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.

Ĵ 最近UST我讨论一个相对陌生的游戏机- Sakhr -以及它如何在中东拉开序幕游戏。 你可以 在这里 阅读 。 今天，我将带您探索中东游戏文化的发展。

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，中东的流行文化就很独特。 它是三个主要流行文化的大熔炉，上面有独特的阿拉伯香料。 在上世纪80年代中期的漫画中，文化的融合很明显。 西方，苏联和东方的漫画被翻译成阿拉伯语，并在中东地区连续播放。 诸如《 忍者神龟》 ，《 Nu pogodi》等动画片！ (好吧，等一下！)和Tsubasa上尉都被翻译成阿拉伯语，并进行了修改以适应阿拉伯文化。

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.

当时，中东渴望世界各地的参与，但与此同时，中东渴望将所有东西都制成阿拉伯语，并适合更保守的阿拉伯文化。 媒体公司在中东随处可见，其唯一目的是将内容翻译成阿拉伯语，并创造独特的本地内容。 Sakhr软件公司只是其中之一。 它专注于视频游戏的硬件和软件，使整个中东地区的整个世代都可以体验他们的第一个游戏机。

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late ’80s but it didn’t keep up with the industry’s technological developments and by the late ’90s, it was already an outdated system.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创建了阿拉伯语游戏(主要是教育性游戏)，并将一些MSX标题翻译成了阿拉伯语。 目标是为当时的新技术创建阿拉伯语内容。 Sakhr在80年代后期获得了巨大的成功，但是它跟不上行业的技术发展，到90年代后期，它已经是过时的系统。 更糟的是，在第一次海湾战争之后，萨赫尔失去了许多最聪明的头脑，当时该公司不得不从传统的科威特家迁到埃及。

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留下的空白得以填补需要一些时间。 当时没有游戏机，孩子们转向拱廊玩游戏。 这些游戏看起来比以前在Sakhr机器上玩的任何游戏都要好很多倍。 而且，尽管“超级任天堂”和“世嘉超级驱动器”(《创世纪》)此时已在世界范围内广泛使用，但直到很久以后才进入中东市场。

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.

我父亲在1994年初给我表哥买了一辆Sega Mega Drive II。我记得他在主机上玩了两场比赛： 《愤怒的街2》和《 1994年FIFA世界杯》 。 这些游戏与我在Sakhr上看到的所有内容(从图形，声音到游戏玩法)相比都实现了巨大的飞跃。

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.

同时，盗版的Nintendo Famicom游戏机开始席卷市场。 其中一些系统包括已经保存在系统中的100多个游戏。 一些家庭选择这些机器是因为它们比更先进的Sega Mega Drive便宜。 另外，我不记得当时拥有超级任天堂的任何人-世嘉显然是中东地区的主导者。

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.

在整个地区不断发展的游戏机旅程中，街机游戏仍然很受欢迎。 人们可以花大约3美元(不计通货膨胀)玩2–3小时的游戏。 越来越多的选择逐渐变得可用。 Windows 95在整个地区的引入为游戏玩家提供了另一种选择，诸如Doom和Wolfenstein之类的游戏越来越受欢迎。

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:

尽管Sony于1994年在大多数地区发布了其原始的PlayStation，但该游戏机仅在1997年在中东获得了真正的吸引力。该游戏机在市场上占主导地位，并且为Nintendo 64留下了空间，其主要原因有两个：

• The CD format enabled developers to create massive games (multiple CDs) with fantastic cut scenes.CD格式使开发人员能够创建具有奇妙剪辑场景的大型游戏(多张CD)。
• PlayStation games were very easy to bootleg — a bootlegged CD was only $3 USD.PlayStation游戏非常容易盗版-盗版CD只需3美元。

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的受欢迎程度仍然显而易见。 游戏玩家将立即购买新的索尼游戏机。 Xbox便宜，更好还是提供更多服务都没有关系。 有趣的是，您可能有兴趣了解没有阿拉伯语意为“游戏”或“游戏机”。 因此，人们倾向于使用“ Atari”或“ PlayStation”来描述任何视频游戏或游戏机。 如您所料，PlayStation 2就像它的前身一样占领了市场-实际上，它无处不在，这意味着GameCube或Xbox等竞争对手根本没有机会获得任何实质性的市场份额。 盗版PS2游戏也广泛可用，大多数游戏的价格不到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.

最终，尽管街机游戏举办了数年，但PlayStation品牌的巨大成功导致了街机游戏的死亡。 现在，在家中就可以获得高质量，高保真的游戏体验，而且盗版游戏机的价格低廉，这意味着在街机上花钱的理由越来越少。

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.

就像世界各地一样，在线游戏也席卷了中东。 但是上下文略有不同。 随着在线游戏的兴起于2000年代，局域网咖啡馆遍布该地区，并成为人们在线玩游戏的一种非常流行的方式。 为了在这些场所之一玩游戏，玩家必须拥有一个会员帐户并支付他们将要使用的小时数。 这个概念使许多局域网咖啡馆可以建立忠实的客户群。 我在局域网的咖啡馆里花了无数个小时来玩《 反恐精英》和其他流行的FPS游戏。 最终，LAN咖啡馆开始提供广泛的服务，例如动漫，电影，电视连续剧和其他数字内容。 从本质上讲，局域网咖啡馆在一段时间内是中东的Netflix 。 实际上，LAN咖啡馆今天仍在运营，它们继续为玩家提供最优质的体验，让他们享受最受喜爱的在线游戏。

…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.

…您可能想知道没有阿拉伯语的意思是“游戏”或“游戏机”。 因此，人们倾向于使用“ Atari”或“ PlayStation”来描述任何视频游戏或游戏机。

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.

中东的游戏无疑走了自己的路。 这是一个与其他游戏世界截然不同的游戏。 早年，由于萨赫尔(Sakhr)等区域性玩家，中东电竞拥有独特的身份。 在Sakhr失去统治地位之后，该行业面临着某种生存危机：它会以任何形式继续存在吗？ 当然，这需要时间，但最终游戏又回到了中东，该地区终于赶上了世界其他地区。 现在，游戏机已成为中东许多家庭的重要组成部分。

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

在有关该主题的下一篇文章中，我将讨论在中东开发的游戏。

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

哦，顺便说一句，如果您不认识Nu pogodi！ 我强烈建议您使用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-是游戏领域的顶尖作家。 他在德国的一家工程公司担任项目经理。 他来自多元文化背景，自2003年以来一直在德国居住。他撰写有关阿拉伯文化，多元文化，金融和趋势主题的文章。

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在此处 订阅他的 邮件列表 。