Fan made character design to the rescue! A post on South Korean site ThisIsGame.com has a re-worked Juri — an abnormally high quality one for a character that was just revealed. But that doesn’t necessarily mean, the tweaked design is better.

“Based on your opinions I removed the double pony tails, made the eyes less sharp, and added TaeKwonDo uniform,” the ThisIsGame.com post reads. “This certainly is Koreanisque, but it is too plain; I think it is actually bad for a game character’s rendering.”

Agree? Disagree? Fight!

한국식 주리를 만들어봤습니다 [ThisIsGame Thanks YJ!]

There is a reason for Capcom including a Korean fighter, it seems. Producer Yoshinori Ono explains that while making the arcade version, the president of Capcom pointed out that there wasn’t a South Korean fighter in Street Fighter. The reason for giving Juri a Korean background is to appeal to a wider gaming market audience.

According to Ono, South Korean players might have wondered why there was never a Korean fighter in Street Fighter, but there have been Korean fighters in Tekken and The King of Fighters.

For example, South Korean fighter Baek Doo San first appeared in 1995’s Tekken 2, and Kim Kaphwan, leader of the KOF Korean team, has appeared in SNK titles since 1992’s Fatal Fury 2.

『スーパーストリートファイターIV』に韓国籍のキャラクターが参戦した理由 [はちま起稿]

While the gameplay looks a little “been there, done that”, it’s not the only overly-familiar thing about the trailer. That music sounds awfully familiar…

[Sudden Attack]

The virtual golf rooms measure the distance the ball travels, and the newest golf rooms feature game systems that can reproduce famous courses in 3D.

In a crackdown late last month, the police pinpointed 39 video golf rooms and booked 36 of them for violating laws on food cleanliness. Many of these video game rooms reported themselves as sports facilities, but took part in activities like selling alcohol and introducing customers to prostitutes.

Police say that these types of “perverted businesses” have increased in number. “We will continue to inspect new types of immoral businesses.”

Korea Beat › “Screen Golf” Rooms Getting in Trouble [Korea Beat via ROK Drop]

When South Korean game company SK-Imedia released the trailer for its upcoming PC title H.A.V.E. Online, some freaked about similarities with Valve’s Team Fortress 2.

Now a gameplay clip is out, is there still need for the hyperventilation?

Previously, some were calling the game “an embarrassment” to South Korean gaming to which SK-Imedia replied, “Debating (as to if it’s a rip off or not) is like having blind men touching an elephant and describing what it looks like. We will reveal the gameplay soon. Other than that, we have no comment at this time.”

해브(H.A.V.E.) 온라인 플레이 영상 [Tagstory Thanks, Tae Ho!]

H.A.V.E. Online is being called “an embarrassment” to the Korean game industry. Check out this comparison clip and judge for yourself.

Last week, we reported that its publisher SK iMedia has not commented about the likeness. Well, the company finally has made a statement. Korean web portal DC News did a phone interview with the publisher. “Debating (as to if it’s a rip off or not) is like having blind men touching an elephant and describing what it looks like,” said SK iMedia. “We will reveal the gameplay soon. Other than that, we have no comment at this time.”

Blind men touching an elephant and describing what it looks like?!

신작 게임 ‘H.A.V.E.’, ‘팀 포트리스2′와 비슷하다? [DC News Thanks, Torokun!]

The name of this game is H.A.V.E. Online. It’s a PC title, and it’s supposed to be released sometime this year. And it looks strangely familiar.

An homage?

Even with the otaku toy twist, the game is a little too close to Team Fortress 2 for some on the Korean internet, where the game is kicking up a mini-controversy.

Check out the trailer comparison shots and wonder to yourself whey they called this game H.A.V.E. and not Toy Fortress Story.

Missed opportunity, that.

팀 포티리스 2 표절 + 오덕화 ‘피규어 TPS’ H.A.V.E 영상·스크린샷 공개 [The World is just awesome]

So if you are going to really learn StarCraft, then ByunTae wants you to learn it from an “authentic Korean”. That’s right, not a fake Korean, an authentic one. From his Craigslist posting:

Hi, my name is ByunTae from South Korea. I have been playing Starcraft since 1998 and I was born and raised in Korea. I’m 100% full blooded Korean, meaning I have been gifted with unparallel talent to master any video game, particularly, Starcraft: Brood War. I’m also experienced in Counter-Strike, I am able to perform bunny hops, my best score on a public 32 player game was 171-2 with 170 kill streak. I’m offering my expertise in Starcraft to be taught to non-Koreans that wishes to have the skill of a Korean player.

ByunTae goes on to claim he’s advised and coached Korean pros and will teach you unit management, map strategies, how to use in-game bugs to your advantage, and even basic Korean “to communicate with Koreans on Battle.net”. He goes on to add:

My lessons will result in:
Faster APM (actions per minute) – average professional gamers range from 250-550. Average player is about 100.
Better Win/Loss Ratio
Chance to become a professional gamer in Korea – Celebrity status, especially for foreigners, like Guillaume Patry (Grrr…) and Bertrand Grospellier (Elky)
Bragging rights, that you’re as good as a Korean in Starcraft
You will be called a hacker because you’re so good.
Korean girls will be intrigued that you’re such a good Starcraft player.

My lessons are offered to only non-Koreans or American born Koreans because they lack the blessing from the Gaming God, Norazi.

The price of this “authenticity” starts at twenty-five bucks an hour.

Starcraft lessons from authentic Korean (richmond / seacliff) [Craigslist Thanks AJ!]

One bundle includes a region-specific TV tuner, 32MB memory stick, and a PSP. The other two? They’re Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection bundles — as game site Siliconera points out, the year-old-game is quite popular in South Korea. You know another way to say “popular”? That’s right, hot.

PSP Bundles Have “Very Hot” Advertising In Korea [Siliconera]

Packaged Korean pop group Wonder Girls air grind with a PS3 Sixaxis controller and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue in the video for tune “Now.”

Forget that the game doesn’t support motion controls! There’s grinding. There’s also jello, a 8mm camera and a dude on a motorcycle in the video if you’re into that kinda stuff.

The song is a cover. Dance pop outfit Fin.K.L. released the tune back in 2000 on their album Now. That video also has a PlayStation — but, a PS2. Sign of the times!

The K-Pop group is best known in Korea for its reality show and single “Tell Me“, which caused a dance craze of sorts. Next month, the Wonder Girls are set to make their US debut.

Wonder Girls – Now [world wide asianz via PlayStation Joystiq]