Korean Starcraft craze

In Korea, Starcraft has been the subject of a craze. The game sold around a million units, whiich means every 1 out of 45 Koreans is playing Starcraft (possibly more). Also, a live show featuring costumed zergs and protoss was held. The game is part of a marketing strategy that can even be seen on Doritos bags.

I'm half korean, never been to korea, never seen relatives on my mother's side of the family... Until Now!

Took Korean Air to Inch'on, and the first thing I see off the airplane is a HDTV with a StarCraft match being televised. Computer Games being televised? I'm in heaven already! And people were watching too. Hell, I saw adult females watching StarCraft on HDTV! And there were announcers too, a male and a female. I figured the male was there because males play StarCraft, and the female was there to attrack all the males who play StarCraft into watching the match. But then I saw some of the players were female. Females who are good enough playing computer games that they get televised? Amazing!

With this discovery, and many many others in the week that followed, I discovered that Korea = heaven

(Note, for those not in the know, 7-11 != heaven).

(Note 2, I know I seem culturally simple-minded. The truth is, I am. I know absolutely not much about Korea. That's the whole reason I took the trip, see?)

From Yahoo! News (AP):

South Korean man dies after indulging in computer games
Wed Oct 9, 3:45 AM ET

SEOUL, South Korea - A 24-year-old South Korean man died after playing computer games nonstop for 86 hours, police said Wednesday.

The jobless man, identified by police only by his last name Kim, was found dead Tuesday at an Internet cafe in Kwangju, 260 kilometers (160 miles) southwest of Seoul, they said.

Quoting witnesses, police detective Oh Myong-sik in Kwangju said the man had been virtually glued to the computer since late Friday and had no decent sleep and meals.

The man collapsed in front of the counter desk early Tuesday but soon regained his consciousness. He then went to the toilet where he later was found dead, the police officer said.

Initial investigation ruled out the possibility of murder, police said. An autopsy was planned.

South Korea is among the world's most Internet-savvy nations with more than half of its 47 million people having access to the Internet. South Korea has some 22,000 Internet cafes, also known as PC rooms.

Many PC rooms are open 24 hours, but no minors are allowed after 10 p.m.