By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Lee Myung-bak wants South Korea to have its own Nintendo. But industry officials retort that a Super Mario would have to come first.

Lee created a stir during a visit to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy earlier this week when he wondered out loud why Korean companies can't make products like the Japanese games giant.

``A lot of our elementary school children have Nintendo game machines,'' the president told senior policymakers, referring to the Nintendo DS handheld video-game console that has sold more than two million units here since its release in 2007.

``Why can't our companies develop products like that?''

Somewhere, Bill Gates, who gave Lee a Microsoft Xbox game console inlaid with traditional Korean mother-of-pearl in his visit to Cheong Wa Dae last year, is slightly miffed.

A number of local electronics makers refute Lee's claims that Korean companies can't produce quality game machines. One of them is GamePark Holdings, a mid-sized firm that is highly regarded by gamers for its handheld consoles such as GP32 and GP2X.

Company officials tout that GP2X, which has dual 200MHz CPU, a 3.5-inch touch screen and SD card storage, could go toe-to-toe with any console in terms of technology. They promise that GP2X's successor, named ``Wiz,'' which is to be unveiled in March, will impress even more.

However, the problem, as always, lies in the number of games.

GamePark Holdings relies on an open-source model to secure games for GP2X, with the dearth of video game developers here limiting the number of commercial games available.

The company generated around six billion won (about $4.3 million) in revenue last year and has sold more than 60,000 GP2X units so far, but the Korean market accounted for just a miniscule part of its console business, with most of the growth coming from North America and Europe.

Aside of relying on user-generated content, GamePark Holdings also plans to develop its own games, and acquired a local game studio last year.

The company plans to produce around 20 commercial titles this year for GP2X Wiz, which it plans to sell 100,000 units this year, and also says 50 to 60 user-generated games will be available for free downloads on the company's Web site.

However, the company doesn't have a prayer for competing with Nintendo DS or Sony PSP.

``The lack of content is evident, as we don't have many companies here with the personnel and financial capability to develop games, and the open-source model is our best bet for the short term,'' said Park Sang-hoon, the marketing director of GamePark.

For Korean console makers to succeed, Park claims that the government must strengthen its support of content developers and allow them to develop big-name titles.

``It would be great if the software industry here was healthy enough to produce a lot of games, which would drive up the sales of handheld consoles and introduce more products onto the market. However, as a latecomer, we have the difficulty of proving our products first and securing third parties (game providers) later,'' he said.

It's not like Korean electronics giants like Samsung and LG haven't thought about becoming the next Nintendo. But both companies were forced into an early exit from the console market after failing to compete with their Japanese rivals in foreign markets, and the lack of game software killing interest in the domestic market.

Now, Samsung has to settle for producing memory chips for Sony's PSP and delivering optical disc drives for Microsoft's Xbox. Reigncom, a mid-sized electronics maker that gathered a significant following for portable music players, also withdrew from its plans to advance to the console market.

Despite its reputation as an ``IT (information technology) powerhouse,'' Korea doesn't have a software firm in the world's top-300, with security programs developer, AhnLab, coming closest at 319th, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

``Talking about Nintendo is out of touch, when you consider that the local software market is virtually on life-support,'' said an official from a mobile games developer, who didn't want to be named.

``Piracy and lack of quality personnel has killed the vibrancy of the Korean software market, and I wonder whether the government has ever been serious about fostering the country's software industry. It's telling that most of the computers at government agencies rely on pirated software,'' he said.

If Lee is looking for Korean companies that are making a difference in gaming, he could find plenty of them in the computer games sector, where NCsoft and other blue-chip companies are gaining a global audience.

However, the Internet sector is growing frustrated about increasing regulation under the Lee government, which includes the strengthened monitoring of content on Web portals and online games sites. One of them is the plan to ban under-aged Internet users from playing online games from midnight to 6 a.m.

``I don't think government officials have a good understanding of the realities of the country's IT industry,'' said an official from a local Internet company.

``You don't have the right to be daydreaming about Nintendo, when Korean online game firms, which are actually doing well overseas, feel they could do better if the government wasn't biting at their ankles,'' he said.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr