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Blizzard WWI '07: Seoul Survivors

So we did it. We made it to Seoul, South Korea and back. The last few days we've seen things that most people have never seen or will never see: the city itself, the authentic food, the unveiling of StarCraft 2, and the utter passion that South Koreans have for online gaming and Blizzard games in general. It was an unforgettable experience for us, and to the people of Blizzard and Seoul, we say "kamsa hamneeda!"

Blizzard WWI '07: Flight Delays Suck, But Are Made Better By Free Food

Our Korean Air flight back to New York City was delayed by THREE HOURS, for whatever reason. But to make up for it, the airline gave everyone a 10,000 Won ($10) voucher for any restaurant in the terminal. Since there weren't many choices, I went with Burger King, and Pete and Melissa decided to try KFC (what I dubbed Korea Fried Chicken). The food actually wasn't bad; doesn't my Whopper look like how a Whopper should really look? It was also bigger than my face. Conclusion: South Korea is awesome, even when it comes to fast food.

Blizzard WWI '07: Seoul Food, Part 3

A trip to Korea wouldn't be complete without having kalbi, a beef dish served as Korean BBQ. So we found a restaurant and ordered BBQ for four. This is what it looked like, and the plates just kept on coming! Let's just say we went to our hotel rooms with full bellies that night...

Blizzard WWI '07: StarCraft Tournament Finals

The StarCraft tournament finals were held in the main auditorium at the Olympic Stadium. The seats were packed with people watching; they yelled and cheered like at any live sporting event. The finals had Ma Jae-Yoon (a.k.a. "sAviOr") playing the Zerg race against Kim Taek-Yong (a.k.a. "Bisu," who we saw earlier today) as the Protoss for best of three. While sAviOr, the top-ranked player, won the first game, Bisu, ranked third overall, came back and creamed him in rounds two and three for an exciting, nail-biting competition. (See the final moments of it here.)

Blizzard WWI '07: Costumes!

We just didn't have the time to stick around for the costume contest, but there were quite a few stragglers walking around. Some were clearly dressed as World of Warcraft characters (the girl above is some sort of hunter); others I had not a clue as to what they were supposed to represent. Either way it was cool to see the enormous effort these fans put into their costumes...

Blizzard WWI '07: Murloc Merch!

If you've played any of the Warcraft games, you should know what these little guys are: Murlocs. In World of Warcraft specifically, these little humanoid creatures live in coastal areas and make an infamously strange gurgling sound as they run to attack you. Sounds annoying, right? Well, regardless, they make cute stuffed animals and beach-lovin' figurines. These limited edition figures were sold at the Blizzard shop tent and were causing quite a frenzy among the fans. Naturally, I had to get my grubby journalist hands on some.

Blizzard WWI '07: Where Developers Are Famous

There isn't much to say except that only in South Korea could a group of game developers have an autograph session with a turnout like this...

(And the line keeps growing!)

Blizzard WWI '07: Live Music

 
When it comes to booking live music, the folks who run the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational don't mess around. Video Games Live was there, an organization that has top orchestras and choirs perform music from popular video games synchronized with exclusive in-game footage. For this particular event, the VGL choir and orchestra performed the beloved themes from World of Warcraft and Starcraft (which you can see here and here).

Blizzard WWI '07: Home Away From Home

If you ever get home sick while you're Seoul, don't fret: there are plenty of American establishments where you can enjoy the disgusting comfort foods of home. Like this TGI Friday's, where the even the Korean servers wear flair and disgruntled looks... 

Blizzard WWI '07: PC Bangs

While we were walking around the city, we visited a "PC bang," or a South Korean internet cafe. There are over 20,000 PC bangs in South Korea; compare that with around 12,000 Starbucks or 31,000 McDonald's worldwide. PC bangs provide a place for young Koreans to socialize and play online games on computers with high speed internet connection. It costs 1,000 Won ($1) per hour and players can just check out the games they want to play. Although there were only a few people there during the daytime, PC bangs get really packed in the evenings.