Saturday, July 19, 2008

WCG 2008 Philippine Champions announced

I'm a gamer- but definitely not as hardcore as these guys. I mean, I love playing, I can lose myself in a great MMORPG for hours on end, but at the end of the day, I still have a job to do, cats to feed and a girlfriend to spend time with.

But check it out: hundreds of gaming fans and gaming enthusiasts headed down to the SM Mall of Asia last weekend to check out all the gaming action on The World Cyber Games 2008 Philippine Preliminaries.

A total of 104 gamers entered the quarter finals which began Friday (July 11), following a series of eliminations held in various internet and LAN shops all key cities over the Philippines- in Metro Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

So who's representing us at this year's World Cyber Games?

The legendary local CounterStrike team Horsemen of the Apocalypse- Arvin Agbisit, Paolo Nancho, Jupiter Mars Gaboy, EJ Clores and Gary Guevarras- will be playing for Philippine pride in Cologne, Germany in November of this year, where they'll be going head on with other national teams for world Counterstrike supremacy.

Also competing are: Frederick Pe, our 2008 Warcraft III champion, Rafael Formoso, this year's bet for Guitar Hero, and John Raymond Tan, who's pitting his skills against the rest of the world on Command & Conquer 3.

Meanwhile, competing at the Asian Cyber Games is Warcraft III: Defense of the Ancients (DotA) Team Meneski, with members Rhymel Olete, Jose Silva Jr., Ronald Robins, Kendrick Sy and Rovic John Perez.

This year's batch of national gaming champions will be representing the Philippines in the WCG Grand Finals set this November in Cologne, Germany, where up to 800 of the world's best gamers are expected to participate in the world's most prestigious e-Sports competition.

Our champions have not only earned the right to compete in Germany, they also get a lot of prizes for their efforts: a cash prize of P30,000, as well as other great stuff: mobile phones from Samsung, brand new Quad Core processors from Intel, peripherals from Logitech, and other computer gaming parts and upgrades. They also get free games, gift certificates, premium items of all kinds, magazine subscriptions, and the well-earned respect from legions of gaming fans.

Presenting the awards at the closing ceremony were officials from WCG global partners Samsung and Intel. Jerry Lacson, General Manager for Marketing of Samsung Electronics Philippines Corporation, commended the gamers for their display of skill and sportsmanship. In a speech, he says:

Samsung believes that Filipino gamers can excel in the games, and in doing so, display the highest level of sportsmanship that makes them worthy to carry the Philippine flag in the world finals. Since the beginning of the World Cyber Games, Samsung has been a staunch supporter of this competition. We do this for a simple reason – we believe in doing our share to create a healthy and responsible games culture.

Very well said, Jerry.

Meanwhile, as gamers saw action and cheered on for their favorite teams, everyone else at the SM Mall of Asia had the chance to check out a cosplay side event sponsored by Logitech.

The weekend crowd cheered as twenty four cosplay participants paraded in their intricate costumes. What was even more entertaining was the question-and-answer portion, in which the contestants really got into character. Some even had prepared skits with memorized lines, and the savvier ones easily ad-libbed their character's personality.

The top prize winners for the cosplay were Mark David Cerezo as Optimus Prime in first place, Belldandy Grimarez as Scar Predator in second place, and Pablo Bairan as Iron Monger in third place.

The World Cyber Games 2008 Philippine Preliminaries were made possible through the support of global partner SAMSUNG, premiere partner INTEL, along with the following official partners: Villman Computers, Logitech, Seagate, Asrock, Sparkle, SM Malls, SM Cyber Zone, Enchanted Kingdom, World of Fun, Playground Magazine, NU 107, Data Blitz and Vivendi Universal.

Cheers, everyone.

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