If you live in North Korea and wanted a chance to play video games, good news. North Korea now has an official video game console called the Moranbong. Or you can have all the emotional maturity of the author of this article and call it the Moron Bong. Your choice.
Sharing a name with the Moranbong Band, a North Korean all-female pop group, we don't actually have that many details on the console. It was originally revealed on September 9th through Arirang Meari, a North Korean state-owned propaganda website. As far as we can tell, the console appears to mostly be a Kinect-styled camera and a pair of remotes that look a lot like Wiimotes. One game also makes use of a floor mat for players to jog on.
So what kind of games can you play on the Moranbong? Well this too is rather mysterious. There's a few screenshots that we can at least get a peek at. At the very least we know there is a table tennis game, showing a kid swinging his arm to play in the game. There's also a track game, showing someone running on the aforementioned mat. A third picture shows an animated child playing on the piano and what appears to be characters from the North Korean cartoon series Clever Raccoon Dog. Apparently the console also features shooting games and educational apps, but we don't get a chance to see either of these. I'd love to see what a North Korean shooter would look like though.
It's safe to say the Moranbong will likely never be coming to the United States, at least not officially. It may become a weird novelty item down the line though.
Are you in the market for a Moranbong? Interested in checking it out just as a novelty thing? Think there are any other fascists that could make a console that will trump the Moranbong? Let us know in the comments below!
