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Get your dose of GTA IV at Yoshinoya
Apr 6th
It’s always an uphill climb getting a videogame publisher to look at the Philippines as a viable market. Trust me, I’ve fought the long battle before. And believe me, receiving a ton of “I’m sorry but we don’t have a market there” letters can really get to you. If Logan and his adamantium lined self can’t fend them pirates off, I shouldn’t feel bad right? I just thought it would take a lot more than Gyudon strips at Yoshinoya to do it.
I don’t know the details, but Rockstar Games in the a promotional deal with Yoshinoya? Similar cross promotional deals have happened locally before. I’ve seen Sega minigames given away as part of Mc Donald’s Happy Meals, Ragnarok Online entered a trade partnership with Milo and an apparel deal with Penshoppe (I even have one of those shirts), and most recently, E-games with this same Japanese resto chain.
I’m sure a lot of gamers are looking at this as a temporary marketing blitz that can help Yoshinoya’s brand positioning towards in the 13-29 market segment. But what the hell right? This is definitely good news. I’m just one of those who still silently wish Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can give our 7,000+ islands even the least bit of attention.
A formal press launch for every major console game release shouldn’t be too hard. If anyone’s listening, let’s do it and see how that goes!
The Man from Manila
Mar 6th
I had just finished watching a downloaded copy of Greys Anatomy earlier today when I found out that Francis M had passed away. Though I’m not what you would call a big fan, his Mga Kababayan album was the very first cassete tape that I bought. I remember the year distinctly because 5 out of the 12 sections we had in 4th grade chose the title song for their class night presentation (back then we still had those).
His name would usually come up in random conversations with my kuya. Why? His face was never one that needed the magic touch of a Belo or Calayan. I think I even remember my brother saying that if he aged as well as Francis M, he wouldn’t mind reaching 50 at all.
And have you seen the guy’s videogame collection? OMG. The Nintendo 64 hadn’t even reached our shores, but I caught him on TV being featured because of his videogame collection. When GamesMaster was still being published, I had tried to push for the guy to be featured. I did that not just because of the videogames.
Francis M represented, insipired, and spawned a generation of music and country loving Pinoys. Peace out man, you will surely be missed.
Yearning for Resident Evil 5
Feb 25th
Just this morning, something dawned on me – it never takes me more than two years after release before I acquire a newly released gaming console. It’s just my nature. I tried to forget about gaming (and I ended up working for a videogame magazine) when the first Playstation came out, but a trip to a friend’s house changed all that.
Do you remember the first time you saw all those rabid dogs jump out the window in Resident Evil 1? I sure do, because it made me want to purchase a Playstation. Since I purchased the console for my 16th birthday, I have finished all four Resident Evil games except Codename Veronica (I didn’t have a Dreamcast). I do remember though having a bunch of my high school buds sleep at my basement rooms for days just playing Resident Evil 2. Those were very good times indeed.
“Resident Evil 5 is practically guaranteed to be the last of its kind,” said 1-UP. “Takeuchi assured us that a reboot is in order for the inevitable Resident Evil 6.”
So, if someone happens to have a spare PS3 out there (yeah right), you know who to contact. Even though I don’t have one, I’ll be one of those eagerly waiting for March 13th.
*Since this will be the last one in the series with reference to all previous installments, you can be sure this will be the best.
Thank you GamesMaster Magazine
Apr 16th
Five months after my first post about GamesMaster, and I’m finally done with my story. Everyone who was able to read (love it or hate it) a copy of the mag should be thankful to the following people for making it possible. 
- Lisa Gokongwei and Aurora Mangubat, for deciding to bring in a videogame magazine
- Denis del Callar and Neil Palabrica, for giving me the chance to make my own decisions.
- Ed Geronia, Jaykee Evangelista, and the rest of the GM staff. Next to the FHM people, I think we had the most fun at the office
- The Summit Advertising Team. Special mention to Cha Clarino and Ginger Taduran (O wag na masama loob) for literally hitting our monthly quotas by themselves.
- The Production, Circulation, Trade, Web, and Events teams, for making GamesMaster’s presence felt in the three years that it was on the newsstands.
- Of course, my fellow Associate Publishers, for sitting through the long video presentations
If I forgot anyone, again, I’d like to thank you. So this doesn’t end like a goodbye blog post, time to move on…. 
To everyone who bought an issue, two issues, all issues — my sincerest thanks.
*For our June 2005 issue, we decided to give away a PSP to anyone who can give us the best picture showing how much he loves GamesMaster. Apparently, the winner was a she
*The GamesMaster forums are still active! Just visit Gamebayan.com.ph
If you haven’t read my blog posts about GamesMaster, just click on the following links:
The Truth About GamesMaster: Last Part
Apr 16th
I was just reading the news on IGN earlier today when I saw an item on World of Warcraft — 10 million subscribers worldwide. To put things in perspective, that’s roughly one-tenth of what the Philippines’ population will be in 2030.
“It’s very gratifying to see gamers around the world continuing to show such enthusiasm and support for World of Warcraft,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re always pleased to welcome new players to the game, and we’re looking forward to sharing the next major content update with the entire community in the months ahead.”
There have also been numerous claims about bringing over the game to the country. From LUG and Egames, to AMDG, the none of those rumors ever came into fruition. The license may have just proven to be too expensive not just for the aforementioned companies, but for gamers as well.
It put things into even clearer perspective for me, as to why GamesMaster Magazine had to be let go of, even if I felt that it was the right time to have a local videogame mag.
The Truth About GamesMaster: Part 4
Dec 9th
The Philippines’ advertising industry can’t be any more traditional that in is now. A tri-media campaign used to consist of the following: TV, Radio, and Print. If you were anything aside from those three, you’d be given the cold shoulder. That’s why I was very glad to find out that non-traditional channels were the main topic of discussion during the recently concluded advertising congress in Subic.
The irony of this in GamesMaster’s short but meaningful life, is that we were a print medium that fell in the non-traditional category. Hence, the non-traditional way of selling ourselves to advertisers.
The Truth About GamesMaster: Part 3
Dec 2nd
Why buy a magazine when I can easily scan for reviews on the Internet? In GM’s case, the more pressing question was “Why should I buy a local magazine with 2-3 month-old reviews?”. If there was a magazine genre that had taken a hit from the Internet age, it was definitely videogames. There were so many content related issues to address as soon as GamesMaster came out.
The Truth About GamesMaster: Part 2
Nov 15th
The first step we took before GamesMaster’s launch was to make sure potential retailers knew about the magazine. While the then editorial staff of two was scouring over UK copies, I took it upon myself to visit the most logical place to start spreading the news — Viramall.
Though the then “center of console gaming” is now only a shadow of its former self, the place was a microcosm of the local videogame industry. That same year, promotion of gaming as a sport was started through the Samsung World Cyber Games. There was never a better time to launch a videogame magazine.
And so in August 2003, a month before launch, 100,000 K-zone sized mock GamesMaster magazines were released. 80,000 were inserted in FHM, and the rest was dispersed in different strategic areas. GamesMaster had indeed arrived.
The Truth About GamesMaster: Part 1
Nov 1st
Since the season has been all about remembering our loved ones, I feel that it’s about time I offered a personal account of what really happened with GamesMaster Magazine. While there were some curious personalities who offered their opinions here, here, and here, a lot of questions were still left unanswered.
First, let me get into the specifics of why bringing in a foreign gaming magazine became a reality in the Philippines. While Summit Media had K-Zone for young boys, and FHM for the 18 year-old and above, there was a yet untapped market for teen boys.
Sometime in 2002, Mega Magazines launched Forward magazine, with TJ Manotoc at the helm. While it was obviously targeted at male teens, the editorial content and quality left a lot to be desired. After a few issues, it eventually folded. It was then converted into Manual. Why did Forward fail? How many teenage guys do you know who read magazines for fashion advice? To put it more simply, how many high school males do you know who buy magazines on a regular basis?
While the answers to those questions were unfavorable, one thing we did know for sure — the gaming industry was becoming bigger than ever.