First Sega Genesis TV commercial

handygrafx · 12/03/2006, 08:50 PM

similar in theme to one of the earilest TG16 commercials, bashing the boring old NES games, although without ever mentioning Nintendo. you just see bored to death-kids at stone TVs playing NES

this has got to be the first Genesis commercial for the U.S., before the dozens "Sega Scream" ads of years later, and even before the 'Genesis Does What Nintendon't' commercials of 1990

The introduction to the Genesis, 1989:

Kakizaki · 12/03/2006, 10:24 PM

Thanks for the link. That really brings back memories.

T2KFreeker · 12/03/2006, 11:12 PM

Damn, I feel old man. I remember that commercial from WAAAAAYYYYYYY back. Crazy. Now I need to find some old Master System commercails.

TR0N · 12/03/2006, 11:20 PM

Quote from: T2KFreeker on 12/03/2006, 11:12 PMDamn, I feel old man. I remember that commercial from WAAAAAYYYYYYY back. Crazy. Now I need to find some old Master System commercails.

http://gameads.gamepressure.com/tv_games_commercials.asp?S=17

Seems like a lot of ppl these days are down loading, adds from gamepressure and putting them on youtube.

Joe Redifer · 12/04/2006, 12:17 AM

Am I the only one who finds the audio almost completely muffled and overly quite? Or is that considered acceptable? Dude should have at least made an attempt to fix it before he uploaded it to Youtube.

Dark Fact · 12/04/2006, 01:37 AM

I think the muffled audio had more to do with the age of the material and the tapes it was recorded off of back then. Most 80's ads I found online had this similar problem. I even saw plenty of it happening at X-Entertainment.

Keranu · 12/04/2006, 03:01 AM

Nice commericial, thanks!

handygrafx · 12/04/2006, 03:39 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 12/04/2006, 12:17 AMAm I the only one who finds the audio almost completely muffled and overly quite? Or is that considered acceptable? Dude should have at least made an attempt to fix it before he uploaded it to Youtube.

he said it was a 2nd generation VHS tape. very understandable given the times, before digital recordings were possible for the masses.

TurboXray · 12/04/2006, 07:40 PM

WTH? Why do the games in the commercial look like they're in wide screen!?

Joe Redifer · 12/04/2006, 08:50 PM

Because they cropped them that way.

Seldane · 12/05/2006, 12:20 PM

Damn! That's really good advertising! That scene where he played some flying simulator actually impressed me! A lot! Too bad it wasn't that cool in reality.

esteban · 12/05/2006, 01:11 PM

I don't remember the beginning of that commercial being so long. They must have aired a shortened version that quickly cut to the action-packed gameplay footage. Either way, it really makes the games look impressive. Also, I wish Tommy Lasorda had endorsed a TG-16 baseball game!

Since we're on the topic, I love this instructional video. I especially love when the kid with the standard genesis controller gets frustrated because pressing a button on a pad isn't as fast as flapping your arms over an infrared beam! Genesis does what Wiidon't. Anyway, those of you who were paying attention might have noticed that Best of the Best was shown in some of the footage. It was the "sequel" (of sorts) to Andre Panza's Kickboxing! That alone is reason to get the Activator, which I will get one of these days. I already own Best of the Best

(or whatever the heck that game was called).

Keranu · 12/05/2006, 01:55 PM

Quote from: stevek666 on 12/05/2006, 01:11 PMSince we're on the topic, I love this instructional video. I especially love when the kid with the standard genesis controller gets frustrated because pressing a button on a pad isn't as fast as flapping your arms over an infrared beam! Genesis does what Wiidon't.

I've only watched some seconds of this ad so far, but it looks very cool

. Just for the record, the Activator is one of the most annoying ways to play games! Though I think it is possible to beat a game like Sonic with it if you trained hard enough; this is a feat that I wouldn't mind accomplishing some day.

Also about "finding your thumbs" and using them on your controller. I typically don't push buttons on a Genesis pad with my thumb, I usually use my three middle fingers. Usually for games like Sonic that only have one button I will use my thumb but for anything else, especially tapping shooters and fighting games, I use my three fingers at once. It's easier to access the buttons for me and it's also a helluva lot faster to tap ;) .

Quote from: SteveAnyway, those of you who were paying attention might have noticed that Best of the Best was shown in some of the footage. It was the "sequel" (of sorts) to Andre Panza's Kickboxing! That alone is reason to get the Activator, which I will get one of these days. I already own Best of the Best (or whatever the heck that game was called).

Does that Best of the Best game have anything to do with that sweet 80's movie starring Chris Penn?

Joe Redifer · 12/05/2006, 09:18 PM

I want to see someone play through the following games with an Activator:

Super Hang-On
Thunder Force IV
Marble Madness
Phantasy Star (via the Power Base Converter)

I usually use my thumbs unless the buttons need to be pressed in an extremely rapid motion, then the fingers come up and they tap so fast that the earth starts to spin backwards and time reverses!

esteban · 12/07/2006, 05:01 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 12/05/2006, 01:55 PMDoes that Best of the Best game have anything to do with that sweet 80's movie starring Chris Penn?

I know! That is the first thing that crossed my mind as well. No, the movie and the game are unrelated. Unlike the video game, though, I enjoyed the movie

.

Keranu · 12/07/2006, 06:32 PM

Quote from: stevek666 on 12/07/2006, 05:01 PM
Quote from: Keranu on 12/05/2006, 01:55 PMDoes that Best of the Best game have anything to do with that sweet 80's movie starring Chris Penn?
I know! That is the first thing that crossed my mind as well. No, the movie and the game are unrelated. Unlike the video game, though, I enjoyed the movie .

Ahh, too bad!

esteban · 12/07/2006, 11:05 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 12/05/2006, 09:18 PMI want to see someone play through the following games with an Activator:

Super Hang-On
Thunder Force IV
Marble Madness
Phantasy Star (via the Power Base Converter)

I usually use my thumbs unless the buttons need to be pressed in an extremely rapid motion, then the fingers come up and they tap so fast that the earth starts to spin backwards and time reverses!

Seriously, I'd love to see folks play any game with the Activator

. I always use my thumbs on controllers / pads... but if I need to hit the button rapidly (i.e. shooters), I use the base of my thumb. I'm sure other folks do this as well, but I've never met anyone who did it.

CrackTiger · 12/08/2006, 06:24 PM

I always wondered how thumby's managed to play Super Mario Bros games. I mean, do you like roll your sideways thumb back and forth to run and jump or do you guys just walk through button combo games?

I normally use two fingers to play challenging games, so I can hold down the run button in SMB and then jump whenever I feel like it or time perfect head slams in Bonk without moving my thumb all over the pad.

But when I'm sleepy or lazy I just use my thumb.

esteban · 12/10/2006, 09:46 AM

Quote from: guest on 12/08/2006, 06:24 PMI always wondered how thumby's managed to play Super Mario Bros games. I mean, do you like roll your sideways thumb back and forth to run and jump or do you guys just walk through button combo games?

I normally use two fingers to play challenging games, so I can hold down the run button in SMB and then jump whenever I feel like it or time perfect head slams in Bonk without moving my thumb all over the pad.

But when I'm sleepy or lazy I just use my thumb.

You're referring to SMB / Adventure Island / Wonderboy 1 / JJ & Jeff platformers?

I should take a picture (maybe I will!), but the top-half of my thumb rests on the B / II button. Whenever I need to hit A/I, I use the middle of my thumb (where the crease is on the underside). It is incredibly comfortable and I don't find it awkward like the multi-finger method. Sometimes my thumb is nearly horizontal, but it shifts depending on the gameplay.

I love Wonderboy 1 & company, and now that I think about it, my method for holding the controller was borne from playing them.

Also: We've discussed our preferences for controllers in other threads, yet it never occurred to me that the manner in which we hold the controllers was such an important consideration.

Joe Redifer · 12/10/2006, 07:41 PM

I've never really understood why games like this require you to hold a button down for speed. When playing these games, at no time do I ever NOT press the button and run slow, thus rendering the speed button useless if the game just ran that fast on its own. My guess is that the developers are retards.

TribbleOutcast · 12/10/2006, 08:24 PM

I remember this commercial from back in the day: http://tinyurl.com/yh5u3w

Keranu · 12/10/2006, 08:33 PM

Quote from: Joe Redifer on 12/10/2006, 07:41 PMI've never really understood why games like this require you to hold a button down for speed. When playing these games, at no time do I ever NOT press the button and run slow, thus rendering the speed button useless if the game just ran that fast on its own. My guess is that the developers are retards.

From my experience I have learned that can't keep running in Super Mario Bros. because certain points of levels require special jumps and if you go too fast, you're gonna fall and die. It is very wise to make sure you know when to slow down in a game like Mario.

esteban · 12/10/2006, 09:28 PM

Quote from: Keranu on 12/10/2006, 08:33 PM
Quote from: Joe Redifer on 12/10/2006, 07:41 PMI've never really understood why games like this require you to hold a button down for speed. When playing these games, at no time do I ever NOT press the button and run slow, thus rendering the speed button useless if the game just ran that fast on its own. My guess is that the developers are retards.
From my experience I have learned that can't keep running in Super Mario Bros. because certain points of levels require special jumps and if you go too fast, you're gonna fall and die. It is very wise to make sure you know when to slow down in a game like Mario.

Yeah, sometimes, to get on those eeensie-weeeensie platforms, you've got to slow down. And b+a = super-jump, which you don't always want. That said, I've seen awesome videos where folks rarely slow down (i.e. speed trials).