中東政策

Just recently I discussed a relatively unknown gaming console — Sakhr — and how it kicked off gaming in the Middle East. You can read about it here. Today, I’ll take you on a journey to discover the development of gaming culture in the Middle East.

? 最近UST我討論一個相對陌生的游戲機- Sakhr -以及它如何在中東拉開序幕游戲。 你可以 在這里 閱讀 。 今天，我將帶您探索中東游戲文化的發展。

Back in the days— the ’80s specifically — pop culture in the Middle East was unique; it was a melting pot of three major pop cultures with unique Arabic spices on top. The mix of cultures was evident in the cartoons in the mid-80s; Western, Soviet, and Eastern cartoons were translated to Arabic and aired back-to-back for kids all over the Middle East. Cartoons such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Nu pogodi! (well, Just You Wait!), and Captain Tsubasa were all translated to Arabic and modified to fit with the Arabic culture.

早在80年代，中東的流行文化就很獨特。 它是三個主要流行文化的大熔爐，上面有獨特的阿拉伯香料。 在上世紀80年代中期的漫畫中，文化的融合很明顯。 西方，蘇聯和東方的漫畫被翻譯成阿拉伯語，并在中東地區連續播放。 諸如《 忍者神龜》 ，《 Nu pogodi》等動畫片！ (好吧，等一下！)和Tsubasa上尉都被翻譯成阿拉伯語，并進行了修改以適應阿拉伯文化。

At that time, the Middle East yearned for input from all over the world, but at the same time, it aspired to make everything Arabic and fit for the more conservative Arabic culture. Media companies popped everywhere in the Middle East for the sole purpose of translating content into Arabic and also to create unique local content. The Sakhr Software Company was just one of these. Its focus on video game hardware and software enabled a whole generation of people across the Middle East to experience their first game console.

當時，中東渴望世界各地的參與，但與此同時，中東渴望將所有東西都制成阿拉伯語，并適合更保守的阿拉伯文化。 媒體公司在中東隨處可見，其唯一目的是將內容翻譯成阿拉伯語，并創造獨特的本地內容。 Sakhr軟件公司只是其中之一。 它專注于視頻游戲的硬件和軟件，使整個中東地區的整個世代都可以體驗他們的第一個游戲機。

Sakhr created Arabic games — mostly educational — and translated a few MSX titles into Arabic. The goal was to create Arabic content for what was then new technology. Sakhr experienced tremendous success in the late ’80s but it didn’t keep up with the industry’s technological developments and by the late ’90s, it was already an outdated system. To add insult to injury, Sakhr lost many of its brightest minds after the first Gulf War, when the company had to move from its traditional home of Kuwait to Egypt.

Sakhr創建了阿拉伯語游戲(主要是教育性游戲)，并將一些MSX標題翻譯成了阿拉伯語。 目標是為當時的新技術創建阿拉伯語內容。 Sakhr在80年代后期獲得了巨大的成功，但是它跟不上行業的技術發展，到90年代后期，它已經是過時的系統。 更糟的是，在第一次海灣戰爭之后，薩赫爾失去了許多最聰明的頭腦，當時該公司不得不從傳統的科威特家遷到埃及。

Kuwait City, traditional home of Sakhr Software Company. Source: Atlas Network.科威特市，Sakhr Software Company的傳統所在地。 資料來源：阿特拉斯網絡。

It took some time for the void left by Sakhr to be filled. With no gaming consoles around at the time, kids turned to arcades to play games. These games looked many times better than anything they used to play on Sakhr machines. And although the Super Nintendo and Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) were widely available around the world at this time, they didn’t make their way to the Middle East until much later.

Sakhr留下的空白得以填補需要一些時間。 當時沒有游戲機，孩子們轉向拱廊玩游戲。 這些游戲看起來比以前在Sakhr機器上玩的任何游戲都要好很多倍。 而且，盡管“超級任天堂”和“世嘉超級驅動器”(《創世紀》)此時已在世界范圍內廣泛使用，但直到很久以后才進入中東市場。

My dad bought my cousin and I a Sega Mega Drive II in early 1994. I remember he got two games with the console: Streets of Rage 2 and FIFA World Cup 1994. These games were a quantum leap from anything I’d seen on the Sakhr — from graphics and sound through to gameplay.

我父親在1994年初給我表哥買了一輛Sega Mega Drive II。我記得他在主機上玩了兩場比賽： 《憤怒的街2》和《 1994年FIFA世界杯》 。 這些游戲與我在Sakhr上看到的所有內容(從圖形，聲音到游戲玩法)相比都實現了巨大的飛躍。

At the same time, bootlegged Nintendo Famicom consoles started flooding the market. Some of these systems included 100s of games already saved on the system. Some families opted for these machines because they were cheaper than the more advanced Sega Mega Drive. Also, I don’t recall anyone owning a Super Nintendo at the time — Sega was clearly the dominant player in the Middle East.

同時，盜版的Nintendo Famicom游戲機開始席卷市場。 其中一些系統包括已經保存在系統中的100多個游戲。 一些家庭選擇這些機器是因為它們比更先進的Sega Mega Drive便宜。 另外，我不記得當時擁有超級任天堂的任何人-世嘉顯然是中東地區的主導者。

Throughout the evolving console journey across the region, arcades remained popular. People could play 2–3 hours’ worth of games for roughly $3 USD (inflation not accounted for). More and more choices slowly became available. The introduction of Windows 95 across the region supplied yet another option for gamers, with games like Doom and Wolfenstein gaining popularity.

在整個地區不斷發展的游戲機旅程中，街機游戲仍然很受歡迎。 人們可以花大約3美元(不計通貨膨脹)玩2–3小時的游戲。 越來越多的選擇逐漸變得可用。 Windows 95在整個地區的引入為游戲玩家提供了另一種選擇，諸如Doom和Wolfenstein之類的游戲越來越受歡迎。

Although Sony released its original PlayStation in 1994 in most territories, the console only gained real traction in the Middle East in 1997. This particular console dominated the market and left no room for the Nintendo 64, for two main reasons:

盡管Sony于1994年在大多數地區發布了其原始的PlayStation，但該游戲機僅在1997年在中東獲得了真正的吸引力。該游戲機在市場上占主導地位，并且為Nintendo 64留下了空間，其主要原因有兩個：

• The CD format enabled developers to create massive games (multiple CDs) with fantastic cut scenes.
  CD格式使開發人員能夠創建具有奇妙剪輯場景的大型游戲(多張CD)。
• PlayStation games were very easy to bootleg — a bootlegged CD was only $3 USD.
  PlayStation游戲非常容易盜版-盜版CD只需3美元。

Photo by Lee Paz on Unsplash. Lee Paz在Unsplash上的照片 。

Even today, PlayStation’s popularity remains obvious. Gamers will immediately buy a new Sony console. It doesn’t matter if Xbox is cheaper, better, or offers more services. And funnily enough, you might be interested to learn that there’s no Arabic word for “gaming” or “gaming console”. For this reason, people tend to use either “Atari” or “PlayStation” to describe any video game or gaming console. As you might expect, the PlayStation 2 dominated the market as its predecessor had done — it was ubiquitous, in fact, which meant that competitors like GameCube or Xbox simply had no chance to gain market share of any substantial size. Bootlegged PS2 games were also widely available, with most titles costing less than $5 USD.

即使在今天，PlayStation的受歡迎程度仍然顯而易見。 游戲玩家將立即購買新的索尼游戲機。 Xbox便宜，更好還是提供更多服務都沒有關系。 有趣的是，您可能有興趣了解沒有阿拉伯語意為“游戲”或“游戲機”。 因此，人們傾向于使用“ Atari”或“ PlayStation”來描述任何視頻游戲或游戲機。 如您所料，PlayStation 2就像它的前身一樣占領了市場-實際上，它無處不在，這意味著GameCube或Xbox等競爭對手根本沒有機會獲得任何實質性的市場份額。 盜版PS2游戲也廣泛可用，大多數游戲的價格不到5美元。

Ultimately, although arcades held on for several years, the overwhelming success of the PlayStation brand led to the death of the arcades. High-quality, high-fidelity experiences were now available in the home, and the low cost of bootlegged console games meant that there was less and less reason to spend money at arcades.

最終，盡管街機游戲舉辦了數年，但PlayStation品牌的巨大成功導致了街機游戲的死亡。 現在，在家中就可以獲得高質量，高保真的游戲體驗，而且盜版游戲機的價格低廉，這意味著在街機上花錢的理由越來越少。

Online gaming also took the Middle East by storm, just as it did all around the world. But the context was slightly different. As online gaming emerged in the 2000s, LAN cafés sprung up all across the region and became a highly popular way for people to play online. In order to play at one of these venues, players had to have a membership account and pay for the amount of hours they were going to use. This concept allowed many LAN cafés to build loyal customers bases. I have spent countless hours in LAN cafés playing titles like Counter-Strike and other popular FPS games. Eventually, LAN cafés began to offer a wider range of services like anime, movies, TV series, and other digital content. In essence, LAN cafés were the Middle East’s Netflix for a period of time. LAN cafés are still operating today, in fact, and they continue to provide a high-quality experience for players to enjoy their most beloved online games.

就像世界各地一樣，在線游戲也席卷了中東。 但是上下文略有不同。 隨著在線游戲的興起于2000年代，局域網咖啡館遍布該地區，并成為人們在線玩游戲的一種非常流行的方式。 為了在這些場所之一玩游戲，玩家必須擁有一個會員帳戶并支付他們將要使用的小時數。 這個概念使許多局域網咖啡館可以建立忠實的客戶群。 我在局域網的咖啡館里花了無數個小時來玩《 反恐精英》和其他流行的FPS游戲。 最終，LAN咖啡館開始提供廣泛的服務，例如動漫，電影，電視連續劇和其他數字內容。 從本質上講，局域網咖啡館在一段時間內是中東的Netflix 。 實際上，LAN咖啡館今天仍在運營，它們繼續為玩家提供最優質的體驗，讓他們享受最受喜愛的在線游戲。

…you might be interested to learn that there’s no Arabic word for “gaming” or “gaming console”. For this reason, people tend to use either “Atari” or “PlayStation” to describe any video game or gaming console.

…您可能想知道沒有阿拉伯語的意思是“游戲”或“游戲機”。 因此，人們傾向于使用“ Atari”或“ PlayStation”來描述任何視頻游戲或游戲機。

Gaming in the Middle East definitely took its own path; it’s one that is significantly different from the rest of the gaming world. In its early years, Middle Eastern gaming had a unique identity thanks to regional players like Sakhr. After Sakhr lost its dominance, the industry faced something of an existential crisis: could it continue to exist in any form? It took time, to be sure, but in the end gaming returned to the Middle East and the region finally caught up with the rest of the world. Gaming consoles are now an essential part of many homes across the Middle East.

中東的游戲無疑走了自己的路。 這是一個與其他游戲世界截然不同的游戲。 早年，由于薩赫爾(Sakhr)等區域性玩家，中東電競擁有獨特的身份。 在Sakhr失去統治地位之后，該行業面臨著某種生存危機：它會以任何形式繼續存在嗎？ 當然，這需要時間，但最終游戲又回到了中東，該地區終于趕上了世界其他地區。 現在，游戲機已成為中東許多家庭的重要組成部分。

In my next piece on this topic, I’ll discuss games developed in the Middle East.

在有關該主題的下一篇文章中，我將討論在中東開發的游戲。

Oh, and by the way, if you don’t know Nu pogodi! I strongly recommend Googling it.

哦，順便說一句，如果您不認識Nu pogodi！ 我強烈建議您使用Google搜索。

Walid Al Otaibi -WAO- is a top writer in Gaming. He works at an engineering company in Germany as a Project Manager. He comes from a multicultural background and is located in Germany since 2003. He is writing about Arab Culture, Multiculturalism, Finance, and Trending topics.

Walid Al Otaibi -WAO-是游戲領域的頂尖作家。 他在德國的一家工程公司擔任項目經理。 他來自多元文化背景，自2003年以來一直在德國居住。他撰寫有關阿拉伯文化，多元文化，金融和趨勢主題的文章。

Subscribe to his mailing list here.

在此處 訂閱他的 郵件列表 。

翻譯自: https://medium.com/super-jump/a-brief-history-of-gaming-in-the-middle-east-e45a97c2e63c

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