Cross-Cultural Blog

Indirect boosts and the Starcraft League
However, the game’s possible indirect boosts are far more worth mentioning. I recently was on a chat with Chang Hoon Lee, the owner of the website ilovepcbang.com, the official website that unites the community of all PC Bang chains, which internet cafés designated just for the gamers. According to Lee, there are almost 20,000 PC Bangs in Korea and they collectively make about 120 billion wons (about 100 million US dollars) every month. Lee has also stated that “This is not the only source of economic influence achieved by gaming. There are three cable channels for starcraft leagues and tournaments, as well as thirteen other professional teams. These game broadcasts have potentials to be exported into other countries, just like how Korean dramas were actively exported throughout Asia during 2002-2006.” It was surprising to find that he compared the Korean drama boom in the early 00’s, when Korean dramas nearly swept all across Asia and enabled a wide expansion in the entertainment industry.

PC Bang – The gamer’s social space

What is so great about Starcraft 2 and these PC Bangs? They provide a social space for people from elementary students to university students to interact, without the constraints of their strict parents. Unlike how gamers have an image of staying at home under closed doors and looking at the screen with huge bags under their eyes, gamers have a more social representation. In fact, the greater you are at playing the new Starcraft, the higher your friends will think of you. Not only do PC Bangs help you move up in your social life, PC Bangs provide some additional bonuses in certain games. For example, you will be able to double your experience points as if you were at home. Lee stated that “The deals that [the PC Bang chains] have with the online game companies make our stores more attractive. We are also working on a deal with Blizzard to give Starcraft 2 players more incentive to come to our stores.” Expansion of PC Bangs is very important in my argument because there are responsible for enhancing many industries. Not only do they provide about 100 000 new jobs, but they can boost up sales for instant snacks and noodles sold in these chains.

Fans cheering for a player at a professional Starcraft game
Fans cheering and holding banners for a player at a professional Starcraft game – some of these guys are as well known as the top sports stars and celebrities.

Education purposes?
Starcraft can actually be considered as an educational game in a sense that it simulates a great educational model. The gameplay is all about the economics, like how efficiently and effectively you build your buildings and units. As you start the game, you start with four workers, which can either build (or mutate, depending on your race) or gather minerals, which are used as the main natural resources for the game. Once you have an ample amount, you can build another “worker” or choose to build a building, which could be technological or military. Military buildings create army units that can go and destroy the other side, and technological units can improve the military units, or the workers’ efficiency to ease your resource-gathering. All of these aspects of the game are great training tools for someone to implicitly learn economics. They can learn the true meaning of increase in productivity, the effect of an increase in government spending in an economy, and how efficiency and an adequate allocation of resources improve the economy. Finally, there is a “population limit” as well, so you really need to allocate your workers and military units well.

Lee has owned a PC bang for eleven years now, and believes that “This [gaming] industry never stops growing in South Korea. The industry had a steep incline with the first Starcraft and the Starcraft expansion. Now especially with Starcraft 2, we could have another sharp increase in this industry.” We all know that game is only a game and has its limits. But Starcraft 2 is a cultural sensation that is too significant for us to classify it as “A simple game”. I will conduct more interviews with other PC Bang owners, game creators, and economics specialists to hear more variety of perspectives. However, I am certain that they will all have high expectations in this game’s ability to revitalize the economy.

Lee has owned a PC bang for eleven years now, and believes that “This [gaming] industry never stops growing in South Korea. The industry had a steep incline with the first Starcraft and the Starcraft expansion. Now especially with Starcraft 2, we could have another sharp increase in this industry.” We all know that game is only a game and has its limits. But Starcraft 2 is a cultural sensation that is too significant for us to classify it as “A simple game”. I will conduct more interviews with other PC Bang owners, game creators, and economics specialists to hear more variety of perspectives. However, I am certain that they will all have high expectations in this game’s ability to revitalize the economy.

Sources
Lee, Chang Hoon. Telephone Interview. 22 Apr 2009.

Image Sources
Miles, James. “A banner!”. 2009. Starcraft in Korea. Dance Dance – Warwick Blogs. May 3 2009. < http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/jmiles/entry/starcraft_in_korea/>
(No name). “STARCRAFT_2_art_fiction_by_ULTRAZEALOt!”. 2009. Starcraft 2. Play247.ro. May 3 2009. < http://play247.ro/strategy/starcraft-2/>