The Games We Play Online and Offline: Making Wang-Tta in Korea

This article presents an ethnographic analysis of case studies derived from fieldwork that was designed to consider the different ways Korean game players establish community online and offline. Focusing on the socio-cultural factors such as PC bangs (PC room), which can be thought of as ìthird places,î it attempts to draw the comprehensive picture of the 'media ecology' of Korean game culture. In particular, the theory of play (e.g. Huizinga) supports field data for addressing the concept of online sociability. A synthesis of the Korean concept Wang-tta (out casting) provides extra insight into the motivations to excel at digital games and one of the strong drivers of such community membership. By elaborating the unique elements and cultural implication of game addiction and the game place, this article concludes that the factors for excessive online gaming are most likely not cross-cultural. (HyeRyoung Ok)