BR gaming trivia that foreigners may not know about
Like any country, Brazil has it's own culture. And like many others, this culture extends to videogames as well. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have (as far as I can, I'm just some guy on the internet, not a know-it-all encyclopedia lol).
Some of these trivia are shared by other countries, specially other Latin American ones, for obvious reasons of proximity and/or cultural similarities.
(list still being worked on)
Some of these trivia are shared by other countries, specially other Latin American ones, for obvious reasons of proximity and/or cultural similarities.
(list still being worked on)
5 Games
We've been here from the very beginning:
Contrary to what seems to be the general belief out there, games have been a thing in Brazil since the late 1970s/early 1980s, perhaps older. They weren't made popular just when big companies decided to start translating games to pt-BR by the PS3/X360 era, not by a long shot.
Pong released in Brazil in the 1970s as Telejogo. The Atari 2600 was pretty popular here. The NES is fondly nicknamed Nintendinho (means literally "Little Nintendo") since time immemorial, and had a popular clone called Phantom System. The first game I have ever played was either Duck Hunt or Adams Family on my cousin's Phantom System.
Sega was huge here in the times of Master System and Mega Drive, and I mean HUGE, thanks to its partnership with a local company called Tec Toy - that is still manufacturing functional Mega Drives to this very day. Like everywhere else, Sega lost momentum here in the days of Saturn, regaining some of it in the days of Dreamcast, but it was still pretty big for some time. Also, Tec Toy made a partnership with a big retailer in Rio called Casa & Video, making Sega even bigger around here. Heck, in the 1990s Sonic was the official mascot of Casa & Video, he was on the front of every single shop, and there were two Casa & Video shops minimum in every Rio neighborhood. Or at least that was the impression I had at the time.
The first game to ever receive an official pt-BR translation was in fact Phantasy Star 1 for Master System. If there was any before it, I'm unaware.
So it's really bizarre to think that some people out there seem to believe we have, like, just got into the gaming industry or something? Hell no.
Contrary to what seems to be the general belief out there, games have been a thing in Brazil since the late 1970s/early 1980s, perhaps older. They weren't made popular just when big companies decided to start translating games to pt-BR by the PS3/X360 era, not by a long shot.
Pong released in Brazil in the 1970s as Telejogo. The Atari 2600 was pretty popular here. The NES is fondly nicknamed Nintendinho (means literally "Little Nintendo") since time immemorial, and had a popular clone called Phantom System. The first game I have ever played was either Duck Hunt or Adams Family on my cousin's Phantom System.
Sega was huge here in the times of Master System and Mega Drive, and I mean HUGE, thanks to its partnership with a local company called Tec Toy - that is still manufacturing functional Mega Drives to this very day. Like everywhere else, Sega lost momentum here in the days of Saturn, regaining some of it in the days of Dreamcast, but it was still pretty big for some time. Also, Tec Toy made a partnership with a big retailer in Rio called Casa & Video, making Sega even bigger around here. Heck, in the 1990s Sonic was the official mascot of Casa & Video, he was on the front of every single shop, and there were two Casa & Video shops minimum in every Rio neighborhood. Or at least that was the impression I had at the time.
The first game to ever receive an official pt-BR translation was in fact Phantasy Star 1 for Master System. If there was any before it, I'm unaware.
So it's really bizarre to think that some people out there seem to believe we have, like, just got into the gaming industry or something? Hell no.
We love some games you may not give a shit about:
In fact, there are many classic games we have the impression no one else cares besides us. Top Gear is the most famous example (that game's soundtrack kicks SO MUCH ASS!!! 🤘🤘🤘) but not the only one. I mean, there was a Cadillacs and Dinosaurs machine in EVERY SINGLE ARCADE VENUE around here at some point.
Maradona gives some other examples in his list on the topic.
In fact, there are many classic games we have the impression no one else cares besides us. Top Gear is the most famous example (that game's soundtrack kicks SO MUCH ASS!!! 🤘🤘🤘) but not the only one. I mean, there was a Cadillacs and Dinosaurs machine in EVERY SINGLE ARCADE VENUE around here at some point.
Maradona gives some other examples in his list on the topic.
Sometimes we nickname games and related stuff:
Like many other countries, not having a game translated to our language is pretty common even nowadays, although it was WAY WORSE not too long ago. And like almost every country, games with their NAMES translated are almost non-existent.
But maybe unlike some other countries, we are used to give nicknames to gaming stuff because of that.
When I was a kid, Golden Axe's real name in my mind was O Homem, A Mulher e O Velho - literally The Man, The Woman and The Old Guy. I still call it that, despite me being over 30 years old, just as some people around the world still call Luigi "Green Mario". You will have a hard time finding ANYONE around here calling Disney's Goof Troop by its official name. It's Jogo do Pateta (Goofy's Game), no discussion allowed.
But it goes deeper: we also nickname some stages, characters, attacks and any gaming feature you may think of. Ryu and Ken's tatsumaki senpukyaku is called Ataque das Corujas (Attack of the Owls) because it's what it sounded like to us in Street Fighter 2. For the same reason, E. Honda's headbutt is called Cuscuz (the name of a local food) and Chun-Li's spinning bird kick is called Minitáxi.
One-on-one matches in competitive games are called Xis-Um (that's how we pronunciate "x1", which is a short version of 1x1). Smash Bros' Master Hand is called Mãozona (BigHand). Some people don't refer to the N64 as "Nintendo Sessenta e Quatro" ("sixty-four") but rather "Meia-Quatro" ("half-four"), since the number 6 is itself often refered as "meia" ("half"), as a short version of "meia dúzia" ("half a dozen"). And yes, this also extends to the games: Super Mario 64, Quest 64, etc.
The list of nicknames goes on and on.
Like many other countries, not having a game translated to our language is pretty common even nowadays, although it was WAY WORSE not too long ago. And like almost every country, games with their NAMES translated are almost non-existent.
But maybe unlike some other countries, we are used to give nicknames to gaming stuff because of that.
When I was a kid, Golden Axe's real name in my mind was O Homem, A Mulher e O Velho - literally The Man, The Woman and The Old Guy. I still call it that, despite me being over 30 years old, just as some people around the world still call Luigi "Green Mario". You will have a hard time finding ANYONE around here calling Disney's Goof Troop by its official name. It's Jogo do Pateta (Goofy's Game), no discussion allowed.
But it goes deeper: we also nickname some stages, characters, attacks and any gaming feature you may think of. Ryu and Ken's tatsumaki senpukyaku is called Ataque das Corujas (Attack of the Owls) because it's what it sounded like to us in Street Fighter 2. For the same reason, E. Honda's headbutt is called Cuscuz (the name of a local food) and Chun-Li's spinning bird kick is called Minitáxi.
One-on-one matches in competitive games are called Xis-Um (that's how we pronunciate "x1", which is a short version of 1x1). Smash Bros' Master Hand is called Mãozona (BigHand). Some people don't refer to the N64 as "Nintendo Sessenta e Quatro" ("sixty-four") but rather "Meia-Quatro" ("half-four"), since the number 6 is itself often refered as "meia" ("half"), as a short version of "meia dúzia" ("half a dozen"). And yes, this also extends to the games: Super Mario 64, Quest 64, etc.
The list of nicknames goes on and on.
PC games in magazines:
Games have always been expensive here, like REALLY expensive. There are many reasons for that: the tax system is a mess, the local money is under-valued, the laws are obsolete (but still valid, so you still have to obey them) and big companies refuse to lower their prices despite being perfectly capable of doing so. But there are also many ways we manage to game, despite this scenario. Some just use piracy. Some smuggle legit games, as in "import under the table from other countries, paying no taxes". Some decide to play just the few games they manage to buy "normally".
But in the 1990s and 2000s there was a HUGE boom of my favorite one: discs with PC games in magazines.
You see, games are expensive, but magazines are very cheap. So, if you sell a gaming magazine and just give the game as a free bonus inside, you circunvent a lot of regulation, brokers, taxes and stupid bureaucracy. And that's exactly what happened BIG TIME with games in CD and DVD formats on PC.
I can't overstate how huge that was. I just can't. Bitch, you could buy legit AAA games, by legit means, physical media, in a shop at the corner of your street, for cheaper than you could buy a pizza or a lunch. No questions asked. Many, and I mean MANY Brazilians only got to play classics like Diablo 1 and 2, Sim City, Tomb Raider and MANY OH SO MANY OTHERS thanks to this. Every newsagent's shop in every corner of the country had some very good games for, like, 10 or 20 brazilian reais each, in a time where any Xbox or Gamecube legit game was almost never sold for less then 200. By the way, the minimum wage was 120 reais monthly in the beggining of 1998, and 300 by the end of 2005.
Unfortunatelly, everything ends someday: with the advent of Steam and digital distribution, plus the obsolescence of CD and DVD formats, almost no PC nowadays (or at least almost no laptop/notebook, which are way more popular and widespread than non-portable PCs) comes with a disc reader. Therefore, these magazines became practically non-existent.
I'd still buy them today, though. Gladly.
Games have always been expensive here, like REALLY expensive. There are many reasons for that: the tax system is a mess, the local money is under-valued, the laws are obsolete (but still valid, so you still have to obey them) and big companies refuse to lower their prices despite being perfectly capable of doing so. But there are also many ways we manage to game, despite this scenario. Some just use piracy. Some smuggle legit games, as in "import under the table from other countries, paying no taxes". Some decide to play just the few games they manage to buy "normally".
But in the 1990s and 2000s there was a HUGE boom of my favorite one: discs with PC games in magazines.
You see, games are expensive, but magazines are very cheap. So, if you sell a gaming magazine and just give the game as a free bonus inside, you circunvent a lot of regulation, brokers, taxes and stupid bureaucracy. And that's exactly what happened BIG TIME with games in CD and DVD formats on PC.
I can't overstate how huge that was. I just can't. Bitch, you could buy legit AAA games, by legit means, physical media, in a shop at the corner of your street, for cheaper than you could buy a pizza or a lunch. No questions asked. Many, and I mean MANY Brazilians only got to play classics like Diablo 1 and 2, Sim City, Tomb Raider and MANY OH SO MANY OTHERS thanks to this. Every newsagent's shop in every corner of the country had some very good games for, like, 10 or 20 brazilian reais each, in a time where any Xbox or Gamecube legit game was almost never sold for less then 200. By the way, the minimum wage was 120 reais monthly in the beggining of 1998, and 300 by the end of 2005.
Unfortunatelly, everything ends someday: with the advent of Steam and digital distribution, plus the obsolescence of CD and DVD formats, almost no PC nowadays (or at least almost no laptop/notebook, which are way more popular and widespread than non-portable PCs) comes with a disc reader. Therefore, these magazines became practically non-existent.
I'd still buy them today, though. Gladly.
RPG Maker 2000 and Mugen:
Besides many AAA games, it was common for gaming magazines to come with dozens, sometimes hundreds of indie (and/or old) games in a single CD. This particular magazine called Top Games became specialist in RPG Maker and Mugen.
While RPG Maker still thrives today, Mugen [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugen_(game_engine)] is a bit forgotten, I guess. It was for 2D fighting games what Super Mario Maker is for 2D Mario. And it hit Brazil big time.
Meanwhile, RPG Maker 2000 was such a big hit that is utterlly ridiculous. There were so, so, so, so, so, SO MANY brazilian games in RPG Maker 2000. While Top Games was releasing the engine and its many games in CD format nonstop, right, left and center, the online BR community was discussing game design in the foruns, exchanging ideas on how to make better RPGs, and showing their games to each other for everyone to play and discuss them.
None of these games are masterpieces afaik. After all, they were mostly made by teenagers and pre-teenagers, who dreamed of making great RPGs like the ones they played on Super Nintendo and PS1. And it shows: they were full of typos, silly jokes, glitches, many things we'd consider "bad design" nowadays, and any other stupid BR teenage shit you can think about. But that's not the point. They were passionate, sometimes they were fun as hell, and it's a little sad how almost all of them are now lost to time. We should care about them not for their "objective qualities", and not just for the sake of nostalgia. It's a HUGELY IMPORTANT part of videogame history, specially in Brazil, more specially even since they're mostly in pt-BR when these were almost non-existent anywhere else, and everyday this part of gaming history is closer and closer of being just... lost.
Rhygar e os Soldados do Rei (Rhygar and the Knights of the King) is one of the few that managed to survive, and you can still play it today for free if you know where to look. I highly recommend it. I highly recommend all of BR games from RPG Maker 2000, actually. Ditto for Mugen.
Besides many AAA games, it was common for gaming magazines to come with dozens, sometimes hundreds of indie (and/or old) games in a single CD. This particular magazine called Top Games became specialist in RPG Maker and Mugen.
While RPG Maker still thrives today, Mugen [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mugen_(game_engine)] is a bit forgotten, I guess. It was for 2D fighting games what Super Mario Maker is for 2D Mario. And it hit Brazil big time.
Meanwhile, RPG Maker 2000 was such a big hit that is utterlly ridiculous. There were so, so, so, so, so, SO MANY brazilian games in RPG Maker 2000. While Top Games was releasing the engine and its many games in CD format nonstop, right, left and center, the online BR community was discussing game design in the foruns, exchanging ideas on how to make better RPGs, and showing their games to each other for everyone to play and discuss them.
None of these games are masterpieces afaik. After all, they were mostly made by teenagers and pre-teenagers, who dreamed of making great RPGs like the ones they played on Super Nintendo and PS1. And it shows: they were full of typos, silly jokes, glitches, many things we'd consider "bad design" nowadays, and any other stupid BR teenage shit you can think about. But that's not the point. They were passionate, sometimes they were fun as hell, and it's a little sad how almost all of them are now lost to time. We should care about them not for their "objective qualities", and not just for the sake of nostalgia. It's a HUGELY IMPORTANT part of videogame history, specially in Brazil, more specially even since they're mostly in pt-BR when these were almost non-existent anywhere else, and everyday this part of gaming history is closer and closer of being just... lost.
Rhygar e os Soldados do Rei (Rhygar and the Knights of the King) is one of the few that managed to survive, and you can still play it today for free if you know where to look. I highly recommend it. I highly recommend all of BR games from RPG Maker 2000, actually. Ditto for Mugen.
13 Comments
Diablo é brazuca? Dessa eu não sabia!
Aliás, Horizon Chase.
Aliás, Horizon Chase.
Diablo não é brazuca. Tirando Rhygar, nenhum desses 5 primeiros é brazuca.
Mas Diablo era vendido no Brasil por uma revista brazuca chamada CD Expert, então usei ele pra representar a trívia das revistas.
Mas Diablo era vendido no Brasil por uma revista brazuca chamada CD Expert, então usei ele pra representar a trívia das revistas.
Ataque das corujas KKKKKJJKJJKJJKKKKKK, nunca tinha percebido.
Seria uma versão terra-2 do Shingeki no Kyojin?
Seria uma versão terra-2 do Shingeki no Kyojin?
Aí não sei, não entendo nada de Ataque o Titã. =P
Aliás, bem surpreso que tu não conheça o Ataque das Corujas. XD É bastante famoso entre quem jogava SF2, hahaha, teve até referência no Irmão do Jorel =P
Eu cresci com Alpha 3 no PS1 amigo, talvez seja por isso.
Até hoje vejo os Master Systems nas casa & vídeo, mas nunca soube dessa de ser quase um mascote!
Eu sempre chamei e continuo chamando o ataque do Ryu de "Tektek xuruguem" e cuzcuz é de lei, mas MINI TAXI é novidade pra mim kkkkkkkkk
Já tive vários jogos de revista, mas só os furrecas, pq meu pc era bem fraco. Tem também aquele clássico do mcdonalds.
Tá faltando nessa lista as versões brasileiras alteradas, como a Mônica no castelo e o bomba patch ;)
Eu sempre chamei e continuo chamando o ataque do Ryu de "Tektek xuruguem" e cuzcuz é de lei, mas MINI TAXI é novidade pra mim kkkkkkkkk
Já tive vários jogos de revista, mas só os furrecas, pq meu pc era bem fraco. Tem também aquele clássico do mcdonalds.
Tá faltando nessa lista as versões brasileiras alteradas, como a Mônica no castelo e o bomba patch ;)
@noventaporcento Quase não, o Sonic era DE FATO O MASCOTE OFICIAL da Casa & Video, licenciado pela Tec Toy (que era a representante oficial da Sega no Brasil) e tudo, hahaha!
Quanto aos mods BR, tão na fila pra eu incluir na lista quando tiver tempo e saco pra isso (filho pequeno é foda ❤️ nem jogar direito eu consigo mais, hahaha) junto de uma entrada sobre os jogos baseados em memes.
Quanto aos mods BR, tão na fila pra eu incluir na lista quando tiver tempo e saco pra isso (filho pequeno é foda ❤️ nem jogar direito eu consigo mais, hahaha) junto de uma entrada sobre os jogos baseados em memes.
Que doido, eu realmente não sabia disso.
Jogos de memes é uma coisa certeira que não pensei, mas relaxa, cuida bem dele e não esquece de o presentear com um Master System Evolution da Tec Toy quando a hora chegar!
Jogos de memes é uma coisa certeira que não pensei, mas relaxa, cuida bem dele e não esquece de o presentear com um Master System Evolution da Tec Toy quando a hora chegar!
This comment was deleted
@noventaporcento Eu tou é querendo dar um PS5 ou um Steam Deck pra ele de presente no próximo mêsversário. 👀 Só falta o dinheiro, hahaha
Várias entradas que eu quero botar aí e não consegui ainda: jogos de memes, mods BR, camelódromos, fliperama de bar... Muita coisa, só falta eu conseguir parar pra isso. =P
Várias entradas que eu quero botar aí e não consegui ainda: jogos de memes, mods BR, camelódromos, fliperama de bar... Muita coisa, só falta eu conseguir parar pra isso. =P
CDX
1 year ago