泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌 [A love song for games of the dragon waiting for an opportunity] The Tooth and the Nail

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

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

 

The Tooth and the Nail

 

Recently, I attended the preview of a film named The Tooth and the Nail which would be released the moment you are reading this. It's a suspense thriller film. The word "thriller" appears to be used interchangeably with the word "suspense", however, the two terms precisely have different meanings. "Suspense" is a feeling of tension or anxiety when an audience has more information than a character in the movie, on the other hand, the viewer has less information than the character in terms of "thriller". For instance, if a detective tries to find a murder suspect whom no one knows where he is hiding, it's a "thriller", whereas if the policeman is approaching the criminal when both the cop and the audience don't realize that the suspect is hiding behind a wall holding a knife, it's "suspense". A well-made suspense thriller movie is from a good combination of the two factors.

 

The film is based on a 1955 novel of the same name by famous mystery writer Bill S. Billinger. The publisher, that was confident about the interesting and unexpected ending, promised the people who bought this book to refund their money back only if the readers didn't open the last part of the book which was sealed. The new movie makes people exclaim with admiration over the display of revenge play of a man who lost loved one and legal thriller about the body of the man who mysteriously disappeared through cross-cutting and inescapable links of two events at the end of the film. I think that more details may reduce the audiences' interest.

 

The reason I explained the suspense thriller movie in detail is to talk about the power of storytelling. Recently many web-serial comics and fictions make the readers more curious about what will happen next and induce people to make payments for the next stories in a similar way of the brilliant marketing success story of the original book I've just mentioned. I've often heard about amateurs turned full-time writers or creators after they hit the jackpot with their web fictions or comics which they wrote or drew as a hobby working full time. I reckon that the power of the stories broke new ground.

 

Numerous video games paying the creator for the rights have been released. It appears to be from only a brand-name content, but it's fundamentally based on a good narrative. In spite of the big differences between the game and the other content, it is an extension of storytelling content. It is really important for not only plot-centered role-playing game (RPG) but also the other genres because it helps a user to absorb in a round character thanks to realistic backgrounds and detailed worldview of the game. In Korea recently there has been an increasing tendency that many game developers pay no attention to the storyline. This enables a vicious cycle where fill-in back-stories are shunned by consumers since game makers regard the plot as of secondary importance and many users also think the narrative description is not critically important. But considering various over-the-seas audiovisual content based on originals, it's no better than giving up additional revenue from successful video games. Also, the immersive storyline that fully surrounds users has the effect of enhancing profitability by increasing the retention rate. I hope that lots of deeply engaging video games based upon good storytelling will be released in the market.

 

 

※ 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] A fried chicken restaurant-like game developer

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

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

 

A fried chicken restaurant-like game developer

 

The early presidential election, which was originally been scheduled at the end of the year, is probably the hottest issue in Korea these days. I don't think that political pledges of candidates seem an appropriate topic for a column. So I just want to mention youth unemployment such as founding and employment here.

 

One of the candidates has promised to help the young by raising conglomerates' corporate tax or high earners' income tax, on the other hand, another candidate has pledged to increase employment by supporting large enterprises. As I reckon - it's slightly off-topic, though - that latter isn't much different from the "trickle-down effect" of Lee Myung-Bak administration, which seems to be less effective.

 

Not too long ago, I talked about foreign game developers with a friend of mine working for Google. I had a chance to consider investing in overseas game companies a couple of times last year and I found that he also had similar opinions on that.

Many CEOs of the domestic game developers whom I've ever met wanted to get rich overnight. Of course, an investor needs to find a potential game that can hit the jackpot. However, the game maker just failed once usually don't have a backup plan in Korea. The company will go bankrupt. Investment risk for the firm is expected to increase and workers also have to worry about unstable employment. Sometimes, employees aren't been given their back pay for a few months on the verge of going bankrupt until they find a new job.

 

I think that most foreign game developers, which I mentioned earlier, seem to see the game creating differently, unlike local game makers. The majority of overseas game start-ups put generating sufficient turnover for all members first. And the companies look at diverse ways to boost sales when figures reach a certain level. Of course, all firms aren't like that, however, I have the impression that foreign companies seem to happily accept their job more than national developers. Many numbers of employees working in the overseas game companies look satisfying with a certain level of a fixed amount of salary, unlike most Korean workers who feel unbearable mental pressures from the possibilities of the company's failure.

 

People joke that you are going to open a fried chicken restaurant, in the end, no matter what you do. As I see, foreign game developers made up of a small number of members run their companies like operating a chicken eatery doing what they enjoy and aiming at minimum adequate money required for payment. I hope that the president-elect will create conditions that enable every local game start-ups to feed themselves by running a fried chicken restaurant-like game companies. If they can create a franchise from the diner, it would be better.

 

 

※ 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] Where have all cherry blossoms in Kyoto gone?

泥中蟠龍's Game愛歌

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

 

Where have all cherry blossoms in Kyoto gone?

 

I‘m staying in Kyoto at this moment writing this column. There are many famous cultural heritages in the historical city and some of them are designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. I went to visit some tourist attractions such as Tō-ji: it protected the country at the time Kyoto became the capital of Japan and there is the five-storied Pagoda (gojūnotō) which is the national treasure of Japan, Tenryū-ji: it was founded to pray for the repose of the Emperor of Japan, and Chikurin-no-michi (Arashiyama Bamboo Grove): it is a representative sightseeing spot in the city, and Ginkaku-ji: a shogun built the golden temple to keep the Śarīra—Buddhist relics, etc. I found a delicious ramen restaurant, waffle store serving good coffee, and cozy pub by chance while wandering in the streets by a small rental car. I came across a Japanese home with a beautiful garden and I leisurely walked along the trail in an apartment complex. And I visited a shopping mall full of game titles that haven't been localized in Korean yet.

 

I don't intend to talk about my one-week trip to one of the top 10 cities in Japan. I'm trying to calm myself down. I came here for cherry blossom viewing which is very popular around mid-march. I took expensive airfare, accommodation, and rental car hoping to see the Japanese cherry blossoms in full bloom in the peak season. However, they are still in budding. Unseasonably cold weather has delayed flower blooms in the old city. It is a natural disaster for me. I don't think I'll be able to see full-bloomed flowers before I come back to Korea.

 

Similarly, timing is essential for all types of work. Many games are released each year. A few of them only achieve great results, while most of the rest games are rarely noticed by consumers. Of course, not a few games have problems of themselves, however, a considerable number of good ones died out without much response because they mistimed the release. The commercially flopped games must have been developed by numerous employees who put in a great deal of effort working late in common with other successful games. I'm sorry about their misfortune. As I said earlier, it is like a natural disaster since success or failure depending on the time is quite unpredictable.

 

I hear that so often "Luck determines many things in the business; your success isn't down to free will." This also applies to game makers. A few months-prepared trip isn't going well as I would wish contrary to my expectation that the flowers would have reached the peak bloom period during this week in Kyoto. Likewise, so many variables probably decide the fate of the game which usually takes several years to release. Looking at myself left in the old city without cherry blossoms, I hope that many good games won't get their timing wrong and disappear in the market.

 

 

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

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

 

Translation by Kim Ki-hui