The place of mobile gaming: one history in locating mobility in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

In media cultures of late, the synergy between two global dominant industries – mobile communication and gaming – has attracted much attention and stargazing. As part of burgeoning global media cultures, gaming and mobile media are divergent in their adaptation at the level of the local. In some locations where broadband infrastructure is strong and collectivity is emphasized (such as South Korea), online multiplayer games prevail. In locations where convergent mobile technologies govern such as Japan, mobile gaming platforms dominate. In order to address the uneven adoption and definitions of mobile gaming – that range from encompassing casual mobile games to pervasive (location aware) gaming – this paper will attempt to sketch how we can think about mobility, and mobilism, in a period marked by divergent forms of regionalism and localization. Drawing from cultural studies, anthropological and sociological accounts of mobility and emerging consumer practices in the region, this paper seeks to move beyond current conflations and futurism surrounding convergent mobile gaming.