I’m from Lithuania, which was a part of the USSR until around 1990, one of the first countries to gain back independence. Gaming for us was virtually the same as in central Russia, except that console games - I had a system called ‘Zilithon’ - were almost all in English.

Later in my town they opened some games parlours - at first they were full of Sega consoles. Sonic was of course very popular and one of my personal favourites.

As time passed and daily life transformed all around me, they changed those Sega consoles into Sony PlayStations, complete with copies of ‘Red Alert’ which proved very popular in post-Soviet Lithuania. Only a few years ago there opened some PC cafes which became packed in only few days.

As for me personally - I used to play or mostly watch other kids playing these Sega games and then PS. Later in the mid-1990s at school they finally received some much needed funding to build a computer room. So as a result, myself and some other guys would play Quake 2 on Fridays until midnight.

One final thing - I didn’t actually see an original CD until I visited Germany. All the CDs in Lithuania were English or Russian copies.

EDITOR's NOTE: Browsing the internet revealed Ivolgamus, a Lithuanian-based developer. They've done a few licensed games and also, what appears to be, an original RPG title for the PSP called Fading Shadows, and an original PS2 RPG called Falling Stars, which has a rather interesting cel-shaded art-style. Most reviewers were a little harsh on it, but I'm rather intrigued.