Mobius Launches EVE Online in Southeast Asia

2007 will be a year of big-name games for the Philippines: AMDG with Lineage II and Level Up with Ragnarok 2. For a while, I thought Mobius was out of the gaming game, what with the opening of their online music store and the loss of their gaming guru blogger. Then, out of the blue, Mobius President Jojo Anonuevo tells me they’re launching EVE Online in Southeast Asia.

Dime-a-dozen no-name token-effort games have flooded the Philippines over the last three years. Good to see tide turn this year. Where the big boys go, the little boys will follow: expect even smaller game publishers to start offering bigger titles. With bigger games will come the maturation of the Philippine game market, perhaps to the point where it could support World of Warcraft.

On a side note, EVE Online holds the record for the biggest in-game heist in MMORPG history, to the tune of $16,500 in virtual goods — and it’s all legal within game rules, too. I bet Filipino creativity can top that.

Inq7 Breakup: GMA’s Fault

Inquirer.net editor Joey Alarilla lays the smackdown on GMANews.tv editor-in-chief Malou Mangahas for her TV dogs’ conspiring to scavenge around his podcast interviews (Yeah, I know. Offline media surviving off scraps from online media. Fun times.). The last few paragraphs convey a veiled threat to keep her dogs at bay.

So, yes, it’s all been about civility.

It’s the same civility that has prevented us from pointing out that you set up GMANews.tv some eight months ago when your network had an existing agreement that INQ7.net was the news site of both the Philippine Daily Inquirer and GMA Network.

It’s the same civility that has prevented us from telling the whole truth about INQ7.net, while you go around playing the good cop, taking the “high road” and telling bloggers that it’s all a misunderstanding.

I wonder, is it easier to take the high road when you’re the one who’s at fault, and to remain silent when the truth would hurt your organization if it comes out?

Yes, we all know a lot of things, and we’ve been civil despite everything that has been happening behind the scenes.

But don’t mistake civility for approval, or expect it to last forever.

First they try to stab an online partner in the back, then they try to scavenge off its table scraps. What a sad little TV network.