I love a good murder mystery. I love Agatha Christie. But playing And Then There Were None on the Wii was just okay. The story itself is an adaptation of the same titled book with a few twists thrown in for fun. You basically get stranded on an island with guests who thought they were invited to the island for a relaxing weekend. As they get killed one by one, you are expected to figure out who the killer is and stop them before everyone dies.

The game play is pretty ordinary but it can be interesting in parts. You spend a lot of time walking around. You also have to search for hidden clues. Sometimes they are pretty easy to find, other times the hiding spots are very obscure. I spent forever in the beginning trying to find batteries for my flashlight. Needless to say, they were in a very stupid place that made no sense. But a good portion of the game play is fun and actually entertaining.You will also have to combine items you find along the way to make something new or disassemble them to get parts you need. It was fun trying to figure out what went with what and which items needed what parts.

I couldn't help but feel like And Then There Were None was pretty much a PC game that was retro fitted and recast as a Wii game though. The graphics were definitely not anything spectacular or any different than what you would expect from a basic PC game. The music in the game is appropriate. All of the talking in the game is subtitled which I thought was nice. Ambient sounds are not captioned however. There is no way to adjust the font in the game either so the size of your TV screen will determine the size of the words shown.

They did a good job integrating use of the Wiimote. There are times when you have to use the Wiimote to make items in the game perform actions. A good example would be when you are shown the bicycle pump. In order to use it, you have to hold the Wiimote like the handle of the pump and move it up and down as if you were using a real pump to pump air into something. This game can also be played with just one hand which is always a plus. Any of the motions required can be done with just one hand on the Wiimote and the nunchuk is not used at all in this game. I did come to hate that you had to rotate the Wiimote like a door handle every time you wanted to use a door though. :) It just got old after a while.

Overall I am happy that I played And Then There Were None. If you enjoy using the Wiimote to play games then you would like playing this version of this game. Otherwise, you might want to look into the PC version. It wasn't the best game that I have ever played but I was expecting a little more.This game has 4 different endings depending on who you let live or die in the end. That was pretty cool. As a bonus, once you finish the game you are given one final task that when completed will show you the real ending of And Then There Were None as Agatha Christie originally wrote it. I am not disappointed with this game but neither am I thrilled with it. My favorite part is still the 10 Little Sailor Boys rhyme that is key to the story. It is wickedly amusing. If your looking for some murder mystery fun on a rainy afternoon then give it a go because the game has a good story as a backbone. However, you might be more satisfied by reading the actual book instead.

Paging Dr. Humerus paging Dr. Humerus, please report to the front desk immediately.  New from Hasbro entertainment comes to the next innovation in operation technology.  No, I'm not talking about the newest Botox surgery.  I'm talking about the digital version of the classic game Operation.

Hasbro, in conjunction with Pogo, is releasing Operation Mania in August available for download at www.Pogo.com with the retail version to follow in September.  You play the zany Dr. Humerus, a new and upcoming Doctor just trying to find his way in the world.  *cue Mary Tyler Moore music*

Operation mania has 35 levels and 5 different crazy hospitals just waiting for a skilled surgeon such as yourself.  You start off as an unskilled doctor, each round you’re scored based on the amount of patients you can treat before the end of your shift.  During your shift, you can achieve the ranks of intern, Doctor, or specialist.

In typical Java based game tradition, customers or in this case, patients enter the ER and sit in the waiting room.  You must then guide them through their treatment with Dr. Humerus by dragging and dropping them onto each station, as they need different treatments.  First, you drag them to the admissions desk, followed by the operating room, x-ray, critical care, or the referral area.

The idea is to treat as many patients as possible, without killing them, before the end of your shift.  To add an additional layer of fun, once you get the patient to the surgery room, as your character operates on the patient you may click on the patient to activate a mini game.  Every mini game awards a badge as a sign of completing the surgery successfully.

The mini games include:  find the wrench, water on the knee, pluck the chickens, frog in your throat, brain freeze, loose lips sink ships, mend a broken heart, tennis elbow, butterflies in your stomach, and many more.  I won't spoil the surprise of each game, but I will tell you that some of them are strangely funny.

As the game progresses, you must lead the patients through the gauntlet of the hospital.  Fortunately, as you progress and are rewarded with insane amounts of money, you can purchase upgrades to help you.  You can upgrade the speed at which you operate, add additional beds or machines, put in more admissions desks, and of course, hire more help.

There are two modes of play, Story mode and Marathon mode.  In story mode, you start out at a basic hospital with only the admissions desk and the surgery room.  Gradually you advance into bigger and better hospitals with more complex and serious patients.  Marathon mode lets you continually treat patients until six patients pass away.

Finally, in online play, when your hospital gets overrun you can refer patients by dragging them into rocket powered wheelchairs and send them on their way to your friends and family who are also playing the game.  Of course, if you have no friends or family online they just disappear, but it does add some additional fun to work together to make sure that none of these little Sims parish.

This game is very disabled friendly as it only uses one button in combination with drag-and-drop.  There are no audio directions; everything is captioned in cartoonlike graphics.  The only downside is for the colorblind, you get a bonus for treating orange or blue patients back to back, and I saw no way to change their color.

Over all this is awesome adaptation of the original board game: Operation.  Hasbro and Pogo did an awesome job at converting the childhood classic into a digitally enhanced version suitable for children and adults alike.  Head on over to www.Pogo.com to check out the free 60-minute demo, if you like it, you can purchase the game in a few clicks for only $19.95.  Additionally, if you have a Pogo account, you can link the game to your Pogo character so that you earn tokens as you play the game. 

Special Guest Review!

Mike Neil (Screen Name: 2Three) is the editor of Alt-Controls.com , a website that covers 1st and 3rd person shooting games with a main focus on the importance and need for customizable controls. Is there anyone out there that hasn't played this game yet? It only launched this week, but since the Beta was released months ago, coupled with the fact that the Demo became available recently, I tend to think that most gamers have already gotten their hands on this one.

In any case, Battlefield: Bad Company is finally out after so much hype and controversy. You remember EA's plans to charge us for downloadable weapons, right? Yeah, I don't think they'll be pulling anything like that again.

But, having finally had a chance to sit down and play the full version of the game, I would have to say that I'm slightly under whelmed. Don't get me wrong, the game isn't bad, but I just expected to be blown away because of all the publicity and promises.

First off, let's discuss what this game does well. From a graphical standpoint, it's fairly impressive. Mind you, the visual effects are about what you would come to expect from current-gen machines at this point, but the game looks good.

The cut scenes look fairly sharp, except for the fact that there seems to be a noticeable fuzziness during these. This is also somewhat present during game play, though not as much. You'll notice it if you stop and stare off into the sky, but beyond that it's not a major issue. While you're smashing through battles and firing away at Russian soldiers, the game runs smoothly and appears polished. I was particularly impressed by the appearance of water in this game, which provided some of the best looking visual effects that I've seen to date. Fire and explosion effects were also striking.

Next: Destructible environments. Yes, this is an awesome feature and should become a new standard in shooting games. It was extremely satisfying to take out your grenade launcher to plow over a nearby building. Cutting down trees with your machine gun was also a nice touch that added a level of realism. Although, I have to say that I found some of the objectives related to this amusing. At times, you're required to find a piece of equipment or weapon in a building. So, let's just blow it up to get inside! What not use the door? At least it's fun, though.

The single player game has been completely revamped from Battlefield 2: Modern Combat. Gone are the days where you are thrown into battle as a random soldier with the ability to switch over to another squad member at any given moment. In Bad Company, you play as Preston Marlowe from B-Company the whole time. He's fairly nondescript and forgettable.

Missions are much more reminiscent of the Call of Duty series now, where you have terrain to explore with objectives that present themselves along the way. However, I have to say that I preferred the old format from Battlefield 2, where you were just thrown into the frenzy and could switch players or continue as another soldier if you got iced. I'm a huge fan of the COD series of course, but Battlefield 2 at least offered a unique approach. Now, it's formulaic.

Of course, there are a number of vehicles and artillery weapons at your disposal that should keep you occupied. This is a staple of the Battlefield series. However, you'll find that you'll often be driving to your next objective for what seems like miles. Those parts are pretty boring.

While the single player campaign is a bit dry, the Battlefield series is of course known for its intense multiplayer modes. With support for up to 24 players, this is where you will find all the action. I don't see many people playing the single player campaign for months and months, but you know they'll be frequenting the online battlefield for some time.

But what was EA thinking with the music? It's jazzy, upbeat and annoying. Not suitable for a war game at all, in my opinion. That along with the casual, lighthearted dialogue that the characters exchange just seemed out of place. As a result, the mood of the game is affected and is not as serious as you would expect it to be in this kind of game. Other sound effects, such as the weapons and explosions do the job, but they are nothing special.

And now on to my biggest gripe with this game: The controls. There is only one preset option available for gun play. That's not good enough in this day and age. I'm a Legacy player and I have been since the GoldenEye 007 days. Not being able to set my analog sticks how I preferred made this game very uncomfortable for me and I struggled needlessly with movement and aiming.

I also did not like the default button layout and would have liked to see an option to customize this. Developers need to understand that one layout couldn't possibly be comfortable for all gamers. Full customization needs to become an industry standard so we can all set the controls to suit our own needs. Two variations were offered for each vehicle type, but not being able to customize the controls will cause many gamers frustration, especially during the on-foot and shooting segments.

All in all, my time with Battlefield: Bad Company offered a few thrills, but Call of Duty 4 has not been dethroned as the top shooter yet. For fans of shooters that are interested in this game, I would say give it a rent. If not, stick to COD4.

Lockpick entertainment has created its own dream in the first free to play massively multiplayer online semi-web-based game: Dreamlords. Dreamlords is the next-generation game that combines RPG elements as well as RTS elements and just a splash of a web-based game. Combining the elements of different styles of games is catching on in the Internet gaming community, games such as Dreamlords and the upcoming Spore, break the typical mold on a category of a game involving different elements to cater to an even wider audience.

Dreamlords can be broken down into three elements; long term strategy, role-playing, and the real-time simulator. Set in an old-time world, you are a master of dreams, having grown tired of watching the world be taken over by nightmares the Dreamlords, including yourself, have awoken to begin an all out war upon the nightmares and to raise their followers back to their feet.

The role-playing aspect is set by your typical RPG standards; you have a hero character that can be equipped with armors and weapons, you purchase scrolls that let you open a skill tree to have new abilities, which can help shape you as a Dreamlord that is unique to the world. Even your armies are equipped by armor and weapons that you find along the way or purchase from a store which give your armies are unique fighting ability different from that of your opponent.

The real-time simulator is the fighting aspect of the game where you control yourself as a hero, as well as your army of minions in any given battle. The actual combat simulation in this game is very similar to Blizzard's Warcraft 3, another popular RTS, in which you have a hero and you produce fighters to wage a battle against other heroes and their armies. Unlike other RTS games, you do not make buildings quickly and then pump out troops to overwhelm your enemy in a matter minutes. In Dreamlords, the real-time strategy is only in the combat aspect of the game; the planning for the game takes much more time and is accomplished through a different web based application that is connected to the game.

This long-term strategy is similar to many web-based games where the mechanic behind the game is set to a slow pace to keep you involved for weeks at a time. This model has been used by web-based games for years; the website will show many different buildings that can produce different types of units where you type in the numeral and then as time goes on units are produced. The difference in this game is that the research is done over time, which controls how you will progress, but instead of sending out numbers of units to fight imaginary battles where computer chooses a roll of the dice to say whether you won, you must actually take those units and use them in combat.

The Game

The actual game client itself is well designed; when you sign up for this game you must download a 600 MB file that includes a Dreamlords client and DirectX which is necessary to install the game. After going through the typical sign-up and telling them where you're from as well as your name and user desired avatar name, you are taken to a screen where you can select a color of a glowing ball human shaped character that is your Dream Lord. The interface looks very professional and is easy to control with a mouse, the text is large enough to read easily, and the sensitivity with a mouse is set at a good level for somebody who does not have much control.

Once you type in the name that you desire for your avatar, you are then instantly teleported to your patria, which is the land that you fight over to take back from the nightmares. Your patria is your own island that cannot be invaded by other players; the patria is divided up into areas that can be described as small counties of your island, in which you must fight the nightmares in order to take over each area. The first screen that you enter is a basic tutorial for how to control your Dream Lord, the 3-D environment is graphically intense and should please anyone looking for a semi-sci-fi environment. The controls are simple as is the case in most RTS games; left click selects the squadron or hero and right-click sets where you want to move. However, my first complaint with this game is that in order to control the rotation of the camera you must hold down the middle mouse button while moving the mouse, this will be difficult for people that use a sip n' puff device or other devices that can only click one trigger. This is a small issue because the camera does not actually need to be moved, everything is visible from the stationery default position.

  The tutorial is brief and in my opinion does not fully explain everything as it should. You start by being told to find a small child, which is easy enough, and then you are told to go fight a monster that is also easy, after speaking to the head NPC of the first area, you are told to go to town. This sounds simple enough; however, I spent about five minutes walking around until I realized that I had to walk in a certain unmarked direction in order to trigger the game to know that I was ready to walk to town. Additionally, the second time I made a character I was transported to the town after killing the monsters, so my first experience may have been a glitch or a bug.

The second screen is the more advanced tutorial where you walk into a town that has been attacked and needs your help to free it from the nightmares. Here you are given more experience with talking to NPCs, which in this game is accomplished by doing nothing more than walking up to them. The NPCs hand out quests just like in most RPG games, in this instance, you are given the aid of the town guard that you may now control as your own army and then you are told to go vanquish two small armies of nightmares. There are three small quests in this area, which must be completed before you can move on to the actual game.

The real deal

Once you have completed the tutorial for Dreamlords, you are given access to the rest of the buttons that are in the standard Dreamlords interface which include; view patria, PVP Islands, army recruitment, manage patria, and medallion count, which are rewards you are given for reaching certain levels in the game.

View Patria is the overview where you move your Dream Lord from one county area to another clearing it of nightmares, you can only move to an area that is connected to an area that you have already cleared. The PVP Islands are islands that you can teleport to where you can fight other players for dominance, fun, and possible rewards. In the army recruitment area, you can get new recruits to fight at your side in squadrons and this interface page doubles as where you can equip your army and yourself with different types of armor and weapons. The recruitment area is controlled by how many unemployed followers you have in your patria.

The manage patria page is where the web-based action comes in to play, when you click that button you are taken to a webpage that has your avatar's name and shows different building slots, the amount of soul shards and tribute you have, as well as the amount of workers and followers that are currently in your army. You can see in this photo that you will have to provide housing for your followers, buildings to create your army and your city, and how many unemployed followers will become soldiers or workers. When you create a building type and have workers or recruits in it, the research counter shows how many research points you are receiving per hour. The amount of research points determines what research you will be able to accomplish at what rate. Research points are the mechanism they use to slow the game down; it may take hours or days to accrue enough research points to be able to purchase the research technology that you wish to use.

Currency

The in game currency for purchasing items are called soul shards, items that are dropped on the ground by nightmares can be disenchanted after battles and turned into soul shards. When equipping your army you have the opportunity to buy items from a NPCs shop, the amount of soul shine needed for each item varies depending on the amount of power an item wields.

Finally, we come to the more controversial item in this game; tribute. You knew there had been a catch somewhere right. Tribute is a form of currency that can be purchased from Lockpick entertainment for a certain amount of money. The tribute can be used to purchase more powerful items or abilities that are not normally available to those who do not have tribute. When you start the game you have 1000 tribute given to you for free, after which you must purchase additional tribute in order to buy the powerful items or abilities that can help you win battles more easily. Lockpick entertainment contends that in order to play the game you do not actually need tribute, the tribute is only used to buy items in addition to those you can find in game and will mainly be used by the hard-core players to get advantages over other hard-core players. Only time will tell if tribute will be needed in order to compete fully in a game that has a ladder system in place to show who is the best. In my opinion it is unfortunate that they decided to put in a mechanism for buying additional power at the cost of real-life money, it turns a competition of skill and strategy into can you find the wiggle room in your budget to donate money to a game to increase your power.

Review conclusions

I think this was an awesome first attempt to provide a game that the public can enjoy for free which holds the elements of a strategy game and an RPG. The controls will be very easy for most people with the exception of moving the camera angles, if the controls were definable by the user that would eliminate this problem; unfortunately the controls are set and cannot be changed.

The tribute system will be controversial; those that do very well in the game will no doubt be questioned on whether or not they could do it without the aid of tribute. However, the game was designed to be mostly free but still created by people who took the time out of their lives to design the game, the designers and developers deserve some form of payment for their time. I for one believe that it is nice to see a company trying a different business model idea than the standard pay money up front or pay money over time, instead giving the user the choice of paying money to become more powerful or using the free version and being as powerful as one can be without paying real money.

Black College Football: The Experience (BCFX) is a game by developer Nerjyzed Game Studios that takes the player inside football at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The look and feel of the game delivers a feel of fast paced, hard hitting, smash mouth football. That being said how does the games functionality stack up for the AbleGamer?

• Ease of Right Hand Use: 50% Based on the sports genre this games controls are what one should come to expect. By and By I always recommend the use of joypad over a keyboard, but given the input source I find wear and tear to be standard

• Ease of Left Hand Use: 50% Again I find the wear and tear on the left hand to be comparable to any given football game using a keyboard as an input. Overall the keyboard usage is Standard.

• Key Mapping: 75% While playing this game I did not have the need to Remap the keys I did find that the Mapping process was static despite usability

• Ease on Mouse Hand: 90% I found myself only using the mouse 10% of the time for the initial selections on the opening screen. This was inherently by choice to evaluate the input system. Mouse usage overall is not too demanding.

• Flexibility of Sound Controls: 80% The games sound flexibility is what I would consider standard for the genre. I found the ability to adjust the Sound and FX was able to be completed was done with ease.

• Flexibility of Visual Controls: 80% The game incorporates the use of a receiver cam in order for you to adjust your view and find routes down field. In adjusting vantage points for plays I found this system to be more than capable of handling the game play

• Alternative Input Support: 100% In addition to the usage of the keyboard the game allows the player to add in the use of a joypad.

• Visual Tracking needs: 30% This game is standard based on the genre in its requirements to track the ball and movements of the players down field. Based on this I am hesitant to rate it below the standard 50% mark, but for our requirements I will rate it as challenging.

• Close Caption: 40%, many of the actions in the game have visual clues. Like when you make a first down, it says it on the screen. There is also a lot of other clues on the screen that let you know where you stand. There is great music and such, but the game can be played if you have issues with hearing.

While this is a wonderful gaming experience this game may be a bit challenging for some players. The score is what I would consider above average, in the positive, but does indicate possible stress.

First Impression

I first heard about the Ergodex DX1 Input System in a very excited phone call from our Editor Mark. He saw a lot of potential in this device for all sorts of uses. So when I finally got to see one myself, I had high expectations too.

As Mark handed the DX1 to me, the weight of the unit in my hand was perfect. This is no flimsy plastic pad with cheap stick on buttons. It is well constructed. You can comfortably sit the pad on your lap without fear of it being so light it flies off or so heavy it crushes your legs. The overall size is great too. It is practically no bigger than a standard 8x11 sheet of paper. That means you can sit it on your desk, your lap, your bed, or wherever you want to use it as long as your computer is at least near by. The DX1 came with the pad (the base), a tray (a clear plastic tray which is removable that you use to actually stick the keys on), a set of 25 pre-glued keys, two sheets of stickers for the keys, and a CD of installation software. Every piece seemed well made and at this point I was even more excited about getting it set up to see how it worked.

Installation and Programming

I had already decided that I wanted to try the DX1 in EQ2. I spent about 20 mins picking out what spells/abilities/etc I would need to have keys for. Then I put them into groups that seemed logical to me for how I play. I pulled out the DX1 instructions and had it totally installed on my computer in under 20 minutes. That includes the time it took my husband to get down on his hands and knees to find a usable USB port behind my computer to plug it into. ?

The keys are simply peel and stick. You can place them anywhere on the tray in any configuration that is comfortable for you. They are easily removable and restickable over and over in the event that you don't like where you put them. Let me also say here that the tension on the keys is great. The amount of pressure you have to use is just right. You're not going to break a finger trying to press the buttons down. The keys aren't overly sensitive either. No accidentally taking a swing at that level 90 npc because you grazed the attack button when you were really going for the VOIP button. Hehe

The one thing that took me a little bit to figure out was how to assign the keys in EQ2. But I felt like a dork once I figured it out though because its really SO easy. After you have your keys where you want them on the tray, log into whatever program you want to use the DX1 in. I logged into my character Helga in EQ2 (Permafrost Server). There is a small button in one corner of the pad that is a record button. You press that button down and it turns red to let the pad know your going to be assigning macros for the keys on the DX1. Then all you have to do is press the button(s) on the keyboard that you want to assign then press the key on the Ergodex pad you want those to be assigned too. You will hear a "plunk" sound and that lets you know your macro is set up for that key. You just repeat going on like that until you have the macros set for each of your keys on the pad. There is also a metronome sound that plays when you push the record button in case you want to set up timed multi-key macros. I did not use this feature because that is not how I choose to play. You will have to be careful with doing that in some games. I don't want anyone getting banned from his or her favorite MMO now! ?

I was roaring to play EQ2 after I got all my macros set up. Unfortunately, one of my macros wasn't right and I was having issues. That was easily repaired though by going to the Ergodex Manager, which is part of the software it comes with. You can easily review the macros and see if you pressed the right key(s) when you set up the macro. In my case, I had a couple of mouse clicks that were in a macro when they shouldn't have been. I just went back into EQ2 and did the macro recording for that one key again. It was painless. But it would be a good idea to check the macros in the manager after you initially set them up before you go off killing things that would love to kill you too.

Game Play

I have enjoyed using the DX1 to play EQ2. It takes getting used too though. I think that might be because I am so used to playing EQ2 the traditional way. Old dog and new tricks you know. ? I usually rely heavily on my mouse to do actions out of my hotbars when I fight. I cannot count on my right hand to always hit the correct keys on the keyboard because I have so little sensation in 4 of my 5 fingers. Trying to move my hand over the keyboard has always proven difficult. With the Ergodex, there isn't a l DX1 ck and forth with your hands since you can put all the buttons well within your reach. I find that pretty nice. You can also play with just one hand if you want - it's all in how you place the keys on the pad. The keys are also very responsive. I don't detect any delay from the time you push a button until you perform an action in game.

There is one problem I have encountered with the DX1 while playing EQ2, and this is an EQ2 issue, not an Ergodex DX1. Looting. I tried for a week to figure out a way to loot with just the keys on the pad and I got pretty close. The pop up box at the end has confounded me however. In the pop up loot box you have to select loot All, loot Item, or Decline. I see no other way to make a choice and loot than to use the mouse. I did figure out how to target a dead mob and to get to the pop up loot box just using the keys though. So, while I do have to use the mouse to finish looting in EQ2 - that certainly may not be the case in other games.

Bottom Line

I really like the Ergodex DX1. I think it would be of great use to someone with limited movement of their hand/arm. More than that, I think it would be a wonderful help to someone who needed a way to configure keys in a non traditional way - such as someone like me who has lost sensation in their hand or someone who has actually lost part of the hand. I could also see it being helpful for people who maybe cannot sit up at a desk to game because it is so portable. The one problem, as I see it, would be that you have to be able to hear the "plunk" once the macro gets assigned to a key. There is no other cue to tell you that the macro was set. If you are unable to hear, then the only way to know would be to open up the Ergodex Manager each time to check for each key. Not an impossible thing - just very inconvenient (especially for the hearing impaired). But despite that, it does seem to have a lot of potential for a great many people in our Ablegamers community.

The device itself is sturdy and well designed. In the event you want to play more than one game using the DX1, you can buy additional trays and key sets. You just switch out the trays for whichever game you're in without having to remove and reposition the keys each time. The Ergodex Manager will also save your macros into separate folders for each game so that you wont have to reprogram the macros. It seems like the developers have really taken their time developing all aspects of the DX1. The system itself is very affordable. I think it's worth a try. I certainly plan to use it in my next MMORPG adventure. ?

Stackem is easy enough to play. Its not a difficult game to learn or to get around in. You just make stacks of different barn yard animals to clear them out before they grow tall enough to hop the fence. It doesn't have a timer so that you can take your time choosing your moves. There is also an undo button in those cases where you need a do-over.

All that being said, I simply do not care for the actual game at all. I know there are other people who strongly disagree and enjoy it. I think those people must like pain killer free dentistry as well though because this game, to me, is about as much fun as getting a tooth pulled without any codeine. hehe :)

So, I would say try it out if your looking for a game thats not timed and is easy on the input. But I wouldn't expect to find a game that your going to instantly fall in love with. Stack'em is really at the bottom of the list of games pogo has to offer.

I purchased this mouse about 3 weeks ago and I am pleased for the most part. I game with one hand due to the loss of control of fine motor skills in my right hand.

So, when i heard about the mouse i immediately searched for reviews and purchased it that evening. 6 degrees of freedom plus normal mouse movements seemed like the perfect device.

Size: While slightly larger than my Logitech mx900 the Sandio fits my land better. Although the hats are positioned for a right hander, the ability to rest your pinkie and thumb on the extended service without worrying about dragging either finger on the table when using that hat is a great thing.

I also hold this mouse differently than the original reviewer. My middle finger is always on the middle hat unless i need to use the scroll. My index and ring fingers are on the left and right mouse buttons. Lastly as stated previously my thumb and pinky are placed on the two side hats.

I was disturbed for the first 3 or 4 days by the positioning of the side hats but soon I had adjusted to the new positioning.

Sorry up to this point I probably sound like a spokesperson for sandio. :) I'm not. Here comes the bad.

The hats which appear to be joysticks can only go one direction each at a time north,east,south or west. There is no diagonal. I'm not sure if they just have not added code for the diagnol or if it is impossible with the hardware. But it is annoying as hell. Why? Let me explain.

As a one handed gamer I wanted to bind forward, back, strafe right and strafe left to one hat. My thinking was that the diagonals on that middle hat would allow me to strafe diagonally. But when you go diagonal you get nothing, your character just stops moving.

Yes the diagonals are dead zones at the moment. That's just not good.

Is there a way around this. I can think of one binding forward/back to one hat while strafe left/right is on another. I tried this it works but you lose a possible command at that moment because you are using 2 controls to perform what is essentially one movement.

Second gripe. the mouse 4 and 5 buttons are completely inaccessible by left handers. If I didn't just look over to make sure they were there I would have forgotten about them.

Hopefully the hat issue is simply a coding oversight and they can add the diagonals in with the next device driver.

All that said, this mouse allows me to game pretty well again in most instances.

Very First Impressions.

I want to start by saying that the packaging is some of the greatest packaging for a peripheral I had over seen. It came in a box that was better than one you would get from a fine chocolate store. It had a magnetic lid on it, and opened with the grace of cigar box. I almost expected to see light shoot out of the box like that little girls box on those DLP commercials. There was not a blazing beam of light inside,instead there was a smart looking, brand new mouse that had the grace of a sports car, in style and size.

Once out of the box, it took me a second to really grasp what I was looking at; in the box as well as the photos, you truly do not understand the differences this mouse brings to the table. It has built into it little joy sticks, there is also one on the top in "front" of the scroll wheel, I can't wait to get this thing up and running.

Down to Business

The O2 gaming mouse has 3 build in joy sticks. If you have a normal mouse right now in your hand (or your imagination) look at where your thumb and pinkey finger (also known as the fifth metacarpal) are, there are joysticks there. Here is the cool thing, they are recessed into the mouse, so your fingers are all in the same place as a traditionally.

Each "position" in the joysticks can be mapped to keys or controls on the key board. There is also some combo positions like the left side stick forward, and the right side one back (X-Axis) as well on the up and down (Y-axis). If you are into fighter gamers you could kick ass with just this mouse. So the count is 12 actions on the side sticks.

There is also a joystick on the top in front of the scroll wheel (oh did I mention it has a scroll wheel too?). This one can also be mapped to any key you want. Mapping is done by an installed program, it has 40+ "profiles" built for some of the hottest games, as well as the ability to make your own. I made one for EQ2, and in no time I was running around Qeynos like a bat at of hell; appropriate given that the Halloween event was in full swing. I also switched over to BattleField 2142, and again was able to get my ass handed to me in style and grace.

Do not be fooled, this is also a mouse. A laser based mouse that you can change dpi on the fly, from 400 to 2000! For those that care, at 2000 dpi, you can get from one side of the screen to the other in about 2 millimeters of movement. I opted for 800. Cool thing is, you can change them on the fly, on the mouse. You get a color indicator as to what dpi you are set on via the scroll wheel that changes colors.

There are some cons to this mouse that are very important to note. As I have alluded to already this mouse is a bit large. I am 6' 1" (185 cm for my metric friends) and I found its size a little hard to manage. The top joystick is meant to be used by your index finger, I could not comfortably move the stick into the forward position without an awkward hand shift up. I ended up pushing the joystick forward using the outer rim towards the scroll wheel, not from the finger well. This thing is about a half inch to tall (1 cm), so smaller hands can all but forget the upper joy stick.

The other con is the software. While it is easy to use, I wish this thing had on-board memory like other programmable peripherals that I have used in the past. I would like to store the mappings on the device so that I can take the mouse wherever and have it work. The added functions are just not there without the software installed on your computer, and with some of the CPU numbers modern games use, I can not spare the cycles for the software.

I also wish the mouse was a little bit heavier, when you use the joysticks you have to be be mindful of the force in the sticks, and really use your wrist to compensate.The last con for this mouse is a small one, but worth noting. It has to be on its own USB port. This thing is well lit, and laser guided, so you can not use the extra USB port on your keyboard, because this thing draws to much power. So unless you have a powered USP hub (they are cheap) or an extra slot hanging around somewhere in the back of the PC, you will not be able to power this bad boy.

Bottom line

All in this mouse would be a great addition to any disabled gamer looking to get the most out the mousing hand, despite the size. It would take some getting use to, but lets be honest, disabled gamers are use to getting use to things. AbleGamers awards it the "AbleGamers Silver Seal of Approval", mainly for bring so much control into the palm of my hand. Those AbleGamers with upper body limb issues will may find this mouse a great addition to your arsenal.

This one will be short. This game is great fun, but very mouse intensive. There are a few ways to get around the all the mousing needed, but it is not intuitive.

I did not notice a way to show the game down, for some, this may not allow you to play this as well as you would like, because the game keeps going even if you are show to lay your track. It is hard to remap keys around, so it limits the use of external devices for input.

It is great looking, and a blast to play.