Category Archives: Korea

After being taken offline in South Korea in July 2012, the PlayStation Store will be brought back online May 16. The store was taken offline due to a law in the country which forbids online services for asking those under 18 years old their name or age. Sony took the store offline to incorporate changes which would get the service in-line with the new law. Once it’s back up May 16, the store will be restricted to those 18 years of age and older. Minors will no longer be allowed to use the service, and a credit card will verify the registrants age with the store. Thanks, CVG.

South Korean politician Shin Eui-jin has revealed a bill proposing that games, along with alcohol, gambling and drugs, be strictly regulated.

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Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection has appeared on the Korean Game Rating board’s website. Along with a piece of art tweeted by one Hideo Kojima, it could contain the first Metal Gear Solid, right through to Peace Walker.

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Nintendo of Korea is being slammed after its Twitter account tweeted out a sexist comment regarding TV weather reporter Eun Ji Park.

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North Korea’s propaganda arm Uriminzokkiri has released a new video this week, this time using music from The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Perhaps more worrying however, are the images of President Obama and U.S. troops engulfed in flames, and the image of a nuke going off.

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North Korean propaganda network Uriminzokkiri published a troubling film earlier this week – see our report here – that included scenes of New York City in Activision’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. The scenes were believed to foretell an attack on America. The publisher has now pulled the movie from YouTube.

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North Korean propaganda network Uriminzokkiri has created a seemingly anti-American propaganda video, containing footage of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that shows New York City being bombarded by missiles.

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Two lawsuits have been filed in South Korea, challenging the Shutdown Law as unconstitutional. The law prohibits those under sixteen from playing games for a nightly six hour block so they can do more constructive things. Parents and teenagers with a Korean organization representing culture filed a suit claiming the law doesn’t take into account the parental right to educate their children. The other lawsuit was filed by NCsoft, Neowiz, and Nexon, also claiming the Shutdown Law is unjust. More on Kotaku.

Blizzard is handing out refunds to players of Diablo III in South Korean over server issues stemming from Error 37. The firm’s refund policy originally allow for returns of a game already used, but South Korean law guarantees refunds of products within seven days; therefore, the firm had to comply. Players under level 40 can apply for a refund starting June 25 and until July 3, and going forward, those who are level 20 and below can obtain a refund within two weeks of purchase date. Those above level 40 are out of luck. Last month, the Korean Fair Trade Commission steeped into Blizzard’s Seoul offices to investigate after numerous claims were filed against the firm. Via WSJ.

Sony has announced it will take taken down the PlayStation Store and services for PS3 in South Korea on June 29, in order to adhere to the country’s new “Game Industry Promotion Act.” The new law goes into effect on July 1 and prohibits those under 18 from being asked personal details such as their real-names and age as part of the authentication process on PSN. During the outage, users will not be able to make account changes or purchase new content. Once Sony changes the authentication method, the store and related online services will go back online.

Vita, PSP and other portable devices that use the PSN Store will not be affected, states Gamasutra.

Korea’s Ministry of Culture, Sports and Television wants to ban gaming bots which gather resources in gaming, as well as the ability for players to trade and farm virtual items.

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Korean game company Nexon has acquired a 14.7% minority stake in fellow-Korean publisher NCsoft for $688 million, the firm announced today. The shares, which number 3.218 million, were purchased from NCsoft chairman and founder Taek Jin Kim, which means Nexon is now the largest shareholder in NCsoft. Nexon said the stock purchase was part of a long-term partnership between the two firms. Thanks, VentureBeat.

Blizzard’s Seoul offices were raided by Korean authorities this week due to customer complaints filed with the country’s Fair Trade Commission. Customers complained to the body Blizzard refused to offer refunds to players unhappy with the game, and the FTC is currently investigating whether the firm was “ill-prepared” for the amount of players crushing its game servers. It is also looking into whether Blizzard’s no-return policy violates Korean law on electronic commerce and commercial contracts. A spokeperson for the FTC told The Korean Times it had received enough complaints from Diablo III players to launch the investigation, despite Blizzard adding more servers to help alleviate some of the player crush. If the firm is found to be acting counter to FTC laws, it will be forced to issue refunds to those who request it. Thanks, Shack.

Nintendo will launch 3DS in South Korea on April 28 for 220,000 won ($193), its been announced. The console will launch in the country in three colours: Cosmo Black, Cobalt Blue, and Misty Pink, while the launch line-up consists of Korean editions of Super Mario 3D Land, Nicola Magazine Model Stylish Audition 2 and Tekken 3D Prime Edition. Local launches of Mario Kart 7, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Star Fox 64 3D, nintendogs+cats and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D will happen later in the year.

Via Siliconera.

Nintendo has announced it will hold its fourth Nintendo Direct conference on April 14. It kicks off at 8:00pm Korean time, according to Nintendo Korea. The event will be streamed live through the Nintendo Korea website. The event could mark an announcement pertaining to the release of 3DS in the region on April 28, along with something else entirely. As Andriasang noted, Nintendo habitually provides “short notice before holding a Nintendo Direct broadcast,” so it’s “still possible” that a similar broadcast from Nintendo Japan will be announced within the next few days.

The PC Gaming Alliance has some good news to share regarding the ever-growing PC market.

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Epic and NCsoft have announced a long-term licensing agreement to bring Unreal Engine 3 to NCsoft’s future titles.

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Siliconera has dug up a Korea’s Game Rating Board rating for Magic: The Gathering – Duels Of The Planeswalkers 2013, which was filed by Microsoft Korea. Wizards of the Coast hasn’t officially announced a sequel to Duels Of The Planeswalkers 2012, but still, the information is there for your consideration anyway. The site points out that while the listing may have been filed under Microsoft, it doesn’t mean it will be an Xbox 360 exclusive. Last year’s version was also released on PS3 and Steam alongside the 360 version.

The South Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology is currently look at an act that would ban online accounts of minors that spend two hours consecutively or three or more hours in a day on online games, according to Gamasutra. The new policy follows the introduction of a similar bill two years ago in the country, where a curfew would be in effect for under-18s playing online games from 10pm in the evening until 8am the next day. An unnamed Korean games industry rep has said on the new act the government should “discuss it and provide guidelines to instruct us.”

NCsoft has filed a lawsuit against Bluehole Studio and En Masse Entertainment in the US Court District of New York in an attempt to block the sale of TERA in the US.

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