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The Game of Being Mobile

One Media History of Gaming and Mobile Technologies in Asia-Pacific

RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia, larissa.hjorth{at}rmit.edu.au

/ 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, this paper will focus on the convergence between mobile technologies and gaming in the Asia-Pacific. By focusing on a phenomenon that prevails in both realms and cute culture, this paper will also consider how consumption and production of new technologies are conceptualized in the region. This paper argues that by looking at the phenomenon of cute culture, we can gain insight into the divergent definitions of gaming and mobility in the region, which in turn reflect the continuing localized nature of contemporary global culture.

Key Words: Asia-Pacific • cute culture • gender • kawaii (cute) • mobile gaming • new media

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