Here’s an excerpt from the article.

1. Could you tell us something about yourself? How old are you? Where are you located and what are you currently engaged in?

I’m the Multimedia Head of the leading Philippine online game publisher Level Up! Inc. (http://levelupgames.ph). As head of the Multimedia department, I create and oversee the company’s strategy for online, video and mobile content and services. I’m also a tech blogger (http://asia.cnet.com/blogs/babelmachine) for Singapore-based CNET Asia. Prior to joining the corporate world, I was the multimedia editor of INQUIRER.net, handling, among other responsibilities, its gaming news site hackenslash.net.

2. When was the first time you actually played a video game? What’s the name of the game and game system? What or who made you play?

The first system I played on was the Famicom — yup, the Family Computer. I played Galaga and Road Fighter. It was my uncle who owned the Famicom and got me hooked on video games. I also played on the Game and Watch a lot — the titles I owned included Popeye, Octopus, Fire, and Lion. I mastered Popeye to the point that I played it with the Game and Watch turned upside down, much to my dad’s consternation, heh.

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Thanks!

Then follow Level Up!’s social media coverage of RWC 2009.

Here’s an excerpt from my Level Up! blog post.

To get updates on the RWC 2009 results, become a fan of the official Level Up! Page on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/levelupinc

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Good luck to Team Philippines!

Here’s an excerpt from my latest CNET Asia blog.

Hello Kitty is the world’s most famous feline character–sorry, Sylvester, Tom, Felix and Garfield–who is at the center of a billion-dollar empire that spans across nations, generations and multimedia platforms.

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For Filipino online gamers, all roads lead to the World Trade Center in Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City every year. This is the venue of the biggest online gaming event in the Philippines, Level Up! LIVE, which this year will be held from Nov. 7-8.

As I blogged last year, LU! LIVE is the country’s premiere online gaming event, offline and online. I’m not just saying that because I joined Level Up! last year as their multimedia head–people in the Philippines have known this for years, and the numbers speak for themselves. Last year, LU! LIVE had over 20,000 attendees at the actual event, while online we had over 12,000 unique readers following the action via the live blog, and 55,000 viewers from 27 countries watching the live video stream.

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See GM Cydie on live video while chatting with her on the Live Blog. Click here to go to the Live Blog page and see the complete 3-6 pm schedule.

Also guesting are Ragnarok GM Yuffiel and Master Spriter Chris Ruiz, the artist behind some of your favorite Ragnarok virtual items. Plus we’ll show the videos we took when we covered Ozine Fest ’09.

The live video stream will also be simulcast on CUBEiTV, which is Channel 11 on Global Destiny cable TV.

Don’t miss it!

Click on this LU! article for the full details and help spread the word.

Thanks!

Joining us today were GMs Misty and HatTrick of Freestyle, GMs DriftKing and SlingShot of Crazy Kart, and GM Atma of Flyff with GM HatTrick in the Ask Dr. Love-Atma segment, with special guest appearances by GM Winter of Flyff and GM Misty.

Joining us tomorrow at 10 am will be GM Anael, who will talk about the Top 10 Romantic Places in Ragnarok. At 11 am, GMs Mac and Cassiel of Grand Chase will talk about the new Dragon Knight job. At 4 pm, it’s our Rohan Philippines segment as GMs Krieger and Fahriedune give you the lowdown on the closed beta test. Then, at 5 pm, our guest will be Monio, the first and only server lord (Iblis) of Flyff, who will be inducted into Game Heroes.

Tomorrow is the last day of My LU! Valentine, but don’t worry because starting next week, we’ll have regular LIVE! The Show video chats every week. Stay tuned for more details.

Our guests on Day 1 were GMs Atma and Winter of Flyff, GM Anael of Ragnarok Online, GM MeiShen of Perfect World (with GM Atma of Flyff and GM HatTrick of Freestyle joining her), and GMs Cydie and Vessago of RF Online (with GM Misty of Freestyle making a guest appearance).

Players had fun seeing the GMs on live video while chatting with them via the live blog, and apart from enjoying the show, they had the chance to win prizes provided by our sponsors. Today we gave away an Intel digital media player, in-game items from Flyff and Ragnarok, and an Epraizer MP3 player. Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks again to everyone who watched the online show and joined our live blog. We really appreciate your support. Tune in again tomorrow at 10 am as we kick things off with the live video chat with GMs Misty and HatTrick of Freestyle, who will talk about Freestyle 2. At 11 am, GMs DriftKing of Crazy Kart will talk about the Grand Prix Tour. GM Atma and GM HatTrick will host the Dr. Love-Atma segment at 4 pm, followed by GM MeiShen in PW Lovapalooza at 5 pm.

Have fun watching LIVE! The Show: My LU! Valentine!

Pardon the shameless plug, but my goal is to share our own experience in using social networks and multimedia to generate buzz and deliver information on the highly anticipated massively multiplayer online role-playing game that our company is bringing to the Philippines this February, Rohan Online.

I think the important thing for companies to remember in this digital age is that apart from traditional channels such as mainstream media, the Web has empowered us with powerful and relatively inexpensive tools for directly reaching out to our audience and engaging them in a conversation. These tools, such as social networks, are not meant to replace but rather complement the role that traditional media plays in our overall communication strategy. In the face of the global economic slowdown, however, companies will have to become even more creative in taking advantage of the free tools that are available online instead of just relying on above-the-line promotion.

How about you, how are you using social media?

We’re holding the very first Level Up! Valentine online show on Feb. 11-13 and you’re all invited!

See the GMs of the different Level Up! games and our guests on live video and chat with them via the Live Blog.

Click here for more details.

Have a great weekend!