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A History of Korean Gaming
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제일컴퓨터 Jeil Computer System / First Amusement
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세미콤 Semicom
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Founded:
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1994
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Status:
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abandoned the video game business (ca. 2005)
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Key People:
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전재연 Jeon Jaeyun:
CEO
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Website:
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www.semicom.com
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Profile:
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Jeil Computer appeared on the scene during the second half of 1993 as an arcade game manufacturer. Their later games went under the label First Amusement1.
Afterwards, the arcade development team apparently split from the company to reform as Semicom. Jeil became an online game developer2 and worked on several network games, but apparently didn't last for very long. Semicom, however, continued to produce dozens of arcade games until 2001, when they switched to gambling machines altogether.
Around the same time Semicom took over the distribution and support for Jarinkobi's CNM series (an office management suite)3, which apparently has since become their sole source of income.
Until 1995, Jeil Computer's and Semicom's arcade games were published by a company called Mijin Computer.
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Final Tetris (파이날테트리스) - Arcade (1993)

Final Tetris
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The first game by Jeon Jaeyun and his team was a simple Tetris clone. Or maybe not so simple, as it is designed as a competetive 2-player game with some advanced rules and special blocks.
Both players chose from a cast of eight characters (apparently, Michael Jackson was the epitome of popular in 1990's Korea, too), who then occupy the lower part of the screen to harrass each other with special moves each time a player does something special, like deleting multiple rows at a time. While it is possible to make the opponent lose by clogging the whole play field, there is a strict time limit and most rounds will be decided by the status of the characters' life bars. How those are reduced isn't always transparent, though, which can lead to much frustration.
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Final Tetris
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BriXian (브릭션) - Arcade (1993)

BriXian
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Little is known about BriXian, although it does look a lot like a Puzznic clone. Actually, there is no solid proof yet that it was indeed developed by Jeil Computer, but the fact that Mijin published it makes this very likely, as all other known Mijin games came from either Jeil or later Semicom.
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BriXian
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Metal Saver (메탈세이버) - Arcade, PC-DOS (1994)

Metal Saver (Arcade)
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Metal Saver (Arcade)
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Jeil Computer's contribution to the ever popular single screen arcade action platformer genre. Just like Bub & Bob from Bubble Bobble and all their other colleagues in similar games, the martial artist Hanbit and the heavily armed Narae clear out level after level by destroying all enemies on screen, of course not without the aid of countless powerups left over by the defeated.
Every few stages awaits a boss, where the different abilities of the two characters come in handy. The whole game is conceived as a co-op experience, but not always are the mechanics thought out well. The female character isn't even able to beat the first stage on her own for lack of a low attack, unless she has the luck of an enemy dropping the flame thrower for her.
There's also a PC version, which plays out quite differently and almost feels like a beta version of the arcade game. It's also brutally hard, as it basically forces players to 1cc the game with the lack of credits.

Metal Saver (PC)
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Metal Saver (Arcade)
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Metal Saver (Arcade)
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Jeil Computer network games - PC-DOS (1994)

Tank Survival
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Already before their Arcade team left the company, Jeil Computer started to restructure and focus on online games. They announced a lot of games all at once, but none can be confirmed to have been finished.
The only games ever shown in magazines were Tank Survival (title screen only) and Super Funny Ball, which looks suspicously like Semicom's first baseball game in the arcades. Only mentioned in name were Final Tetris II, Action Pee & Gity (apparently an online version of the Family Production game), Lost World, Je-1 Gonghwaguk ("First Republic"), the Janggi-based board game Mureung Doweon and 3D Survival.
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Super Funny Ball
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쵸키쵸키 (Choky! Choky!) - Arcade (1994)

Choky! Choky!
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A Pang clone for two players. The goal is to deplete the opponent's energy by shooting the balls over to their side, while avoiding getting hit oneself. There are four characters to chose from, all bringing with them a unique spriteset for the balls.
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Choky! Choky!
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매직볼파이팅 (Magic Ball Fighting) - Arcade (1994)
원더리그스타 (Wonder League Star: Sok-Magicball Fighting) - Arcade (1995)
원더리그96 (Wonder League '96) - Arcade (1996)
무한승부 (Muhan Seungbu) - Arcade (1997)
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해치캐치 (Hatch Catch) - Arcade (1995)

Hatch Catch
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A puzzle game similar to Magical Drop.
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Hatch Catch
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쿠키앤비비 (Cookie & Bibi) series - Arcade (1995, 1996 & 1997)
알앤비 (R&B): Rety & Bluemi - Arcade (1998)
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하이퍼팩맨 (Hyper Pacman) - Arcade (1995)
트윙클 (Twinkle) - Arcade (1997)
트윙클 II (Twinkle II) - Arcade (1998)
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카켓볼 (Carket Ball) - Arcade (1996)

Carket Ball
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Billiards.
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Carket Ball
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토피앤래피 (Toppy & Rappy) - Arcade (1996)
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에스디파이터즈 (SD Fighters) - Arcade (1996)
큐트파이터 (Cute Fighter) - Arcade (1998)
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References
1. Game World 12/1993, page 133
2. PC Advance 8/1994, page 219
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20010331051129/http://www.semicom.com/semicom/Index.htm
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A History of Korean Gaming
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