Research Paper on Gaming in the Asia-Pacific Region

Research Paper on Gaming in the Asia-Pacific Region

Gaming in the Asia-Pacific region is a huge market, and takes diverse forms which range from massive multiplayer online games to illegal gambling parlors. Within the region, gaming has been seen in a variety of ways, and has an entrenched and diverse role in the Asia-Pacific region. This research paper will discuss trends in gaming in the Asia-Pacific region, with respect to gaming as a form of illicit entertainment, ritual and stress relief in the Asia-Pacific region, with a focus on East Asia and South-East Asia. This paper will argue that gaming serves a vital role in the Asia-Pacific region, as it allows Asians to pursue entertainment in an institutionalised setting, as a ritual to pursue good fortune, and as a stress reliever in stressful urban environments. Games such as electronic sports, Japanese pachinko, lotteries and casino slot machines will be discussed in this paper.

Overview of gaming in Asia Pacific

Asia Pacific remains one of the world’s largest markets for gaming. Mobile games, mass multiplayer online games, gambling dens, casinos and lotteries have remained staples of the Asia Pacific gaming scene, while hubs such as Hong Kong, Macau, Zhuhai and Singapore have risen on the back of a gaming boom to develop tourism within their countries. (Hsu and Gu, 2010) Nonetheless, gaming remains heavily stigmatised and is often perceived as a significant source of harmful social impacts. Gaming franchises such as DOTA, League of Legends and Runescape have also made major inroads into various settings in Asia Pacific, such as online gaming arenas and internet cafes. Gaming franchises produced by the region, such as the Japanese Pokemon franchise and the South Korean produced Maplestory series, have also received critical acclaim both in the Asia Pacific region and globally.

Gaming as a form of illicit entertainment in the Asia-Pacific region

Gaming has frequently been seen as a form of illicit entertainment with significantly negative social impacts in the Asia-Pacific region, and as a vice that leads to addiction, indebtedness, social withdrawal, truancy and broken relationships. Kim and Kim (2015) presented a study which discussed how internet gaming addictions were positively correlated with a lower quality of the relationship between parents and children, as well as a lower attachment to parents by children. (Kim and Kim, 2015)

The impact of internet gaming addiction has also led scholars such as Mak et al (2014) to study the prevalence of addiction in six Asian countries, and to conclude based on an Internet Addiction Test (IAT) and the Revised Chen Internet Addiction Scale (CIAS-R) that the Asia Pacific region is home to a number of countries with high-risk cybergaming cultures, where addiction is common among teenagers. (Mak et al, 2014) This is encouraged by the culture of Internet cafes, where East Asian adolescents can play popular games such as ‘League of Legends’ and ‘World of Warcraft’ for hours on end after school, and where they form surrogate social networks which distract them from other healthier forms of socialization. (Wong and Lam, 2016) Gaming has also been linked to prolonged, severe and debilitating forms of social isolation, such as the phenomena of hikikomori in Japan, where youth isolate themselves for long periods of time. (Hairston, 2010) Clearly, from the above examples, it may be observed that gaming is a form of illicit entertainment that imposes harmful effects on several countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Apart from its impact on teenagers and adolescents, gaming has also been seen as a form of illicit entertainment, especially in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region which remain culturally conservative. For example, in majority muslim countries such as Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, gambling remains illegal under some jurisdictions ue to strict laws influenced by Islam, with gambling illegal and deserving of punishment under Islamic syariah law, especially for Muslim citizens who have accrued financial gains from gambling. (Loo and Phua, 2016)

As a result, illegal gambling operations have proliferated rapidly in these regions in areas such as sports betting and underground casino tables, as well as private home gambling through games such as mahjong and dai ti. (Spapens, 2014) These illicit gaming establishments have also been regarded as a significant source of social shame, and their participants are often stigmatized by society while being subject to severe criminal and legal penalties if caught. The perception of gaming and gambling as a socially harmful practice has also led countries such as Singapore to implement policies such as the Family Exclusion Order for their legal casinos, which allows family members to submit an application to restrict members of their famil