History of Sega in Portugal
From Sega Retro
|
|
| History of Sega in Portugal |
|---|
| Official Sega distributor(s): Ecoplay (1991-present) |
This teeny-tiny article needs some work. You can help us by expanding it.
In the 70s Portugal was one of the countries where Sega imported its game machines.[1]
Ecofilmes began distributing Sega consoles in Portugal in 1991, starting with the release of Mega Drive, Master System II and Game Gear. An advertising campaign was also launched under the name of É mais forte que tu! and also created in 1992 Clube Sega. In later years, they also distributed the Mega CD and Mega Drive 32X.
Sega consoles (especially the Mega Drive) were popular in Portugal. Ecofilmes has started importing some titles from outside of Europe such as Mega Man (Game Gear), Jungle Strike (Game Gear), F1 (NTSC Mega Drive) and Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden (Mega Drive). They also seem to be the only officially licensed company to provide regional converters for Dragon Ball Z: Buyuu Retsuden's distribution in the region before the French release came out.
Tectoy Master System III Compact was sold in Portugal along with two exclusive Tectoy products not released elsewhere in Europe; Sapo Xule - S.O.S Lagoa Poluida and Game Box Série Esportes. Ecofilmes also exported the same Master System model to Spain. In May 1996, Sega also announced that it would support Mega Drive sales in Portugal.[2] That same year, TCI's technology group got the rights to distribute Sega Channel in Portugal, but it is not known that the service was launched there. On the wave of popularity, Mega Drive Ecoplay released a clone called Mega Game II. This probably happened after the original Mega Drive was withdrawn from the market.
Ecofilmes also distributed Sega Saturn and Sega Dreamcast in Portugal. They later changed their name to Ecoplay and continue to sell Sega games until this day.