Revenge of the Classic Commercials

[Nester the Lark]

This is great! Here's another faux-'80s commercial, this one advertising the arcade version of Fix It Felix Jr.

[Fryguy64]

Haha, they captured the insanity of those commercials PERFECTLY!

[Nester the Lark]

Actually, here's one for Sugar Rush Speedway that's supposed to look like a commercial from the '90s:



And here's Hero's Duty. I assume it's trying to copy '00s or current style:

[Fryguy64]

OK, Hero's Duty ad did the duty/doody pun. I love it. When's Wreck-It Ralph in UK cinemas, dagnabbit!?

15th February?! God dammit!!

[Nester the Lark]

Remember when I posted this Japanese commercial a few years ago...



Apparently, there was a follow-up. They were made for the Japanese launch of the Game Boy.



I guess they were trying to emphasize its portability, but I'm still amused with the non-Japanese style. I heard that it was considered cool to have English or foreign text in Japanese games in the late '80s. Maybe this was just part of a trend?

Or they were tapping into that lucrative "young vagabond" market.

"Game Boy - Perfect for hitchhiking across the U.S.!"

[nocturnal YL]

If it's exotic, it's awesome. Late in the last century people were starting to open up to foreign cultures, yet don't understand them as much as they do today. I guess this applies not only to Japan?

As for the foreign text thing, I guess it's just a side effect of English being the de facto language between computer people. Naturally, those are used in games, and people started to associate English game language ("Press Start") with video games in general. Even now in 2014, we have games that say "PUSH A" in the title screen. Don't know why NOE translates those text, though.

[Nester the Lark]

Jan 24, 2014 23:37:53 GMT -5 nocturnal YL said:

If it's exotic, it's awesome. Late in the last century people were starting to open up to foreign cultures, yet don't understand them as much as they do today. I guess this applies not only to Japan?

Actually, kids in America today are exposed to so much more raw Japanese culture than I ever was in the '80s. When I was a kid, any anime shown on American television was heavily localized, sometimes even to the point of being unrecognizable. Science Team Ninja Gatchaman turned into Battle of the Planets, Beast King GoLion was altered into Voltron (with a completely unrelated anime, Armored Fleet Dairugger XV, being used for a second season).

Today, however, localized anime sticks pretty close to the original material, with characters keeping their Japanese names, eating Japanese food, and even referring to Japanese cities. Heck, even American animation, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, shows increasing Japanese influence.

I supposed it's a byproduct of the internet, but I think it's really cool.

[Nester the Lark]

This brings back memories.

In the mid '90s, Nintendo had these kiosks at department and toy stores that showed ads for various games. There was a large membrane pad in front with pictures of games on it, and you would press what game you wanted to see and it would show the ad to you. I used to love playing with those kiosks.

This video is a collection of some of those ads.



Most of the narration sounds like Cam Clarke.

[TV Eye]

May 6, 2014 13:05:28 GMT -5 Nester the Lark said:

In the mid '90s, Nintendo had these kiosks at department and toy stores that showed ads for various games. There was a large membrane pad in front with pictures of games on it, and you would press what game you wanted to see and it would show the ad to you. I used to love playing with those kiosks.

I actually remember those. They'd be at Best Buy and I think Circuit City too. I especially remember them in Best Buy because they'd be hooked up to some decent sized TV's and I'd hear that voice coming from somewhere in the store that I wanted to be in, ha.

Not that we could afford any of those games at the time

[Nester the Lark]

I remember seeing them in Walmart, Target, Kmart and Toys R Us. Hanging out in the electronics section of any of those places was like my natural habitat.

Man, Toys R Us used to be the place to buy video games in the '90s. I remember there were like three or four full aisles of video games, which was bigger than your average GameStop. There were demo units as well as promo videos (like the aforementioned kiosks), and I particularly remember this TG16 video from the early '90s:



And they didn't actually have the games on shelves or anything (unless they were in a bargain bin). Instead, there were laminated cards with the game box art on them, and you could flip them up and see the back of the box art on the other side. And below them were these pouches with paper slips, and you would take those slips up to the cash register and pay for the game. Then you would go to this "cage" where someone would give you the actual game. It sounds weird when I explain it, but it was awesome!

Today, everything is in glass cases, and you have to find an employee to unlock the case and get the game for you. Best Buy puts all their games in plastic containers. And GameStop is just a mess.

Toys R Us was also the first place I ever pre-ordered anything. It worked the same way, but you would put five dollars down and keep the slip and receipt until certain dates when you came back to pay for the rest of it and pick up the game. Come to think of it, I remember doing that as late as 2003.

Anyway, pardon the rambling. Just waxing nostalgic.

[nocturnal YL]

The Virtual Boy one is highly entertaining with all those exaggeration. And then there's the complete disregard of the seizure-inducing aspect of the ads.

Also, "King DayDAYday"? "Raioh"? That's some... interesting pronunciation there.

[TV Eye]

I never actually bought any games at Toys R Us. I did get a Gameboy Color at one though when those came out and I remember Tarzan being the first Gameboy Color game I ever bought, mainly because the animations of the opening cutscene blew me away.