In the 90s, South Korea was a small market among others in the video game industry. With a turnover of around one billion dollars, the software industry was suffering the early effects of piracy and laxity of the authorities to curb such abuses. The Asian economic crisis of 1997 will eventually kill any hope in the minds of individual games sell to a population ravaged by unemployment and purchasing power plummet.
To meet the demand for those players unable to equip themselves and looking for entertainment at a reduced price that was born the concept of the "PC bang". In these rooms, with a good connection and a proper condition, a rarity at the time for individuals, teens are killing each other in the trendy new game, Starcraft.
The success of the concept is immediate: within two years, the number of PC Bang in Korea increased from 3 000 to 21 000 establishments. Sales of games also explodes the PC bang to equip each computer a single copy, and players wanting to find their games from home. In 1998, the latest games flowed at 25 000 copies.
In 2001, Starcraft reaches two million copies sold. ENTERTAINMENT TO "E-SPORT" The popularity of this complex strategy game seems so limitless. Gradually, the best players are organized into teams to compete in tournaments more and more publicity. TV takes the phenomenon, and many chains began to distribute the major competitions.
The champions became stars sponsored, coached and trained in "play house", bringing a handful of professional players who exchanged strategies and tips. A union is even created in 2000, the Korean e-Sports Players Association (KeSPA), supported by the government, which officially recognizes the e-sports or eSports, as the national sport.
Dan "Artos" Stemkoski left the United States in 2008 to reach South Korea. He is currently a commentator in English from Global Star League (GSL), the main tournament Starcraft II, Blizzard's new release out this summer, aired on Gom TV. He says: "The e-sport in Korea [South] is currently the second most watched sport, behind baseball.
There are many TV channels and more on the Internet, which broadcast the games." He said the perception of gaming in South Korea is radically different from that which exists in the West: "The game is not entirely accepted here either, but tolerance is incomparable to what it is in the West.
The fact that top players earn very good living, go on television and mobilize many fans helped a lot. There are in fact people of all ages in the PC-bang, playing Starcraft so amateur, but the competition is strictly for youngsters. "STARCRAFT, A TRUE HIGH-LEVEL SPORTS today found in the e-sports organization similar to those that may occur in most elite sports.
The players are divided between different divisions, with play-off to climb or descend. The team competitions punctuate the individual tournaments, and prices would fade many Western sports junior: every month, the GSL distributes nearly 200 million won (125,000 euros) to its participants.
sizeable sums that fuel greed. But in April 2010, a scandal erupts match fixing: the players were paid by sites paris online knowingly losing their games, and coaches have been paid large sums of money to bring teams of lesser quality. The result of champions stripped of their titles, heavy prison sentences suspended for participants, and a very embarrassed to see KeSPA e-sport overtaken by the evils of conventional profile competitions.
MMORPGs, THE TRUE HOBBY OF KOREAN But if the video game Starcraft is the most publicized, the other is the passion of the Korean MMORPG, role-play massively multiplayer online, as World of Warcraft - in a market estimated in 2008 to 4.6 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros). Next wave of PC bang and desires of socialization of young players from South Korea, MMO developers' Korean found the parade to the reluctance of players to pay a monthly subscription heavy, as is the classic economic model of type games.
The trick was to charge the PC bang, not users. And to push the players to not just play from home, many benefits were added to the connection from a PC bang (experience and additional money, and objects normally inaccessible areas, etc.).. Among the classic game rooms, found for example Aion, also popular in the rest of Asia, Tera, which broke records for connections at launch, or Huxley, who combines shooter first person and role play.
In addition to ensuring a continuing flow of money needed for continual updates, it allowed the rapid development of the gaming community. The MMO 'is inherently addictive, the opportunity to play for free, in an environment teeming with players greatly helped their spread. As Dan says "Artos" Stemkoski, "the number of MMO players' in Korea is huge, much bigger than today (...) the number of players of Starcraft.
The difference is that MMORPGs are not a competition, and thus are not publicized in the same way. " If Starcraft is fairly supported by Seoul, MMORPGs worry the authorities, including the issue of addiction of younger players. Thus, a curfew was established recently between midnight and 6 am for minors on most games, to fight against addiction and social alienation, causing anger among game publishers.
On this measure added a clamping connection after a certain number of hours spent in front of her character. Meanwhile, the wave Starcraft has regained momentum since the release of Starcraft II in July 2010. And it is mostly outside the borders that Korean e-sport is growing today. In 2011, over 500 000 euros will be paid at tournaments held in Europe and the United States, where sponsors are now taking seriously the potential advertising these events still under-exploited.
Which suggests to Dan "Artos" Stemkoski that "it will not be long before Starcraft could be broadcast on Western channels": "The game already has more fans than many of those sports that can be wacky seen some strange strings. " 
To meet the demand for those players unable to equip themselves and looking for entertainment at a reduced price that was born the concept of the "PC bang". In these rooms, with a good connection and a proper condition, a rarity at the time for individuals, teens are killing each other in the trendy new game, Starcraft.
The success of the concept is immediate: within two years, the number of PC Bang in Korea increased from 3 000 to 21 000 establishments. Sales of games also explodes the PC bang to equip each computer a single copy, and players wanting to find their games from home. In 1998, the latest games flowed at 25 000 copies.
In 2001, Starcraft reaches two million copies sold. ENTERTAINMENT TO "E-SPORT" The popularity of this complex strategy game seems so limitless. Gradually, the best players are organized into teams to compete in tournaments more and more publicity. TV takes the phenomenon, and many chains began to distribute the major competitions.
The champions became stars sponsored, coached and trained in "play house", bringing a handful of professional players who exchanged strategies and tips. A union is even created in 2000, the Korean e-Sports Players Association (KeSPA), supported by the government, which officially recognizes the e-sports or eSports, as the national sport.
Dan "Artos" Stemkoski left the United States in 2008 to reach South Korea. He is currently a commentator in English from Global Star League (GSL), the main tournament Starcraft II, Blizzard's new release out this summer, aired on Gom TV. He says: "The e-sport in Korea [South] is currently the second most watched sport, behind baseball.
There are many TV channels and more on the Internet, which broadcast the games." He said the perception of gaming in South Korea is radically different from that which exists in the West: "The game is not entirely accepted here either, but tolerance is incomparable to what it is in the West.
The fact that top players earn very good living, go on television and mobilize many fans helped a lot. There are in fact people of all ages in the PC-bang, playing Starcraft so amateur, but the competition is strictly for youngsters. "STARCRAFT, A TRUE HIGH-LEVEL SPORTS today found in the e-sports organization similar to those that may occur in most elite sports.
The players are divided between different divisions, with play-off to climb or descend. The team competitions punctuate the individual tournaments, and prices would fade many Western sports junior: every month, the GSL distributes nearly 200 million won (125,000 euros) to its participants.
sizeable sums that fuel greed. But in April 2010, a scandal erupts match fixing: the players were paid by sites paris online knowingly losing their games, and coaches have been paid large sums of money to bring teams of lesser quality. The result of champions stripped of their titles, heavy prison sentences suspended for participants, and a very embarrassed to see KeSPA e-sport overtaken by the evils of conventional profile competitions.
MMORPGs, THE TRUE HOBBY OF KOREAN But if the video game Starcraft is the most publicized, the other is the passion of the Korean MMORPG, role-play massively multiplayer online, as World of Warcraft - in a market estimated in 2008 to 4.6 billion dollars (3.2 billion euros). Next wave of PC bang and desires of socialization of young players from South Korea, MMO developers' Korean found the parade to the reluctance of players to pay a monthly subscription heavy, as is the classic economic model of type games.
The trick was to charge the PC bang, not users. And to push the players to not just play from home, many benefits were added to the connection from a PC bang (experience and additional money, and objects normally inaccessible areas, etc.).. Among the classic game rooms, found for example Aion, also popular in the rest of Asia, Tera, which broke records for connections at launch, or Huxley, who combines shooter first person and role play.
In addition to ensuring a continuing flow of money needed for continual updates, it allowed the rapid development of the gaming community. The MMO 'is inherently addictive, the opportunity to play for free, in an environment teeming with players greatly helped their spread. As Dan says "Artos" Stemkoski, "the number of MMO players' in Korea is huge, much bigger than today (...) the number of players of Starcraft.
The difference is that MMORPGs are not a competition, and thus are not publicized in the same way. " If Starcraft is fairly supported by Seoul, MMORPGs worry the authorities, including the issue of addiction of younger players. Thus, a curfew was established recently between midnight and 6 am for minors on most games, to fight against addiction and social alienation, causing anger among game publishers.
On this measure added a clamping connection after a certain number of hours spent in front of her character. Meanwhile, the wave Starcraft has regained momentum since the release of Starcraft II in July 2010. And it is mostly outside the borders that Korean e-sport is growing today. In 2011, over 500 000 euros will be paid at tournaments held in Europe and the United States, where sponsors are now taking seriously the potential advertising these events still under-exploited.
Which suggests to Dan "Artos" Stemkoski that "it will not be long before Starcraft could be broadcast on Western channels": "The game already has more fans than many of those sports that can be wacky seen some strange strings. "
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