Childhood Online Arcades... Do You Know 'Flash'? [Im Ju-hyung's Tech Talk]

Official Service Ended Last Year but Archiving Attempts Increase
Started as a Webpage Video Playback Program
Used in Animation, Games, Gaining Global Popularity
Produced Popular Amateur Videos like Jjolaman

Running game made with Adobe Flash. / Photo by Wikipedia capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] On December 31 last year, Adobe, the American IT company, officially ended support for its web content playback program 'Flash Player.' As a result, videos created with Flash can no longer be viewed on domestic and international web pages.

However, there are those who strive to preserve and maintain content made with Flash. Representative examples include the Flash-based game restoration website 'Waflash Game Archive' and the Flash memorial project 'RIP Flash.'

They argue that Flash was more than just a video production program; it was an internet culture that defined an era. For the internet-savvy 20-30 generation, Flash provided countless contents akin to an 'online arcade,' and through this, it continues to exert steady influence on modern IT technology and culture.

Flash is an animation production software developed in the United States in 1993. Initially, it started as a web animation production tool to replace the moving image file format 'GIF,' but through subsequent updates, much more complex features were added, gaining worldwide popularity.

Adobe Flash program icon. / Photo by Internet homepage capture

The Flash program, loved for decades, began to decline due to security issues. Malicious codes and viruses were spread through Flash, causing users to feel uneasy. Additionally, after 2014, the emergence of the 'HTML5' standard, which allowed websites to support simple videos natively, led to a loss of popularity. Ultimately, Adobe permanently ended support for Flash Player last year.

Nevertheless, there are still those who cannot forget Flash. The Flash memorial project 'RIP Flash,' led by art theorist Kwon Taehyun and cultural researcher Park Iseon, and the 'Waflash Game Archive,' which converts Flash games into HTML5 environments for preservation, are restoring Flash videos created in the early 2000s.

Why do they strive to preserve Flash videos? The 'RIP Flash' team emphasized in a notice posted on their official website, "Countless amateur creators in the 2000s built the foundation of web culture based on the technical platform of Flash." They argue that Flash was not just a program but a cultural phenomenon that defined an era in internet space.

Flash first gained popularity in English-speaking countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In the U.S., amateur Flash creators made and shared videos and games, with 'Newgrounds,' a website established as a corporation in 1995 and still operating today, being a representative platform.

Newgrounds logo (left), a famous American flash-related website, and Zolaman, one of the early domestic flash animations / Photo by Wikipedia, YouTube capture

In South Korea, from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, Flash videos were explosively produced, forming what is called 'Flash culture.'

At that time, numerous amateur creators made videos with Flash, the most representative being 'Zolaman' created by graphic designer Kim Dokheon. The core content depicted humans using circles and a few bars, performing various skits. In addition, various amateur groups such as Mashimaro, Hong's Club, and Dalmyo Legend produced Flash animations and shared them on the internet, gaining popularity.

Flash expanded beyond videos into games. Flash-made games were especially popular among elementary and middle school students. At that time, child-focused portals like 'Junior Naver' and 'Yahoo Koorogi' featured Flash videos and games as main content.

Tributes from netizens of various countries written in English, Portuguese, and other languages at the 'RIP Flash' memorial. / Photo by RIP Flash capture

Looking at the guestbook section of the website 'RIP Flash,' which mourns the 'death of Flash,' one can see people from Korea, Japan, English-speaking countries, and others honoring Flash in their own languages. This shows that Flash is a 'shared contemporary memory' among many countries.

Park Iseon, a game culture researcher who led the memorial project, wrote on the 'RIP Flash' website, "Many people currently using Unity (the latest game development engine) came from Flash," and explained, "Unity and Flash share similar attributes. Including animation production functions, Unity has inherited a significant part of Flash's legacy." Although the software Flash has permanently ended, its influence remains.

He said, "It is true that Flash has been sentenced to death as a platform for playing web content," but added, "However, animation production software after Flash has inherited much of Flash. So, can the death of the technology be considered a complete death?" Perhaps Flash and its culture still remain in internet space, continuing to exert influence.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.