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The biggest broadband game you never heard of
Kart Rider

In the most connected country (Korea), Kart Rider recently dethroned the venerable Starcraft as the biggest online game. The company that makes it, Nexon, has also achieved something far more significant: it has cracked the money making formula as well. By selling cute digital upgrades to the player's kart-racer avatars, the company pulled in $110 million last year and expects $250 million revenue this year. When Koreans were recently polled for their most impressive automobile, a Kart Rider premium entry even crept in at #2, just behind the Porsche Carerra GT. Over 25% of the entire population admits to having played Kart Rider, a remarkable performance that cannot have escaped the eyes of online game-designers world-wide.

Although Kart Rider is only slated for asian expansion (the company is keen to launch a Chinese edition), if you want to see what it is like to buy your way to the top, perhaps you can look into a sailing the Doubloon ocean at Puzzle Pirates (another quietly popular game you never heard of), or, just join a US MMORPG such as World of Warcraft, and then shop for pre-levelled avatars on ebay. Gamers racing (or fighting) their wallets is definitely here to stay.

More on Kart-Racer can be found in the english edition of the Korea Times and an admiring Business week article is here. The center of the Kart Rider universe, and the all-important upgrade shop, is its korean site kart.nexon.com.
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b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
united state

b10010011

Member

cute sells!

Jusr goes to show you. If you want to make money in gaming. Make it cute so the girls will want to play and so mothers will let their children play.

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: cute sells!

Asians are such a weird people.

Sefirato
Turambar, Master of Fate
Premium Member
join:2002-05-08
Anchorage, AK

Sefirato

Premium Member

Re: cute sells!

Asian girls that are into games are sexy.

DrewCapu
Giant Diehard
join:2001-12-19
California

DrewCapu

Member

Re: cute sells!

Agreed. I have a few import model friends (and some not "regular" models) who spend a good amount of their days playing video games, both console and online. Whowouldathunk?
BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Wakefield, MA

BosstonesOwn

Member

Re: cute sells!

said by DrewCapu:

Agreed. I have a few import model friends (and some not "regular" models) who spend a good amount of their days playing video games, both console and online. Whowouldathunk?
Who says it has to be just asian girls playing games. I like any women who plays games. I think it's kind of fun to see a women owning guys as they scream in thier chat windows or even their headsets.

DrewCapu
Giant Diehard
join:2001-12-19
California

DrewCapu

Member

Re: cute sells!

said by BosstonesOwn:

said by DrewCapu:

Agreed. I have a few import model friends (and some not "regular" models) who spend a good amount of their days playing video games, both console and online. Whowouldathunk?
Who says it has to be just asian girls playing games. I like any women who plays games. I think it's kind of fun to see a women owning guys as they scream in thier chat windows or even their headsets.
Nobody says it.

I actually meant to say "(and some not "regular" models)" -- I'm unsure how the not got in there

LeftOfSanity
@208.17.x.x

LeftOfSanity to BosstonesOwn

Anon

to BosstonesOwn
"I think it's kind of fun to see a women owning guys "

I never realized it was legal to own humans again. I'm gonna go get me a coupla' love slaves.

thender2
Glamour Profession
Premium Member
join:2004-05-16
Staten Island, NY

thender2

Premium Member

Re: cute sells!

Women have been owning weak men since the beginning of time. :/
Primis1
join:2005-06-13
Coldwater, MI

Primis1 to Anonymous88

Member

to Anonymous88
Agreed. Asia has Shot Online! too -- a MMO golf RPG. Yes, you read that right, a MMO golf RPG. They'll play anything over there, apparently. (For the record, I played the game and it's a good game, but... I can't fathom playing it all the time).

Nexon makes Shattered Galaxy though too ( definitely non-cute game), which was a pretty good game until it got to the point nobody playing spoke English anymore.

fiddelm3742
I Hope You Learned Your Lesson
join:2003-02-19
Waterloo, IA

fiddelm3742

Member

Re: cute sells!

The idea of selling avatars, and accessories sounds very familiar to another Online game Gunbound. It's a WORMS-esque style game full of avatars and things for players to waste money on. I think it either started in Korea or Taiwan. It is available in English as well. »gunbound.softnyx.net/

graycorgi
Premium Member
join:2004-02-23

graycorgi

Premium Member

Re: cute sells!

Yeah, lots of MMO games are doing things like that now. Hell, GunZ Online Korea Edition makes money by selling premium items for your characters. The game itself is free and so is playing it. The newly launched GunZ International Edition is expected to do the same thing, whenever they finish the beta.

Kxpuc
join:2004-05-04
Houston, TX

Kxpuc to Primis1

Member

to Primis1
said by Primis1:

Agreed. Asia has Shot Online! too -- a MMO golf RPG. Yes, you read that right, a MMO golf RPG. They'll play anything over there, apparently. (For the record, I played the game and it's a good game, but... I can't fathom playing it all the time).

Nexon makes Shattered Galaxy though too ( definitely non-cute game), which was a pretty good game until it got to the point nobody playing spoke English anymore.
i played Shattered Galaxy for a long long time long time ago and even back in the begining it was mostly singapore people playing it. The infamous Singlish i use to know but now have forgotten

ssj4android
Redefining Reality
join:2002-04-14
Wyoming, MI

ssj4android to Primis1

Member

to Primis1
Golf RPG? Is it like Mario Golf on the GBC? That had an RPG mode, the gba version probably did too.

rit56
join:2000-12-01
New York, NY

1 recommendation

rit56 to Anonymous88

Member

to Anonymous88
what a racist. what are you going to say when they run the world? hello sir? the Chinese, a Communist country will own America in 20 years thanks to Mr. Bush and his deficit. how about smart.

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: cute sells!

What makes you think I'm a racist?

They have weird culture and habits. Japanese sex culture is just freaking sick! They eat all kinds of 'food' and obviously they have a bunch of weird games that are so extremely popular in Asia but not anywhere else. I wonder why??

They are WEIRD.

I agree with the Bush remark but let's leave politics out of it

tapeloop
Not bad at all, really.
Premium Member
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One

tapeloop

Premium Member

it's all relative

The funny thing about statements like that is that they usually go both ways, i.e. they (Asians) could easily say the same thing about us Westerners. For example:

"They have weird culture and habits. (obsession with guns, religion and "reality" TV, celebrity worship, paying athletes and celebrities obscene amounts of money while say, teachers get next to nothing) American sex culture is just freaking sick (won't go into detail)! They eat all kinds of 'food' (Twinkies, Thickburgers, purple ketchup, fried candybars, pork rinds, etc.) and obviously they have a bunch of weird games that are so extremely popular in America but not anywhere else. (Football, NASCAR, Beer Pong) I wonder why??

They are WEIRD."


I just might have sushi for lunch.

Anonymous88
Premium Member
join:2004-06-01
IA

Anonymous88

Premium Member

Re: it's all relative

True but I never said western cultures are perfect either. Even though people eat all kinds of stuff you can't really compare Asian restaurant menus with the ones we prefer.

BTW this is mostly a western website. So we talk about other peoples and don't care much about their opinions.

tapeloop
Not bad at all, really.
Premium Member
join:2004-06-27
Airstrip One

tapeloop

Premium Member

Re: it's all relative

said by Anonymous88:

True but I never said western cultures are perfect either. Even though people eat all kinds of stuff you can't really compare Asian restaurant menus with the ones we prefer.
No accusations here my friend. I just like pointing out the ironies of statements.
said by Anonymous88:

BTW this is mostly a western website. So we talk about other peoples and don't care much about their opinions.
I heard that! I tell ya, those Icelanders are just a strange group of folks...and don't get me started on the Bhutanese...;););)
roahboah
join:2000-08-18
Rumney, NH

roahboah to rit56

Member

to rit56
The US has been in trade deficit since 1971, actually.
have a nice day
roah

Viper007Bond
Premium Member
join:2002-09-26
Portland, OR

Viper007Bond to Anonymous88

Premium Member

to Anonymous88
said by Anonymous88:

Asians are such a weird people.
Got that right.

menumorut
BE an American.
join:2005-07-04
Queens Village, NY

menumorut to Anonymous88

Member

to Anonymous88
By whose standards????

Maybe right this moment an Asian is saying the same thing about us.

Talking about tolerance!!!

they_make_me_mental to Anonymous88

Anon

to Anonymous88
I cant personally stand them.. They walk around our country all third world, drive with white gloves and strange full facial visors (wtf is that?), hang their stupid Asian wind chime good luck trinkets from there rear view mirrors, while cramming as many stuffed animals in the back windows of their cars as they can possibly fit. Act all timid like your going to stab then as you walk past them on the street. Stink up the lunch area with that rancid fish smell that seems to linger for a whole week straight.. They act is if they are the only ones that exist on the planet. Which i commonly refer to as the "Asian wonderland" Its a place where you can suddenly pull into a lane without looking or signaling and almost cause a serious accident, and other times needing to get into a lane, that is clearly safe to merge in, and checking to see if its safe for over a mile.. They seem to like to stand uncomfortably close to the person in front of them at ANY situation. They do not believe in personal space. As noted, play strange online games, and seem to be very addicted to "hello kitty" in mass numbers.

I could go on.. but i don't play starcraft.
bogey7806
join:2004-03-19
Here

bogey7806

Member

Starcraft

I quit playing that game a long time ago.

I think the final thread for me was the backstabbing by asian players who'd insist I sent them a private message laced with epithets. The only joy I had after that was watching the rubes who believed him get backstabbed in turn.

graycorgi
Premium Member
join:2004-02-23

graycorgi

Premium Member

Re: Starcraft

Haha, it happens all the time.

Not to mention the fact that the game was so easily exploitable... Programs called 'ladder bots' could get you ranked at 9999 in the ladder in under a day, as long as you had two valid CD keys (not hard to get with 'social engineering').

moko
join:2002-12-22
Fayetteville, GA

moko

Member

Re: Starcraft

thats why asians like it.....easy to cheat on.

graycorgi
Premium Member
join:2004-02-23

graycorgi

Premium Member

Re: Starcraft

True, most of the cheaters I ran into either spoke no English or pretended to speak no English.
wuy3
join:2004-08-04
North Haven, CT

wuy3

Member

Re: Starcraft

you guys are just jelous we asians know how to break the system so well.
too bad it means almost every politician in asia is corrupted

koitsu
MVM
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA

koitsu to bogey7806

MVM

to bogey7806
gg next map

kekekekeke ^_^

FTCXtreme
join:2005-03-14
New Braintree, MA

FTCXtreme

Member

Show me some pics of this game

I wanna see some in game footage see if I like it.m Probably not seeing how asain games try the weird cute hello kitty fashion which is creepy by my standard but what the hell, worth a try. Maybe its like Mario Kart(In a crazy asain hello kitty fashion).
BosstonesOwn
join:2002-12-15
Wakefield, MA

BosstonesOwn

Member

Re: Show me some pics of this game

said by FTCXtreme:

I wanna see some in game footage see if I like it.m Probably not seeing how asain games try the weird cute hello kitty fashion which is creepy by my standard but what the hell, worth a try. Maybe its like Mario Kart(In a crazy asain hello kitty fashion).
Hey I was in your city today.. hehe

BTW Mario kart with online extension would be great game. was fun playing 4 players on a 27 in tv in the day imagine 16 player rumble over the net
kenyg
join:2001-02-09
Hatboro, PA

kenyg

Member

games I never heard of

my wife plays puzzle pirates.

•••
pkwon1
join:2005-06-28

pkwon1

Member

I got some pictures of this game

»kart.gametime.co.kr/scre ··· list.asp

this site has korean language but have a lot of game images

enjoy them..
Mitesh
Premium Member
join:2005-06-25
Charleston, SC

2 edits

Mitesh

Premium Member

$$ for items

A few games I played that are Asian that charge for premium items are Gunbound, Maple Story. The only us based game I think is Puzzle Pirates. The game makers in Korea saw a niche to be filled since they saw how people were willing to buy game pieces/characters from ebay and what not. They just filled a niche and have a first to market advantage. Personally if I bought the game, I rather not pay for a item, but since these games are free paying to get a item seems affordable, at the time. It's only after playing for a while does a user realize the amount of money they spent to get those items. Also charging for items helps they pay for the servers and what not, just like how people pay monthly fees for everquest and other games that require monthly fees. A big reason why the kart game got off so well it feeds off the ability to showcase your "ride". It's like any other car game where the point is to earn items to trick/rice out your ride, just with Kart Rider you play for free and if you WANT you can pay for a premium item. This leads me to wonder how Guild Wars will cover the costs of servers. I think the idea of virtual advertising may be of use to them.

***EDIT***
A mistake I thought I made, but I thus realized it was not a mistake.

Snakeoil
Ignore Button. The coward's feature.
Premium Member
join:2000-08-05
united state

Snakeoil

Premium Member

A true stay at home job

Thanks to the early games like Ultima Online, it appears that there has been a cottage industry growing.

With such games people sign up, and play just to gather resources, rare items, or build uber accounts. Their only intent is then to sell the stuff on ebay, hopefully making a profit for the time it took them.

Which leds to a news story a few months ago, about an "online" sweat shop being busted. The ring leader "forved" the sweat shop workers to log on and play, then paid them very little for their time.
Px
join:2005-04-30

Px

Member

goes to show ya

goes to show how much more wired then Americans are and how much technology is involved in their lives. they use tech for passion then perhaps say usefulness
meeee4
join:2005-11-03
Woodbridge, ON

meeee4

Member

k

ok.... im sorry...i am asian... and im offended my some of your comments... so what if they make weird games with weird characters? what if nobody else plays it? the only reason nobody else plays it around the world is cuz it only comes in one language....
so stop calling us asians weird
btw... i played this game many times before.... it is one of the best games i ever played

Iheartasiangirls2
@cpe.net.cable.rogers

Iheartasiangirls2

Anon

Re: k

I do not think "weird" is the right word...different or cool and unconventional in the way north americans see things would be a better way to put it.

I wish they would star doing their games in english too...I would love to play all the cool stuff out there.

kartriderUSA
join:2005-12-02
Salina, KS

kartriderUSA

Member

Re: k

hey dude i am american and i don't know korea well but i play kartrider all day long

sack up dogg it's easy

Flippant
So Much For Subtlety

join:2000-06-04
Katy, TX

Flippant

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