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While most of the world has grown up with the NES (or Famicom), there are numerous examples of unofficial cloning systems that have become incredibly popular in some regions over the years, one of which was China.
The Chinese market, like the Brazilian one, was flooded with “Famiclone” systems that basically replicated the performance of Nintendo’s 8-bit system, which it beat globally; only Nintendo didn’t get a cent from the sale of these consoles or the games produced for them.
Chinese firm Subor has been a leading creator of unlicensed gaming hardware, absorbing much of the country’s market due to its low prices and the fact that it positioned its clones as learning machines – its second-generation model Released in 1994, it even came with a QWERTY keyboard so parents could fool themselves into thinking of buying a productivity tool for their kids (the same trick that companies like Sinclair, Amstrad and Commodore did in the UK over the years’ 80, one could argue).
Such was Subor’s commercial influence in China that it enlisted movie star Jackie Chan to promote its products:
Why are we telling you all this? Well, Subor has been confirmed to have filed for bankruptcy. When video game consoles were banned in 2000 for fear that they would harm the nation’s child development, Subor was expected to be hit hard; Previously, the company was one of the most successful video game companies in the region. Despite the ban being lifted in 2015, Subor struggled to get back on an equal footing; entered the world of virtual reality and released a new game console, but that wasn’t enough.
You can assume this is something to celebrate as the company tore up Nintendo’s design without handing over a single penny, but for many people who grew up in China, Subor was synonymous with video games and we imagine there will be some players in it. region who are shedding tears at the news.
It’s a sad day for millennials in China, as Subor was announced today for bankruptcy.
Subor is the company that popularized NES and Super NES clones in China in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including their famous learning machine promoted by Jackie Chan. pic.twitter.com/ebFTEmLTPn
– Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) November 10, 2020
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