By Alex Vilafania, hackenslash Reporter
INQUIRER.net
HERE are more words of wisdom from members of the Philippine gaming industry’s Who’s Who. Read Part 1 if you haven’t checked it out yet.
Leo Magno, INQUIRER.net executive editor and ‘Father of hackenslash’
Ups: Competition is becoming tighter than ever, leading to more choices in the online and console gaming spaces. The gaming industry is now being seen as serious business, and investors are pouring in. On the media front, more coverage is being given the gaming industry, an indication that yes, there is a market for gaming information and that yes, journalists in the country are starting to cover the emerging “gaming beat.”
Downs: After the much-ballyhooed release of next-generation consoles, not a lot of good games were released in 2007. Same is true with online games. Some of the games released this year still hinge on enriching your character’s local currency warchest to gain power instead of customizing your character for it to become unique. I know real-world scenarios are being simulated here, where wealth equals power, but we need a fresh idea from online game publishers.
Prospects for 2008: Online, it’s going to be tight. The big players might end up seeing themselves switching from the top position to number 2 or 3, then back again to the top, as competition continues to heat up and telecommunications infrastructure chug along, limiting the number of potential gamers and forcing the major players to compete for the same small pie. Consoles: No end to piracy in sight; Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony still won’t take the Philippine market seriously as modified devices continue to proliferate; the gray market will still be the primary distributor of consoles in he Philippines. Mobile, cell phones will still be a viable platform for casual games, but more mobile gaming devices will be seen in the country for longer, more elaborate and “serious” games; let’s face it — Filipinos use the phone to text, not to play games for an extended period.
Christmas Wishlist: For the industry: More outsourced gaming projects to the Philippines, or more investors to showcase Filipino game developers’ talents, which hopefully would lead to more prominent acknowledgment of the Filipino developers in the final end-products. For consoles: More killer games that would make good use of the Nintendo Wii’s unique controller; more revolutionary gaming ideas from other console makers that would focus on gameplay and game experience rather than processing and graphics power; more seamless integration of handheld-console games; a killer game that would allow you to continue your game from console or PC (offline) then bring the character online then to the mobile device, and all your XPs would still pile up.
Ed Geronia, editor in chief of T3 magazine
Ups: Great games for Xbox 360, Wii and PC. New lower priced PS3 SKU. Non-gamers getting into gaming because of the Wii’s increasing mass appeal.
Downs: Lukewarm PS3 releases. Heavy upgrades required for new DX10 games.
Prospects for 2008: Hopefully HD gaming gains popularity as the prices of TV sets and consoles go down.
Christmas Wishlist: Complete Rock Band set (All the instruments and game), Logitech G25 wheel, Dual Shock 3 controller, 37-inch Sharp Aquos LCD TV, Hannspree New York 19-inch, WXGA monitor, Nvidia 8800 GTX video card, Pioneer HTP 330 home theater system, “Planet Earth — The Complete BBC Series” (Blu-ray), “Blade Runner” (5 Disc Ultimate Collectors Edition, Blu-ray), Mass Effect Limited Edition Set, Halo 3 Legendary Edition.
Gabby Dizon, President of the Game Developers Association of the Philippines
Ups: Our successful participation in Games Convention Asia Singapore, seeing the game we worked on released to the public.
Downs: Delays for some much-anticipated projects. (Hopefully, you’ll see them in 2008!)
Prospects for 2008: Bigger and better recognized Philippine game industry. We are looking forward to attending GDC 2008 in San Francisco next year to show people what Filipino game developers can do.
Christmas Wishlist: iPod Touch is the only gadget I’m drooling for this Christmas!
Ranier Umali, Virtual Titania Amusement Software (VITAS) president
Ups: We believe that the game industry in general will still have a modest growth for 2008. Many Philippine game development companies are very active in promoting their services in terms of outsourcing. And to some extent some are making IP games. As far as we are concerned we are very, very positive that we will have a very rewarding year for us considering that we have finished our online game and with the knowledge and experience gained we will be able to make better games and finish them much faster.
Downs: Although there might be a modest growth in game industry the problem that we can see is that many Internet cafes will be disenfranchised considering that most online games coming from South Korea require computers with high specs. It is no joke to upgrade a computer at this time. Doing business is very hard and it is prudent not to increase overheads.
Prospects for 2008: As we have said, we foresee a modest growth in the online gaming business. Many publishers will still be eager to publish new and exciting online games. However, we foresee an increase in casual games compared to MMORPGs.
Christmas Wishlist: We wish that there will be more game development companies to be established so that in the future the Philippines will be a force to reckon with.
