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Several decades ago, famed scifi author Orson Scott Card penned perhaps his best known series of books starting with the award-winning Ender’s Game.

Without giving away too much of the plot, in the not-so-distant future, the human-based military discovers a young, but very gifted video gamer who is extremely effective at micromanaging small-scale tactics in conjunction with the larger, macro battle theater.

He along with several others are kind of commandeered by the military high-command in an effort to combat an alien menace.

These students, and Ender in particular, continually train within a virtual video game, rehearsing battles over and over again, with the end goal of utilizing their abilities on the battlefield.

I’ll stop there, but the story is definitely worth reading if you enjoy computer games and/or science fiction.

What you may not know about South Korea, and what I have alluded to before, is that there is an almost fanatical following to several computer games, most notably Starcraft (which officially sold over 3.5 million copies in that country alone).

So much so, that there are two TV stations dedicated to showcasing tournaments 24/7, ongamenet and MBC Game.

In fact, there is an entire profession surrounding e-games here in Seoul, whose popularity rivals and even surpasses many of the traditional sports that make you sweat, like Baseball and Basketball.

During some of the downtime I have throughout the day, I find myself watching these games for a couple reasons: it exposes me to Korean pop-culture and no matter what is being said, I can tell who is getting their ass whooped.

And I’m pretty certain at this point in time, while the guys behind the keyboard might not be the suavest with the ladies or the most muscular, they put the “I” back into intensity, dedication, and discipline.

For instance, Starcraft is a real-time strategy game based in a science-fiction universe not too dissimilar to that of Ender’s Game. And a term called “Actions Per Minute” is used to describe the overall ability of a individual player; the more actions you can execute, the better you are able to maneuver troops on the battlefield.

Typical gamers may click the keyboard and mouse 40-50 times each minute, whereas professional players will sustain ten times that level. In fact, Koreans have such a reputation for intense calculation at this game, many internationally-based online servers ban players from this region.

And it is insane to watch this synchronized swiftness occur on live TV.

With that said it is nigh impossible to figure out which player wins after a game is over. No fist pumps, jumping or yelling. No emotions whatsoever.

And neither did Ender at first.

And to top that off, now that State-funded militaries of the world are beginning to invest and develop in automated, self-contained vehicles and robots (e.g., UCAVs), the future of warfare may one day be in the hands of keyboard commanders and their mongoose-like reflexes.

If nothing else, it makes for a better movie plot than Wargames.

And by the way, these game professionals are in fact quite the Don Juan’s. Not only do they have ginormous fan groups filled with enthralled young women, but the live audience is usually comprised of the same type of girls you would find fawning over band members at a rock concert.

Triumph of the nerds indeed.

[Note: the players are part of corporate sponsored team's and practice 8+ hours everyday, they even wear NASCAR-like jackets covered with patches and company logos when in public. And truth be told, one of my favorite parts of the show is listening to the pitch of the commentators voices. Much like Spanish announcers are stereotypically known for their exasperated yelling during dramatic shots on the goal (Exhibit A), so too are their Korean counterparts throughout key portions of a match.]