Imperium eSports Bar Grand Opening

Last week we wrote about a brand new bar that opened up in Metro Manila - the country's first ever eSports bar. If you haven't read the article yet, you can do so HERE, but the long and short of it is, if ever you wished there was a sports bar that would show the latest in the competitive fighting game scene or competitive e-Sports such as Starcraft II rather than the normal bread and butter of the UFC, NFL, and other major sporting events, then your in luck. Imperium eSports Bar and Video Game Lounge, located on the 2nd Floor of the Metrowalk Commercial Complex in Ortigas, is just what you've been looking for, and for many a gamer - a dream come true.

The moment you enter the bar it already makes a big impression. Wall to wall televisions and monitors showing the latest and greatest in competitive gaming, with blue neon lights making you feel like you stepped into the latest TRON film. Behind the blue lit bar hum a set of consoles, waiting patiently for players. We were dying to get our hands on the Xbox One for some Killer Instinct, but sadly the game is yet to be made available in the Philippines.

Booze and Games = Perfect

Menu's are creatively placed inside used Xbox 360 cases, with a selection of regular bar fare and chow you'd expect, and also some uniquely named cocktails!

The menus are stored inside old Xbox 360 cases

The TMG gang were lucky enough to attend the grand opening last Thursday, December 13, and boy was it one heck of an event. The grand opening showed that the concept of an e-Sports bar definitely has a lasting appeal in the country, as the place quickly filled up as the night went on. Representatives from various online fighting game groups arrived in force as well, including Injustice Philippines, Smash Brothers Philippines, Tekken Philippines, Marvel vs Capcom Philippines,  and even a few curious passer-by's who were wondering what all the ruckus was about. Pretty soon the place was packed to capacity and the hype was at an all time high.

The company, the food, and the drinks were all great - but the highlight of course, were the competitive matches. Games ran the entire night, and through the entire gamut from NBA 2K14, to a 5v5 Heroes of Newerth match, to an imported copy of Blazblue: Chronophantasma and of course - MAHVEL BABY! Our very own Miggoy had the pleasure of commentating during the bouts of Injustice: Gods Among Us over their livestream. Oddly, Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition was lacking from the line-up, but we are sure we'll be seeing that game in relatively short order.

Our very own Miggoy hypes up the Injustice stream

One of the biggest highlights of course was when 13 year old Filipino Tekken prodigy "AK" made an appearance. Currently ranked third in the world, it was an absolute pleasure to watch this young man play. In one of the funnier highlights of the night, rather than a money match happening, we saw a BURGER match, where whoever would be able to beat AK in a best of 3 would recieve a free burger. Sadly, many people went hungry that night, to say the least.

AK leaves no one doubting why he is #3 ranked in the world

Overall, the event was a grand success, and from what we saw at the grand opening, there's a bright future ahead for Imperium and for the local FGC and eSports scene. We had a chance to talk to one of the owners briefly, Mr. Raphael Gancaytco and we hope to have him soon on the TMG Podcast to talk about his inspirations and hopes for the future, so stay tuned for that!

Check out the recorded LiveStreams below!

Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition 3 vs 3 Exhibition Match

Migo-san vs Haiku money match

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 AK Burger Battle

AK Vs. Garrett FT3 Exhibition

Ultiamte Marvel vs Capcom 3 Papable Peter Vs. Cha FT5 Exhibition

Papable Peter Vs. Garrett FT5 Exhibition

Garrett Vs. Cha FT5 Exhibition

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.

New Tales of game announced in Japan: Tales of Zestiria

Namco Bandai has lift the lid on their next Tales of title and it's called Tales of Zestiria for the PS3. No release date was announced but a lot of detail was released during the reveal as well as a trailer.

Following the announcement from Japan, Namco confirms a worldwide release for Tales of Zestiria, marking this title as the first in the series to be released simultaneously for both western and Japan markets. This game will be their 20th anniversary title for the series.

Two characters were revealed during the presentation as well. No confirmation if this serves as two main characters with different perspective similar to Tales of Xillia.

Slay

Alicia

During the reveal, Namco also mentioned the dragon shown at the end of the trailer is a very important part of the game's story, thus having a dragon as the logo. Of course they didn't go into much detail. More details of Tales of Zestiria will be shared in the upcoming issue of Famitsu.

[Source: PS Blog EU, VG247]

Throwback Thursday - Captain America and the Avengers

It's Thursday again and time for another old NES game that I had fond memories of for this week's Throwback Thursday. Captain America and the Avengers for the NES is a completely different game compared to the arcade, SNES and Mega Drive versions even though it bares the exact same name. The original version was a 2/4 player beat-em-up sort of like Double Dragon or most of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games. The version on the NES is a side scroller where you control both Captain America and Hawkeye on a mission to save Vision and Iron Man.

AverMedia Live Gamer Portable

TMG gets yet another upgrade in terms of recording gear. With Arlie's Elgato Game Capture HD and his newly acquired PS4, I also level up with a new capture device. The AverMedia Live Gamer Portable.

This cute little device is about the size of an iPhone and can record footage with or without a computer. When connected to a PC, you can record footage using RECentral (in either TS or mp4 format) or directly use the device on streaming software such as Xsplit or Open Broadcaster Software. When not connected to a PC, it can also record footage by storing it in a class 10 SDHC card (only records in TS format in this mode). Thanks to Den for hooking me up with this new capture device.

The box it came in is hella fancy and contained quite a bit of accessories given it's size. Included with the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable device is a PS3 SCART cable, a component AV adapter, a line in cable, a USB (male) to USB mini (male) cable, a very short HDMI cable, and a zippered carrying pouch, an instruction sheet, and finally a voucher for a 3-month licence for Xsplit.

Here's a screenshot taken using the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable through RECentral.

Here are some test videos I recorded using the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable in both RECentral and in PC-free mode.

PS3 footage recorded with the RECentral software: Settings: Bitrate: 12mbps Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

PS3 footage recorded PC-free on a 16gig SDHC card: PS3 footage recorded PC-free on a 16gig SDHC card: Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: TS converted to mp4

Recorded using PC-free mode on a 16gig SDHC card Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: raw TS file

Recorded using PC-free mode on a 16gig SDHC card Resolution: 1080p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: TS converted to mp4 PC screen setup (dual monitors) set to "Extend Displays".

Recorded using PC-free mode on a Class 10 16gig micro SDHC card Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: raw TS file

Recorded using PC-free mode on a class 10 16gig SDHC card Resolution: 720p Frame Rate: 60fps Format: TS converted to mp4 PC screen setup (single monitor) set to "Duplicate Displays".

RECentral captures Wii and PS2 footage in 4:3 even if the consoles are set to widescreen so I had to change the aspect ration of this video before uploading. Bitrate: 12mbps Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

Like how PSP games are displayed on TVs via the PSP-2000/3000's TV-out, I had to eliminate the black gaps around the edges. Bitrate: 12mbps Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

Had to cut out the black edges on all sides. Bitrate: 12mbps Frame Rate: 30fps Format: mp4

By the way, you can find Arlie streaming live on our Twitch.tv channel so follow us there if you want to catch the streams.

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes gets a release date

Excited for a new Metal Gear title? Well Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes was just dated for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Konami also released two new trailers to go with the release date. Check it out after the bump.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes will be launched on March 18, 2014. Take note that Ground Zeroes is the prologue to Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. Think of it as Gran Turismo 5: Prologue way back.

With the announcement of the release date, they also released new trailers for the game. The Night trailer is a long demonstration, revealing that the game will have two difficulty settings - normal and hard.

Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes 'Night' trailer

Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes 'Jamais Vu' Trailer

This trailer features an Xbox exclusive DLC content that makes the cyborg ninja Raiden a playable character in this mission. How's that possible? Let's not think about it too much, this is Metal Gear Solid after all.

[Source: Gematsu]