Recently in SEA Granado Espada Raid Party Category

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. The other Philippine team in Singapore, the GE Philippines "Wild Card" Team composed of Lam Shun Chun and Rommel Reyes, was named Most Supporting Team and received a Microsoft Reclusa keyboard and Pinnacle TV tuner. Team Visayas, which was one of the teams that played from the Philippines at the Philippine Toys, Hobbies and Collectibles Convention 2007 in SM Megamall, made it to the wild card round and was our last hope. Unfortunately, they lost both matches to the Singaporean teams in the three-way round robin. Still, the Visayas team was cited for Best Feature Match, with members Kenneth Tiu and Bryan Sacal receiving Seagate 250 GB hard disks. This isn't the Best Feature match because I couldn't recharge my Nokia N90 and the battery died, heh, but here's the previous wild card match of Team Visayas that was also featured on the big screen, courtesy of iVDO.

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. The online game publisher has flown in not just one but two teams to Singapore for the competition -- the team of Mark Anthony Sta. Ana and Paolo Inocencion from the National Capital Region, who topped he pre-qualifying tournament in the Philippines, as well as "wild card" team that was formed to support the Philippine contingent. Apart from the teams that are now in Singapore, seven more Filipino teams will compete in real-time at the Philippine Toy Convention 2007 at the SM Megamall Megatrade Hall in Mandaluyong City. Our bets will compete against their counterparts from Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. Oh, and did I mention that Hakkyu Kim himself is also here to witness this tournament? And that they've decorated Zouk to make it look like the in-game world of GE, complete with models in Granado Espada costumes? Steve Tsao, the president and COO of IP e-Games, has made a fearless forecast for this first ever Southeast Asian Granado Espada Raid Party. "The Philippines represents some of the top guilds and players in GE. I really expect the to win in the tournament," he said in a press statement. Let's see if our bets will be able to pull it off. We'll be rooting for them all the way. Catch you later during the tournament.