History of Sega in Belarus

History of Sega in Belarus
Official Sega distributor(s): Nissho Iwai (1994-1995), Buka (1994-1999), Bitman (1996-1997), R-Style (1996-1999), NVT (2000-2001), 1C-SoftClub (2005-present),

Belarus declared independence in 1991. Since that year, the country has been a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

Sega video game consoles

Main article: History of Sega in Russia.

Back in the days of the Soviet Union, Sega tried to enter the market with the special model of first Master System (SECAM signal, lack of card slot and Alex Kidd in Miracle World built in) through Beryozka stores selling luxury goods, but the lack of good advertising, a small distribution network and the luxurious nature of the system resulted in failure.

The Belarusian video game market began to emerge after 1991, when the first imported Western consoles (like NES or Atari 2600) and clones (such as Zhiliton 938-A or Rambo 2600) began to reach the country. This market was and is still largely related to the Russian one, so when in 1993 Steepler started selling a Famicom clone called Dendy, this market became the third most important from former USSR countries, after Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

The original Sega consoles (Mega Drive II, Master System II, Game Gear, Mega CD II and Mega Drive 32X) were released in Belarus in 1994 through the Nissho Iwai trading house and its sub-distributors, mainly from Russia. The Steepler company itself sold clones and original Sega consoles, but over time it began to focus on official Nintendo systems.

From mid-90s, Belarus was under pressure of bootleg sellers that distributed Mega Drive clones in flea market or stores. Most of them were from Russia and one of the famous and more organized were Bitman, Kenga and Subor. Even when Bitman began cooperation with Sega Europe from January 1996, replacing Nissho Iwai , bringing Sega Saturn and selling Super Bitman legally, new wave of clones appeared again.

Although the Sega Dreamcast was announced for release in CIS countries in 2000 by NVT, its withdrawal by Sega prevented this, which resulted in a rash of pirated games translated into Russian and imports.

Between 1990s and 2000s, most known distributors of Mega Drive clones were Simba's Video Games and New Game that distributed video games with Russian covers and fully localized. As in Russia, these clones were still easy available in the 2000s. Around 2002, Mega Drive X and Simba's 268 cost 45 000 BYN, Mega Drive 2 clone cost 42 000 BYN. with games for 9000 BYN - 13 000 BYN. To comparison, original Dreamcast cost at the time around 220 000 BYN and pirate games translated into Russian cost 4500 BYN - 4720 BYN (1 CD), 9450 BYN (2 CD), 18 900 BYN (4 CD).

From mid-2000s most if not all of the clones come from Russia. For example in 2005, Magic Drive Pro cost 59 400 BYN, Magic Drive Pro 132 cost 66 000 BYN, Cybershell cost 99 000 BYN and Kibord-005 cost 66 000 BYN with games for around 5000-6000 BYN. In 2007, Mega Drive Portable cost 60-70 USD with games for 5 USD.

Today all brands of clones from Russia can be easily find in Belarusian shops specialized in distribution of that kind of products.

1C SoftClub

From 2005, 1C-SoftClub distributes games in Belarus with translated boxes and localized games into Russian. Sega games are also available from digital distribution and Belarus, when it comes to digital keys, belongs to the RU-CIS-UA region. Digital game distribution platforms such as Steam suggest lower prices for the region.

The only Sega game that distribution has been stopped in CIS countries was Company of Heroes 2.

On March 2022, Sega suspended sales of products and services in Belarus.

Sega Amusement

Since 2006, the distribution of arcade machines and equipment for children produce by Sega is being carried out by KidsPlay.

QubicaAMF is a strategic partner in Russia and CIS countries.

Sititek

Sititek is the official distributor of Sega Toys in Russia and CIS countries.