RETROSPECTIVE
A Console You’ve Never Heard of Kickstarted Gaming in the Middle East
Sakhr was the first (and last, so far) Middle Eastern video game console
Everyone remembers their first console. If you’re in your thirties or forties, you’re part of the first generation to have grown up with consoles, witnessing their evolution over time.
What was your first game console?
I do remember owning an Atari 2600; I have vague memories of playing it with my siblings and cousins. But the console that stands out the most in my memory was called Sakhr صخر. It represented the very best gaming memories from my childhood.
Sakhr was developed by the Kuwaiti Sakhr Software Company (CEO: Mohammed Al-Sharekh) in the 1980s. Sakhr was an Arabic version of the MSX computers developed by Microsoft for Eastern markets. Sakhr Software Company developed the Arabic Keyboard, which is still used today, as well as converted the Basic language to Arabic. There are many versions of Sakhr Computers. But the most popular version is AX170.
Even though Sakhr and MSX devices are classified as computers, one can argue that they were consoles; you connected them to a TV, they came with two cartridge-slots, one of which was for a game master, and one can connect two controllers to the system for two players. It was an incredible gaming console for the time.
Sakhr Software Company released multiple games for the Sakhr computer. Their focus was mainly on educational games, which ranged from English teaching games to trivia, math, and programming. They teamed up with Konami and other game developers from Japan to release some games in Arabic as well.
MSX and Sakhr Computers had a port to connect a data recorder device, which played cassettes. The cassettes contained video games or software. Games on tapes were cheaper than cartridges. I owned only…
