PS3 Korean Launch Pictures

Hongcho, are you refering to the same HanaTV mentioned in this article ?
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=69906

HanaTV seems to be based on download and play model. Mention of triple play is interesting (and I hope PS3 makes some headway there in the future).

It seems AppleTV is competing there also, but Xbox 360 IPTV was unfortunately delayed because of the regulation you highlighted.

Userbase looks small but hey, you gotta start somewhere.

 

Sorry--exports are excluded for that deal.

On an unrelated matter, I'm relocating to South Korea.

 

Korea is also a few steps ahead of everyone else in terms of digital content distribution. Packaged games sell just as badly on PC as they do on consoles - majority of successful games are free downloads that make their income through subscriptions and micro-transcations.

The only exception (so far) to this have been handhelds (well, DS and PSP really), which have been far more popular then other consoles, and their software actually sells. DS is also the first gaming hw that I've seen advertised on mainstream TV (not dedicated gaming channels) - if there was ever a time when Blizzard should consider porting old games, this would be it IMO.
Admitedly, both devices being easily piratable at this point in time, their software success might be short lived.

 

Holy crap! If you look real close and focus there's actually at least 1 PS3 in that picture! It's like one of those optical illusion posters.

 

Eh, if you can't fill your special launch event this would seem to not suggest good things really. I would sure hope my marketers could fill a room with 300 people at least for a product I'm trying to sell.

 

I would even become a permanent resident! Not to mention a plastic surgery to make my eyes "asian like"

How come?

 

Again, see France. The launch event was a damp squib, but Sony sold plenty of PS3's on the launch day. If you assume most people wanting one preordered, why bother to wait in a queue at a launch event? Lack of stellar events can be as much a sign of good preorder management as lack of interest.

 

There's some residual anti-Japanese sentiment over there isn't there?

I know that when Samsung and Sony did the joint venture on LCD manufacturing, there was some resentment on both sides for the companies working together.

As for the iPod, companies like iRiver pushed through a campaign against the iPod to make a nationalistic appeal in favor of domestic companies competing in the MP3 player market.

Wait until Samsung gets into consoles ...

 

not when it comes to videogames... imo.

 

Only like there's some residual anti-African American sentiment over there in the U.S.A

You might see it gain media attention every now and then but it's understood to be a minority view and not a market shaping attitude.

 

That's a loaded statement, at least in regards to the situation in America. Which makes me wonder if its as complicated in Korea. But that would take us pretty far off-topic.

EDIT

Perhaps loaded isn't the best word. I don't want to imply any bias or ulterior motives on inefficient's part. Perhaps oversimplification would be better.

 

Ok... can we keep the topic about the Korean launch, and not a) about nationalist tensions and b) about women in pics?

 

But... the women were apart of the Korean launch!

 

I dont think it is a good comparison to put US and Korea as similar examples.

Korea has been occupied by the Japanese from 1910 to 1945, and tried to oppress the Korean culture to eliminate their national pride so they would increase control over them.

The Koreans have been trying to rebuild their culture and it seems that probably many have become very strong nationalists due to their past history with the Japanese and the involvement of foreigners and politics in their country.

I can not be 100% sure on this but perhaps such behaviors extending to products are probably left overs of this in an effort to maintain the presence of their Korean corporations strong in their economy as well as internationally and maybe there is some dislike towards Japanese because of the past

 

I dont know alot about this, but I dont think its a very big matter. Incase of the ps3, it will be aimed at people 20 - 25 years old or around that age. At best their grandfathers would only know about the Japanese occupation and even than its more than 60 years ago without anything happening. I dont think a young adult korean will have such a big hatred towards Japan, maybe he would avoid japanese products if possible, but I dont think they dont buy things because its Japanese. It would somewhat be like me hating the germans for ww2. Even my grandpa doesnt hate the germans as far as I know.

I think things like these easily get pulled towards extreme ends and people make alot bigger deal out of it than it really is.

 

If they can have a nationalist attempt to boycott the iPod, they could certainly boycott Japanese products, given the history.

And it goes both ways, because I remember reading an article about how a lot of Japanese accused Sony of betrayal because of their LCD joint venture with Samsung.

There's some backlash against Chinese products in the US, as there was in the '80s with Japanese products.

In video games, some Xbox partisans also made nationalistic arguments against Sony and the Japanese in particular, because they accused the Japanese of never supporting Western products under any circumstances. Of course, BMW and Mercedes do well in Japan, as do iPod.

 

Currently the anti-US (and general anti-Westerner) sentiment is far stronger then anything else, partly thanks to US bullyish behaviour during FTA negotiations, and mostly thanks to large numbers of wonderfully misbehaved foreigners in the country. The latter makes various incidents involving army in the past look tame.

That said, the notion that consumer-goods are being shunned by nationalism is just as silly as in Japan - there are massively popular foreign brands in just about every field, and in many cases imported stuff is popular just because it's imported, sometimes even Because it costs More, not because it has any viable merits over competing products.

Anyway, just to reiterate, PSP started strong out of the gate, and NDS is currently lighting the game market on fire - last I checked they were both made by Jpn companies too.

As for products failing (eg. Ipod, Wallmart...) do people rushing to accusations of nationalism ever consider that local competition just "might" be - you know, actually better?
I have just recently purchased an MP3 player in "nano" segment (4GB of flash, same price range) and it's superior to Ipod in every conceivable way (featureset, battery life, design, price) - considering such products are made by local brands, is it really so hard to believe they are beating imports?


Sorry for the OT rant btw.

 

I remember specifically calls for investigations against Samsung for any special deals they might be giving to Apple for flash RAM.

Also heard of ad campaigns where iRiver or some other Korean MP3 player manufacturer made appeals to support the domestic brands for nationalistic reasons.

iPod is outspec'd in just about every market (better design though, in what way?) and yet outsells the competition for reasons which go way beyond the specs. which technically-oriented people gravitate to.

Anyways, if the Koreans have moved past the resentment, they're more magnanimous than most. But I would think there are still grandparents alive who lived through the annexation by Japan and imparted that resentment to younger generations.

Not to mention, even if there wasn't that particular history, they would be regional rivals all the same.

 

Times are different. In daily lives, trade and pop culture have masked out much differences between Asian countries. I'd say most Asians are more sensitive to neighbouring countries' needs today.

Granted, there are still very specific issues related to WWII that can touch a nationalistic nerve. But when business relationships, consumption habits and entertainment are so intertwined these days, not many are interested to dig the past. e.g., I have seen collaborative movie projects involving big-name Korean, Japanese and Chinese celebs, or a Korean singer launching her successful career in Japan, or a Korean trade group voicing concerns about low quality export to other Asian countries, etc. Most of these relationships are bilateral or reciprocating.

As long as a product caters to the local needs, and the parent company can navigate the channel relationships, political and national agenda should not come into play.

EDIT: It is not uncommon for domestic players to play the "made locally" card. Even Apple does that. Most consumers would still rationalize their purchase based on the product merits. We are all spoilt by global competition today.

 

piracy alone is the biggest reason why consoles do badly in asia (of course apart from japan). there aren't much major reasons why consoles shouldn't sell badly if people have better attitude over copyrights.