泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌_Brexit and game worlds

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

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

 

Brexit and game worlds

 

Today I'd like to start this column with a none-video game-related story.

 

The Brexit referendum was the biggest news for me recently. Brexit, a portmanteau of "British" and "exit", is the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. As an investor working in the venture capital firm, I thought about various effects both on the global and domestic economy and potential negative impact on venture capital as well. However, I'd like to mention another story here.

Of course, the United Kingdom, which has developed its gaming industry with its world-class market, certainly can be important in the world of the video game. But it's not the major topic. Looking at the English people to exit from the EU, I found that there was one thing in common between the decision-making structure of game users and the popular voting process of the British public. So I'd like to compare both of them side by side.

Granting that a game world is the European Union, game users can be compared to the population of the EU. Like any other video games, there is no game to satisfy everyone. Disgruntled users are everywhere. The UK has benefited from the EU as a member of the political and economic union. It has been given an opportunity in an internal single market for all member states to export and import goods tariff-free and protected with little effort by various international agreements signed by the EU. On the other hand, British membership of the EU put a huge financial burden on the country and it had to take the trouble to host a large number of the refugee population. The UK eventually decided to leave the EU as a majority of people concluded that the membership does more harm than good.

 

Let's compare Brexit with a video game. Now tens of thousands of users are enjoying playing the games. There is no such thing as playing alone among various types of the game. Players sharing the experience with other users by playing the same game each have their legitimate complaints. The best benefit of playing video games is that they offer a wide range of entertainment to users. However, on the other hand, gamers have to spend their time and money for fun. If a game doesn't fulfill the needs of users as much as they spend their energy and money on it, they will leave for another service without hesitation. It's a matter of game balance. If a developer doesn't lead the users to spend adequate time and cash, it cannot make profits. The company will soon be in financial difficulties. On the contrary to this, users being forced to devote so much time and resources finally will give up playing the game. In that case, the game maker also will be in a poor financial situation. So the volume of goods from customers must be kept within the bounds. Developers need to not lose the game balance so that the users are motivated by the costs.

 

None but the fun things in the game can make up for a deficiency in the game balance. There are various fun factors such as brilliant computer graphics, in-game items, and effects, etc. A fun game, which completely satisfies a large number of users, will improve profits no matter how much each player pays for it and, in spite of the high costs and long playtime, users will pay for it as long as the game provides enough fun for them. I expect that many games will continuously have good performances without losing customers, unlike Brexit.

 

 

※ 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 pleasant confession

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

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

 

A pleasant confession

 

I have a confession to make today. Recently I found out that my prediction in public about two years ago was completely wrong. As the introduction says, I've lived as a gamer for twenty years and I've worked in the gaming industry for the last ten years as so-called the game expert. Only two years ago, I predicted that League of Legends (LoL) would be way ahead of the others in the domestic online video game market for quite some time. And I also expected that Sudden Attack would leave all the other FPS games far behind for a good while. I forecasted that even Sudden Attack 2 couldn't be as good as the original game. Of course, I didn't think that nothing could escape my attention. It's just very embarrassing that the potent argument proved to be wrong in two years.

The best way to enjoy a video game is to play the game oneself. And it's also enjoyable to watch someone playing the game. Plus, there is the pleasure of playing the game with the others. Playing oneself doesn't mean a single-player game mode. It means that the user amuses oneself because there is nobody to play with. As you know, the fun of watching is not only from seeing games of top players in e-sports gaming leagues and tournaments but also learning from them. The pleasure of having together is from "true" offline friendship in the physical world, not from the online universe. Team play amongst close friends is not comparable to teaming up with a stranger in the online world.

What I got exactly wrong was about the pleasure of having together. The key to this enjoyment is based on the universality of the rule. During the holidays, family members can have a good time playing Yunnori, a traditional board game played in Korea, because the participants know the game rules. Likewise, the market power of League of Legends (LoL) or Sudden Attack is from countless customers all around the world who know the rules of the game and are ready to play with. My argument was supported by the fact that it's not easy to draw lots of users who can join in on the fun in a short time.

Overwatch was soon released as if I was ridiculed for my claim. And it proved that the Overwatch-like good game could attract enough users in a short period. The team-based multiplayer first-person shooter has topped the game charts after one month of its release overtaking Sudden Attack, which had maintained No.1 sales in the domestic FPS market over ten years, and League of Legends (LoL), which had been the top-ranked in local game market for several years. I had new kinds of fun with the Blizzard game. It was hope. In recent years, a star hasn't been born in the domestic online game field. New games had disappeared so quickly not stomping on the existing game's parade for a long time, which made me hesitate to invest in an online video game in the market's stagnant atmosphere. However, Overwatch showed that a new game could dominate the market and it is worth putting money in a game company for a new project. I'm very happy about having the pleasant confession because I found hope. I should find out a game developer which can make a game over Overwatch.

 

 

※ 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_What "stylish" means in a video game?

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

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

 

What "stylish" means in a video game?

 

We often use a word misunderstanding the meaning of it. For example, there is a word of "mudaeppo". It is from a Japanese word "無鐵砲", which is pronounced "むてっぽう (mudeppo)", the meaning of reckless behavior of a solider lunging for his adversary without a gun on the battlefield. There are also frequently misused words in the filed of the gaming world. Many people enjoying video games don't know the meaning of RPG or RPS—video game genres—and MMO or FPV as well. I'd like to talk about one of these kinds of words "stylish" this time.

 

Recently, I talked the word over with the CEO of a game developer. I asked him about the meaning of "stylish" after he used the word many times since I did not quite accept it. According to his account, it meant 'brilliant computer graphics'. I will leave it to readers' judgment now that I might be wrong when it comes to it.

 

I believe that the standard of "stylish" was from Devil May Cry, a Japanese action-adventure hack and slash video game series, where the word was used for the first time. It defined the word as "폼생폼사 (pomsaengpomsa)"—grandstand play. The key point is not splendid graphics but the fancy character moves. Players even can get extra points for exuberantly defeating their enemies. In an action game, a heavy-armed knight attacking monsters doesn't look cool, in spite of the character's stable movements. In comparison, the character taking evasive action looks cooler. A character who narrowly avoids a weapon with a remarkable tumbling skill looks much more attractive than one who protects himself with a shield. It'd be better to make good use of geographic features to maximize the effect of the evasive movements. For example, double jump with stepping on a wall after avoiding a weapon looks much cooler. The use of a combo attack is recommended in terms of attack. A combo, a timed sequence of moves that produce a cohesive series of hits making an opponent be pushed up into the air and be floated up again before he falls to the ground, looks much better than a ten-time sword attack straight in the face. Plus, the attack in a small space, not in a large grassy plain, using natural and man-made features is preferred to exhibit a flamboyant playing style. Skilled techniques of a gamer are necessary for the series of processes—in other words playing style of a user has to be stylish. The skills related to avoiding, floating, and capturing the perfect timing for a well-coordinated attack, etc. make the game more noticeable and exciting than just pushing the attack button successively.

 

I can't explain every element for the "stylish" game at this time. However, I can say that flamboyant playing style and striking displays are not the points. Of course, an unstylish game is not a bad game, only the twisting explanation about the game is like a false advertisement. I'm sure that the definition of terminologies for the gaming industry is one of the most important factors to deepen its foundation. I expect that a "stylish" game, which meets my standards, will be released soon.

 

 

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

(http://www.khgames.co.kr)

 

Translation by Kim Ki-hui