Pokémon in Russia: Difference between revisions

In the early 2000s, handheld consoles were not common and Pokémon games were rarely found in shops. At the time, Game Boy Color was the most popular portable console in Russia<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20200625194213/https://segadreamcast.ru/samye-rasprostranennye-pristavki-na-rossijskom-rynke-do-nachala-2000h/</ref> and the market was full of piracy, which also affected Game Boy consoles. The original games were distributed by "Noviy Disc". Nintendo signed with this company in 2000 a contract for the sale of games<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20010603230049/http://www.nd.ru:80/about/index.shtml</ref> for 6 years. Cooperation went so well that in 2006 it was decided to extend the contract for the next 6 years. The games would usually become available long after the European release and at a more substantial cost. From around mid-2000s, Russian distributors began to sell illegal translations of Game Boy Advance games in self custom-made packages. Its own versions were released by companies like New Game,<ref>https://newgame.ru/dlya-portativnyh-pristavok/kartridzhi-game-boy-advance-na-russkom-yazyke</ref> Simba's Video Games,<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20060111141137/http://www.simbas.ru/</ref> Vector<ref>http://rgdb.info/base/rus-05426</ref> and K&S.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20070704105308/http://www.gameboygames.ru/</ref>

Nintendo of Europe opened its office in Russia in 2012; they stopped working with "Noviy Disk" and began working with a new distributor named "OCS", and Nintendo opened their own online store. 3DS games were then available for sale on the official store '''[https://mir.nintendo.ru/ Mir Nintendo]''', though they may also be found elsewhere. That same year, the Russian government fully enforced {{wp|On Protecting Children from Information Harmful to Their Health and Development|Federal law no. 436-FZ of 2010-12-23}}, which caused the creation of the Russian Age Rating System, based on the film rating system used by the country's {{wp|Ministry of Culture (Russia)|Ministry of Culture}} replacing the use of the PEGI rating in that region. [[Pokémon Rumble U]] became the first Pokémon game to be rated by Russian authorities. {{g|X and Y}} were the first Pokémon games to be released in Russia at the same time as the rest of the world due to the introduction of the Nintendo online store. Pokémon video games are not localized in Russian; however, there have been a few fan translations of the GBA games circulating among Russian fans and pirate translations mentioned earlier.  

The [[Pokémon Trading Card Game]] was released in Russia, and obtained "the same cult status" as it did in Britain.<ref name="guardian">[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002/nov/24/russia.nickpatonwalsh Barbie is banned from Russia, without love | World news | The Observer] (retrieved May 5, 2010)</ref> The Russian government attempted to ban or, in the least, censor the game in late 2001-2002, but it seems that this was not carried through.