thirdworldgamer

I read online that (unfortunately) most people are still not aware about all the changes that MS implemented for the Xbox One since E3 2013. As we all know, E3 2013 was a disaster for Microsoft and it permanently tainted their reputation with a lot of gamers. I do follow the news daily and I know that Microsoft has made amends. I think more people have to know that a lot of their policies were already changed, even before they actually released the Xbox One in the marketplace. What irritates me a bit is how one of the local stores, Datablitz, seems to be promoting these false notions. I heard that their clerks would tell potential buyers that the Xbox One requires a patch every week, and, in native tagalog, they would say "yan ang sakit nung Xbox One"....which is a really stupid, incorrect thing to say. Do their sellers know the products that they are selling? Do they even want to sell them and make any money? Regardless of what platform they favor, it's a pretty st...

We picked up a [kinect-less] Xbox One a few weeks ago and have been putting it through its paces. Overall, right now I feel pretty good about this console. But I have to admit, the first experience of buying it is not very good. I'll go with the BAD news first. But do note that it isn't all bad news.... - The first time you bring it home, the console can't work without Internet. That's because it needs an absolutely-unoverrideable mandatory update. Basically, if you get this for your birthday and it's 7PM, expect to actually play games on it around a day or so later, depending on your internet speed. - The first patch I got for it was around 800MB. This number might have changed by the time of this writing. - All the launch games now have accumulated patches/updates over 16+ GB in size. Not just Dead Rising 3, which has been reported widely in the media. Even Forza 5. - My internet at home is PLDT 3Mbps; managed to get all the updates pretty quickly....that...

Mario Kart 8 is the Wii U's strongest title to date. Based on my three days of play with the game over about a dozen or more hours, both in single player and multiplayer....this game is an absolute blast. The graphics are gorgeous and everything about it screams good design and art sensibility. I can imagine some people might be turned off by the cutesy graphics and Nintendo characters, but underneath all that is a well designed GAME. Multiplayer is the absolute star of the show. With my Philippine-quality internet I get into races in literally seconds. With past games on both Playstation Network and Xbox Live, matchmaking can take 15 minutes or longer. I don't know how Nintendo did it. Maybe Mario Kart is just simpler to code for since it just involves race cars? This game doesn't have the usual issues with driving games on laggy connections. Things like teleporting cars, cars going much faster than you....I have seen none of this happen while I was playing this game, ...

I was informed recently that the Philippines is now an Xbox Live supported region. The odd thing is, it's based on a posting by Major Nelson all the way back in October 2013: http://majornelson.com/2013/10/01/xbox-live-free-gold-weekend-this-weekend/ Starting this  Friday (4, October)  through Sunday (6, October) we’ll be unlocking Xbox Live Gold  for the below regions. If you are not a Gold Member yet, it’s a great opportunity to try Multiplayer on your favorite games. Regions include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines , Portugal, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam Your region not listed above? We’ve got your covered with the following dates: Oct. ...

Just got my copy of Super Street Fighter IV from Data Blitz! Here are my impressions so far: 1. Lots of ONLINE features - after playing with my friend I was surprised to see how nearly all of our online match replays were saved automatically in the Player Data -> Battle Log channel! That was a really nice feature, that it automatically saves like that. And you can pick the ones you can save permanently 2. It will feel like Street Fighter IV 'Plus' - Essentially, it still is Street Fighter IV, which explains the lower price tag....but all the new characters and extra features make it worth it. It was nice of Capcom to charge a bit less for it. The game is really not just DLC + SFIV because of all the stuff they crammed in. 3. Netcode - I was on Globe (2 Mbps) and my friend was on Smart bro. Got 3 bars in our match. Lag was occasionally noticeable but mostly manageable. I've yet to try more than just one other player for online play, so I can't tell yet how much of an ...

Sony can take the risk and release the Playstation 3 here. What about Microsoft? With all the rumors on Natal and the new 'Slim' Xbox 360, it would actually be good timing for them to unveil a new marketing strategy for Asia, and include more countries for Xbox Live. So, is Microsoft going to let the opportunity in Asia slip by their fingers? Sony really does rule this territory; their mindshare with the Playstation brand remains very strong, and perhaps Xbox's failings in Japan even make this more evident. Is Microsoft just focused on the western markets? Will they let possibly millions of dollars in potential profit just go to waste by continuing to ignore the Asian market? You've really got to hand it to Sony; they've got guts to release high-end electronics like the Playstation 3 in places like the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand. As income levels in these places rise, Sony is establishing their foothold as *the* console brand of choice for the main...

More craziness abounds regarding official support for console gaming in the Philippines: http://asia.playstation.com now lists the Philippines as an officially supported country for the Playstation brand!

I was in Glorietta this evening; lo and behold...! It begins tomorrow! From the Facebook group page , here's the schedule of events for the PLAYSTATION 3 PHILIPPINE LAUNCH this weekend, March 27 to 28 at the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati! DAY 1: March 27, 2010 2:00pm: Official Opening of PlayStation Exhibit plus Onsite Registration for competitions (COSPLAY Fashion, COSPLAY Battlefield Competition and PlayStation Race) 3:30pm - 4:00pm: Band Performance by EEVEE 4:00 pm- 5:30 pm: COSPLAY Fashion followed by COSPLAY Battlefield 5:30pm - 6:00pm: PlayStation Race 6:00pm - 6:25: Awarding of Winners 6:00pm - 7:00pm: Band Performance by PUPIL DAY 2: March 28, 2010 10:00am – Exhibit Opens 12:00pm – Physical Registration of contestants for PSP and PS3 Games (PS3 Ridge Racer 7 / PSP Tekken : Dark Resurrection) 2:00pm – Simultaneous Elimination Games 4:30pm – Band Performance by LETTER DAY STORY 5:00pm – Celebrity Showdown 5:30pm - Finals game for PSP 6:00pm – Finals game for PS3 6:30pm...

1. Warranty Details - are units bought before the launch date covered? Or, at least, is there a repair option available? 2. Playstation Network - Will there be a 'Philippines' region? Will there be locally available PSN cards in peso denominations? I guess the major question here is, how much of a launch will this be? Is it a... a. Full blown launch - all features available in other countries will be available here b. Hardware launch - The PS3, PSP and its hardware and software will be sold, and not much else. Either of the two is possible---and to be honest, I'm keeping my expectations in check. It is still good to know this is really happening. 3. Games - will games get cheaper? Or at least, will games stay at the same prices you could get them in grey market retail shops? What region will the games be? Personally, I hope it's Region 3, so they're the same price as the games sold in neighboring Asian countries. 4. Marketing - Is Sony going all the way with this? W...

UPDATE: I wrote this post a few days before Sony officially announced their local launch. Sony Philippines is launching the Playstation 3 in the Philippines on March 27-28, with a launch event at the Glorietta Activity Center. It's great news for Filipino gamers everywhere! For more information, check out this page. For a few years, me and my wife have learned a lot about gaming here in the Philippines. With the birth of our son recently, our priorities have changed. We do still love gaming but we no longer can devote that much time to promoting it as a hobby. That said, all that wealth of experience that we learned as Xbox MVPs would just go to waste if I didn't write this post. I write this not as an Xbox fan, but as a gamer, and personally if it really does come to pass that Sony is launching a game console here, it's nothing short of a miracle, and to have it happen after we did all those things before feels like one of those 'you get what you wished for, but not ex...

It's official - Sony is releasing the Playstation 3 officially in the Philippines! This marks an important milestone for console gaming and for gamers in our country. Finally - some official support! http://www.sony.com.ph/microsite/PS2010/PlayStation_Mar2010_Newsletter.html Sony Philippines, Inc. invites you to the first PlayStation Event in Philippines on March 27 and 28 at the Glorietta Activity Center. Enjoy the extensive display of the full PlayStation line-up, try out the newest game offerings and watch the hottest bands perform onstage. Up for grabs are brand new PlayStation 3 , ( PSP ) PlayStation Portable and limited edition PlayStation premium items by simply joining any of the following activities: * COSPLAY Fashion - Come in your best Anime /PS game character COSPLAY attire and strut your stuff to win a brand new PlayStation 3 * COSPLAY Battlefield - Create a 2 minute Battle/Fight Scene Simulation with 2 other friends and win 1 PSP each * PlayStation Amazing Race ...

Picked up the '2010 Bravia/Summer Fever 2010' local catalog from the Sony store in Park Square. It had an ad for the Playstation 3 in there.... Looks like this PS3 launch thing is really happening. (Why no picture? I've got an important day job and I've only five minutes to blog about gaming stuff....Take my word for it, this is real. Or you can just visit the Sony store in Park Square and see for yourself....)

Just an off-topic post because this concerns saving my country from all the corrupt politicians running for office....for the Filipinos reading this, do the right thing and help convince this guy Noynoy Aquino to run for President! http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090828-222419/Wear-yellow-Sen-Aquino-tells-supporters Wear yellow, Sen Aquino tells supporters By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net First Posted 11:15:00 08/28/2009 Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Politics, Cory Aquino MANILA, Philippines -- Paint the town yellow if you want Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to run for a higher post in 2010. Aquino, son of the late President Corazon Aquino and martyred Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr, made this call in his continued search for an answer to the increasing clamor for him to either run for president or vice president next year. “Wear something yellow on your person, notes, with your ID, panglagay sa bahay, sa sasakyan para mapakita na marami tayo ditong umaasa at ma...

Have you watched Pinoy Gamers on Channel 76 (Makisig Network)? It's on every night on Thursdays, at 10:00PM. Episode 3 Features: Rock Band 2 Review Mercenaries 2 Review Ninja Blade Preview Here's some videos from their latest episode last week: You can e-mail Pinoy Gamers via pinoygamers@yahoo.com.ph

These videos are a series of rematches between the two finalists from the WCG Philippines 2008 Tournament for Virtua Fighter 5. These games were played over XBOX LIVE. I'm using Jacky while Ismael is using Akira. In these set of rematches, Ismael won a *LOT* more matches than me :( So I suppose you could say that Ismael got his revenge hahaha! I did have a lot of fun because the matches weren't so laggy (we were both on PLDT) compared to my usual experience on XBL playing against opponents from other countries. I was able to record only 4 replays of our rematches; two of the matches were wins from me, while the other two were his wins. I'll be uploading some more in the days to come. NOTE: Fully retiring myself from the world of competitive gaming; no longer planning on joining any international competitions. I am interested in helping find future champions, though :) Never retiring from playing VF just for fun; more and more, it's becoming my favorite fighting game of ...

I saw this poster outside of Timezone arcades and I also saw it on the official site for Timezone. It's interesting because apparently the 1st International Tournament for Tekken 6 will have their finals here in the Philippines. Here's a link to the news and an image of the poster I see in most Timezone arcades: http://www.timezone.com.ph/promos.asp#p194 "Tekken 6 Competition Author: Nedz Manangan Promo Date: 7/1/2008 - 11/3/2008 MECHANICS: Be Timezone Philippines' representative to the First International Tekken 6 Tournament! Registration is on September 1-15, 2008 at participating Timezone Centers. Pre-Finals is on September 27 and Grand Finals is on October 28 at Glorietta 4 Cinema Lobby. International Finals will be held right here in the Philippines! It is scheduled on November 3 at the Glorietta Activity Center. For more updates on this competition, visit this website regularly. PARTICIPATING OUTLETS: Glorietta 4, Greenbelt 3, Alabang Town Center, Bonifacio High...

I recently passed by one branch of Globe Telecom and saw a sign that said that the IPhone 3G was launching in the Philippines in 2 days. Wow, I forgot all about this one. I heard that Apple was releasing the IPhone locally a few months ago; I was surprised that it was a matter of days before the IPhone becomes officially supported in the Philippines. You would think that, in the Philippines where there is supposedly a small market for high-tech luxury items , and people supposedly don't have that much disposable income , that a product launch for something like the IPhone 3G is a crazy, impossible endeavor. Consider the price alone of the IPhone in the Philippines; a whopping PHP 37,599 (US$822.60) for the 8GB version, and PHP 43,799 (US$958.25) for the 16GB version. The truth is, not many in the mainstream Philippine market today can afford the IPhone. But Globe and Apple sure have some guts for doing it. They know there IS a market that they can tap into that buys these thing...

We took a lot of photos during the week of the WCG 2008 Asian Championships (ACG). Most of the photos can be found through this link here. Here are just a few of them: The Philippine Team for the WCG 2008 Asian Championship :) The Suntec Convention Center The Stage Area for the ACG The Flag Ceremony To see the entire series of photos from the ACG, click here for Pinoyxbox's official thread for the World Cyber Games 2008.

Here's an update on the World Cyber Games (WCG) / Asian Cyber Games (ACG) for 2008. For console gaming, the Philippine team will be looking for players on the Xbox 360 platform and these are the games: World Cyber Games 2008 (Germany) Guitar Hero III Asian Cyber Games 2008 (Singapore) Guitar Hero III Virtua Fighter 5 WCG Philippines will be getting 2 players for Guitar Hero III (one for WCG, another one for ACG), and 1 player for Virtua Fighter 5 (ACG). For Guitar Hero III they will have a competition wherein the first place winner goes to the WCG (Germany), while the 2nd runner up goes to ACG (Singapore). For Virtua Fighter 5 there will be a competition to find the best player to send for the ACG. There are more details on this subject over on the official site for WCG Philippines. There is an announcement forum thread here with even more details (including the PC games that will be part of the competition). Pinoyxbox also has a forum thread on the subject of the WCG / ACG. If...