The Official NES Console in Brazil Story - Gradiente Phantom System Documentary!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.ย. 2024
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In today's episode, I am joined by St1ka to tell the story of the NES in Brazil, covering the official Nintendo launch, the Gradiente Phantom System, and the Sega Master System entering the market via Tec-Toy.
#NES #NintendoHistory #RetroGaming
For St1ka's Channel Subscribe here - th-cam.com/users/st1ka
My lady, do you have any useless facts vids on the horizon?
@@darrancoyle8394 I don't, but that's a good shout actually
@@LadyDecade COMPLIMENT!
You sound like Nick Riviera from the Simpsons, sort of. Hey man, I’m not making fun of you, at least I hope I’m not hurting your feelings.
In Phantom System, on controller butom C is Select!
This console has a legendary status here in Brazil, being considered superior to all our clones and even the original NES.
La consola da imagen por RGB o es posible modificarla con RGB? Soy uruguayo :)
Of course it was superior, it was fully reverse engineered.
@@sos.gamers yes its possible
@Brian Babin here in Brazil it is one of the most common (and beloved).
You're writh Iuri, the gradiente console had a superior hardware quality.
Excellent video, just some fix: the Master System wasn't fully imported, it was assembled in the Manaus free zone and I think the console's housing was manufactured here. And to have the official license from Nintendo, during a time Gradiente had to create a new company, Playtronic, which was a joint venture with the toy company Estrela
I believe what they mean by "imported" is Tectoy sold actual SMSes with an actual bond to SEGA back in those days.
@@lean.drocalil I don't think so, he says this to justify the supposed higher price of the Master System, it seemed to me that he was referring to product import taxes. But of course I may have misunderstood
@@sonataonmymind At least in the beginning, I think that the PCB's were imported.
Yes! SEGA collab with TecToy!
@@bgmaciel assembly of partially imported, partially local-manufactured goods is pretty much what the Manaus Free Zone is all about. They do it with electronics, cars, motorcycles, pretty much everything.
IIRC, all of the original runs of of Tec Toy's Sega systems had their logic boards imported. The controllers were made locally, they had Tec Toy's branding from the plastic's mould, but the console's casing had Tec Toy only silk-screened and on a sticker.
"I'm very impressed with Gradiente's balls" 🙃
They used to have such big balls here, its sad that they are vanished
Gradiente had big balls indeed. They bought a British turntable maker (garrard) to export some of their stuff...
The Phantom System was amazing, a very well made clone. It wasn't just a simple copy, it was a reengineering of the NES, made to be cheaper, more durable and more reliable. These things were built like tanks!
Btw, when the Gradiente executives got in contact with Nintendo of Japan to bring the console to Brazil, the japanese had no idea how to adapt the console to PAL-M and were under the impression that it would require an effort to do so. In fact, this adaptation was routinely done in the country by corner electronic shops with spare parts, so Gradiente had no difficulty in doing it at all.
Also, there was a mistake in the video: brazilian legislation at the time required that electronics be manufactured in the country. So the Master System wasn't built in Japan and imported into the country by a local representative, it was actually manufactured in the country by Tec Toy.
Thank you so much for the Collab, it was super fun to do :D
Thank you too! xxx
@@LadyDecade ^^
This was great! Already a fan of Lady Decade’s and found another channel with great content also!!!
@@Genethagenius thank you so much! Glad you liked it :D
@@Guilherme36594 Sim infelizmente o sotaque é complicado de retirar.
Ah e na verdade sou Português xD
All of this stuff is so very fascinating! My first video game console was the Sega Master System in 1987/1988 despite me being from the US. I didn't know anybody that had a NES in NY at the time where I lived but when I moved to FL it seemed like everybody had one down here. I remember when I would play outside or do small talk about it with kids in the neighborhood or school about the Sega Master System they had never heard of it or experienced it unless they came by my house. Everything with them was Super Mario Bros 2 & 3, Castlevania, Megaman, Metal Gear and so on. Yet if they came over to see the Sega Master System I had Shinobi, Thunderblade, Hang-on/Astro Warrior, and they would be blown away. I eventually got a NES in 1990 and then a Gameboy in 1993 so I could play Kid Icarus, Tetris, Super Mario Land 2, and Zelda Link's Awakening.
It's interesting how our experiences with these games were different in other regions. In the US at the time everything was NES but I was one of the lucky kids that grew up with a Master System similar to the experience that the Brazilian kids had back then. But it's interesting to know that Brazilian companies tried over and over again to negotiate with Nintendo to bring the system to the region but their business practices messed it up to where they had to use alternative means lol.
Sorry for the long comment but what a fantastic video 😇
This is one of the craziest stories I’ve heard I love the channel because of it.
Brazilians are incredibly creative, inventive and resourceful and always find a way to get things done. It is commonly known as the "jeitinho brasileiro" ("Brazilian little way"), and the Brazilian NES is one of many perfect examples of such.
I was aware of the Master System's Brazilian dominance, the Phantom System and then Brazil's later official NES, and the big, big tariffs on electronics, but I never had an idea that there was such a bonkers story behind it all
Whenever someone talks about brazilian Nintendo bootlegs, my mind goes "Hahahahaha Ronaldinho Soccerrrrr!!!!"
Hahahahahahaha Ronaldinho super socerr 98
You guys kept memeing the n64 version, while the snes version "ronaldinho campeonato brasileiro 98" was just there... Waiting for its time which never came
@Summoner Arthur but the snes games has no laugh
@@Tomy_Sakazaki bruh, ronaldinho's laugh is so powerfull that to this day I dont get it how did they get the N64 to reproduce it.
I had no idea of what was happening in other areas of the world. Phantom looks rather sleek. Awesome video👍🏾
It's definitely weird seeing a sega genesis controller on an NES
Despite all economic conditions Brazil was facing at that time and market rules which allowed such (non)official & compatible launch around there, it was definetely the best (N)ES variance we've got until the official launch (and very expensive, btw) of the NES. It was an Atari 7800 console base looking due to Gradiente's change of strategy and an upside down mega drive joystick. Very happy to own two of them until this day.
I love these videos. Growing up in the US I couldn’t have imagined all that was going on with these systems outside of my borders. I was a loyal Sega girl for most of my childhood.
I actually had a Phantom System. The machine was a tank, built to last, and there were no shortage of games, especially the multi-carts. Those had up to 120 games in one, worked flawlessly and could be bought for a small fraction of the content's worth. Those were the golden days...
I had one too. The only issue I had was when I let it accidentally on and left home to play with some friends. When I returned, the AC adapter fried up. But a replacement wasn't so hard to find, it used standard 9V AC adapters after all.
Another two cents: besides Gradiente, there were several medium size/ big companies manufacturing and selling NES knockoffs like CCE, Dactari and Dynacom, always using the same playbook. Gradiente launched the OFFICIAL NES after of the launching of SNES. I think they were compelled to do so by Nintendo. And after Nintendo leaves Brazil, I think I don’t need to mention that OBVIOUSLY there’s a lot of Nintendo consoles being sold there (legally imported or not, it doesn’t matter) 😎
Yes. Much Variants of NES!
What a great video! As a Brazilian, I was aware of some of this story, but now I know Gradiente went far far away with Phantom System and all the pirated games. Also, I want to contribute with this: sometime after these events
there was a joint venture between Gradiente and Estrela (a company which basically made the most famous toys here) named Playtronic. And this time, Nintendo entered oficcialy here. They distributed both Nintendo and the Super Nintendo and the rest is history. Thank you both Lady Decade and St1ka for the amazing job of researching all this madness! We sure lived in a parallel universe in the past...
Gradiente would later also produce Nintendo 64 and for a short time even the Game Cube.
Good lord, that commercial showcased is insane! That would not have flown here in the 80's. Loved it!
So nice I watched the video on both your channels lol. I pretty much left the same comment on st1ka's but this is an incredible piece of gaming history and I'm so glad you guys put this together. I had never heard of this console or its history. I LOVE learning about stuff like this and my only regret about your video is that I didn't make it lol. I kid, I kid. Both of you did a great job covering the history and sprinkling in your own personalities and humor. I'm honored to have had a small cameo in this excellent video.
This story is insane. I love it.
Great channel. I didn't realize all these NESs existed
Essa é a lendária história do nosso querido phantom system . Amo demais esse videogame! Parabéns pelo video !
One of the Dynacom NES variants was made using a Mega Drive shell. Brazil is not for amateurs.
Incredible accurate documentary! Back in that day in Brazil, every kid's dream was to have an Gradiente Phantom System!
I would like to make a correction: the Sega Master System was not imported. It was manufactured in Brazill as well as the Phantom System.
Absolutely incredible story, riveting in the extreme! Thank you two so much!!!
Great content. Phantom System is kind of the "definitive" Famiclone in Brazil, but it was not my personal choice at the time. I asked for Christmas a Top Game, because it has boh 60 and 72 pins connectors, so no need to use an adaptor.
Some Famiclones were, for some reason, 60 pins and other, 72 pins. And some had both lol.
Examples of 72 pins Famiclones include the Phantom, the ProSystem-8, the Geniecom, the Hi-Top Game and the Bit System.
60 pins Famiclones that I recall: Super Charger and Dynavision 1.
Some consoles with both pin standards: Top Game, Turbo Game, Dynavision 3-4 and Top System.
We even had 72 and 60 pins CARTRIDGES. Google "Cartuchos Hydron" if you doubt about it. As a popular idiomatic expression says: "Brazil is not for amateurs".
É uma parada estupida isso, eu ja vi até aparelho de dvd rodar jogo de nintendinho meu consagrado
Top Game is great
@Gilson Marcondes Ladeira .
Ahhh, Lady Decade. Possibly my favorite find here on TH-cam. Quality videos with consistent wit. Keep it up 😁
The Zeebo was by far the coolest Brazilian console. It had a re 4 port and it was super ahead of it's time with it's online features and cellular connection
Yes. Console of the TecToy 'for fight with PS2, XBOX e GameCube', but it was released too late and was weak, plus it 'was ahead of its time planning all digital!'
As a Brazilian I must say that was some top investigation right there. I am very happy that your channel show up on my recommended videos feed.
an oficial nes was released in brazil aswell, but only in 93 and was very expensive, it has the american design, but very few of them were sold cause pepole was more interested in the snes
This is actually incredibly fascinating. What’re you gonna tell me next? Sepultura played this when taking a break from writing badass metal songs?
More likely than you probably imagine
You're literally now one of my favorite youtubers, Lady Decade!
Fascinating video! I learned a lot. Peace!
A Famiclone that has it's design patented? Good job, Brasil.
The Dendy as well.
Comprei um Phantom esses dias, muito bom, a imagem desse vídeo game é excelente!
The Phantom System was very popular around here, but I've never owned one. I had a Sega Master System III back then.
Just here to feed the algorithm.
Good stuff.
The phantom system is one of the many unliscenced Nes clones that was sold in Brazil. I own a "super charger", another clone that looks like a famicom. There were other clones that had carts with pinouts non compatible famicom/nes as far as I can tell. I recall it being really complicated to understand without internet back then
As a kid back in the 80's here in Brazil who owned both an official Sega Tec Toy Master System and a famiclone (Dynavision II), I remember massive ad campaigns in magazines (both in general and videogame related ones) for Tec Toy, and TV insertions, even at the point of them backing up financially TV shows to specifically promote their product line-up, something of a novelty back then and by that same reason something that their competition, even including Gradiente, never did, at least not to the same level. But yes, Tec Toy's MS console and games were more expensive, and as with any other kid in a developing country back in the day, I had as much as 3 times the games for my nintendo clone than for the MS. Funny thing though, Gradiente actually came to be an official Nintendo distributor many years later (through Playtronic), but it was a little too late.
Eliade..excellent English grammer and spelling..better than 99% of British..anyway..good information too..your so called then developing country 3 decades ago..you still managed to enjoy both competing brands..yes with a lot less MasterSystem because of cost..makes sense..over here in our supposed developed country 30 years ago..our family only MasterSystem II till the SuperNintendo was released a couple of years later..MasterSystem games were very expensive..the NES didn't even get a mention..completely bypassed it..explains my enthusiasm for pirated Famicom emulation..oh and still have the MS ll..pad light gun RF lead no box..in the cupboard..along with other later consoles..
@@markianclark9645 damn those double dots are killing me, anyway, even im being Brazilian, i have to say gradiante had really big balls here, its funny because i was in a retro gaming event and the phantom was there on close to the NES and more peopled played in that console, this history sounds more Brazilian than you can imagine
Obrigado por contar um pouco da nossa história ao mundo 🙂👍 🇧🇷
My man's European portuguese accent in English sounds so alien to me, and I'm Brazilian lol.
I had a phantom system :D
Very Good video! The Phanton System was my first NES. It was amazing!
Awesome tactics by Gradiante on giving a lesson to Nintendo. Like my grandpa used to said: son, in a world of scumbags you also have to become one in order to survive". My grandfather was a very knowledgeable man as you guys can assume.
OMG I had a phantom system back in the 1980s, and spent tons of hours playing Ghostbusters, Mega Man, Castlevania, Super Mario, Top Gun, Ducktales, Excitebike, Contra, Double Dragon, Ninja Gaiden, etc. wow the memories are coming back fast...😂
Even back then, fans were asking people to come to Brazil
Such an interesting story! Imagine playing most NES games with a Mega Drive controller!
The Chinese sold a version of Famiclone in MegaDrive shell with Replica MD controllers on AliExpress a few years ago..might still be on TaoBao or AliExpress or DHGate etc
I did exactly that in childhood in 90s. Why is it so surprising?
@@beeqool The buttons would have been labeled differently than the game right? Was there any confusion on the 'select' button, as the controller didn't have one?
@@WhatGameBefore I dont understand your first question. But the 2nd question, i just noticed on google images that original sega has no select button, which i didnt know, thats interesting do you know why? Now i understand why you were surprised. And basically i had two famiclones in childhood in 90s styled after sega, one called Zhiliton, other Nikita White Knight and those both had select buttons. Cause yeah a lot of Nintendo and Famicom games would probably be unplayable without select button.
Yeah, a lot of pictures of the controller show the original MegaDrive one and not the one you had with the select button. Thanks for sharing!
Such an awesome video! Holy crap Gradiente, I’ve never heard of a company sticking it to Nintendo like that!!!
Holy cow. To our Brazilian gaming fam, I feel for you. Taxation, trade, and business practices are insane. To take up a different name, label, and create their own system to bypass costs, publishing, production... Jeezus that was a nightmare. Plus distribution was chaos. WTF
Its still a mess to this day the taxes make a 50$ games 400R$(reais)
Imagine Jonathan Frakes being the big boss behind Gradiente...he be like "I'm number one..."
Make it so number 1.
In Brazil, the Phantom System costs a fortune, even nowadays it is very difficult to find an item in good condition, which ends up making it very expensive.
Great video! My neighbours had the Phantom System, I had the Dynavision 3, another nes/famiclone.
Wow! That is an absolutely crazy story. I had heard/read about Sega in Brazil and believed they had total control of the market and NES just wasn't there. But to learn NES did have a presence and to go through the whole saga of try to work with NES, make your own console, eventually agree to work with NES but at the same time sell pirated games and consoles!?!? This seems more like fiction than reality.
Another good video Lady Decade! These are really great and I hope to see more console history.
Gaming history in the 80s and 90s varies significantly form country to country. Yet somehow everybody worldwide seems satisfied with Nintendo getting out-witted by clever bootleggers -- Nintendo fans included ;)
Why wouldn't we. I'm a big fan of the Nintendo franchises but man do they got to step up their game. Gradiente, a well known and respected company goes ahead and adapts your technology to run on their market and are ready to do business and you don't take the opportunity.
greetings from Brazil and congratulations for the content of your videos are great.
It was so easy to just go to Paraguay and bring official Nintendo and Sega games and consoles at the time, since Paraguay didn’t have such abusive laws. This was also a headache for Tectoy and Gradiente.
Reminds me of the Infinium Phantom gaming console that never came out. I remember gaming magazines promoting the hell out of that thing, getting people all amped up. The prototype build of the console was pretty cool looking, as well. A 128 bit system that would put our Dreamcasts and PS2s to shame! As they put it.
The Master System and Mega Drive had a lot of support with a good handful of translated games due to a very good relationship between Tectoy and Sega.
That helped it's popularity. Many friends of mine at the time had a Mega Drive while I had a Snes so we would play eachother's systems at eachother's houses after renting games for weekend sleepovers.
It is mind boggling how you don't have a million subs. Definitely one of the best!
Nos anos 80, a Nintendo não estava oficialmente no Brasil, por causa da lei federal de reserva de mercado. Criada em 84, essa lei proibia produtos estrangeiros em terras Brasileiras. Só entrava no Brasil, empresas estrangeiras que tivessem uma representação oficial aqui. Como a Tectoy era a representante oficial da Sega, eles tiveram a autorização de fabricar o Master System. Os outros consoles de 8bit, eram todos clones de NES, já que a Nintendo não estava oficialmente no Brasil. o clone mais famoso por aqui sem dúvidas foi o Phantom System da Gradiente, mas também estiveram no mercado: Dynavision II, da Dynacom, esse foi o primeiro clone de NES lançado. Hi - Top Game da Milmar, Bit System da Dismac, Top Game e Turbo Game da CCE.
2:16 Did I see James Bond in the background? Epic 🔫🎮👍
On a related topic, Gradiente has been disputing the iPhone brand with Apple in Brazil for about a decade. They actually registered the IP before Apple anywhere in the world. That’s Gradiente, amigos.
I'm very doubtful that master system was more popular than NES in Brazil. Myself as Brazilian and have had been worked as videogames back on the 90s, we've had heaps of offer for many different NES clones and little demand for Master System, when compare both. The reason for that is because the Sega's equipment, games, were only possible to be bought if they original. The NES clones in opposite were countless and both system, accessories, equipments, were much cheaper. They accepted pirate cartridges, that come at in huge amounts from Paraguay, and, most importantly, the quantity of different franchises for Nintendo was a way bigger than Sega's. I can say at least in Brazil Sega was smashed from top to bottom.
Just for the record. The NES clones were really clones, but Gradiente. Gradiente reengineered the system. They've used a different circuit, a different machine that could read the Nintendo game codes. Amazing.
Just Love how he says "Gradieeente" .
ST1KA is a Sega specialist and has great videos. Thanks Lady to share his work 😉
Aww thank you ^^
@@st1ka Eu acho que é normal 😉
As one brazilian fan of yours I can say that this video is pretty accurate! Congratulations!
Brazilian gamer here (living in the UK as well). One of the reasons behind Phantom System's success in Brazil was the fact that Gradiente was indeed the big daddy of the Brazilian electronic industry on that time. They really had it all, contrary to the other companies producing famiclones who imported their pcb's and just done some final assembly in Manaus (where most of our electronic plants are). Ever since videogames came into Brazil piracy was rampant with multiple companies producing cartridges since the Atari 2600 and its clones came about - in other words, lots of regulation regarding hardware (more like how it could not be imported) and bugger all regarding copyright - authorities did not understand how the industry worked (games that is, they would club everything with electronics) and focused on where things were "made" rather than who owned the IP. Gradiente's dent on Nintendo's share could have been bigger, had the brazilian economy not been plagued with inflation (as it was during most of the 80's) they would have sold much more consoles than TecToy ever sold.
Tectoy: "You're going to Brazil."
Gradiente: "Guess it's time to play even dirtier."
Nintendo: "Wait, that's illegal."
I am from Brazil, and i must say. This is not "just" a clone. It's more robust than the original one. Much more. :) Lots of friends had and has one on our childhood. Played it a lot.
This video should be a mandatory course at top-level international business schools. Corporate relations on a whole new level.
Brazillian marketshare during 1989: 50℅ MasterSystem, 30℅ PhantomSystem and 20℅ others famiclones
Excellent video. I love the collaboration between you and St1ka. Good job!
Glad I found this channel today. It's always interesting to learn about how video games and it's history was handled in other countries. Keep up the good work!
Fun fact, the PAL-M and NTSC TV systems are largely compatible with one another, as they're both 60Hz and 525 lines in resolution. The only difference is that the color carrier is different, but this is very easy to fix electronically
I actually did a hardware mod in my Super Nintendo to convert it from PAL-M to NTSC when I moved abroad, and I only had to replace a single crystal and a resistor to make it work, which requires very little knowledge of electronics and soldering
The NES, St1ka, and Lady Decade? I love all of these things! The video was just as great as I expected!
Wow, that was rather intense for a add for Ghostbuster, and oddly more entertaining.
The fact that it’s a hodgepodge of Nintendo, Sega and Atari hardware makes it hilarious to look at.
Thank you so much for this video! I'm from Brazil and had a Phantom System. So much fun, so many great memories! Very funny video! The Portuguese guy is really funny :-)
This Amazing Famiclone/NES clone:
TOP GAME, PHANTOM SYSTEM, DYNAVISON, POLYSTATION (POLYSTATION is NES with body of the Playstation)
@Gilson Marcondes Ladeira Yes!
@Gilson Marcondes Ladeira Yep. Around here in Chile, the most popular Famiclones back in the day were the Creation and the NASA/Nasat ones. Nowadays, it’s kinda hard to find a famiclone in stores but if you do manage to find one, it will probably be a Polystation
That was the system I grow up playing.
I had one. Was amazing. Only years later I found out that it was a "variant" of NES.
Awesome!! I'm portuguese and I loved this story. You two should make a video about Mega Game II, a mega drive clone made in Portugal BUT certified by SEGA :D
I've thought about that, but sadly there's very little information about it
@@st1ka yeah I know 😔 but great vídeo this was 😁
@@BroTheRetro thank you ^^
@Gilson Marcondes Ladeira I believe that's a different Mega Game 2. Same name, but different hardware?
Oh this brings me memories! At this time I was a Sega kid I had a Master System which was huge in Brazil but I used to play Nintendo games on the Phantom System that my friend had.
Gradiente also has the brand IPhone in Brazil and they are in a legal battle with Apple
very good documentary..keep up the good job
i had one! great memories playing super pitfall, mario bros 1, 2 3, zelda and metroid! and a 100 games in 1cartridge ! im in tears !
My first video game! it was made to last forever, as it is usual till today!
St1ka! Welcome Back!
Glad to be here xD
@Gilson Marcondes Ladeira I am Portuguese
Another great vid! Top Hat Gaming man is one lucky lad
That explains why Brazil was playing Sega Master system in 1995.
My beloved Phantom System!! I miss you so....
Interesting to see that the NES had so many variants in different countries.
I think you'd be intrigued in the history of famicom clone in Poland called the Pegasus.
Cheers, thanks for the tip!
Gradiente also had a big battle here in Brazil because of the name "iphone" and it won for a specific time
You're so awesome Lady Decade! Your channel is so different, I love it! Please keep covering foreign systems / variations the way you do! :)
Excellent research! Thanks for the awesome video!
You're really doing an awesome job with these videos. Keep up the great job.
Great Video. We had the Phantom System, and I do believe it was released around 1989. Our ( mine and my brothers) came in with Ghostbusters if I remember correctly. Great memories of playing excitebike, goal, and other games on it.
Master System "with exclusives games in The Brazil" is 'Turma da Mônica contra o Capitão Feio' (cap feio = cap ugly, nor does it appear in the game. ;-; ); Turma da Mônica: O resgate'; 'Chapolim x Drácula: Um duelo assustador' (this game is baseade in Chapolim of the El Chavo from Roberto Gómez Bolaños); 'Street Fighter II'; 'Férias Frustradas do Pica-Pau' (Pica-Pau = Woody woodpecker)
There werent just bootleg cartridges btw, some game places would import from japan and sell for double or triple the price it costed them. There were also bootleg peripherals that allowed you to have regular NES controllers... Tho im not sure how common that was.
Also just to clarify that while the import tax is indeed high, since the end of 2019 the national coin has been averaging 5 BRL to 1 USD, so not all of that price difference is just taxes.
Discovered you from the Samurai video, I love it, I feel like I'm learning about super important and fascinating stuff here! More!
Ah dang it! I did not need another channel to watch, but this content and charisma are great. Here, have a sub!