Online gaming publisher Z-Zone will be launching OverSoul: Courage for Supremecy.

OverSoul will only be the second game that Z-Zone will be introducing in the country. It previously introducd SkyBlade: Sword of the Heavens in 2006.

The game will be launched on March 7 at the SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City.

The company has already opened a portal where interested players can download the game client as part of the beta testing, which started in late 2008.

OverSoul will also be a 3D massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) similar to SkyBlade. The medieval fantasy story is focused on the battle of two tribes, the Drakhans and the Tantheons.

Each tribe would have four character types: the sword-wielding Warrior, the balanced Guardian, the magical Necromancer, and the summoner Wizard.

Agence France-Presse

SAN FRANCISCO–Online retail giant Amazon has yanked from its virtual shelves a Japanese computer game that lets players simulate raping girls.

A “Rapelay” videogame being hawked on Amazon by a third-party merchant was deemed inappropriate and the product’s page taken down after it was brought to the California Internet firm’s attention Wednesday night.

“We determined that we did not want to be selling this particular item,” Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith said of the computer game.

The “Rapelay” game was created exclusively for the Japanese market but a couple of “like new” copies were being offered on Amazon by a US seller specializing in animated Japanese pornography.

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THE Apple iPhone is fast becoming a popular gaming platform because of its touch-screen capabilities, motion detection and unique software development kit. Experts attending the eServices conference urged local startup developers to consider developing games for the iPhone.

Watch this video report by INQUIRER.net reporter Alex Villafania.

WITH only less than 15 months left before the 2010 presidential elections, some political candidates are now making headway with subtle campaigns on television and other mediums, including the Internet.

Filipino online gamers, however, can be assured that their virtual worlds will not have political advertisements even as online game publishers are ramping up their in-game advertising business.

“We’re not going to allow political ads because it might be construed negatively by our players who may or may not be interested in politics,” said IPVG CEO Enrique Gonzalez during a gaming forum.

He said IPVG has a policy against political advertisements in online games, which the company publishes through online gaming subsidiary IP e-Games.

“We don’t deny that there is money to be made in political ads but it might draw some players to think that we’re supporting candidates,” Gonzalez said.

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MAKATI CITY, Philippines–After acquiring a majority stake in an animation and digital studio and a mobile content developer, Internet services provider Intellectual Property Ventures Group (IPVG) is now looking at game development.

IPVG Chief Executive Officer Jaime Enrique Gonzalez said that the company is supporting the creation of more original intellectual property for the local gaming industry.

“We’ll be advocating original content to help our game developers and this will be our main focus for the next two years,” Gonzalez said during a presentation at the Ayala Foundation’s regular Innovation Forum.

While IPVG, which also owns online game publishing firm IP E-Games, has been offering licensed online games, the company is willing to invest in game development, the executive said.

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