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SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Yonhap) -- Japan's global console game giant Nintendo Co. plans to expand its presence in South Korea by helping South Korean software developers develop localized computer game programs, its top Korean operations manager said.
Tech-savvy South Korea is one of the world's fastest-growing game markets but it is currently dominated by local on-line programers. It is in January that Nintendo officially launched its Korean operations.
"We are currently cooperating with 20 local software developers and plans to unveil diverse game contents that can be available on our console game machines," said Mineo Koda, the Japanese chief executive of Nintendo Korea, in a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency.
The South Korean market, Koda said, is important for Nintendo's global strategy. Official government figures show that South Korea's game industry market was estimated at US$8.2 billion in 2006, with US$670 million in exports.
"We will support local game developers, many of which have accumulated know-how in the online game sector, for developing more localized contents," Koda said. "Their success will not just benefit Korea's game industry but also help us make our game platform widely used here."
Koda said Nintendo's cooperative tie-up with Nexon Corp. and other South Korean companies will involve both financial and technological support. They will be encouraged to develop new programs or localize existing programs to make them work on Nintendo's newly developed portable console device, "Nintendo DS Lite," he said.
So far, Nintendo has unveiled two game tiles for its new console device in cooperation with local software manufacturers and plans to debut 20 more in the second half, Koda and other company officials said.
Nintendo launched its Korea operations on January 17 by introducing its latest portable game machine, Nintendo DS Lite, which is an advanced version of Nintendo DS. The company has so far sold about 30 million DS devices worldwide.
Though the new version is not eye-popping in its appearance and with the quality of its graphics, it helps users feel easy to play diverse programs such as pet growing, brain training and foreign language exercise. The unconventional line-up compares with video-oriented and complicated game titles of its competitors.
During the first four months of its debut in South Korea, Nintendo sold 270,000 DS Lite versions, quite a success in a country where online games such as Lineage and other MMORPG are dominating the market.
"Our basic business strategy is to expand the game user base regardless of age, gender and previous game-playing experience," Koda said. "With steady sales of our portable console Nintendo DS Lite since its launch in January, we believe our efforts to attain such a broader target will bear fruit."
Koda said his company aims to sell more than 1 million DS Light devices in South Korea by the end of this year.
"We have launched game titles on dogs, cooking, English education, most of which have been ignored as game materials. We are aiming to provide games that anyone can easily play and we believe that we can create a new market by luring those who have not enjoyed games before as our Nintendo DS customers," he said.
Koda said that it is wrong to believe that complicated and colorful video images determine a game's success or failure.
"We always think about how to attract back those who quit playing games or those who have not enjoyed them," he said. "Our top priority is not to compete with Sony and Microsoft but to break customer nonchalance."
Despite its impressive initial success in South Korea, Nintendo doesn't seem to be complacent. It is considering launching the Wii console game device here this year in order to expand its game philosophy deeper into South Korean households.
Koda declined to discuss details but said the new game machine will have similar features as DS players and appeal to broader group of Korean population.
Koda also expressed concern about the lingering problem of piracy in South Korea that he said will pose a challenge to his company's marketing strategy here.
"So far, we only have warned against piracy and those who allegedly have earned profits from copied products," Koda said. "But we have no choice but to take legal action against them."
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