Event Aftermath: Granado Espada Philippine Gathering 2011

IAHGames; the publisher of Granado Espada Southeast Asia (SEA), prepared a special players gathering for the Filipino gamers of their flagship MMORPG which was held at T.G.I. Friday's in Trinoma last February 12, 2011.

Gamers waited until 1pm in the afternoon and lined up to get their accounts registered for the event. The venue was jam-packed with hungry gamers (which was according to the staff at the event, the total attendees were around 170, and the maximum seating capacity of Friday's was 190) which occupied the whole venue, the IAH staff never expected that large amount of players. During the event they announced that the distribution of IAH Game Cards will be handled by Phil Portal, another surprise is that IAHGames Philippines (they are also the distributor of Starcraft 2 SEA in the Philippines) will be handling the community for the PH gamers in Granado Espada (they will be handling the support, events, etc.), but there are still no reports on whether or not they will cancel their contract with E-Games, E-Games is currently the distributor of Granado Espada SEA in the Philippines.

The event was hosted by the Product Manager of IAHGames PH Toby Lozada, where he also announced the news to the players. They also offered GE merchandises from t-shirts to laptop skins to game cards, and also they held a raffle where players can win GE merchandises (including the limited edition wine glasses) and in-game premium items (including the sought after Asoka RNPC card).

Overall, the gathering was a success, although the venue wasn't able to accommodate all of the attendees, the Filipino players were thrilled that they were able to meet other players and showed that the PH community is still alive and kicking.

credits to EldeonRose of Rembrandt Server for the additional images

Upcoming Square Enix PSP Games

The PlayStation Portable's lifespan is becoming shorter, with the announcement of the NGP and with fewer game releases lesser support from game developers. But Square-Enix still has some surprises on its sleeves with more PSP games that are scheduled to release this coming weeks, so let's take a rundown on the following games.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy

This is the prequel to the popular fighting game/ sort of RPG which was released last 2009. The story revolves on the events that happened before the first Dissidia game.

The game offers new characters from other Final Fantasy series as well as some additional game mechanics such as the Assist system. The single player mode offers a new mechanic, where they follow the traditional free world exploration, similar to traditional Final Fantasy games.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy will be available on March 22

The 3rd Birthday

This is the third installment to the classic action-RPG Parasite Eve. The story still focuses on Aya Brea 10 tens after the events on Parasite Eve 2, the 3rd Birthday was dubbed as the "cinematic action RPG" by the developers. A new feature called the "Overdrive" system lets you switch bodies from your team members, allowing you to freely control other characters, the systems also lets you dive into enemies to unleash lethal damage. The gameplay of the game will more of a third person shooting style.

The 3rd Birthday will be out on March 29

Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection

This is the remake to the classic SNES RPG Final Fantasy IV, although the remake is not similar to the Nintendo DS version which has 3D graphics, but the remake will have improve 2D sprites and spell/skill animations. The collection also includes The After Years, the direct sequel to FFIV which was only a download for the Wiiware on the Nintendo Wii.

Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection will be available on April 19

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

This was the remake of the classic strategy RPG on the Super Famicom (SNES in Japan) where it was also re-release on the Sony PlayStation and SEGA Saturn. The remake will offer new features such as revamped visuals and effects, new character growth system, the Wheel of Fortune system, and a re-arranged soundtrack from the original composers.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together will be available on February 15

Massive Super Bowl Movie Trailers

If you are an American Football fan (not the other Football) heck you are always present when there's a Super Bowl being aired on cable TV, and chances are, if you are watching it live, you've probably saw some of the TV ads that premiered on the Event itself.

Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League (NFL) and the most viewed by audiences on television, so this is the best opportunity for companies to promote their advertisements on TV, and of course, most viewers are also anticipating new movie trailers being aired for the first time on TV for the upcoming movies this year.

So let's take a look at the movie trailers that were aired on Super Bowl XLV (courtesy of Clevver Movies):

Kung Fu Panda 2 (May 26th, 2011)

Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (May 20th, 2011)

Thor (May 6, 2011)

Captain America: The First Avenger (July 22, 2011)

Fast Five (April 29, 2011)

Rango (March 18, 2011)

Cowboys & Aliens (July 29, 2011)

Rio (April 15, 2011)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (July 1, 2011)

And by the way, congratulations to the Green Bay Packers for winning the Super Bowl XLV against the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31 to 25.

Aika Global Lifts IP Ban In North America

Get ready to roll out the red carpet as AIKA GLOBAL welcomes the new addition to the family; the North American players! This February 17, AIKA GLOBAL community is expected to roar up high as North American gamers march in to experience the award-winning AIKA GLOBAL. This major modification will also bring forth AIKA GLOBAL at its best.

This expansion is still in line with the outpouring public demand to open the AIKA GLOBAL server to North American market which is banned from playing AIKA GLOBAL since the game’s global launching last August 2010. AIKA GLOBAL, a game directly handled by its developers pride itself with its smooth and hassle-free game play, world-class service and dynamic community composed of players all over the globe. In the next few days, top AIKA GLOBAL gamers should watch out for the new American gamers who will break in to put them the game field on a feral challenge!

Fresh from its major Level Cap 70 update, this major change is only one of the finest ground-breaking developments of AIKA GLOBAL for this year. Expect more as the game steps forwards and intensifies the global services and game-play like never before.

February Event

Also for this month, get ready to rumble with the unstoppable wave of love as AIKA GLOBAL celebrates Chinese New Year and Valentine’s day with its three major in-game events; “Explore Termes”, “Make War not Love, Make Love not War” and “Show me Love, Master!”. Jazz up your February as exclusive bundle of prizes wait to the lucky winners.

For more details, you can visit Aika Global's Official Website.

PlayStation Phone is Now Official

Finally the PlayStation Phone; now also called Xperia Play, will be revealed next week on February 13, 18:00 GMT. The revealing of the Xperia Play will be announce on Sony Ericsson's Facebook Page., as you can notice they have a countdown timer and a trailer for the video ad of their latest gadget.

Also Sony announced that they will release the PlayStation Suite, a online store where you can purchase PlayStation One games and play it on your Android tablets and phone. You can watch the video ad of Xperia Play below:

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 3 Release

Namco Bandai confirmed that the third installment to the Gundam themed Dynasty Warriors will have an English version.

Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 will now have cel-shaded graphics for a more anime feel to the game, the third installment will also have over 50 playable characters and over 70 mobile suits to choose from. New series were included to the new title including Gundam x, Gundam 00 and Gundam Unicorn. The gameplay was also tweaked and several gameplay elements were added.

Gundam fans will definitely get this game once Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 3 arrives for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this summer (the Japanese version of the game; Gundam Musou 3 was released last December).

Dragon Age 2 Demo Coming Out This February

Bioware has just announced that they will release a demo of Dragon Age 2, the sequel to their hit RPG Dragon Age: Origins on February 22, 2011 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

The demo will let the players venture into the prologue portion of the game, where they will learn more about Hawke, the protagonist in the game and will be able to hone his skills and abilities to become the ultimate warrior.

Completing the demo unlocks the Hayder's Razor, an ancient dwarven blade which increases the wielder's health, mana and combat abilities which you can use in the full release of Dragon Age 2.

Dragon Age 2 will be available on March for the PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

You can also visit their Official Website.

Something to Hype You for Marvel Vs. Capcom 3

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is on its way this coming February 15, but before you start to drool on your monitor screen, let's take a look on some of the characters rosters, Capcom has a Facebook Page for MVC3 where you can check each of the character's background story, videos and also a partial move list. You check out the Facebook App here, and don't forget to like their Page for the latest news on MVC3.

And to give you a headstart on the basics in Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, Eurogamer made a tutorial video on how to chain combos in the game, video link here.

Meanwhile, there is a rumored leaked image which shows that you can change the character voiceovers to either English or Japanese, per character. Yes, you can change Dante's voice to English and have Ryu use his native language at the same time. There is still no confirmation whether the rumored image is true or not.

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 will be available on February 15 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. For more details, visit their Official Website.