March 2008 Archives

ERASE the Ang Lee disaster from your memory. "The Incredible Hulk" is a new beginning, and we've got the trailer courtesy of Solar-UIP Philippines. The movie stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth and William Hurt. Here's a pic of Edward as Bruce Banner, also provided by Solar-UIP Philippines.

GOT this from Rita Obanil, marketing officer of Solar-UIP Philippines. Here's the first official look at the upcoming "G.I. Joe" movie's Snake Eyes. who is being played by Ray Park (yup, the same guy who played Darth Maul). Photo by Frank Masi.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net AMPED.PH is gunning to release the newest patch for their massively multiplayer online role-playing game Tantra by the first week of April according to Arete Mequi, forum moderator of Tantra for Amped. Known as the Ruins patch, the new area looks like the ruins of a village set in the middle of a dark forest. "So far we haven't really seen most of the stage, but the levels of the new monsters in the area range from 103 to 115. The levels of the bosses are unknown," Mequi said. The patch will also include the Vedi Kruma, which Mequi described as "an arena where players of the three differen gods, whose levels range from 70 to 99, can battle it out for taney and master points." Amped has shared a few images of the new area with hackenslash. A very creepy-looking area reminiscent of the initial stages of Fatal Frame for the PlayStation 2.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net IP E-GAMES has announced its acquisition of the exclusive rights to publish and distribute Cabal Online, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) from Korea-based game developer EST Soft, here in the Philippines. Cabal Online will be officially introduced publicly in the coming Domination II event that will be held at SMX convention hall on April 6. Representatives from EST Soft will be present at the event to support the launch of their product. "The success of Cabal Online in other regions convinced us to bring it here as part of our commitment to bring the best games for the Filipino gamer," said Heidi Mendita, IP e-Games group product manager. Cabal Online is a unique third-person MMORPG that combines futuristic, fantasy and medieval themes into an action-packed, sophisticated role-playing adventure. The game has been successfully launched in Asia, Europe, and North America (including the US and Canada), gathering 20,000,000 registrations across the globe. In Vietnam, Cabal Online recorded a maximum of 75,000 concurrent users at any given time according to a press release from IP e-Games. Filipino players were first exposed to Cabal Online during the European Server Closed Beta. Mark Ng, product manager for Cabal Online, said: "We believe that Cabal is the only free-to-play MMORPG out there that can break the barriers between online and console gaming. With Cabal Online, we expect to increase our existing user base by appealing to console and hardcore gamers." Cabal Online is a quest-based MMORPG that boasts of elaborately detailed three-dimensional graphics, beautiful costumes and characters, and stimulating storyline. Staged hundreds of years in the future, the story is staged in the kingdom of Nevareth, where a conspiracy threatens to destroy the stability and peace of the colonies. The players are entrusted with the task of facing the invaders of Nevareth and uncover the plot to destroy the world. The game boasts of six playable characters, namely: Warrior, Blader, Wizard, Force Archer, Force Sheilder, and Force Blader. Game features include a global positioning system that shows the player's current location as well as party members, NPC and quest dungeons, warp gates as well as hunting field and difficulty level of monsters. The skill points (used to improve battle skills) and character stats (strength, dexterity, and intelligence) develop separately so they can freely schedule their leveling activities according to their target level or skills. Battle experience is also intensified by a combo system that allows users to continuously execute multiple skill attacks. Players can undergo quests that will give them the privilege of owning a futuristic core-driven hover bike called Astral Bike. Nation Battles involve the allying of players to a nation (Capella or Procyon) by undergoing a nation quest. Players can kill other characters of opposing nations in this feature.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net DESPITE having only one branch left of its Extreme Gaming Grounds (EGG) brand, Netopia operator Digital Paradise said it will continue operating EGG at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City. In fact, the company is deploying the Nintendo Wii gaming console. Currently, only one Wii is in their MOA shop but the company is bringing in another unit. Digital Paradise vice president for Sales and Marketing Tito Chavez said in an interview that the Wii was a good choice to entice people to go to EGG, adding that children have an affinity for the games included in the Nintendo Wii. "It's a device that lets players be physically active. This will encourage parents to bring their kids to EGG," Chavez said. Some of the videoke rooms in the EGG MOA branch have been removed to give space to the Wii section. A few Wii-only shops were put up after the Wii was introduced in 2006. Among the shops are RemoteWorld and FRiiSPIRIT, both in Quezon City. The EGG brand was introduced a few years ago, with at least four branches. Its concept was to create a new gaming arena for serious players of online, PC and console games. It had computers as well as several game consoles such as the Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Xbox. EGG has no plans yet to introduce the Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Chavez said that while the brand did experience a decline in the past years, the last shop remained as it was still generating revenue. "We still have regular customers at EGG."

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net IP E-GAMES is holding an exclusive girl gamers-only party on March 29 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the GameFrog Internet cafe in Metrowalk Ortigas. Interested ladies need to send their full name and contact number via e-mail to veya@granadoespada.com.ph. They are inviting all girl gamers, especially those who play massively multiplayer online role-playing games to the event. "This event is open to all the ladies out there," said Bea Navarrete, IP e-Games assistant product manager and Granado Espada community manager. "We conducted this event to draw attention and awareness among the girl gamers in the gaming community, plus this is in line with International Women's month. It's basically like girl power!" Navarette added. Special freebies like Granado Espada in-game items and merchandise will be given to the participants. A Girl Power! one-on-one player vs player tournament will also be held with the winner getting "a very special prize," Navarette said. "Secret!" The exclusive Girl Gamer T-shirt and GE Limited Edition boxes will be on sale at discounts at the event.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net LEVEL UP!, in cooperation with Netopia, recently held an open competition for their casual basketball game FreeStyle at the Netopia Bridgeway at the Greenhills Shopping Center. Sixteen teams of three members each registered at the venue and went through the eliminations. The top four teams who made it to the semifinals are Just Play, Reinezzence, Stratos, and Turbulence. It was a close match between Just Play and Reinezzence with the latter taking the win in the last game of their best-of-three after going into double overtime. Turbulence won over Stratos and went on to grab the top title for the competition after winning three matches straight in the best-of-five in the final round versus Reinezzence. Though it wasn't an easy win as the first match went into overtime, and their third win was decided by a two-point clutch shot. Team Reinezzence is composed of Bryan Castillo a.k.a. BoyTalbog, Kevin Imperial a.k.a. Bell, and Gary Tiro a.k.a. KalyeBoy20. Champion Team Turbulence is composed of Jon Lagman a.k.a. aGuLabjr, Kevin So a.k.a. kobeLAlakers, and Kenneth So a.k.a. Practsim. Tito Chavez, Netopia vice president for Marketing and Sales, and Erwin Cruz, Netopia cluster manager for the area, were on hand for the awarding of prizes to the winners. "We support our communities; this includes our gamers. In fact we have a lot lined up for them and our other customers this year. Though we cannot divulge our plans yet," Chavez said. Hector Sagrado, Level Up! brand manager for FreeStyle, was there with his community managers to handle the event. "Nagulat kami sa dami ng mga nag-register," Sagrado said. "May mga galing pa ng Valenzuela, and we even have a team na may lady player." Team Just Play, which made it to the final four, was the team that Sagrado was talking about. Roselle Isip, 26, was the player in question. "Wala lang, siya lang ang na-tripan ko na laruin nung may Internet shop kami eh," Isip explained when asked why she plays FreeStyle. "Try ko lang naman kung mananalo, kung hindi oks lang."

By INQUIRER.net FILIPINO player Kevin Patrick Chung will fly to Singapore to compete in EA Play, which will be held on March 15 to 16 at Marina Square's Central Atrium as part of the company's plan to further foster interactive community exchanges in the Asia Pacific. Chung topped the Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars tournament held at the Villman Cyberzone at SM Megamall. "I think successful naman, it being the first competition we've held, and the limited amount of time for the set-up," said Jo Oliver, operations manager of event sponsor DataBlitz. Placing second in the tournament was Ronnie Kern, and in third was Jan Michael Lim. The tournament drew a total of 24 contestants. For photos, check out event organizer eSports' website. DataBlitz is a premier distributor of computer games, and is the exclusive distributor of EA Games in the Philippines. EA Play 08 will showcase the latest games from the company, and both friendly and competitive gameplay will be encouraged between both casual and hardcore gamers for them to experience new games firsthand, according to a press statement. EA Play will see the final playoffs of EA’s Crysis Asia Pacific Tournament powered by Microsoft Games for Windows, as well as the tournament finals for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Apart from the Philippines and Singapore, the countries sending players to EA Play 08 include Australia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand. For the loyal Command & Conquer fans there will also be a preview of the highly anticipated game Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath as well as other game play-offs where participants can compete to take home a piece of the S$10,000 prize money pool when they play FIFA 08, NBA Street Homecourt, Need for Speed Prostreet and Skate. Entry to EA Play is free for everyone and the event offers three different areas -- EA Gamezone, EA Champs and EA Screen. EA Screen will provide visitors a chance to interact with EA’s game producers hailing from the studios, and unveil the hugely anticipated Spore Creature Creator demo version to gamers for the first time in Asia.“EA has, in the past few years, created a strong bond with our local gamers through community events. To cater to the growing following of our games, this year’s EA play will undoubtedly be the consumer gaming event of the year both in terms of scale and in content,” said Christopher Ng, general manager for Publishing of EA Singapore. With a report from Relly Carpio, INQUIRER.net

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net "FOR the next seven days, i-Hooked Buendia will have various promos in celebration of our opening," said Maribel Thomas, franchise owner of the newest branch of power gamer hub i-Hooked. "From 1 to 6 p.m. everyday, various local game distributors will hold sponsored events, themed towards their games at our branch: e-Games (March 12-13), Amped (March 14-15), and AMDG (March 16-17). On the 18th, i-Hooked will have the finals of their Ownage DOTA competition, where the winning representative team will take home P10,000 in cold hard cash." Here's a photo I took of Thomas with Benedict Villanueva (left), general manager of Sabiclub, the company that owns the i-Hooked franchise, and Dong Hun Lee, president and CEO of Sabiclub. The branch is located near the corner of Gil Puyat and Chino Roces Avenue. "This is our fourth i-Hooked cafe, and we're very happy to open one in Makati. Also, we have two more that will open soon, one in Las Piñas and another somewhere along EDSA, though I cannot disclose the exact location yet," Lee said. i-Hooked cafe has been known in the power gamer circuit, as well as its sister cafe, Station 168, for having very powerful units that are great for gaming. "We have 75 high-spec computers here. Every one has an Intel Core 2 Duo chip, and we use all-original software. We also have high-speed Internet access of up to 4 megabits per second which is perfect for online gaming," Villanueva explained. Acoustic band Jeff's Crib performed for the crowd mostly composed of college students from the schools around the area.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net THE MINUTE you get a little interest in street racing, be it the legal or the illegal, you almost immediately hear of street racing gangs. But have you ever heard of virtual street racing gangs? Meet Team C.R.o.W., which stands for Certified Racers of Wangan. Each member is an advocate of NAMCO's arcade racing game Maximum Tune, now in its third incarnation. You see them mostly in Glorietta 4's Timezone, playing their favorite arcade game Maximum Tune. And unless you watch them playing the game, you wouldn't recognize them from the regular patrons. "We have been playing for seven years now as a group," relates mild-mannered team leader Ricci Salvador. "We founded Team C.R.o.W. around February last year." According to Salvador, the team currently has 22 members, with ages ranging from 11 to 30-plus. "We're a pretty well-rounded group, and try to keep it that way." Here's a photo of Team C.R.o.W members (l-r) Edward Blanza, Dan Salvador, Josh Sargen and Kiko Jopillo with team leader Ricci Salvador. Team C.R.o.W. has members from the various other arcades which also have the Maximum Tune 3 machines. "We have members from the Promenade, Greenhills, Alabang, and others. Basta may Maximum Tune doon, may members kami. But we mostly gather here in G4, especially pag weekends," Ricci said. According to Ricci they have a pretty strict screening process, "Ayaw kasi namin nung mga mayayabang na members eh. Hindi iyung porke, member ka na ng team eh akala mo kung sino ka na. We want members who will advocate the game, not be bullies who will pick on the newer players." According to Ricci, there are three ways to get into Team C.R.o.W. "You either win in a 1-on-1 battle with me or Dan a.k.a. Shey (more on him later), or win a 4-way battle with three other team members three times in a row, or they pick a map and beat me and Shey together. But skill is only 30 percent of our criteria, 70 percent is attitude. Magaling ka nga, pero yabang ka naman, wag na lang." "Shey" is Dan Salvador (no relation to Ricci). He is considered by Team C.R.o.W. as their star player, though he says that it's Ricci who is the star player. "Hindi ako pinakamagaling, siya (Ricci). Siya nagturo sa akin eh," Dan whispered. Ricci denies this and says it's Dan. But if we were to put it to a vote, the other team members present at the interview agree with Ricci. It is Dan who is the man. With almost 10,000 stars (9,804 at the time of this interview) under his belt, each star representing one defeated racer, even hackenslash would have to agree. Team C.R.o.W. has also gathered for Christmas parties. They had a Holy Week outing/team building activity and have another one planned this year. "Our team doesn't want to just build racing skills, but we also want to develop personality," said Ricci. Last year, they had Wangan racers from Singapore and Japan visit the Philippines and play with them. As for future plans? "We have a website, but it's still under construction. Also we're focused right now on practicing for the coming Manila Cup Challenge that was organized by Timezone," Ricci said.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net TEAM Fuchikoma bagged the win at the awards night of the first Pinoy Indie Games Competition held recently at Temple Bar in Greenbelt 2 with their game Teddy’s Happy FuN TiEm Wonderland garnering the top scores. "It was a solid game," said Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP) president Gabby Dizon. "When I tried it out, I had a feeling this was going to be one of the top contenders." The gameplay of Teddy’s Happy FuN TiEm Wonderland consists of a giant zombie-like monster teddy bear rampaging through the city collecting power-ups while crazy hang-gliding ninjas try and stop him. Members Joseph Cunanan, Carlos Nazareno and John Tiangco took home their Intel Core 2 Quad machines as their prizes. They beat out 13 other competitors from various colleges for the win. Check out this video of the awards night taken by INQUIRER.net multimedia reporter Erika Tapalla and INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania. Excited about the just finished competition, hackenslash asked the obvious question to Jerome Matti, marketing manager of Intel Microelectronics Philippines: "When is the next one?" His answer? "Soon." The Pinoy Indie Games Competition was held on February 1 to 3 at the i-Hooked Internet cafe. Fourteen teams composed of hobbyists and students from various schools spent 48 hours making a game from scratch with the theme "May the fours be with you" in reference to Intel's Core 2 Quad chip. hackenslash was one of the sponsors of the competition.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net PLAYERS of Asian Media's Lineage II have until March 18 to participate in the Tribute! in-game event. Monsters throughout the game world will drop special medals consisting of types: Medals and Glittering Medals. These medals can be exchanged with any of the three non-player character (NPC) assistants for various in-game items. The three NPCs are Roy the Cat, Winnie the Cat and Louie the Cat. Roy the Cat will exchange potions, enchant scrolls, soul crystals and jewelry for the Medals. Winnie the Cat will accept Glittering Medals in exchange for playing a mini-game with her that will give the player the chance to upgrade their collector level. Louie the Cat also trades Medals for items similar to those of Roy, but at different prices. The NPCs will remain in the towns until 7:59 a.m. of March 25 to accept trade. Lineage II is a medieval massively multiplayer online role-playing game from Asian Media Development Group.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net IN AN ANNOUNCEMENT on their website, Z-Zone Online Philippines said it was discontinuing their game Supa Supa Aero Revo after two years of operations in the country. The announcement profusely thanked the players of the game and said, "Z-Zone Online Philippines is launching a new game to enhance (sic), that will surely give you new challenge (sic) and gaming experience." hackenslash was able to speak with Carolyn Valido-Tamares, senior sales associate of Z-Zone Online, during the recent NetCafe Congress. She said Z-Zone is in communications with a game developer for a new game they will be distributing, but "we cannot divulge any information about it yet." Neither did she hint at the closure of SupaSupa during the conversation.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net THE NATIONAL Association for Scrabble in the Philippines (NASCAP) recently held the Student Scrabble Championship and Scrabble Open at SM Megamall. In the Elementary Division, the winners were Angelica Frogosa in first place with a score of 7-8 and a spread of +562, John Carlo Peralta in second place with a score of 6-8 and a spread of +737, and in third place was Kim Rubina with a score of 6-8 and a spread of +443. In the Open Division, the winners were Chris Abordo in first place with a score of 7-8 and a spread of +480, Col. Antonio Malonzo in second place with a score of 6-8 and a spread of +751, and in third place was Oscar Rivera Jr. with a score of 6-8 and a spread of +281. Here's a photo I took of the winners: (L-R) Peralta, Malonzo, Frogosa, Rivera, Abordo, and Kim Rubina with NASCAP president Robert C. Rubina. By the way, the Zyzzyva computer program was used in the tournament to adjudicate challenged words. Want to see Zyzzyva in action? Check out this video I took for INQUIRER.net VDO. Special awards were given for Highest Game Scores to Malonzo for his 556 points, and to Peralta for his 521 points. Special awards were also given to Highest Score For One Word to Frogosa for "swayers" which got her 101 points, and to Malonzo for "praxises" which got him 280 points. "NASCAP is dedicated to promoting Scrabble in the Philippines, and holding this series of events is just one of our methods," said NASCAP president Robert Rubina, who handed out trophies, cash prizes, tokens, and word list scrabble books to the winners. "People often mistake Scrabble as a means of increasing vocabulary. Truth is, this game involves more than words. It involves critical thinking, math, and strategy," he added.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net "THERE were only two Southeast Asian countries at the Game Developers Conference, Singapore and us," said Gabby Dizon, president of the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP). "We may have been a small presence, but we were there." Dizon recently came back from the GDC that was held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco two weeks ago, where the GDAP had a booth at the event. "It was a learning experience, but more importantly, it was a success for the local game development industry. Andoon tayo, nakita tayo, nakilala tayo," he said. The GDC is the world's largest professionals-only game industry event, held every spring in San Francisco.

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net UPDATE: Editor's note: Made a correction and added photos and links to videos. MEMBERS of Team PH and the crowd that gathered to watch them were suddenly thrown into a frenzy, when Team Korea threw in the towel for the second match of the best-of-three finals in the Supreme Destiny World Championship League, making the Philippine team the very first world champions of this international tournament. Here's a photo of the message from Team Korea: "We abstain match." "Nakakagulat," said Squall09M, one of the war council members of the team, "Hindi naming expect na susuko sila sa second match. Baka na-realize nila na wala na sa tactics nila ang uubra." The cheers went on for quite a while and the mood was rightly ecstatic at the Team PH headquarters at the i-Hooked cafe in Katipunan, Quezon City. Check out the video of the post-match interview. The first match versus Korea was the longest match they have had since the beginning of the tournament. You could feel the energy pulsing through the room as the war council gave orders to the different teams, the players sporadically barking back intelligence and information to the council. Every now and then a cheer rose from a corner of the HQ where fans and family were there to support their player. The concentration of the Filipino players themselves was intense. Before the match started they were shouting words of encouragement to one another: "Atin na 'to!" "Tapusin na 'to!" Here's a video of the first match. As the match dragged on longer than they were used to, worry-filled reminders followed the orders "Bantay sa King!" "Tingin-tingin baka may lumulusot." "Defend guys! Lapit na!" Everyone was tense even though the word decimation would have been a closer description to what happened to Korea in the first match, rather than defeat. "Ubos na barracks nila, wala na 'atang cannons, at halos patay na iyung King nila; iyung sa atin one-third pa lang ang damage," was the curt answer I got when I asked for a situation report from one of the council members, who didn't even take his eyes away from his monitor as he spoke. The win came a few moments later, and cheers broke out from everyone. After a short break, Team PH was bracing itself for another long haul for the second match, when the GM of Korea simply announced: "We abstain match." Stunned silence, then an "O?" from IP eGames brand manager for Supreme Destiny Sonny Carlos was followed by wall-shaking cheers from members of Team PH and their fans. Here's a video of the Team PH winning moment, taken seconds after Team Korea said it would "abstain" Match 2. "Sarap ng feeling! Number one tayo!" said BKK, also of the council. Of course the $10,000 $5,000 (Editor's note: Corrected. The total cash prize at stake was $10,000 -- $5,000 to the champion team, $3,000 to the second placer, and $2,000 to the third placer.) in cash plus in-game prizes didn't hurt either. Supreme Destiny is a medieval massively multiplayer online-role playing game distributed by IP e-Games. The World Championship League is the first competition of its kind for Supreme Destiny, and was organized by With Your Destiny.

By Agence France-Presse CHICAGO--Gary Gygax, co-creator of the iconic Dungeons & Dragons fantasy game and considered the father of modern role-playing gaming, died in his home Tuesday, his wife said. Gygax had been suffering from a number of health problems including an incurable heart aneurism, Gail Gygax said. He was 69. First published in 1974, the Dungeons & Dragons game, in which players create magical and heroic characters and guide them through a series of adventures, soon became a cultural phenomenon. There was no game board in this interactive, imaginative adventure: just paper, pen, the dungeon master's rule book and a set of multisided dice. D&D spawned a booming industry and has inspired a generation of writers, video game designers and filmmakers. Gygax's cult hero status among self-proclaimed geeks is so intense that one fan even named a strain of bacteria after him. But he faced intense criticism in the 1980s when the game became a target for cultural conservatives who blamed it for causing teen suicides, murder and devil worship. "That really pushed the sales up," Gygax joked in an interview with GameSpy. "What bothered me is that I was getting death threats, telephone calls, and letters. I was a little nervous. I had a bodyguard for a while. "I'm glad that most people have been able to separate the fantasy of the game from the reality of real life -- games have nothing to do with real life. There are no real dragons, there's no real magic, no real magic swords, and certainly no real treasure... or I would have retired at home by now." The popularity of Dungeons and Dragons faded in the 1990s as the video games boom began, but Gygax's influence in the gaming world continued through his columns and the more than 80 games, game products, and books he created. A voracious reader with an unfettered imagination, Gygax worked intensely until his health deteriorated in 2004. "He would be in a daze," Gail Gygax said. "Especially when he was creating a new world. One time he was painting a globe for two weeks." She said that while he used computers to help speed up the designs for his games and the writing of his books, he never really got interested in video games. "He liked the group environment where you were with people," she said. "He played all kinds of games ... we would have a game of cribbage on our front porch every night in the summer."

By Relly Carpio INQUIRER.net WHEN the league began, nobody would have believed that the Philippines would make it to the top. In what seems like a storyline out of a local action flick, Team Philippines (Team PH) is now in the finals of the Supreme Destiny World Championship League. Team Korea breezed through their matches, undefeated, until they met Team PH. Using the same strategy that gave them all their wins before, Team PH was able to bring down all three of Korea's barracks and rendered their King very vulnerable. "As before, they divided into three hunter killer groups, for the three paths for the fortress, then reformed into a siege unit and then divided into their respective king-killer and barrack siege units," said Sonny Carlos, IP e-Games product manager for Supreme Destiny. In contrast, Korea was only able to destroy only one of Team PH's barracks. When Team Korea realized their folly, they drove their onslaught with a ferocity that even Team PH has never seen. "Gulat kami, nakalahati nila bigla iyong King natin, kahit na may lead kami medyo natakot kami dun. Pero sabi nga nila, daig ng mabilis ang masipag," said team member Ayhin. Team PH eliminated almost all the structures of Team Korea by the time that nitroSpec† dealt the final blow nine minutes and 44 seconds into the battle. The walls of I-Hooked Katipunan, the official headquarters of Team PH shook with the victory roar. "The Philippine team felt different kinds of combined pressure before the match. We really felt like the underdog because Korea was undefeated before our match with them. It was really tough and they were really strong. It was a great feeling like David slaying Goliath. Of course, the morale of the team was lifted after their performance during that fight," Carlos said. "We are now guaranteed the silver prize but our goal is still to get the gold in the end." Team Philippines is now on ranked first in the competition. The team's next match will be held this Friday, March 7. For The Win!