Brazil has been in the gaming news lately thanks to the fact that Tectoy is planning on releasing a new version of Sega's Mega Drive next year, but the country's fixation with gaming goes way back to the birth of the industry, and a excellent series of video features by Red Bull highlights how the Brazilian game industry has evolved over the past few decades.
The series covers the birth of the arcade sector in the country as well as how piracy and mods have kept the scene alive in more recent years, with consoles either being too expensive for the average player or simply not available for distribution in South America. However, it's the second episode which will be of most interest to budding Nintendo historians, as it looks back on the 8-bit era and how Brazil became the first territory outside of Japan where the NES was manufactured.
While Tectoy's links with Sega go way back and the company was responsible for selling the Master System in Brazil - arguably one of the most popular machines in that country - Nintendo's association with the region is a little more convoluted. When the NES was at its height there was no way to officially purchase the machine in Brazil, so engineer Marcos Santos decided to reverse-engineer the console and create a clone which would be compatible with NES software, and this system was eventually picked up by Brazilian firm Gradiente. The Phantom was such a hit that Nintendo even visited Gradiente and made the company an offer: stop making the Phantom and we'll allow you to be the official manufacturer and distributor of the NES in Brazil.
The video also details the interesting tale of how Sega's Master System classic Wonder Boy in Monster Land was adapted for the Brazilian market in the form of Mônica: No Castelo do Dragão, which replaced the original sprites with characters from the incredibly popular comic and remains one of Brazil's most enduring contributions to the video game scene.
The video is well worth a watch, as are the other two features which can be found on Red Bull's site.
[source redbull.com]
Comments 14
That's a nice romantic view of Brazil's relationship with gaming and piracy. It fails to touch on the more pressing matter that games are so expensive here because of nonsensically high tax on gaming, heir of a "protect our industry" mentality from the 60's.
And that those things eventually made Nintendo completely abandon the country a couple of years back.
But that's a really nice documentary, gotta watch the rest.
Very interesting. Haven't watched the video yet (can't right now), but it's super nice to see the Phantom System highlighted like that.
Historians often go on about how Sega "dominated" the brazilian gaming scene due to a lack of Nintendo presence, but that's absolutely false - just take a look at one of the many gaming magazines from back then (Ação Games, SuperGamePower, VideoGame).
Yes, Sega was extremely popular with its licensed products, but the NES was everywhere due to hardware clones - not only the Phantom System, but also the Dynavision, Top Game, and many others. Every single game rental store I visited back then (I owned both a Dynavision II and a Master System) had Nintendo and Sega as pretty much equals in shelf space. When the SNES rolled around, it arguably reached an even greater level of ubiquity in this regard.
Anyway, can't wait to watch this later today. Thanks for posting it!
It doesn't cover how insane tax regulations are in Brazil. If you're going to do business there, you're definitively going to need local accountants.
And not only that, Nintendo has practically abandoned Latin America. We get the products through a company that got the franchise, but zero official support from NoA.
Imho it doesnt hurt the industry if somebody buys a pirate copy of a game that he wouldnt otherwise have bought because of a lack of availability or a price that he couldnt afford to pay. the industry wouldnt have gotten his money anyway or didnt even to get it.
The videos don't seem to exist.
Hm... I ever heard and knew about Phantom long time ago. Well... clones always be clones.
Great video. Good ending.
"Everyone loved PlayStation one games. It's was easy to pirate "
I believe that, in some aspects, Phantom System even surpasses the original NES hardware. It's not an ordinary clone, it's a well designed machine, along with others in the country such as Dynavision, Turbo Game, Bit System, etc.
About the representation part, that's why I'll put my money on Steam instead. I'm so tired to go all over the process of importing again to have another Nintendo console, and pay 10 times of what the console really is worth. Believe, I know what I'm talking about, I have all Nintendo platforms until now (but Virtual Boy). If Nintendo doesn't care about Brazil anymore, I really won't be caring about their platforms any longer.
@BispoSnake "If Nintendo doesn't care about Brazil anymore, I really won't be caring about their platforms any longer."
I don't really get this mentality. It's like if I were to stop liking The Dandy Warhols, who have never played in the country, and instead became a fan of, I don't know, Demi Lovato, who seems to be here every other year.
Liking a game or not has nothing to do with whether it's easily available for you. Yes, Nintendo's situation in Brazil is very sad at the moment, and I've skipped a few recent Wii U / 3DS games (hey there, Pokken!) precisely because I didn't want them bad enough to pay twice the price they would normally cost at launch. But as Nintendo keeps putting out stuff that is compelling to me, I'll get them, if my financial situation allows me (and there are plenty of opportunities if you look away from large retail chains such as Saraiva or FNAC).
@ricklongo You guys have FNAC over there?
@ricklongo how much you spent in a music cd, compared with the herculean task of bringing a system from another country? If you're brazilian, you now what I mean =)
I really like Nintendo games, I've been playing them since NES. I'm not kidding, I still have all systems here, and I'm big fan of Zelda, Metroid and Starfox, they're my favorite of all time along with Metal Gear, Assassin's Creed and Chrono Trigger.
However, I grow tired you know? Wish they had more consideration with their customers down here. They're not even able to give us a simple digital shop. C'mon... Do you know the answer I got when I've asked their support on how to get the code for crossbuys for WiiU, since there is no digital WiiU eShop in Brazil? None. "We don't support your region".
I'd rather buy in Steam. At least, they give me ways to pay on my currency (and also is cheaper) and give me support. So, we're not in the 80/90's anymore. Their games are still awesome, but, honestly they don't give a damn to their customers. At least here in Brazil or LatAm. I'll put my money on where, at least, they give me a little attention and means to pay
Como o tópico é brasileiro escreverei na minha língua. Infelizmente para nós, brasileiros, nosso país se concentra em arrancar dinheiro do início ao fim de um processo, cobrando juros em cima de juros, o que pela própria lei brasileira seria proibido, mas... Essas adaptações nos salvaram de ficarmos alheios à muitas tecnologias, não apenas videogames, mas no que se refere a videogames, é uma lástima e uma vergonha ler o posicionamento da Nintendo em relação ao nosso país (abandonar a comercialização de seus produtos aqui). Levando em consideração que por mais que tenhamos um histórico de pirataria, hackers, etc... O mercado brasileiro de jogos atualmente é o 11º, o que é impressionante dado as condições financeiras do país que é tremendamente desajustada, ainda assim, a Nintendo resolve simplesmente abandonar vários fans de seus jogos, e possíveis ingressantes. É impressionante como uma empresa não consegue ter a visão de que há ótimas oportunidades comerciais no Brasil. Sim as taxas são ABSURDAS, mas é possível ter um retorno mesmo assim, afinal o consumidor final paga todos os impostos mais os lucros. Se acho que é caro fazer a exportação dos consoles, tragam pelo menos os jogos + suporte, principalmente online que não tem essa enorme barreira.
The Wii U is the last Nintendo system I am buying as long as Nintendo continues to ignore Brazil. Paying 400 reais (over 100 US dollars) for a game is insulting. At least the 3DS has a digital store. With the Wii U, we have to go through hoops to pretend we are from another country just to buy. As soon as we have a loadiine for the Switch, I'm changing my mind. Seriously, I am against piracy, but if you don't want my money, what the heck can I do?
Literally only the soccer stars can afford to be gamers in Brazil.
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