Fri, Aug 11, 2000 page17

• Video arcade operators hope to make comeback

  THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY The local video game industry opened its annual trade show yesterday in Taipei, anticipating that the new government will soon change arcade regulations

  • By David Frazier / STAFF REPORTER
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  Government officials and industry bosses mixed in with a hall full of bikini girls and video slot machines yesterday morning, expressing enthusiastic support for video gaming in Taiwan. The event was the opening ceremony of the GTI Expo 2000, local industry's annual trade fair at the Taipei World Trade Center.

  "If children in other countries can enjoy these kinds of electronic games, why should children in Taiwan be subject to these restrictions?" asked legislator Zhuo Rung-tai (卓榮泰), in reference to the severe restrictions placed on Taipei video arcades by then mayor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 1996 and 1997. The crackdown reduced the number of video parlors in the capital city from more than 3,000 down to just seven, which is the current total.

  With the recent passage of a national gaming law, however, gaming in Taipei may see a resurgence.

  

  An intrepid dancer tests his skill atop a Dance Revolution-style machine at an exhibition of arcade video games in Taipei yesterday. The electronic dance machine is part of a growing trend in arcade games, whereby players interact physically with the machine, paddling virtual rafts, riding virtual horses or playing a guitar in a virtual band. Last year Taiwan exported around NT$3 billion worth of arcade games, 80 percent of which were "adult games" involving various forms of gambling.

  PHOTO: CHANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

  "In the legislature, we are looking for a way -- taking into account the need for guidance and responsibility -- to allow games in Taiwan," said Zhuo.

  Similar shows of support also came from former legislator Chuan Chou (周荃) and Ministry of Economic Affairs Commercial Section Chief Liu Kun-tang (劉坤堂).

  Still, most major gaming players were skeptical. "The law in itself is not bad. The problem is that it is being implemented by two separate units, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the police," commented Lin Hung-tao (林弘道) of EFA, Taiwan's exclusive distributor for the Japanese game giant Sega. Others were more critical. "The change in the law is useless. It gives local governments too much power, and the law itself is very complicated. If they [government agencies] want to prohibit your operations, they can," said Jack Wang (王燦庭), a sales director at IGS (International Games System Co), Taiwan's largest maker of arcade games.

  Unfortunately, Taiwan law is not the only problem for video games. The global industry also happens to be in the midst of a major downturn as home console games, such as Sony Playstation, and PC games are gaining popularity, and gaming parlors are forced to search out unique draws. What's even worse, there's not much innovation going on.

  Most of Sega's new offerings at the fair played on old themes. Slashout is a variation on 3D fighting games that adds swords and lets players fight the bad guys in tandem. There is also a new photo sticker booth that photographs the entire body as well as a crane-grabber type game that has been adapted to let players scoop out live goldfish.

  The newest trend, then, is still simulation games, which has been around since Konami introduced Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) in 1997.

  DDR is an electronically coached dance step game which requires players to tap their feet on illuminated squares to score points. Subsequent variations have let kids pound away on virtual drums, strum virtual guitars, spin virtual turntables, jockey virtual horses, and paddle virtual rafts. Though these simulators have not found widespread acceptance in the West, they account for roughly 20 percent of sales to gaming parlors in Asia.

  This year, Konami has introduced a fourth generation DDR, which 14-year-old Chen Bo-wei, who earned a spot promoting DDR through a Kaohsiung DDR competition, says is "pretty much the same, it just has over a hundred songs."

  Due to all of setbacks, only two Taiwan video game makers are trying to boost business with new products.

  ISG has come out with its own dancing games and music simulators, which use Chinese songs to target Chinese gamers and also compete with the likes of Konami by selling them underneath the ?1 million barrier.

  Viva VR, meanwhile, is a newly formed company, which draws on the experience former military simulator designers and film directors to create virtual theaters for theme parks.

  The rest of the industry is sticking to the old standards, namely low priced gambling games for Southeast Asia, South America, and Europe.

  Last year, Taiwan's game makers exported NT$3 billion worth of electronic games, 80 percent of which were "adult games," like virtual slot machines, poker, and horse racing, said Huang Han-shu (黃漢書), vice-chairman of TAMA (Taiwan Amusement Machine Association). The exhibition runs through Sunday and is open to the public.
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