Only about 300 people were invited, but thousands turned out Aug. 30 at Sovanna shopping centerfor “JXII live”—the largest Justice XWar 2 party of the year, said Chap Chandanin, CIDC Information Technology (CIDC-IT) human resources assistant and administrator.
The JXII game is manufactured by CIDC-IT’s “Sabay” brand. JXII is a popular Asian action-adventure fantasy game played on the Internet that is set in ancient China, when the Song Dynasty and Liao Dynasty fought legendary wars. When the game begins, the kingdoms rein chaos, reeling from internal rebellions and foreign threats.
Players can earn points that allow them to progress to higher levels either by successfully answering questions that test their knowledge of the game or by winning battles that test their master of marital arts. They can also earn gold, which they can use to buy items such as clothes and weapons in the virtual world.
Besides engaging in combat, players can form friendships, fall in love and even marry if they choose. In gaming jargon, JXII is known as a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).
Prak Anorn, has been playing JXII for about five or six months now. He’s managed to reach level 72 of the game, which he believes goes to level 90. The 12-year-old spends about two to three hours every Saturday and Sunday playing the game. But he insists it doesn’t affect his school work because he only plays on the weekend.
Bun So Meng Hong, 15 and a Phsar Derm Thakav high school student, say he plays JXII about two hours a day at an Internet café. He began playing about four months ago and has reached level 53. Many of those who attended the JXII party took part in friendly and spirited competitions with prizes awarded to the best players. They also had the chance to enter their names in lucky draws for phones and T-shirts.
Besides free game testing and the gift give-aways, gamers were treated to performances from top Cambodian Hip Hop artists such as Pou Klaing, Youngster and DJ ADDA, who told Economics Today she unveiled three new songs just for the occasion even though she doesn’t actually know how to play JXII. Since the “beta” launch of JXII in Cambodia late in 2007, over 15,000 players have entered the exotic virtual world of ancient China to try to prove their bravery, cunning and mastery of martial arts.
©Boramey
Make a move for Khmer New Year!
{ May 6, 2009 @ 9:51 am } · { Cambodia }
{ Tags: Commentary, Khmer New Year } · { Comments (1) }
Three words that you have to think of for the upcoming Khmer New Year are “Make a Move”! Be well prepared or you may taste a lonesome New Year. Beggars and even better-off persons are going to make a move, so why not you?
First of all plan a move. Phnom Penh may look like an abandoned city as most of the residents are leaving for their hometown. Most parts of the town are quiet. You should set up a plan and make sure you have somebody to stay with if you don’t want to be haunted in this hushed city.
Then make your move before New Year. If you need clothes or anything, you’d better go shopping at least two weeks or one month earlier as everything may be the double price. Save some money so you can afford to buy a rain coat to protect yourself from water-throwing on New Year’s day.
Beside, you can enjoy a lot of music from your neighbors to celebrate, sometimes even weeks before the big day. It may bother you but it can save electricity from having to turn on your music player. However, don’t enjoy it too much like the cicadas. Go find some foods to store like ants. Most markets will be closed for three days, and you have to be prepared if you don’t want to look skinny after New Year.
While a market is a daily kitchen for street-boys, they usually eat the foods that are left from people, so where else is their reserved kitchen if it is closed? Well, that is why they too have to make a move. Neither far from a market nor outside town, pagodas are their temporary kitchen. There is going to be plenty of food that people bring to pray for the monks. Lucky for those guys, even though they are not monks, they can share the monks’ food. For the moment those guys are around, you should move watch your shoes too. There always shoes stolen but no court to judge besides issuing these two words: “be careful.”
After these preparations, it should be time to move for your New Year fun. Although the town is quiet, there are also some places that can entertain you. Wat Phnom is one remarkable area where many people play popular games and dance. However, make sure you join a real popular game, not a popular gambling game, if you don’t want to spend your time in detention.
At sundown, many people join this celebration but among those huge crowds, there are bad people who take advantage of innocent people like you. Don’t be careless with your property. With only few police versus large groups of people you’d better bring only a little money, no phone nor nice shoes if you don’t want to go back home with an empty pocket and one shoe. A special alert for women is to bring a male-guard so you won’t experience a stranger’s dirty hand with baking powder on your face like me.
For those who go to the countryside, you should pay much attention to the road. In previous years, people have died when escaping from water-throwing and got into accidents, some with broken necks and unconsciousness. So, you had better stay calm and make a smart move if you still want to join the next New Year.
©Boramey