Video Game Arcade In Democratic Republic Of The Congo

@Clive Bavels: wait till it rains.

kitsuneconundrum

Is all that running off one power lead? And where's it plugged in. Looks like a electrical hazard to me.

@kitsuneconundrum: Hohoho, don't even compare Europe to Australia. Them Aussies have it tough, core blimey.

MurlocSniper

@kitsuneconundrum: Agreed. Without being in USA you end up with getting games weeks later and overpriced.

I was just checking Rock Band 2 Special Edition in a Japanese website and bam!
[store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp]

Only 33800 Yens! (365 USD)

I am just glad Play-Asia have stock again so it costs 18900 yens (200 USD)

Wish i could get it for 99 USD.

*gulp*
=S

Well it shows alot of things but the most important is this: that even people in the most poorest countries play videogames. Every nook and cranny of this world there is a gamer.

mikeer990

@kitsuneconundrum: Having lived in the US and the UK there is very little difference gaming wise. Only slightly different release dates but even that is starting to change.

george9807

@cyruss: Its a dualshock controller. If you zoom in you'll see his fingers is on the d-pad next to the left analog stick. Probably a PSone since its gray colored.

mugenkits

@[www.flickr.com] (If it's got a Flickr link click it, then you get full size options instead of the pidly thing Gawker allows)

@kitsuneconundrum: These chaps should count "themselves" lucky, I don't even have a local arcade!

@doggydaddy: What you don't see is the 360 and ps3 hooked up to it.

kitsuneconundrum

@doggydaddy: is that an xbox 360 controller?

i was going to say maybe it was a PC with every arcade game emulator on it that exists, in which case that would be pretty cool.... but yeh that looks like an Xbox 360 controller.... and no HDTV :(

:*-( I think we should all have a moments think on how lucky we are instead of the usual fanboy bashing that goes on here.

bad picture, beacause I can't tell what they are playing. :S

Now I have to know.

It's really awesome to have a sense of perspective of how things actually are around the world. We should all juxtapose this with our own lives and count ourselves lucky in our situation.

Has kotaku thought of doing a dedicated article on arcades/gaming around the world?

Gaming and the process of getting a game is markedly different outside of the US (you guys have it great) for example Europe or Australia.

Just a thought.

kitsuneconundrum

Pretty sure the shelf below the TVs where the 360 is kept doesn't have adequate ventilation.

I could only imagine how they would feel if they got RROD'd.

Also, think they're playing RE5?

IMAGES OF ACTUAL AFRICAN LIFE!!!

RACISM.....RACISM!!!!!

Kaijumaster

Damn thats pretty awesome and very resourceful!

It's a shame that people in Africa has to suffer through poverty, corruption, and constant civil wars.

Then again, I forgot the source, but Nigeria ranked number 1 in the world in terms of happiness one year...

n00b_pwner

@doggydaddy: Let's hope it isn't Resi 5...

iRaybot

@4nonymo:

They're playing PS2 bruv.

360s would probably melt over there anyway :D

@kitsuneconundrum:

Leagues beyond the North Korea entertainment center, hail democracy.

BarfHappy

@kitsuneconundrum: Things will change soon though because they will be getting 500 billion from Norweigh ;).

@iRaybot: I see what you did there.

kitsuneconundrum

I hope they're enjoying themselves. :(

@kitsuneconundrum:
Rain? In Congo?

Mini-LAN party on the street, nice! Gamers always find a way.

@Kaijumaster:
I actually think such things might end up on the news someday.

Seeing images like this makes me thankful for the opportunities I have and the things I have that others don't. Never take stuff for granted...

i think they are playing Resident Evil 5

gamers of the world unite! cool pic.

@n00b_pwner: Probably because they would have been killed if they said they weren't happy.

Kafeen

@mikeer990: Yeah... that's the most important thing.

...

Bergerac

@iRaybot: My bet's on either Saint's row or Def Jam

psyph3r

@.- -. --- -. -.-- -- --- ..- ... / .. ... / .-.. . --. .. --- -.: It rains a lot in the DRC. I think the Congo rainforest is the biggest in the world after the Amazon.

dd528

@BarfHappy: Given the the DRC has only been democratic for about four years out of the last 45, it's not exactly the best example.

dd528

@cyruss:

They're using a 3rd party PS2 controller, but I'd liek to think they're playing MAME on a PC with it!

@FlagshipFighter:
Lucky? Hey, they're playing, I'm not.

How are they playing anything at all when nothing is plugged into the back of the TVs?

@cyruss: would be hilarious if that was a silver dualshock 3.

velvet396

i dont see anything amusing in that picture.What's the purpose of that post.

at that age would they be strong enough to haul the tvs back under shelter if it rains? I reckon at that age I could barely carry a screen that size, but impoverished people with no access to protein shakes? rain must be a bitch.

wintersault

@Kaijumaster: Must people post stuff like this every time there is an article involving black people? It is almost as annoying as the people who sincerely mean it.

King_Krunk

@dd528: To call it "democratic" is a bit of an overstatement though.

@elladion: Me neither, at first it even seemed kind of mean. I dont know.

I just want to sit right down and thrash em at whatever game they're playing. I'll pull no punches!!!

High Speed Indeed

@Franky_AAA: Maybe they can connect it to the front of the TV, some TV's do that you know?

@Savior: No Resident Evil 5 is playing them.

@ttocs: Absolutely right.

@elladion: Life is not always amusing. Get used to it.

@(Zombie) Komrade Kayce: There's a shelf with consoles under the table, and a bunch of cables.

Btw, that looks like a JVC telly I used to have. I remember that it had some weird connection to my NES, which included an antenna o_O

Ins

I played the kid in the yellow shirt in some Street Fighter IV the other day. Whipped my ass good I tell ya.

@(Zombie) Komrade Kayce: Maybe they just use their imagination. Its easier to win that way.

each baby has to make a first step :)

BarfHappy

@dd528: It does. And the second largest annual rainfall.

Koztah

@badbob001: Actually, you can see the cables going up the side of the table. The power cables are going down the back.

Koztah

@(Zombie) Komrade Kayce: they are probably using the AV ports in the front of the TV. Prevents impatient kids from ruining someone else's game.

@digiorgio21: They got laughed at for that demand. I think its sick what they're doing to those 2 guys.

RiverCityGamer

That would be me if I lived there.

My bet on Pro Evo Soccer It,s the most popular game in West Africa @ least in Dakar my city of birth.
^_^
used to be street fighter & mortal kombat back in my childhood...aahh souvenirs souvenirs..
:'(

I hope it doesn't rain.

@Bergerac: Hey, if that makes them happy, then it's a very important thing.

@Kafeen: *Hidden giggle* followed by awwwwww ...

@ttocs: I`ll second that.

@MaximusDM:
It's sad to see the rope tied to the table to prevent people from stealing the arcade. :(

So these are the punks always kicking my ass in CoD and Halo3!

@wintersault: I doubt it just suddenly breaks out a rainstorm in Congo.

@elladion: i don't understand, what you are talking about... anyhow this is quite an open gaming related site, i understood the photo as a sort of gaming across the globe thing, the many shapes gaming takes in different cultures and under different economic and political landscapes. not to poke fun at them, even though first world country citizens love doing so.

i mean look at what they build to have the gaming experience, gamers come from everywhere. that being said... capitalism sucks.

s.

That's not really funny as much as it just makes me feel guilty about fortunate I am...

@rogsim: Thank god they don't have headsets.

NeoStarr HD

That reminds me my D.R. school days, when my friends and I used to skip the last class period to head to the mall and play... Moorrrtaaaaal Koommbat.

Mortal Kombat was a national fever. It got so serious that they started to ban students from entering the mall till after 2pm. --Unlike here in the US, in D.R. is mandatory to wear school uniform.

ArJay

@DigitalHero: I'm guessing it's so no one trips and unplugs everything...

@UltimatePancakeSensation: They are tougher than any of us will be, so they have that.

They look so much more polite than American arcadegoers, patiently waiting their turn and all.

@DigitalHero: That's clearly an extension cord. I'm sure they have a power strip hooked up underneath the table. A rope tied to a table is clearly not going to stop anyone. ;)

ProtestedGyro

god they look so bored. lol

TikkiEXX

@L___E___T: He's holding a 360 controller. so unless they have some kind of crazy adapter they are playing 360.

@(Zombie) Komrade Kayce: They all look like the same modle TVS. Maybe they have front AV jacks...

ProtestedGyro

Where are the girls? Most of these kids are gonna grow up to be girlfriendless nerds, and that's the saddest part about all of this.

@dmfamzo: yup! That's my guess as well. On all the tvs.

@DigitalHero: Looks more like an extension cord to me.

Future MLG players,

@jessenick: No it's not, not by a long shot

Cool scene. just goes to show there's gamers everywhere. and we all speak the same language.

i'm a gamer in Uganda, country right next to DRC

MarlandNoppity

@JohhnyDamage: By tougher do you mean physically weaker, malnourished, and / or infested with disease and parasites?

@DigitalHero: thats actually the power cord

@[DFX] Deimos: tougher as in when the inevitable apocalypse comes they will be the ones able to survive it.

Rozzlit

@DigitalHero:

long live hidden replies!:D seems no one reads them before replying, or as in my case, not knowing about them.

Jultomten

@DigitalHero:

My guess is extension cable for the juice.

Jultomten

@DigitalHero: I think that's the power cable unless you see another way they could be drawing power.

Sam_Lowry

@jessenick: dont you see the sexy babe in the yellow? Its kinda like "Wheres Waldo" but if you look hard enough you can find 3.

@UltimatePancakeSensation: don't think it's meant to be funny.

My fam is from mexico and while not like this, there were a lot of make shift arcades. Arcade cabinets were built and usually worked but the joysticks were too thin.

I even remember these arcades that would let you choose any nintendo game you wanted but you only had a certain amount of time to play the game.

topogigio

This is the DRC version of an XBL Party Room!

This actually looks like it would be a lot of fun to hang out at and play games, chilling with your friends. As opposed to sitting alone in a dark room with a headset on listening to 13 year olds who keep screaming "Help me mother*******! I'm dying!"

Krakn3Dfx