How did advertisers convince people to buy their video game in a single magazine page back in the day? You couldn't show off gameplay in a video like you can now, so what were advertiser's strategies back then?
>>719484771Character looks cool, my child lizard brain reacted to it.Simple as.
>>719484771You almost had me with the text at the bottom. Very good edit.
>>719484771Visual seduction through artworkPsychological challenge or excitementSneak peeks at gameplayTech braggingEmotional resonance or brand identity
>>719484771Did anybody else notice that today's youth have no concept of the past at all?The internet existed in the 1980s but there were no web browsers yet.Web browsers were invented in the 1990s. And there were already videos on the web in the mid 1990s.But regardless of that, people used to use TV before the internet took over, and before TV they used to use the radio.The magazine pages were only a thing because people would sometimes read physical books and magazines back then. But there were online videos, and TV commercials too in the 1990s.TV was much bigger until it got replaced by streaming, streaming was not a thing and you would 'stream' by watching tv back then. Lol.
>>719485093Nigga, as far as I know people didn't watch videos online before youtube.
>>719484771Well my sister is very hot so this game must be amazing
>>719484771People actually rad back in the day
>>719485202Even YouTube is from 2005 so it's older than some of the people on 4chan right now.But before YouTube there were videos online. The "web" was invented in 1991 which is what we are all using right now. The first browser was called WorldWideWeb Browser (WWW Browser), which is also why every website has www in it. But now everybody uses Chrome.Even in the 1980s a lot of people used the internet but the internet was just specific apps back then like Email apps or text-based chat rooms and there were no browsers yet lol.
>>719485325Reading =/= Video gamesAlso the ads were really fucking weird. I feel like they thought most kids back then would really be excited about the game if they thought it smelled like shit.
>>719484771gigantic typefaces and attention-grabbing messagingpic related indeed speaks the truth
>>719485470>apps>chat rooms>1980sEver heard of a BBS?
If it's on tv hire someone to make an insanely catchy theme and be louder and more annoying than the guy before you.If it's in print make the page stand out.Klonoa flopped because namco did barely any tv marketing.
>>719485547Did autistic kids find the game via sniffing in shops
>>719485470I'm pretty sure videos weren't viable back then due to internet speeds. I'm sure in the 90s you could download a video, but it'd take you like 6 hours to download a 20 second video file that was in 140p. Not viable for ads.
>>719485712While i’m sure that may’ve played a part I thought it was the poor advertising in general with shit like op (the original, not this edit)
>>719484771pretty ordinary attention grabbing tactics>bold colors>bold type>direct attention>make it look exciting/scary
>>719484771https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPUMfUvRAOEThere's never been more soulful advertising than this.
>>719484771>have objectively hot sister by all metrics and with ample data to support >if you say that your sister is hot it means you want to fuck her or something
>>719485723An issue of Nintendo Power and the Earthbound player's guide, which was packaged with the game, both had vile scratch and sniff stickers.
>>719484771WAHOO
It was a different time
>>719485093wtf are you talking about retard
>>719490572It's an AI obviously
>>719485093>The internet existed in the 1980s but there were no web browsers yet.yes there were, they just weren't used by the average person.>Web browsers were invented in the 1990s. And there were already videos on the web in the mid 1990s.correct, but they were a novelty more than something actually watchable.
>>719490420I will now buy your game.
>>719490719my brother in christ you are talking to a bot
>>719485202You don't know shit then nigger.
>>719484771Advertising wasn't about convincing you to buy the product as much as informing you that the product exists. They'd include some character renders or screenshots to get you interested but besides that it was mostly about awareness. Remember that this was before the internet was mainstream and you could get all the game news you wanted straight into your inbox, so magazines and ads were basically the only way most people would find out about new releases.
They just showed illustrations with screenshots and text, and made it look cool. It's actually easier not harder because without video your mind fills in the gaps.
One thing I kind of miss about being a kid is picking a random game off the shelf and having no idea what the game is going to be like other than what the blurb and screenshots on the back of the box tell you.Nowadays. you can look up gameplay footage of a game before the game is even officially released to the public, and that takes the sense of discovery out of it.
>>719491014Give a specific example of a game to prove you're not a bot
>>719490874>my brother in christyou are a bot
>>719484771because the magazine was by far the primary resource for people who wanted to stay in the loop for what was happening in the industry. we didn't have streamers and influencers. I also remember simply going to the store multiple times with no idea what was out and buying games purely on a whim.
>>719491014so don't do that? do you also look up the plot of a movie before watching it?
>>719485547Apparently Earthbound released with smell-cards or some shit. I thought that this add campaign was just some retarded idea thought up by an out-of-touch ad agency, but apparently Nintendo thought this was the best way to advertise to Americans: Shitting and farting.
>>719491014I mean, you could absolutely just grab a random ass game you know nothing about off the shelf in the store or purchase a random game on your digital storefront of choice based solely on the boxart, but there's a very good reason you stopped doing it that way.Pic related, a game I got as a kid knowing nothing about it because the boxart made it look cool.
>>719488045>have hot sister.>don't fuck her.Are you a faggot?
We used to have demo disks to try games out, you know. That's a part of the reason to buy the magazines in the first place.
>>719491825Sisters are literally made for their brothers.
>>719491524Nintendo of America was incredibly out of touch in general.
>>719491760True. I suppose you do become more careful when you’re spending your own money on games rather than your parents’ money. Still, I do still somewhat long for the days when eyecatching boxart was enough to compel me to buy a game rather than me going online and doing rigorous research before purchasing.Maybe I’d be less cautious if most games these days didn’t cost $70-80 a pop.
>>719490874>everything is a bot in 2025
