Members of the geek escape, hell, gamers in general tend to be a bit on the obsessive side, making us easy prey for games with achievements and/or collectibles. Tge is currently fixated with hat collecting in TF2, having run, administered, and idled on our server since last August. Following are some tips which will hopefully be helpful to you in the never-ending quest for hats:

• Items drop at the same rate whether idling on a team or in spectator mode.
• To receive all your items after idling, join a team and class, die, and immediately jump into spectator mode.
• Idle in spectator if you are concerned about saving class statistics, otherwise join a team to help facilitate a full server.*
• Idle on a team and new items will appear in your backpack even if you get a popup with only one item.
• Minimizing your game reduces processor stress and RAM usage; it will not kick you from the server. If you are using a more powerful rig, other games can also be played concurrently.
• An easy way to check items without going in-game (and avoiding crashes common since the WAR update) is using Drunken F00l’s TF2 Backpack Examiner. New items will be displayed below your backpack.
• If your backpack claims that the server has lost connection but there has not recently been a Steam downtime, restarting Steam may “reconnect” you.

And some basic drop info »

I wasn’t impressed with the art style of Brink originally, but it’s growing on me. To let you judge for yourself, I’ve gathered five videos showing many aspects of the game. It’s being called a mix of Mirror’s Edge and Team Fortress 2 with a touch of Killzone added in. While I can’t vouch for the Killzone, I can definitely see the Mirror’s Edge and Team Fortress 2 elements.

Click to see all five videos »

Throughout my ten plus years as a server moderator and multiplayer gamer, I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of meeting many other players. Likewise, I’ve seen a multitude of names, some being good, some not so hot. Being new to the internet culture, I started off with the typical initials and numbers for lack of anything better.

Over time, a profile name goes from being some letters and numbers to a true online identity with your personal reputation and ego attached. Your name is often the only thing other people will have to associate you with and first impressions on the internet work the same as in real life.

Suggestions when creating your permanent persona »

I loved Far Cry, but Ubisoft’s second incarnation of the “series” had nothing to do with it. The original was developed by Crytek, who, since they didn’t own the rights, went on to make Crysis. The story itself played out in the tropics with a heavy sci-fi influence. Far Cry 2 completely drops those elements and takes place in a totally different environment, making me wonder how it’s considered a sequel as there are no connections to its predecessor.

Now for realism. “Brown?” »

There’s a chance you saw this short when it made its rounds back in November. If you missed it, check it out. It’s called Ataque de Pánico! (Panic Attack) and is directed by independent filmmaker Fede Álvarez. It was good enough to get him a movie deal with Ghost House Pictures which will be produced by Sam Raimi, director of the Evil Dead series and Spider-Man.

Its excellence is magnified by use of the song “In The House – In The Heartbeat” by John Murphy, featured on the 28 Days Later series.

Ataque de Pánico! Wikipedia

I had been dying for a game that made parkour more than just pushing a button to scale anything – Mirror’s Edge ended up being that game for me. Being the eternal eye-candy gamer, from the first trailer I saw I was in love of the visuals. The whole world has a very utopian look: everything is clean, organized, almost dream-like with lots of bloom. This idealistic society is a facade though, playing counter to the military-state rule.

As I don’t do well with first person shooters on the console, I thought I might have problems with the control scheme and I did. My first look at Mirror’s Edge was when I downloaded the demo on the Xbox 360 – the experience turned out to be so bad that I was thinking I would have to pass on the game. I decided to wait and try it out on the PC and I’m glad I did.

Read on »

This is an Engineer on our Team Fortress 2 achievement map lacking a bit of foresight in his building plans. Click here for a 1680×1050 inspirational (or lack thereof) wallpaper.