The Korean Game Room

I had a rather fine evening last night with some of my fellow co-workers playing Starcraft at one of our local game rooms. I considered myself a relatively competent player until yesterday; my comrades showed me up time after time. Nothing got by them!

For years, Korea has put high tariffs and limits on the number of goods that can enter their country from Japan. Some of it was the nature of the various military dictatorships or protectionist governments, but a lot of it had to do with the distaste for Japan that many Koreans share. I guess decades of brutal colonial control will do that to you.

Therefore, even though Japan is the world’s leader when it comes to publishing videogames, these products never really caught on in Korea. The home console (ie Nintendo, Sega, Sony) is not nearly as common as PC based software. Just walk into any of these PC rooms to see get a glimpse of what I am talking about. It was modern, fun, and accommodating (the venue had food and drinks readably available).



The place was packed, and this was at 10:30 PM on a Wednesday in a relatively small town. Nearly half the room was playing some type of online RPG (World of Warcraft, Maple Story), and the others were playing Starcraft. Why this game has been so huge in Korea is beyond me, but to show you how popular it is, there is a television station dedicated to the game! The video above is lifted from that very station, and I occasionally put it on when I am studying and need something to bounce about in the background.

Some have questioned how healthy this gaming culture is on the Korean psyche and culture, and I admit that these types of places and the games that are played their can be very incising. Up-to-date computers, engrossing games, and the comfort of playing with a slew of kindred spirits who find the online world more enticing than the one they live. That is a powerful draw, and isn’t easy to combat.