With the North American closed beta test for Zhu Xian, er, I mean Jade Dynasty in full swing, it’s only prudent for the game’s developer and operator, Perfect World Co. Ltd., through its US-based subsidiary Perfect World Entertainment, to release marketing collateral in preparation for its commercial launch.

What better way to whet the appetite of massively multiplayer online role-playing game fanatics than to release a high-definition trailer of Jade Dynasty. Here’s a copy of the trailer:

Magnificent, eh? Too bad I didn’t enjoy playing Jade Dynasty, er, Zhu Xian when it was launched by E-Games in the Philippines. It’s a wonderful game, but I just didn’t feel its wonders during closed beta.

Fortunately, the North American version of the game is being handled by Perfect World. That, at least, is an assurance that quality will always come first. Hope you guys have a great time playing Jade Dynasty. Wish I could join you.

The entry and launch of Zhu Xian, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game from the developer of Perfect World and Ether Saga, in North America were inevitable. Perfect World Co. Ltd. has been on the prowl in the Western world, seeking a niche in its MMORPG market long dominated by powerhouse Blizzard’s World of Warcraft.

Perfect World may be far from giving Blizzard and World of Warcraft a run for their money, but with the entry of spectacular titles in North America it may soon prove to a force to be reckoned with.

Going back to the topic, here’s an excerpt from the announcement story on Zhu Xian from Perfect World:

Perfect World to Launch Closed Beta Testing for Zhu Xian in North America

Perfect World Co. Ltd., a leading online game developer and operator in China, has announced that it will launch closed beta testing for Zhu Xian in North America on May 26, 2009. The game will be released as Jade Dynasty through its wholly owned US subsidiary, Perfect World Entertainment Inc.

Based on a popular Internet fantasy novel Zhu Xian, Jade Dynasty is a 3D MMORPG localized to cater to the North American market. The game has a multitude of special features and systems. A player will obtain different skills and tools to develop a story that is unique to him or her. Gamers’ choices between good and evil will shape their game experience.

“I am pleased with the progress of our development in the North American market. The introduction of Jade Dynasty there will help further strengthen our international reputation as a comprehensive online game developer and operator.

I’ve done a couple of stories on and reviews of Zhu Xian in the Philippines, foremost among which states my disappointment with the game. I’m not sure if it’s relevant to gamers in North America. My suggestion is for you guys to give it a try by keeping an open mind. Who knows, Zhu Xian, or rather Jade Dynasty, might be your cup of tea.

Wallpaper courtesy of Perfect World Co. Ltd. Download a copy from the Zhu Xian official website.

Whew! What a year! Indeed, it’s been one hell of a ride for me and, hopefully, for MMOtaku’s loyal followers. What started out as a mote of light in fellow b5media Technology Channel blogger Jayvee Fernandez’s brilliant mind is now a good—not yet great (that has yet to come)—source of news for massively multiplayer online games in Asia and those made in Asia.

First off, I’d like to thank MMOtaku’s avid readers, those who visit the blog every day, those who come and go for a dose of MMORPG news, reviews and what-have-yous, and those who have dropped in just to take a gander at what we have to offer. Without your constant support, MMOtaku would have floundered a long time ago.

Second, I’d like the acknowledge the inputs and help of several key people in the life of MMOtaku. To Mike Leaño, former b5media Video Games Channel editor, for putting trust in my abilities to bring the blog to life; to PJ Punla, pioneer blogger and player of Granado Espada Southeast Asia, for showing me that love for video games extends beyond playing them; to Siege Malvar and Alcarcalimo, for keeping me on my toes, a constant reminder that MMOtaku does have readers who crave insights on MMOs available in the market today; and to Joyce, my wife, for being the rigid wall off of which I throw my ideas to see if they stick.

Third and last, I salute the growing online games industry in Asia for giving us topnotch games (yes, despite Mike Leaño’s opinion that MMOGs developed in Asia are, ehem, excrement. These games are getting better, and they’re grabbing the attention of MMOG players in different parts of the globe.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I give you the best of MMOtaku:

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If you’ve read the comments on my last post, the one about Zhu Xian’s great character path-find system, and are a fan or player of Granado Esapada in Southeast Asia, then you probably already know that pioneer NineMoons, also known as PJ Punla, is quitting, not only from playing the online game she adores but also from blogging about it.

Okay, yeah, so a player is quitting a game, it’s nothing new. Does it really merit a commentary from MMOtaku and other blogs that talk about massively multiplayer online games?

The answer is a resounding yes. Here’s the reason why:

With this blog, I put out relevant and sometimes important information about MMORPGs in Asia and those developed in this part of the globe. The range of topics I talk about is, despite claiming a niche as an MMORPG blogger, pretty broad compared to real niche gaming blogs like PJ Punla’s Granado Espada: Dispatches from the New World, which just talks, more or less, about Granado Espada, its community, and events.

When a niche blogger suddenly decides to pack up her bags, shuts the door to her blog, and throws away the key, that generally means trouble, especially for the company that operates the online game, whether they know it or not.

Why? Simply because when this scenario happens, as in the case of NineMoons, it means the game and its operator have turned off their Number One Fan.

And Number One Granado Esapda SEA Fan PJ Punla is, or was, as the case may be. This Gamer Girl has championed the merits of what is supposedly the Philippines’ first Triple A MMORPG on more than one occasion. She has even engaged the MMOtaku in a debate over features of Granado Espada that we have labeled negatively.

Did she get anything in return for these services? Not really. Did she expect anything in return for these? Only for IP e-Games, the Philippine partner of Infocomm Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd., to do a better job in marketing Granado Espada.

Just how disappointed is PJ Punla, formerly Granado Espada SEA’s biggest fan? Let me excerpt her final post where she pooh-poohed IP e-Games’ “poor handling” of the game:

It’s been a recurring theme in this blog, ever since that extreme disillusioning sometime during 2007. Thanks for nothing. Yes, you lot brought in the game, you distributed the pretty posters and the very first set of installers — and then after that, there was really not a whole lot of anything. You let us down and dropped us as though we were hot potatoes, all the while enticing people to play your other games instead without mentioning the game you once marketed as the first Triple A MMORPG brought to the Philippines. I don’t know how to run a game publishing business, but I am certainly not going to run it as you attempted to do for GE, because you botched it, big time.

As a friend—and fan—of PJ Punla, aka NineMoons, pioneer Granado Espada player and blogger, here’s my way of saying good luck in your future endeavors.

Screenshot taken by PJ Punla from the online game Granado Espada, developed by IMC Games Co. Ltd., published by HanbitSoft Inc., and operated in Southeast Asia by IAH Games.

Like I said in an earlier post, Zhu Xian isn’t such a bad game. With tons of features even the most stalwart MMORPG will envy, Zhu Xian seems deadset to give its competitors in the Philippines, where the online game was recently launched, a run for their money.

What is perhaps one of the best features of Zhu Xian is the automatic go-to-monster or non-player character system. With a click of a mouse, your character will seek out the monsters you need to kill or the NPC you have to talk to. It’s automatic navigation at its best, despite the minor hitch it having your avatar climb up steeper-than-usual terrain.

To access this feature, open the quest box or log by pressing Alt+Q, or just “Q.” Here’s a screenshot of the Zhu Xian quest log:

Notice that the names of monsters and NPCs are highlighted in green? The green tint means the text is clickable. When you click on any green text, your character automatically seeks a path to the area where the monster or NPC is located and moves there.

As a bonus, you can also click on any point in the mini-map, found on the upper right corner of the Zhu Xian console, to make your avatar run to that area.

Pretty cool, eh?

Screenshot taken by Joel from the online game Zhu Xian, developed by Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd. and operated in the Philippines by IP E-Games.

No, I’m not lashing out at Zhu Xian again. I’ve said my piece and my only aim now is giving my readers some tips on how to survive Zhu Xian and all its, uhmm, wonders.

I’ve been meaning to write this post in such a way that it will appear a bit humorous, but the experience of getting stuck in between two virtual buildings inside a supposedly safe place such as an MMORPG town is harrowing, and is not in the least bit funny (at least for the player whose character is stuck).

Let me explain. In Zhu Xian, there are quests that require your character to jump. Yes, jump … from low platforms, to tree branches, and to rooftops and flagpoles. There shouldn’t be any problem with this, if only your avatar can jump higher than a three-year-old. Unfortunately, Zhu Xian characters aren’t built to jump as high as those in, say, Perfect World, where buildings and other obstacles can easily be hurdled with a tap on the spacebar.

The other day, I watched my wife go on a jumping quest, one that had her character, Astrid, jump on top of a small barrel, onto a low fence, and then onto the roof of a building. Easy, yes, especially for a seasoned MMORPG player like the missus. But just as she was about to jump onto the roof of the aforementioned building, she saw another character fumble and fall into a small space between two buildings and a wall.

She watched the poor guy run around the small box, jump like crazy, and rant a little about how pathetic he looked while trapped. Getting trapped in that space wouldn’t have been a problem if his character had some sort of teleport scroll. Unfortunately, Zhu Xian is so new, at least here in the Philippines, that teleport scrolls or stones aren’t really vogue, if you know what I mean.

Fortunately for the trapped character, all Zhu Xian avatars have the innate ability to teleport to the nearest town. But if you’ve already used the teleport skill, you’d have to wait for it to cool down. How long? An hour. So this means our trapped guy in the example we gave above had the chance to get chummy with the walls and the cold virtual stone floor.

Needless to say, my wife didn’t go through with her jumping quest.

Screenshot taken by Joyce from the online game Zhu Xian, developed by Perfect World Co. Ltd. and published in the Philippines by IP E-Games.

Mental note: Don’t play closed beta if you’re not up for big bumps and bruises that might disappoint you faster than you can say “Ugh.” So much for the excitement.

And excited I was, to play Zhu Xian Online, the latest MMORPG import to the Philippines of IP E-Games from Beijing-based Perfect World Co. Ltd.

Now, my excitement’s gone. Find out why after the jump.

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Now, before you panic, I should tell you that the delay won’t be overly long—at least I hope it won’t take long. What’s so kooky about the delay is that the countdown timer to closed beta (you can view a screenshot I took a couple of days ago here) is counting backwards. Don’t know what the hell I’m talking about? Check this out:

Fortunately, Zhu Xian Philippines community manager Mei Yan quickly added this line to her official CBT announcement on the ZXOnline Philippines Community Blog: “Servers will be up by 5:30 p.m. Stay tuned for further announcements and updates.”

MMORPG players, especially those in the Philippines, however, are hard to placate. They want Zhu Xian, now. Come to think of it, I want Zhu Xian, yesterday!

Unfortunately, Enrique Gonzalez, head honcho of IP E-Games, Zhu Xian operator in the Philippines, apparently forgot to send me my two-day advance pass. I’m just kidding. Well, old friend, you owe me an exclusive interview.

Yes! Two more days before massively multiplayer online role-playing game fanatics in the Philippines get their first taste of Zhu Xian. For those who have been living in limbo this past few months, you might want to check out MMOtaku’s announcement story on the deal between Perfect World Co. Ltd. of China and IP E-Games for the launch and operation of Zhu Xian in the Philippines.

For those wondering what the hype is behind the launch of this online game in this little tropical country, you may want to check out my post on why I think Zhu Xian rocks.

The good news is that I’m prepped for the closed beta test. I’ve already downloaded the closed beta test client. Of course, I have also already received three closed beta keys, one for me, one for the wife, and one for whoever wants it. I’m thinking of giving the key to a friend, since I can’t exactly raffle it off to players outside the Philippines. Yeah, the powers-that-be at E-Games might impose an IP block on connections from other countries.

So the only thing left to do is sit back, relax, and enjoy the two-day wait. I’m sure it’ll be worth it.

I’ve got to hand it to China-based Perfect World Co. Ltd. This company moves fast—or is it because its titles, which include well-known massively multiplayer online role-playing games like Perfect World, Zhu Xian and Legend of Martial Arts, are slowly but surely garnering praise and acclaim, making online games operators around the world notice?

Chibi is one such MMORPG. After gaining a strong following in China, Malaysia and Singapore, Chibi is now on its way to tapping the Japanese online games market. Here’s the announcement straight from Perfect World Co. Ltd.:

Perfect World Co. Ltd., a leading online game developer and operator in China, has announced the signing of an agreement with C&C Media Company Ltd., an online game operator in Japan, to license Chibi, the company’s 3D MMORPG based on the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history. Chibi is Perfect World’s fourth MMORPG licensed in Japan after Perfect World, Legend of Martial Arts, and Zhu Xian.

Chibi has been popular with online game players since its launch in China in early 2008 because of its unique system settings, aesthetic graphic designs and vivid representation of the history of the Three Kingdoms. The company has since succeeded in signing agreements to distribute Chibi in Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other countries and regions. The recent launch of Horseback Fighters, an expansion pack for Chibi, has introduced new in-game experiences to players with its large number of updates and exciting new content.

“The Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history is not only famous in China but is also well known to many online game players in Japan. With its high quality, I believe Chibi will be able to bring a memorable game experience to Japanese online game players. I’m confident that Chibi will be a success here in Japan given our good long-time partnership with Perfect World,” said Kensuke Chikaishi, president and chief executive officer of C&C Media.