| RETROGAMING COMMERCIAL VAULT |
| by Adam King |
Greetings, Gamers. Once again we dip into the
'Vault for another pair of classic gaming ads. You'll notice a slight
name change to the column starting this month. I did it mainly so people would
get this column mixed up with a section on my NES webpage, which has Nintendo
commercials.
Anyway, this month I'm covering the Intellivision, and I'm spotlighting a pair
of commercials featuring George Plimpton.
Intellivision Space Games
There's no doubt that while the
Intellivision had excellent sports games, Atari had them beat when it came to
action/arcade games. Then in 1982, with a science-fiction resurgence in play,
both companies produced space games. Atari put out ads saying they had the best
games, saying "nobody compares to Atari." In this ad from Mattel, a nerdy kid
says that line, only for good ol' George to come up and compare them to
Intellivision. As Plimpton shows off the space line-up, including Space Battle,
Space Armada, and Astrosmash, the kid is shocked, saying,
"I didn't know!"
The ad closes with the kid enjoy the INTV line-up while Plimpton says,
"The Intellivision Space Games from Mattel Electronics. Once you compare,
you'll know."
"Let me shows you who has the REAL space games."
It's like he discovered the Holy Grail.
"I'm so sorry I doubted you."
Intellivision Rebate
This time we find Plimpton talking about
a rebate offer Mattel had during late 1982. Of course he delivers his message
the only way he knows how - by standing in a tiger's cage!
"The last time Intellivision had a $50 rebate, I refused to do it. And they're
trying to persuade me to do another one. Well, perhaps I was a bit hasty. After
all the Intellivision is a marvelous system and $50 is a big rebate. So buy an
Intellivision before November 28* and get $50 back
from Mattel Electronics. And hurry! Can I go now!"
*Offer expired.
Watch out, George, there's something behind that screen.
He's a brave man for doing this.
"Get $50 back, and that's no lion."
"Tell me why I'm doing this again."
Time to sign off for another 30 days. The Retrogaming Commercial Vault CD is
coming slowly but surely. My goal is to have it completed by January 1, with 70
ads. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, etc, e-mail me at
Hal_3000@rocketmail.com and I may
add you to my mailing list to get updates.
BTW, please don't ask me to put NES ads on the disc. You can find those at my
Nintendo website, NES Times (come.to/nestimes). Until next time, keep gaming.