Difference between revisions of "History of Sega in Czechia"
From Sega Retro
m |
|||
| Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
Consoles existed in Czechoslovakia during communism and an example is the Tesla XD 8001 produced by the Czechoslovak company Tesla.<ref>http://www.litildivil.cz/sbirka/ruzne/tv_hra_tesla.htm</ref> The existence of [[Sega]] in Czechoslovakia is quite a mystery, and few facts are known at the moment. The first information about Sega's entry into this market comes from 1988, when independent retail outlets began the sale of [[Master System]].<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097</ref> The information gathered shows that Czechoslovakia was probably the first country in Eastern Europe where Sega products were introduced. This fact is little known, so it can be expected that the Master System was not successful in the country, especially since the political changes in Czechoslovakia continued during this period. | Consoles existed in Czechoslovakia during communism and an example is the Tesla XD 8001 produced by the Czechoslovak company Tesla.<ref>http://www.litildivil.cz/sbirka/ruzne/tv_hra_tesla.htm</ref> The existence of [[Sega]] in Czechoslovakia is quite a mystery, and few facts are known at the moment. The first information about Sega's entry into this market comes from 1988, when independent retail outlets began the sale of [[Master System]].<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097</ref> The information gathered shows that Czechoslovakia was probably the first country in Eastern Europe where Sega products were introduced. This fact is little known, so it can be expected that the Master System was not successful in the country, especially since the political changes in Czechoslovakia continued during this period. | ||
| − | In 1990, Sega established its first office in the country.<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097</ref> It is not known what the representative office was called, where it was located, how many years it existed or when it ended. It is known for sure that it did exist. It is also known, that Master System consoles were distributed further and was distributed at several retailers, such as [[IBEA]], which imported and distributed to retailers and wholesalers in Slovakia<ref>''Sega Master System''- BiT 09/92 (09/1992) page 7</ref>, and at the [[Enisof]]<ref>''Firma Enisof a.s prodej vypocetni techniky nabizi pocitacive hry a sachove pocitace dle nasledujiciho seznamu'' - Excalibur 12 (09/1992) | + | In 1990, Sega established its first office in the country.<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097</ref> It is not known what the representative office was called, where it was located, how many years it existed or when it ended. It is known for sure that it did exist. It is also known, that Master System consoles were distributed further and was distributed at several retailers, such as [[IBEA]], which imported and distributed to retailers and wholesalers in Slovakia<ref>''Sega Master System''- BiT 09/92 (09/1992) page 7</ref>, and at the [[Enisof]]<ref>''Firma Enisof a.s prodej vypocetni techniky nabizi pocitacive hry a sachove pocitace dle nasledujiciho seznamu'' - Excalibur 12 (09/1992) page 19</ref> company located in the Czech Republic. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two countries. |
==Datart, ITO CS and Popron Distribuce== | ==Datart, ITO CS and Popron Distribuce== | ||
Revision as of 12:54, 28 November 2022
|
|
| History of Sega in Czechia |
|---|
| Official Sega distributor(s): Independent retail outlets (1988-1990), ? (1990-1992), Datart (1993-1996), ITO CS (1993-1996), Popron Distribuce (1994-1996), DDC Agency (1996-1998), Fliko (2000-2002), CD Projekt (2004-2016), Cenega (2016-present) |
Contents
Czechoslovakia
Consoles existed in Czechoslovakia during communism and an example is the Tesla XD 8001 produced by the Czechoslovak company Tesla.[1] The existence of Sega in Czechoslovakia is quite a mystery, and few facts are known at the moment. The first information about Sega's entry into this market comes from 1988, when independent retail outlets began the sale of Master System.[2] The information gathered shows that Czechoslovakia was probably the first country in Eastern Europe where Sega products were introduced. This fact is little known, so it can be expected that the Master System was not successful in the country, especially since the political changes in Czechoslovakia continued during this period.
In 1990, Sega established its first office in the country.[3] It is not known what the representative office was called, where it was located, how many years it existed or when it ended. It is known for sure that it did exist. It is also known, that Master System consoles were distributed further and was distributed at several retailers, such as IBEA, which imported and distributed to retailers and wholesalers in Slovakia[4], and at the Enisof[5] company located in the Czech Republic. On January 1, 1993, Czechoslovakia split into two countries.
Datart, ITO CS and Popron Distribuce
After the break-up, Datart became the authorized distributor of Sega, which released Mega Drive[6], Master System II[7] and Game Gear[8]. In late 1993, the second distributor, ITO CS, was selected[9]. This is also where the popularity of Sega consoles on the market began to grow and soon these video games became quite widespread in the Czech Republic. In 1994, in addition to release of the Mega Drive II and Mega CD II, a third authorized distributor, Popron Distribuce, was selected.[10] From that moment on, distributors also started to create Czech manuals for Sega games and consoles.
Mega Drive 32X was already available from December 1994[11] and Multi Mega from April 1995[12]. Popron Distribuce did not want to wait for the European premiere of Sega Saturn, so from April 1995, they started importing Japanese versions of the console, which cost 25,000 CZK.[13].
In addition to the official consoles, there were also famiclones on the market such as Terminator 2 modeled on Sega Mega Drive, Bel Game[14], Pegasus IQ-502[15], Video Game-GT3300[16], Micro Genius (via Atelier)[17] and many more.
Mega Drive clones have also appeared along with bootleg games. The price of a clone named simply 'Mega Drive' with 2 turbo joysticks was around 3990 CZK in 1994.[18]
DDC Agency
In 1996, the DDC Agency became a distributor of Sega and Atari in the Czech Republic and Slovakia[28] and released Sega Saturn[29], also continued to sell all older Sega systems (Master System II[30], Game Gear[31], Mega Drive II[32], Mega Drive 32X[33], Mega CD II[34] and Multi Mega[35]) that were released in the Czechia so far, with it's own manuals for games and consoles translated into Czech. The company had four authorized distributors in the Czech Republic:
- Trojanec - Brno and South Moravia[36]
- Ozón - West Bohemia and North Bohemia[37]
- Euro Shop Ostrava - North Moravia and the East Bohemia[38]
- Zlatý Tygr - South Bohemia[39]
Sega's products have been well advertised in several major gaming magazines, the ABC children's magazine[40], at gaming events such as HIT 96[41] and from Summer 1996 Saturn prices were lowered to be equal to PlayStation[42]. The DDC Agency has created a specialized Sega gaming magazine called Sega News, published since October 1996.[43]
Mega Drive clones were still available, as well as pirated copies of games with Czech manuals. They were sold until the early 2000s. One of the sellers of these clones was Sat Game, which released Star Drive 2[44] and Genesis 2.
Despite the promotion, Saturn did not sell that well in the Czech Republic. From the spring of 1997, Sega consoles were less and less advertised and the Sega brand began to lose its importance in the Czech Republic. Authorized distributors were selling Saturn and Mega Drive until 1998.
In second half of the 90s, Comex became distributor of Sega arcades.[45]
Fliko
The Sega Dreamcast console was available in the Czechia since March 2000 and distributor of Sega at the time was Fliko[56]. The console could be purchased at few retailers like Game Line, Play Centrum, Digitec and Gamestar. The situation of the console was bad and only 500 Dreamcasts were sold throughout the 2000, compared to other consoles in the Czechia, Dreamcast had the smallest user base. For comparison, PlayStation had about 50,000 Czechs, Game Boy Color - 15,000, Nintendo 64 - 2,500 and PlayStation 2 - about 800.[57]
Dynamic Systems
Dynamic Systems distributed Sega games from Empire around 2000s.
CD Projekt and Cenega
In 2004, the CD Projekt company became a distributor of Sega in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.[58]The company slowly became a representative of Sega in other countries of the Visegrad Group. In 2016, Cenega become representative of Sega.[59]
References
- ↑ http://www.litildivil.cz/sbirka/ruzne/tv_hra_tesla.htm
- ↑ https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097
- ↑ https://www.telecompaper.com/news/video-games-market-small--23097
- ↑ Sega Master System- BiT 09/92 (09/1992) page 7
- ↑ Firma Enisof a.s prodej vypocetni techniky nabizi pocitacive hry a sachove pocitace dle nasledujiciho seznamu - Excalibur 12 (09/1992) page 19
- ↑ Sega Mega Drive - Excalibur 16 (04/1993) page 30
- ↑ Sega Master System II - Excalibur 16 (04/1993) page 31
- ↑ Sega Game Gear - Excalibur 17 (05/1993) page 14
- ↑ ITO CS s.r.o autorizovany distributor videoher SEGA pro Vas pripravil vanocni nabidku - Excalibur 21 (12/1993) page 43
- ↑ Popron Distribuce Mega CD, Mega Drive II, Game Gear - Score 10 (10/1994) page 36
- ↑ Doom (skoro) na Mega Drive! Score 13 (01/1995) page 69
- ↑ Videohry Slunicko -Level 4 (05/1995) page 37
- ↑ Saturn jiz neni jenom planeta! - Level 4 (05/1995) page 36
- ↑ Videohry Slunicko - Level 4 (05/1995) page 37
- ↑ Videohry Slunicko - Level 4 (05/1995) page 37
- ↑ Video Game GT3300 -Score 22 page 74
- ↑ Prodejna Atelier nabizi pocitacove hry Micro Genius - ABC 5/39
- ↑ Sega 16 Bit Televizini Hry - ABC 18/38
- ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-03-10), page 31
- ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-05-10), page 15
- ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-09-10), page 39
- ↑ Excalibur, "" (CZ; 1993-10-10), page 19
- ↑ Score, "Listopad 1994" (CZ; 1994-11-01), page 2
- ↑ Score, "Prosinec 1994" (CZ; 1994-12-01), page 23
- ↑ Score, "Leden 1995" (CZ; 1995-01-01), page 41
- ↑ Score, "Únor 1995" (CZ; 1995-02-01), page 41
- ↑ Score, "Březen 1995" (CZ; 1995-03-01), page 41
- ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
- ↑ Saturn Planeta Her - Sega News 1 page 36
- ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Master System a Game Gear - ABC 41/10 page 47
- ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Master System a Game Gear - ABC 41/10 page 47
- ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Mega Drive II a Mega Drive 32X - ABC 41/12 page 38
- ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Mega Drive II a Mega Drive 32X - ABC 41/12 page 38
- ↑ Euro Shop Ostrava - Sega News 1 page 2
- ↑ Multi-Mega - Sega News 1 page 30
- ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
- ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
- ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 1 page 35
- ↑ DDC Agency s.r.o - Sega News 2 page 2
- ↑ Nabidka her Sega pro majitele Master System a Game Gear - ABC 41/10 page 47
- ↑ Hit '96 - LeveL 22 page 10
- ↑ Sony na ceskem trhu - Level 19 (08/1996) page 50
- ↑ Sega News 1 page 4
- ↑ Hit '96 - LeveL 22 page 10
- ↑ Neo Plus 11 page 74
- ↑ Sega News, "Říjen 1996" (CZ; 1996-xx-xx), page 35
- ↑ Score, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-11-01), page 111
- ↑ Sega News, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 2
- ↑ Score, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-12-01), page 113
- ↑ Sega News, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 2
- ↑ Sega News, "Říjen 1996" (CZ; 1996-xx-xx), page 36
- ↑ Score, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-11-01), page 113
- ↑ Sega News, "Listopad 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 44
- ↑ Score, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-12-01), page 115
- ↑ Sega News, "Prosinec 1996" (CZ; 1996-1x-xx), page 44
- ↑ https://ekonomika.idnes.cz/nova-konzole-dreamcast-prehrava-konkurenci-feh-/test.aspx?c=2000M051T05A
- ↑ https://www.idnes.cz/hry/magazin/konzolim-v-cechach-kraluje-playstation.A010121_trhkonzoliq12k1_bw
- ↑ https://games.tiscali.cz/byznys/cd-projekt-exkluzivnim-distributorem-her-od-sega-24752
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160607060703/http://www.sega.com:80/support/