By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.NET

MANILA, Philippines — New online game publisher Run Up Interactive Inc. is eyeing a bigger share in the casual gaming market, a sector that is seen to be the more appealing and lucrative compared to more serious games.

During the launch of its first game in the Philippines, Luna Online, Run Up Operations Manager Kit Chan said the casual gaming market remains to be one of the bigger growth areas in the Philippines, with most online gamers playing casual games.

Chan said they are confident enough company also plans to introduce about two more games in the coming months.

Luna Online is developed by Korean firm EYA Interactive. Despite its more children’s cartoon graphics, it plays out like a hack-and-slash type massively multiplayer online game.

The main focus, however, is more on community building. Players can form up into a “family” composed of a virtual father, mother, and three children. Families can also join up to form larger groups.

There is also a farming mini-game in Lune Online wherein families manage a virtual farm to get more powerful rewards or credits.

A dating system is also included in the game wherein players can be hooked up with each other based on region, age, likes and dislikes.

There are also three character classes, either humans or elves, with different physical attributes. The characters can also show emoticons, some of which can also make characters do certain actions like dancing.

THE growth of the local online gaming industry will follow the growth of broadband Internet in the country.

Amid an ongoing economic recession, industry executives said the local online gaming industry remains to be small because there are still untapped locations where there could be gamers.

“Broadband Internet penetration is still small. Majority of players are in the Internet cafes. We’re hoping that it becomes affordable for people to play at home when prices of Internet usage go down,” AMDG Vice Chairman Arturo Diago, Jr., said in a recent briefing.

Gaming is seen to be one of the cheapest forms of entertainment, according to iAM Interactive President and CEO Fadzly Yusof.

The company is seeing more growth in the overall local gaming industry as competition intensifies.

In fact, iAM is even looking to launch at least two new games within the year, including a new massively multiplayer online game similar to two of its previously distributed titles, Guild Wars and Lineage II.

The company recently launched its first casual racing game GoGo Racer and an anime-styled shooter game called Exteel.

Both games are on a free-to-play platform, with an in-game item mall, which charges players for certain items purchased.

Yusof said online game publishers are also expanding to other markets. iAM is targeting three countries: the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. “This allows us to expand our revenue sources.”

MOBIUS Games is adding WolfTeam, its first-person shooter title in its roster of published game titles in the Philippines.

This puts to seven the total number of titles that Mobius Games has in the Philippines.

WolfTeam plays similar to most first-person shooter games but adds some elements of fantasy and science fiction; instead of ordinary humans soldiers with weapons, players can transform into werewolves that are more resilient against weapons but themselves are unable to carry any while in this state.

Characters that transform into werewolves are able to move faster, jump higher and can climb walls. They use their claws instead to attack enemies.

Mobius Games said in a statement that the game will be launched on May 7 across Internet cafes in the Philippines.

“We are very excited to work together again with mobiusgames and we have no doubt Wolf Team will be successful. Players in the Philippines will love this game,” said WolfTeam Executive Producer Kang Jihun.

The story is set in the year 2013 when scientists develop a vaccine called “Epocine” to treat a human genetic disorder caused by a wayward wolf DNA. However, the vaccine developer creates a “Anti-Epocine” that enhances wolf features in humans.

The French Army is supplied with the Anti-Epocine and creates a group of mercenaries called WolfTeam. Unfortunately, the WolfTeam disengages from the French Army to become a mercenary group.

WolfTeam is developed by Korean firm Softnyx, which was behind the casual game GunBound also published by Mobius Games.

MANILA, Philippines–“DOTA, or any role-playing game for that matter, may be fun, but it won’t be able to teach you the skills you need for your first job, or for higher education.”

This was the message of AKYBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel during the commencement exercises of the University of the Philippines Cebu College, a copy of which was sent to media.

Hontiveros-Baraquel said that online games should be treated as an addictive game and should be played in moderation.

“You may protest and extol the virtues of being Mogul the Axe for five hours, but unless you are in the brink of developing gaming software and needs the game to test your theories, then play DOTA or any RPG in moderation,” she said.

Hontiveros-Baraquel spoke against online games during a part where she told graduates about the skills necessary to find jobs, as well as the means to survive the current economic situation.

Instead, she stressed the need for the graduates to take up a sport to remain physically fit.

Nevertheless, Hontiveros-Baraquel praised the availability of online search engine Google.com for being an “oracle” that allows people to search for specific topics.

She added that Google is also more efficient than the Philippine government’s own Department of Labor when looking for jobs.

“What’s true with Google is somehow true with life. There are certain keywords that we must learn to live by. The more we hone our keywords, the better the search result is,” she said.

Agence France-Presse

SAN FRANCISCO–Californian technology firm OnLive is poised to launch a service that streams video games over the Internet, meaning players can avoid buying expensive consoles or packaged software.

OnLive ended seven years of “stealth” development late Tuesday by announcing the system should launch in the United States by the end of the year.

The firm is building a library of video game software on servers that players reach over broadband Internet by using mini-programs in home computers or OnLive MicroConsoles connected to television sets.

“We’ve cleared the last remaining hurdle for the video games industry: effective online distribution,” said OnLive founder and chief executive Steve Perlman.

[Read the rest of this entry »]