101703: Netopia Puts Up Video Gaming League

Metropolitan Computer Times Netopia Puts Up Video Gaming League  By Alex Villafania Posted 17 October 2003  With network gaming still among the hottest activies for young video gaming, Internet caf?chain Netopia ups the ante with the introduction of an institutionalized gaming league that will pit the country's best video game players. Following the success of the 3rd World Cyber Games held in South Korea, Netopia partnered with South Korean electronics firm LG to create the LG-Netopia League, an annual 8-month video game tournament that will select the best gamers who would represent the Philippines at international events, like the WCG.  Raymond Ricafort, president of Netopia said the company wants to build a community of gamers that would be a source of information about the latest gaming trends.  The League, as it would be called, shall initially feature four games, namely NBA Live 2003, Command & Conquer: Generals, Command & Conquer: Yuri's Revenge, and Ragnarok Online.  "We chose these games because these are among the most popular ones being played in our shops today.  With the League, we hope to get more of the players to have a forum to discuss the new games out in the market, the rules that will be played for future events, as well as become Netopia's own test bed for promotions and programs," Ricafort  said. According to Ricafort, Netopia saw a significant increase in revenues coming from their video game services. From a 20 percent revenue contribution early this year, gaming already accounted for more than 30 percent by the end of July.  Ricafort correlated the increase from the success of Ragnarok Online, a massive multiplayer role playing game that features medieval characters. This game also  features a unique chat system that allows players to talk with other characters.  League sponsors include RPN 9, INQ7.NET, Level-Up, Intel, Smart Telecommunications, ePLDT, and Infocom.  South Korean electronics firm LG is Netopia's biggest partner for the League. Incidentally, Samsung Electronics, another South Korean firm, is one of the biggest sponsors for the WCG. Similar to any major sporting leagues, the LG/Netopia League would have play-off seasons to see which individual players and teams would go to the grand finals. The first season would start November this year until February next year; second season follows immediately until May 2004 and will culminate in the Grand Finals in May.  The competition would be done weekly for the whole month of each season, though 40 slots would be allotted for monthly game qualifiers. These games would be played in four venues, with the finals to be held at the Glorietta Activity Center. A total of PhP7 million worth of prizes would be given away, which include audio-video components from LG and cash prizes.