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

Close Battle
Uncharted 3 and Battlefield 3 was really close. As this is a not a presidential election, there will be no recount, we rather declare 2 winners

FIFA vs Winning Eleven / Pro Evolution Soccer
For every 3 copies of FIFA, 1 Winning Eleven or Pro Evolution Soccer was sold, a reversal from 2008.

Oldest Game
Metal Gear Solid 4 was released in 12 Jun 2008. Great titles don’t fade with time… as long as the price is right.

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.

Army Corps of Hell (English Version) by Square Enix Genre: Action

Asphalt: Injection by Ubisoft Genre: Racing

Blazblue Continuum Shift Extend by ARC System Works Genre: Fighting Action

Dungeon Hunter Alliance by Ubisoft Genre: Action RPG

Dynasty Warriors NEXT by Tecmo Koei Games Genre: Tactical Action

EA Sports FIFA by Electronic Arts Genre: Sports

Escape Plan by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Puzzle

Everybody’s Golf 6 by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Golf Game

F1 2011 by Codemasters Genre: Racing

Gravity Rush by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Action

Hustle Kings by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Sports

Little Deviants by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Action

Lumines : Electronic Symphony by Ubisoft Genre: Simulation RPG

Michael Jackson the Experience HD by Ubisoft Genre: Rhythm/Dancing

ModNation Racers: Road Trip by Sony Computer Entertainment Genre: Racing

MotorStorm RC by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Racing

Ninja Gaiden ? Plus by Tecmo Koei Games Genre: Action

Rayman Origins by Ubisoft Genre: Action

Reality Fighters Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Fighting Action

Ridge Racer Namco Bandai Games Genre: Exhilarating Drift Racing

Star Strike Delta by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Shooting

Sumioni by Acquire Ink Genre: Action

Touch My Katamari by Namco Bandai Games Genre: Romantic Rolling Action

Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 by Capcom Genre: Fighting Action

Uncharted: Golden Abyss by Sony Computer Genre: Action Adventure

Virtua Tennis 4 by Sega Genre: Sports

WipEout 2048 by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Genre: Racing

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

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

Only slightly over a year ago, IAH Games was the sole distributor of Blizzard Entertainment titles in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand but now the account is back into the hands of the very first distributor, Asiasoft.

IAH Games relationship covered 2 titles, Starcraft II & World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Reasons on why Blizzard chose to give back their account to Asiasoft can only be left to speculation and we’ll leave it at that.

The next anticipated title from Blizzard would be the upcoming Diablo III which is currently in a closed beta stage. Tentative release date would be sometime early 2012. But Blizzard being Blizzard, would only release it once its truly completed.

If all things remain the same, one can expect Diablo III to cost $109 locally in Singapore. Yup, Starcraft II commanded the same premium at release as well. After all those local servers are not going to pay for themselves. Thankfully, SEA copies of the game would also have access the North American servers too, so no real worry there.

But the real question here is, do boxed copies of a game really matter these days, apart from Collector’s Editions. This article way back in 2007 by Oo Gin Lee, predicted accurately the landscape of video game retail today. Starcraft II had a digital release and so did Cataclysm. Especially for World of Warcraft, the transition was especially smooth, Cataclysm opened up very nicely on release day. Hence, why as a consumer would I want to leave my home when I can start playing the minute the game unlocks.

Blizzard has all the architecture in place for a seamless and smooth transaction online effectively cutting out the middleman (retailers). While boxed sets would most definitely see huge sales right out the door, what would new customers choose to get a few months down the road, travel down to your favourite game store or just simply grab it off the Internet?

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

Fans of Final Fantasy XIII would know that the “Chinese” version of the game was highly sought after. Apart from the new cover of Lightning, the game was unique in the way that it retained the Japanese voices while providing subtitles to the game.

Honestly, for story driven games such as Final Fantasy, this should have been always been the case. Hurrah for Final Fantasy XIII-2 then! Coming in at only a month behind the Japanese release, Final Fantasy XIII-2 will feature both Mandarin and English subtitles with the original Japanese voice overs.

The official release date for the local version would be 31st January 2012. Mark your calenders. For those who prefer a full English language version, such an edition would be available on the same day as well.

Check out the entire press release for more details.

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

Press Release

For Immediate Release

 

October 12^th, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment Hong Kong Limited (SCEH) announced that on31^st January 2012, “PS3® FINAL FANTASY XIII-2” will be released in both Chinese/English and English only version. And the Japanese version, however, will become available on 15^th December 2011 in South East Asia.

 

Following the release of PS3™ “FINAL FANTASY XIII”, PS3™ “FINAL FANTASY XIII-2” will also be released with a Chinese and English version. This is a completely localization of the game done by a partnership between Square Enix and Sony Computer Entertainment Asia. All menus and text have been translated into Traditional Chinese and English, while still retaining the original Japanese voices. Also, the game is compatible with save data from both the English and Japanese versions of PS3™ “FINAL FANTASY XIII”, which can be imported into the game.

 

Final Fantasy producer Yoshinori Kitase states, “I am glad to be able to bring FINAL FANTASY XIII-2 to the Asian region. FINAL FANTASY XIII was our first release in both Chinese and Korean, but it was about a year behind the Japanese release. However, this time we are able to get this game into your hands with only a month or so of lag. I am sure that playing the game while it is still fresh and new will only help to strengthen the emotional experience that is FINAL FANTASY XIII-2.”

 

In addition, SCEH will launch a new trailer of the game with Chinese subtitles on the PlayStation®Store today.

 

With the release of “FINAL FANTASY XIII-2”, SCEH will continue to provide more attractive game titles and let more customers enjoy the exclusive PS3™ entertainment world by promoting and expanding the PS3™ platform.

I had the honor of checking Alliance of Valiant Arms or otherwise known as A.V.A out this evening and was surprised at how polished free-to-play(F2P) games can be these days.

Like many F2P games, microtransactions are the backbone of the business. Players either earn in game currency slow or choose to boost their characters with real life cash. However, the playing field is rather balanced as more affluent gamers do not actually have a distinct advantage unlike many of the similar F2P FPS games out there. If anything, A.V.A requires a degree of skill in order to excel in the game. So park your imbalances at the door and enjoy the ride!

From the short preview, each gun and class has a distinct advantage/disadvantage. For added depth, each gun can be further customized to buff the passive stats of the existing weapon. In order to fund your gun addiction, simply play and win more to gain more in game currency, Euros, and you would be on your path to owning every available weapon and upgrade in store.

A.V.A has pretty much packed every single possible FPS game mode into it. After all, having been released since 2007 in Korea, A.V.A has been subject to plenty of love from the developers with its constant patches and updates; a trait rarely seen in most F2P games.

The main highlight of the entire experience was how smooth the game was in terms of ping. In an FPS, your latency is what it all boils down to. While a skilled player will probably triumph over a novice consistently, but if handicapped with a poor ping, the advantage skews towards the other court.

Having game servers based in Thailand, A.V.A looks to deliver pretty much the low latency performance that should accompany any FPS game. Players would be able to host their own games on the fly without having to purchase dedicated servers, which was exactly what happened at the preview. A game was created for us to hop in and it felt as though we were gaming over LAN. The experience? Flawless.

You can try out this game right now as the game is live in Thailand at the moment. Head on down to http://www.playfps.com/en/index.html to grab the client and you would be all set.

Fair warning though, accounts would not be transferable to a Singaporean account once it is launched. So, you might want to hold back with the intense leveling for the time being.

Bookmark http://www.playfps.com/ to prepare yourself for A.V.A for Singaporean audiences in the next few weeks to come!

P.S This article has so many abbreviations I’m surprised I haven’t gone into a abbreviation induced catatonic shock.

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