Admit it: At some point in your life you have played a video game, either on a game console, through the arcade, an online game through your computer, or a game via a mobile app. You always get the thrill and the excitement in playing different sorts of games ranging from arcade fighting games like Street Fighter which flourished in the eighties, to the gaming console generation who played Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, and, to this writer, the Crash Bandicoot series.
Later on, we moved to online gaming, and the likes of Ragnarok, MU Online, Gunbound and Khan, which evolved into DOTA or Defense of the Ancients (a modification of Warcraft) and “DOTA 2” and “League of Legends”, right up to the proliferation of smartphone games like Plants vs. Zombies, Farmville, and even Love Live! School Idol Festival. Through the years, we got hooked on playing video games, whether on any platform or any genre.
Games are there to kill time and boredom, to unwind and to forget all of your real world problems, at least temporarily. Video games provide an escape from the realities of life towards our online avatars, and place ourselves into the heart of the action.
Video and online games have taken a new competitive form, where top class gamers vie for the right to represent their team and country to different gaming championships like League of Legends, DOTA and other online-based games. This is called e-Sports, and it is taking the world (and specifically, the Philippines) by storm.
It is in these two different worlds, Casual Gaming and e-Sports, that provides the setting to the Country’s biggest gathering of e-Sports and Gaming enthusiasts. called the E-Sports and Gaming Summit (ESGS) 2014.
Anime Pilipinas brings to you a lowdown on what will you expect and our tips to survive this event which will surely be a blockbuster gaming event to happen in the country.
Games, Games and More Games
This event will be a mecca of all games, whether video games, online games or mobile games. Game publishers and distributors will be outing their latest games for the first time exclusively in the event.
Major online games will be featured, like StarCraft 2, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, the sequel of Defense of the Ancients, DOTA 2, and League of Legends. E-Sports competitions will be happening with these games featuring the best e-Sports teams culled from different areas of the country.
The events will be hosted by the Mineski Pro Gamers League and Electronic Sports League Philippines, which are the top e-Sports gaming leagues in the country today.
Different game publishers and organizations like Garena, Asiasoft Games, Cherry Credits, Cubizone, GameClub, Figment Games, Zeenoh, Play@Park Ankama, Igda-Manila, BoomZap Games, PinoyPS.com, Skillshot Labs and others are teaming up to provide you an immersive experience like no other. You can try out their games (online, console, or web and mobile applications) for free, and also participate in competitions and contests that they will hold during the event.
Open Floor Cosplay Competition
In addition to the countless gaming events that will happen at the ESGS, An “open floor” cosplay competition will be held on both days of the event. For cosplay aficionados who would want to strut their costumes at the ESGS, take note that while there won’t be any cosplay catwalk that will happen in the venue, the whole event area will be the official stage for the contest.
Cosplayers must be registered first at the official registration area together with their 3R photo of themselves in costume. After the registration, the cosplayers can now roam the event area.
The winner will be decided by a public vote where the attendees will be given a voting stub. The stub will serve as a ballot where attendees will write the number of the cosplayer that they think is deserving to win. Cosplayers, on the other hand, are allowed to promote and “campaign” for themselves to be voted.
The voting stubs are going to be submitted to the cosplayer’s registration area until 05:00pm of the event day, after which, votes will be tabulated to determine the winner and the runners-up.
Cash prizes, Razer gaming items, and wall scrolls await the winners of the cosplay competition, which is organized by Anime Alliance Philippines.
Apart from these activities, noted cosplay celebrity Alodia Gosiengfiao will be in town to guest-host the GameX Girl awarding ceremonies on the first day of the event at 3:00 PM.
Ticketing for the event and Possible crowd estimates
Of course, being a gaming event, it is expected that the gamer audience will flock over to the SMX Convention Center’s Main Halls 3 and 4, which comprises around more than 4,500 square meters of Floor space. With all the activities and events happening during the ESGS, one will wonder how much will it cost just to enter this event?
The answer: just PhP150 for each day of the event, and you can purchase them easily at any SM Ticket outlets nationwide. Just remember that the tickets that you will buy are specifically marked per day, so make sure to buy the tickets for the day you will attend as the Day 1 and Day 2 tickets are not interchangeable.
The organizers will only sell a limited number of tickets for both days, as the organizers of the event are expecting massive crowds and, depending on the capacity of the SMX Halls, may not sell tickets onsite anymore for the safety and security of the event.
Anime Pilipinas is expecting a crowd of 10,000 to 12,000 people converging on both days of the event combined, so better secure those tickets and come to the venue early!
GAME ON!
Remember the days when parents would scold us for being too immersed in playing video games because it distracts us and makes us “forget” about homework? Now, times have changed; the gaming industry has produced champions that would make us more equally proud. Although E-sports continues for its fight to become recognized here in the country, events like ESGS prove that the E-sports and gaming community in the Philippines is bustling, and they only need some push from the public and government for them to become as equally recognized as our sports heroes.
With that, let your inner game face on and join in the fun at the 1st E-Sports and Gaming Summit at the SMX Convention Center.
The 1st E-sports and Gaming Summit will be held at the SMX Convention Center – Manila in Pasay City on November 15 and 16, 2014. For more information, do visit their official Facebook page at facebook.com/esgsphilippines.
Anime Pilipinas is an official media partner of the 1st E-Sports and Gaming Summit 2014.
Anime Pilipinas is not responsible for any changes that will happen beyond what is written in the article, which were collated from their official press release and social media postings. All events are subject to change without prior notice.
