Actually, I checked some info.

In Korea, broadband penetration rates are 90%. Yes, 9 out of 10 households have Broadband there.

Not only this, as of 2002, Starcraft had 5 million players from Korea alone.

Crazy. I can't even imagine what it's going to be like when SC2 launches in Korea.

Mass hysteria, most likely.

First week sales in Korea probably will hit somewhere near the 1m mark, with every Baang (Korean PC gaming cafe) having to buy about 50-60 copies each (and there are over 1,200 of them), whilst the rest of the population scoop up everything there.

Media wise, Korea has been exploding lately. If you look at movies (to me, a great indicator of where gaming can go), Korea, along with China, have been exploding: each new movie does better and better. I never thought of Korea loving western movies, but some movies debut with $10m USD first week sales (for example, Japan's top movies are around $25m at best).

Orange box deserves to do great. 3 games and 2 'add ons' for the price of one game?
I finished HL2 on my PC but Im still going to buy this for 360 this weekend.
I'll probably pick up Eternal Sonata too.
I wish that Toys R Us deal was still going...

I still recommend you get Orange Box for PC if you can. There is a lot of fun stuff you can do only in the PC version. For example, someone has already released info on how to use the Portal Gun in Half-Life 2. It's only been out a couple weeks, and a relatively stable way to do this is already available. In the future mods will only get better and more interesting. Portal Deathmatch anyone?

Still, no matter what platform you get it on, get it!

Huxley is aimed squarely at the Korean market, too. MS seems to be targeting them specifically.

PGR: I was going to say the same thing. Microsoft's decision looks a little better after seeing these sales numbers. Maybe they think Forza is enough, or maybe they're not that impressed by Bizarre?

I don't know or care much about these car games, but personally I enjoyed the PGR4 demo a lot more than the Forza 2 demo, so I'm a bit surprised by the low sales for PGR4.  Can someone shed some light on this?  Is it because Forza has all those car customization options through the livery editor, and an auction house? 

And thanks for expanding it to the top 15.

...And don't forget the Mistwaker MMO coming out too.

But I agree, with DonnyBrook, Huxley and the Mistwaker MMO, those could really kickstart a console-side MMO revolution there.

Koreans are also huge on Halo. I don't know the numbers, but I'd assume out of all regions, Korea probably benefited the most from Halo.

Forza supports its online community in a way rivaled only by Halo. They still have weekly Hot Lap races, the auction house is always hopping, leaderboards are well-monitored, they have online leagues and team-races, etc. That kind of online functionality will keep a fanbase playing a game for months after it's launched. I'm guessing that some of these racing titles (Sega Rally, PGR4) are bumping up against a racing community that is still having fun with Forza and doesn't see the need for a new game just yet.

For those complaining about FPS's on the 360, I think Mass Effect will be huge.

I just got the latest issue of GameInformer, and they really couldn't say enough about the story and presentation.

In fact, GI's biggest problem this month was that they had 3 game reviews scoring 9.75 (Halo 3, Orange Box, and Mass Effect) and had a hard time choosing "game of the month".

I'd also like to second Mr. Stickball's comments on the RTS coming into its own on the 360. The 360 versions are the first I've truley enjoyed that haven't been on a PC, and I think the developers are just getting warmed up. 2008 may be the year everyone complains that the 360 is only for RTS's. (and FPS, and Sports, and WRPG, and...)