• Events

    Get updated on some of the upcoming events in the metro, from gaming to anime

  • Reviews

    Check out some of the reviews of the hottest games today

  • Gaming

    Get the latest info on what's happening in the world of gaming

  • MMOs

    Get yourself updated on the latest MMO games

  • Cool Stuffs

    Find out some of coolest things that is spreading on the internet

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Defend your Base!!! (Tower Defense Games)

Usually when we play video games, our main objective would always be invading an enemy base or eliminating the castle lord or the evil dungeon master. But what if your objective instead is just protect your base from invading monsters? A new kind of twist eh? If you've been playing this kind of games, then you probably knew that these are Tower Defense games. Now let's take a look on how this gaming genre became so popular and how it all began.

About Tower Defense

Tower defense or TD is a subgenre of real-time strategy computer games. The goal is to try to stop enemies from crossing the map by building towers which shoot at them as they pass. Enemies and towers usually have varied abilities and costs. When an enemy is defeated the player earns money or points, which are used to buy or upgrade towers.

Flash Element Tower Defense Flash game

The choice and positioning of the towers is the essential strategy of the game. Many games feature enemies that run through a "maze", which allows the player to strategically place towers for optimal effectiveness. However, some versions of the genre force the user to create the maze out of their own towers. Some versions are a hybrid of these two types, with preset paths that can be modified to some extent by tower placement.

Fieldrunners for the IPhone

Originally, it was first called Turret defense.

How it all began?

We can say that Tower defense games started its roots in Rampart; a classic strategy arcade game that was release on 1990. The game involved defending a castle by placing cannons, and making repairs between several rounds of attacks.

At the start of the year 2000, tower defense games began to appear as custom or user-created maps in Starcraft, Ages of Empires II and also in Warcraft III. But the first standalone PC tower defense game was Master of Defense, a 3D shareware game that was released on 7 November 2005. It was so popular that it received several awards.

Master of Defense freeware PC game


TD custom map for Warcraft 3

Then, many game developers began designing games using Adobe Flash to create stand-alone game on web browsers, which led to the release of Flash Element Tower Defense in 2007and also Desktop Tower Defense on the same year. Desktop Tower Defense became a hit that it led to the creation of a mobile phone version of the game. Other notable tower defense games that became popular include Protector, Immortal Defense and GemCraft.

Desktop Tower Defense flash game

In 2008, the tower defense's big success led to the porting into console gaming such as Defense Grid: The Awakening on the PC and Xbox 360, and PixelJunk Monsters and Savage Moon for the PlayStation 3 Tower defense games have also appeared on handheld game consoles such as Lock's Quest and Ninjatown on the Nintendo DS, and Crystal Defenders for the iPhone/iPod Touch.

Pixel Junk Monsters for the PSP and PlayStation Network


South Park Let's Go Tower Defense for the Xbox Live Arcade


Different types of Tower Defense

Tower Defense games have different types or mode of gameplay, so here are some of the most notable types:

Maze - Waves spawn from one end of a maze then crawl down the path to the other end. Usually the main base is their target (commonly located in the middle of the map). It is your job to make sure the creeps don’t get to the base. This can be done by building defense towers along the path to attack the waves of incoming monsters. Some Maze types can be played solo or with co-op.

Mauls - These games are similar to the traditional maze Tower Defense games. The only difference is the mazes are much wider and you build towers inside the mazes rather that on the edges. This style can be much more strategic. Not only do you need the right combination of towers at the right times. You also need to design an effective maze within the maze.

Tower Wars - Tower wars can be played on either the maze style or the maul style game. They can also be played co-op or solo. The major difference is that the monsters are spawned by the teams to go through the mazes of other teams.

Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! for the PSP


Final Fantasy: My Life as a Dark Lord for the Wiiware


Why is it so darn popular?

There are only two reasons: it's easy and addictive, all you need is a good strategy and some patience to beat it. And since the genre became so popular, you can play it everywhere, not just in the internet, but also in your phone, your portable game and even in the consoles. Even with a simple gameplay, it'll take you hours and hours of gameplay to complete it, and with replayable contents, a simple short game will become a full-length epic game. And since you can play it anywhere you go, it's a good way to kill your boredom and with so many tower games to try, you'll never get tired of playing it over and over

Plants Vs. Zombies for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade


Final Fantasy Crystal Defenders for the Wiiware and IPhone


So if you haven't played a single tower defense game yet, what are you waiting for? Just go and search for a tower defense game in the internet and start playing, or you can go look for a TD custom map to play on Warcraft 3 / Or if you're a TD fan and still looking for new ones, don't fret 'coz more TD games are coming to your favorite consoles like Pixel Junk monsters and South Park's Let's Go tower defense. So continue enjoying this easy addictive genre.

sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_defense
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_Element_Tower_Defense
http://gamesareevil.com/2009/06/dammit-game-of-the-week-gemcraft/
http://www.articlealley.com/article_147995_81.html

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

May Pasok Ba o Wala?

If you're wondering what's the title mean (if you don't understand Filipino language) it means "is there a class/work today or not?"
If you're that person who always look for holidays or reason not to go to school or in the office and you're lazy to ask from other people, then this website is just for you

maypasokba.com
is a site that will give you update info whether there is a holiday today or the next day


Main Page


Another fun part here is that you can also contribute to the site if there is holiday in specific areas (city, school, company, etc.)


About Page



They also have contests that you can participate.
This is one useful that'll also give some humor, so if you want to know if there's any holiday for today, then check out maypasokba.com

Friday, August 14, 2009

Event Aftermath: Metro Comic-Con 2009

Comic book, Anime, Toys and Gaming Fans are united once again for another major event that happened last August 8 and 9 at the Megatrade Hall 1 & 2 in SM Megamall







Metro Comic-Con 2009, an event of everything comics, animes and toys, featured not just comics, but also some cosplay competitions, band performance and exhibits.

The event also showcase famous local anime dubbers and also local comic book artist working in famous comic book publishers (Marvel, DC)









It also hosted a booth to purchase tickets for the most aniticpated movie; GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which is already in theaters.





There are also contest for fans to participate, from customizing toys to dubbing animes. The event was a blast even though it's a newly organized event, looking forward to more events in the future...

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Dissidia: Final Fantasy Game Review

Fans of the ever-popular RPG franchise Final Fantasy will drool over once they can grab a copy of the most awaited fighting game Dissidia: Final Fantasy in stores on August 25.



The Japanese version of the game was already released a year ago and the English version is on its way. The game features not only showcase arcade modes but also a unique story mode that has its own engaging storyline which will ensure more replay value.

*Note: The review only featured the playable version of Dissidia; where Arcade mode is the only available feature.





The concept is the same as all of the fighting games: the first to reduce their opponent's life bar to zero wins. Dissidia boasts to have over 20 characters from all the Final Fantasy series, so far only 5 characters are playable in the demo. The arenas are not your typical side scroll maps, but more of a fully free roaming 3D arena. Players will be able to play the game with no problem thanks to the tutorials on the loading screen.

Dissidia has two types of attack, one that reduces your brave points (BP); points that determines your attack power (the higher the points, the higher the damage you will inflict on your opponent's health with the HP attack) while the ohter attack is used to reduce your opponent's health points (HP), but in order to inflict dmage to it, you need to accumulate BP and also making a successful HP attack will reset your brave points to zero.






Each characters has its own unique traits such as Terra from Final Fantasy 6 where she uses magic, Cecil from Final Fantasy 4 can switch from Dark Knight to Paladin during battle. Characters can unleash their devastating attacks via EX mode by filling up their EX meter by absorbing EX orbs (gain by attacking opponents) and EX cores (scattered around the map). Activating the EX mode can change the character's appearance or unlocking their ultimate weapon with added stats boosts.




Attacking with the HP attack while in EX mode can release their finishing skill called EX burst, this is similar to the famous Limit Breaks in the Final Fantasy series where you enter a certain button combination or repeatedly pressing a certain button to unleash its full power.






As for the graphical presentation, it really shows that it's using the PlayStation Portable's full power, giving it great graphics. The music is pretty impressive, from the original tunes of Final Fantasy 9 & 10 to the remix versions of 2 & 3, voice acting is kind of average but they still manged to use the originl voice actors from the other series and giving voice to the classic ones.




Although the game is only a demo, it's still an amazing game with new game mechanics. Fans of Final Fantasy and fighting games will sure be hungry to get a copy of Dissidia once it's out.

Game Rating: 9 out of 10

Sunday, August 2, 2009

4th GE PH Community Gathering Aftermath

Last July 18, 2009, the Granado Espada players once again gathered at Phooze gaming cafe for the 4th Granado Espada Philippine Community Gathering. This is the fourth gathering organized by players since December 2008.





The event started around 12PM and many players attended the said event. Surprisingly, the 4th event has the most number of attendees compared to the previous events, as this event was also promoted by Mistress Hrin on the GE website and by DeSanggria.





And as promised with more activities and prizes, the players really had the blast. Activities include freeplays, contests, raffles and pvp tournament that had a new twist. Participants were able compete well on the tournament despite having new mechanics.





Although the Philippine CM didn't attend the gathering (again), good thing the GMs from E-Games attended and help facilitate the gathering. At the end of the gathering, all players never left the venue empty handed as they took home some prizes.





The 4th gathering was truly a blast and players are now more hungrier for a part five.
But sadly, this will be my last event, as I have don't have enough time to facilitate any future events. But I believe that other players will continue the tradition to keep the community alive.



I'd like to thank all the gamers for their support on the gatherings and to IAH games especially to Mistress Hrin. As I bid farewell to the GE community, I'll be wishing them to have more future gatherings and events.

Top Ten Arcade Games

Gametrailers showcased the top ten best arcade games of all time, from the classic games of the 80's, to the pioneer gems of the 90's up to the popular games today.

Let's take a look on who's in and who's out in this three part video segment.


Top 10-8


Top 7-5


Top 4-1