The Big Picture: Depth of a Salesman

The Hungry Samurai

Hungry for Truth
Apr 1, 2004
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More than half of those covers sent me back in time to a place in the 80s where I remember exact content from those specific issues. I sat on the floor next to my R.O.B. the robot, reading walkthroughs of games I wanted but didn't have like duck tales and maniac mansion, and skipping over tons of ads to get to the latest Howard and Nester comics....

I didnt even know it was still in print, but I'm sad to see it go. It truly was a golden memory of my childhood.
 

Hoplon

Jabbering Fool
Mar 31, 2010
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Yeah, replace Nintendo power with Games Master and this is about my childhood.

Never did care for Nintendo though. but then the first games in our house where on the spectrum.
 

Mark B

New member
Nov 5, 2007
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Yeah so while I recognise most of the shows there as a kid in the UK growing up we couldn't buy these toys for the most part the fad was over by the time the merch arrived.

And for the record thats the first time I've heard about Nintendo Power.
 

seiler88

New member
Feb 22, 2011
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Yeah it will be a bit weird not seeing that magazine on the rack anymore.

Now seeing the bulk of the episode I must ask Bob if he has ever considered doing an in-depth look at these Media Watchdog/Moral Guardian groups for one of more episodes. I admit they have always seemed to spew out nothing but nonsense and I'm a conservitive Christian. I have wondered for a long time who these people are and if they even have kids.
 

IamLEAM1983

Neloth's got swag.
Aug 22, 2011
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Scrustle said:
Does it really matter that a show was created just to sell toys if the characters and narrative are compelling? I don't think so.
My sentiment exactly. I didn't watch the Transformers and think "Oshit, I need these toys so bad!", I watched the Transformers because I wanted to see what else the Autobots would end up doing. I never saw them as hunks of plastic waiting to be purchased, I saw them as characters.

Okay, so they're not as deep as King Lear or Rodian Raskolnikov, but they're still *characters*. Fictitious people we're made to care about. That's what matters most, I think.
 

Mark B

New member
Nov 5, 2007
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uanime5 said:
I hope that in future Bob will do some actual research rather than condemning everything written before the 1990's as being sexist and enforcing gender roles.
TBH I think Bob hates the 90's too, (Basic research and all that)
 

hentropy

New member
Feb 25, 2012
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Steve the Pocket said:
Interesting story about the FCC. I keep hearing (on forums where My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is discussed) that in the Liberal Paradise Known as Europe, it's illegal to have any advertising in kids' shows at all, or something. Which doesn't explain how networks that revolve around kids' programming stay in business, or what shows imported from the United States do with the extra eight to nine minutes per half hour, or for that matter why merchandise-driven shows like My Little Pony that apparently wouldn't have been legal in the US before Reagan are OK over there now. Perhaps some of our European viewers can enlighten me.
I'm not European but... public broadcasting. I look after kids pretty frequently and I typically have them watch that. I imagine in a lot of European countries TV stations and such are directly subsidized to play kid's shows. But year, Sesame Street doesn't have commercials.

Thing is, those programs are still pressured to be educational, and they also tend to be targeted towards a much younger crowd. A show like FIM is good despite being a pretty strong marketing push, but it can also teach lessons to an older crowd of kids without really be educational.

It's interesting how the deregulation of TV by Reagan in the 80s led to a bunch of things that were much more important in retrospect, such as the elimination of the fairness doctrine, which has made every hour of 24-hour news networks completely partisan opinion programming.
 

brazuca

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Jun 11, 2008
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Bob do you need to analyze everything from a cold perspective?! I LOVE this! You see Nintendo Power was not even special to USA there was an equal of Nintendo Power in Brazil, called Nintendo World, which migrated to internet only long ago: http://www.nintendoworld.com.br/
Everything Nintendo Power did was actually a carefull master plan by a huge corporation that profits billions (with a B). Some articles of the brazilian one were just translation. Do you want something cool about that business model of media. Most of the guys working there were intern on english/portuguese or jornalism. Yeah! Nintendo was soo cheap in the brazilian one that hiring intern was their solution to make more money.
 

faefrost

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Jun 2, 2010
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Funny thing about that de-regulation that led to that huge surge of childrens tv shows designed to sell kids stuff. That effect of it was really very transitory. It would make a good Big Picture episode to actually look at the various standards for tv programing for kids over the years. Starting with why kids cartoons were pretty much limited to Saturday morning before noon. and how it all evolved as a result of regulatory meddling.

But here's the weird thing about that de-regulation, and that wild west of animated toy pimps that it spawned. It was very very short lived. Look a little wider. There was some craziness for a few years in the 80's. Say 82 to 87-88. But then it all went away. It was self correcting market. As you saw with the Transformers movie, people and in particular kids didn't buy it. Don't forget shortly after that surge of kids shows selling little blogs of plastic, we suddenly started to see a new wave of what can best be described as quality shows. Stuff like Disneys afternoon wave of Ducktales and Tailspin and Darkwing Duck and Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers and Gummi Bears, etc etc. Shows like Fraggle Rock. And then the surge of things like Nickolodean, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. That same de-regulation that brought those massive toy commercials into existence just as quickly killed them off as the networks figured rather than wasting whole hours selling somebody else's product, they could actually sell their own, and get other people to pay them for commercials while doing it. Instead of the product being a He Man plastic toy. The product was now teh media company itself. Disney, Nik, etc. It's a model Sesame Street had been using since the 60's. And it is the same business model that Disney or any media company has long operated safely and successfully under.
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

Better Red than Dead
Aug 5, 2009
48,836
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I see what you did there with the title.

And...

*glances at Original Star Fox Nintendo Power inherited from my sister*

I have some memories with NP. I never subscribed but I think this was inevitable, what with the internet becoming the way to find cheat codes and game information. Still, goodbye friend. You were fun to read!
 

ritchards

Non-gamer in a gaming world
Nov 20, 2009
641
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Hmmm... NRA's Chris joins Nintendo... Nintendo stops print publication... COINCIDENCE????
 

XavierPrice

New member
Sep 14, 2009
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"[...] but I try to keep this show apolitical."

BWAHAHAHAHA! Ah~ oh... wait, you were serious about that? Hang on, let me laugh even harder.
 

daxterx2005

New member
Dec 19, 2009
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Im convinced if Rodimus Prime(Sp?) got the mouth guard when he replaced Optimus it would have gone over a little better.
Kids love the mouth guard.
 

sinsfire

New member
Nov 17, 2009
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I was really sad to hear about NP closing shop. True I haven't had a subscription since the N64 days but I remember the old editions that Bob scrolled through and there is a form of nostalgia.

Side note: I recognize a lot (probably too many) of those cartoons around 3:45 but I don't know all the names. Any chance we can get a list? I particularly want to know the one right at 4:00 between She-ra and Dinosaucers... anyone... anyone?
 

MowDownJoe

New member
Apr 8, 2009
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faefrost said:
Funny thing about that de-regulation that led to that huge surge of childrens tv shows designed to sell kids stuff. That effect of it was really very transitory. It would make a good Big Picture episode to actually look at the various standards for tv programing for kids over the years. Starting with why kids cartoons were pretty much limited to Saturday morning before noon. and how it all evolved as a result of regulatory meddling.

But here's the weird thing about that de-regulation, and that wild west of animated toy pimps that it spawned. It was very very short lived. Look a little wider. There was some craziness for a few years in the 80's. Say 82 to 87-88. But then it all went away. It was self correcting market. As you saw with the Transformers movie, people and in particular kids didn't buy it. Don't forget shortly after that surge of kids shows selling little blogs of plastic, we suddenly started to see a new wave of what can best be described as quality shows. Stuff like Disneys afternoon wave of Ducktales and Tailspin and Darkwing Duck and Chip and Dales Rescue Rangers and Gummi Bears, etc etc. Shows like Fraggle Rock. And then the surge of things like Nickolodean, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network. That same de-regulation that brought those massive toy commercials into existence just as quickly killed them off as the networks figured rather than wasting whole hours selling somebody else's product, they could actually sell their own, and get other people to pay them for commercials while doing it. Instead of the product being a He Man plastic toy. The product was now teh media company itself. Disney, Nik, etc. It's a model Sesame Street had been using since the 60's. And it is the same business model that Disney or any media company has long operated safely and successfully under.
I don't think those types of shows died out in the 80s like you suggested. I still remember Mighty Max (as crappy as it was) and Beast Wars: Transformers.