TOKYO —

As the World Cyber Games grand finals take place in Cologne, Germany, this week, Japan is aiming to reassert itself as the once and future gaming heartland. In 2006, the global videogame market was $31.6 billion, and analysts estimate it will increase to $48.9 billion by 2011. Yet with neighboring South Korea reigning supreme in competitive gaming, the real movement in Tokyo seems to be a return to retro and family games.

Japan didn’t invent videogames. That distinction belongs to a group of MIT hackers who made Spacewar! in the ’60s. The first full-fledged videogame company was North America’s Atari, which pioneered arcade gaming with Pong in 1972. But by the late ’70s and early ’80s, it was Taito’s Space Invaders, Namco’s Galaxian and Pac-Man and Nintendo’s Donkey Kong and Mario Bros — all Japanese titles — that sparked an international craze.

Under Shigeru Miyamoto, the “Walt Disney of videogames,” Nintendo was able to establish lush virtual worlds and iconic characters despite the limits imposed by 8-bit technology and pixilation. In the ’80s, the US gaming market tanked and experts said the “fad” was over. Then came 1985’s Super NES home console and Super Mario Bros., a side-scrolling platformer, which reinvented gaming and put Japan on top of the world for console and arcade gaming.

But today, the gamers aren’t in Japan — they are in Korea playing online computer games, or “e-sports.” South Korea has the highest broadband penetration (30%) and internet use (76.5%) in the world, and some 17 million Koreans, or about one-third of the population, play online games. Over 100,000 spectators attend live competitions such as The StarCraft Proleague Finals, and the country has three 24-hour dedicated gaming channels and 26,000 “PC bang” internet cafes. In 2005, gaming “athlete” Lim Yo Hwan earned an income of 37.8 million yen and had a 600,000-strong fan club. He trains 12 hours a day, during which period he moves his fingers some 300,000 times. Less disciplined players have died mimicking Lim — in 2005, seven people succumbed after playing nonstop in PC bangs. Public outcry was curbed by the initiative to establish a world-class gaming culture.

Japan is nowhere near ready to go so far. Nintendo’s Miyamoto, who criticizes Sony and Microsoft for being “too focused on hardcore gamers,” has spearheaded a return to intuitive play targeting broader demographics. This can be seen in non-traditional titles like Nintendogs for the Nintendo DS, which is popular with women who make use of the stylus to “pet” virtual animals, and “Wii Fit” for the Wii, which is popular with families. In the first six months that the consoles went head-to-head, the Wii outsold the PS3 by a margin of 4-1. This comes as no surprise — in 2005, out of a nationwide population of 127 million, the number of Japanese under 15 totaled just 17.4 million. The young, hardcore gamers are drying up.

Nonetheless, investors and promoters are looking to put Japan back in the game. The Japan e-Sports Association was founded in 2007 as part of the global drive to establish videogaming as an Olympic sport by 2016. Haruna Anno, 20, the country’s most vocal “game idol” and tarento, argues e-sports should be part of the Olympics because players use their minds, skills and reflexes in a way that non-competitors are unable to.

“I think the Japanese image of gaming is still otaku in their rooms,” she says. “Japan invented many games loved around the world, but now we have these stereotypes and are losing out.”

But don’t count Anno among the new generation of online or professional gamer — she’s the spokeswoman of retro gaming. She started playing Super Mario at age 17 and can now beat it blindfolded. Her gaming sessions last anywhere from 8-36 hours at a stretch, and she boasts one of Japan’s largest retro game collections, valued at 10 million yen. Anno has never been defeated at Capcom’s Street Fighter, and she’ll become a character in Street Fighter Online.

Though Anno is the “queen” and champion of retro games, she doesn’t stand a chance against the likes of Lim, and she knows it. “It just seems to me that the simplicity of games is the depth of their beauty. I prefer retro games, and I want to spread the love in Japan and the world.” One has to wonder how far the 8-bit influence will go.

10 Comments

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  JohnBecker at 11:40 AM JST - 9th November

  Video gaming in the Olympics??? Please....

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  rjd_jr at 11:48 AM JST - 9th November

  Olympic sport lol. Why not make it an exhibition, heck video games are such a part of life now.

  If synchronized swimming can be an olympic event surely video games can be.

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  Betting at 05:45 PM JST - 9th November

  I think I have to agree with rjd jr on this one. If sync swimming can be an Olympic sport, why can't video games? It might take a few more years, but eventually I feel it will make it there.

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  JohnBecker at 10:42 PM JST - 9th November

  I'm not a big fan of synchronized swimming, but those young women are athletes by any measure. The Olympics are for athletes, not game players. Video gaming (with the possible exception of games like Wii Fit and Dance Dance Revolution) is no more athletic an endeavor than Scrabble or Chess, neither of which is an Olympic event.

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  soldave at 09:22 AM JST - 10th November

  rjd - am assuming you don't know anyone who does synchronized swimming and what it involves?

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  JeffLee at 12:54 PM JST - 10th November

  the gaming scene seems pretty backwards in japan these days. While everyone else around the world is doing online simulation and in-your-face action games with dense graphics, the Japanese are fiddling around with kiddy games played on Gameboys. One commentator said xbox 360 isn't selling in Japan because it's too sophisticated for Japanese gamers.

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  TokyoGas at 01:31 PM JST - 10th November

  I still think they should attach electronic wires to people using the fighting games. Everytime your character gets hit, you get a shock. That's what I call entertainment.

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  dennis0bauer at 03:34 PM JST - 10th November

  Jeff lee ever heard of PS3? just as sophisticated as the Xbox and does not have a ring of red.

  Nintendo is smart the Wii is marketed at the whole family that is why they make a huge profit.

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  mushroomcloud at 01:29 AM JST - 11th November

  dennis0bauer- I disagree with your comment that the PS3 is just as sophisticated as the Xbox. In my opinion, the PS3 is more sophisticated, and more inclusive. BluRay player, IBM cellular processor, WiFi, all included in the PS3. For the Xbox, to you have add at least the WiFi and the defunct HDDVD player separately.

  Both are great machines but my bias continues with the PS3.

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  cwhite at 01:43 AM JST - 11th November

  how many years have people been using this old "South Korea has the highest broadband penetration (30%) and Internet use (76.5%) in the world" This is like 2004-05 info.

  Japan is by far the number one BB country in terms of penetration and speed as of 2008. Not sure about the Netherlands, but a small population in a small country would make penetration much easier.

  http://fumijp.blogspot.com/2008/10/is-japan-1-broadband-country.html

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