Nintendo teams with Nexon for Korean push

The launch of the DS Lite in Korea on January 18th marks the first time Nintendo has released hardware in the territory – but the company knows it faces a challenge, despite the Lite being current king of the games hardware market globally, because Korean gamers famously prefer PC-based MMOs.

Talking to Korea’s JoonAng Daily, Iwata described the challenge of introducing the Lite to Korea as like "selling women’s cosmetics to men" – but revealed that the secret to Nintendo’s possible success will be winning over the developers of the already popular online titles and introducing the Wii to Korea later this year.

"We plan to actively support Korean game software developers who have great expertise in developing online games and support their advances into foreign markets," said Iwata, explaining that Nintendo has recently begun developing games with the Korean game company Nexon, which is responsible for a number of Korea’s popular online titles. It was not explained if the game is a Wii or DS title – or both.

The move comes ahead of the March introduction of Nintendo’s online service for the Wii, which will be kickstarted by the launch of a new Pokemon title and then supported by other firsty-party titles. Third-party developers are already getting first details on how the service will work. Develop’s sister magazine MCV revealed late last year that Nintendo’s online software development is moving apace.