8 Retro Videogame Ads You Won't Believe Are Real

[ffronw]

8 Retro Videogame Ads You Won't Believe Are Real

Video game advertising has changed a lot over the years, as these eight retro ads demonstrate.

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[Xan Krieger]

Spoiler: NSFW commercial

This thing came out in 2005, it's not exactly retro but it's still hard to believe this was made

 

[JSRevenge]

I had a Handy Boy for my Gameboy. I can't remember if I bought it on my own or if it was a gift. I remember enjoying it up until I left my entire Gameboy carrier on a chartered bus during a school trip.

 

[WindKnight]

well, I always remember this Zelda ad which was a major middle finger to a significant chunk of the fanbase:


did not go down well at the time at all.

 

[LordLundar]

Was anyone's Game Boy ever actually that tricked out?

Anyone who had the Handy Boy, yes. That was the whole idea behind it. Stereo speakers, magnifying lens, screen light, joystick and large button adapter all wrapped up in one package.

 

[Nazulu]

The 3DS needs a Handy Boy because the controls on that thing are shitacular. Imagine how much more comfortable it would be when playing Smash Brothers.

 

[FPLOON]

Spoiler: NSFW commercial

This thing came out in 2005, it's not exactly retro but it's still hard to believe this was made

Oh shit! I remember seeing that commercial on TV! Still hilarious as fuck!

OT: Those ads... There so bad...

Other than that, I feel like we kinda need those kinds of ads again... even though phone/TV companies are trying to do just that...

 

[Dalisclock]

The only thing I can think about the ferret thing is apparently they were trying to appeal to people who liked getting sucked off by small animals? Which only raises the question of why they thought this was a particularly large video-gaming demographic.

Also, the one saying that you're basically a dog if you play game boy over game gear is just really mean-spirited, especially since, as well all know, dogs primary form of entertainment involves eating disgusting things they find.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Never had the power glove. Kept hearing that it never really worked that well.

 

[Rad Party God]

While we're at it, I still can't belive this commercial existed at all. Just fucking try to advertise Yoshi's Woolly World like this.

 

[CrystalShadow]

The only thing I can think about the ferret thing is apparently they were trying to appeal to people who liked getting sucked off by small animals? Which only raises the question of why they thought this was a particularly large video-gaming demographic.

Also, the one saying that you're basically a dog if you play game boy over game gear is just really mean-spirited, especially since, as well all know, dogs primary form of entertainment involves eating disgusting things they find.

I remember that series of ads.

There were others. They all followed the pattern of 'more fun than...' The only ones I remember though are the ferret one, and 'more fun than a hole in the head' which had someone with short green hair and a miniature golf hole flag stuck in their head.

Those ads were weird.

The power-glove is just silly. I mean, firstly, technology wise it was way ahead of it's time.
We can do what it was trying to do properly now. (the wii is still a half-measure. Get a magnetic tracker or wait for something like steam's lighthouse and you'll get the idea)
The games at the time also had no useful purpose for 3 axis control of that kind, even assuming it worked.

And it just looks... Stupid doesn't it?

Gloves always seem to.
I backed a haptic feedback glove for VR recently on kickstarter.
Hopefully it delivers on it's promise at least a little, because touch is important.
But... It still looks absolutely stupid regardless.

 

[Dango]

Here's one of my personal favorites

Spoiler

 

[Dalisclock]

The power-glove is just silly. I mean, firstly, technology wise it was way ahead of it's time.
We can do what it was trying to do properly now. (the wii is still a half-measure. Get a magnetic tracker or wait for something like steam's lighthouse and you'll get the idea)
The games at the time also had no useful purpose for 3 axis control of that kind, even assuming it worked.

And it just looks... Stupid doesn't it?

Never had the power glove. Kept hearing that it never really worked that well.

What's wierd is that the Power Glove was far from the wierdest "controller" the NES tried(the power pad-thing and the robot come to mind) but the glove got a 2 hour hollywood commercial to show it off and that's why it's remembered.

Though none of them were as bad as the Virtual Boy, also known as the headache inducer that wasn't as portable as the game boy was. I tried that in a store once and had no interest in trying it ever again, let alone buying one.

 

[Ironman126]

Here's one of my personal favorites

Spoiler

This may be the single greatest advertisement I have ever seen in my life. The only thing in the same ballpark was the EDS "Cat Herding" commercial from way back.


In case you need a reference:

Spoiler

In case you are wondering.

 

[Smoketrail]

For all those wondering about the ferret ad... yeah that is in fact a thing over here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferret-legging

though nowadays it's brought up mainly as a joke.