Students are Developers at Korea's Game Science High School

Korea's system of specialized high schools includes one that focuses on game science.  It was the subject of a post here more than three years ago.  This morning The Joongang Daily carried an interesting article with some updated information on programs at the high school. (click on the photo at the left to see a full size version)
At Korea Game Science High School in Wanju, North Jeolla, students are getting a head start on becoming innovative leaders in the game industry.
Through a new school program, IT Industry Development Center for Adolescents, designed to promote entrepreneurship, students have founded 16 companies that have created numerous online and mobile games - some of which have become hits.
The program, the first of its kind in the nation, has instilled a sense of possibility and confidence in the students, many of whom say that they want to emulate, if not challenge, Steve Jobs.
Each company is comprised of three to four students - mainly juniors and seniors - and is provided with separate offices with Apple computers and faculty advisers.
IT companies have also chipped in to help, providing technical support and advice for the student entrepreneurs.
Students in the program develop games on the weekends and from 9 p.m. to midnight on weekdays. To help promote their products and their companies, the school program also organizes monthly conferences.
Recently, Choi Young-jae, 18, set up a company called L II with his classmates. Their mobile phone game, My Drawing Story, was released in July and has become a huge hit, downloaded more than 10,000 times in two weeks. The game, in which the player defeats monsters and goes on a journey by drawing shapes, has received the highest marks from reviewers for its exciting story line and abundant contents.

Nexon Positioned for Success in Global Market

For some time, analysts of South Korea's dynamic ICT sector have noted that its success was largely based on the manufacture and export of hardware, prominently including semiconductors, screens, television sets, and mobile handsets.  Korea has been viewed as relatively weak in the production and export of software, content and services.   That situation may be changing, and one reason is the potential of Korea's online games in the global market.
A recent article in TechCrunch uses the Korean company Nexon as an example of Asian innovation in the world of free-to-play games and virtual goods.  The article is well worth reading.  I would only add, as noted in earlier posts, that the world of online games has business implications and future applications that extend far beyond the game industry itself.  These include education and the process of admission to colleges and universities, both areas of interest to our new Asia Center to Advance Educational Exchange (ACAEE).

Massive Multiplayer Online Games in Korea

South Korea was the first nation in the world where massive multiplayer online games (MMOG) became wildly popular, and the reason is fairly simple and straightforward.   South Korea built fast nationwide fiber-based broadband networks years before most other countries.  The point has been made over and over in this blog and in my new book with Dr. Oh Myung, Digital Development in Korea:  Building an Information Society (Routledge, 2011).  In the U.S., a 1994 by Vice-President Al Gore in which he argued for the need to build information superhighways, was heeded by South Korea, which implemented an ambitious Korea Information Infrastructure (KII) plan the following year.
The building of South Korea's broadband infrastructure and the spread of PC Bangs (Rooms) were necessary but not sufficient conditions for online games to thrive.  Today I ran across a very interesting post on the Massively blog about the origins of Lineage, a MMOG with which NCSoft struck gold years ago in Korea.  It is well worth reading.  It says in part:

So let's back up the memory truck to September 1998, when a then-fledgling NCsoft rolled out a Diablo-esque isometric MMO and struck virtual gold in South Korea. At the time, gaming rooms were becoming a huge thing in the country; a recession had hit (giving people a lot of time with nothing to do), and the government was rapidly expanding the broadband network. In the face of this perfect storm, titles like StarCraft and Lineage became overnight household fixtures -- and the country hasn't looked back.

What makes this post even more interesting to me is that the offices of our new Asia Center to Advance Educational Exchange are located just down Teheran-ro from the corporate headquarters of NCSoft.  Also, I've just read  the excellent book by Byron Reeves and J. Leighton Read, Total Engagement:  Using Games and Virtual Worlds to Change the Way People Work and Businesses Compete.  I will definitely need to pay them a visit!

The Forthcoming "Big Bang" in Korean Mobile Game Market

As reported in the Joongang Daily, the growth of the mobile game business in Korea has been notably slow despite the explosive popularity in the use of smartphones. One of the main culprits has been strict government censorship. In Korea, games must be reviewed and rated by the Games Ratings Board before they become available on the market.  This situation caused Apple and Google, which operate the App Store and the Android Market, to close their game categories for Korean users.
The situation may be about to change, as the "Open Market" law passed by the National Assembly in March is going to take effect in July.   Industry experts expect Apple and Google to reopen the "Game" category once the new law goes into effect and leading industry players in South Korea are reportedly ready for this event.   The attached graphic (click to see full size version) shows the expected growth of Korea's mobile game market, without factoring in a return to the market by Apple and Google.

Rural Boarding School Educational Model Introduced in Korea

The Hankyoreh has an interesting story on the recent establishment of a rural boarding school in North Chungcheong Province.  Students accepted into the school live there in dormitories from the time the bus arrives on Monday morning until the Friday afternoon bus leaves to take them to their homes.  The school is a collaborative effort of the North Chungcheong Province Office of Education, residents of farming communities, and students parents.   It represents an effort to introduce educational diversity and opportunities to children in rural areas.   What caught my eye in the story was the example of one student living in rural North Chungcheong Province who had moved there from Daejon in the third grade.  He was unaccustomed to rural life and consequently spent seven to eight hours a day on the internet playing games!  The article provides an interesting glimpse of the educational challenges faced in rural Korea today and how they are being met.

The Dilemma for Korea's Online Game Industry

The Korea Times earlier this week carried an excellent article describing the dilemma posed by its online game industry. The nation's policymakers recently decided to limit the amount of time that Korean youngsters can spend playing their favorite online games. The new online gaming curbs prevent gamers under the age of 16 from playing between midnight and 6 a.m. to combat addiction.   The age and the time period were the result of a compromise between the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, which had advocated imposing the limits on gamers age 14 and under, and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, which had proposed restrictions for all gamers under the age of 19.  Eventually, the Blue House had to step in to referee the conflict between the ministries.
The dilemma is clear.  Stronger restrictions on online games also restricts the growth of the industry, while a lax approach which encourages industry growth may contribute to more internet addiction.  The dilemma is being exacerbated by the mobile broadband revolution.  The country’s existing rules require all game content to be screened by government reviewers before reaching customers, and critics have been questioning whether such rules are relevant in an era when more games are played online than through CDs or game cartridges. Apple and Google have been forced to prevent its Korean customers from accessing the game categories on their content platform, as Korean censorship officials have no prayer of reviewing and approving the flood of games released by Apple’s massive network of developers every day. This has also prevented Korean games developers from marketing their products to local customers. As noted by an official of one local gaming firm, "The Internet has no boundaries, and the new regulations have no grasp of the reality. Young users can easily log-in to a foreign online game service after we stop providing them after midnight."

Mobile, Immersive, Interactive Entertainment

I was catching up on Eli Noam's periodic contributions to the Financial Times and found his excellent article on the future of mobile entertainment in a July issue of the paper.  He points out that, at certain times of the day, there are already more Koreans watching television (DMB) on mobile handsets than on conventional television sets.  However, the heart of his argument is that the experience of mobile television is soon likely to be transformed into an immersive, interactive experience that equals or exceeds the quality of watching television on a large screen.  This will come about through new display technology involving eyeglasses or "heads up" displays, and other technological improvements.
South Korea's already strong position in multiplayer online games is likely something that can be translated into successful business in mobile multiplayer games.  Also, it is worth noting that there is a serious aspect to games.  If you don't think so, just check out www.seriosity.com

Korea's Growing Game Industry

I wrote a short post back in February about South Korea's Game Science High School, and thereby at least made a nod in the direction of the game industry within this country's information economy.  However, since that time, I have learned a great deal and today's news compels this posting.  According to statistics recently released by the Korea Game Industry Agency, Korea accounted for just over a third of global online game sales last year.The revenues posted by Korean online game companies totaled $2.41 billion in 2007, or 34.5 percent of the worldwide online game market.  The figure included $781 million worth of online games exported by the Korean companies.  According to  Business Week Online's "Eye on Asia,"  a report released this week by Pearl Research, a San Francisco-based consulting firm specializing in the Internet and technology markets, shows top Korean game portals such as CJ Internet's Netmarble, NHN's Hangame, and Neowiz's Pmang can attract 500,000 to 1 million unique visitors a day. More than 10 million Korean adults visit game portals every month, according to its estimates.  That's more than a fifth of the whole population.
Two English websites that provide useful background on the game industry in South Korea and its place in the world are the Korea Game Industry Agency site and the Game Industry Total Information Service System site.  I will obviously have much more to say about this important and rapidly-growing industry.