Sony patent would interrupt gameplay to display ad
Weekend Confirmed 114 - Diablo 3, Max Payne 3, Lost Planet 3
New Zone of the Enders project underway
Carmageddon ploughing into GOG
Harry Potter for Kinect announced
Time Warp: Advertising in Videogame Magazines
by Alec Matias, May 26, 2005 11:51am PDTGuys, I have boxes and boxes filled with old videogame magazines dating back to the 80s. Instead of letting them rot away in my parents' attic, I decided to bring them home and share with you the nostalgic goodness packed inside. My first Time Warp article takes a look at the advertisements found within the magazines and how they have evolved over the years. Inside are giant scans of some classic ads, showing how they changed from graphical press releases to visual eyegrabbers with bullet point-style information. Read it all right here.
Now here is a very interesting yet very devious advertisement from 1995. At first glance, it doesn't look like an ad at all, right? In fact, it looks just like a preview. Check out the bottom right; there's the information box that basically every magazine uses. If it wasn't for that small piece of text at the top, we would have no idea one way or the other. This became a popular form of advertising that, in a sense, is still used today: tricking the readers into believing the ad is a part of the magazine's content.
Comments
http://zipper.ileet.net/turboduo.jpg
Go go Johnny Turbo!
(I can't afford a scanner and my camera sucks, oh well)
To be fair though, some of the more atrocious ads that you've showcased are what happens when a Japanese print advertisment is translated to Engrish. Its a cultural thing, I suppose. Japanese print ads tend to be WAY MORE verbose and explanatory then your average American ad. That Ultimate Fighter ad is a great example of this. American ads tend to invoke an emotion, with a prompt to action, whereas Japanese advertising appeals to more practical sensibilities by providing the reader with a wealth of information about the products and services being featured.
Also, another thing that's really refreshing about modern-day game advertising is that now the majority of the advertisers UNDERSTAND THE PRODUCT they're advertising. I'm quite grateful for that.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 6 replies.
Anyways... wasn't Nintendo Power not bloated with ads because the whole magazine was essentially a giant ad? Nothing was an actual review or analysis, it was all hype, tricks, hype, secrets, hype, cheats and some more hype.... wasn't it?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 3 replies.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.
"power of the dark is UNLEASED"
what, the darkness decided it liked its power enough to buy it out instead of trade it in after 3 years?
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 5 replies.
Keep 'em coming :D
Until *very* recently, I had a bunch of old issues of the Sega and NEC magazines. I might have an issue around here somewhere.
My favorite thing that I had until recently (and I hope I still have, but I think it may have gotten lost in my last move) is the original Atari VCS catalog. The descriptions are genius...for Tennis it says, "BALL HAS SHADOW!"
UltraGamePlayers4Life.
One for Battlecruiser 3000 that had a woman (Jo Guest?) sitting on a chair naked except for a bra and the box for the game between her legs.
One for another space shooter that had a pile of rotting skulls with a pilot sitting on it.
And another for Stars (a strategy game) that had the text 'No bullshit, just a fucking great game!'
Some of these were censored slightly if the magazine was aimed at a younger audience (underwear placed in the Battlecruiser ad, text censored on the Stars ad).
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6961629153&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT
This stuff is from 88-92 It's a real awesome find. I'll try to scan one before They get bought.
Still bought a gameboy though
You know what woule be nice too? Reposting of old articles about fads that never lived up to the hype, like predictions saying how would gaming change in 10 years.. we'd be all using 3DVR glasses, the joystick would be obsolete, that kind of stuff.
Thread Truncated. Click to see all 2 replies.