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EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity
The Philippines recently suffered its worst natural disaster in living memory when typhoon Haiyan made landfall on November 8th, leaving over half a million people displaced and millions without food and basic supplies. Countries and organisations around the world have been sending relief aid into the region, and gamers have once again proven to be a generous bunch. Several livestreamers have been running donation drives; the developers behind Luvinia Online even promised to donate 100% of the income from three new in-game items to the Philippine Red Cross. EVE Online has now also joined in the fundraising by reactivating its popular PLEX for Good scheme. CCP started the PLEX for Good scheme back in January of 2010 as a way for players to donate in-game assets and ISK to help people in the real world. EVE Online players have collectively donated over $150,000 US in aid following 2010's Haitian earthquake, tsunami devastation in Japan, flooding in Pakistan, and tornadoes in the US two years ago. Players hope to smash all fundraising records this time around with dedicated fundraising auctions, events, and liquidation firesales happening across the game. There are even ways for ex-players without active subscriptions to donate their idle in-game assets to charity. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the PLEX for Good scheme, the fundraising efforts players are using to help out a country in need, and how you can donate your ISK to charity even if you've long since quit EVE.
Philippines' ABS-CBN prepares to go digital
Citing "reception problems" in Metro Manila, the suburbs and parts of Central Luzon, Philippines-based ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation is gearing up to transition into the digital age. According to Vivian Tin, ABS-CBN head of research and business analysis, the outfit is throwing down "a few billion pesos" over the next several years as it rolls out the digital television service, but notes that it should launch DTT in some locales within the next few months. Currently, the reception issues affect "fringe areas that are serviced by the company's Metro Manila transmission tower and some [portions of] Central Luzon that are dependent on its transmission from the North," but with digital transmission, those troubles will purportedly vanish. As expected, the fresh new digital delivery will still be obtainable for free over-the-air.
Toys "ARRRR" Us: Piracy in the Philippines
Pirated video games in the Philippines is certainly nothing new -- we remember seeing counterfeit Famicom carts being sold there back in the day -- but its ubiquity in the Southeast Asian country is startling. GameOPS' John Phillips Bengero sent us some pictures to illustrate just how dire the DS and GBA bootlegging situation is. Far from being confined to Manila's seedier markets, these shots were taken at a recently opened Toys "R" Us branch in TriNoma mall! Bring a pocket full of pesos past the post break for the photos.
Pirates rule the Philippine seas
After a tour of the country last year, Indian President Abdul Kalam described the Philippines as a "smiling republic." Wherever he went, Kalam was met with smiling faces. Well, you'd be grinning too if you saw how cheap their games are. Thanks to the black market, popular Nintendo Wii titles are priced as low as $5 in some shops. Piracy has become so widespread in the Southeast Asian country, even Sony admits that most of its Playstation software sold in the Philippines are bootlegged copies.Filipino site GameOPS found that many stores also offer modchip installations. For about $51, you can have your system hacked to play these counterfeit games at the local mall or market. Furthermore, some shops advertise console bundles, selling imported and modded US Wiis with five copied games of your choice for around $450. Similar deals for chipped Xbox 360 systems with 10 pirated titles are actually cheaper at $388.With such a high level of piracy already in place, Nintendo will have a lot to work against when -- or if -- it decides to finally launch the Wii in the Philippines.
