By Joey Alarilla, hackenslash Editor
INQUIRER.net

SINGAPORE–The Philippines may not have made it to the finals of the first Southeast Asian Granado Espada Raid Party held at Zouk on June 16, but the teams went down fighting and gained experience in competing at the international level.

Kudos to Malaysia, which emerged as the champion in the two-on-two player vs player tournament after cara and Nuub of YakiMY2 defeated the Singaporean team Ravage composed of Voyage and RavaNa. Interestingly enough, it was an all-Yakisoba affair as all four members of those teams belong to the Yakisoba faction in Granado Espada.

Meanwhile, the Philippine teams received a number of special awards. Hailed as the Most Valuable Player was Mark Sta. Ana, one of the members of the NCR team that emerged as the top team in the Philippine tournament and was sent to Singapore to represent our country. Mark went home with a Pinnacle digital media player.

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SINGAPORE–Here’s a video of legendary game creator Hakkyu Kim, the “Father of Ragnarok,” responding through a translator to questions on how he feels about the gaming community’s reception to his new game Granado Espada and if it exceeded his expectations.

Questions thrown by me, GAME! editor in chief Howard Paw, and Hinge Inquirer Publications group editor in chief Adel Gabot.

I took this Video on June 16 during the first Southeast Asian Granado Espada Raid Party at Zouk.

By Joey Alarilla, hackenslash Editor
INQUIRER.net

SINGAPORE–Will Filipinos bring home the gold and show they’re a force to reckon with in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Granado Espada?

Let’s not sugarcoat things: It’s going to be a tough battle, especially against the Singaporean players who are just as passionate about the latest game from the “Father of Ragnarok” Hakkyu Kim as our own growing community of GE fanatics in the Philippines. But the Filipinos are out to prove that they have indeed embraced GE and have made the game their own.

At any rate, the execs of IP e-Games, which publishes GE in the Philippines under its IP Interactive brand, seem pretty confident that the Philippines will have a strong showing in the Raid Party, which will be held later today at Zouk. I arrived last night with fellow journalists Adel Gabot, group editor in chief of our sister company Hinge Inquirer Philippines, and Howard Paw, editor in chief of GAME!, HIP’s gaming magazine.

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