ABU DHABI // Manny Pacquiao, the rags-to-riches world champion boxer, film star, songbird and politician, can add a new role to his CV. This month he will star in a martial arts video game developed in Abu Dhabi.
Pound for pound is a story-driven game that will be released on iTunes this month to coincide with the Filipino's November 12 fight in Las Vegas against Juan Manuel Marquez.
The story follows a comic book-style narrative illustrated by hand-drawn pictures inspired by Asian comics. When Pacquiao's childhood friend, the beautiful Maricel, is kidnapped in a village raid, he ventures to the city to battle a kingpin and his henchmen.
The game costs $US2.99 (Dh11) and will be available for use on the iPad and iPod touch this month, with versions to come for Android and Facebook in the future.
When it came to the story, game developers had to learn about Pacquiao's personality as well as his fighting style. As the plot progressed, the developers Omar Jamal and David Ortiz would phone Pacquiao's friends to ask them: "What would Manny do?"
"I had to study Manny as a person: his background, what is he like outside of boxing, learn a lot about where he comes from, what his cultural values are, what he's like so I could make it authentic before I did the concept phase," said Mr Jamal, the game's art director. "So that's why it takes all this time to come up with an original story that is not going to be hurtful to his values. Once we had this, we started going through the whole process of putting it into a creative perspective."
The pair studied hours of training videos to learn how Pacquiao moves outside the ring. His victory pose in the game comes from a video of him goofing off in the gym.
"We mimic some of the moves that he actually has in his real life, his boxing life. It's a special stance that he has," Mr Jamal said. "We studied the way that he walks, the way that he carries himself, how he walks, how he interacts as a person and we incorporated those elements into the game so that people get to see it's him and not just a boxer."
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More on the Manny Pacquiao Story
• Interactive: The Manny Pacquiao story
• Pacquiao's promoters keen to push through fight in Abu Dhabi
• Manny Pacquiao's greatest fights
• The biog: Manny Pacquiao
• Manny Pacquiao page
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Boxing moves cannot be the focus of the game because Electronic Arts, the biggest video game company in the world, has the exclusive rights to boxing formatting. Instead, Manny's moves have been incorporated into street fighting combinations with moves such as the dragon uppercut, the whirlwind kick and crushing skull. Despite these bone-rattling names, the fighting game is unique in that it is bloodless and has no weapons, out of respect for Pacquiao's values.
"Our hero is a reluctant fighter," Mr Jamal said. "He's a humble guy, he's the people's defender. In real life, Manny is a very pious person. If you cannot do it with your hands, he doesn't believe in it so you don't see any swords, you don't see any nunchucks, you don't see any actual weapons."
James Gregorio, 27, an insurer, was disappointed to hear that the game was bloodless. "I love to see the red stuff going in and out. It will be a hit if they put blood in it," he said.
"He's a hero. Being Filipino gives a lot of honour to us. He made it huge in his career as a boxer, he's an idol and we love him so much."
Winning combinations in the game earn golden points for gear that gives Pacquiao extra powers: gloves for strength, shoes for stamina and dress for vitality. These powers can also be purchased online for a dollar or two. Pacquiao's only "weapon" is the karate-style foot covers he has, which are made of metal.
It is the second game released by Kakanda games, a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media, which also owns The National.
Pound for pound is their first smartphone game, allowing it to have a sharper resolution than other online games. The game will be available in Arabic, English, Tagalog, Spanish and Portuguese. The game was a long-term dream for Mr Jamal and Mr Ortiz, boxing fans who have followed Pacquiao for years.
But not all fans of the fighter were excited to hear about the game.
Rondale Gonzales, 28, a Filipino gamer who describes Pacquiao as "a religion", said the story did not sound strong enough.
"They're using his celebrity to make it famous," Mr Gonzales said. "If it's Manny Pacquiao saving a village and street fighting everybody, it doesn't make sense. A good role playing game would be based on a good setting and a good script. At the end of the game you need a great story."
The lack of blood also left him unimpressed.
"Why do you want to make a video game which is meant to be violent and then in the end just don't use weapons?"
azacharias@thenational.ae
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Company%20Profile
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Wicked
Director: Jon M Chu
Stars: Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 285hp @ 6,400rpm
Torque: 347Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.6L to 10.3L / 100km
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Company%20Profile
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Citadel: Honey Bunny first episode
Directors: Raj & DK
Stars: Varun Dhawan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Kashvi Majmundar, Kay Kay Menon
Rating: 4/5
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
if you go
The flights
Air Astana flies direct from Dubai to Almaty from Dh2,440 per person return, and to Astana (via Almaty) from Dh2,930 return, both including taxes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Ritz-Carlton Almaty cost from Dh1,944 per night including taxes; and in Astana the new Ritz-Carlton Astana (www.marriott) costs from Dh1,325; alternatively, the new St Regis Astana costs from Dh1,458 per night including taxes.
When to visit
March-May and September-November
Visas
Citizens of many countries, including the UAE do not need a visa to enter Kazakhstan for up to 30 days. Contact the nearest Kazakhstan embassy or consulate.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Teams
Punjabi Legends Owners: Inzamam-ul-Haq and Intizar-ul-Haq; Key player: Misbah-ul-Haq
Pakhtoons Owners: Habib Khan and Tajuddin Khan; Key player: Shahid Afridi
Maratha Arabians Owners: Sohail Khan, Ali Tumbi, Parvez Khan; Key player: Virender Sehwag
Bangla Tigers Owners: Shirajuddin Alam, Yasin Choudhary, Neelesh Bhatnager, Anis and Rizwan Sajan; Key player: TBC
Colombo Lions Owners: Sri Lanka Cricket; Key player: TBC
Kerala Kings Owners: Hussain Adam Ali and Shafi Ul Mulk; Key player: Eoin Morgan
Venue Sharjah Cricket Stadium
Format 10 overs per side, matches last for 90 minutes
Timeline October 25: Around 120 players to be entered into a draft, to be held in Dubai; December 21: Matches start; December 24: Finals
Pakistanis%20at%20the%20ILT20%20
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Company%20profile
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More from UAE Human Development Report:
FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
2020 Oscars winners: in numbers
- Parasite – 4
- 1917– 3
- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
- Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood – 2
- American Factory – 1
- Bombshell – 1
- Hair Love – 1
- Jojo Rabbit – 1
- Judy – 1
- Little Women – 1
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) – 1
- Marriage Story – 1
- Rocketman – 1
- The Neighbors' Window – 1
- Toy Story 4 – 1
The Scale for Clinical Actionability of Molecular Targets
Company%20Profile
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Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Indika
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Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
HOW DO SIM CARD SCAMS WORK?
Sim swap frauds are a form of identity theft.
They involve criminals conning mobile phone operators into issuing them with replacement Sim cards, often by claiming their phone has been lost or stolen
They use the victim's personal details - obtained through criminal methods - to convince such companies of their identity.
The criminal can then access any online service that requires security codes to be sent to a user's mobile phone, such as banking services.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
