The Gamer’s Toolbox
The Gamer’s Toolbox is a carry over from the ITG founder’s previous blog, A Wall of Text on MMO Gaming, so some of the GT items will come from there. However, ITG will look to expand the GT to be more useful over time. Let us know if you find anything useful!
KeePass: One password to rule them all
KeePass (see KeePassX for Mac) was the LifeHacker HiFive winner for best password manager, and I agree with the choice. KeePass is a program that runs in your system tray and stores all your passwords. All of them, not just your passwords for your web accounts. For mmo gamers this means that if you play a game that requires a login, KeePass can store that for you too, and you can copy and paste it right out of KeePass into your game for that extra level of security. By not typing the password on your keyboard, you can avoid most key logging programs and avoid getting your favorite mmo game account from being hacked because a key logging program recorded your typed password.
Xfire: The all-in-one utility for gamers
I’ve known about Xfire for a long time, and boy has it evolved. What used to be merely an AIM like IM client has turned into a full featured gamer tool. Sure, at its core you can IM any of your friends, and regardless of what game they are playing they can get your message popping up over their screen. The usefulness of this tool doesn’t stop there though, Xfire allows you to launch an in game web browser (useful for gamers with only 1 monitor), use voice chat, broadcast live gaming streams, record video clips, and a whole host of social networking features. I haven’t included all this tool can do, and its still growing . This is a highly recommended tool for any gamer.
LogMeIn: Control your gaming rig from work, or anywhere else
LogMeIn is basically remote control software. It was voted best remote desktop software at LifeHacker. You install the client on any machine you want to control. Then, you go to the LogMeIn web site from any machine…anywhere…and log in to your account. From there, you can pick which machine you want to control. After launching “remote control” for the selected machine, you’ll be prompted to enter the code you set up for that machine (the one you entered when you installed the client) and log in. Finally, you’ll be seeing an real time view of the machine and you’ll have full remote control over it. You can copy and paste text and url’s since the software synchronizes the clipboard on your local machine with the one you are controling. You can upgrade to the pro version and do even more, and I believe there is even an iPhone app if you really want to go nuts. This tool is really sweet for starting/checking long downloads, or kicking off games to get patched, while you are away.
DropBox: Have your files with you, anywhere
DropBox is a file synchronization utility for Windows/Mac at its core. Install it on your home machine and your work machine. Point it to a folder, and it will sync the contents of that folder to every computer that has DropBox installed. For gamers, it has tons of uses. Put your favorite forum avatar in your DropBox, and it will be available on whatever computer you log in with. Better yet, run DxDiag.exe on your home machine and save the output file to your DropBox and it will be available on your work machine. Now when you want to sign up for a beta while at work (on your lunch break, of course ;p) you can upload your gaming system’s dxdiag file right from your synchronized DropBox. This tool works great with LogMeIn, since the free version doesn’t allow file transfers, but DropBox does that for you! It also works great with KeePass, cause you can store your password safe in your DropBox, and have your passwords available and synchronized on all your machines. It also provides a web page of your files, so you can download them anywhere. Again, go nuts cause it also has an iPhone app available.
Pixlr: Web based image editing
Pixlr is as close to having Adobe Photoshop in a web browser as you can get. Its free and easy to use, and gives you a great way to paint “PWND!” on your game screen shots, draw up a map or strategy, or whatever use you can come up with.
Steam: Get games, manage friends and more
Steam is a great way to buy, download and manage your games online. Not only that, but you can manage friends lists, voice/text chat/IM, organize groups, and more.