Game Market 1983

Game Market 1983 – Chapter 63

After having a light meal at the hotel, we hopped in a taxi and headed to Myeongdong . Various historic buildings were starting to emerge as we traveled through the north street .

The year 1995 . As a part of President Kim Youngsam’s ‘Correcting history’ initiative, this building would be demolished, so I felt a sense of sentimentality seeing this building again .

During the period where plans were being made to demolish the building, per the presumptuous request of Japan to allow them to relocate the building because a Japanese architect had built it, Korean president Kim Youngsam released a video footage of the building being demolished to the whole world in a fit of anger .

Although his actions were unfitting as the president of South Korea, his decision still resonated with me .

Yuki who was staring out the window together with me focused her attention on the building and asked .

“So that’s the building being used as a museum?”

“Yeah . The building behind that used to be the palace of our king . ”

“Wow… To think my countrymen would erect a building like this in front of a palace . I feel ashamed as a Japanese for

“ . . . . . . . . . ”

“I told my parents about going to this trip with you, and my father told me this story . Japan had made a grave mistake against Korea this time . He labored the point that it wouldn’t be enough to atone for our sins even if the entire nation of Japan apologized . ”

“Your parents must be truly compassionate people telling you this . ”

“Actually… I haven’t told you yet, but my mother is Korean . ”

“Really?”

“Yes . This is why my father is happy whenever I talk about you . ”

… It looked like I had somehow gained Yuki’s father’s blessing without even meeting him . But Yuki was almost 20 years old now and she said she also had an older sister . Marrying 23~24 ago to a Korean woman definitely must have been a difficult decision for him… . I can see where Yuki’s fearlessness came from… .

&

A while later . The taxi driver had dropped us off at the opposite side of Myungshin gate in a relatively narrow street . A small hill called the ‘100 year mountain’ would appear after walking down this path, where I would sometimes go to play as a child . But the sentimental part of this trip was over, I wasn’t here to visit the 100 year mountain .

After stepping off of the taxi, I hoisted a heavy backpack on one shoulder .

“What’s that?”

“Oh this? Hmm… . You can say it’s a business tool . ”

“What? Business?”

At this point in time, I did not have the slightest bit of influence in Korea . Video games were still in its infancy here . Of course, Mintendo’s Family and ‘Game Bear’, a rebranded version of the NEGA Disk was being sold through official licensing by the S Corporation .

No, arcade machines that carried illegal copies of titles from Mintendo were the most common form of video games right now . However, the illegal copies of Family games that were being made in Taiwan were better in some ways .

Anyways, the person I was about to meet was a future member of the developer team in Korea that would go on to produce a plethora of popular titles in the 90s .

As I stepped into a shop near the Myungshin marketplace, a long forgotten PC store from my childhood came into view .

-Mantra Computer-

This was the place that would find the latest copy of Dragon Warrior 4 and lead me down the path of games . The interior of the shop was seemingly no different than a small convenience store with the plain looking show windows displaying only a handful of cartridges . At that moment, Yuki who had been looking in through the show window shouted to me with an excited voice .

“Mr . Junhyuk, there is a copy of Dragon Emblem here!!”

Oh! This was a surprise . The Dragon Emblem cartridge that was in one corner of the display under the tag ‘Rare Japanese Import’ was showing a price of 100,000 Wons . ($100) Second-hand stores in Japan were also selling for around this price range . I stared at the Dragon Emblem cartridge that I found on Korean soil for a while and entered the shop .

“Welcome . ”

A man in his 30s greeted us with his raspy voice as he came out of the curtains from the backroom . The Mantra Computer shop was a dual purpose infrastructure with half the shop being a game store and the rest being a workshop for the owner . He must have been eating lunch right before we came as the aroma of bean-paste noodles were permeating throughout the interior of the store, and I could detect hints of cigarette smoke mixed in with the smell of the noodles creating an unpleasant stench .

“We want to sell some cartridges for the Family console to you . ”

“Oh… really? I opened this shop recently so I’m low on funds, but could I see the products first?”

As I plopped a heavy bag on top of the counter, a loud crash reverberated around the tiny store .

“ . . . Just how much stuff did you bring…”

“Around 30 units?”

“30 units? I don’t know if I would be able to… purchase them all…”

“Please look at the product first before you make any decision . ”

“Alright . ”

I took out a cartridge from the bag expecting the store owner to be surprised . It was a Dragon Emblem cartridge in a black case unlike the normal copies sold in Japan . As I handed the package to him, the store owner opened and closed in eyes in disbelief as he examined the package closely .

“Dragon Emblem? But this is…?”

There was only one reason the store owner was surprised at the familiar Dragon Emblem logo .

The case was in Korean…

“Is this really a Korean version of Dragon Emblem?”

“You can turn it on if you have any doubts . ”

The store owner inserted the cartridge into a family console with a slightly trembling hand . Yuki made a questioning face at the Dragon Emblem cartridge from my bag and turned her eyes to the TV screen . And moments later as the familiar Dragon Emblem logo appeared on the screen in Korean, the owner exclaimed as if he had seen a miracle .

“It… it’s Korean!! Korean~!! Wow~ I can’t be dreaming? Am I?”

Seeing the store owner dance in happiness as if he was a kid again, I felt that I repaid just a little bit of the kindness he’d shown me when I was in his store . It was because of the store owner that I found myself enamored with the Dragon Warrior series and remembered when he had given me a free copy of “Ice 2 Special” that he programmed himself . (Of course, the game was riddled with bugs, so I had to go back several times to have it fixed . Thinking back on it, I’m wondering if he used me as a free beta tester . )

“I felt a little disappointed when I heard that the developer of Dragon Emblem was a Korean, and there wasn’t a Korean version of the game . Seeing a Korean version of Dragon Emblem truly makes me ecstatic . Did you translate the texts yourself?”

“Of course…”

After responding, I glanced at Yuki before continuing .

“Because I am the developer of Dragon Emblem . ”

Contrary to my expectations, Yuki was the first to have a reaction . She must’ve gotten the gist of what I was saying from studying Korean for a year .

“What!!??”

“Did you really make Dragon Emblem?”

“Yeah… Sorry for hiding it from you…”

“Then you beating the game in one try in the event was because… . ?”

“Well, I created the stages so I knew exactly how to clear the game . ”

“Oh my god…”

Yuki looked at me with a completely enthralled expression . The store owner was making the same face .

“So you really are the developer of Dragon Emblem?”

“Sorry for the late introduction . I’m Kang Junhyuk, currently working at Mintendo . The latest game I released was…”

“Could it be Psychic Battle?”

“Yes, that’s right . ”

“Of course I know this!! I even flew to Japan to get a hold of the title knowing a Korean developer made it!! Wow~ I can’t believe you’re in my store… Where is my pen…”

The owner started looking around for a paper and pen .

“You… really don’t have to do this . ”

“Are the 30 cartridges inside your bag all Dragon Emblem copies?”

“Yes . It would be difficult for me to translate Psychic Battle to Korean since it belongs to Mintendo . ”

“Keuh~ Is that so . It’s a pity, but I’m mighty satisfied with a Korean version of Dragon Emblem… I have to ask . Does this copy have a data deleting system as well?”

“It is implemented into the game to keep the integrity of its history, but I added a data recovery function in the cartridge . ”

“Alright . Now how should I go about selling this . ”

“Actually, the reason I came here wasn’t to sell my cartridges to you . ”

“Then…?”

“Are you interested in being the first game publisher in Korea?”

“Publ… What did you say?”

&

My plan was simple . I would start the first video game publishing company with the owner of Mintra Computers, whom I had a bond with from my childhood . Publishing games entailed importing the software from abroad and acquiring the appropriate licensing for it before selling the game domestically . However, an official channel of distribution for games was non-existent in Korea . It couldn’t even be said that there was a video game industry at all as the country was littered with street vendors selling imported copies .

Korean console users could only try and guess what the Japanese text meant as they slowly inched their way through the game . The only relief to them was the English version of a few games which they could somewhat understand .

The reaction of the store owner wasn’t exaggerated at all since the first Korean versions of games would arrive much later in the Super Family era .

“So what you want us to do is to establish a publishing company to translate foreign games into Korean and create an official channel of distribution?”

“Yes . ”