No, Iceland - we said send us your CASH

I've always quite liked Lava levels in games - Mario's had a few, in platformers and karts, as has Crash and Ratchet & Clank. They can have lovely, intricate lighting effects and an attention-focussing 'imminent death-ness' about them.

Lava and, particularly,  ash, in the real world, however, royally suck.  This weekend I was due to fly to Belfast for a Gaming Weekend with a friend. I think I've said before that, as good as Xbox Live multiplayer is, it is no substitute for trash-talking, junkfood-eating local multiplayer.  In the olden days, local multiplayer (aka playing with your mates after school) was the only way to play videogames with friends.  These days (the 'new-den days', as my daughter calls them) Xbox Live multiplayer is undoubtedly more convenient  and my opportunities for the local variety, other than with my daughter (and smack-talking a 7-year old would probably be considered bad form) are few and far between.

So, this weekend, after weeks of planning,  we were all set up - 

The best laid plans........

Only problem - an Icelandic volcano that hadn't erupted for two hundred years. All flights grounded in UK airspace and my bags resolutely left standing in my hall. I blame Bowser - he was always a fan of lava.  Arrgh.

A packed bag, never to be used.  Can you feel the pathos?

So, we had to resort to Xbox Live and the Splinter Cell Conviction co-op missions, where we learnt that I truly suck at stealth games.