June 2008 Archives

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net DESPITE being its best launch so far, IP e-Games has said it does not see its new game Cabal Online competing directly with its most successful game RAN Online. According to IP e-Games president Steve Tsao, Cabal Online is targeting a different market segment. While Cabal is set in a more medieval fantasy world, RAN has a modern world setting. Tsao did not reveal the number of registered players in Cabal but said they have "a 110- percent server capacity" and that it is becoming a problem. He also said their concurrent user number is exceeding 40,000, with their servers already operating at full capacity. "This is our best launch ever but we don't see a reduction in players of RAN. Many of our Cabal players are new and are from other online games as well," Tsao said. Cabal Online has one of the shortest launch periods in the Philippines with only about one month from closed beta testing to commercial launch. Here's a video I took of IP e-Games product manager Mark Ng demonstrates the unique features of Cabal Online in this walkthrough. Developed by Korean firm ESTSoft Corp, the game takes place in a world called Nevareth laid to waste by a force called CABAL from which the game title is derived. Seven warriors rose to help survivors recover from the devastation. However, CABAL aims to return by producing a child to serve as king. It is the seven warriors who take up arms against the new threat from CABAL. There are six character classes in Cabal: Warrior, Blader, Wizard, Force Archer, Forcer Blader, and Force Shielder. Each one has unique skills though they share similar modes such as combo attacks, battle aura and the ability to ride on an astral board (a surfboard-like vehicle). One unique feature in the game is the War functionality, which allows a player to join one of two countries, Capella and Procyon. As the word implies, members of each nation can do player kills against characters from the opposing nation during a certain period when a War channel is opened.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net AMPED GAMES has recently partnered with local startup game publisher GPlayon to market and distribute N-Age, a new massively multiplayer online role playing game that is set in an "urban jungle." Amped Games director Mitch Padua told hackenslash that GPlayon will still build the infrastructure for the game while Amped Games will serve as the marketing arm and game distributor. "Our top-up cards can also be used to play N-Age," Padua said. "We're in a win-win situation because it leverages on our marketing expertise while they focus on the infrastructure," Padua added. He also said the game is already in open beta testing and will be commercially launched within June. GPlayon will also be formally introduced by then. According to the N-Age website, this hack-and-slash type game is set in Rebirth World, which just rose from the ashes of an apocalyptic world war. At the middle of Rebirth World is Centerville, which is governed by a seemingly benevolent supercomputer called LISA. However, a rogue leader named Peuredeurik Syulcheuneo attacked the city and tried to take over. It is here where the adventure begins. The game has four classes: Martial, Brandish, Chakra, and Prana. Each one corresponds to basic character types in most massively multiplayer online games: a hand-to-hand combatant, an all-around fighter, a distance attacker, and a magician.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net NEARLY a year since it introduced the game in the Philippines and the region, entertainment software publisher Asian Media will hold a major relaunch of Lineage II that is expected to have major overhauls in gameplay that will make it into a more "casualized" game. The overhaul in the Lineage II strategy of Asian Media will affect its operations in Singapore and Malaysia. In an interview with hackenslash, Asian Media chief operating officer Ronald Allan Aquino said there had been complaints that the game was difficult to play, making it appealing only to more serious players. By changing some aspects of the gameplay, Lineage II can allow casual players to have an easier time when they start playing. Aquino said the company has mapped out a three-phase strategy, which includes an initial "teaser stage" where it will start communicating with current Lineage II players about the changes in the game. Aquino said a major direction for Lineage II is a move from its pay-to-play scheme to a hybrid free-to-play model. "Free-to-play is the final goal," he said. Other parts of the strategy include an in-game item mall, a seven-day unlimited game trial for first-time players, and faster scoring allowing for easier character leveling up. The relaunch ostensibly follows a reorganization of the company wherein about 30 of the company staff was laid off, leaving the company with around 100 people. "We have to maximize revenues, markets and scenarios so the reorganization was necessary," Aquino pointed out. Likewise, Aquino said Asian Media will be introducing a new game, a combination of an action-adventure and first-person shooter, which he said would be announced by the end of July.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net THE PHILIPPINES will be the host country for this year's Ragnarok World Championship (RWC). This will be the first time in four years that Ragnarok Online developer Gravity has hosted the RWC outside South Korea. Online game publisher Level Up!, which distributes RO in the Philippines, will organize the RWC, which it will happen concurrently with Level Up Live!, an annual event highlighting the company's games and other services. Level Up Live! is set for October 18 to 19 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. In an interview, Gravity general manager for Business Development Changki Kim said the choice for a host country for the RWC was a difficult one to make as Level Up! was competing with AsiaSoft, a game publisher from Thailand. "Thailand actually won last year's RWC but Asiasoft could not prepare the venue this year," Kim said. Kim added that there are about 40 to 50 players from at least seven countries participating in the RWC in the last two years. Level Up! brand manager for Ragnarok Online Carlo Ople said the company is prepared to hold the RWC as it has already experienced organizing big gaming events. He said Gravity has been working closely with Level Up! to ensure the smooth operations of the competition. He said they are expecting a much bigger crowd this year for both Level Up Live! and RWC as they are expecting about 12 teams from 32 countries to join the competition. The Philippines' Team Armada won third place in the 2007 RWC in South Korea. RO reportedly has over seven million subscribers in the Philippines, with a peak concurrent user base of 55,000.

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net IMAGINE running around a multi-level, 350-square-meter arena holding a laser gun called a phaser and tagging supposed enemies you find hiding behind a dark wall. For 15 minutes, this high-tech game of tag using specially-made laser-fitted guns allows players (a maximum of 24) to relive a favorite childhood game. "This is not about war. It's more a tagging game," said Maureen Scherrie Delantar, marketing and operations manager of Aslag Philippines' LazerXtreme Arena, noting that children as young as six years old can play the game without risks of getting hurt. Here's a photo I took of Delantar showing the special vest and laser-fitted gun. And here's INQUIRER.net multimedia specialist Erika Tapalla interviewing Delantar. Video taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania. Opened two weeks ago to the public, the LazerXtreme Arena in Market! Market! was built with the "family in mind," said Delantar. While everyone is now quite familiar with team-based, simulated shooting games like paint ball and Airsoft, a combat sport which uses specially designed guns that fire pellets, LaserXtreme Arena's laser tag game uses a combination of sensors, laser technology, and customized software to make the experience as surreal as a computer game. Even the theme is partly inspired by computer games. It has a high-tech airlock, which is a briefing room, and a roomful of specially designed vests with blinking sensors that players will wear during a game. All in all, the arena theme looks more like the interior of a spaceship, said Delantar. LazerXtreme Arena is not the first laser tag arena in the Philippines, according to Delantar. There have been other similar operations established in the late 1990s but they were still quite expensive. Delantar stressed that LaserXtreme Arena was designed to be an affordable entertainment alternative for families, friends, and even corporate clients. Apart from the 350-square-meter arena, it also provides several rooms where people can hold functions or parties. "Everything was designed by Filipinos with help from foreign consultants," Delantar said. As of this writing, the laser tag arena is still being outfitted with more special effects lights and haze to add to the spaceship ambience. To complete the high-tech experience, a good dose of music comes blaring from large speakers strategically placed around the arena. Delantar said players can also customize music that can be played during the games. Each player is assigned a phaser, vest, and nickname. At the end of each game, a computer printout of each player's statistics is provided, showing how they fared during the game. Delantar said celebrities have already visited the high-tech laser tag arena. "This is a mental game, which makes it safe for kids. Also there is no pain, no paint in this game," she added. LazerXtreme Arena is located on the fourth floor of Market! Market! in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig City.

RIGHT now, I'm checking out the casual games at Level Up!'s Be There portal, which is now open for beta testing. Have just started playing, but one of the games that my daughter Sam and I find interesting is Miam! Here's a screenshot. Anyway, check it out for yourself :)

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net AFTER successfully completing a two-week beta test, game publisher IP e-Games has set June 12 for the commercial launch of their latest online role-playing game Cabal. In an interview with hackenslash, IP e-Games product manager Mark Ng said they have switched on a fourth server to accommodate the influx of players when the game goes commercial. The servers are named after planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter, with the latter being activated just recently. Ng said they will launch the game at the Glorietta Mall, to be followed by several provincial launches. He mentioned that one of the launch activities is the Grind Fest program wherein the first players who reached level 30 during the beta test would receive special in-game items. Likewise, they will also have raffles for players who reach level 30 and 50 by June 21, with Apple iPod Shuffles and iPhones as prizes. Tournaments are also slated after the launch, as well as guild recognitions and video making contests. Ng said the new in-game item shop, the Cabal Cash Shop, has already included 20 virtual items, and their target is 50 by the end of the year.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net PANDAS are not always seen as funny. They're just cute, something you'd like to take home as a pet. However, if the panda is Jack Black, then he's not just funny but extremely hilarious and in the latest computer animation flick from DreamWorks, you'll wish a panda could actually be your pet. This writer has tried to keep spoilers to a minimum in this review, but stop reading if you don't want anything spoiled for you. The movie uses the tried and tested zero-to-hero formula, which is common in many children's cartoons so as to teach kids to believe in themselves and conquer all obstacles. The movie's solid storyline, written by Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger, is predictable but again, this kind of script formula works just fine with younger viewers. Likewise, there are many elements from Japanese anime and even Hong Kong martial arts movies in terms of story progression, dialogue and most especially the fight scenes. In fact, those familiar with the old Jackie Chan flicks and the new Stephen Chow movies will find some script and comic references. There are also some philosophical ramblings that seem to target children. Some martial arts buffs and anime purists might not like the nearly copycat plot because of the lack of originality. Incidentally, it has almost no reference to pop culture, which is often the staple of computer graphics animation films like the "Shrek" and "Toy Story" movies. At any rate, the movie is about Po the panda (Jack Black), the son of a noodle house owner named Ping, who is strangely a goose. Po knows nothing more than making noodles but he loves anything related to martial arts. He inadvertently gets chosen by the wise old turtle Oogway (Randall Duk Kim) who asks Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) to train him in the ways of kung fu because he is thought to be the mythical Dragon Master. Po is initially scoffed at by Shifu and his students the Furious Five who are masters of different art forms. They are the masters Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Viper (Lucy Liu), Monkey (Jackie Chan) and Mantis (Seth Rogen). He later faces Tai Lung (Ian McShane), a savage master who is revealed to be the first student of Shifu who went rogue. It's often a difficult task to associate the actors with the movie characters to whom they lend their voices. In this movie only Po seems to have been made with Black in mind as the panda's antics, movements and even chatter were much like what Black would do in his other films like "School of Rock" and "Envy." However, it's not the same with the other voice actors. Audiences might not realize who the voice actors are until the credits, except for Chan, whose voice is quite obvious. Still, the character development of each of the Furious Five, as well as the other main characters, was well balanced. The animation is spectacular, to say the least. It reminds me of the animated action in last year's 3D movie "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and somewhat a bit of the Japanese animation "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" wherein a majority of the fight scenes and stunts are done in mid-air. Yes, they're flying. Yes, they're unrealistic. And yes, it's still visually stunning. Still, it will not come as a surprise when children, after watching the film, will emulate its fighting styles. In fact, just right after the film, children were already making martial arts stances similar to the ones used in the film. Hopefully, children will not physically copy what was shown in the movie. "Kung Fu Panda" is primarily a kiddie movie but the wit and sheer comedy it exudes makes it a film adults would also enjoy.

By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net THE WORLD Cyber Games Philippines 2008 Final is still a month away but the competition is heating up for some of the game titles that are part of the tournament. Some players have already made the cut to become finalists in WCG for the games Command and Conquer 3 (C&C3), WarCraft III: Frozen Throne, Defense of the Ancients (DotA), Counter-Strike, and the Xbox 360 game Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The finalists for each of the games will be bearing down on each other in July. Meanwhile, there will be tie-breaking competitions on June 7 and 8 at the SM Megamall to find out who else would be moving to the finals at the SM Mall of Asia. The top four finalists for C&C3 are Edsel Ramos, Kevin Chung, Aldyn Belgica, and Bernard Garcia, who beat eight other players in the game. The WarCraft III finalists are John Benedict Cruz, Frederick Pe, Tristan Solee, and Ariel Escolano. Solee was the previous WarCraft III Philippine representative to the 2007 WCG Grand Final in the US. The DotA teams that will move to the finals are Pag-ibig, Mineski, BS, and Flow, which was also the Philippine representative in the Asian Cyber Games in Singapore in 2007. It was Flow that brought the Philippines its first medal in an international gaming competition in 2007. The top five Counter-Strike teams who will face off at SM MOA are Kinky, Horsemen of the Apocalypse (HOA), WK, What's New B, and Wanted. Team HOA has been the consistent Counter-Strike Philippine representative for the past six years, though team Kinky is closing in for this year's tournament. Meanwhile, the Guitar Hero III finalists are Rafael Formoso, Jose Antonio Cruz, Luis Benesa, Nino Tanseco, and Robin Molas. Michael Vinluan, general manager of eSports, which is organizing the WCG, said that they have reserved spots in the finals for Cebu and Davao players of CS, WarCraft III, C&C3 and Guitar Hero III. The semifinals for Need for Speed ProStreet and Virtua Fighter 5 will be held on June 7 to 8 at SM Megamall. Editor's note: Video showing Counter-Strike and Defense of the Ancients players duking it out taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania.

UPDATE: Editor's note: Reposted to make corrections. By Alex Villafania INQUIRER.net A NEW game publisher has joined the online gaming fray in the Philippines. Eaglegame International Limited will be based in Ortigas Center in Mandaluyong City and will focus on online casual games. In an interview, Eaglegame marketing and communications manager Rio Encarnado said the Philippine office is a subsidiary of interactive entertainment firm NeteLusion Hong Kong Limited, which focuses on gaming, media and fortune. NeteLusion also has offices in Singapore, Malaysia and China and is expanding its business in the US, some European countries and other Southeast Asian countries. Among the online games that NeteLusion Ltd publishes in other countries are MyWorld365 and Da Fu Weng. Encarnado said Eaglegame will officially announce the games it will launch in the Philippines sometime soon. However, it also plans to launch the dance game HighStreet 5. In fact, the company already has a local website for the game. HighStreet 5 is already being tested in Malaysia and Singapore. The game uses a PC keyboard's four-way directional button, each one corresponding to a command that will execute a specific move of the player's in-game avatar. There are also in-game item purchases that improve the avatar's dancing abilities.

By Erwin Oliva INQUIRER.net LEVEL UP! took the painful route of rolling back a popular online game after they discovered a third-party cheat that allowed subscribers to create fake virtual wealth, an official told hackenslash. Mon Macutay, marketing manager of Level Up! Philippines, said in an interview that the local publisher first detected the game cheat in RF Online on May 23. This cheat enabled people to replicate their in-game currency and gold. RF Online is a free-to-play online game wherein subscribers could buy items and accumulate in-game currency. Macutay said the decision to roll back, a term that describes restarting a system to a certain date when the game was not yet compromised, affected about 70,000 subscribers of the online game. Level Up! Philippines tried fixing the problem by purging each account. But due to limited time and resources, the local publisher decided to just roll back the game. "People will be losing their XP [experience] and character level, including items. That's why we're compensating everyone with two weeks of premium subscription for free," the game executive said. The premium subscription will allow players to quickly level up their characters, and recover items lost, as they accumulate more in-game currency and gold. "It was a tough choice. But the decision will allow the virtual economy to stabilize and promote a level playing field," he said. Similar to an unstable economy in the real world, the unfair distribution of wealth would give "richer" players more advantage and would cause more harm to those who have less, he said. "People with excess cash will be able to buy expensive items which is unfair to those who don't have much," Macutay said, referring to the online game's economy. Level Up! Philippines said it was not yet sure about the source of the cheat. But they believe that the cheat came from a third party. "I don't think it is from the Philippines," he said. Macutay also wrote a lengthier explanation on his blog about the local publisher's decision. "At first we thought that this could be managed. But when we pulled out the numbers from the database, we were shocked -- the economy was bloated by as much as 500%. This means that if a server normally had 1Trillion cash, it now had 5 to 6 trillion! That's a lot of cash to trace, flush out and investigate. It would take our GMs maybe up to a year just to this job," he explained. Macutay said this is the first time RF Online suffered a major problem from a game cheat. RF (Rising Force) Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing fantasy game that was developed by CCR Inc. Players can race or fight monsters to gain experience points. In-game credits can be purchased using real money to buy virtual items in the game.

HERE are two videos taken by INQUIRER.net community evangelist Alex Villafania of popular Filipina gamer and cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao at the Mangaholix Manga Mania 2008 convention held Saturday at SM Mall of Asia. Fans lined up to meet Alodia, buy her merchandise and get her autograph. And check out how many bodyguards accompanied her when she went there.