The Emergence of Asian Mobile Games: Definitions, Industries, and Trajectories

Abstract

This chapter maps out the ways in which the specificities of Asian mobile games are giving rise to new cultural economics of video game production and engendering new paradigms of gameplay. It also examines whether these topical developments have considerable social bearing and consequence. Mobile gaming cultures can also be defined based on the sociocultural specificity of Asian smartphone usage, because gaming cultures reflect local cultures; however, mobile game cultures also provide links between transnational communities, because transnational mobile games and capitals are common in the Asian game markets. Therefore, while it is significant to understand what locality means in the context of contemporary notions of Asian community, we need to understand locality in the process of transnational flows. It illuminates some of the complexities inherent in investigating both mobile games and mobile devices as they continue to manifest in Asian countries.