RUSSIA is reportedly developing its own home grown games console in a desperate effort to shun western technology.
But gamers have mocked the idea and dubbed it the “Putindo 64” in a nod to the country’s previous tech knock-offs.
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Vladimir Putin ordered the government to come up with a Russian games console earlier this year, in face of growing sanctions due to the invasion of Ukraine.
And now two machines are taking shape.
But Russian chiefs have admitted the console won’t be able to match the PS5 or Xbox.
One device is powered by Russia’s own Elbrus processor and the other is a $45 Fire Stick-like gadget that streams games from the cloud, according to TechSpot.
“Elbrus processors are not yet at the stage of development to ensure equal competition with the PS5 and Xbox, which means that the solution must be non-standard,” Anton Gorelkin, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy for Russia wrote on Telegram.
“The Russian console is not being created in order to port a hundred old games there and report on the implementation of the President’s order.
“This platform should primarily serve the goals of promoting and popularizing domestic video game products, expanding their audience beyond PC and mobile gaming.”
In years past, Russia has resorted to knock-offs of popular gadgets such as the 1992 Dendy which cloned Nintendo’s system.
Gamers have ridiculed Putin’s plans on social media.
“It’s aa Putin Cart 3D. Letssss go,” one person wrote on Reddit.
“The Putindo is gonna be a wild collectors item in a few decades,” another joked.
“What is going on with russian government, why are they trying to develop a console when they are fighting at the front,” a third commented.
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo suspended sales in Russia over its invasion of Ukraine – though gamers in the country have found ways around the ban.
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