Lost 1990s Korean Game Revived by AI for Exhibition

A lost South Korean shooting game from the 1990s, which existed only in magazine advertisements and articles, has been brought back to life for the first time through artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The National Library of Korea announced on July 10th that it will host a special exhibition titled "Lost Korean Games, Turned On Again" from July 14th to December 31st at the Digital Library's small exhibition hall.

The exhibition will introduce records of games that have disappeared or were never released, based on the Korean game materials collected and preserved by the National Library of Korea since the 1980s. Materials showcasing the early Korean game industry, including four game magazines, six manuals, and three floppy disk games, will also be displayed.

The highlight of the exhibition is the first public unveiling of "The Day Has Come," an unreleased shooting game that remained only as a trace in 1990s game magazine advertisements. Although the game was never released and only exists through contemporary game magazine articles, advertisements, and interview records, it has been vividly recreated with AI technology after decades. Mirinae Software, the developer of the "The Day Has Come" series, led the golden age of Korean shooting games in the 1990s. Despite having a large fanbase due to its outstanding technical skills at the time, the game, a "legendary unreleased game," never saw the light of day due to various circumstances. It will finally be resurrected through this exhibition.

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Games are the play and culture of a generation, and important recorded heritage containing the technology and imagination of the time. It is a meaningful attempt to restore lost Korean games with the latest technology and share them with future generations.

The exhibition is divided into five sections. Visitors can explore the process of collecting and preserving Korean game materials and experience the game restoration process using AI. In particular, the AI Game Experience Zone allows visitors to experience the process of finding lost game data and restoring it with AI technology in a game format, alongside the National Library of Korea's characters "Booki" and "Tumi." A special seminar on "Preservation and Utilization of Lost Games" will also be held on July 22nd at 2 PM.

"Games are the play and culture of a generation, and important recorded heritage containing the technology and imagination of the time," said Kim Kyung-cheol, head of the Data Preservation Research Center at the National Library of Korea. "It is a meaningful attempt to restore lost Korean games with the latest technology and share them with future generations." He added, "We will continue to strive for the preservation and utilization of lost media and digital cultural heritage."

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We will continue to strive for the preservation and utilization of lost media and digital cultural heritage.