Role-playing games and political economy in Brazil
March 13, 2015 12:29 AM Subscribe
A short history of gaming in Brazil: "To understand the history of gaming in Brazil dear reader, you must know a little bit about our political and economic history ... In 1991, a small publisher by the name of GSA published a roleplaying game called Tagmar [translation], often lauded as the first Brazilian RPG. ... They also released Desafio dos Bandeirantes, a game set in 17th century colonial Brazil using regional folklore instead of European myths, and a sci-fi game, Millenia [translation] ... In February 1994, the Brazilian authorities set in motion a major economic plan that invigorated the Brazilian economy for the first time since 1973. By March, the currency stabilized enough to assure the population (and companies) that their money would be worth the same by the end of the week ... The happy result for gamers was that companies started buying game licenses right and left."
Via. See also History of Brazilian RPGs, History of Brazilian RPG magazines, Role-playing games in education in Brazil: how we do it [PDF], and President Cardoso reflects on Brazil and sociology.
Thanks for posting this. So much of my childhood is reflected in the first link. I grew up in Brazil and was first introduced to RPGs via the Fighting Fantasy series (my mind was filled with nostalgia when it got mentioned in the article), which was out of print at the time; I'm glad to hear that back in print.
I wouldn't find other people to play RPGs with until 1999, at which point the market was already relatively mature; there was a kind of "underground subculture" element to it, which I think remains to this day (although I haven't had any contact with the community in years). At the time there was a forbidden element to it as well, partly due to the murders mentioned in the article; many parents would not let their kids play, so we had to play it in secret. Fortunately the culture managed to thrive even with the largely negative image painted by mainstream media.
posted by maskd at 10:33 AM on March 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't find other people to play RPGs with until 1999, at which point the market was already relatively mature; there was a kind of "underground subculture" element to it, which I think remains to this day (although I haven't had any contact with the community in years). At the time there was a forbidden element to it as well, partly due to the murders mentioned in the article; many parents would not let their kids play, so we had to play it in secret. Fortunately the culture managed to thrive even with the largely negative image painted by mainstream media.
posted by maskd at 10:33 AM on March 13, 2015 [1 favorite]
If there's anything that lets me know that MetaFilter is My People, it's the instinctive and nonchalant use of "gaming" to mean "pencil-and-paper RPGs" and not "video games" or "gambling".
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:53 PM on March 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 2:53 PM on March 13, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is a whole new reason to love Brazil!
posted by wintermind at 6:30 PM on March 18, 2015
posted by wintermind at 6:30 PM on March 18, 2015
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