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  1. Retro Gaming Ads Blast – Part 45

    Welcome back readers, fellow geeks and electronic gaming fans!

    In this edition of the Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) series, we will take a look at another batch of retro gaming print ads from the 1980s to the 1990s.

    For the newcomers reading this, Retro Gaming Ads Blast (RGAB) looks back at the many print ads of games (console, arcade, computer and handheld) that were published in comic books, magazines, flyers, posters and newspapers long before smartphones, social media, the worldwide web and streaming became popular. To put things in perspective, people back in the 1980s to the 1990s were more trusting of print media for information and images about electronic games and related products.

    With those details laid down, here is the newest batch of retro gaming print ads for you to see and enjoy…

    1. Tron Arcade Flyer

    The front. The rear. The details were clearly written for arcade operators.

    Remember how dazzling the 1982 movie Tron was when you first saw it? That film had groundbreaking computer-generated graphics and the filmmakers worked very hard to tell a story covering both the real and digital worlds. Along the way, the movie had strong video game vibes which resonated with gamers at a time when arcade gaming was wildly popular in America. Believe it or not, an official arcade game of Tron was released the same year as the movie and it was a massive success. The arcade flyer perfectly captured the vibe and look from the movie and the machine itself had a control stick the same with what was shown to viewers. This old flyer is still great to look at.

    2. Green Beret Japanese Arcade Flyer

    This is a very stylish flyer.

    Konami was a highly prolific game publisher in the 1980s and it had lots of games that became huge blockbusters. During the decade, their game developers were strongly influenced by both Hollywood action movies and the Cold War. In 1985, Konami released the militaristic game Green Beret in Japanese arcades and to promote it, they created an arcade flyer featuring a very stylish artwork highlighting military images of soldiers (including a guy smoking) and warfare. This ad still looks great and it was not surprising it helped the game achieve huge commercial success. Green Beret was released in America as Rush’n Attack.

    3. Darius Japanese And North American Arcade Flyers

    The Japanese flyer. The North American flyer.

    Released in arcades worldwide in 1987, Darius is a 2D side-scrolling shooter game from Taito which had a science fiction concept of the starship Silver Hawk (piloted by players) which sets on a mission to destroy an evil empire before it could destroy the world called Darius. The game was successful, most notably in Japan and it eventually led to sequels being released later. What I find intriguing is how the arcade game was promoted in Japan and in North America. The Japanese arcade flyer had this intriguing artwork that reflected a blend of sci-fi with a touch of horror. The North American flyer had a strong sci-fi touch with a male and female model wearing costumes (that made them look futuristic) standing beside the Darius machine. Which flyer looks more appealing to you?

    4. Data East’s Arcade Alley Print Ad

    Fun and excitement emphasized in this print ad.

    There is nothing like porting arcade hits to computer systems for gamers to enjoy. In 1988 there in Europe, U.S. Gold released Data East’s Arcade Alley for computer systems and it included ports of popular Data East games like Kung Fu Master, Express Raider, Breakthru, Tag Team Wrestling, Last Mission and Karate Champ. U.S. Gold’s print ad showed a guy in the middle of a video arcade looking on both sides to pick which game to play which strongly emphasized the essence of the game collection (offered in cassettes and disk). This old ad is still amusing to look at.

    5. Blasteroids European Print Ad

    Blasteroids for the Europeans.

    Blasteroids, the third entry in Atari’s popular Asteroids games series, was released in European arcades by Image Works and eventually landed on computer systems there. For Europe, the ad makers came up with artwork showing a creepy, green space monster surrounded by a few spaceships to emphasize the game’s concept. The said monster eventually appeared on the game covers of the computer ports of Blasteroids later. This ad shows creative adjustments taken to promote games in different parts of the world.

    6. Dream Team USA Japanese Print Ad

    The legends of the NBA in the Japanese version of EA’s Team USA Basketball. Retitling the game as Dream Team USA made more sense because “Dream Team” was a much more popular reference than “Team USA Basketball”.

    Remember how wildly popular the Dream Team (Team USA in Olympic basketball) was in 1992? With NBA legends Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, John Stockton and more representing America in the basketball tournament of the Olympic Summer Games in Barcelona, Spain, the Dream Team (a media-led reference for the team) was easily the main attraction not only for basketball fans worldwide but also those who craved for excitement in international sports events. That said, Electronic Arts secured the license to make an official video game about the Dream Team and actually released the game Team USA Basketball within 1992 for the Sega Genesis. As basketball is popular also in Japan, EA released the game there titled as Dream Team USA and came up with a Japanese print ad to seriously capture gamers’ attention. This ad is still effective in delighting both basketball and video game enthusiasts.

    7. Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back And Return Of The Jedi Print Ad

    No screenshots of games used. Just the official images from the posters of the two movies.

    Back in the 1990s, there was a resurgence of the original Star Wars trilogy across different forms of media. Apart from the VHS re-releases of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, there was a slew of video games of Star Wars released during the decade and the fans had new stuff to entertain themselves with. Along the way, the company THQ secured the rights to Super Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back and Super Star Wars: Return of the Jedi for re-release to coincide with the 1997 “Special Edition” theatrical releases of their respective movies. THQ’s print ad simply used official images of Return of the Jedi and inserted a tiny bit of The Empire Strikes Back, and they did not show any screenshots that could have been helpful for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and Game Boy users. Still, it was smart for THQ to print two excerpts of game reviews to sell the games.

    8. Super Mario RPG North American Print Ad

    A mesmerizing ad for the acclaimed Super Mario RPG.

    Remember back in the 1990s when Nintendo and role-playing game giant SquareSoft had a very healthy business relationship that proved successful? Before their eventual breakup (related to Square signing with Sony for PlayStation development), the two companies joined forces to make a fully featured role-playing game for the SNES featuring Super Mario and related characters…Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. To promote the game, Nintendo (the publisher) created a mesmerizing 2-page print ad highlighting their characters while emphasizing the role-playing and fantasy aspects of the game. At the time of its release, Super Mario was often identified with platform games and the Super Mario RPG print ad was a serious attempt to lure fans into RPGs which the SNES was already rich with. This ad, which I first saw in gaming magazines in 1996, still looks great.

    9. NBA Shootout ’97 Print Ad

    Did you play this on PlayStation in 1997?

    If there is anything I miss about 1990s console gaming, it is the fact that there were a lot of NBA-licensed video games that were offered to players with different tastes in basketball gaming. Sony had its own exclusive NBA games series called NBA Shootout and they were pretty aggressive selling its own basketball games along with the PlayStation going up against the likes of Electronic Arts (NBA Live), Sega and others. This is reflected in this 2-page print ad of NBA Shootout ’97 which was a PlayStation-exclusive release. They featured a photograph of Lakers’ Eddie Jones about to dunk and showed screenshots as well as the descriptive text written with excitement. Since it first started, NBA Shootout was basketball in full 3D polygonal graphics backed with motion-captured moves and dunks that players could enjoy only PlayStation. This ad is a reminder that Sony used to make official NBA games and there is a lack of variety and players’ choice of NBA gaming in today’s world.

    10. Legend of Legaia North American Print Ad

    Perhaps someone at Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) thought Legend of Legaia was a horror video game.

    There was a time when Sony produced Japanese RPGs (JRPGs) exclusive for PlayStation consoles. One of them was Legend of Legaia which had a combat system that emphasized martial arts and it had an interesting fantasy concept. For its 1999 North American release, Sony came up with a very bizarre 2-page print ad that had digital artwork with a very strong horror vibe and the visual designs within the three screenshots shown were clearly not related with it. How this ad was made remains unclear. This is easily one of the most misguided gaming ads of the 1990s.

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    Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at @CarloCarrascoPH as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

    #1980s #1990s #1992Olympics #2DShooters #2DSprites #action #adventure #advert #advertisement #advertisements #advertising #adverts #America #amusement #arcade #arcadeFlyers #arcadeGames #arcadeGaming #arcadeOperators #Asteroids #Atari #Bally #Barcelona #BarcelonaOlympics #basketball #Blasteroids #Breakthru #CarloCarrasco #CD #CDROM #CharlesBarkley #ChatGPT #ChrisMullin #cinema #ColdWar #comicBooks #computers #console #consoleGames #consoleGaming #consoles #DarhVader #Darius #DataEast #DataEastSArcadeAlley #DreamTeamUSA #EASports #EddieJones #ElectronicArtsEA #electronics #England #entertainment #entertainmentBlog #Europe #ExpressRaider #fantasy #film #fun #GameBoy #gameConsole #gameConsoles #gamers #games #gamesConsole #gamesConsoles #gaming #gamingConsole #gamingConsoles #geek #Google #GoogleSearch #GreenBeret #HanSolo #HarrisonFord #horror #ImageWorks #Instagram #Investagrams #Japan #JapaneseRolePlayingGameJRPG #Jedi #JohnStockton #JRPG #JRPGs #KarateChamp #KarlMalone #Konami #KungFuMaster #LarryBird #LastMission #LegendOfLegaia #LukeSkywalker #magazines #MagicJohnson #marketing #MichaelJordan #Midway #movies #NationalBasketballAssociationNBA #NBA #NBALive #NBAShootout #NBAShootout97 #Nintendo #Nippon #nostalgia #OlympicGames #Olympics #PCGames #PCGaming #PlayStationOne #posters #printAds #printMedia #promos #PS1 #PSOne #RetroGaming #RetroGamingAdsBlastRGAB #Retrospective #ReturnOfTheJedi #rolePlayingGameRPG #RPG #RPGs #RushNAttack #sciFi #scienceFiction #ScottiePippen #Sega #SegaGenesis #SegaOfAmerica #shooter #shooters #sideScrolling #SNES #socialMedia #soldiers #Sony #spaceTravel #Spain #sports #SquareEnix #Squaresoft #StarWars #StarWarsEpisodeVTheEmpireStrikesBack #StarWarsTrilogy #StarWarsEpisodeIVANewHope #StarWarsEpisodeVIReturnOfTheJedi #SuperMario #SuperMarioBros #SuperMarioRPG #SuperMarioRPGLegendOfTheSevenStars #SuperNES #SuperNintendoEntertainmentSystemSNES #SuperReturnOfTheJedi #SuperStarWars #SuperStarWarsReturnOfTheJedi #SuperStarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBack #SuperTheEmpireStrikesBack #TagTeamWrestling #Taito #TeamUSA #TeamUSABasketball #technology #The1980s #The1990s #TheEmpireStrikesBack #THQ #Tron #USGold #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmerica #UnitedStatesOfAmericaUSA #USGold #verticallyScrollingShooters #videoGames #war #WordPress #WordPressCom
  2. What To Watch On YouTube Right Now – Part 133

    Welcome back my readers, YouTube viewers and all others who followed this series of articles focused on YouTube videos worth watching.

    Have you been searching for something fun or interesting to watch on YouTube? Do you feel bored right now and you crave for something to see on the world’s most popular online video destination?

    I recommend you check out the following videos I found.

    #1 The Ring Reaction Videos – When The Ring (an American remake of the 1998 film Ringu) was released in cinemas in 2002, it had a huge impact on many moviegoers as it scared them and made them think that Asian horror can be adapted by Western filmmakers to entertain a larger, English-oriented audience worldwide. In fact, The Ring sparked a wave of American remakes of established horror films from Asia. The movie also made Naomi Watts a movie star. There are viewers who enjoyed the subtle yet creepy approach to horror by the 2002 film and there are those who find it superior to the Japanese original. How The Ring impacts the following YouTubers through their reaction videos below is a must-see.

    https://youtu.be/mU6kg0g69Kg?si=cCFI9ZgeCtT4sXCO

    https://youtu.be/Sf7XP8IsQ9c?si=7RWivxravQEg0J6k

    https://youtu.be/NZWE5wppyJs?si=g4dIOTVnzAA4oEA1

    https://youtu.be/Plxbo9bWl6s?si=PGr7hv_DaBAs4Elz

    https://youtu.be/7sskUw6HAak?si=2lyHfVX54q2uDHbk

    #2 Batman versus Predator Revisited – Back in the early 1990s, I saw issues of the huge crossover mini-series Batman versus Predator displayed on shelves on local comic book stores, and each one cost a lot of money! Looking back at the crossover, there definitely is a lot of things about it that justify the high cover price. Some comic book enthusiasts say that Batman versus Predator is the best crossover comic book story to feature the Predator while there are others who said that Batman is the perfect superhero to be matched against the sci-fi movie icon. To understand how Batman versus Predator came to be, watch the retrospective video below.

    https://youtu.be/84KoXIKZkGs?si=VNvqjnXu_gAtNW-Y

    #3 Project Sylpheed Examined – First released in Japan in 2006, Project Sylpheed was a science fiction shooter game that was released by Square Enix exclusively on the Xbox 360 console. I always wanted to play that game’s English version (released in 2007) but I never had the opportunity to buy it. Project Sylpheed was the third game of its franchise and it was the successor to the original Silpheed game of the 1980s. Believe it or not, the game still looks great by today’s standards and the vibrant colors and stylish visual elements made it stand out nicely among 3D shooters. To see what Project Sylpheed is about and why is it still enjoyable to play, watch the video below.

    https://youtu.be/Bgcu8nv6CXM?si=TAm4LFeDDqQ1wqK1

    #4 Ranting For Vengeance Slams Jon Bernthal’s Punisher And The Woke Mob – When I first think about the Punisher who first appeared in comics long ago, I think of a very hard-edged vigilante who wages a dangerous war against criminals on his own terms. In the 21st century, we now have a live-action Punisher who drifted away from his comic book legacy and woke Disney now fully dictates Marvel Comics. Along the way, the current Punisher actor Jon Bernthal is woke and supports the LGBTQ community and its agenda. Ranting for Vengeance recently posted a video slamming Bernthal’s Punisher and the woke mob, and you can find out more by watching it below.

    https://youtu.be/nUuGAW-u0xY?si=nTfKphavjnOXd2p1

    #5 Rice Ball Craze In Japan – In Japan, rice balls are popular and there is nothing like the enjoyment of consuming rice with seaweed wrapping and ingredients mixed in. From time to time, rice balls get discounted and there is always an influx of buyers who pursue them with good taste and better value in mind. Even foreign tourists can take advantage of the discounts of rice balls. Watch and learn from the Nippon TV video below.

    https://youtu.be/RxoDOwMC6Bw?si=Wmc-3ikSo8XkZn26

    #6 Orion Pictures Revisited – When I was very young, there were some notables movies I saw that involved Orion Pictures in more ways than one. Some movies the Orion produced (or co-produced) that were memorable to watch include Caddyshack and Excalibur. Other memorable films distributed by Orion include Platoon, RoboCop, The Terminator, First Blood and The Silence of the Lambs to name some. Before Orion even started as a movie business, there were notable events in Hollywood history that led to its founding. Watch and learn from the retrospective video below.

    https://youtu.be/MEQHBGmOtfE?si=3b3lJuu_GqSE1oF6

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    Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

    #amusement #AshleighBurton #Asia #assassin #Batman #BatmanVersusPredator #BatmanVsPredator #Blog #blogger #blogging #Caddyshack #CarloCarrasco #ChatGPT #CineBinge #cinema #comicBook #comicBooks #comics #comicsBlog #Commiewood #crossover #DeusdaeconReviews #Disney #entertainment #entertainmentBlog #EOMReacts #Excalibur #Facebook #film #FirstBlood #food #fun #gay #geek #Google #GoogleSearch #Hollywood #homosexual #homosexuality #Inclusion #Instagram #Japan #JonBernthal #lesbian #LGBT #LGBTQ #Marvel #MarvelComics #movies #mustSee #mustWatch #NaomiWatts #Nippon #NipponTV #nostalgia #onlineVideos #Orion #OrionPictures #Platoon #Predator #ProjectSylpheed #Punisher #RantingForVengeance #RetroGaming #riceBall #Ringu #RoboCop #sciFi #scienceFiction #Silpheed #socialMedia #SquareEnix #TheRing #TheSilenceOfTheLambs #TheTerminator #transgender #Tumblr #Twitter #UnitedStates #UnitedStatesOfAmericaUSA #USA #video #videoBlog #videos #Vigilante #WhatToWatchOnYouTube #woke #wokeDisney #WordPress #WordPressCom #Xbox #Xbox360 #YouMeAndTheMovies #YouTube #YouTuber #YouTubers