I scanned a bunch of retro game ads that appeared in various comic books from the 1990's - back when I was obsessed with polybags, backing boards, variant covers and keeping things mint (good times!).
To advertise a game back then, you needed to:
- Use a pun or double-meaning; or
- Note the game's technical prowess
While modern ads today don't really do much of (1) anymore, we still see lots of (2), which is kinda sad. Ten years on, the market is still being driven by graphics, not gameplay. Oh well.
Looking back at these ads, I was surprised that:
- Some of the games even existed (i.e. never heard of them before)
- Some of the games look quite good (i.e. might be worth tracking down and trying)
- A lot of text to describe/explain the game
- Acclaim did a lot of comic book advertising, which might help explain why they ended up buying Valiant Comics (who owned Turok, Shadowman, etc.)
Anyway, check out the gallery at
Photobucket.
A disc that contains a saved replay that can be transferred onto your memory card and watched in Gran Turismo 3's Replay Theater mode. I assume that the replay (or replays) highlight the Autobacs Toyota 2000 Apex MR-S GT car - "assume" that is, because my PS2 no longer reads CDs :(
UPDATE: It's not a saved replay after all - it's a rolling demo.
Windows versions of Megadrive games Gunstar Heroes, Bare Knuckle 2 (Streets of Rage 2) and The Super Shinobi II (Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master) by Sega. They are basically ROMs embedded inside a Sega-authored MD emulator. A bit disappointing as I was hoping for a true PC conversion. As far as the emulation goes, I didn't notice anything wonky. There's a graphics-smoothing option and it has support for save-states, but any MD emulator available on the Net has far more functionality.
This is one of Uniqlo's t-shirts from their Pac-Man 30th Anniversary collection. The design isn't that great, but I bought it because there's a screenshot of Pac-Man's kill screen on the front.
I picked up Devilish on the DS having mistakened it for Devil Crush.
Suffice to say, I was very disappointed. I got it effectively for free (using my points card and it was only 500 yen), but I've learned my lesson - read the box properly next time!
I couldn't afford the special edition Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days DSi, so I bought the Hori protective case instead. Note that the correct way to pronounce it is "Kingdom Hearts Three-Five-Eight Days Over Two" - which still doesn't make any sense. Got the Gyakuten Kenji strap from a gashapon machine for 200 yen.
Buy Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days at Play-Asia!
This DVD-Video edits the gameplay and cutscenes from Shin Onimusha Dawn of Dreams (AKA Onimusha 4) together into a 2-hour film. The disc contains the film, additional trailers and selections from the soundtrack. The bonus disc is a PS2 CD containing one maxed-out save file for the game. At 311KB, an entire disc for just a save file seems like such a waste. Capcom make a habit out of making these machinima game-films, with Okami, Resident Evil 4 and others also available. No English, unfortunately.
You can buy it from Play-Asia!
Seaman 2 for PS2 has a custom controller that comes with a built-in mic - the rather long thing in the middle of it. I picked this up from a junk bin for 315 yen ($4) because it was USB and thus XP compatible. I'd been looking for a controller with a three-buttons-across layout suitable for my Megadrive/Saturn emulation needs and this controller works smashingly. You can remove the mic as well to make it less phallic.
Me wearing one of the two Tekken t-shirts from Uniqlo's Japan Game collection. I like this one because it's rather understated. You wouldn't know it was a video game shirt unless you were told otherwise - which makes you less geeky with the girls.
This is the special edition version of Pachislot Hokuto no Ken Special Edition for PS2, released only in Japan. The SE comes packaged in a record-style book case, a bonus DVD containing a playthrough of the game, and a book featuring artwork and notes. Why a slot machine game needs a special edition is beyond me, but since I picked it up for 100 yen ($1), my curiosity has been satisfied.
Game Melody Oratorio and The Blackjack of Haruhi Suzumiya are featured in Nintendo DSi Kaiteki Ura Manual, a Japanese book/magazine ("mook") about flash carts, homebrew and related items for the DSi. Nice to see that I'm good enough to print!
Haven't seen any new ones lately on the web, so I took a few.
An Xbox and a Pippin side by side, like ebony and ivory.
The white Pippin gently mounts the black Xbox in what can only be described as "digital jungle fever."
Controllers side by side. Note the trackball and the button colors, which have been flipped and reversed.
Mario finds himself in Giant World once again.
Kirby is two pink puyo away from ceasing to exist.
