There was a time, between the 80s and before the start of the 90s, when the NES had no competition in video games. Neither in Japan, nor in America, nor in the old continent. Well, to be honest, it did, but the quota was not a threat. Until the Mega Drive there was no one who liked Mario consoles and, for an entire generation, any little machine with a controller connected to the TV – whatever it was – was “the Nintendo”
Another thing is that La Gran N did not have a very particular open front: clone consoles and games. Hardware and cartridges without an official license (or the quality seal) that were distributed in bazaars and small stores. Some models imitated the shapes of the NES and others reinvented their controls and were also compatible with their games. However, amidst all the chaos there was one incredible exception: the Hyundai Comboy. Among other things, because Nintendo itself was behind that machine.
Why in South Korea they didn’t play Mario Bros., but Brother Adventure
As we already mentioned in iGamesNews, the origins of the video game industry and the current major studios were founded largely by creating alternative versions of successful titles. Hard Hat Mackthe first game from Electronic Arts, is heavily inspired by Donkey Kong and Pong-TronSEGA’s first arcade game, is basically the PONG. This happened all over the planet and in the case of South Korea, Samsung and the current LG produced clone versions of Atari’s success. However, there was a huge problem: Playing was not so easy.
In 1980, the South Korean government only approved 43 locations so that they were used as recreational halls. Logically, there were hundreds that operated outside of regulation, but almost all the games were imported and unlocalized titles from the United States or Japan.
The majority of arcade games that arrived in Europe also arrived in English and, as was the case with us, they managed to at least locate the names of the games. We called Pac-Man the “comecocos” and South Korea Donkey Kong It was “King Kong.” Until then, everything is normal.
As a result, and with a video game industry that was not taking off due to various factors, games and consoles were initially considered a luxury that had to be imported. And that was not only very expensive, but also complicated to distribute.
But there was one key advantage: Copyright laws of South Korea They did not contemplate the copying and distribution of software until 1987, so there was an interesting two-year opening for Daewoo to launch in 1985 a replica of the MSX called Zemmix and, from it, clones of games such as “Brother Adventure” that Basically, it was the Mario Bros. lifelong.
Faced with SEGA’s Gam*Boy, a Korean NES had to be made
On April 21, 1989, Nintendo will launch the legendary Game Boy in the land of the rising sun and conquer (once again) the portable video game. On the other side of the Sea of Japan, Samsung will launch that same month la Gam*Boy in South Korea. It was not a clone version of that little Nintendo machine, but the localized version of SEGA’s Master System.
And, at the same time, the reflection of a latent problem for large companies: if you wanted to enter the South Korean market, you had to do it through a large local company. Of course, you could practically name it whatever you wanted.
The Gam*Boy was followed by the Super Gam*Boy, which for all intents and purposes was the Mega Drive (or Genesis in the United States) and some games were translated into the language, such as the first Phantasy Star. And with this, SEGA achieved what Nintendo could not: enter South Korea.
On the other hand, all references to Japanese culture used to be eliminated or disguised and this is a transcendental aspect to understand the reasons for this logistical pirouette: South Korea has not forgotten the japanese invasions, even though centuries have passed. An example of this is the very recent redesign of the E.Honda stage in the current versions of Street Fighter II.
In that specific context, what chances did Nintendo, an emerging Japanese giant, have of bringing its consoles and games to South Korea? Technically few or none. However, ceding ground to SEGA in a country was not an option. Thus, in the fall of 1989, Hyunday launched the Korean NES: the Hyundai Comboy. A desktop system that, unlike clone consoles, It was licensed by Nintendo. but in the eyes of South Korea it was a South Korean system. A master move.
Hyundai Comboy, Nintendo’s Trojan horse
The Hyundai Comboy It completely stood out from the so-called “Famiclones” spread throughout Asia and its design was tremendously recognizable. And it did so in a way that was as simple as it was brilliant: instead of replicating the shape, controls and cartridges of the Famicom, Nintendo’s 8-bit console in Japan, what was done was to relaunch a relatively new and almost unknown design that It was actually the NES of the United States and Europe.
And although the Nintendo logo was present, although in a more hidden way, it said Hyundai Comboy very large on the cartridge slot flap.
Nintendo had everything to winFor the record: the Famicom clones were already very well established and their price, as well as that of their games, was much more attractive.
However, the great plan was to go a little further: enter South Korea as if it were a Trojan horse and, from there, begin to carve out a niche little by little with that great deployment that was beginning to take place in the rest of the world, including Mini Comboy (the real Game Boy) or the Super Comboy (the SNES) that will officially arrive in South Korea at the end of 1992. Only a few months after Europe, mind you.
A first firm step that takes us to the present day: Nintendo is not only a well-known brand around the world, but is also able to celebrate major events in South Korea, boasting of its timeless legacy. Including those characters that, for millions of players, were born from clone consoles or from that little machine with elongated cartridges so “original” from Hyundai. Not bad, if we take into account that the eShop arrived to South Koreans in 2019. But that, I’m afraid, is another story.
In iGamesNews | The story of Super Mario’s biggest bounce, or how a canceled Popeye the Sailor game became Donkey Kong
In iGamesNews | Super Mario Bros. only has six musical themes, and almost all of them are inspired by songs that already existed
