The One About More Upcoming Games!

If you haven't already seen the front page of just about every gaming magazine out there, GTA4 (Grand Theft Auto 4) for Xbox 360 and PS3 is set to hit stores tomorrow.


The 20,000 copies of GTA4 which we are distributing for the region has been completely sold out to various retail stores even before its launch date tomorrow!

What I am most looking forward to is getting my hands on the Limited Edition GTA4 set which is absolutely to die for... Check out the limited edition boxset which comes with a duffel bag, safety deposit box, art book, keychain and the soundtrack which has some very impressive tracks:


Fresh from the warehouse:


I managed to get a chance to test out the game and I was simply blown away by how detailed it was and the AI had definitely improved to an even more stunningly realistic feel compared to the previous versions of GTA. Getting flung and crashing through the windscreen of my car upon major impact was definitely something I need to get used to in Liberty City. This game is an absolute MUST TRY. The cinematics are so well directed that you feel like you are part of an epic movie.

Another upcoming game that is likely to be released pretty soon is a casual racing game called Topspeed. But before you write it off, thinking that you ain't interested in cars or racing games ( like I did ), it's more than just some car racing game. Its kawaii factor is undeniable and one of the hugest draw factor (to me at least) are the various items you can collect along the race track that you can use to sabotage other players to slow them down or to boost yourself to drive at top speed.


Other attractive elements include being able to drift around corners (like InitialD!) and put together your own kart with various parts and even customizing it to be as badass as you like it to be or even as cutesy as a cow!

Batmobile, anyone?

Got Milk?

More coverage coming your way soon!

In the meantime, if you haven't already heard by now, V2.6 The Requiem is scheduled to be launched on 12 June 2008. Currently, we are still on schedule - having recently handed over all localization material & new voiceovers for Bai Hu and Vincente Rio to IMC who is working on producing the new V2.6 client and patch. Let's all keep our fingers crossed and hope that nothing major crops up last minute!

The One About Philippines - Domination II

I just got back from Philippines and oh man... I was simply blown away and hopelessly inspired by the GE Philippines gamers. In all honesty, the past few months had me feeling rather burnt out and weary. But this trip to the Philippines - seeing how passionate the gamers were, the strong bonds they have created within this community was more than enough to cast revitalize me again!

Domination II was a HUGE event with a massive turnup of 18,000 people! Seriously long queues...

From external queues...

...to internal ones!

Each of the games featured at Domination had its own stage and booth. Here's the booth setup pre-event:

Granado Espada Booth

Cosplay is a really big thing in Philippines, such that they even had a huge cosplay area, splat right in the middle of the entire event setup, with all kind of props like bridges and mini stages for cosplayers to pose. Here are some of the Granado Espada cosplayers: Catherine, Elementalist, Wizards, Grace Berneli (Bistre Costume) and Feng Ling!

Granado Espada Characters Coming To Life!

There were many events that went on that day - from PvP tournaments, to Philippines Community Heroes prize giving ceremony etc.

Some of the most unforgettable moments of the trip:

1) Faction Banner Competition

It was such a sight to behold! Seeing massive numbers of faction members who created their own faction banner and coming down to support the event. The atmosphere was so highly charged with cheers and shouts. It was a superbly rah-rah event and a strange reminder of my freshman orientation camp back in school. The unity and bond of trinity could not have been any more real during those moments:


In the finals, there was a tie between Vradical's banner and Outcasts' banner. It was finally decided that whoever cheered loudest for their faction would win the competition. Outcasts Faction nearly deafened us with their screams and cheering. LOL. Congratz to Outcasts Faction!


2) Show me the money!

We were delayed at the airport customs for some time due to the tons of prizes and gifts that we had lugged all the way from Singapore. Amidst the Seagate hard disks, Microsoft Vista and Office, Limited Edition Boxes etc... was also the USD2500 that was meant for the top 3 winners of the Fantazzztic Film Awards:

Show me the moola!

Framing the money into picture frames was a last minute inspiration from our Marketing Vice President, Yoda Chuan. Which has us scrambling to buy picture frames and sticky tape at the very last minute.
[Backstage] 10 minutes before the moolah ceremony....

Last minute art-and-craft session of pasting cold, hard cash into picture frames!

3) Meeting the Philippines Bloggers Group

Having regularly read their blogs for almost a year, it was such a heartwarming feeling to finally meet these great writers in person! And I must say they are as intellectual and interesting as their blogs.

Philippines Bloggers Group - A REALLY tight group

I was particularly delighted to meet "THE VOICE" that launched a thousand laughs. That's right. I'm talking about Mena Family who did all the voiceovers for one of the winning films of the Fantazzztic Film Awards, Le Blanc. His real life personality is truly as multi-faceted and colorful as his amazing spectrum of voices! I certainly wish I had a friend in Singapore that was just as hilarious and entertaining as he is!

The Voice that launched a thousand laughs - Mena Family

It was a wondrous reunion with the first blogger of Granado Espada, NineMoons, who was the very first gamer from the Philippines that I had met up with on my last trip to the Philippines 1 year ago. I guess I will always have this soft spot for her due to this =]

Also got a chance to meet the talented director, Reclusion Family (Carracci), who had bagged the top 2 prizes in Fantazzztic Film Awards. This guy is incredibly gifted - both KingKongJon and I agree that he will be someone great in future. (Don't forget me when you become famous one day, Darrick!) On the other hand, Artaxerxes & Fiksdotter really impressed me with their friendly and kind demeanor and Stiles was a very charming, little sweetie. :)

The most touching moment of this entire trip was when they presented me with a photo mosaic that was made up of all the photos they had taken together. It was likely one of the most moving, overwhelmingly feel-good moments in my entire RCM life. ~>.<~

*Touched* is an understatement...

4) The Dinner Poll

After the Domination II event, we (me, Yoda Chuan, KingKongJon and Alex) were privileged enough to have a dinner with the Pinoy Faction leaders, their deputy leaders and the Bloggers group. During this dinner, we got to hear a lot of feedback from them and we also shared with them some of the operational issues we had on our end. We also shared with them some of the upcoming plans for V2.6 tentative launch on 12 June 2008 (*May be subject to change)

There's this famous dish in the Philippines called Balut (I dare not post images here lest you lose your appetite, but if you are REALLY up for the challenge, here's google image search results)

Desanggria Family was particularly evil! When the dish arrived, she did a dinner poll:

"Who would like to see RCM Hrin eating Balut?"

All hands unanimously shot up, including the hands of my DEAR IAHGames COLLEAGUES.

?!?!#!~@!#@$%#^......"Et tu, Brute?"

Ah well. The community has spoken. I lit my torch and ate Balut.

The vague image of Cockatrice pecking me to death flashed in my mind briefly.

Strangely, it tasted like Marmite. Hmm. Does that mean that Marmite is made up of...?

5) Meeting the Egames Peeps!

The peeps from Egames were such great hosts! They were so hospitable and sweet to us, that we felt so loved and well taken care of. Bonds were formed on a much more personal level, with all the jokes, laughter and conversations held.

And I have a new BFF (Best Friend Forever)! Bye bye Leticia, hello Jason! Audition's Community Manager, CM Jason, is THE most hilarious dude ever! We got along so fabulously - there's not a single moment of boredom with this guy. Here is Jason endorsing Coca-Cola...

CM Jason amusing us endlessly with his comical antics

Many, many thanks to you guys at eGames for making our time there so meaningful and well-spent. :)

Photo Sources:
Ninemoons
[CM] Veya

Reclusion

Artaxerxes
Mena