Victor Savyuk saw the success of the NES in Japan and the western markets, and wanted to bring his own machines to the crumbling USSR. At first he imported counterfeit consoles from Taiwan and other Asian countries. Other distributors were already bringing these machines into the country, so Victor began to form plans for a proper name and company to handle the machines in a more organised way. 

In 1992, partnering with a company called Steepler in Moscow to manage sales and local distribution, feeling his console needed an identity, the name Dendy was created, along with a logo.

First appearing in December 1992, and costing the equivalent of £150, the launch was backed up by an animated advertisement campaign, and in 1993 even a television show was available to watch. In this year Dendy had created revenue worth $1,300,000.

Other distributors by 1994 were importing Sega based consoles, Steepler reorganised and produced a new company called Lamport, who produced the Kenga, another Famicom clone. Steepler by 1994 had sold a million Dendy consoles, with revenue of around $5,000,000, with the price dropping to around $35 per console.

August 1994 saw investment from Incombank, allowing Steepler to start up a joint business called Dendy, the first time the name had been used for a company and not just the product. Incombank would take 30% of the products. There were now three main Famicom clones on the market, Dendy, Kenga and the Bitman.

In November 1994, this new Dendy signed an agreement with Nintendo for exclusive rights to the SNES in Russia, part of the deal was that they were expressly forbidden from promoting Sega products in the territory. In return Dendy put in a clause that Nintendo had no claims on the Dendy console or the software on it, and Steepler would continue to promote and release them.

Steepler collapsed in 1996, but the subsidiary AOZT Dendy continued selling the console until 1998.

Modern Dendy consoles such as this one have no relation to the Steepler consoles, being manufactured in China.

This model has a 440 in 1 PCB in the second slot found under the main PCB, which is bypassed when a normal Famicom cartridge is inserted.

The case is jet black, and also contains a lightgun.

Manufacturer:
Date: 1998

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH62668. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.

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