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Questions by Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor

Answers by Carmen Maierean, Consumer Product Manager, Game Safe

Antiviral computer software can often be the most infuriating application a gamer will ever install on his computer. Imagine being in the middle of an epic 24-man raid when all of a sudden your antivirus software decides to upgrade the definitions, causing some serious lag on your end. Next thing you know, it’s a total party wipe. However, the antivirus development company, BitDefender, hopes to end all of those problems with its latest product.

Dubbed Game Safe, this antivirus and antispyware application is advertised as being perfect for the online gamer. Ten Ton Hammer’s Cody “Micajah” Bye wanted to really get to the heart of the software and asked a number of questions to Game Safe’s Carmen Maierean, the company’s consumer product manager. Her answers are well-thought and in-depth, so if you’re looking for a new piece of antivirus software, make sure you check out this interview!

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Ten Ton Hammer: To start, why did you decide to create a “gamer specific” antivirus and antispyware solution? Was there a huge demand for this kind of product on the market?

Carmen Maierean: BitDefender identified the gamer community as a special segment of the market. Gamers are very focused people that want a fast computer and a fast internet connection so that they can get best scores and get the best of their gaming abilities. However, nowadays most security solutions tweak the default settings to regular computer use like chatting, online banking, shopping or browsing the internet. These activities represent just a small percentage of a gamers’ activity on a computer. We all know how gamers are willing to spend their nights in a WOW ride or never leave their computer until they finish the current mission. This type of computer usage requires different security solution settings and a very light resource footprint. BitDefender tailored the latest version to address these needs.

Carmen Maierean, Consumer Product Manager

Ten Ton Hammer: Why should a gamer use Game Safe rather than any of the other antivirus products on the market? Will the antivirus and antispyware tools be as comprehensive and formidable?

Carmen: By using BitDefender Game Safe the user will be protected by best antivirus technology while having a smooth gaming experience. Other Antivirus product on the market take up to 3 times more resources when gaming compared to Game Safe.

Ten Ton Hammer: On the Game Safe website, you have a couple charts that show Game Safe’s performance compared to other programs. How did you achieve such impressive numbers compared to your competition? How will this affect our gaming?

Carmen: These tests have been performed in house. We actually have people that play and test our products in the same time. This way we can ensure that we have all the feedback upfront. The results have been reached by carefully tweaking the settings against the security needs of the gamers and the resources required and embedded all of them in a work mode called Game Mode. The antivirus is set to a permissive level, this scanning only the most important files (maps and games settings are not scanned for instance). Firewall is set to allow all new connections, but applies existing rules nevertheless. Updates are postponed until the user returns from Game mode, thus does not impact bandwidth or CPU. Also, all alerts are disabled. Having this said, we strongly recommend the user to enter Game mode when playing and to always switch back to regular mode when not playing.

Ten Ton Hammer: One of the biggest complaints gamers have with antivirus software is the annoying “pop-up alerts” that occur with fair frequency. Is there a way to eliminate those with GameSafe?

Carmen: BitDefender Game Safe takes care of this by default. Alerts and pop-ups are out of the question for this product. All kind of interruptions have been eliminated.

Ten Ton Hammer: Do you have any sort of free trial program to give gamers a taste of what Game Safe can do? If not, do you think something like that will ever be available?

Carmen: BitDefender Game Safe is available for download here: http://www.bitdefender.com/media/html/gamesafe.html

Game Safe promised no more of those annoying pop-up alerts while you're gaming.

Ten Ton Hammer: Another big concern that many gamers have with antivirus software is the constant threat of the software not interacting well with their favorite game of choice. What have the developers of Game Safe done to insure that gamers won’t ever receive that sort of alert?

Carmen: Besides testing the games in our own environment, we have changed the firewall settings to accommodate any type of game. The firewall rules created before entering Game mode are still active, it is just that new connections created by the game during Game mode are allowed.

Ten Ton Hammer: For those users already using the BitDefender software packages, how is Game Safe any better or worse? Should a gamer upgrade to Game Safe if they already have a BitDefender application installed?

Carmen: Those customers that already have BD 2008 do not have to switch to Game Safe as a similar Game mode features is included in BD 2008 as well. However, for those customers that do not want full security solution or just want something specifically tailored for their needs, Game Safe is the key.

Ten Ton Hammer: On your website, it states that Game Safe’s gamer mode can be activated with a click of the mouse. Can gamers adjust the “game mode” in your software? What if they still want to receive a particular alert or download the latest updates even though they’re still gaming?

Carmen: For the current version of Game Mode, adjusting and modifying the settings is not included. However, we will keep this in mind for the future version of BitDefender Game Safe.

Ten Ton Hammer: On a personal level, what’s the most unique and important aspect about GameSafe? Why should gamers be interested in this product?

Carmen: BitDefender Game Safe is a product for gamers envisioned, developed and tested by people that game in their spare time. It is like when you do something for yourself and you realize that you share the same need for a gaming solution like the rest of the Gaming community.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there anything else you’d like to tell the Ten Ton Hammer readers?

Carmen: Give BitDefender Game Safe a try and let us know if you want something else in it. We are dedicated to making this product suit every gamers need.