Why Korea Matters: Learning from Difference

Sony And Nintendo Expand In Asia

Sony and Nintendo (separately, of course) are the latest to look outside Japan toward the primarily PC-based online game market in Asia, each with several new business initiatives, reports the Nikkei.

Many companies in the game industry are prioritizing mainland Asian expansions as a way to grow their business and tap into the devoted game market there. According to the Nikkei, Nintendo has reportedly been supporting a South Korean developer who's doing a number of titles including a touch screen-based DS game.

The DS reportedly sold 1.4 million units in South Korea, and 2.6 million game titles. Nintendo is looking at Taiwan as well for DS sales, and will sell localized DS systems in cell phone stores there.

Thompson Financial also reported on what Sony's doing to catch some of that audience:

Atlantica Online Beta Announced

A Look At Nintendo DS Piracy In Korea

It's no secret that piracy — especially game piracy — is widespread in South Korean. While there is no data, Gamasutra's Nick Rumas points out that it's evident to anyone with "a pair of eyes." Rumas takes a look at how the R4 is used in Korea, writing:

In Korea, piracy of video games isn't limited to the hardcore crowd; it's everywhere, prevalent in every age group and economic class that exists. And beyond being a matter of money - of not wanting to spend money, that is - piracy for Koreans is, perhaps even foremost, a matter of convenience.

Interestingly, Rumas points out that many Korean R4 owners aren't even that tech savvy and simply purchase pre-loaded flash cards! Swing by Gamasutra and check out the article. There's some some good insights there and good questions asked about Nintendo's piracy fight in Korea.

Piracy In Korea [Gamasutra via Phantom Leap]

Hideo Kojima Appears On National Korean English Test

Hideo Kojima doesn't just make video games like Metal Gear Solid 4. Oh, no. Hideo Kojima also appears in an English test! Above is a national English aptitude test for Korean high school students, which mentions the famed game creator. The text selected is dated and is from circa 2002. Anyway! From the test:

The events of 38-year-old Hideo Kojima's life prepared him to design the amazing video game Metal Gear Solid 2. As a child growing up in Kobe, Japan he played outdoor games like thief-and-detective, peeking around corners in much the same way as Solid Snake, the hero of MGS2, does today. In middle school he wrote five 600-page science-fiction novels. When one of his friends brought a camera to school, Kojima took up filmmaking, using his camera. Then he charged neighborhood kids 50 yen each to see his own movies. By the time he reached college, he had worked for Nintendo to develop video games using film techniques and became famous as a video game designer.

Wait, wait. So little Kojima stole some other kid's camera to make movies and then charged other children 50 yen to see his movies? That explains a lot!

Hit the jump for the Korean text.

Interview: 'This Gaming Life' Travels Online Game Culture, Attitudes

Veteran UK game journalist Jim Rossignol, currently one of the Big Four at the Rock Paper Shotgun blog, has just published a book called 'This Gaming Life,' documenting his experiences in three different cities pursuing and documenting the culture of online games.

He covers the widespread competitive game scene in Korea, looks into Quake's evolving role in the London game scene, and visits Iceland to see the birthplace of EVE Online, to develop what he says is a story of "how games change the lives of gamers."

I thought the idea of a "travelogue" of game culture was interesting, so I asked Jim a few questions about the book, and his experiences.

Korea Getting That "Very, Very" Limited Edition MGS4 Pack, Too!

Koreans! That Special Limited Edition Metal Gear Solid 4 bundle? That's coming your way. The premium pack includes the 40GB, a DualShock 3, Metal Gear Solid 4 special edition and a special Blu-ray movie. This bundle sold out in Japan and was also offered in America for pre-order. While the number of bundles hasn't been confirmed, Kojima Productions associate producer Ryan Payton said, "We're not kidding around when we say 'limited edition'." Guess they had enough for Korea!
Thanks, Chris for the tip!

Nintendo Wii Not Exactly Setting Korea On Fire

America? America loves the Nintendo Wii. Europe? Ditto. And Japan? Man, Japan is bonkers for the Wii. What about Korea? The country finally has an official Nintendo of Korea branch after years of going through shady third party distributors. According to Korean site GameShot.net, the Wii's first month performance there is only 35,000 units sold out of the 50,000 units released by Nintendo. For game software, Wii Sports sold 30,000 copies, while Swing Golf Pangya and Zack & Wiki each sold about 8,000 copies. FIFA sold 2,000 copies. It seems Korean gamers have better things to do than play Wii Sports — things like waiting for StarCraft II.

How The Wii Is Doing [GameShot.net Thanks, Torokun for the tip and translation!]

EA Buys Korean Mobile RPG Dev

In an effort to grown their mobile business in Korea's massive gaming market, Electonic Arts is purchasing the assets of Hands-On Mobile Korea and turning it into EA Mobile Korea.

The Korean mobile developer and publisher is best known for their mobile role-playing game Heroes Lore.

“This acquisition is a major milestone in growing our mobile business in Asia,” said Barry Cottle, Senior Vice President and General Manager EA Mobile. “Hands-On Mobile Korea brings us a great leadership team, proven studio talent, and outstanding carrier and OEM handset manufacturer relationships.”

While mobile gaming and it's plethora of platforms continues to fail to substantially tap it's mammoth market, it must be heartening for that industry to see a company as large as EA show such interest.

Bill Gates visited South Korea earlier this month, and as is the custom when rich people visit powerful people, he had some gifts made up for everyone he stopped in to say hi to. No lapel pins or expensive wine here, though. No, when Bill went around for tea and buscuits with the President of South Korea, Lee Myung-bak, he gave the man an Xbox 360. And a very nice one at that! Designed by Korean company Gookbo, the custom 360 is decorated with "mother-of-pearl ume flowers and butterflies", and is called "Peace". Oh, and it's meant to symbolise, of all things, "patience and perseverance".

Bill Gates gifts Xbox inlaid with traditional Korean mother-of-pearl to Korean President [Fareastgizmos, via Gizmodo]

China's The9 Acquiring Stake in Korea's G10

Pro Gamers Carrying Olympic Torch

Time to carry the Olympic Torch. Who are you going to choose? Pro gamers! That's right, famous pro Warcraft III gamers Jae Ho "Moon" Jang and Li "Sky" Xiaofeng will be carrying it and will be joined by StarCraft players Junchun "Pj" Sha and Lei "Leilei" Shen. No clue when these gamer luminaries will be carrying the torch, but probably sometime before it reaches Beijing.

Is it me or is pro gaming is so 2007?
Moon, Sky Carry [GGL Thanks, Craig!]

Korea Goes Totally Overboard With Zack & Wiki Promo

Wii Launches In Korea On April 26

"This milestone wouldn't have been possible for us to achieve without the incredible support of our publishing partner, Hanbitsoft, and our dedicated community in Korea."

Sega Korea Is Gone, That's It, Bye Bye

Wii Launching in Korea Soon

We will make an official announcement once we are all ready.

CDC Games Bringing Digimon MMO to North America