So Team Fortress 2 came out with these hats a while ago. They drop randomly while you play the game. The chance of getting one is quite rare. So naturally people used Idlers to cheat their way to a hat. Playing without actually playing.

Well recently Valve cracked down on the cheaters. Everyone who has ever used the Idler program now has all their items removed. For for us who haven't cheated, we get a fancy Halos (not that Halolz).

Religion informs many subjects, so it should be no surprise that it's a heady topic for comic book characters. Here's a clip from the X-Men TV show.

There's also a website that keeps track of the official religion of many famous comic book characters.

I just noticed that Escapist magazine did a whole issue on the Intersection of Religion and Games. I'd suggest starting with the editor's introduction and then checking out the rest of the articles.

I've included the introduction to all of the articles so you can choose your area of interest. I'll also briefly comment on the any points in the articles that I find interesting.

I wanted to make sure all you aspiring game developers have heard about the Indie Game Challenge – a game design competition which aims to support the independent games movement by providing game developers the opportunity to showcase their skills, break into the game business and launch their careers to the next level.

Presented by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), GameStop, and The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, the Challenge offers almost $300,000 in prize monies and scholarships, including a $100,000 grand prize for both the winning professional and non-professional games, and a life-changing opportunity. Finalists will also receive national exposure and be eligible for additional prize money by having their pitch videos posted on GameStop.com and GameStop TV for People’s Choice Award voting.

Back in 2004 I was working for a medical company locally.  Unfortunately, while the job was good it put a lot of stress on my back and my hands.  I developed carpal tunnel in both of my hands and muscle degeneration in my neck, shoulders, and back.  So what was a gamer to do?

The first thing I did was purchase a new mouse and a desk.  The desk itself was not special, but it was more ergonomic than my previous desk.  I also purchased a ergonomic office chair to go with it.  But the mouse was the special part.

In a certain sense, Final Fantasy VI continues both the gameplay-oriented tradition of odd-numbered Final Fantasies, and the personal approach of the even-numbered ones. Its flexible gameplay is second only to Final Fantasy V, its non-linearity leaves a lot of room for exploration and discovery, and its story and cast of characters reaches a whole new level of quality. It is hard to decide which aspect of a game is more developed in Final Fantasy VI. Its balance and perfection are of a kind that is hard to find in other games, even among the respresentatives of the same series.