Event Coverage: IP e-Games' Domination 6

Yesterday, I attended Domination 6 hosted by IP e-Games at the World Trade Center. The event venue was fully packed by more than a thousand gamers and cosplayers by the time we got there before noon. It's a shame that I didn't get to stay to finish the whole thing because we had to catch a concert that night and had to leave earlier in the afternoon than I'd like to, but I've witnessed a lot of cool stuff. 

The merging of IP e-Games and Level Up! Inc., the two biggest online gaming companies in the Philippines was great news to me! You see, I have been a fan since Ragnarok Online came out. During the event, we saw the trailer of a new game called Bounty Houndz. The gameplay video of it has outstanding graphics! I'm sure that Bounty Houndz will be successfull as well as other games they are planning to release.

Point Blank is still looking great. It's still the best online FPS game for me. By the way, not only is e-Games releasing Bounty Houndz but also Level Up! games is releasing Eligium -- a massive Player Versus Player game, featuring Guilds, Sieges, and Legions. I bet Eligium will be a story-focused online game. The representative who talked about it on stage said that it will be much similar to World Of Warcraft so I have high hopes for this one.

Diablo 3 will also be released here in the Philippines. Since the 1990's Blizzard has always been successful when it comes to gaming. They have some of the best games like StarCraft, WarCraft, Diablo and Diablo 2. There's no doubt that Diablo 3 will be successful as its predecessors were .

Of course, the gaming ambiance won't be complete without some of the best OPM bands present. Up Dharma Down delivered a clean and wonderful performance. Their hit single Oo and Tadhana made the crowd go wild. We already left before Tanya Markova went on stage but I'm sure they also rocked the place with their music. 

Overall, the event was a HUGE success. Hopefully, the merger between the two gaming companies will lead to a promising future for game enthusiasts. If you are a gamer, you should also make plans to attend when the next Domination event comes around next year. It's really, really cool!

* Photos borrowed with permission from Orange Magazine TV

Event Coverage: Relaunch of the New Netopia

Earlier today, I was invited to witness the ultimate transformation of Netopia at their branch in Binondo. Yes, the internet truly has just gotten better. After 16 years, the time has come for Netopia to become much more innovative and functional. 

Michael Lacy, the President of Digital Paradise Inc. showed us their upcoming plans for the new and improved Netopia. Not only that, the Vietnamese-famous Highlands Coffee is now in the Philippines and integrated within Netopia stores although you will also find it as a standalone branch in other areas.

Since my family moved to Manila a few years ago, I searched for a decent computer shop among the many establishments in our area which mostly can't provide the speed I need  for streaming videos. When I tried Netopia for the first time, I was very impressed because it's very clean and has tons of computers waiting to be used; but most of all, the internet was very fast. 

And the best part is, you only have to pay 20 pesos per hour a session. Netopia is one of my favorite internet shops of all time, so I was very happy to find out about the new and improved version of its branches that is yet to come.

Gamers like myself would be glad to know that Netopia has the latest games available, unlike other computer shops. And since Netopia computers have powerful specs, you can be sure that you can play your games with max graphics. As for Highlands Coffee, you can choose there a wide selection of drinks that you can avail of for 60 pesos which already includes a 30 minute session of computer time. Sounds like a good deal!

Event Coverage: Microsoft Family Day

There's no better way to spend a hot Saturday with your family than going to something as cool as the Microsoft Family Day where me, my mom, and Dad had fun. Last week, we joined other families as we celebrated our weekend with technology at the Microsoft Office in Makati. We were even given shirts to wear for that day.

Children and their parents got to look, touch, feel, and try some of the latest items that use Microsoft products. I saw different brands and high-tech gadgets and gizmos like laptops, cell phones, computers, and many more that were really advanced and cool.

I had a lot of fun checking out the different booths and trying out some of the products. I even saw a mouse that folds up and can fit in your pocket with no wires so that you can always have it with you wherever you go. And then there was this touch mouse that has a sensitive surface such that when you move either two or three fingers on top of it, you can already control what's on your computer screen. You don’t have to move the mouse at all!

I really enjoyed the Microsoft Family Day because there were so many things that I got to try like playing games using the XBox Kinect. It's not like the regular Xbox 360. It is better! With the new XBox Kinect, you can play the latest video game releases of Microsoft through movement sensors. There is a camera especially designed to sense your every movement so that instead of using a controller, you just use your body to play with it physically. It was so much fun to play with.

It was a blast doing the various activities. I even got to play angry birds and watched the Windows 7 commercials in a theater. I had a great time and I hope I could someday have some of those products on display for my own use.