Gadgetoid

By Ken Bool

Opoona is a role-playing game developed by ArtePiazza and published by Koei for the Wii. It was released in September 2008 and is an exclusive to Wii title that is easy to play and suitable for ages 7 and up but enjoyable for all to play and watch with a soundtrack produced by Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII) it keeps you involved and you don’t want to let go.

The player follows the story of Opoona a descendant of the brave cosmo guard as he attempts to find the location of his family from which he was separated after the occurrence of a mysterious accident during their travels.

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We’re only a few days away from Wrath of the Lich King, the hotly anticipated 2nd expansion to World of Warcraft and to coincide with its launch, strategy guide publisher BradyGames have announced their 352 page official strategy guide.

The book will be your essential companion as you navigate the deadly new continent of Northrend, discover the many new features the expansion offers and put a stop to the deadly Lich King Arthas. Available from November 13th, the same day the expansion launches, the guide retails with an RRP of £16.99.

Follow the jump for details about what’s in the book and also how you could win a copy in our competition…

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Bond is back. Recently released in cinemas, Quantum of Solace is the 22nd Bond film and to coincide with its release you can get this first person shooter which covers the key action from both the new film and the prior release, Casino Royale.

Developed by Treyarch and published by Activision, it is also available for PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS and PC. The gritty action style of the new films is represented well in this game, it doesn’t steal the crown from Goldeneye, but it comes pretty damn close.

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Football fans get your consoles ready as the latest instalment of the FIFA Football franchise hit the stores in October, and is jam packed full of clubs, stadiums and playing modes as well as all your favourite players.

Developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports the game is also available on pretty much everything with a screen - PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, DS, Nokia NGage and PC. If you only buy one football game this year you certainly can’t go wrong with FIFA 09.

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16:9 aspect ratio displays are looking like the next thing in line to sweep over modern computing and gaming. With movie aspect ratios growing ever wider and shorter our 16:10 screens are looking somewhat narrow and leave us with some serious letter boxing. Ick!

ViewSonic have pushed out the VX2260wm, a 1080p, 16:9 display packed into 22 inches of screen real-estate and boasting a 1920×1080 desktop resolution which is fairly rare in a computer display.

Despite its inherent unsuitability for desktop work, at 22″ that 1080p is going to cause some serious eye-strain, the VX2260wm is looking like a fantastic companion to a bedroom Xbox 360 or PS3 and gaming PC. Judging by the specifications, however, it looks like it’s lacking an HDMI port or two.

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You may, or may not, have noticed that we’re getting fairly close to that most wonderful time of the year, when radio stations start playing Mistletoe & Wine, scarf and gloves become a daily necessity and mince pies are back on the supermarket shelves.

It’s also a time of the year where a fiercely drawn out competition takes place on both the real and virtual high street between the manufacturers of toys, games and other technology wonders.

The Gadgetoid team was kindly invited down to the St Martins Lane Hotel, London to get a hands-on look at some of Microsofts games and gadgets that will be available in stores in time for christmas. Follow the jump for our thoughts about the New Xbox Experience, Live Mesh and more…

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By Ken Bool

Samba De Amigo was released on the 26th September in the UK and is The first entirely Wii based rhythm driven game. Developed by Gearbox Software and Published by Sega the game was sure to be very popular with all audiences.

The game was originally released back in 1999 by Sega in Arcades and then released on the Dreamcast in 2000 before being given a makeover by Gearbox Software and released on the Wii in 2008. This Latin music based rhythm game will make you want to shake your maraca’s until the sun goes down and then on even longer.

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Review by Johnus Maximus

Warriors Orochi 2 is the follow up to last years crossover between two of Koei’s best selling hack and slash franchises - Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. Released in September 2008, it is also available for PS2 and soon the PSP.

Developed by Omega Force and published by Koei the game seems to take a step forward in offering the player more characters and levels, yet also manages to take a step backward in terms of playability and technical competence, enough to frustrate even a die-hard Warriors fan.

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Review by Stirky!

Harvest Moon: Magical Melody, Released in March 2008, is a construction and Management simulation game for the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS suitable and enjoyable for ages 3 and up.

Developed by Marvelous Interactive and published by Rising Star Games (No More Heroes, Super Swing Golf), There was no question that the game would be enjoyable to play but make sure you have plenty of time to play it.. Over to you Kirsty!

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I have been working on a review of the SlingLink for a while and it struck me that it would be best to have a similar HomePlug device for comparison and interoperability testing. I managed to obtain a Solwise HomePlug PL-85PE with which to do just this. What follows are my findings.

HomePlug is a networking solution that allows you to use your existing household power cables as network cables. To establish a network connection between one room and another you simply plug a HomePlug compatible device into each room and it just works.

You can use HomePlug devices directly between a cable modem (I used my Virgin Media, ex NTL one to test this) and a router, between two computers, between a games console and a router or any other situation in which you would ordinarily use a long network cable.

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