The Mike Abundo Effect

Free Nokia Games from Gameloft

Mike Abundo — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:13:11 +0000

Perhaps envious of the success of the iPhone app store, cellphone manufacturer Nokia shut down its free and open Mosh app repository earlier this year, in favor of its glossy and restrictive Ovi app store. The transition hasn’t gone as well as Nokia might have hoped; the exciting plethora of apps on Mosh has been replaced by a limited handful of apps on Ovi.

Ovi doesn’t even carry the Nokia lightsaber, an old Mosh favorite. Even Skype doesn’t bother putting Skype Lite on Ovi. This is what happens when you alienate your developer community in favor of shiny marketing.

For the moment, at least, Nokia’s mistake is Nokia customers’ gain. In a belated bid to kindle interest in Ovi, Nokia has tied up with developer Gameloft to offer ten free games for Nokia handsets. This isn’t trialware; these are the full versions. The list includes top-tier titles like Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia.

Personally, I’m suffering a severe Tetris effect from finishing Block Breaker Deluxe 2. If you own a Nokia hanset, these little gems should help you temporarily forget your disappointment over Ovi.

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Filipina Celeb Paloma Esmeria Cosplays Chun-Li from Street Fighter

Mike Abundo — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:40:47 +0000

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Gaming has long outpaced movies and music in the US. Now cosplay, a hobby closely related to gaming culture, is officially mainstream in the Philippines. While hardcore otaku like Alodia Gosiengfiao will always rule the hearts of Filipino geeks with their elaborate costumes and passionate portrayals, less geeky players are now unleashing their own inner otaku.

First Kyo Ritu Art enabled anyone to become a cosplayer for a day, from costume to photoshoot. Now mainstream Filipina celebrity Paloma Esmeria cosplays Chun-Li from from the Street Fighter series of fighting games.

She won’t win any international competitions with that costume, but she sure looks like she’s having fun.

(Via Joriben Zaballa.)

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Alodia and Ashley 2003 Pics from GeoCities

Mike Abundo — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:37:47 +0000

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GeoCities, one of the most popular free homepage hosting services of the ’90’s, closed down the other day. After the Philippines came online in 1994, a lot of Filipino geeks made their online homes on the service. One group of such geeks, Transformers Philippines, witnessed the first breakaway performance of Filipina cosplay princess Alodia Gosiengfiao and her sister Ashley. The teenaged geek girls wowed the crowds at 2003 C3 Convention, portraying magic gunners Rikku and Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2.

Transformers Philippines’ old GeoCities page has vanished, but their photographic record of the sisters’ big break will not. Here are their pictures of that arguably pivotal moment in the history of Filipino geek culture, preserved for posterity.

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Kyo Ritu Art Cosplay Photostudio Opening

Mike Abundo — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 12:41:13 +0000

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Last week, Japanese design firm Kyo Ritu Art opened the first cosplay photostudio in the Philippines. Who better to welcome it than the Philippines’ cosplay princess? Filipina cosplayer Alodia Gosiengfiao, Philippine representative to the 2009 Regional Cosplay Championship, donned her Guilty Gear I-No costume to grace the opening ceremonies.

In a fascinating twist, offline mainstream models were made to wear costumes made famous by Alodia, an online niche idol. Welcome to the triumph of otaku culture.

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Kyo Ritu Art Cosplay Photostudio

Mike Abundo — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:18:22 +0000

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There was a time when Web publishing was the exclusive province of only the geekiest of geeks, those who could write code and set up servers. Now anyone with an Internet connection can blog. There was a time when broadcasting was the exclusive province of only the wealthiest of media moguls, those who could hire actors and set up studios. Now anyone with a webcam can broadcast themselves on YouTube.

In the Philippines, there was a time when cosplay was the exclusive province of only the most hardcore of otaku, those who could craft costumes and set up photoshoots. That time has come to an end. This week saw the opening of Kyo Ritu Art Digital Photography and Cosplay Photostudio, the first cosplay photostudio in the Philippines. That’s right, folks: now anyone can unleash their inner otaku and become a cosplayer for a day.

Kyo Ritu Art features costumes and props for rent, all imported from Japan. Even though they just opened, they’ve already got some fascinating items in their collection: weapons from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, plugsuits from Neon Genesis Evangelion, a yukata from Jigoku Shoujo, a ninja outfit from Naruto, serafukus from Sailor Moon. Several more Naruto costumes are arriving soon, along with an $80,000 kimono. It’s Akiba-style off-the-rack cosplay — packaged as a costume-to-photo service on tap, a turnkey cosplay solution. Photographer Katsuhiro Nishikawa is on hand to capture your inner otaku, with all the characterization nuances of Japanese cosplay photography.

Click through to the next page to learn the overseas origins of Kyo Ritu Art, the company’s exciting expansion plans, and something that will make cosplay fangirls squeal with delight.

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Alodia and Ashley in Anime Festival Asia Regional Cosplay Championship 2009

Mike Abundo — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 04:06:19 +0000

Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao Witchblade Cosplay

From corporate endorsements to international competitions, these independent otaku Net idols are just going from strength to strength. Filipina cosplay sisters Alodia and Ashley Gosiengfiao have been chosen to represent the Philippines at the Anime Festival Asia Regional Cosplay Championship 2009.

Here’s a preview of their costumes for the finals, with the girls portraying Amaha Masane and Shiori Tsuzuki from the Witchblade anime. From this preview alone, you can tell the Philippines stands a pretty good chance of winning the competition.

Alodia Gosiengfiao as Amaha Masane from Witchblade

Ashley Gosiengfiao as Shiori Tsuzuki from Witchblade

(Photos via Alodia on Figure.fm.)

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Google Helps Hurricane Ketsana Victims in the Philippines

Mike Abundo — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 16:59:50 +0000

Google Maps shows the aftermath of Hurricane Ketsana in the Philippines.

For a Silicon Valley giant, Google demonstrates a remarkably worldwide viewpoint. The Mountain View powerhouse has set up a landing page compiling information for anyone who wants to help the victims of Hurricane Ketsana in the Philippines (known as Typhoon Ondoy in that country).

Hurricane Ketsana victims.

The page features user-created Google Maps overlays indicating missing persons, road conditions, donation centers, and crisis situations. As you can see from the many markers in the screenshot snippet above, Ketsana made quite a mess of things.

Ketsana hit the Philippines even harder than Katrina hit Louisiana, so help is definitely needed. Kudos to Web-savvy Filipinos on pulling together for this humanitarian use of Google Maps, and kudos to Google on further facilitating that use with a landing page.

(Photo by rembcc. BY-NC-SA.)

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Google Wave in Eight Minutes

Mike Abundo — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:37:35 +0000

If you don’t have time to watch the first eighty-minute demo of Google Wave, here’s an eight-minute demo.

Yes, even the short version takes eight minutes. That’s how many new features and concepts Google Wave introduces. We’re not just looking at a new Web 2.0 service here — we’re looking at a whole new Web protocol.

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Apple 1984 Mac Ad Remade with Steve Jobs as Dictator

Mike Abundo — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:44:27 +0000

Remember Apple’s 1984 Macintosh commercial, which portrayed Apple as a rebel brand shattering technological conformity? Twenty-five years later, the tables have turned. Now Apple is the tyrant, enforcing technological conformity by locking iTunes out to anything but iPhones and iPods.

A startup named doubleTwist plans to change all that, by making software that lets you connect to iTunes using non-Apple devices. Their first ad features a remake of Apple’s 1984 ad, but with a twist. Now Steve Jobs is the evil dictator, and the enslaved masses wear iPod earbuds.

This parody is a stroke of pure genius. There’s probably no clearer way to dramatize how Apple has betrayed the rebellious ideals of its foundation.

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Philippine Blog Awards 2009 Promo Video

Mike Abundo — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:08:02 +0000

A handful of Filipino bloggers recently came together to shoot a short video for the 2009 Philippine Blog Awards. In order of appearance, you have political blogger Marck Rimorin, videoblogger Coy Caballes, photoblogger Markku Seguerra, some tech blogger guy, and political blogger Juned Sonido. Video produced for Flippish by hotshot Filipina filmmaker and former cosplayer Kring Elenzano, herself a blogger as well.

Yes, that’s two political bloggers. Don’t even get me started on how messed up the Philippine political situation is. On the rare occasions it even touches technology, it makes a mess.

This year’s show features a Readers’ Choice Award. Vote for your favorite Philippine blog online, or via SMS.

(Disclosure: This blog is a finalist for both Readers’ Choice and Best Technology Blog.)

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