Imperium, Philippines' First Ever eSports Bar [Updated with their rates and list of console games currently available]

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A new bar just opened the other day and no, it's not just any bar. It's the country's first ever eSports bar! Known as "Imperium eSports bar and Video Game Lounge" or just Imperium, it is what it says it is. A bar that's also a video game lounge.

Aside from a selection of drinks, snacks, and a few alcoholic beverages, you can partake in a few video games as well. From PC games, to consoles, and even the newest next gen consoles, it's the perfect place to spark a few competetive matches while having a few rounds of beer all in one convenient location.

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Their menus are stuffed in Xbox 360 games cases like game manuals and they even have a few items on the menu named after a few video game references. I remember one in particular called "The Captain Price" which had the description "Whiskey. Lots of whiskey.".

From what I saw, they have a total of 12 gaming PCs setup, a projector in the center showing what I think was a DotA2 livestream, 4 consoles (I think it was 2 or 3 PS3s and maybe 1 Xbox 360) setup near the entrance by the couch area, and 5 more consoles hooked up to TVs above the bar counter that I think were running 3 PS3s, 1 PS4, and 1 Wii U.

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The inside of the bar has a Tron blue light thing going on and were blaring from club/dubstep/bloc party/dance music through their sound system.

I met up with a few friends to check the place out and played a few rounds of Injustice with them. Will definitely go back soon, especially once they get their Xbox One's running Killer Instinct. Ccccombo breaker!

You can find Imperium at Unit 6B 2nd Floor Metrowalk Commercial Complex Meralco Avenue, 1600 Pasig or contact them at 571-9534 or 09062487476. They are open from 5:00pm to 2:00am. Also check out their new Facebook page and follow them on Twitter.

[UPDATE]

Taken from the Imperium Facebook page.

ON THE CONSUMABLE ENTRANCE FEE:

Imperium e-Sports Bar and Video Game Lounge charges a 100 peso consumable entrance fee for people entering the bar. This fee is 100% consumale, and thus will be deducted from your bill the moment you bill out. As soon as you pay the entrance fee, you will be stamped signifying your payment. After you are stamped, you'll be allowed to leave and enter the bar within the same day without having to pay the fee again.

 

ON PC AND CONSOLE RATES:

Our rates for the PCs are 60 pesos per hour. For Open Time rentals, you will be charged an additional hour for every 15 minutes you consume after the previous. For example, if you use a PC for 1 hour and 10 minutes, you'll be charged 60 pesos, but if you use a PC for 1 hour and 15 minutes, you'll be charged 120 pesos, and if you use a PC for 2 hours and 15 minutes, you will be charged 180 pesos.

Our rates for the consoles are as follows:

For the Xbox 360 and PS3, it's 100 pesos per hour. For the Xbox One and PS4, it;s 120 pesos per hour.

 

At the present time here are the games we have available per console:

XBox 360 and PS3 - Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 NBA 2K14 FIFA 14 Injustice: Gods Among Us - Ultimate Edition Madden 25 Need For Speed WWE 2k14 Battlefield 4 Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Call of Duty: Ghosts Street Fighter x Tekken Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition

Xbox One - NBA 2K14 FIFA 14 Call of Duty: Ghosts Madden 25 Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag

PS4 - NBA 2K14 Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Killzone: Shadow Fall Call of Duty: Ghosts FIFA 14

 

ON OUR PC GAMES:

All our PCs currently have the following games:

Dota 2 Heroes of Newerth League of Legends Smite Starcraft 2

Aside from these games, we will continue to install new games every few days to update our selection.

Play Arts Kai Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII

SONY DSC It's finally here. The third figure in my small Play Arts collection, the Play Arts Kai Lightning Returns figure from Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII.

I pre-ordered this around 2-3 weeks ago at Datablitz with a down payment of 500php. The figure itself goes for 2,995php and I think it was less 100php when paid with cash.

SONY DSC The box has a nice fold out front flap that closes using Velcro like the previous Lightning figure from Final Fantasy XIII-2 and displays the figure and all of it's accessories. She comes with 2 sets of hands (closed fists and open palms) and an additional hand made for holding her sword "Crimson Blitz". Also included is her "Night Lotus" shield and a Play Arts display base not seen though the window of the box.

SONY DSC There is no instruction sheet included but there are instructions printed on the side of the internal card sleeve which shows how to use the accessories as well as how to assemble the display base.

SONY DSC The sculpt and paint on the figure is superb as is the way of Play Arts figures. She doesn't have the best poseability but has enough to do some fine poses and a few dynamic stances given the range of her hip and ankle articulation. The cloak parts of made of soft PVC plastic so they do not hinder the articulation at all. Her hips, knees and ankles are ratcheted and Lightning can stand on her own in most poses without the assistance of the included stand.

SONY DSC I tend to look for articulation in figures but the silhouette of the Play Arts Kai Lightning Returns figure is just so good that she can look like a badass by simply standing. The cloaks are posed to look like they are swaying in the wind which adds a great effect.

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When I picked up my figure at the Datablitz branch in EDSA Shangri-la Plaza mall, I was told that people kept calling in asking about the availability of the figure and that they've also had a lot of people who walked in and wanted to buy it but the clerks said that the only stocks they had was for the people who pre-ordered. So if you didn't pre-order the Play Arts Kai Lightning Returns figure before hand, you may have trouble finding it. Call your nearest Datablitz branch and inquire about the figure before you go, just to be sure.

Oh and here's a size comparison of Lightning next to the Revoltech Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. I forgot to tell you guys that I also got that figure.

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Free games for PS Plus and Xbox Live members in December

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Now that we survived the waves of games that came out in November, we enter December, another month that will most likely burn another hole in our wallets. But just in case you need to save up at the same time need to have another game to stack up your ever-growing backlog of games, Xbox Live and PS+ just announced the free games coming to subscribers of both services next month. 

Xbox Live Games with Gold - December

 

Gears of War

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Shoot Many Robots

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PlayStation Plus - December

Borderlands 2

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Grid 2

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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PS Vita)

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Urban Trial Freestyle (PS Vita)

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Quite a handful of free games for those subscribed. We are still recovering from all the games  released a few weeks ago, not to mention the release of the PS4 and Xbox One hitting stores.  Now, we all know how great the free games are in the PS+ service, and getting Borderlands 2 for free along two free Vita games and Grid 2 makes the December Games with Gold worth laughing about. But you have to remember these services have a gap of more than a year. PS+ was not appealing in the first few months as well since they were also releasing weak titles to push anybody to subscribe. With Xbox Live members case, we get the service to play online, and Games with Gold comes as a bonus, free games are still free.

Microsoft did announce they will continue this service in 2014 so it will definitely get better as we move forward. But if they continue to give us tower defense games in the coming months, it's going to be a different story.  My only gripe with the service is their region lock policy. Why provide the same titles to each country when its region-locked to the US only? So yes, pray that Gears of War will be downloadable if you are in the other side of the globe.

Games with Gold source: EuroGamer

PlayStation Plus source: PlayStation BlogUS