PS3 Korean Launch Pictures

[dantruon]

dont know which one to choose, they both hold a ps3

 

[bomlat]

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.

probably germany never droped any nuclear bomb onto a japan city.
Oh,sorry,that was two nuclear bomb.

 

[wco81]

I don't think there's as much resentment by the Japanese as you might think on that.

Some American products do well, like iPods.

Windows took over, before they had some other OS.

Doesn't Harley Davidson do well?

They also like American pop culture a lot.

 

[Carl B]

I'm getting ready to move this into the 'general discussion' forum; that said, I'm going to chime in as well. Korean/Chinese resentment towards Japan was actually not all that large during the course of the Cold War - WWII in a lot of ways was pretty much moved on from. In the late 90s though there was a resurgence in resentment from both countries as a result of increased nationalism at home and increasing resource squabbles with Japan, not to mention ever merging/conflicting economic interests. Sometimes I think even the Japanese themselves are unaware of the shifts in perception in recent times (they tend to insulate themselves from foreign criticism), peaking with what really became an active propaganda campaign of sorts by the Chinese government to highlight Japanese atrocities during WWII as a public awareness/support move to check what was/is perceived as growing Japanese willingness to re-militarize (which is indeed happening). So... since the natural rising 'power' in Asia is China, and Japan of course could go nuclear in a year if they wanted, you get all the Nanjing talk, the comfort women stuff, etc etc... all to highlight the potential threat of Japan.

Now - things that have *highly* aggravated the situation in recent years have been Japan's willingness to re-work their history books to play down/pretty-up their actions during WWII (at China and Korea's expense), former Prime Minister Kozuimi's frequent visits to Yasukuni Shrine (where several class A war criminals are still honored), clashes over natural gas rights in the seas, and a move to re-write the constitution in order to allow proactive military action.

In fact, the success enjoyed in raising awareness for these issues actually started to backfire for the Chinese government, as people actually did start boycotting Japanese goods, and Japanese businesses and employees working in China started to feel a little less secure. China's goals were only ever political; they never wanted to endanger the economic relationship, so the government-generated rhetoric has died down in recent years to let things cool off again. A new PM in Japan doesn't hurt things from that standpoint.

That's a quick overview of the situation; it was better in the 80's than it was this past decade, and it's better now than it was just a couple of year ago.

 

[wco81]

Sorry if I diverted the original subject of the thread too much.

I would think any survivors of the WWII and earlier periods would have bitter memories of Japanese actions.

Because you see something similar in the US where some older people will never forget Pearl Harbor and tries to make their children or grand children carry on resentment of the Japan.

It may be exacerbated in the Midwest, as Detroit auto makers' fortunes decline.

 

[patsu]

wco81, have you stayed in Asia for an extended period of time ? It's best not to carry individual experiences in US (especially mid-west) there. Although we all eat, sleep, breathe oxygen and have painful memories, we also differ greatly in lifestyle, social structure, value judgement, outlook, etc.

I'd say the most common gamer response to PS3 launching in Korea is this post:
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showpost.php?p=1021969&postcount=41



















(I'm actually not sure if I'm kidding or not)

 

[wco81]

Sorry I don't mean to be castigating any ethnic group.

I'm just saying there's some heavy history there and one form of human response would be some bitterness.

I can't imagine for instance that the Serbs and Bosnians have let bygones be bygones.

Look at how the French and Germans are still sensitive about the WWII past. Now are they overtly boycotting each other's products? No but they do have laws which seem to try to suppress the painful past, such as the French trying to ban web auctions of Nazi paraphenalia.

 

[btdvox]

Its not bad- Was this at a store or something? I saw the 80GB sign on the box tho!!!

 

[Fafalada]

I'm just saying there's some heavy history there and one form of human response would be some bitterness.

There's heavy history across the entire world - consider Europe for a second and yet it's an economical union now.

Anyway, you contradict your own argument here:

I don't think there's as much resentment by the Japanese as you might think on that.
Some American products do well, like iPods.
Windows took over, before they had some other OS.

If that's your proof of "not much resentment" consider that
1) Lots of japanese products are doing very well in Korea
2) NDS is taking the country by storm, PSP is strong as well
3) Japanese pop culture has had strong presence for last 20 years (from animations to movies and music).

I could list similar stuff about US influences, in spite of the fact that anti-US sentiments are very current (as I mentioned in my previous post).

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.

Exactly, iPod is a fashion trend, and consumers like to follow those. But Apple's marketting is not the only one capable of creating trends, and market in Korea has been a few steps ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to mobile devices.

In respect to design - I was just referring to general aesthetics, which are obviously a big selling point for all these devices (in recent years, arguably the main one).

 

[patsu]

Sorry I don't mean to be castigating any ethnic group.

I'm just saying there's some heavy history there and one form of human response would be some bitterness.

I can't imagine for instance that the Serbs and Bosnians have let bygones be bygones.

Look at how the French and Germans are still sensitive about the WWII past. Now are they overtly boycotting each other's products? No but they do have laws which seem to try to suppress the painful past, such as the French trying to ban web auctions of Nazi paraphenalia.

Likewise, can't carry European experiences to Asia too (and vice versa).

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

dont know which one to choose, they both hold a ps3

The left one without a doubt, her face is sooo cute. Pick the right if you want a little bit more brains I think.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I've already npot posted in this thread a couple of times because it's way OT, but I can stands it no longer!

Look at how the French and Germans are still sensitive about the WWII past. Now are they overtly boycotting each other's products? No but they do have laws which seem to try to suppress the painful past, such as the French trying to ban web auctions of Nazi paraphenalia.

The Germans too are anti Nazi. Everyone is (except neo-Nazi's!). The motions of the French aren't anti-modern-Germany. You'll also find most people who went through the war got over it. There's plenty of people who got bombed at etc. who bear no anti-country ills. You don't get people boycotting German engineering because of WWII. There's even examples of Allies from D-Day meeting up with the Germany machine-gunners, both mortal enemies at the time, and reminiscing and getting over it.

There's little historical context for long-term grudges affecting national relations. Where these do occur, it's because of persistent hostilities. It's not grumbles about a war fought 50 years ago, but about on-going bombs and kidnappings and shootings that perpetuate the hostility. On the whole, any public commentary against a nation that tries to incite boycotts etc. are political movements by governments for their own economic ends. They just use historical prejudice as a tool. Joe Public tends to get over it. Most people aren't capable of hating even one person for 50 years, let alone a whole country populated by folk they've never met who've never done them any harm. I'm sure there's cultural hotbeds of prejudice that ingrain their offspring with prejudice, but on the whole human nature is, after a tizzy, get over it and move on.

 

[Nesh]

Likewise, can't carry European experiences to Asia too (and vice versa).

I think its a bit harder due to the fact that "culture" in Europe isnt as "unified" among countries. Its kind of fragmented.