Falcon_BlizZACK Posted July 28, 2016 Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) I was just thinking back to the powerful and 'mature' promotion of the N64 - I was actually reminiscing with an old American advert I can find which went something like: [group of guys] "Can you play that on PlayStation? Nope, only on N64 haaaaa!" I feel this was the golden age of Nintendo's marketing strategy and wanted to see what stands out the most for you guys and gals. Don't think we ever see a Nintendo box marketed with renown killer aiming a pistol at prospective consumers... Edited July 28, 2016 by King_V
Helmsly Posted July 28, 2016 Posted July 28, 2016 (edited) I liked the Rik Mayall Nintendo commercials from the early 90's I was never a fan of the N64 commercials though, a lot of them were pretty bad from what I remember. Such as the Mario Kart 64 ad had guys arguing over parking spaces...or something and the Zelda OoT ad had to be changed because of complaints over sexism, as it had the line ""Willst thou get the girl? Or play like one?" in it. Edited July 28, 2016 by Helmsly
nekunando Posted July 28, 2016 Posted July 28, 2016 The Gamecube adverts are the ones that have stuck with me! I actually thought they were pretty decent
Falcon_BlizZACK Posted July 28, 2016 Author Posted July 28, 2016 @Helmsly I think the classic offensive and insensitive tone was brilliant for driving even more street cred.
Guy Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 Outside of Japan's many insane offerings, Mayall's stuff occupies the very top tier of Nintendo adverts for me. I was way too young to acknowledge them at the time though, don't remember seeing a single one on TV, but for a Mayall and Nintendo fan they're the perfect mix of weird, wacky and undiluted cringe. Outside of those, there was once a Resident Evil 2 ad in magazines with this field of sunflowers, proclaiming how the sun had his hat on, hip-hip-hip-hooray and that RE2 was out on N64 that day. Always thought it was super weird and neat. I also love the Smash Bros advert where they're all skipping through the field, one trips the other over and they all just start brawling. Then there's the legendary Ocarina of Time ad... Looking at it now... it's bad, the "play like a girl" material is terrible and the text is all garbage, but watching it now takes me right back our living room the first time I saw it and being completely blown away.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 Still one of my favourites. I personally love the controversial line. Loved it back then and love it now. Screw the PC attitude. One of the best in recent times is Metroid Other M. There aren't many Nintendo franchises that have a serious tone, so seeing the advert being handled with care and attention was quite surprising.
Kav Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 I absolutely agree with @Hero\-of\-Time For the selling to the masses, I must admit the Wii and DS adverts with the celebs were good.
Glen-i Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 (edited) For the selling to the masses, I must admit the Wii and DS adverts with the celebs were good. This is 100% fact. It may have been incredibly cringeworthy, but no-one can deny that those adverts did their job. I always struggle to believe that any of them actually play games... I have a soft spot for the "So bad, it's good" ad though. And Ninty did more than a few of those. The Link to the Past Japanese advert is far more memorable than all of the celebrity Wii/DS adverts combined. You gotta admit, they're pretty damn good! Why do I remember them doing another rap advert for Link Between Worlds? Could someone check that for me? I don't have time right now. EDIT: Oh, and here's one of my favourites. If only because it's all sorts of "WTF?" Edited July 29, 2016 by Glen-i
Kav Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 If they want the NX to sell they're going to have to get celebs to advertise it again. For arguments sake: Ant & Dec. Dec is sat at home gaming on the TV, on NX. Ant pops in and mentions some TV show they need to go do, so Dec gets his MX together and takes it with him, gaming on the way. Then vice-versa. One of them is out, playing on the NX as a handheld, they arrive home, hook it up to the TV and carry on gaming. All it needs is something as simple as that.
Ashley Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 Still one of my favourites. I personally love the controversial line. Loved it back then and love it now. Screw the PC attitude. Putting aside the "PC" issue, even at that point a considerable chunk of their audience was female so they were insulting their own audience. And for those looking to cheat, I did once put together a collection of launch adverts (or best I could find) for each of Nintendo's consoles for each of the three regions: http://n-europe.com/features/what-happens-nx-3-launch/what-happens-nx3-launch-page-2
Shorty Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 This is a trailer that came out at E3 and I don't think it was used in a TV commercial, so sorry to blur the line but to keep it on topic, at the very least it is re-using the music posted above. I have to post it because it must be one of my most rewatched trailers of all time. We hadn't had a new Zelda for some time and I was sold by every facet of this game immediately. Watching this brings back dem feels, dat anticipation.
Hero-of-Time Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 Putting aside the "PC" issue, even at that point a considerable chunk of their audience was female so they were insulting their own audience. Indeed. Sadly the advert got edited because of the outcry. Shame. Another recent one that I think is great is the Pokemon Go advert. That stampede of people trying to catch Mewtwo would probably happen.
Fierce_LiNk Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 The Gamecube adverts are the ones that have stuck with me! I actually thought they were pretty decent That's the first one that sprung to mind. It's probably the most memorable one for me. There was a pretty decent Mario Strikers Wii advert with Ian Wright that I quite enjoyed!
Falcon_BlizZACK Posted July 29, 2016 Author Posted July 29, 2016 Still one of my favourites. I personally love the controversial line. Loved it back then and love it now. Screw the PC attitude. . Hilarious, and I understand your sentiment but agree with Ashley in that insulting a portion of your consumers is just very toxic.
Aperson Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 I remember an ad for the Game Boy Colour back in the late 90s where a guy took an N64 "miles away from home" while it was still plugged in to the main socket in his house with an extension lead and tried to get it to work in the middle of a field, only for it to be unplugged back home for his mother to plug in the hoover instead. Unfortuantely that ad doesn't seem to be on Youtube anywhere. The idea being that instead of doing that, buy a Game Boy Colour instead, even though the GBC wasn't as powerful as the N64 by any stretch of imagination.
darksnowman Posted July 29, 2016 Posted July 29, 2016 Screw the PC attitude. Those pesky PC gamers! (I thought it was amazing to see Zelda advertised on TV. I was so hyped for Santa to deliver it!) And: LET'S SEE THAT AGAIN. Cringe.
Ashley Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 And: LET'S SEE THAT AGAIN. Cringe. Oh Scott Adsit. You're better than this.
Dufniall Posted July 30, 2016 Posted July 30, 2016 Didyouknowgaming has a nice vid about the SNES, and why they changed to a more aggressive way of marketing due to SEGA being a bully: Starts from around 3:20. And I always liked the Golden Sun commercial! And just found out that there is an extended version: And it's great that they put the Chandelier Dragon in Dark Dawn.
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