이중반룡의 게임애가 泥中蟠龍’s Game愛歌 돼지 목에 진주도, 흙 속의 진주도 모두 진주다.

이중반룡의 게임애가

泥中蟠龍’s Game愛歌

돼지 목에 진주도, 흙 속의 진주도 모두 진주다.

2020.07.16

 2007년 워싱턴의 한 지하철 역에서 작은 실험이 있었다. 세계적인 바이올니리스트 ‘조슈아 벨’이 수십억원이나 하는 명품 바이올린 ‘스트라디바리우스’를 들고 약 40분 정도 혼자서 거리 공연을 진행했다. 그 시간동안 ‘조슈아 벨’ 앞을 지난 사람은 약 1천명 수준이고, 멈춰서 그 연주를 들은 사람은 단 7명이었다고 한다. 실험 3일전 그의 콘서트는 입장료가 100달러가 넘지만 전석 매진을 기록했고, 그날 거리 공연에서 그의 수입은 약 30달러 정도였다고 한다. 워싱턴 포스트에서 진행한 이 실험은 시간과 장소, 전달 방법 등이 얼마나 동일한 콘텐츠에 대한 가치가 달라질 수 있는지를 보여주는 실험이다. 

 우리가 흔하게 가치를 모르는 사람에게 주어진 보물을 비유적으로 ‘돼지 목에 진주’라고 표현한다. 보물의 가치를 모르는 사람에게 그 보물은 아무런 의미가 없다. 고려청자를 강아지 밥그릇으로 사용했다는 이야기가 생긴 이유이다.

 이런 표현 들은 가치를 모르면서 소유한 사람들을 비꼬는 이야기이지만, 소유한 사람들이 그 가치를 알고 있어도 그렇게 방치했을까를 생각해보면 생각이 달라진다. 그렇다면 그 보물을 그 사람에게 전달한 사람 혹은 판매한 사람에게는 문제가 없는 것일까?

 많은 기업들이 자산들의 제품을 알아봐주지 않는 소비자를 탓한다. 그러나 필자는 많은 경우 기업들이 자신들의 제품을 제대로 알리지 못해서 발생하는 문제라고 생각한다. 제품의 질이 판매 혹은 소비를 보장해 주지 않는다. 수십만 달러의 매출을 낼 수 있는 공연도 지하철에서 지나가는 사람들이 고객이 되면 30달러짜리 공연이 된다. 소비자는 자신이 느끼는 가치로 비용을 지불한다. 그 비용이 적절성을 판단하는 것은 소비자의 권리이다. 

 생산자가 생각하는 제품의 가치와 유통업자가 생각하는 가치와 소비자가 인정하는 가치 사이에는 항상 차이가 존재한다. 전통적인 소비재인 공산품 등은 이 차이가 상대적으로 크지 않다. 그러나 디지털 콘텐츠는 이런 가치 인식의 차이가 무척 크다. 이런 특성은 디지털 콘텐츠가 가지는 독특한 생산 방식과 유통 판매 구조에 원인이 있다. 스마트폰 2대를 만들기 위해서는 2대 분량의 재료가 필요하지만, 스마트폰에 들어가는 앱은 2개를 만들기 위해서 1개 제작비의 2배가 필요하지 않다.

 여기에서 필자가 이야기하고자 하는 것은 바로 게임 제작사들이 이런 제품의 특성과 장점을 제대로 인지시키기 위한 마케팅에 대한 고민이 부족하다는 사실이다. 많은 게임 제작사들이 자신들 게임의 완성도에 대해 자신하지만, 정작 마케팅 전략에 대해서는 크게 고민하지 않는다. 단순히 게임이 좋으니 많은 사람들이 즐길 것이라고 생각하는 것은 착각이다. 스스로 돼지 목에 진주를 걸고, 진주를 흙 속에 묻고 있다. 진주를 생산했다고 해서 무조건 진주의 값으로 팔리는 것은 아니다. 돼지 목에 있어도, 흙 속에 있어도 진주는 진주이지만, 가치를 인정받는 것은 다른 문제이다.

※ 이중반룡의 게임애가(泥中蟠龍의 Game愛歌)는 본인이 현재 <경향 게임스>에 2013년 9월부터 연재하고 있는 칼럼의 초고를 남기기 위하여 올리는 것입니다.

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 [A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity] Video game and the separation of banking and commerce

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

Video game and the separation of banking and commerce

September. 12. 2018.

Recently, I read an article on the subject of ease regulations on the separation of banking and commerce and video game by Kim Sang-Hyun, an executive editor in our paper. In the article, he was full of hope for positive effects: game developers such as Netmarble and Nexon run an online bank—internet-only bank, which can boost the local gaming industry thanks to ample capital and financing. I also completely agree with him about the aggressive investment in domestic games. But I do oppose to ease banking-commerce separation per se so that I'd like to deal with it this week's column.

 What does the term mean? It means that industrial capital should be separated from banking capital; banks are not allowed to affiliate with other businesses. Separation of industrial and financial capital is analogous to the principle. It means that industrial capital should be separated from financial capital; businesses are restricted from owning not a bank alone, but an insurance company or securities, etc. The word "regulation" generally implies quite a negative connotation such as "control" or "oppression". And most regulations are accompanied by criticism and opposition due to their ineffectiveness and inconveniences. It is hard to deny regulations are ineffective and inconvenient. So, why are the regulations made?

 Regulations are commonly used as a way to diminish the risk. The key lies in how to maintain their low-risk efficiency. If we can go across the road wherever we want, it would be very convenient and efficient. But jaywalking is regulated by law. Because it's too dangerous.

 While industry fields related to FinTech are globally in the limelight in recent years, we have often heard that restrictions on the separation of banking and commerce retards the development of financial technology-connected sectors only in South Korea. I partly admit it. However, I don't think that the growth of fintech-linked industries is positively necessary as much as we take risks to ease regulations on the separation of banking and commerce. I'd rather say that we need the separation of industrial and financial capital. About a 0.01 percent chance of accidents can be 100 percent if I, unfortunately, have an accident. There was a smaller savings bank-related financial crime in 2011. The amount of damage by the authorities was estimated at almost 7 trillion won. We hardly imagine how much damage a large bank will get by a financial irregularity. It's easy to lift restrictions but reregulation is harder than creating new regulations.

 Many CEOs of smaller video game companies say that it's difficult to let their employees follow workplace rules. They add that there are lots of backlash against new administrative rules. And the workers get used to the rules and the controversy is abated somewhat over time. However, chief executives would be the face of stronger resistance by the staff when they try to bring an abolished policy back. This seems to be the case for the separation of banking and commerce. It wouldn't be easier to strengthen the regulation again once the government moved toward deregulation for one reason or another. We deposit money with a bank because we believe that it is safe. Someone, who prefer the high-risk high return, may choose to invest in stocks, futures, or option, etc. Another would go to casinos for higher risks higher returns. A representative, who completely ruined a game project where many people got involved in due to a small number of troubled employees, would heartily agree with what I say. Screw up and one's way home is long and dark.

 

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

   (http://www.khgames.co.kr)

   Translation by Kim Ki-hui

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 [A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity] Thirteen-year-old Infinite Challenge

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

[A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity]

Thirteen-year-old Infinite Challenge

May. 31. 2018.

Infinite Challenge—MBC's reality TV show—, which had gained popularity for the last thirteen years, recently went off the air. It is probably the longest entertainment program in South Korea. The show had included my 30s since it was started when I was twenty-nine years old. It is very difficult to steadily create content for long periods. It could be a really hard challenge for Muhan Dojeon which didn't follow any specific format. Most real-variety shows have an overall concept, for instance, cast members take various trips throughout South Korea during 1 night 2 days performing missions at a certain mealtime or live in a little rural or finishing village creating three meals a day and calm themselves. With a definite format, it's relatively easier to generate content. Of course, during the airing of the episodes, the non-dram program made lots of controversial issues. It was criticized for problematic content and a few cast members left the program due to unfavorable incidents. A barely-chosen new member had to unexpectedly join the military. Also, it found itself caught in a plagiarism scandal. Nevertheless, it's still quite something to keep airing the show for thirteen years.

 I've written this column for five years. Sometimes I racked my brain trying to find a new story or new subject and raced against the clock to make the deadline during a busy day. But I cannot but highly praise myself on my five-year constant work. There were many issues back then in the beginning period when I started to write; releasing a game on KakaoGames was a hot topic and a journalist wrote an article about a splendid-graphics game based on Unreal Engine. During this period, I switched my job, got a promotion, got married, and started to give a lecture on game design. Five years is not short.

 There are many newly-released games in the domestic market of late. Some of them are homegrown video games and the others are imported ones. Looking at top game charts, I can find a considerable number of long-time-loved games more than I thought. League of Legends, MapleStory, Sudden Attack, World of Warcraft (WoW), Everybody's Marble, Clash of Clans, and Sumonnor's war: Sky Arena, etc. have been stayed on top charts for a long time. Some of them are older than Infinite Challenge and most of them are as old as my column at least.

 Old-time-favorite content means that it has improved quality and has offered a variety of interesting attractions since the launch. Most game developers, that try to put perfection in the content toward the goal of launching, often poorly prepared to keep maintaining game quality after its release. I expect many Muhan Dojeon-like long-lasting games that are well prepared to be loved by gamers will be released.

 

※ This is from Kyunghyang Games column by 泥中蟠龍 since September 2013.

   (http://www.khgames.co.kr)

   Translation by Kim Ki-hui