NIEL DAGONDON’S Two years quest

Niel Dagondon, 24, is excited. The computer game that his start-up company slaved for two years to create has been chosen as one of the 10 finalists in the 6th Independent Game Festival (IGF) in San Jose, California. The annual festival – the Sundance of the gaming world – is held during the Game Developers Conference to recognize independence game development. Their game, Anito: Defend a Land Enraged, was chosen among over a hundred entries from 18 countries. "Nabuhayan ako ng loob," says Niel. "Medyo confident na kaya ko sa labas. It means that people think it’s a good game."

Local gamers are excited about Anito not only because it is the first-ever Filipino-made video game but because it’s actually impressive. Set in the fictional land of Maroka, a Philippines-like land with caves, forests, and towns, it is a role-playing game (RPG) where players undergo various quests in pursuit of a goal. The goal is to bring peace to the land that has been conquered by Conquistador-like villains who arrived in Galleons.

Games Master, a local video gaming magazine, gave Anito an above average rating of 84 percent, in between more established games Disney’s Kingdom Hearts (86 percent) and the computer game version of The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (80 percent) and has called it "absolutely breathtaking."

The company has produced 3,000 copies of Anito, all of which have been sold out in stores like Datablitz, Electroworld, Filbars, Netopia, and Neutral Grounds. Niel says that they will have to sell 12,000 copies of the game locally for P750 apiece to recoup the P4 million – one million over the original budget – he has invested. This excludes distribution opportunities abroad, he claims. Whether they will recoup their investment is still a big mystery.

Josephine Oliver of video game retailer Datablitz says, "It’s selling pretty okay considering it’s a local game and has no international recognition. It’s in and out of the Top 10." Meanwhile, the pirates have actually already copied the game, retailing it at P100 to P200 apiece, says Niel.

For Niel and his team, it has been a big gamble all the way, starting a little over two years ago when he was still a computer engineering student from De La Salle University. He decided he wanted to "make a living out of our passion." With three friends, he raised the start-up capital from his personal savings – money he had earned from a post-production company he had put up while in De La Salle to cater to college students – and raised the rest through family and friends.

Niel admits to some early challenges (money problems, for example). His staff had to take salary cuts at some points and he had to spend money saved up for the down payment of his house as bridge capital. Also, the team could not generate enough confidence from corporate investors. "We tried to get an investor – iAyala. They looked at us and probably thought undergrads, no experience, people with no name, sobrang sketchy," Niel relates, laughing.

Also there were times when his family questioned his career choice, especially since he’s a married man with two children. "Proud but dubious" is how he describes his parents’ emotions. "Tinatapon mo ba ang buhay mo? Can you support a family?" they would ask him.

But he says, "We were all held up by the vision – creating a good, kick-ass game."

With nary a business plan and zero experience or technical know-how in the field, Niel and his team learned the ropes by reading books and surfing the Web. From their research, they also learned to focus on the role-playing genre (RPG), which depended more on storytelling than on high-tech graphics and complex programming that would have busted the bank. Also, they decided to create a game for PC and not for consoles like Sony PlayStation 2, which would have required them to pay gigantic licensing fees.

The team also gambled on an "ethnic Asian" theme for Anito hoping that this unique setting and characters would be its selling point globally. They were able to license the rights for Anito to a Russian gaming group and are currently negotiating the same with companies in Germany, Austria, and Poland. Their IGF nomination has already gotten them write-ups in influential gaming websites like Gamespot and IGN. UK-based magazine PC Gamer has already asked Niel for copies to review. Niel is hopeful that the publicity that will come with the nomination and a top award will get them a distribution or licensing deal in the United States as well.

Niel says his vision is for his company to be "a great games publisher that sells well" and to "bring out (of the country) games." He also believes that Filipinos can excel in this field. "Mahina tayo sa IT side," he says. "We have no experiences in gaming programming. But the artistic side is malakas."

To make ends meet until the next big project, Niel and his team are now concentrating on making games for cell phones and PDAs, a growing industry in the Philippines. Players who prefer mobile gaming can now play Anito on their Globe phones.

Meanwhile, Niel and his group are eagerly awaiting the results of the Independent Game Festival, where a top award can deliver rewards beyond their wildest dreams.

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If you are interested in distributing Anito, contact sales@aninoentertainment.com. Find out more about Anito and Anino at www.aninoentertainment.com; check out www.gamespot.com, www.ign.com, www.igf.com; read a review of Anito in the January issue of Games Master Philippines (for transparency’s sake, this writer also publishes Games Master magazine); and download a demo of the Anito at www.gamershell.com.