By Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES - Videogame makers are riding the social networking wave with a flood of soon-to-be-released titles that let friends play online as teams and even create their own characters.

The world’s big three console makers — Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony — are providing frameworks for players to connect with hardware and software on which online communities of gamers can have fun and flourish.

“Gamers aren’t just in it for the high scores anymore,” Sony Computer Entertainment of North America president Jack Tretton said, as videogame industry giants unveiled new offerings at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).

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By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines – Two pairs of brothers who hail from Cebu will be the first Filipinos to enter the international competition of online casual game GetAmped in Singapore on August 1 to 3.

The Cebuano brothers beat over 4,000 players during the concluded GetAmped National Tournament.

Mervin Medallo, 22, brother Masael Medallo, 18, and Jose Antonio Diosanta, 18, won the GetAmped’s team tournament category and took home P75,000.

Diosanta’s younger brother, Jose Miguel Diosanta, won the individual competition that netted him P25,000.

GetAmped Community Development Head Arnel Duran told hackenslash that the brothers have started training for the upcoming GetAmped World Festival in Singapore.

“They already have a Japanese GetAmped player training them. This is the first time we’re joining so we better come prepared,” said Duran who declined to reveal the identity of the group’s Japanese trainer.

Duran said they will be facing dozens of players from nine countries for the title of the best GetAmped players in the world. Among the countries participating are Japan, China, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea.

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Editor’s Note: Updated article with links to list of winners

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — After nearly three months, the World Cyber Games (WCG) 2008 Philippine leg competition has come to a close with a dozen gamers chosen out of 104 to represent the Philippines.

They will join the WCG 2008 Grand Finals in Germany on November 9, as well as the Asian Cyber Games in Singapore in August.

Leading the group will be the five-man Counterstrike team Horsemen of the Apocalypse (HOA), composed of Arvin Agbisit, Paolo Nancho, Jupiter Mars Gaboy, EJ Clores and Gary Guevarras. The group has been the consistent Philippine representative to the WCG Grand Finals for the past four years, organizers of the local competition said.

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By Agence France-Presse

LOS ANGELES –The “Spore” alien population is exploding, boding well for the September launch of the latest brainchild of computer game legend Will Wright.

Electronic Arts-owned Maxis Studio released “creature creator” software last month in the hope that aspiring Spore players would bring a population of aliens to life in time for the game’s premier.

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By Agence France-Presse

SAN FRANCISCO–Microsoft said Sunday it is cutting the price of its 20-gigabyte Xbox 360 video game consoles and rolling out a model with three times the memory space to take its place.

The US technology giant’s announcement comes two days before the official start of a major Electronic Entertainment Expo at which video game console makers will be striving to portray their hardware as superior.

Microsoft said it will trim $50 from Xbox 360 models with 20 gigabytes in the United States or Canada, cutting prices to $299.

An upgraded Xbox 360 Pro model with 60 gigabytes of memory will hit markets in those same two countries in August with $349 price tags, according to the Redmond, Washington-based firm.

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