Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

By Cody “Micajah” Bye, Managing Editor

From the very beginning of its creation, Ten Ton Hammer has been defined as a network that focuses squarely on massively multiplayer online gamers and everything associated with those titles. MMO gamers have no other place where they can go to find such an extensive collection of MMOG editorials, reviews, previews and interviews. However, being an MMO gamer isn’t simply about logging in to your favorite MMOG and toiling around through various worlds.

In fact, being an MMO gamer means that you have a whole collection of different agendas you have to deal with, ranging from the speed of your graphics card to the threat of malware coming into to your precious hard drive and ripping out its innards. Although Ten Ton Hammer doesn’t review graphics cards, CPUs, or any of that fancy hardware stuff, we do take an interest in those elements of gaming. You can’t ignore what you use everyday, right?

GameSafe uses less processor power than these leading brands. The less processor your antivirus program uses, the more power left for gaming!

So when I was introduced to BitDefender’s Game Safe antivirus software, it seemed a perfect opportunity to do a little cross genre reporting. Like most online gamers, I have been on the receiving end of more than one Trojan virus and have suffered the gaming scars to prove it. Back when I was just a wee lad, my parents hadn’t a clue about computer viruses and when they opened up a rogue email from yourcousin@nigeria.com, our computer – and my hundreds of hours of saved games – went up in digital smoke.

Even since that day, I have been a stalwart defender of my computers files, but I have still received plenty of unfortunate encounters with the bad side of computing. Therefore I knew that I had to jump into Game Safe and see whether this antivirus bundle would actually protect me against viruses while keeping out of my gaming.

Though I am far from the expert on antivirus protection, I can say that my previous history with antivirus software hasn’t been spectacular. Despite doing a fairly adequate job of keeping my computer virus and malware free, my former antivirus software packages have a fairly consistent problem of popping up with an “Alert!’ in the middle of a gaming session or deciding to download the latest set of content while my client is churning through a recent raid. Generally – and I think most of you would agree – this is extremely annoying.

BitDefender’s Game Safe software changes the rules of the game a bit. While it still boasts all of the standard nuances that a good antivirus package should have – antivirus, antirootkit, antispyware, antiphishing, and firewall features – it also does all without leaving an incredibly huge footprint on your machine. When I had Game Safe passively running in the background of my machine it barely made a dent on my performance.

But then again, any performance hit is worse than none at all. So the developers at BitDefender have made a fancy little option – which I think all antivirus companies should adopt – for us gamers. It’s called “Game Mode.” Sounds cool, right? It is.

When BitDefender’s Game Mode is activated, it virtually eliminates any annoyance that your antivirus program could create on your computer. Game Safe pop ups are disabled. Alerts are disabled. The protection level is set to permissive and the firewall is set to “Game Mode” virtually insuring that your gaming experience will be worry free. Of course, BitDefender devs suggest that you turn Game Mode off whenever you hop out of your game to insure computer security, and this is done with a quick Alt+G click on your keyboard.

For those of you interested in purchasing Game Safe, you can get the entire product for $24.95 which includes a year subscription to the product’s software updates and downloads. Game Safe is available from a variety of different online retailers and for direct download. It’s a pretty cheap purchase for a year’s worth of peace of mind.

And on top of that, Game Safe is also holding a contest with Ten Ton Hammer for a chance to win a free copy of the Game Safe software. But you’d better hurry, the contest will be ending shortly so don’t miss your opportunity to get a free copy of Game Safe! Click here to enter the contest!

All in all, my experience with Game Safe has been remarkably care free. Virtually nothing has occurred to my computer in the weeks that I’ve had Game Safe running. And when you’re reviewing a antivirus package, nothing is a good thing. Thanks to BitDefender, I now have a comprehensive antivirus software package that won’t interfere with my gaming. Kudos to you, BitDefender!

(Editor's Note: If you want to win a free copy of Game Safe, click here!)