Philippines Online Gaming | MMPORG
Gaming
WoW tops Massively Multiplayer Online Worlds
Jun 23rd
Here’s a list of the Top 10 MMO Worlds:
1. World of Warcraft – 8.5 million subscribers (released 2004)
2. Habbo Hotel – 7.5 million active users (released 2000)
3. RuneScape – 5 million active users (released 2001)
4. Club Penguin – 4 million active users (released 2006)
5. Webkinz – 3.8 million active users (released 2005)
6. Gaia Online – 2 million active users (released 2003)
7. Guild Wars – 2 million active users (released 2005)
8. Puzzle Pirates – 1.5 million active users (released 2003)
9. Lineage I/II – 1 million subscribers (released 1998)
10. Second Life – 500,000 active users (released 2003)
Starcraft II
May 23rd
StarCraft II continues the epic saga of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg. These three distinct and powerful races will clash once again in the fast-paced real-time strategy sequel to the legendary original, StarCraft. Legions of veteran, upgraded, and brand-new unit types will do battle across the galaxy, as each faction struggles for survival.
Featuring a unique single-player campaign that picks up where StarCraft: Brood War left off, StarCraft II will present a cast of new heroes and familiar faces in an edgy sci-fi story filled with adventure and intrigue. In addition, Blizzard will again offer unparalleled online play through Battle.net, the company’s world-renowned gaming service, with several enhancements and new features to make StarCraft II the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game.
Granado Espada Pre open Beta Client
May 3rd
Granado Espada, Pre Open Beta Testing is now open for downloads. At last!! :p
You can download it through these mirror sites:
Granado Espada Pre-Open Beta Client File 1 of 6 (Build 64988) – HTTP1 FILEFRONT
Granado Espada Pre-Open Beta Client File 2 of 6 (Build 64988) – HTTP1 FILEFRONT
Granado Espada Pre-Open Beta Client File 3 of 6 (Build 64988) – HTTP1
Granado Espada Pre-Open Beta Client File 4 of 6 (Build 64988) – HTTP1
Granado Espada Pre-Open Beta Client File 5 of 6 (Build 64988) – HTTP1
Granado Espada Pre-Open Beta Client File 6 of 6 (Build 64988) – HTTP1
List of Free to Play MMORPGs
Apr 25th
Here’s a list of free2play MMORPGs that are available out there:
1. Martial Heroes – www.martialheroes.com
2. Fly For Fun Philippines – yes guys this is an F2P MMORPG, first in the Philippines.
3. Knight Online – www.knightonlineworld.com
4. e-Games Malaysia – www.e-games.com.my
5. Wild Cannon – www.wildcannon.com
List still being completed.
Jumboplay
Feb 8th
You know how we told you about the game rental service gamehopper? Well Here’s another company that’s offering all you can play downloadable PC games for the low cost of 270 pesos a month. Jumboplay.com has 68 games up for grabs for users who want to download their games legally. Typical downloadable games like Diner Dash and Monopoly are available, but so are more high end games like Prince of Persia:The Warrior Within and Tomb Raider Legend.
Now call me a cynic (or an asshole, if you like), but I don’t know that a lot of people would have access to internet connections that would allow them to download a gig of data, and even if they did, how long would it take to download a game? Also, the site design leaves a lot to be desired, and call me shallow but that always, always means a lot to me. A well designed site speaks preofessionalism, and frankly, the jumboplay site like like it was cobbled together by a first year IT student.
Elmer and I will try to look into the service some more in the near future, but till then, feel free to try it out, dear readers (yes, all 3 of you).
Here’s my initial take on Jumboplay. I’ll start with the one that got my attention. I don’t mean to be too negative about it, but the site design really looks like it has been ripped off from Gamespot. I know we’re supposed to talk about the service itself, but come on! I don’t know if the people from Jumboplay have purposely done this to put a familiar gamer theme to it, or their just plain uncreative and unoriginal. C’mon people, that little Philippine flag is really not the glaring indicator that this is a Pinoy site – it’s your inability to come up with an original design of your own.
About the service. I agree with Ryan; the success of this venture is doubtful.
Number one and most blatant fact: We’re in Asia. We’re one of the cornerhouses of software piracy. If people have the bandwidth and the time to download a gig-worth of a game, they’d get it from a torrent site. That’s plain truth.
Number two: I see only TWO premium titles here: Neverwinter Nights 2 and Tomb Raider Legend. NWN2 is not even downloadable yet. What do I mean by premium titles? Those that still sell for 1,500 to 2,000 pesos. The rest of the titles in Jumboplay are ones that can be found in Datablitz bargain bin where each title sells for 500 to 700 pesos. Shelling out 270 pesos for downloading unlimited games a month would be a good deal for the kind of gamer that just installs, plays and forgets. I still don’t know much about download gaming but I think the customer will not have the option to save the game onto a disc. It will be installed directly to the hard drive; and if you uninstall, goodbye hard earned pesos. (I could be wrong here, which is why we’re really planning to test this service first.) Anyway, like I said, it may work for the ripper gamer. But for those gamers who’d want the CD, manual, who loves the art of the cover, the whole shebang – the collector-type – I believe they’d still go the Datablitz way.
I’m also curious as to how they would implement support. Downloadable games don’t have manuals so players don’t have a hard copy of the technical support number if anything goes wrong. Will Jumboplay accept support calls from players?
Simple questions from a player who just got introduced into a new service. Guess what – no FAQs either. A half-baked service? Smells like PLDT…
The Hour is upon us
Feb 7th
Not another WW2 shooter.
Midway has recently announced that it’s releasing a WW2 shooter exclusively for the Xbox360 called, Hour of Victory. (No official site yet.) How is this going to be different from Call of Duties and Medal of Honors (or Medals of Honor)? Apparently, the player will take on different roles which forces him/her to change gameplay style. Play as a sniper, assault rifleman, or commando. Talk about class-based systems; we’ve seen this in the Battlefield series so it’s not much of an innovation is it?
From Midway:
“Hour of Victory allows you to play a key role in the pivotal and cinematic battles from the European and North African theaters of World War II, using the skills and gameplay style you choose. Sneak into enemy territory as a covert operative, storm the gates as a British Commando, or snipe from afar as an Army Ranger — each character’s unique attributes will be needed for the fulfillment of the overall objective. Only with all these skills working closely together will you be able to say that you helped define the Hour of Victory. “
Hmm. That just about describes all of the WW2 shooters out there.
Oh well, more for us gamers I guess.
GRAW 2 with improved AI
Feb 6th
It’s known at this point that the 2nd installment to Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter will be available soon. And with that, one of the more prominent changes are the improvements to the AI.
Apparently, there were a lot of people who complained about the squadmates’ lack of coordination and their unfailing ability to “accidentally” get in the player’s line of fire. Can we just chalk that up to realism and the hazardous realities of war? Maybe not. In my case, I once ordered a marine to go to a covered position behind a wall (which, according to specs, is entirely possible), beyond which a nest of assault gunmen were waiting at an elevated position. My marine simply rushed into them and found himself incapacitated by a grenade.
Well, GRAW 2 seeks to resolve all that and have managed to make improvements to the AI *and* the way the player can control the squad. “Assault” and “Recon” rules of engagement were added. Hmmm…sounds vaguely familiar…
…Oh, right. Looks like GRAW 2 will have a helping of Rainbow Six dynamics this time around.
Supreme Commander is coming
Feb 6th
Well, for the gamers in the West, it’s already there. Reviews for this most-anticipated game have already been coming in streams, and as expected the game is mind-blowing. With all the information out there for SupCom, here’s a quick simple list of notable gameplay elements which boasts as to why you need to play this game:
- Chris Taylor of Total Annihilation is the man behind this one. Because of that, one of the core dynamics is hugely-inspired by TA; there is a single powerful command unit (the Armored Command Unit – ACU) from which you will spawn other units and factories. Most have associated this with the “king” piece in chess which is the most crucial piece in the game, albeit slow.
- It’s designed to be BIG – maps are massive. Reports have come in which stated that in huge maps, units literally will take minutes to traverse from one corner of the map to another, aircraft will have to be refueled midway, and units will have to rely more on transports. Why was this done? Chris Taylor believes that most RTS games now only focus on tactics and not enough on strategy. Increasing the scale of your players perceive the war will force them to think on a whole new level. Despite the scale, certain interface elements have been introduced. Players can quickly scale down the 3D map into an overhead tactical map from which you can direct your units in as much the same accuracy as you were using the normal 3D terrain map. And…
- …for the hardware enthusiasts, the game was developed to take advantage of dual monitors and dual core processors. Players can make use of their two monitors to actually render the map in two screens, OR (check this out), they can assign one monitor to render their mini-map on, while the other one shows the actual terrain. PC Gamer says it’s time to say goodbye to the minimap and say hello to the MEGA-map. In terms of CPU, players with dual-core processors will notice a significant performance boost.
- Particle physics is taken to the next level. Projectiles are not merely special effects and damage is not calculated depending on generic values of the combatant’s force and defense ratings. Each projectile is individually tracked and monitored by the game to see if it actually hit or missed a target. Because of this, speed and angle of attack will play crucial roles in unit tactics.
- Oh, and the unit cap is a whopping 500.
What is this list for? We’ll buy it anyway, regardless. But before you do, you may want to check your hardware.
- SC will require a minimum of 512GB of system RAM and 128MB of video RAM to play at the very least. Recommended configuration is 2GB of system RAM and 256MB of video RAM or higher.
- Low-end Nvidia 6600 series or ATI cards can support it as long as they have Pixel Shader 3.0 or Shader 2.0 (for ATI).
Ether Vapor
Feb 6th
If you want to check out the Japanese indie gaming scene or just wondering if there’s a Gradius-type fighter shmup (shoot-them-up) that can rival those in PS2s, then take a peek at Ether Vapor.
This 10MB demo showcases a fantastic, high-paced game which makes use of 3D in the best possible way. Shifting from top-down to side-scrolling perspectives in missions will make sure you don’t get bored. I have to admit, since I don’t have a PS2, I’m not updated in the console shmup space. But this game clearly shows that the PC can equally deliver with just plain-old DirectX graphics.
The website and the help file are in Japanese but the game’s internal menus are in English so it’s all playable. Have fun!
GameFlood for gamers: Get your mod fix here
Feb 3rd
Turbosquid, the people behind Gmax and a community of mod and 3D asset developers, has recently launched the beta version of GameFlood. It’s actually a site where 3D modelers and artists can post their game-related assets and mods in a community setup. What’s great about this for gamers is that this is another repository of mods for most of the popular games.
Maps and mods for games like Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 2, Battlefield 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, CounterStrike source and Oblivion (coming soon) are available.