In our recent gaming podcast, we talk about Marcos signing 12% VAT for Digital Services, Valorant moving to Unreal Engine 5, Tenz and Kyedae leaked phone numbers, Dragon Quest Censorship, Tekken KFC Colonel Sanders, Starcraft FPS, Blizzard Netflix shows, and Sibol PAL collab.
Sibol and PAL
In a recent article by Spin.ph it was revealed that Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the Philippine Esports Organization (PESO), have collaborated to provide world-class travel arrangements for Sibol. Sibol is the Philippines’ national esports team. Here are the press details "PAL is delighted to have partnered with Sibol in their journey to showcase Filipino esports talent on the global stage. Our commitment was to provide exceptional travel comfort and safety, ensuring Team Sibol arrived at the competition ready to compete at their best,". Recently PAL flew Sibol’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) and Honor of Kings (HOK) teams along with their support crew and media representatives, to China for the China-ASEAN Esports Competition.
Blizzard and Netflix Adaptations
Do you feel like the old Blizzard cinematic trailers could have been like movies or TV shows? Well we almost had StarCraft, Overwatch, and Diablo adaptations. This was apparently in development with Netflix. But we can't have nice things, according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier revealed that all three Blizzard franchises were due to Netflix adaptation treatment. But then Blizzard sued Netflix so the project was canceled the lawsuit is because Netflix poached Blizzard's then Chief Financial Officer. So yeah TLDR it dead.
Starcraft FPS
Speaking of dead, actually, back from the dead, Blizzard is again trying to make a StarCraft shooter are you interested? do you even know Starcraft? But maybe the third time the charm? Because if you don't remember. Blizzard initially started working on a StarCraft shooter called Starcraft Ghost which follows a young ghost agent Nova. There was even leaked footage but ultimately the game was canceled. On the second time, Blizzard started developing something called Ares which is another FPS that was also canceled. And now for the 3rd time, Blizzard is trying to make a StarCraft shooter which is reportedly being helmed by Dan Hay. Dan Hay was behind some great Far Cry games, so there is a chance?
Tenz and Kyedae Leaked Phone number
Do you know Tenz and Kyedae? Unfortunately during a stream by Kyedae she accidentally revealed Tenz and her phone number. Due to this Kyedae ended the stream while saying sorry, however being the internet people got videos and screenshots. It was even posted in Valorant PH, which resulted on pinoygamer getting an email from the founder of Prodigy Agency. According to the founder of Prodigy Agency Tenz is getting spammed, Im assuming its the same of Kyedae. Due to privacy reason we took it down. Then for those who still has the number, it was confirmed by Prodigy Agency that they will be changing the phone numbers (changed as of this writing).
Dragon Quest Censorship
Recently fans have criticized Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. The reason is it started with Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake removing the main character's gender. Then they censored certain character models to show less skin compared to the original game. For the censorship, it's more complex because they basically altered Akira Toriyama’s art. Also according to ESRB, the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake rating is for 10+ Everyone. So these changes are practically not even necessary.
But it gets more interesting because the Dragon Quest creator isn’t happy with Dragon Quest censorship. This was revealed in an interview at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 along with Jump editor-in-chief Kazuhiko Torishima where the interviewer brought up the censorship topic claiming that it is fiction
however, the creator Yuji responded, “If there’s more exposure, the age rating has to go up.. that means we can’t sell it for all ages.”
Jump editor-in-chief Kazuhiko Torishima also added "Compliance is like an all-powerful god. It’s something that is using the name of good but is actually bad. It’s impossible every single person doesn’t feel uncomfortable. It’s fine to feel uncomfortable. Beautiful and ugly, good and evil, it depends on the person. Torishima kept cooking and said “In Western countries, there’s a root of thinking based on religion and it influences their sex education, right?
Their attitude to compliance is really narrow-minded.”
Aftermath, People on Twitter basically lost their brain cells because Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, is being maligned as a “Nazi” and “chud”. This for questioning gender ideology being forced upon Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake.
Tekken KFC Colonor Sanders
Do you know KFC? How about Colonel Sanders? So why are we talking about KFC? Apparently the Tekken development chief Katsuhiro Harada revealed that he tried to have Colonel Sanders in Tekken as a guest character. Here is what he said "A long time ago, I wanted to have Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken fight," "So, I asked to use Colonel Sanders and go to the head office in Japan." Yep, he went to the KFC office, Unfortunately, Harada’s pitch was turned down with a "bad look.” Game designer Michael Murray added. "They weren't very open to the idea.”This is weird because Colonel Sanders appeared on a dating sim called I Love You, Colonel Sanders! So maybe they just want KFC Colonel Sanders fighting.
Valorant Unreal Engine 5
During the Unreal Feast presentation, Riot Games Valorant Head Anna Donlon confirmed Valorant is moving to Unreal Engine 5. Note that currently, Valorant is using Unreal Engine 4. According to Riot, this change signals a new chapter for Valorant with Riot aiming to boost the game’s technical backbone and future potential. However, there are concerns, primarily on the performance. If you are on a low to mid-spec pc, do you need to upgrade? because there is a possibility that it might affect those frame rates. Unfortunately as of now, there has been no mention or announcement regarding this
However, we can use Fortnite as a benchmark for Valorant UE5. So before Fornite moved to Unreal Engine 5 on Dec 2021. The minimum required for Fortnite UE4 is a Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz and 4 GB RAM. Note there was no mention of GPU meaning you can run it via IGPU. Then after Fornite upgraded to UE5 the minimum requirements are Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz, 8 GB RAM, and GPU of Intel HD 4000 on PC; AMD Radeon Vega 8. So there is a possibility that Valorant players may need to upgrade when they move the UE5
So why the switch? According to Riot Games Valorant Head Anna Donlon the team has “squeezed literally everything we could get out of UE4, so now we make the move to UE5.” the “necessary” swap is to broaden horizons and open doors for future possibilities. players shouldn’t notice any discernible differences in the moment-to-moment Valorant experience as the transition gets underway she said this upgrade is not going to significantly change how Val looks or performs, at least not right away, Thoughts?
12% VAT on Digital Services
According to a recent article by Philstar President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed a law that taxes foreign digital services. Basically, on Republic Act 112023, there will be a 12% value-added tax on digital services provided by resident and non-resident digital service providers. This is regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the Philippines.
What are digital services? Examples include online search engines, e-marketplaces, cloud services, online media, advertising, digital platforms, and digital goods. These are streaming platforms like Netflix or Disney it also covers online shopping like Temu, Amazon, Shopee or lazada and of course gamers it affects Codashop for mobile users, Valorant Points, Tiot points, steam, epic games, and everything that falls under digital services
How are you feeling? Question who benefits from this? What does this men in general who cover the cost? To make you feel even better our government employees expect to generate around P83.8 billion from 2024 to 2028, i mean The Department of Finance. Additionally, the Lawmakers plan to allocate 5% of this amount for the “development of local creative industries”
The PinoyGamer Podcast is available on YouTube and Spotify, with a pre-recording available on our Philippines discord where you can join the discussions!
Sibol and PAL
In a recent article by Spin.ph it was revealed that Philippine Airlines (PAL) and the Philippine Esports Organization (PESO), have collaborated to provide world-class travel arrangements for Sibol. Sibol is the Philippines’ national esports team. Here are the press details "PAL is delighted to have partnered with Sibol in their journey to showcase Filipino esports talent on the global stage. Our commitment was to provide exceptional travel comfort and safety, ensuring Team Sibol arrived at the competition ready to compete at their best,". Recently PAL flew Sibol’s Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) and Honor of Kings (HOK) teams along with their support crew and media representatives, to China for the China-ASEAN Esports Competition.
Blizzard and Netflix Adaptations
Do you feel like the old Blizzard cinematic trailers could have been like movies or TV shows? Well we almost had StarCraft, Overwatch, and Diablo adaptations. This was apparently in development with Netflix. But we can't have nice things, according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier revealed that all three Blizzard franchises were due to Netflix adaptation treatment. But then Blizzard sued Netflix so the project was canceled the lawsuit is because Netflix poached Blizzard's then Chief Financial Officer. So yeah TLDR it dead.
Starcraft FPS
Speaking of dead, actually, back from the dead, Blizzard is again trying to make a StarCraft shooter are you interested? do you even know Starcraft? But maybe the third time the charm? Because if you don't remember. Blizzard initially started working on a StarCraft shooter called Starcraft Ghost which follows a young ghost agent Nova. There was even leaked footage but ultimately the game was canceled. On the second time, Blizzard started developing something called Ares which is another FPS that was also canceled. And now for the 3rd time, Blizzard is trying to make a StarCraft shooter which is reportedly being helmed by Dan Hay. Dan Hay was behind some great Far Cry games, so there is a chance?
Tenz and Kyedae Leaked Phone number
Do you know Tenz and Kyedae? Unfortunately during a stream by Kyedae she accidentally revealed Tenz and her phone number. Due to this Kyedae ended the stream while saying sorry, however being the internet people got videos and screenshots. It was even posted in Valorant PH, which resulted on pinoygamer getting an email from the founder of Prodigy Agency. According to the founder of Prodigy Agency Tenz is getting spammed, Im assuming its the same of Kyedae. Due to privacy reason we took it down. Then for those who still has the number, it was confirmed by Prodigy Agency that they will be changing the phone numbers (changed as of this writing).
Dragon Quest Censorship
Recently fans have criticized Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake. The reason is it started with Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake removing the main character's gender. Then they censored certain character models to show less skin compared to the original game. For the censorship, it's more complex because they basically altered Akira Toriyama’s art. Also according to ESRB, the Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake rating is for 10+ Everyone. So these changes are practically not even necessary.
But it gets more interesting because the Dragon Quest creator isn’t happy with Dragon Quest censorship. This was revealed in an interview at the Tokyo Game Show 2024 along with Jump editor-in-chief Kazuhiko Torishima where the interviewer brought up the censorship topic claiming that it is fiction
however, the creator Yuji responded, “If there’s more exposure, the age rating has to go up.. that means we can’t sell it for all ages.”
Jump editor-in-chief Kazuhiko Torishima also added "Compliance is like an all-powerful god. It’s something that is using the name of good but is actually bad. It’s impossible every single person doesn’t feel uncomfortable. It’s fine to feel uncomfortable. Beautiful and ugly, good and evil, it depends on the person. Torishima kept cooking and said “In Western countries, there’s a root of thinking based on religion and it influences their sex education, right?
Their attitude to compliance is really narrow-minded.”
Aftermath, People on Twitter basically lost their brain cells because Yuji Horii, the creator of Dragon Quest, is being maligned as a “Nazi” and “chud”. This for questioning gender ideology being forced upon Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake.
Tekken KFC Colonor Sanders
Do you know KFC? How about Colonel Sanders? So why are we talking about KFC? Apparently the Tekken development chief Katsuhiro Harada revealed that he tried to have Colonel Sanders in Tekken as a guest character. Here is what he said "A long time ago, I wanted to have Colonel Sanders from Kentucky Fried Chicken fight," "So, I asked to use Colonel Sanders and go to the head office in Japan." Yep, he went to the KFC office, Unfortunately, Harada’s pitch was turned down with a "bad look.” Game designer Michael Murray added. "They weren't very open to the idea.”This is weird because Colonel Sanders appeared on a dating sim called I Love You, Colonel Sanders! So maybe they just want KFC Colonel Sanders fighting.
Valorant Unreal Engine 5
During the Unreal Feast presentation, Riot Games Valorant Head Anna Donlon confirmed Valorant is moving to Unreal Engine 5. Note that currently, Valorant is using Unreal Engine 4. According to Riot, this change signals a new chapter for Valorant with Riot aiming to boost the game’s technical backbone and future potential. However, there are concerns, primarily on the performance. If you are on a low to mid-spec pc, do you need to upgrade? because there is a possibility that it might affect those frame rates. Unfortunately as of now, there has been no mention or announcement regarding this
However, we can use Fortnite as a benchmark for Valorant UE5. So before Fornite moved to Unreal Engine 5 on Dec 2021. The minimum required for Fortnite UE4 is a Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz and 4 GB RAM. Note there was no mention of GPU meaning you can run it via IGPU. Then after Fornite upgraded to UE5 the minimum requirements are Core i3-3225 3.3 GHz, 8 GB RAM, and GPU of Intel HD 4000 on PC; AMD Radeon Vega 8. So there is a possibility that Valorant players may need to upgrade when they move the UE5
So why the switch? According to Riot Games Valorant Head Anna Donlon the team has “squeezed literally everything we could get out of UE4, so now we make the move to UE5.” the “necessary” swap is to broaden horizons and open doors for future possibilities. players shouldn’t notice any discernible differences in the moment-to-moment Valorant experience as the transition gets underway she said this upgrade is not going to significantly change how Val looks or performs, at least not right away, Thoughts?
12% VAT on Digital Services
According to a recent article by Philstar President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed a law that taxes foreign digital services. Basically, on Republic Act 112023, there will be a 12% value-added tax on digital services provided by resident and non-resident digital service providers. This is regardless of whether they have a physical presence in the Philippines.
What are digital services? Examples include online search engines, e-marketplaces, cloud services, online media, advertising, digital platforms, and digital goods. These are streaming platforms like Netflix or Disney it also covers online shopping like Temu, Amazon, Shopee or lazada and of course gamers it affects Codashop for mobile users, Valorant Points, Tiot points, steam, epic games, and everything that falls under digital services
How are you feeling? Question who benefits from this? What does this men in general who cover the cost? To make you feel even better our government employees expect to generate around P83.8 billion from 2024 to 2028, i mean The Department of Finance. Additionally, the Lawmakers plan to allocate 5% of this amount for the “development of local creative industries”
The PinoyGamer Podcast is available on YouTube and Spotify, with a pre-recording available on our Philippines discord where you can join the discussions!
