Shot Online, a 3-D golf game, developed and served by OnNet (CEO: Seongju HONG, www.onnet.co.kr), has been chosen as an official game of GNGWC 2008 (Game and Game World Championship 2008) which will be hosted by KIPA and sponsored by KT Corporation.
This year will mark the 3rd GNGWC. A total of 6 countries, including Brazil and Singapore newly added this year, will be holding local contests with the final match being held in Korea in November. 'Shot Online', an official game of the first year GNGWC 2006, has been very attractive to world wide gamers. Now for the 3rd year of GNGWC, 'Shot Online' is expecting more gamers to enjoy it.
Gamers will feel like they are playing a real golf game on the field with Shot Online, as it has been developed as a full 3D game. Jaesun KIM, a director of OnNet said "our goal when developing the Shot Online was keeping the game within the basic rules of golf, and we are still working to achieve this goal", showing the intention for Shot Online as a realistic golf game.
Shot Online is being served on the global market through a U.S. branch, while also being served in Japan, Germany, Hong Kong and Taiwan through various partners. Shot Online is planned to be served in 8 different languages within this year.
We visited OnNet and talked to Jaesun KIM, a director of the company, about Shot Online which was chosen as an official game of GNGWC 2008.
▲ Briefly what is Shot Online?
The difference of Shot Online from other existing golf games is that its background is like the most realistic golf field. The basic engine was built by a developer whose major at university was physics, so that the game environment is more realistic and effective. Furthermore, the game is based on Turn method which reflects various communities, such as communication between users or activities using the plaza, etc. In fact, users of Shot Online have built and operated communities for a long time.
▲ It is said that 'difficulty' was applied to the Shot Online to give more interests to the users. Can you explain it more?
Yes. The first users of Shot Online often feel that the game is tough. In particular, compared to other golf games, the difficulty of putts at Shot Online is very high. We initially thought that the game should be easy and finished quickly in the beginning stages of developing the game. However, we focused on our goal that we would make the most realistic golf game. As a result, we were able to bring more satisfaction and excitement to the gamers who have been enjoying the game longer. We are putting our efforts into describing even the condition change or feelings of a character, rather than to simply build just a game.
▲ Why do you think world wide gamers are interested in Shot Online?
Shot Online is currently being served in Korean, Japanese, English, German, Cantonese, and Taiwanese, and planned for expansion into Chinese, Spanish and French. Thus, we can check the user’s tendency in each country, and realized that users in different countries tend to have certain similarities. Most users of Shot Online are older and they enjoy the game while chatting at the same time. We believe that golf is not limited to a certain culture, but appeals with interest and familiarity in any country.
▲ What has been the benefit by being chosen as an official game of GNGWC for 3 consecutive years?
In fact, Shot Online has extended its business to other countries through overseas marketing sponsored by KIPA. Shot Online has been commercialized through that and users formed communities through that gradually. In the meantime, it was chosen as an official game of GNGWC, and as such, the new users and the access have more than doubled. Specifically, we opened its service in Germany last year around the period of GNGWC, which made it a bigger success. To open branches in other countries became easier too. Many users of Shot Online believe that it's the game which world wide users enjoy together. GNGWC, which makes opportunities to meet other people from other countries, is very helpful for overseas marketing.
▲ Have there been any special users of Shot Online in your memory?
First of all, the first and second winners of the local contest in Germany last year became a couple through the Shot Online. In addition, a real professional golfer participated in the local contests. There was the Japanese winner of the first year, who visited Korea to see the final match in the following year with his own money. Furthermore, some guilds printed their characters in specific outfits/clothes which made the contests more interesting to see.
▲ How are you preparing for GNGWC this year?
The European local preliminary contests will start on August 1st, and the local final contests will be held in sequence, starting from Germany on August 22nd, upon the KIPA schedule. This year there are a total of 6 countries who will run the local contests including Brazil and Singapore, which are new additions this year. Sometimes, it happens that winners of online preliminary contests are not able to join the offline contests due to the local circumstances. We will fully support them to ensure that they are able to participate in the local contests as well as the final match in Korea. Also, we are planning for various events through the GNGWC website this year. We will also keep world wide users posted as to the contest status live, so as to ensure them enjoy GNGWC together.
▲ Any final comments for world wide users who are preparing for GNGWC 2008?
We are happy for Shot Online users to gather and play it at GNGWC again this year. We put our full efforts into the preparations of such. We hope the gamers will enjoy their play fully, in hopes of them becoming the best player of Shot Online at GNGWC 2008. We will see you in Korea soon. Thank you!
.... Shot Online has a realistic description and it's relaxing to play while enjoying communication. but you never can lose your tension at Shot Online.... We hope that it will be updated continuously to keep it's original basics...