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.

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By Relly Carpio
INQUIRER.net

TIMEZONE will hold a Manila Cup Challenge for Maximum Tune 3. Players of the third installment of this manga turned arcade driving simulation game need to have have a fully tuned 820 HP car memory card to qualify.

Competitors may register at any Timezone branch with Maximum Tune 3 machines on March 8 to qualify for the pre-final round. They will need to shell out a P200 fee to cover the welcome kit, pre-finals and championship rounds.

They will then compete in the pre-finals on March 15 at the branch where they registered. The finals will be held at Timezone Glorietta 4 on March 31 at 2 p.m.

By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net

GAMING really is serious business nowadays. Game consoles such as the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii are selling like hotcakes, and the sheer number of online games being distributed in the Philippines is transforming Internet shops into gaming cafes. The old haunts for video games, the arcades, seem to be facing more challenges from the new video game systems than from other arcade operators.

But who says the gaming arcade business is dying? Tell that to arcade operator Timezone, which has in the last 10 years operated over 51 outlets across the Philippines and is still opening new shops, including two outlets at TriNoma Mall in Quezon City.

“Our market is much different from the game console or online gaming businesses. We try as much as possible to be as family-friendly as possible, targeting people of all ages,” said Timezone business development and marketing manager Lelet Volfango.

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UPDATED:  The first Mario Kart game appeared on the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)/Super Famicom, not the NES/Famicom. This game was Super Mario Kart. Thanks to jayz_a of Pinoy-N.com for pointing out this error — we really appeciate it.–Joey Alarilla

I REMEMBER playing the first Mario Kart on the [Super] Nintendo Entertainment System (that’s the Family Computer to young folks) and it was among the most enjoyable racing games I’ve played on a console.

Since then, the Mario Kart series has been among the most prolific titles on all Nintendo platforms, from the Game Boy Advance, N64, GameCube and DS. Now for the first time ever, Nintendo finally introduced an arcade version of perhaps the most popular Mario-type game. Mario Kart Arcade GP is the first Mario Kart version that was not fully developed by Nintendo. The company partnered with Japanese game firm Namco, a company known for its Tekken and Ridge Racer series. Obviously, Nintendo wanted an expert to create an arcade version of Mario Kart.

Mario Kart Arcade GP seems to be a direct port of the GameCube version (Mario Kart Double Dash) but only on the graphics side. The gameplay comes from the Mario Kart DS version and lets you play against six other players. Although the machines seem to cater to children who play simple, straightforward racing games, MKA is anything but. Fans of the original MKA series in other Nintendo platforms will surely have a lot more fun playing MKA now with a controller, pedals and action buttons.

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