Genesis Around the World: Córdoba Argentina

[Melf]

When traveling abroad, it's always fun to search for treasure of the 16-bit kind... that special game that you would never find in your local area, something exotic and wonderfully foreign - the kind of thing that makes game hunting worth all the effort. Sega-16 is dedicated to showing its readers the best places worldwide for buying Genesis goodies, and while it might not require a whip and Fedora, the hunt can be just as much an adventure. The latest installment of Genesis Around the World features one of our readers exploring the hack and pirate coves of Córdoba, Argentina, and he's got all the details on what you'll find. Read the article (http://www.sega-16.com/2008/06/genesis-around-the-world-cordoba-argentina/) and check your passport!

[Dirt Ball Gamer]

I am going to be going back to Panama in a couple weeks, I have never seen any video game shops there, but I wasn't really looking for them either. I will look around for some crazy bootlegs while im there. I doubt they have the scene that they have in Argentina though.

[Zebbe]

Very well written and interesting to read. Thanks a lot for contributing. I'm looking forward to your article on hacks. :)

[TmEE]

very very nice read :D

[Grounder]

Interesting.

[ooXxXoo]

Yes,I remember seeing some interesting,great looking Megadrive 3 clones,while visiting Argentina last year...

[pompeyparsons]

Very nice article, a completely original subject that I haven't seen covered anywhere before. Kudos on the piece. It must be a blast to go shopping in those stores, the whole look of them is awesome.

Wish we had something like that in the states.

[Mega Drive]

Nothing new about that for me, since I live in Brazil and, here too, it is not hard to find these dealers for hacked / pirated cartridges. My personal collection is almost entirely of originals, but I wouldn't give up my pirated copy of Alien Soldier since I have no intention at all to pay what an original one normally costs.

[Nunzio]

Paradise... There should be more articles like this one!

[ThunderForce]

Bootlegs = hell for me.

[Sudo]

Really interesting read. If I ever happen to find myself in Argentina, which I doubt, I'll be sure to be on the lookout. ;)

[Suppafly]

Very nice read

ITs funny how sega was never strong here in Mexico. Nintendo always had 95% or more of the 8 and 16 bit market...

[winona]

very nice article, I would LOVE to go browsing Sega Stores in any country. There is nothing like it in sweden.

[Mr Smith]

Very nice read, although I think we've all ready discussed this to death in a previous topic :p

[Smii]

Enjoyed reading the article, there :)

Still makes me wonder who takes the time to program these games, and who makes any money from selling them. And why they're still so popular in places like Brazil and Argentina...

[Phantar]

As to the why the popularity in Argentina is still great today, I have a theory there:

The console was still highly popular up until the end of the decade. Newer consoles, like for example the Playstation or the N64, took more time to come to the South American market.
Then, in 2001, the economy in Argentina crashed - and I mean VIOLENTLY crashed, because within days, the government declared banruptcy!

Needless to say, in many fields new developments came to an abrupt halt then - especially the entertainment industry (which is why in many arcades you can still see a lot of machines that were highly popular in 2000, like Virtua Fighter 3 oder DDR, but close to none that were popular afterwards). So for years, new technology hardly found its way to Argentina, as there weren't many people who could afford it. The economy in Argentina is improving nowadays - but only slowly.

Since it is pretty easy to modify a PS2 to play copied games on (Swap trick), the PS2 has now become the console of choice. So pirated games are sold in stores for only a couple of bucks (including a printed label, a DVD case, and a printed page with instructions how to modify a PS2 or how to find cracks for PC games - I kid you not!) - but the console itself is still very expensive (for Argentines, that is), ranging at about 1100 Pesos (220 Euros) - while a Model 3 Genesis including 2 controllers and 1 game costs only between 85 and 110 Pesos (18 - 22 Euros) here - you do the math!

[starphaser]

Actually, The Playstation and the N64 came to Brazil just as they were released. I bought my PSO in 1995, and my N64 in 1996, the year those consoles came out.

Here in Brazil, sega's famous because nintendo took it's time in getting someone to represent them here, while sega had the almighty tectoy working with them since the late 80s with the master system. In the early 90s it was really hard to find SNES games here, while mega drive ones were sold everywhere.

Playtronic, nintendo's distributor here in Brazil, was born only in 1993.

Of course, that doesn't explain Sony Playstation's success here in Brazil, since the company never bothered in arranging a deal with a brazilian distributor, but that's another discussion :D

[TmEE]

Maybe people in your country had good experience with other Sony electronics ?

[RamiroR]

well i don't live in cordoba
but i live in corrientes, it's the same.. but no so "you can found it everywhere" :P, in corrientes.. there's a place called "el mercadito paraguayo" where they sell these carts.. and other 3th hand stuff..

edit: it's nice to see people talking about your country :)

[RamiroR]

the ps1 was really succesfull too.. there's people play it yet.. but i always hated it.. i prefer sega cd than that

[Kollision]

still offtopic..... but IMHO, the Sega Saturn is so much more charming and cooler than the PS1 it's almost unfair.

[Phantar]

well i don't live in cordoba
but i live in corrientes, it's the same.. but no so "you can found it everywhere" :P, in corrientes.. there's a place called "el mercadito paraguayo" where they sell these carts.. and other 3th hand stuff..

edit: it's nice to see people talking about your country :)

Well, I've (sadly) returned to Germany in July, and never made it to Corrientes while I was in Argentina (I highly enjoyed it there). But I've found out that you can also get tons of games in Barrio Once in Buenos Aires!

Anyways, you're welcome ;)

[RamiroR]

still offtopic..... but IMHO, the Sega Saturn is so much more charming and cooler than the PS1 it's almost unfair.
i agree with you, i think that Saturn it's a loy better than PS, except that programming for Sega Saturn were hard, well.. 2x SH-2 and 1 SH-1..