[Rock, Paper Shotgun]

The Korean open beta for Ragnarok Online 2 started today, the chance for all RO fans to see their beloved game in glorious free 3D. If you are among those who wanted to try well we´ve got bad news because sadly its only for Korean citizens, you need a social security number to play.

Still, if you are a Korean citizen or wish to try and risk being caught by the Korean police you can use the number of any Korean friends you might have. Oh but there´s also that whole thing about the entire game being in Korean, but I´m confident our reaedership is more than accustomed to playing games they dont understand.

[RO2]

Korean pop singer Ivy seems to be in a bit of trouble after a South Korean court recently ruled that her latest music video, Temptation of Sonata, was in violation of copyright laws. Apparently the video ripped off a scene from Final Fantasy: Advent Children, and we’re not talking about silly similarities, the two scenes look identical. See for yourselves:

Below is a video from a Korean gaming site which mixes both videos into one, you will mix them up, I assure you.

The courts ordered the immediate suspension of the video from TV. Although Ivy’s fans are angry at the court’s resolution I dont blame Square Enix for suing, the whole thing is a complete rip-off; hell if Beethoven where alive he’d be suing as well!

[Japan Probe]

On my travels through the intertubes I came across this game by Korean developer Hanbit, the company responsible for the MMO golf game Pangya. Granado Espada is set in a budding 17th century civilization, and its expeditions into the new world.

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I guess its true what they say, if you build it, they will come, and if you tax it, they will group. Some of the most prominent Gold Farming companies in Korea have banded together to form their own trade association. Called the Digital Asset Distribution Promotion Association or DADPA, their aim will be to lobby with the government as it tries to regulate online digital asset trading.

Game companies need to catch up and start doing some lobbying of their own, lest these gold farmers turn the scale in their favor.

[Raph Koster's Website]

Remember some months ago when we had that video of a korean Starcraft tournament? The one with the guy doing an SCV rush? Well he’s a world renowned champion that goes by the nickname of BoxeR, the man is a god when it comes to RTS games. Here’s a video of him playing, watch his lightning fast hands execute an almost obscene ammount of actions per minute.

And yet I only use my mouse when playing RTS…

Its no secret that Japan and Korea feel… less than friendly toward each other. Heck, if it wasn’t for that small piece of ocean between them one of the two will be gone by now. But I digress. With the current tensions in Asia and talk of Japan wanting to do a preemptive strike on Korea some Korean animators made this funny video depicting what would happen. Click forth for the video.

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