The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
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The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
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Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#2It's a fun article, but:
"Though it has never been substantiated by historians, the anecdote goes that on a trip to the United States, Khrushchev was so smitten with the arcade games he saw that, upon his return, he invited all the game makers to come to Russia and showcase their best games. "
Khrushchev was kicked out of power in 1964, and died in 1971.
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#3It's a fun article, but: "Though it has never been substantiated by historians, the anecdote goes that on a trip to the United States, Khrushchev was so smitten with the arcade games he saw that, upon his return, he invited all the game makers to come to Russia and showcase their best games. " Khrushchev was kicked out of power in 1964, and died in 1971.
It lines up though. He visited the US in 1959 and a little while after returning, the Soviets started working on their own arcade games. I guess there's no proof that he really did order Soviet games to be made but it's plausible.
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#4I definitely remember playing these as a kid in the 90s, especially Magistral, and some sort of ship-torpedo game.
This, however, shows that the author didn't do their research:
> Strangest of all, however, is the lineup of radish pickers: after failed attempts by a mouse, a cat, a dog, a daughter, and a grandma, the vegetable can only be pulled up once the grandpa jumps in and the entire family works together to pull it out collectively.
That's not strange - that game is just based on a popular fairy tale where, well, you can guess exactly what happens in the fairy tale. It's not a long story.
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#5It's a fun article, but: "Though it has never been substantiated by historians, the anecdote goes that on a trip to the United States, Khrushchev was so smitten with the arcade games he saw that, upon his return, he invited all the game makers to come to Russia and showcase their best games. " Khrushchev was kicked out of power in 1964, and died in 1971.
It lines up though. He visited the US in 1959 and a little while after returning, the Soviets started working on their own arcade games. I guess there's no proof that he really did order Soviet games to be made but it's plausible.
Are you aware of the state of arcade games in the US in 1959.
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#6It's a fun article, but: "Though it has never been substantiated by historians, the anecdote goes that on a trip to the United States, Khrushchev was so smitten with the arcade games he saw that, upon his return, he invited all the game makers to come to Russia and showcase their best games. " Khrushchev was kicked out of power in 1964, and died in 1971.
It lines up though. He visited the US in 1959 and a little while after returning, the Soviets started working on their own arcade games. I guess there's no proof that he really did order Soviet games to be made but it's plausible.
Pong was released in 1972. A decent timeline of other releases:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_arcade_video_game_...
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#7Had a little nostalgia moment there with "Vozduwnij Boi" and the soda water dispenser. Those were 2 kopeks for a soda I think and 5 kopecs for kvas, which was so delicious.
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#8I actually visited this museum on a trip to Moscow recently. It was super fun - ended up being one of the highlights. The Gorodki game they talk about seemed like it could be turned into a popular iOS app :).
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#9It's a fun article, but: "Though it has never been substantiated by historians, the anecdote goes that on a trip to the United States, Khrushchev was so smitten with the arcade games he saw that, upon his return, he invited all the game makers to come to Russia and showcase their best games. " Khrushchev was kicked out of power in 1964, and died in 1971.
That was one of my first thoughts too, but take a look at the pictures in the article. They are not just video games, but also the older mechanical arcade games.
Re: The Alternate Universe of Soviet Arcade Games
#10The author may not realize (I only know this because my mother worked for the Soviet arcade ministry of sorts in the 80s) is that there was a whole illicit angle to the arcade business.
They were all cash-based - which created huge opportunities for embezzlement for guys working there. The government had no way of knowing how many coins were actually deposited (ie the technicians could fiddle with counters or whatever) - so they could skim huge (and shared the loot all the way to the top). The vig was apparently massive.
Every now and then somebody would leave their wife, she'd write a report to the special police that dealt with economic crime and the whole structure would end up in jail.
Fun times.