For my creative project, I created an online magazine. At first, I was trying to make a video with my voice over it. However, I came up with a magazine because I thought this is better way to deliver the information I’m trying to pass to the audience. My goal was to explain PC-bangs of South Korea, which I believe is a crucial factor that enabled South Korea to be a leading figure of the field of esports. PC bangs allowed people to be friendly to gaming and provided best environment for young gamers before they go professional (and also consider $1/hour fare- countless young students visit PC bangs to play games with friends after school).  PC bang (or PC Cafe) business was booming in late 90s, when Starcraft and Warcraft by Blizzard co. gained enormous popularity among young Korean population. Also stuffed with Korean online games such as Lineage by NC Soft and Kingdom of the Winds by Nexon, countless Koreans were attracted to gaming- even relatively elderly people, who are 45+ years old, were attracted to various online games including MMORPGs and online version of Hanafuda, a Japanese origin card game. Since the late 90s, gaming became a popular choice of hobbit to people of all ages in South Korea. Now, PC bangs are literally everywhere if you live in a city. In Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, there are a couple of PC bangs in every block, no matter where you go. Because of the omnipresence of PC bangs and their unique system of operating, major game distributing companies not only local but also international including Steam came up with business models designed just for PC bangs. Also, the abundance of PC bangs forced themselves to evolve into a better system, for they had to compete against each other all the time: for better equipment, for better environment, for better service, et cetera. Here I present you the culture of PC bang!

Link to the magazine

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I have been personally gathering photos of PC bang from my friends who are staying in Korea. I will have to organize the photos. Once I organize, I’m going to put them in a slideshow and try to put my voice over it, explaining about PC bangs and how they worked as a foundation for South Korea to assume a leading role in the fields of esports.

PC bang (or PC Cafe) business was booming in late 90s, when Starcraft and Warcraft by Blizzard co. gained enormous popularity among young Korean population. Also stuffed with Korean online games such as Lineage by NC Soft and Kingdom of the Winds by Nexon, countless Koreans were attracted to gaming- even relatively elderly people, who are 45+ years old, were attracted to various online games including MMORPGs and online version of Hanafuda, a Japanese origin card game. Since the late 90s, gaming became a popular choice of hobbit to people of all ages in South Korea. Now, PC bangs are literally everywhere if you live in a city. In Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, there are a couple of PC bangs in every block, no matter where you go.

At first, PC bangs were dark and spooky, not a very attractive place to the most except for some “serious” adult gamers. However, as to attract more people, PC bangs started to grow. By 2013, all PC bangs in Korea are smoke-free and most of them remodeled themselves into a brighter-themed place. Most competitive PC bangs are equipped with 1 Gbps or 10 Gbps internet services (10 times and 100 times respectively faster than normal 100 Mbps internet). Considering major internet distributors of the United States, namely AT&T and Comcast, do not provide gigabyte speed internet many places and are not able to provide 10 gigabyte internet services yet, this is amazing. Backed up with high speed internet connection, PC bangs also equipped themselves with the latest and finest computers, allowing the guests to play whatever they want to play, even very high-end games. To attract people who are not a very big fan of playing games, PC bangs also offer favorite TV shows and movies. Considering the normal fare is $1 per hour, they are very successful in attracting people to spend some time. They also serve various types of foods (and drinks), most of them are cooked in a built-in kitchen inside PC bang by people who work there.

PC bangs allowed people to be friendly to gaming and provided best environment for young gamers before they go professional (and also consider $1/hour fare- countless young students visit PC bangs to play games with friends after school).  

I’m planning to look at how South Korea could be a leading figure in the industry of esports. South Korea, despite being a small country compared to its competitors (China, U.S.A, several European nations), has an excellent infrastructure that is easily accessible to everyone at a cheap fare, called PC-bang. PC-bangs can be found everywhere and they open 24/7. I would like to explain what they are, and explain how they are contributing to South Korea’s prevalence over esports. My creative project will include photo/video overviews of PC-bangs in South Korea. I’d also try to include an explanation about team-housing, a concept originated from professional Starcraft players in South Korea in late 1990s and early 2000s. I’m planning to collect photos until August 2^nd. Then I will be spending the weekend to build up a rough draft for myself, then finish up my final draft before it’s due.