By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MAKATI CITY — Filipino fans of Electronic Arts (EA) NBA game franchise may have to wait until the end of the year or even early 2009 to play NBA Street Online, executives said.

EA Asia executives confirmed that the game is currently in beta testing in South Korea, where EA’s co-developer, Neowiz, is located.

EA Asia Vice President and General Manager Christopher Thompson told reporters that the Philippines will be one of only four Asian countries that will do beta testing of NBA Street Online. The other countries are Korea, Taiwan and China, where basketball has good following.

The game will be published in the Philippines by iPlay, a joint venture between IP e-Games and GMA-New Media Inc.

Thompson said Asia’s online gaming business has been growing steadily creating a viable opportunity for the EA to expand its market reach.
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By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines will be hosting the International Tekken 6 Grand Finals on November 3, organizer Timezone Philippines told hackenslash.

Ana Cardenas Benitez , marketing officer of Timezone Philippines, said the Tekken 6 local competitions have also been moved to later dates.

The registration period will start from September 1 to 15 at several Metro Manila Timezone branches. The pre-finals will be held on September 27, she said.

The participating Timezone branches are Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3, Alabang Town Center, Bonifacio High Street, SM Megamall, Market Market, TriNoma, Robinsons Metro East, Gateway, Robinsons Ermita, Greenhills, Robinsons Galleria, Mall of Asia, Waltermart, Metropoint and Cash ‘n Carry.

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By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) raided the office of Philippine game development company Anino Games Inc last August 22 for alleged software copyright infringement.

The raid resulted in the seizure of 36 computers that were installed with alleged illegal copies of several applications from software developer Autodesk Inc. Among the pirated software that were supposedly found were 3D Studio Max 2008, 3D Studio Max 9, AutoDesk Maya 8.5, AutoCAD 2008, AutoDesk Maya 2008 and Combustion 4.

A complaint was filed at the NBI’s Anti-Fraud and Computer Crimes Division (AFCCD) by AutoDesk, a member of the Business Software Alliance (BSA). The group has been promoting the use of original software and seeking prosecution against alleged copyright violators, BSA said in a statement.

Anino, the first commercial game development firm in the Philippines, is a member of the Game Development Association of the Philippines. The group’s president, Gabriel Dizon was unavailable for comment as of this writing.
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By Jennifer Tan
Reuters

SINGAPORE — Jet-powered cars, aliens, moon colonies and robots.

To many, this is the stuff of science fiction. But for Electronic Arts Inc creative guru Will Wright, they represent some of his most obsessive pursuits and the seeds of inspiration for his hotly anticipated video game, Spore.

Launching Sept. 7, Spore allows players to create empires and civilizations across galaxies, populated by creatures, buildings and spaceships.

Atlanta-born Wright, a bespectacled, mop-haired alien obsessive who builds robots for research purposes, said Spore was inspired by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program.

“I believe there are other intelligences out there, and the closest is several galaxies away,” said Wright, 48, who grew up building model cars and dreaming of space travel.

The launch of Spore comes at a critical time for loss-making EA, which is battling Activision Blizzard Inc. for preeminence in the fast-growing $28 billion-a-year video games market.

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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.

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