Understanding Korean experiences of online game hype, identity, and the menace of the "Wang-tta".

THEME: Internationalism: Worlds at Play The context South Korea continues to set the pace in the world of online games. The nation is a world leader in broadband penetration rates and has a very high level of online game playing. This study reports on the intricate relationship between the sociocultural factors at work in Korean game communities and the context of how games are received. The original field research reported here adds to current knowledge of the interplay between science, technology, and human relationships as expressed in digital games, a growing pastime and mode of social expression. Korean gamers are an excellent field site for studying the global phenomenon of game communities, both online and offline. Gamers in Korea have repeatedly made world headlines with reports on their fascination with games, their real-life social activities relating to game parlours ("PC Bangs"), video game addictions, and even cases of Internet-related death. Of course, moral panics such as these come in waves, and while it is has simply been the case that Koreans are internationally notorious for being very "addicted to video games," there has not yet been a coherent attempt in social research to address the reasons for that in a comprehensive manner. This paper presents an analysis of case studies derived from fieldwork that was designed to consider the different ways Korean game players establish community online and offline. The paper argues that it is possible to formulate a more comprehensive understanding of game players’ life and motivations if we take into account theories of play (e.g., Huizinga). These theories add perspective to game research by highlighting the concept of online sociability as it is created in the interactions between players, online and offline. Johan Huizinga, Roger Caillois, and James Hans provide alternative explanations of the experiences involved in the player’s relationship with the game. These theories add to our understanding to the technologically mediated life-world of online gamers in Korea and help us to dig deeper into why gaming seems so compelling in Korea and possibly elsewhere. Methodology The study relied on ethnographic research conducted in a variety of settings, using three primary methods. First, in-depth interviews – online and offline -- were conducted in both Korean and English with players who participate in game communities and subject matter experts in the field. The interviews provided insight into the personal narratives of game players and their motivations for engaging in communities associated with game playing. Second, two focus groups were conducted with a variety of people from different ages and backgrounds on the subject of general Internet addiction in South Korea. This served to compare the many perspectives on Internet usage in Korea. Third, participant-observation in and around PC game rooms (PC Bangs) in Korea allowed the researcher to experience gaming environments and report on the observed situations. This participation in culture and lived experiences was absolutely essential in order to gain an adequate understanding of the role games play in people’s everyday lives. Through these various methods, an assessment of the reasons for intense engagement in online game communities was possible for this study. Collaboration, competition and community This paper is inspired by a Korean term that emerged in interviews: the concept of "Wang-tta." This term describes isolating and bullying the worst game player out of one’s peer group. One can be said to, "make Wang-tta" or be the object of Wang-tta. As a consequence, there is, immense social pressure to be good at games, and many young people take every opportunity to practice the game and become more skilled. In addition, age and gender are important considerations in everyday activities, interactions and life decisions. These issues will be discussed as relayed by informants. Based on this research, we can look at game playing in Korea and rank motivational criteria into three areas, in order of importance: 1. Community and social life 2. Potential profit and stardom through professional/amateur gaming 3. Access to a fantasy life because of more social mobility online. Competitiveness and gaming pervades all aspects of life in Korea. Outside of many Korean classrooms there is a sheet posted of who gets the best grades. There is also a sheet posted of who is best at StarCraft. Video games are seen as a sport, and treated just as seriously. One of the most intriguing things about Korea is that unlike anywhere else in the world, pro-gamers are regarded as celebrities without the common negative "geek" taboo that gamers have in other parts of the world. The mainstream media and sponsorship by big corporations also helps to keep the hyperbole for games like StarCraft going, especially their promotion of pro-gamers. Many people aspire to be just like them and this contributes to the national passion for games. There are many cultural and environmental factors that also facilitate participation in online communities. Korea’s population density, crowded homes, and broadband infrastructure are definite factors to take into consideration when thinking about access to online games. Even if a person has their own computer and online connection at home, it is "easier to communicate in person" at a PC bang—to coordinate with those on your team, and have other tangible experiences together. The "bang culture," of the PC bangs provides meeting places offline. Within this culture one can see indications of the way online communities are facilitated, built, and maintained. This study will provide a synthesis of traditional theories of play within a Korean context, showing that indeed successful online communities work in relation to their offline worlds. This will be useful for understanding of the types of environmental considerations that need to occur when assessing digital gaming habits and culture, at home and abroad

Video Gaming As A Gendered Pursuit

As video game technology has evolved, so too has the gendered nature of the video gaming subculture. This chapter characterizes the broad cultural context of gaming and the shifting social patterns of gendered game play. By reviewing existing research at the intersection of gender, gaming, and consumption, we identify three primary research opportunities to build upon existing research: understanding consumers’ lived experiences in the gendered gaming subculture, exploring the gendered gaming marketplace (e.g., shopping, advertising), and investigating the systemic, structural, and cultural underpinnings of gaming. Existing research in the field is not exhaustive nor complete; rather, opportunities for research identify gaps that should be examined more fully by building on existing foundational research. We also address potential challenges of conducting gender-based research in the context of gamin

E-sports and video games as cultural ambassadors

학위논문(석사) -- 서울대학교대학원 : 국제대학원 국제학과(국제통상전공), 2023. 2. Moon Woo-sik.This paper examines the Korean video game industry, its genesis, and its evolution. Surveys conducted by national agencies are used to draw a portrait of the industry as of 2021. It is found that Korean consumers mainly consume mobile and pc online games. Hence, after explaining the reasons behind this specific consumption pattern in Korea, this paper analyzes the profile of Korean consumers of mobile and PC games, followed by the analysis of the Korean internet café: PC bang. The analysis of PC bang serves this paper for the last chapter of this paper, treating e-sports in Korea. From governmental efforts to promote e-sports in the country to the place Korea occupies in the e-sports scene and how e-sports is becoming an ambassador of the Korean culture to millions, if not billions in the near future, of e-sports and video games enthusiasts.본 논문은 한국의 비디오 게임 산업과 그 기원, 그리고 그 진화를 고찰한다. 국가기관이 실시하는 설문조사는 2021년 기준 산업의 초상화를 그리는 데 사용된다. 한국 소비자들은 주로 모바일과 PC 온라인 게임을 소비하는 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 이러한 한국의 구체적인 소비패턴의 배경을 설명한 후 한국의 모바일 및 PC게임 소비자들의 프로필을 분석하고 이어서 한국의 PC방에 대한 분석을 진행하였다. PC방에 대한 분석은 본 논문의 마지막 장인 한국의 e스포츠를 다루는데 의미가 있다. 본 논문은 국내 e스포츠를 알리기 위한 정부의 노력부터 한국이 e스포츠 현장에서 차지하는 위치까지, 어떻게 e스포츠가 가까운 미래에 수십억은 아니더라도 수백만 명의 e스포츠 및 비디오 게임 마니아들에게 한국 문화의 홍보대사가 되고 있는지 분석한다.CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION １ 1.1. STUDY BACKGROUND 1 1.2. LITERATURE REVIEW 8 1.3 METHODOLOGY & PURPOSE OF RESEARCH 15 CHAPTER 2: VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY IN SOUTH KOREA 17 2.1: VIDEO GAMES 17 2.1.1: ARCADE AND CONSOLE GAMES 17 2.1.2 PC GAMES 22 2.1.3 MOBILE GAMES 29 2.2 PC BANGS 36 2.3 GAME PRODUCERS 40 CHAPTER 3: VIDEO GAMES AND CULTURE 44 3.1 JAPAN AND VIDEO GAMES 45 3.2 KOREA AND VIDEO GAMES 47 3.3 VIDEO GAMES AND TOURISM 50 CHAPTER 4: THE POTENTIAL OF E-SPORTS AND ITS IMPLICATION FOR KOREA 52 4.1 KOREA IN THE GLOBAL ESPORTS INDUSTRY 54 4.2 E-SPORT AS A CULTURAL WEAPON 58 CONCLUSION 68 BIBLIOGRAPHY 71 ONLINE JOURNALS 75 DATA SOURCE 77석

Understanding player experience in social digital games : the role of social presence

Including others in a playful activity fundamentally changes the concept of play into social play. This thesis focuses on social play in digital gaming. Previous studies have revealed the crucial part of social interaction in play, as the intrinsic need to belong seems to be the core motivation for engaging in such activities. Besides interacting with the game and focusing on the game content, gamers are confronted with emotions, behaviours, opinions and performances of others that can easily be perceived when playing side by side (co-located co-play). However, the widespread penetration of the Internet also allows for social play without the restriction of co-players having to be in the same room (mediated co-play). In online co-play settings a smaller amount of social information can be exchanged compared to co-located co-play. These settings therefore differ in the way gamers can interact with each other, which has an influence on how digital gaming is experienced. Focus groups, contextual inquiries, and four experimental studies were employed to uncover which aspects of social play in digital gaming make mediated and co-located co-play feel different. The first study was conducted to explore the motivations of gamers to physically meet others to play digital games, compared to meeting them online. Based on interpersonal communications, focus groups and contextual inquiries, findings revealed that the appeal of co-located above online co-play results from the sociable, warm, sensitive, personal and intimate interactions that are possible when playing side-byside. Furthermore, co-located co-play offers the possibility to experience social fun before and after game play, which often is not afforded in online co-play. The first lab experiment was conducted to empirically demonstrate to what extent player experience is influenced by the way co-players are present; e.g. as a virtual (human controlled), mediated or co-located co-player. Results on self-reports indicated that playing sidebyside significantly adds to the enjoyment and involvement in games compared to playing against a virtual (i.e. computer controlled) or distant co-player. These results could be explained by introducing the concept of social presence, which is defined as the feeling of being together with another individual. Results demonstrated that social presence mediated the enjoyment in social play. In the second and third lab experiment the possibilities for verbal and non-verbal interaction were manipulated between coplayers in co-located co-play. One experiment investigated this for competitive play; a the other for collaborative play. Self-reports showed that interactions through auditory cues positively influenced player experience. Interestingly, the presence of visual cues of one’s co-player had no significant influence on play. Observation data of players confirmed that audio cues (e.g., talking, laughing) were far more often used than visual cues (e.g., eye contact, making gestures); visual cues were only used before and after play. Furthermore, we demonstrated that social presence – due to interaction by audio cues – mediates the enjoyment in social play. A final lab experiment was conducted to investigate the importance of the connection between players through the game for our results in the previous chapters. In this experiment players were colocated, but not always played together and/or were not always able to see each other’s scores. Results showed that a subjective shared experience increases the strength of the social connection between players, and positively affects feelings of social presence, enjoyment and involvement. Similar to the previous findings, social presence mediated the increase in feelings of enjoyment and involvement. In sum, our set of studies offered empirical support for when, why and how social interaction influences players’ experience in co-play settings. Furthermore, the results indicate the importance of social presence as a mediating factor of enjoyment and involvement in social play. This provides new theoretical insights for communication experiences in other media, and social presence in general. Furthermore, findings may be useful to game designers who may want to enhance players’ experiences in during digital play

Organisation und Gestaltung von Lernprozessen in Computerspielen - eine Untersuchung am Beispiel der deutschen E-Sport-Szene

Computerspiele wurden in den Bildungswissenschaften bisher vor allem unter zwei Blickwinkeln betrachtet: Der Fragestellung danach, ob und wie digitale Spielwelten erfolgreich in Lehr-Lernsituationen eingesetzt werden können, und Untersuchungen dazu, welche Fähigkeiten durch die Beschäftigung mit ihnen bei den Spielenden gefördert werden können. Bisher noch nicht betrachtet worden ist hingegen, wie Lernprozesse im Kontext von Computerspielen eigentlich organisiert und gestaltet sind. An genau dieser Forschungslücke setzt die vorliegende Arbeit an und untersucht, wie die Nutzer/innen von digitalen Spielwelten das Wissen und die Fähigkeiten erwerben, die zum erfolgreichen Verbleib dort erforderlich sind. Die Untersuchung erfolgt beispielhaft anhand einer besonderen Gruppen von Computerspielern/innen: den Mitgliedern der E-Sport-Szene. Die Akteure/innen zeichnen sich durch eine Konzentration auf das wettbewerbsmäßige Spielen und ein Selbstverständnis als Sportler/innen aus. Sie eignen sich aufgrund ihrer intensiven und bewussten Beschäftigung mit Computerspielen besonders für die Untersuchung von Lernprozessen, da davon auszugehen ist, dass diese bei ihnen in besonders signifikanter und konzentrierter Form analysiert werden können. Der explorative Untersuchungsansatz kombiniert quantitative und qualitative Methoden in der Form einer Online-Befragung und von Leitfaden-Interviews. Mit diesem Methodenmix werden sowohl empirisch gesicherte Erkenntnisse über die E-Sport-Szene selbst, ein bisher noch weitestgehend unerforschtes Feld, als auch zu den Einstellungen zu Lernpotenzialen von Computerspielen sowie anhand intensiver Erhebungen zur Trainingsgestaltung zu den verschiedenen Lernformen erhoben. Basierend auf den Ergebnissen wird ein Modell zur Systematisierung von Lernformen nicht nur im Kontext von E-Sport, sondern für Computerspiele im Allgemeinen entwickelt. Die Ergebnisse werden vor dem Hintergrund der Expertiseforschung, des Ansatzes der Funktionskreise von Computerspielen nach Jürgen Fritz sowie ausgewählter Lerntheorien (Lernen am Modell und Communities of Practice) diskutiert. Es zeigt sich, dass Lernprozesse im Kontext von Computerspielen durch ihre hochgradige Selbstorganisation und Sozialität gekennzeichnet sind