Message from cowen

[Anonymous]

Today Morgan briefly mentioned that we would be talking about Japan and popular culture tomorrow. I thought I’d jump in with a little bit of my own expertise in regards to video gaming. (Ok…I’ll admit it…I am a hard-core video gamer myself!)

I’ve been a part of the online, video gaming community since Sony launched one of the first MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) called “Everquest,” many years ago. I now play Everquest II several nights a week, with other players around the world. Many of your students probably play World of Warcraft (WOW), which is a similar game that attracts a younger audience. The games are popular all around the world and make an incredible amount of money for both their publishers and “gold farmers” who are people (usually East Asians) who are paid incredibly low wages to play the game and earn virtual items which are then sold by their employers for real dollars. (See the article in US-China Today, “From Gold Farmers to Kings: Online Gaming in China.” http://www.uschina.usc.edu/

Another interesting aspect of the games (which are designed here in the United States) is the way some of them are marketed to Asia. A few years ago, Sony Online Entertainment came out with new racial models, known as SOGA models.

“These character models were created as part of the EverQuest II East project, in which Sony Online Entertainment partnered with Gamania to form SOGA and truly localize EQII for the Asian market. Not only did we create new character models, but user interface modifications have been made (such as click to move) along with other changes to make EQII East appeal to the markets in China, Korea, and Taiwan.”
http://eq2players.station.sony.com/en/news_ff.vm?FeatureName=SOGAmodels

I’ve attached the models. They are very similar to the anime or manga drawings, or the old Japanese cartoons such as Speed Racer or Kimba the White Lion. Turns out the models were not that popular, and Sony had talked about later removing them entirely, but that has not been done.

Why do the Japanese in particular find these models pleasing (most Westerners prefer the older model)? I noticed a similar thing with the Barbie Dolls in Japan. They had different heads than the Barbies marketed her, with much bigger eyes. I'd be interested if anyone could shine some light on this for me?