Nintendo 64 ad: Extreme conditions ahead
This Nintendo 64 ad was in a magazine which I would suspect was published early in early 1997, based on the games advertised and the fact that they use some pre-release names like Zelda 64 and and Robotron X.
The Nintendo 64 ad:
Click to enlarge
The first two things you can notice about this particular ad is the image from Mario Kart 64 and the Headline in its EXTREME font. Now this is the main problem that I have with this ad – Mario Kart has pretty much nothing to do with EXTREMEness. Why not promote any other game along with that tagline? Like I dunno, Extreme-G? That game came out quite early in the N64’s lifespan (around the time of this ad) and had a much more EXTREME feel to it. I guess that they just wanted to promote Mario Kart 64 as their flagship title, which makes sense but it’s sending mixed messages.
The next thing you’ll notice is the text under it describing the EXTREME CONDITIONS AHEAD. “Dangerous curves. Construction ahead. Report violators. Emergency gear required. They’re coming.”
“They’re” is alluding to the games listed of course. ‘Dangerous curves’ refers to Mario Kart, ‘Construction ahead’ to Blast Corps, etc. However in the list of games there is this one game that bothers me – FIFA Soccer. The full title is ‘FIFA Soccer 64′, but they left out the ’64’. They left it in for Doom, but not for FIFA. An odd decision indeed. But that’s just me rambling about something pointless. The other games with the wrong names are not really an issue because this ad was probably published a while before they were released, so they get a pass.
The text ends with “Warning: High Voltage”. What is this? AC/DC? The Nintendo 64’s PSU only outputs 3.3V and 12V. That’s barely enough for a human to get hurt with, let alone be considered ‘high voltage’.
On the right side of the ad, there are screenshots of some of the N64 games advertised. From top to bottom – an N64 with Pilotwings 64 in it, Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, FIFA Soccer 64, Blast Corps, Lylat Wars, Yoshi’s Story and (I think) Zelda OOT. Now if you pay close attention (I know I have, I’m writing a whole article on this ad), you’ll notice that something is missing. All the screenshots have their name listed somewhere in the ad text except Lylat Wars. Why? I’d think that it’s one of the games that would sell the best out of all those listed… In fact, why don’t they just switch the big Mario Kart image with Lylat Wars? That’s a game that fits in much better with the whole EXTREME theme of this ad.
There’s nothing really left to add besides there being a snowy/cloudy Mario in the background. I don’t even know what game it’s supposed to represent.
That’s about all I have to say about this Nintendo 64 ad.
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