In a frantic effort to reject Western technology, President Vladimir Putin has commanded the development of a new Russian gaming console.
Now, as a Russian leader acknowledges it won’t match the quality of the Xbox or the PS5, analysts have turned to social media to ridicule the forthcoming device, labeling it the ‘Putindo 64’.
On Reddit, a user remarked: ‘The Putindo is going to be an extraordinary collector’s item in a few decades.’
Another user stated ‘I only have tetris’ referencing the iconic puzzle video game invented in 1985 by Russia’s Alexey Pajitnov.
Someone else commented: ‘What is happening with the Russian government? Why are they attempting to produce a console when they are engaged in battle?’
Until now, Russia’s most prominent gaming console was the Dendy, which was available in Russia from 1992, even though it was produced in Taiwan using Chinese parts.
Due to stringent sanctions following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the leading Xbox, PS5, and Nintendo consoles are no longer being brought into Russia.
This seems to have compelled the nation to devise its own local solution.
Russian gaming console, which is being developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on behalf of President Vladimir Putin (shown)
Produced from late 1992, Dendy consoles were manufactured in Taiwan using Chinese components for the Russian company Steepler
Anton Gorelkin, Russia’s deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy for Russia, disclosed specifics of the gadget in a post on Telegram.
He remarked that the Russian gaming console, being developed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on behalf of the President, is ‘gradually coming together’.
‘I trust that my colleagues will tackle this assignment with utmost seriousness and produce something genuinely revolutionary,’ he expressed, translated from Russian.
‘This platform should primarily focus on promoting and enhancing domestic video game products, widening their reach beyond PC and mobile gaming.’
Gorelkin indicated that the console will utilize the Elbrus computer processor, crafted by the Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies (MCST), alongside ‘other electronic components fabricated in Russia’.
Nonetheless, as it currently stands, Elbrus cannot compete with the Zen 2 created by the American firm AMD that powers the leading Western consoles.
‘It is clear to all – Elbrus processors are not yet at the level necessary to compete fairly with the PS5 and Xbox, indicating that the solution must be innovative,’ Gorelkin elaborated.
Elbrus is primarily designed for use in domestic applications within critical infrastructure, defense, and ‘other sensitive sectors’, TechSpot reports.
Following stringent sanctions post-Putin’s invasion of Ukraine , the top Xbox PS5 and Nintendo consoles are no longer brought to Russia (file photo)
‘From Russia with fun’: Pajitnov developed the very first version of Tetris on an Electronika 60. Tetris was released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and later the Game Boy
In addition to the Elbrus-powered console, the Russian telecommunications company MTS is also developing a compact stick-like device that customers would connect to their TVs.
Bundled with a controller resembling that of an Xbox for a price not exceeding $45 (£36), the stick is designed to stream games directly from the cloud, TechSpot indicates.
It is already understood that Putin has been advocating for the development of a domestically-produced console, although most details about its advancement have been provided by Gorelkin.
Last year, the government requested Russia to create ‘stationary and portable gaming consoles’ along with software and a cloud infrastructure for providing games to users.
Putin made the announcement after leading video game corporations, including Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, ceased sales to Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia boasts one of the largest gaming communities globally and was the pioneer in recognizing competitive video gaming as a legitimate sport in 2001.
The Russian game developer Alexey Pajitnov is most renowned for designing Tetris in 1985 while being employed at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre in Moscow.
The Russian brand Elektronika produced replicas of Nintendo’s Game & Watch consoles from the 1980s, which came before the SNES and Nintendo 64 in the 1990s.
Russian telecommunications firm MTS is also working on a small stick-like gadget that users would plug into their TVs (pictured)
Russian game designer Alexey Pajitnov is best known for creating Tetris in 1985 while working at the Dorodnitsyn Computing Centre in Moscow
It was Dendy, introduced to the Russian market in 1992, that is the nearest the nation has come to achieving success in video game consoles, despite it actually being of Asian origin.
Dendy – produced in Taiwan with Chinese components – went on to sell 6 million units within Russia before it was discontinued in 1998.
It remains uncertain when the new console is expected to arrive on the Russian market, but the newspaper Kommersant suggests it could take up to a decade.
‘Industry participants indicate that there is no capability to manufacture their own PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and constructing such a system from the ground up will necessitate as much as ten years,’ it stated last year.