By Alexander Villafania

MANILA, Philippines — “Perfect World” might be associated with game publisher Level-Up! but its maker, Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd, is also dealing with another Filipino game publisher, IP e-Games, to launch a new massively multiplayer online role playing game.

In the latest first half of 2008 financial report of IP e-Games parent company IPVG, the company revealed that Perfect World Co. Ltd has tapped IP e-Games to operate “Zhu Xian” in the Philippines.

No other details about the partnership or the game were given in the disclosure.

Perfect World Co. Ltd already has a partnership with Level-Up! in the Philippines for the MMORPG “Perfect World.” A quick visit of the company’s website showed several other titles that it developed, one of which includes “Zhu Xian.”

According to the site, the game’s influence was a widely popular Internet novel of the same name. The game itself will delve heavily on the Chinese martial arts culture set in a fantasy world. Characters will have martial arts skills, obtain magical weapons and treasures.

A trailer was also posted in YouTube.com.

By Alexander Villafania

INQUIRER.net

After a month of hype, entertainment software publisher EagleGame has commercially launched the rhythm game Highstreet 5 on August 15.

EagleGame has made available the game’s top up cards that come in P20, P50 and P100 denominations. Each of the denominations have corresponding in-game amount values ranging from 80 cash points to 420 cash points. These can be used to buy items from the in-game item shop, which was also activated during the commercial launch.

In an interview, EagleGame Marketing and Communications Manager Rio Encarnado said the company will be activating the social networking section of Highstreet 5 “very soon.”

“We’re still converting the social networking interface from Chinese to English. It’ll surely be launched within this quarter,” Encarnado said.

The social networking aspect of Highstreet 5 is one of its two major selling points. Players can upload photos, edit personal profiles and add blogs to their virtual avatars. There is also a video chat component to allow users to see friends and other users online.

Meanwhile, the rhythm and dance part of Highstreet 5 also has its own unique features. There are four types (hip hop, locking, popping and reggae) of street dance styles that are taken from real-world dance steps. These were done using motion-capture and then translated into virtual dance steps.

Encarnado also said there are dozens of songs available in the game, with new ones to be added gradually.

By Alexander Villafania

THE NBA video game series from Electronic Arts Sports may perhaps be the most popular sports title in the Philippines. iPlay, the casual games joint venture of e-Games and TV company GMA, is taking the title even further to the online gaming market.

iPlay invited technology and gaming journalists to attend the launch of NBA Street Online, which is reported to be the first massively-multiplayer online sports game of EA’s Canadian development branch.

Details have been withheld until the local launch date but from what has been gathered, EA co-developed the game with a Korean firm, Neowiz.

One Taiwanese company, Gigamedia Limited confirmed in July that it will be distributing the game in China. The existence of the game has only been confirmed through press releases though EA’s official sites have not disclosed the game.

Nonetheless, the NBA Street franchise is well-known game for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, with the latest console version, NBA Street Homecourt, to be released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3.

The console game versions are all three-on-three multiplayer basketball games that are set in public courts, thus the name.

Not surprisingly, NBA Street Online could compete directly with Freestyle Online, the first online basketball game in the Philippines distributed by e-Games rival Level-Up! which is also a three-on-three game played on public basketballs courts.

By Reuters

SEATTLE — Sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the United States rose 28 percent in July from a year earlier, boosted by continued strong demand for Nintendo Co Ltd’s Wii console, recent data from research firm NPD showed.

Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3 outsold Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360 game console in July, selling 224,900 PS3 versus 204,800 Xbox 360 machines in the United States. The Wii outsold both systems combined, tallying 555,000 units sold during the month.

The top selling game in July was Electronic Arts’ “NCAA Football 09,” which debuted during the month. It sold nearly 400,000 units in the United States.

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — Singapore-based video game distributor New Era Digital Interactive Media Inc. is refreshing its business in the Philippines in measured steps, as it prepares to introduce two online games in the coming weeks.

The company is also preparing to launch two “huge titles” that will target gamers in Internet cafes, the company said.

Allan Carbonell, newly appointed New Era Digital Interactive Media country manager, told hackenslash that the company will introduce the virtual social networking game Habbo, owned by Finnish firm Sulake Corporation, soon.

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