We hear that all is not well in South Korea for Nintendo, who's next generation console is taking bad rap from the hardcore elite in the country. The negative gossip all revolves around the fact that the localized Wii consoles are only accepting localized copies of Nintendo games, and from the looks of it, Nintendo isn't getting corresponding versions of the most demanded titles into the market fast enough. The result: Wii sales have been sluggish at late. More details follow at the full story.

The maxim says, "imitate, then innovate." Perhaps Fantom Entertainment Group imitated Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children a little too much.

In any case, Square Enix has won the reported copyright infringement case against Fantom Entertainment Group. For more legal details, turn to the full article after the jump.

Electronic Arts' CEO, John Riccitiello, has given a hint that the superstar publisher may soon experiment with new pricing models in the near future. Riccitiello has predicted that the usual pricing and revenue models will soon need to change, after emerging markets have defeated the US$ 59.99 premium price point for video games.

"In the next five years, we're all going to have to deal with this. In China, they're giving games away for free," said Riccitiello. He believes that soon the rest of the world will reach the forked road and accept change. "People who benefit from the current model will need to embrace a new revenue model."

At the start of 2007, Electronic Arts became one of the major worldwide publishers to have given away a current game for free. EA Sports' FIFA 07, Electronic Arts' previous bid in the virtual soccer market, was practically given away to gamers and fans in South Korea.

It must be noted that the game was at first downloaded for free within piracy rings, but soon EA accepted that there was a growing trend in a much larger gaming market (in population) that Western companies would soon have to face. Gamers now want something for nothing, and EA was generous enough to oblige.

FIFA 07 no longer appeared for retail on shelves, and the game was offered free for download over the Internet. In order for EA to gain something out of the gesture, the publisher marketed game "enhancements" for a minute microtransaction fees. Unsurprisingly, it was widely accepted. Korea's gaming economy flourished with microtransaction business models.

Riccitiello notes that as more publishers accept the online distribution model, Electronic Arts may begin testing out different pricing models for its wide lineup of games.

 

While it's always a good thing to hear about a big company achieving success in its industry, it's definitely much better to hear about aforementioned company reaching out its hand to help the little guys, those unsung heroes who have a drive to succeed even though they're underfunded, undermanned, or practically unheard of. It's the same with Nintendo, as one of its top operations managers recently announced of the company's efforts to expand in South Korea.

So what is Nintendo going to do? Simple - help South Korean software developers to get around making localized computer games. This is a good thing on many levels - not only would the diverse gaming community in South Korea be treated to more game choices besides the usual online games, it also makes for a good foundation for Nintendo to build its latest project, WiiWare, onto.

After all, Nintendo came up with WiiWare specifically to help anyone with the time, creativity and drive to be able to make games, while taking the usual million-dollar budget aspect out of the equation.

This bit of news only serves up more questions for Nintendo, however. Would the company expand in other countries as well? Just how accessible would WiiWare be? In what shape or form will Nintendo be lending its assistance to those game developers? Certainly valid queries for discussion, and no doubt we'll be hearing more of them in the near future. But one thing's for sure, Nintendo's definitely changing the landscape of this industry as we know it.

The Entertainment Software Association has applauded the recent forging of a free trade agreement between the US and South Korea which will not only make it easier for publishers to bring games to and fro, it also helps fight software piracy.

According to the USA, opening better trade relations with one of the most economically-successful countries in Asia will result in "non-discriminatory and duty-free treatment for all digital products." This means that both countries will enjoy equal opportunities in the market to sell their wares.

This also means, according to software publishers, that the campaign against piracy has been bolstered because intellectual rights will be safeguarded whether they're in retail stores or up for sale in the internet.

Both the US and South Korea have populations where gaming is a big business. They also have extensive broadband connections among the citizenry to make them two of the world's most wired nations. Business opportunities abound as the game makers in the regions are innovative and successful at what they do.

Capcom's not letting their guard down even if they already have a strong presence in the market. Gamasutra sat down for an interview with Senior Director of Strategic Planning and Research Christian Svensson, and he talked about Capcom's future with much focus on Wii and downloadable content.

Svensson expressed his confidence with Resident Evil 4 going to the Wii, saying "anytime you sell another copy to another user, it expands the brand." Even with the PC version getting patches for improvement, he believes that the Wii version of RE4 is going to be the best out of four platforms.

While Capcom will be releasing several titles available for download on PS3 and Xbox 360 platforms, Svensson stated that it's more difficult to make a Wii downloadable game because of filesize limitations. On the good side, he confirmed the possibility of making original content on Wii if Nintendo gets their processes in order. Apart from that, the only main problem for making downloadable games available is the coordination required between them and the company of the console they want the game on.

Support for Windows games haven't been decided yet, but Capcom is trying to extend its market by focusing on the PC. "If you look at a lot of the developing markets like China, South Korea, and India, the gaming platform of choice is the PC" says Svensson. They seem to have great plans indeed, as he believes that Monster Hunter: Frontier will be big when it goes live in Japan.

For the full interview, check out the Read link below.

 

CMP - the folks responsible for organizing the Game Developers Conference has recently confirmed that they will host a Korean GDC come September this year.

Ah, Korea, land of awesome kimchi, mass-produced MMOs - no offense to the really good ones that came out, cyber athletes/celebrities, the World Cyber Games, and female MMO gamers who sell their virginity for uber in-game items. (A Ragnarok Online myth that's yet to be confirmed, quick, call Jamie and Adam!)

Anyhow, GDC Korea is set to take place from September 13th to 5th at the Bexco Convention Hall in Busan, South Korea. The event is said to capitalize on the country's "fast growing" games community. (What? It's still growing?)

The event is said to consist of a two-day conference on the 13th and the 14th, and an Expo that will run for the full three days. The event is said to also be organized in part by Busan Metropolitan City. For more details on the event, feel free to click our read-link below. It should lead to the official site.

You know how physicists say nature hates vacuum? When E3 announced that it was downsizing on the fanfare, it sort of left a vacuum waiting to be filled. And the new E3 wannabes came in droves. First in line was the Consumers Expo Show. Then South Korea's shining Gstar. The latest contenders (yes, contenders because there are five of them all from Austalia) for the throne are here:

Supanova Pop Culture Expo (Sydney Olympic Park, October 27 to 29) is a science fiction and fantasy film and TV, comic books, anime and collectibles convention. This year, the buzz goes, a couple of video game publishers signed up. Could be the start of something even bigger.

Game1 Electronic Gaming Expo and Tournament (Melbourne Exhibition Centre, November 4 to 5) organisers crow this years expo will feature Australia's biggest gaming tournament – with players from all over Oz.

eGames & Entertainment Expo (Melbourne Exhibition Centre, November 17 to 19) is probably the closest thing to E3. It will feature keynote speakers, latest game titles, hands-on opportunities, "eSport" competitions and an Australian Video Games Awards event. This event was sched to coincide with the PS3 launch so Sony will be a major participant here.

Sydney-siders (Sydney Showground Olympic Park, December 2 to 3) will also feature Game1 in action.

GO3 Electronic Entertainment Expo 2007 (Perth Convention Exhibition Centre , March 30 to April 1) is a consumer expo, developer conference and a LAN party all rolled into one. GO3 focuses on strong developer focus but has game publisher booths for the public.

While the late great E3 will be missed, there's certainly no shortage of alternatives around the globe.