Yes, it’s a big thing, to answer that nagging question, “What’s the big deal with Aion coming out on top?”, doing the rounds of your noggin. Well, if the news means nothing to you, it simply means you don’t know about the friendly competition between online games developers in China and those in Asian MMORPG capital South Korea.
I remember publishing an article on MMOtaku that detailed an escalating industry “war” between massively multiplayer online games developers in the two countries.
Here’s an excerpt from that story:
Here’s old news that’s still relevant today: Korean MMOs are losing out in China. According to …read more

By the gaming gods! Is it true? Have five days already passed since I last posted? Apparently, yes. Whew! Time flies so fast when you’re having fun. Unfortunately, my five-day hiatus had not been even remotely fun.
Yes, you guessed it. The flu—at least I think it’s the flu—hit me right after New Year’s Eve, right in the middle of writing a Top Ten Asian MMORPGs of 2008 post. Don’t worry, I’ll finish the story … soon.
Right now, I’m just starting to recover. Of course, as a fanatic of massively multiplayer online role-playing games, there’s only one way for me to …read more

I know, I know. World of Warcraft isn’t exactly an Asian-made massively multiplayer online role-playing game. But World of Warcraft is being played in China by thousands upon thousands of players, courtesy of China-based online games operator The9, so technically it’s also an Asian MMO. Besides, World of Warcraft was the subject of my previous posting.
So without further ado, I present to you the World of Warcraft Coca-Cola commercial:

Here’s Blizzard’s take on the commercial:
Blizzard has teamed up with iCoke, Coca-Cola’s name-brand presence in China, to create a joint World of Warcraft and Coca-Cola televised commercial, featuring Chinese pop sensation SHE …read more

Well, “looms” is a bit strong a word for the upcoming release of Yuyan Online, a 2.5D massively multiplayer online role-playing game from Storm Entertainment, in Taiwan since the word pertains to an event that is about to happen.
Truth is, Yuyan Online won’t be released in Taiwan anytime soon. Here’s the lowdown from China-based online games portal 17173:
Chinese game developer Storm Entertainment has announced a cooperation agreement with International Games System, a developer of arcade hardware and software, and operator of online games. Under the agreement, Storm will license its first MMORPG, Yuyan Online, to IGS for operation in Taiwan. …read more

Looks like Dragon Ball is shaping up to be an awesome online game. The market in China is definitely caught up in the hype as the game has been consistently placing in the Top 15 list of most expected online games of portal 17173.com.
Check out these videos and judge for yourself if Dragon Ball Online is worth the wait and worthy of the praise and adulation of the animated series’ fans worldwide.

I’ve been talking a great deal about Perfect World—a massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed in China by Beijing Perfect World Technology and published in my home country, the Philippines, by Level Up! Games—but haven’t really shared much about its features.
Well, here I am, preparing to rectify the oversight in a section I’ve decided to call “My World,” which will feature games I’m currently playing. Right now, I’m deep into Perfect World, so I’ll start with it. Before I go into more details, let me share the first four paragraphs of a story on the game I wrote in April …read more

Okay. So we’ve established the fact that you are a player of one or more massively multiplayer online role-playing games. What we haven’t found out, however, is who you are in-game.
No, I’m not talking about the roles you play, including whether you cross-dress as much as your character. What I’m getting at, as the title of this post implies, is your what you name your avatar and how you arrived at such a name.
Let’s start with an example. I usually name my characters after, well, characters in books I’ve read. Yes, books are rich sources for MMORPG character names. My …read more

Shanda, an operator of massively multiplayer online role-playing games in China, is gunning for online gaming godhood.
In a recently released statement, Tan jun, chief executive officer of Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd., said the company would operate 20 online games in 2008.
Here’s a quick rundown of Shanda’s plan:
Shanda Interactive has announced plans to operate over 20 online games next year right after bagging the license to operate upcoming 3D MMORPG Dragon Nest, which is being developed by Korea’s Eyedentity Games Inc. Shanda also plans to bring in and operate over 50 online games between 2008 and 2010.
At the earlier Q3 conference …read more

If my interest in Perfect World wanes any time soon, and if the online gaming gods in my country decide to bring in another Asian-made MMORPG, I’d probably go for Aion, the latest baby of NCsoft, developer of Lineage I and Lineage II, and City of Heroes.
I kid you not when I say that I’m keeping my eye on Aion. It’s one Korean-developed game that you will continue to whet the appetite of Asia’s hundreds of thousands of MMORPG players.
Enter Atreia, the name of the game’s world, populated by humans and human-born demigods called Daevas, who are, as the fate’s …read more

Must get mind off gold … loot … power! Arrrgh! No, wait, let me explain. My apologies for the absence. Aside from the Internet conking out at the most inopportune times, most of my waking hours have been spent researching more stories for MMOtaku.
This entry’s title speaks for itself. Yes, guilty as charged. I’ve been spending an obscene number of hours exploring dungeons in my game of choice, Perfect World, in hopes of finding and owning more artifacts to aid my avatar in her journey in the mythical world of Pangu.
Woe unto the monsters of the Treasure Grotto, where my …read more