Kinda OT, kinda not -- Soviet video arcade games

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Found this on wired.com and thought it might interest the gang here, it gives a little more insight into the Soviet system.
Here's the first two paragraphs to whet your appetite...

If American teenagers during the Cold War ever stopped to consider how their Eastern bloc counterparts spent the weekend, they probably imagined dreary groups of Red Youth robotically singing hymns to Soviet wheat production and discussing the glories of socialist brotherhood from Hanoi to Havana.

They likely would have been surprised to know that in movie theaters, train stations and recreation centers across the U.S.S.R., packs of Soviet youth huddled around upright video games with coins lined up along the edge of the screen, same as at any mall in Jersey.

Article here (http://www.wired.com/gaming/hardware/news/2007/06/soviet_games)

[raketenjagdpanzer]

That's a great article; I remember seeing it when it was first published. Maybe some of the true digital arcade games will get ROM Dumped and made available for M.A.M.E.?

Interesting side note: I remember in the mid 90s there was a piece on Discovery or History channel before they became what they are now about life on-board the Oscar-II class Soviet missile subs - those are really monstrous boats! Anyway, in addition to the swimming pool (yes) for officers, it also featured a lounge with a couple of arcade games including a clone or copy of Midway's Subroc.

[James Langham]

Semi linked to this - look on YouTube for the complete history of the Soviet Union to the themes from Tetris. So bizzare it is brilliant.