Kudos, also referred to as Studio KUDOS, is a Russian translation studio[1] supposedly based in Moscow, which mostly published unofficial Russian translations of Sony PlayStation, PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast games, alongside unmodified versions.
As with many other unofficial Russian publishers, Kudos often published translations which were made by other translation teams specifically for them, usually in exchange for money. Kudos also had their own translator going by the pseudonym "Koteuz", also known as KZ. Moreover, Kudos ordered dubs for many games from GSC Game World, as was done for their 007: The World Is Not Enough release, in which the text was translated by Koteuz, and the dub was ordered from GSC Game World.
History[]
In the comany's early days in 2001, Kudos was primarily publishing Koteuz's translations. Games from this time period can be identified by their blue covers. After the company had gained a foothold in the market, Kudos began cooperating with another unofficial publisher named Red Station, with both companies merging soon after. During this period, previous Red Station's translations were republished under Kudos' name and some new ones were made. It's notable that Kudos was accused of stealing translations around this time, which were originally published by older companies, such as S.R.U. (aka Русские Версии, lit. "Russian Versions") and Golden Leon Interactive. For example, their release of 40 Winks used a translation that was alleged to be the translation created by the latter.
Starting sometime in 2004, Kudos ceased operating publicly due do the Russian government trying to crack down on video game piracy much more heavily. This lead to many unofficial teams deciding to shift to operating within legality, including GSC. Kudos, however, decided to continue work as an "unofficial" company. For this reason, none of their PlayStation 2 releases contained any mention of them, except for the in-game copyright notices where the studio is credited as "KZ". Their website (rusperevod.com) had also disappeared from their games' covers.
There is no exact information on when Kudos stopped releasing games due to the missing credits. According to the owner of Igrushek.net, one of the biggest internet CD and DVD shops that bought discs directly from Kudos and other unofficial companies, Koteuz left Kudos in 2004, and soon after most of the team left Kudos to establish their own unofficial company, Devil Soft. However, it is rumored that Kudos may had been returning to publishing games for the Mega Drive in the 2010s since some of the games also credit Kudos. It's unclear whether it's the same company or someone else working under the Kudos name.
In all years of them publishing disc-based games, Kudos' discs were professionally pressed with custom full color labeling, suggesting that they had access to a CD pressing plant.
Works[]
In addition to single, translated games, Kudos has also released multiple pirate game compilations for both the PSX and the Dreamcast. They included multiple titles (usually a whole series) on one disc, with one of the smallest ones including only 2 games, and the biggest including 9 games spread across 3 CDs.
Kudos also distributed modified games such as Raptors! Quake and Simpsons Doom II, which were both based on freeware from the internet, as well as developing some homebrew/pirate original games for the PS1. One notable such title is TetraSEX, a Tetris clone with erotic pictures and porn scenes, similar in concept to Twin Eagles Group's Sextris.
A product catalog of bandicoot.ru dated January 2005 (Microsoft Excel file) includes games for the Sega Dreamcast and the Sony PlayStation, including "official" games, translations, and compilations, for a total of 1017 items available for sale. The connection between Kudos and the bandicoot.ru website (see below) suggests that most (if not all) translations were done by the studio and distributed by (or through) the website until its closure. The catalog does not include their translations of PlayStation 2 games due to Kudos working in secrecy around that time, although they do exist; these releases usually contain a loader before the game with a language selection between English and Russian.
Websites[]
In 2001, Kudos owned (or was involved with) two gaming-related websites:
- rusperevod.com, the main website, which contained gaming news, reviews and demos as well as a forum. It was advertised on most releases before Kudos began operating in secrecy. The name roughly translates to "rustranslate.com", referring to the original purpose of the studio.
- kudosgames.com, a file hosting server that contained demos and videos linked on rusperevod.com.
Both websites launched in mid 2001 and went offline by mid 2005. They were also linked to another company (possibly a distributor), bandicoot.ru, which was a website advertised alongside rusperevod.com on later releases. It also went offline in late 2005.
Pirated releases[]
Dreamcast[]
- 18 Wheeler: American Pro Trucker
- 4x4 Evolution
- 90 Minutes: Sega Championship Football
- Airforce Delta
- Alien Front Online
- Alone in the Dark: The New Nightmare
- Aqua GT
- Armada
- Army Men Sarge's Heroes (Army Men: Sarge's Heroes)
- Bang! Gunship Elite
- Blaze MP3 Player (unofficial software)
- Blue Stinger
- Bomberman Online
- Border Down
- Bust-A-Move 4
- Caesars Palace Special Edition (Caesars Palace 2000: Millennium Gold Edition)
- Capcom vs. SNK 2 Millionaire Fighting 2001
- Carrier
- Championship Surfer
- Charge 'N Blast
- Chicken Run
- Coaster Works
- Confidential Mission
- Conflict Zone
- Crazy Taxi
- Crazy Taxi 2
- Cutthroat Island
- Daytona USA 2001
- Dead or Alive 2
- Death Crimson OX
- Deep Fighter
- Demolition Racer: No Exit
- Dino Crisis
- Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue
- Disney's Dinosaur
- Disney's Donald Duck Goin' Quackers (Disney's Donald Duck Quack Attack)
- Doom 2 (unofficial port; includes a Batman-themed WAD)
- Draconus Cult of the Wyrm
- Dragon Riders: Chronicles of Pern
- Ducati World Racing Challenge
- Dynamite Cop
- Ecco: Defender of the Future (Ecco the Dolphin: Defender of the Future)
- ECW Anarchy Rulz
- European Super League
- Evil Dead: Hail to the King
- Evil Twin: Cyprien's Chronicles
- Exhibition of Speed
- F1 Racing Championship
- F1 World Grand Prix II
- F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa (F355 Challenge)
- Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves
- Fighting Force 2
- Fighting Vipers 2
- Flag to Flag
- Floigan Bros. Episode 1
- Fur Fighters
- Gauntlet Legends
- Giga Wing 2
- Godzilla Generations Maximum Impact
- Grand Theft Auto 2
- Grandia II
- Gundam Side Story 0079 (Gundam Side Story 0079: Rise from the Ashes)
- Half-Life
- Headhunter
- Heavy Metal Geomatrix
- Hidden & Dangerous
- Ikaruga
- Illbleed
- Incoming
- Industrial Spy: Operation Espionage
- Iron Aces
- Kao the Kangaroo
- KISS Psycho Circus (KISS Psycho Circus: The Nightmare Child)
- Lack of Love (L.O.L.)
- Le Mans 24 Hour (Le Mans 24 Hours)
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver
- MagForce Racing
- Maken X
- Mars Matrix
- Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX
- Max Steel (Max Steel Covert Missions)
- Maximum Pool
- MDK 2
- Metropolis Street Racer
- Millennium Soldier: Expendable (Expendable)
- Monaco Grand Prix II (Monaco Grand Prix)
- Mortal Kombat Gold
- My Tennis Life (Boku no Tennis Jinsei)
- NBA 2K1
- NBA 2K2
- NBA 2Night (ESPN NBA 2Night)
- NBA Hoopz
- Neo Golden Logres
- NHL 2K
- NHL 2K2
- Omikron: The Nomad Soul
- Ooga Booga
- Outtrigger
- Phantasy Star Online
- Phantasy Star Online Ver. 2
- POD: Speedzone (POD 2)
- Prince of Persia: Arabian Nights
- Pro-Pinball Trilogy
- Project Submarine 6 (Ao no 6-go Saigetsufutai Hito: Time and Tide)
- Psychic Force 2012
- Quake (unofficial port)
- Quake III Arena
- Railroad Tycoon II
- Rayman 2: The Great Escape
- Re-Volt
- Ready to Rumble 2 Boxing Round 2 (Ready 2 Rumble Boxing Round 2)
- Record of Lodoss War
- Red Dog: Superior Firepower
- Redline Racer
- Reel Fishing: Wild
- Resident Evil 2
- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
- Resident Evil Code: Veronica
- Rez
- Roadsters
- Run=Dim as Black Soul
- Rune Caster
- San Francisco Rush 2049
- Sega Extreme Sports
- Sega GT
- Sega Marine Fishing
- Sega Rally 2
- Sega Worldwide Soccer 2000
- Seventh Cross Evolution
- Shenmue
- Shenmue II
- Silent Scope
- Skies of Arcadia
- Slave Zero
- Soldier of Fortune
- Sonic Adventure
- Sonic Adventure 2
- Sonic Gems Collection
- Sonic Mega Collection Plus
- Soul Fighter
- SoulCalibur
- Space Channel 5
- Spawn: In the Demon's Hand
- Spec Ops II: Omega Squad
- Speed Devils
- Speed Devils Online Racing
- Spider-Man
- Spirit of Speed 1937
- Sports Jam
- Star Gladiator 2: Nightmare of Bilstein (Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein)
- Star Wars Demolition
- Star Wars Episode I: Racer (Star Wars: Episode I Racer)
- StarLancer
- Stunt GP
- Stupid Invaders
- Super Magnetic Neo
- Surf Rocket Racers
- Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing
- Sword of the Berserk: Guts' Rage
- Taxi 2 (Taxi 2: Le Jeu)
- Tech Romancer
- Tennis 2K2 (Virtua Tennis 2)
- Test Drive 6
- Test Drive V-Rally 2: Expert Edition (V-Rally 2: Expert Edition)
- The Grinch
- The House of the Dead 2
- The Last Blade 2: Heart of the Samurai
- The Next Tetris: On-Line Edition
- The Ring: Terror's Realm
- Tokyo Xtreme Racer
- Tokyo Xtreme Racer 2
- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Rogue Spear
- Tomb Raider: Chronicles
- Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation
- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
- Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue! (Disney/Pixar's Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue!)
- TrickStyle
- UEFA Dream Soccer
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Unreal Tournament
- Vampire Chronicle for Matching Service
- Vanishing Point
- Vigilante 8: Second Offense
- Virtua Athlete 2K
- Virtua Fighter 3tb
- Virtua Fighter History/VF4
- Virtua Tennis
- Wild Metal
- Worms World Party
- WWF Attitude
- Zero Gunner 2
- Zombie Revenge
- Zusar Vasar
Dreamcast compilations[]
- 18 Wheeler & Test Drive 6
- Alienfront Online & Expendable: Millennium Soldier
- Crazy Taxi & Crazy Taxi 2
- Dead Or Alive 2 & Capcom vs SNK 2
- Death Crimson OX & The House of the Dead 2
- Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue & Kao the Kangaroo
- Doom II & Batman & Robin 3D (actually a Batman-themed WAD)
- ESPN NBA 2 Night & Sports Jam
- European Super League & NBA Hoopz
- Giga Wing & Mars Matrix
- Illbleed & Silent Scope
- Iron Aces & Deadly Skies
- POD: Speedzone & Surf Rocket Racers
- Quake & KISS Psycho Circus
- Quake 3 Arena & Unreal Tournament
- Quake 4 In 1
- Raptor Return & Raptor Quake 2
- Raptors! Quake & Heavy Metal Geomatrix
- Raptors! Quake & Heavy Metal: Geomatrix
- Raptors! Quake & Unreal Tournament
- Re-Volt & Aqua GT
- Spec Ops II: Omega Squad & Silent Scope
- Spirit of Speed & Vanishing Point
- Star Wars Demolition & Star Wars Episode I Racer
- Suzuki Alstare Extreme Racing & Ducati World Racing Challenge
- The Ring: Terror's Realm & Spec Ops II: Omega Squad
Alternative logos[]
Gallery[]
