In recent days, our support centre has been flooded with queries on the availability of Final Fantasy postcards. The postcards were announced by Sony via a press release one day before the launch of the game. Which marketing department announce preorder bonus 1 day ahead of launch anyway?!?!?

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Here’s the top selling games at Qisahn.com in 2011

1. FIFA 12
2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3
3. Uncharted 3
3. Battlefield 3
5. Gran Turismo 5
6. Assassin’s Creed Revelations
7. Marvel vs Capcom 3
8. Final Fantasy XIII
9. Batman Arkham City
10. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
11. Metal Gear Solid 4
12. Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year
13. God of War 3
14. Winning Eleven 2012
15. Red Dead Redemption

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Like every new console, PS Vita has its fair share of hardware issues. The good news though, is most are not fatal. If your PS Vita is unable to power on or unable to detect SIM card, you probably tried to change your SIM card while the PS Vita is powered. Please only change your SIM cards after you fully shutdown your PS Vita, or until Sony patches the bug.

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The Sony PS Vita (Wifi model) will be launching in Singapore on 22 Feb 2012 with a suggested retail price of S$399. The set does not come with games or any accessory.

The 3G model has yet to be announced as they are “still in discussion with the carriers”. IDA does not allow phone companies to carrier lock their phones, so we suspect there will be data bundle options in the near future. Otherwise we really can’t imagine what is worth discussing :/

There will be 27 English games launching with the PS Vita. The trailers are all below~~ For the best prices, do preorder PS Vita console and games early. We offer 7 day price protection and guarantee you the best prices in Singapore or Malaysia for all our preorders.

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Oh big bummer here.

When you thought that sharing limits were cut from 5 to 2 was bad. It now gets even worse.

With only one registered account tied to a console each time, this means that users will not be able to access multiple region PSN stores at the same time.  It also means that the initial PSN store selection is all the more important. No prizes for guessing that the US PSN would be the most popular in terms of speed of updates and content. And of course, language. Singapore defaults under the Asian PSN store, specifically Hong Kong.

How does one unlink a PSN account then? You would have to format the Playstation Vita.

Ouch.

[Via CVG]

Pre-order your Sony Playstation Vita with Qisahn.com now!

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com. Follow his tweets @changerald

A few highlights from the Beta Weekend. Click each picture for a bigger view.

Entrance to the Black Talon Instance

Getting down to business

As you can see, I prefer to cut the chase. KILL THE JEDI!

Loot almost got ninja-ed. The game allows everyone to roll on items. Irregardless if your class is able to use or not.

PVP rewards XP and Credits very well. Compare this loss...

...to this win.

Had a positive experience while partying? The game allows easy adding of online friends. Check out the left window, bottom section.

Pre-order the Star Wars: The Old Republic with us now!

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com. Follow his tweets @changerald

I had the opportunity to try Star Wars: The Old Republic out over the weekend and it was the best beta experience that I had ever tried. There was close to non-existent lag in the game and apart from that, it looked as if the game was very much ready for release.

Why You Should Buy The Game

1. It is Star Wars. Enough said. And it is polished enough to the point that you won’t feel like your childhood is being destroyed.
2. Good latency. Unlike many other Western MMOs, Asians get the short end of the stick. Thankfully, the beta showed that the latency for myself was very playable even in PVP at < 300ms
3. Dialogue and immersion. If you love plenty of voice acting, SW:TOR has it on loads. What quest text? The game is full of fully voiced NPCs and plenty of options to be an angel or a pure asshole.
4. Familiar UI. If you played WoW, you will feel right at home with this game. Nice and clean.
5. Crafting. As far as I know, crafting in this game requires almost no action from the player and is purely based on the time. Send your companion to do the gathering and he would be back after the deed is done. Crafting powerlevelers will not approve.
6. Dungeons. Or Flashpoints as they are called in the game. I liked how you would be able to get in with as little as 2 players. I tried the same dungeon with different number of players and it was not the same experience twice. I won all the loot btw

Why You Should Not Buy This Game

1. It’s WoW all over again. Have something better to do in real life? Yup, you should probably do that, nothing big to be missed here.
2. Classes. While WoW has been trying it’s best to simplify the leveling process and skills. SW:TOR is back to the old school. Pick a sub class at level 10 and get locked into it. Forever. Plenty of skills to pump your points in adds to confusion.
3. Loot Ninjas. With no restrictions on loot based according to classes, players are pretty much at the mercy of selfish players who will need every piece of drops irregardless if they are able to use it or not.
4. Pay to Play. We are looking at USD$60 initially with a recurring sub.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a good game in its own right. Inevitably, there will be comparisons to WoW. The game is similar in so many ways but it also has all the problems that plagued WoW for a good time. I’m pretty adverse to bottlenecking classes and lack of a dual spec. And of course loot ninjas.

Irregardless, I WILL still be getting this game and giving it a shot!

Pre-order the Star Wars: The Old Republic with us now!

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com. Follow his tweets @changerald

December is upon us and that means that the latest console from Sony is about to hit us!

The word on the street is that Singapore is probably getting the console on 19 December 2011, earlier than Hong Kong by FOUR days! Please do note that the info is subject to change, of course, but won’t it be awesome that we would be getting the Sony Playstation Vita ahead of our closest counterparts!

Pre-order your Sony Playstation Vita with Qisahn.com now!

Let’s get down to business. Sony, this time round, will be blitzing customers with bundle pack after bundle pack, three to be exact.

Taking lessons from the past, Sony will be releasing each bundle with a supplied memory card, USB cable, screen protector and a case. Sounds very much like our all in one bundle for the PSP.

Yup. Pretty much everything you would need right from the get go.

This is how a standalone 3G Playstation Vita would look:

You might ask, “Where’s the stated memory card?” That is where it gets really awesome. Sony will be bundling all the above items together with their flagship titles each in 3 separate bundles – Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Shin Sangoku Musou NEXT (aka Dynasty Warriors)

With my information on hand, each of these bundles will be getting a 3G or Wifi Vita bundle EXCEPT for the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 which will be getting a 3G bundle only.

The following is a rundown of each pack.

PlayStation®Vita (3G/Wi-Fi model) Value Pack – Shin Sangoku Musou NEXT

PlayStation®Vita (3G/Wi-Fi model) Value Pack – ULTIMATE MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3

Herein begs the question, how does the Official Sony Playstation Vita carry case look like? I would like to let the following video answer that question. In full Japanese but just let the demo do it justice.

And here are the rest of the launch titles for Singapore. The most noticeable omissions from the list would be Katamari and Ridge Racer. Bummer.

More info can be found from Sony Hong Kong’s official press release. Please note that prices and dates are based on Hong Kong – http://asia.playstation.com/hk/en/news/pressDetail/249570

Pre-order your Sony Playstation Vita with Qisahn.com now!

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com. Follow his tweets @changerald

It has been six years since Maple Story first hit the MMO scene. Back then it was pretty much Everquest and Ultima Online and World of Warcraft was pretty much starting to get on its feet. Six years down the road, Maple Story is still going strong in an arena that has seen many subscription based MMOs turn into a freemium model that Maple Story is renowned for. Only recently, Maple Story SEA was able to hit 4 million registrations for Malaysia and Singapore combined. Impressive considering the MMO space these days.

The Maple Story that you would jump right into today is not the same one that I had played back in 2005. Back then it was DOTA and there was Maple Story. The UI largely remains pretty intact but the sheer amount of content to be found in this free-to-play MMO boggles the mind. Nexon had done a fine job packing content after content into the game that when I had down to give it a go, it was quite overwhelming. And it didn’t help with the fact that I was given a level cap character right from the very start.

Maple Story is a very retro 2D affair and the main controls of the game are handled exclusively with the keyboard. Players are able to bind a specific action to a key, which I felt was rather cumbersome as I had to remember which ability was bound to which key. The fact that there were so many skills to choose from compounded the experience. At one point of time, I commented to the player next to me that the best way to execute moves was to roll my face on the keyboard. He laughed in agreement (I think).

The main agenda for the night was to check out the new Chaos Player Versus Player patch for Maple Story. Six years in the making, PvP has always been a much sought after feature in the game and a staple mode in many others. The Chaos patch allows players to trounce each other in a myriad of game modes like free-for-all and capture the flag. Very basic PvP game modes. However, there is a specific game mode that I felt was rather interesting, the Ice Knight PvP mode. Unlike the other modes, in the Ice Knight arena, a player takes on the role of said Knight and attempts to outlast the onslaught by other players. Pity I didn’t get a chance to try it out but I’m pretty sure it would be fun.

With no less then 40 classes to tailor your character to be, Maple Story’s PvP mode may suffer an imbalance between the classes. Looking at how other games struggle to balance with lesser classes, balancing issues would be the biggest challenge that would face the developers of the game. After the night’s festivities, it appears that ranged characters have a clear edge over the melee counterparts. While low in health, it matters little as armed with high damage and burst, most characters would fall enroute trying to land the first blow. However, not all is lost, the mechanics of the PvP arena seems to calculate damage done overall as opposed to landing killing blows to rank characters. Hence, picking your fights wisely and backing away would be the name of the game.

With the new Chaos patch, players would be able to advance their character purely via PvP as well. In fact, I’ve been told that experience gain is even faster this way. Looks like the grind just got less monotonous. In order to hit the level cap of 200, however, it looks like it would require a small investment into the game’s cash shop to expedite the process. Some things just never change.

All in all, Maple Story is still one of the better ways to get one’s feet wet into the genre of MMOs. Grinding being a core experience in almost all games in the genre has been polished and refined in the realm of Maple Story. One would almost forget that apart from your character, MMOs offer a unique way of player interaction in the online space. Good way to learn Internet etiquette kids!

Do check out Maple Story at http://maple.asiasoftsea.com/index/

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com. Follow his tweets @changerald

With 256 slots to fill and preliminaries conducted over 2 days, gaming in Singapore just got even more serious.

To be conducted on 26-27 November, Sony will be holding a FIFA 12 tournament to participants of all ages to test their skill and stand a chance to win the grand prize of a 160GB Playstation 3 console. And of course, a winner’s trophy will be thrown in for good measure.

Don’t hesitate to register as all participants get to walk away with goodies just for signing up. Hit the following link to register for a spot now: http://sgiz.mobi/s3/47ee508c2f65

For those who prefer something else, especially the fighting fans, would be able to check out the upcoming Street Fighter x Tekken and Final Fantasy XIII-2 as well.

The entire festivities start on 3 December onwards at SCAPE Orchard Road Singapore from 2pm onwards. See you there!

Contact the author of this post, Gerald Chan, at geraldchan@qisahn.com. Follow his tweets @changerald