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The Daily Grind: Is an MMO's origin important to you?
MMOs fall into two main categories: eastern (titles like Aion and Perfect World International) and western (AoC, WoW and EVE Online). I've noticed over the past week's Daily Grind columns and a piece I did on Perfect World International that a lot of our readers seem naturally wary of any MMOs not made in the west, barring familiar franchises like Final Fantasy.Now part of this I can understand, eastern MMOs usually have very anime-like visuals and often borrow from unfamiliar Asian mythologies. This can often scare off western players. At the same time, players in Asia seem to lap up western MMOs like WoW. I'm curious, readers, do you judge an MMO the location of the company which made it? Do you prefer western MMOs or are you just as curious to try eastern games which other players just don't get?
Joystiq looks at South Korea's PC Baang culture
No PlayStation, No Nintendo, No Sega. In a sprawling metropolis on the brink of a technological revolution what place would eschew console gaming? It was South Korea, and for the longest time there was an embargo against Japanese made imports. In the embargo's wake an unstoppable PC gaming utopia and a molding of an anomalous social culture evolved. With the government push for broadband access and the proliferation of PC Baangs, online PC-game rooms, a remarkable 70% of South Korean internet users have played some kind of MMOG. The Korean MMOG invasion on the western market has spurned resentment but some MMOs like Nexon's Maple Story found a successful niche. What is fascinating, are not the endless failed imports or the lucky few that do succeed in the US but the radical differences in our gaming cultures. Joystiq's Geoffrey Brooks is residing in Seoul, South Korea for the summer. Indulging his senses in this part of the world Brook posits about South Korea's PC Baangs and the masterful technological wired revolution and contrasts it to the lagging-behind United States. It's a must read, especially if you know nothing of the PC gaming culture in South Korea other than asking "isn't Starcraft big there?"
