Bangu-Bang Mania! to go on closed beta test

Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter INQUIRER.net DESPITE development delays, Philippine game development firm Virtual Titania Amusement Software (VITAS) has now scheduled the closed beta test of Bangu-Bang Mania! The company has acquired at least two servers that will be used for its closed beta test, starting in the first week of December. In an interview, VITAS president Rainier Umali said the hardware will be hosted in an ePLDT data center. He said the first few weeks of the beta test will check in-game bugs and latency issues of computers accessing the game through the servers. "We have tapped the assistance of a few Internet cafes in Metro Manila to help out in the closed beta test," Umali said. During the beta test, the company will be having a sort of "search for bugs" contest wherein players that find and report the most number of bugs in the game will win one of several prizes, including Creative Zen Stone music players. "We want players to share their experiences with the game so we could improve it before the open beta test and the subsequent commercial launch," Umali said. He noted that the open beta test could start as early as January 2008 with the commercial launch starting sometime in the first quarter of 2008. Bangu-Bang Mania! is primarily a 3D game set in a 2D environment with robots fighting each other. The game can allow one player to fight another player, or engage in three-on-three team combat. Winning would give players a chance to upgrade their robot with more powerful parts and weapons. Umali said that VITAS will be both the developer and publisher of the game. The actual development of the game is led by Umali's son, Antonio Rainier.