In this part of the world, MMORPGs and cosplay go hand in hand
It’s true! A lot of people, especially those living in the West may object, enough to say that cosplay, a contraction of the words “costume” and “play,” is much a part of their culture than it is in Asia. I admit, yes, that dressing up as a character from a movie, television series or comic book with the hope of getting noticed at conventions is a big deal in some Western countries, particularly in the United States, where conventions, like the ever popular Comicon and RPGcon, are a dime a dozen.
But massively multiplayer online role-playing games as themes for cosplay and conventions? Only in Asia, I believe.
To check this theory, I turned to Google to search sites carrying the following words and phrases: “cosplay” and “world of warcraft.” Why World of Warcraft? Well, it’s the Western world’s equivalent to Asia’s best MMORPGs (even better, as some are wont to point out).
So what do you think happened to my search? Not scantily clad Western women but, uhmm, scantily clad Asian women in World of Warcraft costumes. See what I mean?
In the Philippines (which is probably, in my mind, the least Asian-minded country in the region), the MMORPG cosplay fever is fast catching up. Here are a few galleries, courtesy of our friends (including my cousin, Robert Wong) at cosplay.ph for your eyes to feast on while I organize my next entry about the MMORPG-cosplay connection:
Philippine Online Gaming Summit
E-Games Philippines Dom1nation
Philippine Online Gaming Summit Reroll
Image taken from swanky’s photostream on Flickr. Girls featured on photograph are wearing costumes from World of Warcraft, a property of Blizzard Entertainment.
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POSTED IN: Asian MMO, Asian MMO Players, Cosplay, E-Games Philippines, Level Up! Games, Lineage II, MMORPG, Random Rants
1 opinion for In this part of the world, MMORPGs and cosplay go hand in hand
NineMoons
Apr 7, 2008 at 9:47 pm
http://s30.photobucket.com/albums/c322/jadefox_1982/dom1nation%202%206%20apr/
there are some VERY nice Granado Espada-related cosplay pics in that album.
plus, yeah, Hrin herself ^^
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