Woot!

I’ve been on gag about this for the longest time. This project is one of the “top secret” ones that I was working on. It’s also one of the (many) reasons why I go home late from work every night.

But at long last, the information is public and I can announce to the entire world that we, Level Up, have a new game. Please all welcome CRAZY KART – the Philippines’ first online casual racing game.

I was given the honor to head marketing for this game and I have the privilege to be one of the internal beta testers and I can say that WOWWW!!! This game is really fun and engrossing. With an easy to control interface, individual and team “battle mode” and lots of funky cars, power ups and “weapons” for you to use, I am confident that Crazy Kart will go places.

Game Features and the official announcement (and more screenshots) after the jump

CRAZY KART PHILIPPINES

• Game Type: Casual
• Genre: Racing (Cute)
• Developer: Shanda (China)
• Publisher: Level Up Philippines
• Business Model: Free-to-Play (Item Mall)
• Game Features
  • Free-to-Play
  • Medium System requirements (to be announced soon)
  • Individual or team-based race battles
  • Easy to learn
  • Easy to control (with drifting)
  • Lots of Cars to choose from
  • Personalize your avatars
  • Bet your points on races
  • Fun to play
• Official Site: http://www.crazykart.ph

Btw, we’re giving away an iPod Nano to those who would PRE-REGISTER FOR THE CLOSED BETA. Those who pre-reg will be emailed the link on where to download the CBT installer. Pre-registration is, of course, FREE! So tell all your friends!

Meanwhile, here’s the official announcement as published at the Level Up website

May 2008, Makati City, Philippines — Level Up!, the leading online gaming publisher in the Philippines, has always been at the forefront of successfully localizing the best online games from other countries to be played and enjoyed by Filipino gamers. Once again, the company has brought another game that will surely become a new craze in internet cafes: Crazy Kart!  

The arrival of Crazy Kart to the Philippines is the result of the recent partnership made by Level Up! and Shanda Interactive China, the developer of Crazy Kart.

“Level Up! is continuously on the look out for new games that will appeal to all our players”, explained Ben “Gameboss” Colayco, founder of Level Up! “When we heard about Shanda and their award-winning Crazy Kart game, we knew exactly what will be the next big thing to hit Level Up! and our local online gaming industry,” Colayco said.

In Shanghai China, Shanda is the most successful online gaming company; operating 15,000 network servers in 65 cities of China. Last year, Shanda earned $324.6 million from their online game revenues; this list also includes their roster of MMORPG’s as well as their casual games. Indeed, 2007 was a very prosperous year for Shanda. “Overall, 2007 was a prosperous year for Shanda, demonstrated by the success of the come-stay-pay revenue model, the diversification of our content offerings, and steady progress in developing a virtual community on our integrated operating platform. We are confident that our strong content portfolio and powerful operating platform will lead to scalable and sustainable growth for the Company in 2008,” said Tianqiao Chen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Shanda.

Tiangiao Chen has served as Shanda’s chairman and CEO since the company’s establishment in 1999. He is now branded as one of China’s wealthiest men and is directly responsible for the success of Shanda. Through his pioneering spirit, more and more Chinese players are now enjoying games developed by Shanda. And now, Filipinos will also able to experience a part of its success with its award-winning online racing game, Crazy Kart.

As the newest casual game ever to hit Philippine shores, Crazy Kart is an online kart racing game filled with rich, massive 3D atmosphere and lovable characters. Aside from FreeStyle, also by Level Up!, Crazy Cart is a breathe of fresh air from the abundance of MMORPGs  today.   

“We wanted to offer something different apart from all the other online games we had in the past”, stated Jane Walker, CEO of Level Up! Philippines. “Crazy Kart’s fun and interactive gameplay will appeal to everyone – simple enough for casual gamers to learn the controls like drifting; challenging enough to keep hardcore gamers entertained and come back for more! Crazy Kart will surely create a new massive fan-base and a breed of racing fans among Pinoy gamers”, Walker added. 

Lap after lap, players will enjoy countless hours of Crazy Kart since it’s FREE TO PLAY! Its exciting features include: a lineup of unique karts to customize and choose from; intense online battles where individuals or teams can challenge other players nationwide; colorful avatar drivers with different characteristics or personalities; an array of essential items to help boost a kart’s performance; and out-of-this-world race tracks for players to master their drifts.

And to make Crazy Kart’s arrival to the Philippines even more exciting, Level Up! also plans to further localize the game according to the taste of Pinoy gamers. Imagine, players will someday have the option to race familiar vehicles like the Pinoy jeepney or even race on famous Philippine locations.

Level Up! will begin the closed beta testing for Crazy Kart very soon. And with games like this arriving to the Philippines, Level Up! has definitely added another successful title to their library of existing hits. For more information about Crazy Kart, please check out the Crazy Kart Philippines teaser website, http://www.crazykart.ph. 

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One nice thing about this game is that we’re going to add Pinoy elements such as jeepneys, FX taxis and more. Familiar Pinoy maps will also be in development. More on this in the days to come.

Stay tuned for more news and updates about Crazy Kart. I’ll be uploading the official trailers to our youtube channel soon.

Meanwhile, please take the time to join my BLOG CONTEST (COMMUNITY Q&A) and get a chance to win Level Up Top Up cards!

The race is on! Ibang Trip ‘to!!!!