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The country’s best gamers have entered the battlefield; each one
battling it out for supremacy, bragging rights and a spot in the WCG
08 Philippine Team and while the Metro Manila eliminations are about
to conclude its three-week run at the Villman Gaming Zone, the
provincial eliminations are just about to begin. The tournament hits
key provincial cities on June 21 and 22 at SM Davao, and June 28 and
29 at SM Cebu.
The national finals will be held on July 11 to
13 at the SM Mall of Asia. Among the teams that already qualified in
the finals are defending champs Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Kinky,
WK, What’s New B and Wanted.
This year the Philippine Preliminaries will also
feature a DOTA competition to search for the best players and
represent the country at the Asian Cyber Games in Singapore this
August. Provincial qualifiers are scheduled on June 28 and 29 in
Iloilo, Bacolod and Davao and on July 5 and 6 in Cagayan de Oro and
Cebu.
According to Tjader Regis, director of E-Sports
Philippines and local organizer of WCG, hundreds of gamers and
enthusiasts have been coming in hordes to watch the qualifiers at
Villman Gaming Zone. He hopes to see the same public enthusiasm in
the provincial meets. “Aside from being the largest e-sports
competition in the world, WCG has high entertainment value and even
if you’re not competing, you can certainly enjoy the games and
root for your favorites.”
Gamers are playing Counterstrike 1.6, Warcraft
3, Command and Conquer 3, and Guitar Hero 3 for a chance to form
part of the Philippine team that will compete at the world finals in
Cologne, Germany this November.
The WCG Philippine Preliminaries is being staged
with the help of global partner Samsung Electronics. Samsung aims to
utilize this e-sports platform to contribute to the gamer community
and help fuel the development of the gaming industry.
National champions will receive a cash prize of
P30,000, a Samsung mobile phone, Quad-Core processor from Intel,
Villman premium items, Logitech gaming keyboard and mouse, Asrock
motherboard, Sparkle Video Card, P1,000 gift certificate from SM,
Datablitz Game Boxes and a one-year subscription to Playground
magazine.
While the Philippine qualifiers are ongoing,
similar competitions are being held in over 70 countries around the
world. Some 30,000 Costa Rican gamers playing Halo 3, Guitar Hero
and Starcraft, are seeing action at the Costa Rica National
Preliminaries being held at the Mall Paseo de las Flores. In
Indonesia, 16 groups are vying for slots in the national team for
Counterstrike, Call of Duty and Battlefield 2.
The WCG, which previously held the record of 1.3
million competitors in 2006 shattered their old mark by drawing more
than 1.5 million gamers to the World Cyber Games 2007 tournament in
Seattle, USA. For more information about the WCG, log on to http://ph.worldcybergames.com.
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Oikos takes playtime up a notch
If your kid gets teased, or cornered by a bunch
of nasty kids, would your precious little one know how to handle the
situation? Other than IQ, an EQ (emotional quotient) is necessary to
learn early on in life.
Due to concerns like this, Psychiatrist Dr.
Michael Rayel and his wife, Pediatrician Dr. Gayzelle Meneses-Rayel,
founded Oikos Global (pronounced eeh-kos) in the spring of 2004.
With kids of their own, the doctors recognized the importance of
helping children develop life skills. It was high time to create
quality products that make learning fun.
Oikos Global is as unique as its name (“oikos”)
in Greek, which means “sphere of influence.” The name signifies
its objective of helping families throughout the world to improve
relationships and to assist individuals, especially children, on how
to expand positive influence to others.
As the maker of emotional and social skills
games—the Oikos Game Series, Oikos Global is committed to
encouraging personal and emotional skill development to this
generation’s youth. Oikos aims to help kids learn practical skills
such as dealing with bullies, being assertive, showing empathy,
solving problems, and facing strangers. Winner of the 2005
Parent-to-Parent Adding Wisdom Award, Oikos will soon be available
in the Philippines.
Its first product, Oikos Game, aims to help kids
learn practical skills or what most of us would identify as being
“street smart.” Oikos Game Level 2 is just as fun but more
challenging. Oikos Game 3: The Key to Success teaches older kids and
adults not only emotional and social skills but also success
principles and strategies on how to say “no” to drugs and
alcohol. The 31-Day Series for Kids and Teens serves as positive
affirmations and as daily food for thought.
Oikos Global’s new family products include
word games such as Wordigy and Wordigy Jr., and party games such as
the zany Actus Tale and the crazy game of commands, Fikloo. The
great thing about these games is that most of them are for people
age 6 to 106!
Playing is what kids really love and spending
time with them is a treat. Explore, Experience and Expose are the
three E’s children need in preparing them to cope with life’s
challenges—understanding oneself, problem-solving, goal-setting,
decision-making, managing anger, nurturing relationships and
resolving conflicts. To elaborate more on the matter, Dr. Michael
Rayel himself will be flying to the Philippines to conduct a seminar
in August.
Learning is not limited to the four corners of
the classroom. Oikos emphasizes that the reality of life is beyond
the walls.
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Looking for games or new ways to pimp out your
PSP? Text Jello at 0927-9513013. Just tell him Ed sent you.
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For your entire PC gaming needs drop by
Datablitz’ branches located at most SM, Robinsons and Ayala Malls
or call (632) 7345058, (632) 7338477 or (632) 7348317. You could
also check out their website at www.datablitz.com.ph. Send your
questions and comments on anything gaming at 0915-8506363 or send
your e-mails to eduyisgood@gmail.com or gamexads@yahoo.com.
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