... For Kim, the business model is step two. "In terms of our products doing well, it's that our games are very fun, and I think that's the core to all games that are going to be successful in terms of the business model we're in," he says. "It's one of the most competitive markets out there, because we're selling free. So unless your game is good, nobody's going to play it. There are a lot of free games, so your game really has to be very good. And once the game concept is good, then you build the business model around it. So those business models never took off because the games weren't fun. We all understand we're working with a hit-driven market and we're fortunate. I think in Korea, there are only four products that have broken the 200,000 concurrent user level. Three of those games are ours."

Nexon is not without criticism - KartRider bears a rather striking resemblance to Mario Kart, and MapleStory has left plenty of people saying 'No thanks' - but there's no question that they're a company to keep an eye on, even outside of their home turf of Korea. We'll see if they can manage their stated goal of creating the next Mario-like characters in terms of popularity and visibility.

Q & A: Nexon's Min Kim on KartRider, MapleStory and Things to Come [Worlds In Motion]

Another week, another Korean MMO heading to foreign shores: this time, it's South Korean company Nexon's Mario Kart knock-off, KartRider. A casual racing game, it follows the free to download, free to play model that's popular in Asia, making money off the assumption that people will purchase upgrades and modifications to their vehicle. The North American closed beta launched on 1 May.

Nexon announced a few months ago that they wanted to propel two of their characters to worldwide Mario-esque popularity levels using games like KartRider. I'll believe they can do it when I see it. Maggie Greene

Nexon America to Launch Global Online Game KartRider in North America [via PlayNoEvil]

Nintendo's a little late getting into Korea. Scratch that. Nintendo is WAY late. The company didn't have an official branch until last summer, and before that, gamers had to buy products at inflated prices from shady distributor Daewon C.I. Not only that, Nintendo is going up against online gaming, which is huge in Korea. Says the branch's new president Koda Mineo:

So our new strategy is to increase the number of gamers by introducing light, easy and fun games, which can be played by anyone regardless of their sex, age and skill.

Not exactly new, but it's worked for Nintendo, well, pretty much everywhere. Localized versions of Brain Training and English Training will be released with the Lite launches on January 18th. For street cred, the company has roped in actor Jang Dong-gun as spokesperson and have enlisted Kart Rider developer Nexon to make a DS Lite version of the online hit Maple Story. A rumored image appears above. Koda adds:

We don't know how successful we will be in Korea. Literally, we began from scratch and are now focusing on letting Korean gamers know about how much fun our games are.

Took ya long enough, Nintendo! Brian Ashcraft

Nintendo's Korea Chances? [The Korea Times]
Maple Story Pic [Go Nintendo]

The country's most popular online racing game Kart Rider has fallen to *gasp* seventh place in Korean online game rankings last week. Traditionally, the title appealed to all gamers and has held strong at second place. World of Warcraft came in at first, followed by FPS Sudden Attack, Lineage and Lineage II. The real question is when is Korea gonna get sick of StarCraft? Brian Ashcraft

More Here [The Korea Times]

iRiver's PSP killer (almost dead, sorry) has been kicking about since last fall. Dubbed the G10, the multimedia device has 3D graphics processing and a purdy 262k color screen. Korean electronics site AVING.net has pics up of a very slick working model. The portable drops in Korea this August. Bring on the Kart Rider!

More Here [Aving.net] Thanks, Torokun!

Do American gamers still drink Jolt to get through those epic gaming sessions, or has some new fizzy elixir taken its place since I was last in the country? There should be more soft drinks that market to gamers, desperate for another surge of energy to get through the last leg of that WoW leg. In that regard, the Koreans have the right idea, as evidenced by this ad for Enerzen (pronounced Energen, apparently) that is specifically marketed to the racing fanatics who play the Korean MMOG Kart Rider.

The translated pitch? All of Youth, It is time for taking Enerzen. While your competitors are sleeping, You, brave new worker(!), should recharge your energy for the win. *nod* Makes sense! - Florian Eckhardt

Recharge yourself for the win! [Gamestudy]