Difference between revisions of "History of Sega in Belarus"

Revision as of 14:22, 8 June 2023

History of Sega in Belarus


Official Sega distributor(s): Nissho Iwai (1994-1996), 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)

From Mega Drive to Dreamcast

Main article: History of Sega in Russia.

1C SoftClub

From 2005, 1C-SoftClub distributes games in Belarus^[1] 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.^[2]

Mega Drive clones

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 to cooperate with Sega and sold Super Bitman legally and Kenga was leaving the market, new wave of clones appeared again.

Between 1990s and 2000s, most known distributors of clones were Simba's Video Games and New Game that distributed video games with Russian covers and fully localized. Around 2002, Mega Drive X and Simba's 268 cost 45 000 BYN, Mega Drive 2 clone cost 42 000 BYN.^[3] with games for 9000 BYN - 13 000 BYN^[4]. To compersion, original Dreamcast cost at the time around 220 000 BYN^[5] and pirate games translated into Russian cost 4500 BYN - 4720 BYN (1 CD)^[6], 9450 BYN (2 CD), 18 900 BYN (4 CD)^[7].

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^[8] and Kibord-005 cost 66 000 BYN^[9] with games for around 5000-6000 BYN^[10]. In 2007, Mega Drive Portable cost 60-70 USD with games for 5 USD.^[11]

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

Sega Amusement

Since 2006, the distribution of arcade machines and equipment for children produce by Sega is being carried out by KidsPlay.^[12]

QubicaAMF is a strategic partner in Russia and CIS countries.

Sititek

Sititek is the official distributor of Sega Toys in Russia and CIS countries.^[13]

References

History of Sega by Country
Asia
Afghanistan \| Armenia \| Azerbaijan \| Bahrain \| Bangladesh \| Bhutan \| Brunei \| Cambodia \| China \| Georgia \| Hong Kong \| India \| Indonesia \| Iran \| Iraq \| Israel \| Japan \| Jordan \| Kazakhstan \| Kuwait \| Kyrgyzstan \| Laos \| Lebanon \| Malaysia \| Maldives \| Mongolia \| Myanmar \| Nepal \| North Korea \| Oman \| Pakistan \| Philippines \| Qatar \| Russia \| Saudi Arabia \| Singapore \| South Korea \| Sri Lanka \| Syria \| Taiwan \| Tajikistan \| Thailand \| East Timor \| Turkey \| Turkmenistan \| United Arab Emirates \| Uzbekistan \| Vietnam \| Yemen
North America
Antigua and Barbuda \| Bahamas \| Barbados \| Belize \| Canada \| Costa Rica \| Cuba \| Dominica \| Dominican Republic \| El Salvador \| Grenada \| Guatemala \| Haiti \| Honduras \| Jamaica \| Mexico \| Nicaragua \| Panama \| Puerto Rico \| Saint Kitts and Nevis \| Saint Lucia \| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines \| Trinidad and Tobago \| USA
South America
Argentina \| Bolivia \| Brazil \| Chile \| Colombia \| Ecuador \| Guyana \| Paraguay \| Peru \| Suriname \| Uruguay \| Venezuela
Europe
Albania \| Andorra \| Austria \| Belarus \| Belgium \| Bosnia and Herzegovina \| Bulgaria \| Croatia \| Cyprus \| Czechia \| Denmark \| Estonia \| Finland \| France \| Germany \| Gibraltar \| Greece \| Greenland \| Hungary \| Iceland \| Ireland \| Italy \| Latvia \| Liechtenstein \| Lithuania \| Luxembourg \| Malta \| Moldova \| Monaco \| Montenegro \| Netherlands \| North Macedonia \| Norway \| Poland \| Portugal \| Romania \| San Marino \| Serbia \| Slovakia \| Slovenia \| Spain \| Sweden \| Switzerland \| Ukraine \| United Kingdom
Australasia
Australia \| Fiji \| Guam \| Micronesia \| New Zealand \| Papua New Guinea
Africa
Algeria \| Botswana \| Djibouti \| Egypt \| Eswatini \| Ghana \| Kenya \| Lesotho \| Libya \| Mauritania \| Morocco \| Mozambique \| Namibia \| Nigeria \| Sierra Leone \| Somalia \| Sub-Saharan Africa \| South Africa \| Tunisia \| Uganda \| Zambia \| Zimbabwe

[1] ttps://vrgames.by/publ/obzor-worms-forts-v-osade

[2] ttps://www.destructoid.com/company-of-heroes-2-removed-from-sale-in-russia-259439.phtml

[3] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020206085529/http://pristavka.shop.by/2.html

[4] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020305040811/http://pristavka.shop.by/4.html

[5] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20020406003510/http://pristavka.shop.by/503.html

[6] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20030508084622mp_/http://pristavka.shop.by/895.html

[7] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20030821033832mp_/http://pristavka.shop.by/884.html

[8] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20050414150251/http://pristavka.shop.by/2.html

[9] ttps://vrgames.by/content/simbas-kibord-005-obuchayusche-igrovaya-pristavka

[10] ttps://vrgames.by/content/simbas-kibord-005-obuchayusche-igrovaya-pristavka

[11] ttps://vrgames.by/content/megadrive-portable

[12] ttp://brunswickbowling.kz/about/sng.php

[13] ttps://desole.ru/brands/sititek/

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@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 }}
 Belarus declared independence in 1991. Since that year, the country has been a member of the '''Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)'''
 ==From Mega Drive to Dreamcast==
-Most of Sega's history in this region from this period is related to [[History of Sega in Russia]] with minor changes, so the events are briefly summarized.
+{{mainArticle|History of Sega in Russia}}
-<br>1. [[Steepler]] releases Dendy in 1993 and starts selling [[Sega]] clones ([[Pro 16 Bit]] and [[High Quality]]) and the original Mega Drive 2 from Asia, [[Multi-Mega|Genesis CDX]]<ref>http://tv-games.ru/wiki/Companies/Steepler.html</ref> from USA with US/EU/Asian/Bootleg games.
+==1C SoftClub==
+From 2005, [[1C-SoftClub]] distributes games in Belarus<ref>https://vrgames.by/publ/obzor-worms-forts-v-osade</ref> 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.
-<br>2. [[Nissho Iwai]] gets licenses to distribute games in CIS countries and in 1994 selects several authorized distributors such as [[Buka]] who supply [[Mega Drive]] 2<ref> Бука - Магазин Игрушек 1/95 page 57</ref> (EU/AS PAL), [[Mega-CD]] 2<ref> Бука - Магазин Игрушек 1/95 page 57</ref> (EU PAL/AS NTSC), [[Master System]] 2 (EU PAL), [[Game Gear]] (EU PAL), [[Sega Saturn]]<ref> Бука - Магазин Игрушек 1/95 page 57</ref> (AS NTSC/EU PAL), [[Mega Drive 32X]]<ref> Бука - Магазин Игрушек 1/95 page 57</ref>. Steepler starts selling Mega Drive 2 from Nissho Iwai channels.<ref>https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/94004?query=steepler</ref>
+The only Sega game that distribution has been stopped in CIS countries was [[Company of Heroes 2]].<ref>https://www.destructoid.com/company-of-heroes-2-removed-from-sale-in-russia-259439.phtml</ref>
-<br>3. The wave of Sega and Dendy clones begins to flood the CIS countries on flea markets, small stores and from specialized sellers (like [[Bitman]], [[Kenga]] and [[Subor]]), which means that the original systems reach a smaller number of people. Besides Famicom and Mega Drive clones, Sega had competition in form of [[Super Nintendo]] and [[Game Boy]] (distributed from November 1994 by Steepler<ref>https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/94004</ref>), [[3DO]] (distributed from late 1994 by Buka), [[PlayStation]] (distributed from March 1995 by Buka<ref>Бука - Магазин Игрушек 1/95 page 57</ref>, which distribution was taken over from July 1997 by Sony CIS<ref>http://web.archive.org/web/19980703064424/http://www.playstation-europe.com/playstation/pr/launch.htm</ref>), [[CD-i]] (distributed from 1995 by A –STIMUL<ref>http://zhurnalko.net/=sam/junyj-tehnik/1995-07--num57</ref> with chain of 3 authorised distributors) and [[Atari Jaguar]] (distributed from 1995 by [[Game Land]]).
-<br>4. Despite problems with clones, Sega says Mega Drive had good sales in Russia and CIS<ref>https://www.telecompaper.com/news/32-bit-consoles-to-be-launched-in-may-1996--81064</ref> and decides to push Sega Saturn. They signs a deal with Bitman as distributor no.1{{Fileref|Migr_8_RU.pdf|page=91}} (making [[Super Bitman]] legal)<ref>https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/233963</ref>, Buka as distributor no. 2 and R-Style as distributor no. 3 and starts selling all Sega consoles in its stores in the PAL system.{{Fileref|Migr_8_RU.pdf|page=91}}
-<br>5. Sega Saturn turns out to be a failure and Bitman is bought by [[R-Style]] in 1997<ref>https://www.itweek.ru/themes/detail.php?ID=44981</ref>, which with Buka solds Sega consoles until late 90s.
-<br>6. The region is flooded in the late 1990s and early 2000s with Sega and Dendy clones from two channels: Asian by small sellers and flee markets and Russian by specialized sellers (like [[Simba's Video Games]] and [[New Game]]) with translated into Russian console and game boxes and later localized games. Around 2002, [[Mega Drive X]] and [[Simba's 268]] cost 45000 BYN, [[Unlicensed_Mega_Drive_clones_(Mega_Drive_2)_in_Russia#Mega_Drive_2_.28Simba.27s.29|Mega Drive 2]] clone cost 42 000 BYN.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020206085529/http://pristavka.shop.by/2.html</ref> with games for 13 000 BYN<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020305040811/http://pristavka.shop.by/4.html</ref>.
+==Mega Drive clones==
+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 to cooperate with Sega and sold [[Super Bitman]] legally and Kenga was leaving the market, new wave of clones appeared again.
-<br>7. Sega wanted to market [[Dreamcast]] in late 2000, through Russian company [[NVT]]. They promised localized games into Russian and games in cheap jewel cases, but with the problems of 128-bit console, Sega gave up on the idea and stay with European versions. The pre-release sales of the console started on November 10, 2000 with promised of full release until end of the year.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20010409225930/http://sega.ru:80/news.phtml</ref> Larger plans for sales and marketing were canceled when Sega announced the end of production on January 31, 2001, which meant the end of all shipments to Russia and CIS.
+Between 1990s and 2000s, most known distributors of clones were [[Simba's Video Games]] and [[New Game]] that distributed video games with Russian covers and fully localized. Around 2002, [[Mega Drive X]] and [[Simba's 268]] cost 45 000 BYN, [[Unlicensed_Mega_Drive_clones_(Mega_Drive_2)_in_Russia#Mega_Drive_2_.28Simba.27s.29|Mega Drive 2]] clone cost 42 000 BYN.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020206085529/http://pristavka.shop.by/2.html</ref> with games for 9000 BYN - 13 000 BYN<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020305040811/http://pristavka.shop.by/4.html</ref>. To compersion, original Dreamcast cost at the time around 220 000 BYN<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020406003510/http://pristavka.shop.by/503.html</ref> and pirate games translated into Russian cost 4500 BYN - 4720 BYN (1 CD)<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20030508084622mp_/http://pristavka.shop.by/895.html</ref>, 9450 BYN (2 CD), 18 900 BYN (4 CD)<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20030821033832mp_/http://pristavka.shop.by/884.html</ref>.
-<br>8. Even before that, there were companies importing the Dreamcast from Europe on their own and in the end of 2000, due to pirated translations of games into Russian and their distribution through its own sales channel in CIS countries,<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060901234208/http://vector.msk.ru:80/</ref> the console became popular. After [[Big Ben Interactive]] became a distributor in Western Europe, local Russian distributors bought out the consoles and distributed them to the CIS countries, so that the console was sold long after its withdrawal in other parts of the world. Around 2002, Dreamcast cost 220 000 BYN<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20020406003510/http://pristavka.shop.by/503.html</ref>.
+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<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20050414150251/http://pristavka.shop.by/2.html</ref> and [[Kibord-005]] cost 66 000 BYN<ref>https://vrgames.by/content/simbas-kibord-005-obuchayusche-igrovaya-pristavka</ref> with games for around 5000-6000 BYN<ref>https://vrgames.by/content/simbas-kibord-005-obuchayusche-igrovaya-pristavka</ref>. In 2007, [[Mega Drive Portable]] cost 60-70 USD with games for 5 USD.<ref>https://vrgames.by/content/megadrive-portable</ref>
-==1C SoftClub==
-From 2005, [[1C-SoftClub]] distributes games in Belarus.<ref>https://vrgames.by/publ/obzor-worms-forts-v-osade</ref> 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]].<ref>https://www.destructoid.com/company-of-heroes-2-removed-from-sale-in-russia-259439.phtml</ref>
-==Mega Drive clones from mid-2000s==
+Today all brands of clones from Russia can be easily find in Belarusian shops specialized in distribution of that kind of products.
-From mid-2000s most if not all of the clones come from Russia and all brands from there can be easily find today in Belarusian shops. For example in 2005, [[Magic Drive]] Pro cost 59 400 BYN, Magic Drive Pro 132 cost 66 000 BYN, [[Cybershell]] cost 99 000 BYN<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20050414150251/http://pristavka.shop.by/2.html</ref> and [[Kibord-005]] cost 66 000 BYN<ref>https://vrgames.by/content/simbas-kibord-005-obuchayusche-igrovaya-pristavka</ref> with games for around 5000-6000 BYN<ref>https://vrgames.by/content/simbas-kibord-005-obuchayusche-igrovaya-pristavka</ref>. In 2007, [[Mega Drive Portable]] cost 60-70 USD with games for 5 USD.<ref>https://vrgames.by/content/megadrive-portable</ref>
 ==Sega Amusement ==