Facebook gets in game-streaming with Blizzard

SAN FRANCISCO, California – Facebook on Monday announced that it is getting into the eSports game, jumping into the field of video games as spectator sports against Amazon-owned Twitch and Google’s YouTube Gaming.

Later this month, people will be able to use Facebook accounts to log in to Blizzard Entertainment computer games such as “World of Warcraft.”

The move will pave the way for Blizzard game fans to use the leading social network’s Live video service to broadcast play in real time, the companies said in a joint release.

California-based Blizzard, owned by video game publisher Activision, is in the process of creating a “Go Live” feature that would let players stream on-screen action to Facebook timelines, according to the companies.

Blizzard games in line for the Facebook streaming capability included freshly released “Overwatch.”

The collaboration will add social features to Blizzard games while highlighting Facebook as a platform for sharing, viewing and discussing play, the companies said.

“Our collaboration on ‘Overwatch’ demonstrates Facebook’s commitment to partnering with AAA game companies, while further empowering Blizzard gamers to connect and share the content they’re most passionate about with the friends they play with around the world,” said Facebook global games director Leo Olebe.

“Overwatch” is a team-based shooter game played online.

Facebook earlier this year ramped up its challenge to Twitter-owned Periscope with upgrades to the social network’s live video broadcasting feature.

A new featured was added to the Live streaming feature at Facebook to let people “broadcast: to groups at the social network or in scheduled “events.”

Facebook Live launched in the middle of last year and was initially limited to celebrities but recently opened to a wider audience of broadcasters.

- eSports heavyweights -

Getting into the eSports game will pit Facebook against heavyweight rivals including pioneering firm Twitch and popular online video sharing service YouTube, owned by Google-parent Alphabet.

Yahoo Esports launched about two months ago as an online venue for live tournaments, commentary, features, interviews and more tailored for the booming trend of video games as spectator sports.

The rollout of YouTube Gaming in the middle of last year marked the public debut of an online spot where video game lovers can find commentary, live play, on-demand snippets and more.

The online arena for video game channels incorporates the search smarts of Google to surface fresh or must-see content.

US online retail giant Amazon snatched up Twitch and its huge audience for live-streamed gaming in 2014.

The acquisition was one of the largest in Amazon’s history — $970 million in cash for the three-year-old Internet company.

Twitch Interactive streams games being played for non-playing viewers to watch, and hosts gaming events.

It allows viewers to chat with the players and others, lending it some of the qualities of social networking websites, and it also sells advertising to generate income.

source: interaksyon.com

NBA 2K14 dribbles off shelves in October

MANILA, Philippines — NBA season is very much alive, as NBA 2K14 hits Philippine stores this October.

Fans of the classic basketball series expect the best, most innovative version of their favorite basketball series.

“It’s going to be bigger and better for 2K14,” says Ron Aquino, general manager of X-Play. “Fans will literally and figuratively be on their toes when they navigate through this exciting and definitely exhilarating game.”

How exactly is the latest version of the game different? “The physics of the game are better,” said Allen Amparo, product manager of X-Play Online Games, Inc. “One can almost mistake this version as a real NBA game going on TV, with the movement of the players being more fluid, and details being more visible including tattoos, jerseys, and textures, while watching the game. There are also changes with movement, upper body, and even on-air. Fans can also expect a new soundtrack.”

Cover athlete of this NBA 2K series is back-to-back NBA Champion and current King of Basketball, Lebron James. He is also the music curator of the game.

NBA 2K14 is available on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC. With the use of social network, one can link their personal gaming account to Facebook and Twitter, and join a whole community of gamers who can update each other on their results. The game is also in-synchronization with VITA and YouTube, where one can save a play.

NBA 2K14 is exclusively marketed by X-Play Online Games Inc., one of the country’s main video game distributors, together with game publishing leader 2K Sports, and is developed by Visual Concepts. Other games to launch locally from the brand include WWE in November.

source: interaksyon.com

Petra Mahalimuyak hosts online dating game show featuring Chicser

So what happens when two YouTube sensations join forces and star in a video of their own? They immediately become a top trending topic on Twitter, that’s what.

As Ashley Rivera a.k.a. Petra Mahalimuyak decided to host her very own “Petra’s Dating Game” on YouTube, her first “Papa-ble” contestants turned out to be none other than the six boys that compose the all-male teenage dance group Chicser.

In this seven-minute plus clip uploaded last Monday, Petra introduces the boys of Chicser, namely Ullyses Webb Basa, Clarence Adrian Villafuerte, Biboy Chua Cabigon, brothers Owy and Oliver Lance Posadas and Ranz Kyle Viniel E as “a bunch of cutie patooties” that are vying for her affection as she declares, “I am very vacant right now, I am single and ready to mingle!”

Each of the boys try to impress Petra with a different technique, one showed his flashy dance moves, two showed their prowess for beatboxing, another showed a flair for singing and another even channeled John Lloyd Cruz to Petra’s Bea Alonzo as they exchanged the unforgettable lines from the film “One More Chance”.

And there was one who tried this pick-up line based on a current popular online game.


Owy: Petra, Candy ka ba?
Petra: I don’t think so, why?
Owy: Kasi Crush kita eh!

Okay, so some of their antics are likely to make some people cringe more than laugh. But for the most part, the video seems to be a big hit on Twitter as the hashtag #ChicserPetraDatingGame is currently the number one trending topic at the social media as of noontime this Tuesday after trailing #Wimbledon all morning.

The dating game video is also turning out to be an ideal follow-up to an earlier and equally hilarious music video of Petra and Chicser dancing to the tune of Psy’s “Gentleman” which now has more than 131,000 views since it was first uploaded last June 4.


So which member of Chicser did Petra eventually choose? You have to watch the whole video of her dating game show to find out.

source: interaksyon.com

Diablo III debuts to massive reception from gamers worldwide

MANILA, Philippines — On Tuesday, millions around the world were finally able to get their hands dirty with Blizzard’s new PC gaming title, Diablo III, touted as one of the most hotly anticipated gaming titles in recent memory.

After 12 long years of waiting, eager gamers in the Philippines joined other gamers in the world as the clock struck twelve in the US (3pm in Manila) to take on demons and other monsters in Sanctuary, the gaming world Diablo III is set in.

The game continues the Diablo storyline which started in 1997, with players taking on the role of five heroic classes, most of which are new to the game franchise: the witch doctor, the wizard, the monk, the demon hunter, and the barbarian.

Pierre Albert San Diego, a long-time fan of the Diablo franchise, was one of those who eagerly awaited the opening of the game servers that would allow users to play the online-only game.

“I was thinking of scheduling a fight with my girlfriend this weekend so I can have the time to play Diablo 3,” San Diego jokingly quipped, joining the barrage of Internet jokes and memes about how men in their late teens and early twenties would be devoting all their time in the next several weeks just holing up in their rooms and enjoying the role-playing game.

Already, pre-orders and retail purchases for Diablo III are setting all-time records for Blizzard, with more than 2 million users pre-ordering the game even before its official release.

In the Philippines, Blizzard partner-distributor IP E-Game Ventures Inc. (E-Games) said they have received overwhelming demand from Filipino gamers for the new title.

“In terms of pre-orders, we have received about 5,000 orders already until up to two days ago,” E-Games executive said at the local launch of the game on Tuesday.

Last year, E-Games won the bid to distribute Blizzard titles — including World of Warcraft and the recently released Starcraft II — in the Philippines, after executives participated at the company’s annual Blizzcon in the US.

Fans remain loyal

Judging by the response to the game’s debut on Tuesday, it can be said that although Blizzard waited more than a decade for the next installment of the Diablo franchise, gaming fans remain interested and loyal to the game.

Early comments on Twitter indicated that game servers in some areas have been overwhelmed by the deluge of users logging in to the system, with some experiencing downtime for short periods of time.

The term “Diablo 3″ even became one of the top trending topics on the social networking sites in the Philippines as well as worldwide.

“I have been a fan since the first game way back in 1997,” recalled San Diego, whose uncle and youngest brothers are also rabid fans of the game franchise. ” I remember playing it on my Pentium 166.”

For the most part, the game’s relatively low system requirements has become a major driving force in enticing gamers — old and new alike — to play the game. According to Blizzard, the minimum requirements are: Windows XP/Vista/7, Intel Pentium D 2.8 GHz, 1GB RAM (XP) or 1.5GB (Vista/7) and a broadband Internet connection.

Issues of latency and lag times, assured E-Games executives, wouldn’t be much of a problem with the Asian server of the game.

“In terms of latency, the Asian server is no different from playing with Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPG), so it’s going to be seamless,” said Allen Amparo, product manager for Blizzard titles at E-Games.

E-Games, however, said prepaid options for buying in-game items and playing time are still being worked out with Blizzard.

The company said Blizzard will play a “substantial” role in the firm’s profitability moving forward, especially as new titles from Blizzard becomes available.

source: interaksyon.com