Nintendo's marketing strategy has seen dramatic changes since its North American invasion in the mid-1980s. From cutesy cartoons, to cliched nerds in glasses, to Wii-waggling models in tight jeans, nowhere are these paradigm shifts more evident than in the company's television commercials.

Join us on a look back through the years of system selling and Mario marketing, starting in 1983 with a Game & Watch classic and moving up to the present. Check out Part 2 for the conclusion.

1983, Game & Watch
Neeentendo. Maaaarrayyo. Back when the soon-to-be-rolling-in-it Japanese import was pawning their DS prototypes, even the hired help had no idea how to pronounce this gaming crap.

With a higher pun-per-minute count than is now legal in the United States, I'm not sure this commercial for the handheld Game & Watch had its intended effect. And who the hell is Stanley, anyway?

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1985, Nintendo Entertainment System
With such an important launch, Nintendo had to make sure it covered all of its bases in every short TV spot.

Novelty robot--check.
"Incredibly accurate Zapper" that you'll use three inches from the screen--check.
Kung Fu--check, I guess.
Mario--missing?

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1987, The Legend of Zelda
When it was released in August of 1987, The Legend of Zelda was unlike any other videogame North American kids had seen. So how best to market the momentous title? They needed something that could get through to the youth of America. Something their potential customers could relate to. Something--what do the kids say these days? "Cool"?

This was the eventual product, a perfect harmony of wanton nerdiness and bad-ass rapping. It's totally bitchin'.

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1987, The Legend of Zelda
Reluctant to let the games speak for themselves, early Nintendo ad philosophy tended toward telling, rather than showing.

Desperate for someone, anyone to rescue their dreadful Zelda ad campaign, Nintendo turned to the only logical place--the local drug rehab center. This is who they dug up.

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1987, Metroid and Rad Racer
This is more like it. It's short, it's to the point. It's powerful, it's effective. It's got some kid jumping around in red boots.

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