ClanBase's Spring 2010 Cup season is about to kick off and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory is once again among the games featured this time around. Players will be able to compete in two different types of tournaments - OpenCups, for which anyone can sign up, and ClanBase's trademark EuroCups, which are invite-only and feature Europe's top teams. Sign-ups for the latest Enemy Territory OpenCup will start this Sunday and run for exactly two weeks until March 14. The actual cups will then start at the end of March. For more information, head over to ClanBase's EC/OC Cup Spring 2010 page.

There's a brand-new European Brink fansite out there and it's offering you the chance to get your most burning game-related questions answered. Named BRINKish.eu, the site promises to bring you the latest Brink development news and updates, with a special focus on the competitive side of things. BRINKish is run by dohfOs, who also maintains Scandinavian fan site ChefenCo.

To kick things off, BRINKish has organized a community Q&A, allowing you to submit questions to be answered by the Brink development team here at Splash Damage. The deadline for submissions is February 28 (which is this Sunday), so be sure to send your Qs in by then.
Finally, if you frequent Twitter, don't forget to follow BRINKish for bite-sized updates.

Fancy creating your own Brink fan site? Grab the Brink Fan Site Kit to help you kick things off with plenty of game media, logos and information.

Welcome to the latest installment of Currently Hurling, our semi-regular look at the games we've been playing here at Splash Damage. 2010 has been a spectacular year for games so far and with great new releases continuing to appear on almost a weekly basis, there's no sign of that changing any time soon.

Among at least several other things, this edition features Crispy flailing about in the dark, Mikkel being trapped in his dosbox, and Locki practicing all-female intergalactic warfare. Just another day at the office, really.

Let's dive right in:

As pointed out in her staff interview a while back, our Senior Concept Artist Laurel 'Tully' Austin regularly sculpts all manner of dinosaur/demon/monster-related creatures in her spare time, much to the delight of everyone here at the office. We've previously shown some of her work on our Flickr page and she's been pretty busy since.

Luckily, Laurel's more recent creations are now out in the virtual wild over at art showcase site Creature Spot, featuring a multitude of photos full of spikes, horns, and claws. Perfect for a rainy Monday afternoon, we think.

There's a brand-new interview with Splash Damage's Creative Director Richard Ham on the website of U.S. gaming mag, Game Informer, covering a smorgasbord of Brink topics. Among other things, Richard discusses the game’s dynamic mission system, customising your weapons, playing the story out of order, and what sort of things you can expect to unlock over the course of the game. Go check out the full interview on GI's website - it's a very informative read.

On a side note, the latest print edition of Game Informer also features some great Brink content. If you're in the U.S. and near a newsstand, expect to find a preview laden with plenty of Richard Ham quotes and new screenshots.

Relentlessly answering every single question in our latest staff interview with no regard for his personal safety is Programmer Jose 'mojo' Esteve. Jose is part of our almighty fleet of tools programmers here at Splash Damage, tirelessly toiling away on the software we use to build our games.

To find out more about Jose, including how he ended up in the industry, his advice for breaking in, and how a sock monkey figures into all this, take a look at the assortment of vowels and consonants that make up the full interview in his profile.

Following their exclusive debut in Bethesda's newsletter earlier, we've got a foursome of Brink screenshots for you today. Click to enlarge:

Brink's romp through print magazines all over the world continues, and we have amassed the very latest appearances for you. Most notably, Brink made the cover of Win Giochi Magazine (pictured right) in Italy, one of the country's most prominent gaming magazines. There are also several new hands-on features in the current issues of the following:

USA

» PlayStation - The Official Magazine
» Official Xbox Magazine

Germany

» PC Games, Germany
» M!Games, Germany

In more bite-sized news, Brink has also been featured in the 2010 previews of PSM3 and X360 here in the UK, Gamestar and Gee Magazine in Germany, and MasterConsole in Italy.

If you spot Brink in any other magazines, let us know in the comments!

Having just returned from being the Superbowl's stand-in, here's the latest of our semi-regular staff interviews, this time featuring none other than Angelo 'classact' Dal Pra. Before falling through Splash Damage's front door, Angelo worked on Fuel and PlayStation Home among other things, and he's now firmly planted in the midst of our environment art team.

To find out more about Angelo, how he got his start in the industry, his tips for aspiring artists, and why he's a virtual safari of doom, check out the full interview hiding in plain sight on his profile page.

Here it is, the latest installment of our regular look at what games we've been playing here at Splash Damage. Somewhat predicably, Mass Effect 2 is the talk of the town/office this week, and it's garning high praise all around.

Less predictably, the other big gaming story this week is after extensive and no doubt harrowing training sessions, our IT magicians Ben 'Randles' Hopkinson and Joe 'Rex-theGrunt' Gibson at long last stand victoriously at the very top of Pixeljunk Shooter (right). Or more specifically, the leaderboard for the first stage of episode 1 after somehow squeezing 311,500 points out of the thing. Watching them play is a bit like watching two brain surgeons go about their business simultaneously - it's all very precise, meticulously coordinated, and probably supremely confusing to onlookers. Our metaphorical hats are off to them.

Now, Mass Effect 2 isn't the only thing in our trays, of course. Read to see what else we managed to get our thumbs on:

Want to work on Brink? We are currently looking for additional artists and programmers to join our talented team. Click on a position to learn more about it:

Art & Media

• Cinematics Animator
• Environment Artist
• Senior Environment Artist
• Texture Artist

Programming

• AI Programmer
• Online Services Contractor
• Platform Optimisation Programmer

Check out our Culture section to find out more about what it's like to work here and don't forget to browse our extensive Living in London guide for everything you need to know about moving to London and living here.

If there's nothing there for you at the moment, why not sign up for our Jobs RSS feed or subscribe to email updates? We look forward to hearing from you.