The Activision Decathlon

What's the ad for?

The Activision Decathlon
Year
1985

Spotted in the inside back cover of...

 

The Scoop

 This was a unique ad for it's visual appearance. It looked like no other ad out there, especially for a video game. The Activision Decathlon was murder on your Atari or other game console joystick (controller for those young ones out there). Repeated back and forth motion, tap, tap, tap! A systems lifetime of use in a few hours of play.

Ravenloft the RPG

What's the ad for?

Ravenloft
Year
1990

Spotted in...

The Scoop

Ravenloft is a role playing game that uses the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons rule set. From my limited understanding, the Ravenloft universe is an alternate time-space existence that consists of pocket universes which can appear anywhere in the Dungeons and Dragons universe. I primarily know the name Ravenloft from a popular board game that was released  a couple years ago entitled Castle Ravenloft. There have been numerous books and three video games based on the Ravenloft pocket universes, almost all of them released in the nineties. Perhaps the popularity of the board game will cause a renewed interest in the Ravenloft universe.

Demon Sword - Master the Power

What's the ad for?

Demon Sword
Year
1990

Spotted in...

The Scoop

 I'm always surprised by the regional differences in video games. It's not an uncommon occurrence or at least it never used to be. I'm not sure if they still make as many changes between Japanese and North American releases. Take for instance Demon Sword. The version released in Japan has several more stages along with several more bosses. There are also more items and magic spells in the Japanese version. Along with the added difficulty of more levels and more bosses, a Japanese player was rewarded with an ending featuring extra scenes and text that was cut out of the North American release. 

It's not all bad. Here in North America we got a life meter while in Japan they only got a life count. The box art is also vastly different. Now that I can understand. See the Japanese box art below.

image from www.gamefaqs.com

Kool-Aid Man battles The Thirsties!

What's the ad for?

Kool-Aid Man- Video Game
Year
1983

Spotted in...

The Scoop

"Oh Yeah!" 

That's what a fun-loving, giant pitcher of Kool-Aid says as he bursts through the wall of your living room, destroying your furniture and causing thousands of dollars of damage. Some call him a mascot while others call him a home-grown terrorist. Either way don't you find it funny that he's always carrying a smaller version of himself? Why not just pour some Kool-Aid from himself.

Video of actual game play...

And the Kool-Aid man as featured in The Family Guy

 

Publish Post

The Saga of Crystar

What's the ad for?

Crystar- Crystal Warrior action figures
Year
1984

Spotted in...

The Scoop

 In 1982, Remco released a line of action figures and vehicles under the name The Saga of Crystar, Crystal Warrior. A year later a comic book series featuring the toys was released by Marvel. One would think that the comic book was based on the toys when in fact it the entire line was created and owned by Marvel comics.

The series lasted for 11 issues but it was issue 8 that interested me, or at least the cover. Glen Danzig swiped the Michael Golden drawn skull on the cover for the logo of his band. (see below)

Dick Tracy - The Movie

What's the ad for?

Dick Tracy - The Movie
Year
1990

Spotted in...

The Scoop

In the months leading up to it's June release, comic books were filled with iconic images of Warren Beatty as Dick Tracy. Beatty was also the director of the film and had a definite vision for it. He used a strict seven color palette in order to more closely resemble Dick Tracy's comic book roots. Beatty also cast his then girlfriend Madonna as Breathless Mahoney. How did the film do? Pretty well. It grossed $162 million worldwide after going over-budget at $46 million. Full disclosure...I've never seen it.  Maybe it's about time I did.

 

Konami hand-held games

What's the ad for?

Konami hand-held games
Year
1990

Spotted in...