By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

THE FIRST Filipino online video game rental service is expanding its business to become a full-time online retail shop for video game-related products.  Gamehopper has an extension site for its online retail service, simply called GH Store (site coming soon as of this writing).

The GH Store will sell game titles, consoles and other video game-related peripherals.

In an interview, Gamehopper co-founder John Paul Ramos said their online retail business will start in early May and will provide deliveries to buyers in the Philippines. “We already have a credit card facility so that buyers can purchase directly from us, and pay the corresponding shipment.”

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LEVEL UP! has set the date and venue of its annual gamer community gathering, Level Up! Live.

“This year it will be held on October 18 and 19 at the World Trade Center in Pasay,” said Level Up! marketing director Jake San Diego, “We will still hold it at the World Trade Center to make it as comfortable as possible for our players.”

The event will be called Level Up! Live: Rise of the Gaming Gods!

“LU Live is actually a testament to how popular online gaming has become in the country,” San Diego added. “Aside from providing the best content possible, Level Up! also holds community building initiatives in real life via LU Live.”

“It’s where the players of Ragnarok can exchange stories of their experiences with the players of Flyff and now with those who play Perfect World. It is a phenomenon in itself.”

San Diego added that they “are actually asking all of the Level Up! players to stay tuned for an announcement in the next few days, that would raise the bar in online gaming in the country.” This announcement, he said, will be related to LU Live. Relly Carpio, INQUIRER.net

By Relly Carpio
INQUIRER.net

THE LATEST installment of Lineage II, Asian Media Development Group’s fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is set to patch on April 22 according to an announcement by Rio Encarnado, marketing events manager of Asian Media. The new patch, called Kamael, revolves primarily around the new one-winged race named Kamael.

Lineage II is currently in its Interlude version and will be upgraded to Kamael on the said date after the weekly server maintenance scheduled from 0000 to 0600 GMT. The Kamael patch is 1.6GB larger than the Interlude patch.

The patch is available as an FTP download at ftp://ftp.lineage2.ph/L2Installer_KamaelCT1.5.rar Free installers are also available at any one of designated pick-up points.

The game launcher will automatically patch past 0600GMT of April 22nd to upload the content. This option is recommended to those who have a good Internet connection, as the patch is a large file.

The installer can also be delivered by Asian Media free of charge by simply e-mailing them at installers@asianmedia.ph for Philippine players, and at cs.l2@cube-asia.com for Singapore- and Malaysia-based players. The e-mail must have the subject “Request for Kamael DVD installer” and contain the following complete information: full name, contact number (preferably a landline), complete address, zip code, and country code (PH, MY or SG).

For installation instructions, click here.

NEUTRAL GROUNDS will hold a World of Warcraft Tabletop Tournament on April 27 at their Robinsons Galleria branch on the third level of the Expansion Mall.

This constructed format tournament will have an entrance fee of P200. Registration is from 10-11:30 a.m., and early registrants will have the chance to win one of four World of Warcraft shirts in a raffle.

Late registrants will suffer penalties to their standing in the tournament. Round 1 will start at 12 noon. Redemption Cards are not allowed.

You may check out the Neutral Grounds site for more details.

THIS just in: Digital Media Exchange has announced that it is bringing the free-to-play Extreme Action massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Dekaron to Southeast Asia, after signing an agreement with Korean developer and publisher GameHi Inc.

Here’s the press statement:

Dekaron, one of the leading free-to-play based MMORPGs developed by GameHi in Korea, is scheduled to launch open-beta service within the first half of this year in Southeast Asian markets through dme’s online game publishing division Mobius Games.

With the Southeast Asian launch of Dekaron, the game is now serviced in 65 countries around the world including North America, Korea, Japan, China, and Europe.

Seung Hun Baek, GameHi chief technical officer, said, “GameHi is proud to announce the partnership with Digital Media Exchange Inc., Southeast Asia’s leading game publisher who will service Dekaron in the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. GameHi has taken one step further in expanding its global presence; this partnership allows Gamehi to initiate a new era of MMORPG in the Southeast Asian MMO market.”

Scott Countryman, CEO of dme, commented, “The viral growth of the US version of Dekaron in Southeast Asia supports the suitability and demand of this title in our territories. We believe game performance, lack of local support, high pricing, and payment challenges have held Dekaron back from realizing its true potential in the market. The mobiusgames team has many loyal Dekaron players and we are excited to partner with GameHi to bring this great game to the growing online game market in Southeast Asia with a mobius layer of premium services.”