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GAMES OF THE WORLD
Documenting the entire planet's history of videogames, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
DISCLAIMER The information contained on these pages is provided by people from these areas. It is their own opinions, and is subject to localised regional differences, so is not necessarily representative of an entire country.
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Next we’ve got a lengthy Q&A session with two gamers from Russia, Alex and Fabien, which gives a fascinating explanation of English-loanwords in Russia. Despite having native words for RPG terms like quest, mage, and so on, which are derived from medieval Russian folklore, localised games continue to use foreign vocabulary - which is now commonly accepted.
I’ve also added a short page on Lithuania, with links to a local developer. Plus there’s the first instalment of stuff on Brazil and Tec Toy (the biggest ever feature on Tec Toy themselves is due for the future). And finally, there’s a brief entry on Scotland - since unbeknownst to many, Scotland has contributed quite a bit to the gaming world. Oh, and I added a Congo gallery page, and a an entry for China, linking to our fan-translation article which covers Chinese RPGs.
18th May 2010
I first covered foreign gaming sometime around 2005, when a forum post I made on videogame scenes in Africa and the Middle East caught the interest of GamesTM's then Retro Editor Darran Jones. He asked if I could double the number of entries in order to run it as a printed feature. I did this, which started my long and sometimes arduous journey as a games journalist. When I started freelancing for Retro Gamer, then under Live Publishing, I pitched a regular column called Global Gaming. They ran it for a few issues until RG went under and was then bought by Imagine Publishing. The column was again started up and ran for several more issues.
Viewing comments from people across the internet, it appears there's still a strong interest in what our cousins in far-flung places of the world are playing. For a long time Insert Credit covered Korean gaming, and there were foreign pieces on websites like WayoftheRodent and people's blogs. But there's never been anything dedicated specifically to Games of the World.
Some of the content here is my leftover notes, some of it is stuff found elsewhere on the internet, and some of it - such as Derboo's Korean coverage - has been researched specifically for HG101. Hopefully as word of mouth spreads, more of you will write about your unique, global views of gaming. With it already being the second decade of the millenium, my big question is: what were a lot of these countries like in the 1980s and 1990s? If we don't document them now, pieces of gaming history will be lost forever.
- John "Sketcz" Szczepaniak, Hardcore Gaming 101's Games of the World editor
Afghanistan /
Albania /
Algeria /
Andorra /
Angola /
Argentina /
Armenia /
Kosovo /
Two men from Moscow
COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD
AUSTRALIA
Images from Australia
Random images from Australia by Gabe McGrath - a variety of arcades, plus the Dick Smith Wizzard!
Austria /
Azerbaijan /
Bahamas /
Bahrain /
Bangladesh /
Barbados /
Belarus /
Belgium /
Belize /
Benin /
Bhutan /
Bolivia /
Bosnia Herz /
Botswana /
BRAZIL
Upscale Brazil
The supremacy of Sega's Master System, the need to play RPGs with an English-Portuguese dictionary, plus some exclusive games based on Brazilian comics.
Games in the Favela (external link)
A fascinating Way of the Rodent article by Romanista, looking at how street violence and videogames exist side-by-side in Brazil's poorest shantytowns. "It's City Of God with videogames in it," as he puts it.
Brunei /
Bulgaria /
Burkina /
Burma /
Burundi /
Cambodia /
Cameroon /
Canada /
Cape Verde /
Cent Afr Rep /
Chad /
Chile /
CHINA
Fan-translations and Chinese RPGs
Part 3 of HG101's article on fan-translations focuses on Chinese RPGs, with coverage of Xian Jian Qi Xia Zhuan (aka: Chinese Paladin: The Legend of Sword and Fairy), its TV dramatisation, plus Heroine Anthem: The Elect of Wassernixie and more.
Colombia /
Comoros /
CONGO
Images from the Congo
Just one image, taken from Flickr - more to follow.
Costa Rica /
Croatia /
Cuba /
Cyprus /
Czech Rep /
Denmark /
Djibouti /
Dominica /
Dominican Rep /
East Timor /
Ecuador /
EGYPT
Videogames of Cairo
An HG101 entry documenting the videogame scene in Cairo, circa January 2010. Strong retro focus, with direct links to Youtube videos shot in Cairo's markets.
El Salvador /
Equat Guinea /
Eritrea /
Estonia /
Ethiopia /
Fiji /
Finland
FRANCE
French games magazines
An HG101 blog entry covering France's diverse selection of videogame magazines, including two dedicated solely to RPGs.
French retro stores
A follow-up entry looking at one of France's retro stores.
Multilingual PS3 games
An HG101 entry on why the French and European versions of Heavy Rain and other PS3 games are multilingual, whereas the UK versions are intentionally cut.
Gabon /
Gambia /
Georgia /
Germany /
Ghana /
Greece /
Grenada /
Guatemala /
Guinea /
Guinea-Bissau /
Guyana /
Haiti /
Honduras /
Hungary /
Iceland
INDIA
Images from India
Selection of images relating to India, including makeshift arcades, a PS2 room, and the fabled, unreleased version of Clayfighters on the PS1.
Indonesia /
IRAN
MSX gaming in Iran
A personal account from Amir Asghari (aka: KidEinstein) on life and gaming in Iran during the war with Iraq. Now resident in Sweden, he has fond recollections of Metal Gear.
Iraq /
Ireland /
Israel /
Italy /
Ivory Coast /
Jamaica /
Japan /
Jordan /
Kazakhstan /
Kenya /
Kiribati /
KOREA - NORTH
An arcade / Songdowon Games Room / News piece by Insert Credit (external links)
Three non-HG101 entries, the first on an arcade in North Korea, and the second two on a games room at Songdowon International Children's Camp (both by Eric Lafforgue)
KOREA - SOUTH
ULTIMATE KOREAN HISTORY
It's taken a while, but HG101 is proud to introduce Derboo's gargantuan effort to document absolutely everything about Korea's history of videogames. There's interview snippets, a hardware glossary, a crazy-long index of exclusive games, and more screenshots than you will ever find on the internet. Incredible.
Korean games magazines - Part 1 / Part 2 /
Part 3
A trio of entries by HG101's Derboo, on the history of videogame magazines in Korea, including a visit to a reference library to view magazines not meant for the public.
What are Super Power System cards? / The answer revealed!
Two entries looking at a series of mysterious Street Fighter-themed Super Power System cards from Korea. The answer as to what they are, may surprise you.
Newspaper adverts and more SPS cards
A look at Korean mags reporting on Japanese newspaper adverts for Street Fighter, plus more SPS card photos!
How the Korean MSX game Devil Zone ripped off a rip-off.
The boldness of Korean pirates.
Eojjeonji Joheun Il-i Saenggil Geot Gateun Jeonyeok
A look at a 2D Korean brawler on the PC, and its semi-sequel Storm
Jim Rossignol in Korea (external link)
A fascinating examination of modern Korean gaming, which goes way bayond Starcraft. Essential reading.
Tim does Rossignol / Cenix handheld system / Byulbram interview / Return of doujin group Wildcat / Korea makes Eyetoy game (external links)
A random selection of old (some very old) news posts from Insert Credit. Mainly because I have fond memories of IC being the only English-language website which tried to regularly cover Korea and other unusual places. Good use of Google should yield more.
KUWAIT
Yousef's Kuwait (external link)
A fascinating blog detailing life and videogames in Kuwait. Lots and lots of entries, including one on the local GameStop franchise, and an entire database dedicated to arcade culture, with an emphasis on beat-em-ups.
Kyrgyzstan /
Laos /
Latvia /
Lebanon /
Lesotho /
Liberia /
Libya /
Liechtenstein /
LITHUANIA
First to independence
The story of a young Lithuanian gamer, as he witnessed his country's independence from Soviet rule in the 1990s.
Luxembourg /
Macedonia /
Madagascar /
Malawi /
MALAYSIA
Computers and Tea
Mark Wong describes the rise in popularity of computers in Malaysia, and why arcade winners prefer to celebrate with a nice cup of tea.
Maldives /
Mali /
Malta /
Marshall Isl /
Mauritania /
Mauritius /
Mexico /
Micronesia /
Moldova /
Monaco /
Mongolia /
Montenegro /
Morocco /
Mozambique /
Namibia /
Nauru /
Nepal /
Netherlands /
New Zealand /
Nicaragua /
Niger /
Nigeria /
Norway /
Oman /
PAKISTAN
Images from Pakistan
Currently just one image - that of an arcade. More to follow.
Palau /
Palestine /
Panama /
PN Guinea /
Paraguay /
Peru /
Philippines /
Poland /
Portugal /
Qatar /
Romania
RUSSIA
Chasing the Gorbunok
Sergei Servianov's essay on his childhood in Russia, including games based on Russian folklore.
Interview covering early Soviet arcades, the Dendy, ZX Spectrum clones and, rather sadly, the abandonment of Russian folklore in favour of a more western vocabulary.
Rwanda /
Samoa /
San Marino /
SAUDI ARABIA
The Persian Gulf
An essay by Soliman AlWahid on growing up in Saudi Arabia.
SCOTLAND
Heavy Hitters
Scotland isn't all haggis and kilts - they're responsible for some of the world's most important videogames too!
Senegal /
Serbia /
Seychelles /
Sierra Leone /
Singapore /
Slovakia /
Slovenia /
Solomon Islands /
Somalia /
SOUTH AFRICA
Christmas in South Africa
An article reprinted with permission from The Escapist, on Christmas and games in South Africa during the early 1990s
Games room in KwaThema township (external link)
Link to Ovi video by ecachucho (Eduardo), showing a makeshift games room at the KwaThema Chess Academy for young chess champions.
Arcade Hall - The Magic Company (external link)
Youtube video by hanzieWTF, showing an arcade in Nelspruit, South Africa, 2009.
Spain /
Sri Lanka /
Sudan /
Suriname /
Swaziland /
Sweden /
Switzerland /
Syria /
TAIWAN
Taipei Game Show (Insert Credit) (external link)
A massive report by Insert Credit for the 2003 Taipei Game Show. Seven years old, but still a glorious thing to behold, if only because no one else dared cover such a thing in the West. RIP Insert Credit.
The Taipei Game Show in Taiwan is the largest games expo in all of Asia, yet usually receives remarkably little coverage outside of China and it's neighbors. Naturally we love to change those sorts of things. Held in the Taiwanese World Trade Center from February 21-24, Josh Hsieh is our man in the streets (as it were) at the TGS.
Tajikistan /
Tanzania /
Thailand /
Togo /
Tonga /
Trinidad /
Tunisia /
Turkey /
Turkmenistan /
Tuvalu /
Uganda /
Ukraine /
Utd Arab Emirates /
United Kingdom /
United States /
Uruguay /
Uzbekistan /
Vanuatu /
Vatican City /
Venezuela /
Vietnam /
Yemen /
Zambia /
Zimbabwe /
Head Editor: Kurt Kalata
Contributing Editors: Sotenga, Vyse the Bold, Pat R., Neo Rasa, CJ Iwakura, Daijoubu and John Szczepaniak.
Awesome Copy Editors: Jorpho, Paul Acevedo "EastX"
Catalog Administrator: Derboo
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