Dendy nostalgia is back: retro cartridge sales are rising in Russia

Remember blowing into a cartridge to make it work? Turns out plenty of Russians do, and some are buying them again.

Sales of game cartridges for 1980s and 1990s consoles, including NES, Famicom and Dendy, grew by 10% on Avito (Russia's largest online classifieds platform) in the third quarter of 2026. That is the comparison with the second quarter of the same year.

For many people in Russia, the 8-bit era means one name: Dendy. The console, a clone of Japan's Famicom, went on sale in Russia in December 1992, when Steepler began selling it. It quickly became a defining part of 1990s childhood.

Now those little plastic cartridges are finding new owners. Whether it is nostalgia, collecting or a wish to show old games to kids, the numbers suggest the 8-bit boom is far from over.