Velikij Drakon
 |
|
| Editor | Valery Polyakov |
|---|---|
| Categories | Video games |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| Publisher | Video-Ace |
| Founder |
AST publishing house Russian: Издательство АСТ |
| First issue | 1993–1995 (as Video-Ace Dendy) 1995–2004 (as Velikiy Drakon) |
| Final issue — Number |
Nov. 2003 65 |
| Company | KAMOTO |
| Country | Russia |
| Language | Russian |
| Website |
http://www.greatdragon.ru/ http://www.gdragon.ru/ (defunct) |
| ISSN | 0868-5967 |
Velikiy Drakon (Russian: Великий Дракон, lit. "Great Dragon", also G.Dragon) is a defunct Russian video game magazine initially launched as Video-Ace Dendy (Russian: Видео-Асс Dendy) in 1993. The magazine was Russia's first wholly video-game-oriented magazine, and it was launched in order to meet the needs of Russian gamers, the majority of whom were just beginning to experience home console games as a medium as a result of the 1992 introduction of the Dendy home console. Aimed at young gamers, and characterized by its raw and artless coverage of illegal pirate games alongside legitimate (or at least legally grey) import games,Video-Ace Dendy covered all console systems that had penetrated into the Russian market until mid-1995, when the magazine split to form Velikiy Drakon which would cover only 16-bit and more advanced consoles. Video-Ace Dendy was phased out of publication within a year. As Velikiy Drakon, the magazine improved production quality greatly by outsourcing printing to Finland, and it survived until 2004 when the parent company folded under pressure from competitors including Strana Igr. Several former writers for Velikiy Drakon took up work with Strana Igr, and a small number of them helped found a fan-based production, GDD: Great Dragon's Dale, which produced a handful of issues before going defunct in late 2010.
The launch of Video-Ace Dendy in 1993 came at a time when Russian markets were for the first time experiencing video game sales similar to those experienced by Western countries in the post-1983 video game revival. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent raise of capitalism, Chinese manufacturers brought the Dendy home console (an unlicensed Nintendo Entertainment System hardware clone) to Russian gamers and before long sales were reaching 100,000 units per month. In this economic climate, conditions were just right for the emergence of video game journalism and the first 24-page issue of Video-Ace Dendy would mark Russia's first foray into magazines devoted solely to video games and video game culture.
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