iPhone Games In Korea Blocked

Are  the Korean government’s tentacles reaching too far?

Is this just more protection for Korean chaebols?

As you may already know, gaming is hugely popular in Korea. Even ajumas (older, generally married Korean women) play video games (I see this all the time when I ride the subway in Seoul).  Since there’s a lot of money in the gaming industry, especially in Korea, the government is involved.  Korea is the only country I’ve been to where they have television channels dedicated to viewing professional gamers playing online (read the third paragraph of this Wikipedia entry). The Korean government requires that all games be pre-screened and approved by the Games Rating Board of Korea before availability to the public (Why is this even necessary? I need to get to the bottom of this).

So, with the absence of a “game” section for Korean iPhone users in the Apple iTunes Store, what does this mean?

iPhone Games Disguised As Entertainment Applications

First of all, it is said that there is no way that the Games Rating Board has the capacity to screen every single app in the iTunes Store. The Games Rating Board’s mentioned their intent of screening not only the “games” section of the Apple iTunes Store, but also the “entertainment” section. Their announcement brings clarity to alternative routes that will most likely be taken by developers in marketing their iPhone games.

iPhone Web-Based Games

Another serious problem for the Games Rating Board’s objective is the WIFI technology in the iPhone. Although the Chinese iPhones do not have WIFI, the Korean version most likely will have it. If “The Board” decides to pursue iPhone games under the “entertainment” guise in the Apple iTunes Store, developers will cleverly create web-based iPhone games. The iPhone WIFI capability coupled with Korea’s 4G mobile infrastructure, which would otherwise be mobile high-bandwidth pipe dreams for most corners of the planet, are actually a reality for Korea today. Companies like Skyfire have made strides in developing web-based applications that offer a desktop experience for your mobile device such as the iPhone. Expect Flash-based games available via Skyfire-powered mobile browsers.

A Future With iPhone Games

If you’re like me, and you love the iPhone, don’t worry – there will be options. I’m not a big gamer, but if that’s your thing, I don’t anticipate this initiative from the Games Rating Board of Korea to last long. If it does, there’s plenty of other interesting applications available to check out in the meantime.  Getting around this may be as easy as changing the location preferences of your iTunes account to a country where iTunes Store games are “legal.”

Will the absence of a “games” section in the Apple iTunes Store in Korea pose as a serious threat to the iPhone’s popularity in Korea? iPhoneInKorea.com doesn’t think so. The iPod Touch is already the most popular (and the most expensive) MP3 player in Korea.  Although the game-changing component of the iPhone and the iPod Touch are the tens of thousands of applications available in the iTunes Store, there’s plenty more besides game apps that the Korean consumer will notice as attractive features that make the iPhone worth the price premium.

Unless there’s a huge breakthrough elsewhere, the beautiful design, brand recognition, intuitive interface, and advanced technology of the iPhone will prevail and will continually leave it’s competitors following in the dust.

Tags: Apple iTunes Store, Games Rating Board, Skyfire

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 11:46 am and is filed under Apps, Korea, News, Release in Korea, 아이폰. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.