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.
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.
MORE POWER TO CRoW !
Hope to see you all maximum tune fanatics at the finals of the Maximum Tune 3 Challenge at Glorietta 4 Cinema Lobby on March 31.
Team CRoW #1!!!
CRoW are the best and anyone who disagree can go to g4 and battle us
CRoW...didn't watch any of their race till now, I think you're right Relly, "...unless you watch them playing the game, you wouldn't recognize them from the regular patrons" Something good about this team is about how they give importance on building their personality and not only confining themselves to the world of racing. Racing sounds fun but very risky too however these certified guys sounds very experienced.
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"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.
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I'm against street racing and people that do such things should be sentenced to never drive a car... That would teach them a painful lesson... Greenville Honda
I have to agree with the above statement for people who are street racers... I would sentence them to never drive a car if caught... they put in danger the lives of innocent people... Toyota Parts
Maybe there should be special car tracks in major cities for such racers to use... maybe that way, we could make them law-friendly people... cheap car insurance
Hope to see you all maximum tune fanatics at the finals of the Maximum Tune 3 Challenge at Glorietta 4 Cinema Lobby on March 31.
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Virtual street racing is ok as long as you do not shift your passion into real life... I am totally against street racers because they can hurt people... car rental Raleigh
CRoW...didn't watch any of their race till now, I think you're right Relly, "...unless you watch them playing the game, you wouldn't recognize them from the regular patrons
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Street racers are very dangerous because you never know how you might enter on a street track where they race.It is so easy to build you a race car.For example Discount BMW Parts Online from here you can buy many good things for your car and you don't have anything to do except order it online.
This is one of the best articles regarding the CRoWs problem. web design
I suppose this problem will not be solved very soon and this discussion can be longer than that.
This is funny.I mean I never heard about this thing until now and I am surprised.I wonder if you can find online or in the game something like car dealerships Des Moines IA because there needs to be a place from where you can buy your car.I have to admit this idea of street racing online is much more safer than racing on the streets.
All those caught street racing should be left without their driving licence atleast for 10 years the first time and if they are caught again after this period of time they should be left without their license permanent.Playing on computer different games is okay.There are drivin simulators which simulate real racing very well.car repair Philadelphia has a very interesting driving simulator which can show to young drivers what can happen with your car while you race and I must admit this is a great idea.If they don't see with their own eyes they just don't believe.