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Kotaku East
Catching Up with South Korea’s Cosplaying Superstars
Spiral Cats. How and why. Here is the simple answer. The famed cosplay group burst onto the scene a few years ago, and with their picture perfect costumes, professional quality photos, and that subtle charm called allure, people began to take notice online, which coincided with Spiral Cats’ initial goal of raising awareness of the…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Queens Blade MMORPG Has Sexy Women, No Apostrophe, Few Scruples
The new adults only MMORPG by Korean developer LivePlex is called Queens Blade, sans apostrophe. That’s how it’s printed in the upper left hand corner of the game’s homepage, which reads “The Queens Blade is registered trademark of LivePlex.” The game has nothing to do with the Queen’s Blade you may know, but it’s going…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
When Games Force You to Read Books in Korea
In the top picture, you can see a yellow rubber band running around the case of a Korean copy of Red Dead Redemption. That rubber band came free with a used copy of that game, and it holds together the disc case and a booklet in the back. That booklet is the Korean translation of…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
South Korea and the Missing Video Game Section
The Korean peninsula, June 2009. I could feel electricity in the air. I was excited to be here. I got settled, and I plugged in my Xbox 360’s power cable to an adapter that I bought for $10 at the airport. That went into the outlet in the wall and two seconds later, I heard…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Former Miss Korea Becomes Game Character (It’s Not What You Think)
Kim Sa-rang, a Korean actress (Secret Garden) and the 2000 winner of Miss Korea, has entered into mutual symbiosis with MMORPG DK Online: The Legend of Dragon Knights. Kim agreed to model for a DK Online photoshoot and commercial, and there are further plans for Kim to lend her voice as an NPC in the…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Korean Baseball Players Are Walking Video Game Advertisements Now
In a press conference on March 19, Nexon (Maple Story, Kart Rider) revealed its official sponsorship of popular Korean baseball team the Lotte Giants. How popular is “popular,” you ask? If the figures in this article from last year are correct, the Lotte Giants’ popularity is Batman serious business, and here’s the kicker: Starting from…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku EastWhat a Korean Pop Song Can Teach Us About Video Game Sequels
I’m going to ask you to think about K-pop Girls’ Generation (SNSD)’s song “Gee”. You know, “Gee, gee, gee, gee, baby, baby, baby…” Now that you have that song stuck in your head again, check out the English remix by an American pop-rock band called Nylon Pink in the above video. For research purposes, I’ve…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
League of Legends is the New StarCraft in Korea [CORRECTED]
I guess Koreans are finally starting to get sick of StarCraft II and Fifa Online 2, because League of Legends (LoL) has made its way to the top spot in e-sports tournaments, replacing StarCraft II. Professional broadcasters as well as sponsors are now supporting LoL, which may be an effort to improve stagnating expansion of…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
How Do You Lure Kids to a Power Rangers Beta Test? Pizza.
A Power Rangers Online exists in Korea, which is about to enter its second closed beta testing phase from March 29 to April 4. Somebody thought it would be brilliant to lure students to test their game with the promise of pizza; the top ten school classes with the most applications for the beta test…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Online Gaming Officially Makes You an Internet Addict in Korea
The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) in South Korea released the results of last year’s survey aimed at studying the causes of internet addiction. The Ministry conducted the study from October to December 2011, which was just around the time when Korean news began to report on school violence. The possible link between…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku EastAll You Need to Punch a Stranger is a $9,000 Watch
An old man in the subway car near the seats reserved for the elderly, the handicapped, and pregnant women, grips the rack above with one hand; next to him is an older hiker, weighed down by heavy gear on his back, who carries his jacket, a second bag, and his age like a shield in…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Conquering the World with Flying Penguins
Based in Seoul, Korea and Los Angeles, California, Gamevil describes itself as a world class leader in mobile game publishing. While “world class leader” is sometimes the language of arrogance or deceit, Gamevil was able to show the rest of the Korean mobile market this month that it can back its claims with numbers. That…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Yes, Ghost and Goblins Online Really Exists. It Needs Testers, Too.
Live in Korea? Want to play Ghosts’n Goblins with a friend online? Capcom and Korean publishing partner Seed9 Games offer you Ghosts’n Goblins Online. They are looking for testers for its second closed beta test, which will run from March 6 to March 11. You have until March 4 to sign up. Capcom says that…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
From Generic Bullet Fodder to Distinguished Heroes: Koreans in Video Games.
“Are you a North Korean?” I’ve been asked this question as often in America as I’ve been asked by Koreans if I own a gun, because all Americans own guns. The answer to both is “no”. The two questions are too absurd to be borne, and the answer to both questions is obvious, but if…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Every Korean Gets Wi-Fi. For Free.
On February 28, LG U+, the mobile and telecommunications subsidiary of one of Korea’s largest conglomerates, has made it possible for anybody living in South Korea to access free Wi-Fi services, regardless of carrier subscription. All you have to do is register for an ID with LG U+ and you can connect to LG U+’s…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Seven-Year Old Draws the Only iPhone Manual You’ll Ever Need
This manual for the iPhone, drawn by a 7-year old, has been delighting Korean message boards this past week. Wouldn’t it be nice if all our machinery came with manuals as cute as this? Forget about clunky and intrusive tutorial levels. Now, I feel that all games should come with manuals written by 7-year olds.…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Real Life Bowser Jr. Trolls South Korea
The foreign policy of the Koopa Kingdom toward its neighbor has always been unpredictable in timing and method. Although the Koopa Kingdom and the Mushroom Kingdom have engaged and cooperated with each other in friendly international competitions, critics have pointed out that relations between the two nations remained tense. While the Mushroom Kingdom and the…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Korean Police Flinging Angry Birds at School Violence
Yesterday, Feb. 21, the Korean National Police Agency and Rovio Entertainment announced the use of the Angry Birds franchise as an ambassador in the campaign to prevent school violence in Korea. The police are hoping to take advantage of the familiarity that young students have of the Angry Birds imagery, which will be used at…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
Korean Gyms Subjected to Kinect
Microsoft Korea joins World Gym Fitness Center in the Ilsan district to promote the Kinect throughout February. Members of the gym will be able to participate in the “Dance Time with Kinect” program, held twice every Tuesday. The promotion will use Dance Central 2, and during the last week of February, there will be a…
By Chi Lee -
Kotaku East
No, Korea, Gaming Does Not Make You a Bully
What might kill video games in Korea? The ice age. Earlier this month, the South Korean government’s Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology announced plans for its new game shut down system. The “Cooling Off” system would restrict young people from playing for more than two hours in one day by automatically shutting down the…
By Chi Lee
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