You will learn the meaning between winning and being a champion. To win, you merely have to cross the finish line first. To be a champion, you have to inspire admiration for your character, as well as for your physical talents. You have to compete in the spirit of fair play, respecting your opponents and the rules, without doping or any other unfair advantage. If you can reach that pinnacle, if you are ready to serve as role models for your generation, then you will all be champions irrespective of your rankings – IOC President Jacques Rogge’s speech to mark the openings of the Youth Olympic Games.

Unlike the usual parades of the different participating contingents at major Games’ opening ceremony, the competitors joined the 27,000 audiences in the stands to celebrate a historic moment and was treated to a stunning performance showcasing Singapore’s multiracial cultures and the Olympic values as well as display of spectacular fireworks!

Representatives from the athletes, the umpires and the coaches taking the Olympic Pledge.

The moment everyone was eagerly anticipating the whole night finally arrived as tension filled the air when torch bearers passed on the Olympic Flame in its final stretch towards lighting the Olympic cauldron.

Two-time world champion sailor Darren Choy running across a reflecting pool and lowered the torch towards the base of the lighthouse.  This will surely be a moment Darren will remember for the rest of his life.

The flame quickly shot up the 32m high cylindrical structure and light up the Youth Olympic Cauldron. For the first time, the Olympic flame burn on this tiny red dot of an island and it will burn brightly until 26 August.

To all the athletes who came here to achieve your dreams of Citius, Altius, Fortius, do it in style and do it with Friendship, Excellence and Respect. Let the Games Begin!

Here we take a look at some of the Cosplayers in their full glory and can you guess who the winner is?

Watch the video and find out who the winners are.

In this second edition of the GCA, the organizer wants you to Inspire Yourself in this “Digital Media Gateway of Asia”. As promised, I was there to cover the event and bring you the sights and sounds of the the virtual world at GCA 2008.

If you had missed last years Games Convention Asia 2007, or the World Cyber Games 2008 held just last month, you are in for a special gaming treat. Get a feel of the local gaming scene as I hit the show floor and lost myself in yet-to-be-released games demo and newly launched games demo like Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Guitar hero World Tour, FIFA Online 2, to name a few.

GCA 2008 is definitely bigger and better than GCA 2007, and the show floor layout and especially the lightings inside the exhibition hall was so much improved over the poor lighting that was encountered in the same hall at WCG 2008. Join me as I walked through the show floor in the videos below.

Games Convention Asia (GCA) is the “Digital Media Gateway of Asia.” Described as the only event in the Asia-Pacific region enabling the interactive entertainment and digital media industries to network and interact with publishers, developers, distributors and corporate clients while showcasing their latest products and services to the public, GCA serves as the platform for Asian publishers, developers and distributors to present their work on an international level. The conference also acts as an entryway for companies seeking to enter the Asian interactive entertainment market.

I can’t believe it’s been a year since I attended GCA 2007 and blog about it here, sharing with you the sights and sounds of the exciting debut event. In 2007 the first Games Convention Asia attracted 70,000 public visitors and 1,000 professional visitors and media representatives, and GCA 2008 promises to be even bigger and better!

The breath taking fascination of the virtual world at Games Convention Asia in Singapore is the must-see and try experience for every keen gamer. GCA is the place to meet for entertainment-interested maniacs in the Asia-Pacific region.

Having attended the World Cyber Games 2008 (Asian Championship) and AsiaSoft Game Fest 2008 earlier this year, where I had so much fun enjoying the games and the colorful events, I’m really looking forward to emerging myself in the virtual world at GCA 2008!

Adopting a racing theme this year, WCG2008 is the Game Festival of the year here in Singapore. The event is more than just watching top gamers from the region fight it out in popular games like DOTA All-Stars, FIFA08, and Virtual Fighter 5, among others.

There were exciting fringe activities like Fastest Geek competition, CosCon 2008 and Racing Kiddo contest. WCG 2008 Asian Championship was not just for the gamers, visitors young and old were not forgotten by the organizers.

I remembered when the WCG2005 Grand Final was here back in 2005, I had a very enjoyable experience watching top gamers pitting their skills against each other on stage and the online actions were beamed live on giant screens.

Hence, it was with high expectations that I went to this year’s WCG but came back with a few disappointments. First and the most visual gripe, the venue suffered from very poor lighting. As you can see from the video, the competition zone and the main stage area were very dark and it wasn’t the most ideal of conditions for my low-end video camera. On the other hand, the sponsor’s booth over at Samsung was too brightly lit and the lighting contrast really shows up in the video.

Secondly, I didn’t get to see any game’s final being played out on stage during the afternoon I was there. It was a disappointing irony indeed.

Thirdly, and due entirely my fault in getting the timing wrong, I missed the Cosplay competition and can only record the video of the Cosplayers mingling and enjoying their own little party outside the exhibition halls. It was the first time I’ve seen so many non-press photographers out in full force trying to get their best shots of the Cosplayers and their colorful costumes. Their DSLRs and high-end prosumers made me feel so inferior with my out dated point-and-shoot digital camera.

During the 3 days event, members of the public were able to try out new and exciting AsiaSoft games in the demo booths, watched the action heat up in the competitions, have fun with the fringe activities and take home exclusive AsiaSoft GameFest freebies!

For more pictures, view my slide show.

I was there on the third day to watch gamers pit their online gaming skills in the exciting Monster Carnival Showdown and slug it out for honour in Rise of the Champions battle. It was indeed a great celebration of games and gaming in this very colorful Game Fest. Watch the short video which I put together of this event.

Three years after the successful hosting of the World Cyber Games in 2005, Singapore will be hosting the World Cyber Games Asian Championship this year.

The WCG Singapore 2008, which is scheduled to take place from 7th to 10th of August, at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, will see local gamers battling on the first 2 days for the rights to represent Singapore. The Asian Championship will take place on the 9th and 10th of August will see elite gamers from 14 different countries across Asia battling each other.

Stay tune as I’ll be covering the event to bring you the sights and sounds of the relentless online actions and the very popular and colorful Cosplay competition.

Rule the Game. Online
Take your team online and go head-to-head against players from around the world. Whether its one-vs.-one, co-operative 2-vs.-2, or the thrill of an 8 player tournament, there’s always a way for you to show the competition why everyone calls you “Ace.”

Register for the Exhibition Kickoff (CBT), our free two-week trial, and explore everything EA SPORTS™ FIFA Online 2 has to offer.

Minimum specs:

CPU: PENTIUM 3 1.3GHZ or equivalent
RAM: 512MB
HARD DISK: 2 GB free
OS: Windows 2000 SP4
DIRECTX: DirectX 9.0c or better

SOUND: DirectX 9.0c or compatible card
INTERNET: Broadband connection

VIDEO: DirectX 9.0c compatible card with 64 MB or more video memory and one of the following chipsets: ATI Radeon 7500 or better; NVIDIA GeForce3, GeForce4Ti or better; Intel 915, 945/950

Are you ready to take me on?