimes I wouldn't even see it coming from way across the map, or else they just bombard you with Predator drones over and over. First game out, I got stuck with people that were level 50+ with access to all the goodies!

I had wondered if there was any cheating going on, as I did have problems with this in Black Ops. There was an online douche who had some kind of cheat in effect, that would let him kill all the players in front of him, all across the map with a single press of the trigger - no aiming required! A lot of the players stuck together and kicked him out, but its a shame the game makers can't do something more to stop this kind of douche baggery that goes on.

I'm going to try doing the training levels for a bit and see if that levels my player up so that I can withstand multiplayer a bit better. If not I think i'll just go back to playing the campaign alone. I've just finished the mission with Makarov's shipment in Africa thats gone missing. I'll hopefully get some time to continue on with the shipment arriving in London tonight.