A portrait of the games market in Brazil, by me:

80's - we had the Atari in the beggining of the 80's, yeah, it was late, but better than never. It was the most popular console through the eighties.

90's -

NES - Was never really popular here, a little amount of people had the original NES imported from the US or the Famicom imported from Japan (those japanese descendent friends from school come to mind) hehehe. Nes' licensed clones like Phantom System and Bit System, from brazilian company Dynacom were very popular here, more than the NES itself, although it was the same console with a different skin.

Master System - Immensely popular around here in the 90's, yeah, I know, 80's consoles were popular here in the 90's, but the latest consoles were also around. It was officially supported and released by Tec Toy, the same company that released that third world console Zeebo nowadays.

Mega Drive (Genesis) - Huge success, also with official support from Tec Toy, it was supported until 2002. That's right, it lasted looooong and it was very succesful. Mind that games had the right price, and piracy wasn't that popular, the prices were good, and there were plenty of rental stores (which don't exist today anymore, because of piracy). Sega CD and 32x were also officialy released and supported.

Super Nintendo - Also a great success, with official support from Playtronic, a brazilian brand that had a partnership with Nintendo. It was sold until 1999 more or less, I guess, I don't remember it properly. But almost all of the games were launched in the same day as they were in Japan and United States (same with Mega Drive)

There WAS piracy for Mega Drive and Super Nintendo, but it wasn't as huge as for the CD and DVD based machines, because in the cartridge time, the games were less expensive.

Saturn - Released officially in 1995, was CRUSHED by the Playstation, just like the rest of the world. Officially released, with prices somewhat expensive for games, but still officially supported. But only diehard Sega fans had it, the Playstation crushed it with its library and the huge selection of pirated games.

Nintend0 64 - released officially in 1996, lasted until 2001, more or less. Officially supported by Playtronic, just like Super NES. Somewhat pirated, but the pirate games were expensive, so the few who had this console, most likely had original games.

Playstation - Imported, started the piracy boom in Brazil. Everyone and their mom had pirated CD's for 5 reais (2.50 dollars, that's right) against games that normally cost more than 80 dollars (it wasn't that expensive compared to what we have today) still, the piracy won.

Dreamcast - Again, officially released and supported, but almost all of the people that had it played pirated copies, it wasn't a huge success, but a small one among followers.

Gamecube - Was also officially released by Playtronic, as the last officially released console from a joint-venture in the country with a good price tag. wasn't a Success, because the PS2 crushed it (just like the PS1 did with Saturn and N64).

PS2 - Same story as the PS1, it got here as soon as it was released, and modded really soon. The original games` prices were VERY HIGH already because Sony never released it officially. They didn't, because of the piracy. Officially released in 2009, almost 2010, making us brazilians look very stupid...

Xbox - Only knew two people with one, imported, not officially released, of course. I do have one nowadays because I really like it and I'm a collector. Wasn't even close to a success. The small amount of those who had it pirated its games or brought them from the US, as you could almost never find them in stores.

Xbox 360 - Brought here in 2005/06 as soon as it was released, and modded afterwards. It was officially released in 2006 by Microsoft, just like the PS2, because they saw potential in the market. But they are still clows selling it with a higher price than imported consoles. Today I saw that there was a price drop, to 600 dollars on an official store, it's still expensive, but it's a start!! Fan base split between modders and people that care about live and buy original games.

PS3 - Selling like hotcakes, somewhat, around here, after the price drop. It's a good move because it's unpirateable and it's still selling a good amount. Available on every electronic/game store, but not officially released.

Wii - Just like the Xbox, there are pirates and official games, and a split fan-base. It's selling very well, just like every place in the world. NOT officially released, but officially imported by Latamel, a partner of Nintendo.

I excluded portables, but Game Gear, Game Boy, DS, DSi, etc, etc. Are all available here, with the last officially released one being Gameboy Advance, the others are imported. PSP is also around, imported, also modded like hell by a lot of people...

And now, the truth.

Mega Drive, Master System, and older consoles ARE still around. But they aren't available on bigger stores like FNAC, or UZ GAMES, or Saraiva Mega Store. They are only available on stores geared towards low waged people like Casas Bahia and Americanas. They don't have cartridges anymore, just games in their memories, and they sell for roughly 100 dollars, I know, still expensive!

But it's not like you'll go to UZ GAMES (kinda like our version of Gamestop) and find it. You'll ONLY find seventh generation stuff, current portables and the PS2.

It took a while for me to write this, but you guys have to understand that the Mega Drive isn't popular with hardcore gamers here, they are sold to people that don't have a lot of money and parent's that really don't know better and end up buying them from confusion for their kids. Oh, I do play Mega Drive, but because I'm a retro-fan and I play lots of older stuff. But ask a brazilian kid with a good financial situation what a Mega Drive is...he/she won't know... they don't even know what the Game Boy is...