BUSAN — In the courtyard of the BEXCO exhibition center in Busan, Kakao’s beloved Ryan the lion, the Japanese humanoid robot Astro Boy and the warriors of Netmarble Games’ “Seven Knights” welcome visitors to the global gaming convention G-Star 2016 which kicked off Thursday.

They have all climbed out of their animated worlds for one reason -- to promote their representative mobile games, one of the driving forces of this year’s G-Star alongside console games backed by virtual reality technology.

Inside the main exhibition hall, major game developers, including South Korea’s Nexon and Netmarble and China’s Longtu Game, have erected mega arenas to show off their new up-and-coming games.

Most of the featured games were mobile, reflecting the industry's turn away from online computer games which have been losing their appeal against mobile games in the age of the smartphone.

“Looking around at all the new games highlighted at this year’s G-Star, game companies really seem to have turned their focus to mobile games now,” said a spokesperson from Netmarble, Korea’s leading mobile game giant.


At the Netmarble booth, life-sized stormtroopers welcomed visitors to play its new multiplayer strategic battling mobile game “Star Wars Force Arena.” Nearby a model posed as a real-life version of the main character of “Lineage II Revolution,” a multiplayer online role-playing game for mobile devices.

Long lines snaked around Nexon’s booths, as eager game enthusiasts waited in anticipation to play demos of Nexon’s new mobile releases including as “LEGO Quest & Collect,” “Tree of Savior Mobile Remake,” “Dungeon & Fighter: Spirit,” “Dark Avenger 3” and “Durango.” Nexon said 28 out of its 35 newly-released games are made for mobile devices.

“The lines are really long, but I don’t really mind the wait. I know the lines will get even longer during the weekend so it's okay,” said Kim Ji-hoon, a 17-year-old student and game enthusiast while waiting in line on Thursday afternoon to play “Tree of Savior Mobile Remake.”


Meanwhile, a giant Astro Boy figure hung over Longtu Korea’s booth in promotion of the firm’s new mobile game “Atom’s Catch Catch.” The Chinese game giant is featuring a total of four mobile games during this year’s G-Star.

While mobile games held a defining presence at the Busan-based game trade show, virtual reality was another head-turning feature that attracted large crowds. Sony Interactive Entertainment Korea’s “VR Zone” was filled with visitors of all ages looking to check out the Playstation VR console device.

Wearing Sony’s head-mounted PS VR headsets, visitors turned their heads and pointed their gaming gear in the air as they walked through a suspense-filled school at the dead of night, shot down giant bugs in an abandoned planet and piloted a plane while avoiding obstacles in the sky.


“I knew it was a game, but it still felt so scary to be standing alone in the VR world that I took off my headset at one point,” said Shin Jung-hyun, a 23-year-old university student, after playing a VR version of horror-survival game “White Day: A Labyrinth Named School.”

In addition to Sony, Taiwan-based VR headset maker HTC and graphic tech company Nvidia also prepared booths showcasing their latest VR technologies at the Busan-based gaming exhibition.

G-Star 2016, which runs until Sunday, features more than 27,000 booths, including those for public enjoyment as well as business partnerships. A total of 653 game-related companies from 35 countries are taking part in this year’s show.

This year’s G-Star is also being aired live around the world via video streaming platform Twitch. The live broadcast is available in English, according to the G-Star organizing committee.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)