Things have been crazy for me the past few weeks — well, the whole country is going crazy. I can only hope that this crisis will be resolved and that we’ll see genuine change in this country — not just a revolving door of politicians and personalities.

But no matter how uncertain these times are, life must go on, and we have to make the most of what we have and do something productive in our respective corner of the world. In my case, one of those areas is gaming journalism, as hackenslash is one of the three (groan!) sites I handle for INQ7.net.

I’m happy to say that the Asian Gaming Journalists Association, of which I’m founding president, now has close to 50 members. AGJA, which we informally refer to us GameJournos, aims to push gaming journalism as a legitimate news beat and promote the Asia Pacific as a source of world-class gaming news and features.

AGJA now has several members from Singapore and Malaysia, with Aaron Yip of GameAxis.com in Singapore and Jennifer Tai of GameAxis Unwired magazine in Malaysia spearheading the formation of the AGJA chapters in those countries. It’s really gratifying to get an outpouring of support for AGJA’s cause from gaming journalists in the Philippines and in other Asian countries, and I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished in less than three months. Now’s the time, however, to consolidate and formalize the organizational structure, and I hope to to launch our site and blog in the near future.

I’m also proud to say that veteran US-based gaming journalist Raymond “Psylancer” Padilla is an honorary member of AGJA. Psylancer, a former editor of GameSpy.com, is now the producer and co-host of this great web show called “Reset” on Yahoo! Games. Be sure to check out their E3 Special and the first regular “Reset” episode. His co-hosts are two lovely ladies who also happen to be great gamers, former GameSpy columnist Zoe Flower and Frag Dolls member Kat Hunter.

What some gamers might not know, however, is that not only is Raymond one of the most respected gaming journalists around, but he’s also Asian-American — he’s part-Filipino and yup, he and his family observe Filipino customs and he loves Filipino food.

Watch out for an upcoming feature story in hackenslash.

Man, I love Jade Empire on my Xbox! I finished the game thrice with Radiant Princess Sam (yeah, you can guess who she’s named after, hehe) to see the three different endings, then again as another character, Furious Flying Jin, who consistently followed the Way of the Closed Fist. For the review, however, I tried something different, and it just talks about Radiant Princess Sam because I wrote it before setting off on a new adventure.

Here’s an excerpt:

“You surprise me yet again. I’m a better teacher than I thought.”–Master Li

IS power worth the sacrifice of everyone you hold dear? This question is at the heart of the epic journey that takes you through the vastness of the mighty Jade Empire. It is a tale of unswerving loyalty and betrayal most foul, of unimaginable heights and unspeakable depths, of paths chosen and roads not taken.

Different adventurers will have different stories to tell about the wonders they have beheld in the Jade Empire, but this particular tale revolves around the experiences of the young woman whom we named Radiant Princess Sam, as seen through the eyes of two of her companions in this quest that decided the fate of the land ruled by Emperor Sun Hai.

Dawn Star: Hi, I’m Dawn Star and I play the part of the childhood friend.

Sagacious Zu: Hi, I’m Sagacious Zu and I play the part of the conflicted anti-hero.

Dawn: (looks at you with a slightly nervous smile) This is a… rather strange time and place. You wanted to talk about my friend, Radiant Princess Sam?

Zu: Who, strangely enough, happens to look exactly like Radiant Jen Zi. I suppose all beautiful, fast and deadly warriors look alike. Radiant Princess Sam isn’t a real princess, however; blame the father for giving her that name.

Read the rest.

That’s me (4th from left) next to fellow Asian Gaming Journalists Association (AGJA) member Cristina Peczon during the Ragnarok Philippine Championships 2005 grand finals. Yup, Cristina’s not only a newscaster but also an avid gamer and game reviewer. With us are AGJA members Ronald Panis (3rd from left) and Edwin Sallan (2nd from right), and CyberPress members Noel Mailum (extreme left), Edison Ong (2nd from left) and Melvin Calimag (extreme right).

Read my hackenslash story on RPC 2005 and the upcoming Level Up!/MTV Philippines TV program called “Massive” which will showcase the gamer lifestyle.