Gamasutra's got some interesting questions up at the moment on the subject of gaming and radio. Over in Japan, NCSoft have launched a radio show featuring a cute, newbie (and female) player, following along as she adventures her way through Lineage.
Ms. Shoko Nakagawa is an idol talent and a beginner of Lineage II. In the program, she logs in and learn how to play the game, being taught by the staff of NC Japan. The program also has a radio drama on Lineage II. The program has its own website, and is distributed through internet streaming broadcast [in Japanese].
A radio drama set in Lineage II?
Could this concept be extended to Warcraft's millions? Is there a captive audience there just waiting to be tapped into by games companies and related advertisers? Should MMOs come with built-in radio functions? Can a third party pick up this idea and run a gaming-radio application? Geek culture documentaries and bleepcore soundtrack evenings? Oh my aching brain.
Excellent questions all. What would hold it back? Japan is densely populated, with broad national radio (like the UK, but unlike the US) and has a positive attitude towards videogames (unlike, frankly, either the UK or the US, both of whom are still struggling with accepting videogames as both mainstream, and/or art).
Looks like it's a simple case of the West playing catchup (as usual) so this is probably something we'll start seeing cropping up in a few years time - much like game tournaments are now being broadcast on US and UK television, 5 years after such things became commonplace in Korea and Japan.
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