Transformative mobile game culture: A sociocultural analysis of Korean mobile gaming in the era of smartphones

Abstract

This article analyzes how mobile gaming has taken shape within the context of Korea's particular online gaming culture. It explores some of the sociocultural factors contributing to the growth of mobile gaming on smartphone platforms in Korea. It discusses how the emergence of smartphone usage has further shaped the development of Korea's mobile games, compared with what one might find in other use cultures and national contexts. It explores the manner in which the transfer to, from, and between online gaming culture and mobile gaming culture is occurring in a specific subset of Korean youth in a highly networked, urban setting.

How to Improve Customer Engagement: A Comparison of Playing Games on Personal Computers and on Mobile Phones

“…Most extant studies are based on only one type of client terminal, such as PCs [19], [26], [29], mobile phones [41], [42], [43] or tablet PCs [52]. However, it is worth exploring whether the conclusions of previous research can be extended to different research backgrounds.…”

Mobile gaming and problematic smartphone use: A comparative study between Belgium and Finland

“…From a psychosociocultural perspective, few studies have assessed smartphone gaming factors and those that have were conducted in Asia. These include a study in India assessing internal factors ( Banerjee & Das, 2015 ), two in South Korea assessing external factors ( Jang & Ryu, 2016 ; Jin, Chee, & Kim, 2015 ), and one in China assessing external factors ( Liu & Li, 2011 ). The Indian study found several motivations for using mobile games, including convenience, fun, escapism, easy use, visual appeal, and perceived influence of being a positive tool (e.g., being able to stay alone to enjoy gaming or socializing).…”

“…The Indian study found several motivations for using mobile games, including convenience, fun, escapism, easy use, visual appeal, and perceived influence of being a positive tool (e.g., being able to stay alone to enjoy gaming or socializing). One of the South Korean studies ( Jin et al., 2015 ), focusing on a sociocultural analysis discussing how the emergence of smartphone use had shaped the development of mobile games, indicated the factors that contributed to increases in smartphone gaming (e.g., a community-based social environment based on technology use). Jang and Ryu ( 2016 ) took a developmental approach examining the relationship between parenting and adolescents’ problematic mobile game use, and suggested overexpectation regarding their children’s potential positively related to problematic mobile game use.…”

Reimagining smartphones in a local mediascape

“…where online yet sedentary gaming practices are increasingly being transformed to mobile and casual ones among urban youth (Jin et al, 2013). …”