[B]If you did a word association with the word [I]StarCraft[/I], one of the first responses you would probably get from anyone that knows games is "Korea." The popularity of the Blizzard real-time strategy game is unprecedented in that country. What better way to find out why than to ask a Korean.[/B]

The [URL=http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-is-starcraft-popular-in-korea.html]Ask a Korean blog[/URL] tackled the issue in a recent post, going in-depth into the phenomenon, while analyzing the popularity of CGI movies such as Avatar, as well as the emergence of PC bangs in the country. A few tidbits:

[INDENT]The most recent development would be the establishment of pro gaming leagues and cable televisions. Once these institutions came to being, the popularity of StarCraft became a self-sustaining force. People talk about it because it is on television, and television keeps on showing it because people talk about it. People practice the game because the gaming league pays well, and the gaming league pays well because people watch the games, again because the games are on TV.[/INDENT] On PC Bangs:

[INDENT]The result is that StarCraft became a standard rather than a choice. There have been other worthy real-time simulation (RTS) games that were just as entertaining as StarCraft. (EA Game’s Command & Conquer series comes to mind.) But once StarCraft was chosen to be the standard for PC Bangs, there was no turning back. The fun of an online game multiply with more players even though the original merits of that game may have fallen below those of a later game. So StarCraft lives on in Korea, even though it has been 12 years since the game came out.[/INDENT] On the game itself:

[URL=http://www.gameculture.com/2010/02/23/why-starcraft-so-popular-korea]read more[/URL]

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