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Wednesday, January 19, 2011

10 Classic Video Game Commercials


Posted by Rich Shievener

Mario3.jpg
Super Mario Bros. 3 joined the UN in '90.

And the nostalgia begins! Back in the day, Nintendo, SEGA and others hit the TV markets hard with clever adverts aimed at young kids who already loved Super Mario Bros., Street Fighter II and something called SEGA CD (ahem). 

We thought it would be fun to revisit some of these masterpieces of marketing to see how far companies like Nintendo have come.

Our list begins, though, with a little love for Atari and Pac-Man.



10) Ms. Pac-Man


This woman was not only kicking more ghost ass than her hubby, she was also apparently Broadway bound, or something like that. "Don'tcha know? I'm more than Pac-Man with a bow!"

9) Dr. Mario


Now it's stuck in your head - get over it. Yes, Nintendo went a little overboard pushing this Tetris-y game out to the masses, but that's not to say this is ridiculous. Unless you factor in that kid's scat solo.

8) Super Mario Bros. 3


Most of us joined the Mario cult (shown here) when this dropped stateside in 1990. In terms of this commercial, it's interesting because it lacks a gameplay clip, and instead hypes Mario's popularity. Wallets were drained immediately.

7) Legend of Zelda
 

See? No game clips in this Japanese ad. That's okay, though, because we're watching the awesomest Nintendo rap ever. Seriously, it's 30 seconds away from being a music video.

6) Sonic the Hedgehog 2


Ah, an early sign of viral marketing. Mom grated cheese with this, and my wiener dog had a copy, too.

5) Street Fighter II


Capcom likely had to toughen up its adverts when Mortal Kombat started ripping heads off in '92. Why not just throw Blanka in the ring with Raiden?

4) Mortal Kombat


Creepy. Something about this. Is Creepy. It's the menacing kid and his sense of anarchy. Parents beware (maybe).

3) Game Genie

Hyping the hackers' delight of video games, it's an obvious homage to Bill and Ted, dudes, championing the lazy. And the stoned?

2) Doom



We're taking you to hell with the Jaguar. This console
pretty much only had Doom to count on for sales, hence the reason for
creating this shadowy commercial.

1) SEGA CD
 

You heard it: Sega! Sega CD's Samuel L. Jackson carbon copy scared us into rigging our Genesis with this short-lived add-on. Here's another, except it's not as twisted.
















Comments


Brian said:
How could you possibly miss this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwLdhygtbYs

To this day ... whenever I think of Zelda, this commercial comes to mind.

Posted 01/17/2011 at 08:05:50 PM



VeenReen said:
OK this makes a lot of sense dude.

www.anon-tools.edu.tc

Posted 01/17/2011 at 08:14:57 PM



Games On PlayStation 3 said:
Wow, the old SEGA! yell, how i missed it.

Posted 01/17/2011 at 09:20:05 PM


Kevin said:

That original MK commercial brings back some great memories

Posted 01/17/2011 at 09:54:14 PM


Mark said:
Where the hell is the Mario RPG commercial with the insane old man?

Posted 01/17/2011 at 09:57:47 PM



Rich said:
Yum: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNtuK4CU3ko&feature=related

Posted 01/18/2011 at 09:23:50 AM



Zoss said:
@Brian: That is a great one. That commercial still pops up in my head every now and again as well.

Posted 01/18/2011 at 09:24:00 AM


Adam said:

Is that Don Pardo doing the announcing on the Ms. Pac Man commercial?

Posted 01/18/2011 at 05:45:26 PM


Kevin said:
That original MK commercial brings back some great memories

Posted 01/19/2011 at 02:20:00 AM



Mark said:
Where the hell is the Mario RPG commercial with the insane old man?

Posted 01/19/2011 at 02:24:04 AM







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