Nintendo 64 ad: Brace Yourself

Brace Yourself is an advertisement for the Nintendo 64… In general. It does mention a few games on there, but not highlighting any one in particular.

Brace Yourself

Nintendo is going to launch you into a new universe of N64 fun. With Star Fox 64. Clay Fighter 63 1/3. International Superstar Soccer 64. Yoshi’s Island 64. Zelda 64. Goldeneye 64 and Top Gear Rally. It’s an all-star lineup. Soon to enter your air space. Buckle up.

The ad features a big left panel with the actual in-game models from Star Fox 64 (not promotional art) and side panels with screenshots of all the other games mentioned.

The first thing that comes to mind when seeing this ad is the date when it was released. I’m not too sure about an exact date, but let’s make an estimate.

Star Fox 64 is the USA name for the game (Lylat Wars in Europe) so I’m confident this is an American ad.

Yoshi’s Island 64, Zelda 64 and Goldeneye 64 are the production names for those games (officially renamed Yoshi’s Story, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and 007 Goldeneye). We can assume that this ad is from some time in 1997, before Ocarina and Yoshi got their official names, it even seems to be using a prototype screenshot of OOT on the side. I’m going to assume that Goldeneye 64 is just the author misnaming it, a lot of people still call it that today.

Out of the other games, the latest were Clayfighter and Top Gear Rally came out in October 1997 so it’s safe to assume that the ad came out after them. I’m going to say it’s a Christmas ad for 1997. I just hope that no kid actually asked for OOT or YS since they wouldn’t be out for a while longer.