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[The_Sorrow]

The 90's >>>> The 80's

Anyway I almost forgot that SNES games reached as high as $70 sometimes. And here we are bitching about $60 games.

 

[john tv]

Did these scans make anyone else feel warm inside?

YES. Back then, catalogs like this were actually a great source for new game info. I used to tear 'em open as soon as they arrived and then basically dream about December 25 for the remainder of the year, LOL.

BTW, Wario, that Mario art is legit from Japan, believe it or not.

 

[Starfire]

Wow, those things bring back memories, I used to want a Gameboy sooooo bad when I was younger, looking at them in comparison with the portable devices of today, it's almost laughable, but back then any form of portable electronics at all were a point of interest (except Walkman, wich was fairly commonplace.) and a portable game system was unheard of (other than the Tiger variety of little mini-game things, I have about a dozen of those things too.) Heh, I remember buying Night-Rider outta that thing and thinking it was awesome..........man do I sound like a fogey.

 

[btrboyev]

add me to the list of viewing these as previews....

 

[FortNinety]

The 90's >>>> The 80's

Anyway I almost forgot that SNES games reached as high as $70 sometimes. And here we are bitching about $60 games.

You're too young to know any better.

 

[The_Sorrow]

You're too young to know any better.

No I remember some of the 80's. But come on things were just so much better in terms of games, sports, politics(who can forget the Clinton sex scandal? ) etc.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

whats sad about that picture is I had the same sweater... :cries:

 

[Unison]

Haha, these pics bring me back. I used to SCRUTINIZE every single pic and box art in every Sears catalog that I got back then. I still kinda like to look at the videogame offerings in sales circulars, even if I have no intention of buying. I guess they got their hooks into me at a young age!

 

[Timen]

What's with that Bad'n Rad box?

 

[Attack You]

Holy Crap! Section Z! That game was so damn hard when I was younger, I hated it. Anyone else ever play that bastard of a game? It was a strange mix, of a shooter, without a spaceship, with wierd dorrs if I remember correctly. Blue doors.


Man that game was a S.O.B

Yes. I played it to completion at the not-so-tender age of 9. Took about three months.

Edit: Super R-Type still looks sexy.

 

[Diseased Yak]

Section Z was actually my first exposure to the NES. My best friend was the first of the game geeks in my school to get a NES, and I remember like it was yesterday seeing it fired up for the first time. My heart was pounding, and when I saw Section Z's little Robotech-ish fighter flying around, I thought it was the pinnacle of gaming. I can still remember the smell of the freshly unboxed NES, how the plastic smell mixed with the styrofoam...

Seeing these scans brings back so many memories. I too used to obessively read and re-read the ads, dreaming of getting all of these games. I can remember talking my grandma into ordering me a game out of the catalog (which happened to be "Kid Nikki", anyone remember that gem?) and then waiting and waiting for it to come in.

N

 

[FortNinety]

Section Z was one of those games I hated at first but learned to really like. Though I think being so young and not being able to trade in a game, or even get another title easily, made me stick to it. Lack of a message board with people constantly harping on the negatives maybe played a part as well.

 

[ArcadeStickMonk]

Funny. I was reading this thread yesterday, and today I was in a Gameswap store and found this for $5.

Oh man, I wish I had one of these back when I actually owned a NES. Playing Megaman 3 and Contra with this bad boy, oh...

Gonna clean it up, cuz it's a bit dirty. Open'er up, throw some Seimitsu parts in'ere and add the pimp stripes. Hellz yeah.

But can anybody tell me what the hell was ther point of having two controller ports? Why would you ever want to toggle between player 1 and 2?

 

[Soul4ger]

I have every one of those NES games, except JAWS - The Revenge, and all the Game Boy games except four (Chessmaster, The Hunt for Red October, Mouse Trap Hotel, Super Scrabble). I'm proud of the NES games, somewhat embarassed about the GB ones..

 

[TheDiave]

OMG, the nostalgia! I actually remember starting at that very catalog and drooling like a hungry dog. :lol

 

[levious]

Why would you ever want to toggle between player 1 and 2?

Two player alternate play.

What's the difference between that jaws game pictured and the one that came out? It looks the same to me.

 

[Doth Togo]

Funny. I was reading this thread yesterday, and today I was in a Gameswap store and found this for $5.

Oh man, I wish I had one of these back when I actually owned a NES. Playing Megaman 3 and Contra with this bad boy, oh...

Gonna clean it up, cuz it's a bit dirty. Open'er up, throw some Seimitsu parts in'ere and add the pimp stripes. Hellz yeah.

But can anybody tell me what the hell was ther point of having two controller ports? Why would you ever want to toggle between player 1 and 2?

some of the games had secrets where you flipped to 2nd player to get shit done.

or, was that psx.

...

 

[DEO3]

Did these scans make anyone else feel warm inside?

Seriously, this brings back memories I didn't even know I had, I've been gaming for so long I forgot how magical the early days seemed. Back when I was too inexperienced to know a good game from a bad game, and so just enjoyed playing them all. Back before games were reviewed or clear genres were defined... ignorance was truley bliss.

 

[mrklaw]

Man, Game Boy rocked A LOT. Gargoyle's Quest. Super Mario Land. Golf. Kwirk. Boxxle. TMHT Fall of the Foot Clan. And more. Great gaming in a portable format for the first time, that was damn exciting.

I wonder WTF exactly went down in the barbers shop that kid visited. It was enough to make him attempt electrocuting himself through the ear.

Gameboy was shit apart from Tetris. I loved tetris, and it was perfectly suited to Gameboy. But as soon as *anything* moved on that screen, it vanished. Super mario Land the perfect example. tiny thin lines on scrolling backgrounds on a passive matrix mono screen? GONE.

 

[Notorious_Roy]

Damn, even in those days we Europeans got fucked with game prices...

 

[East Clintwood]

Was this the way to hold a GameBoy so that you could see something?

 

[hiryu]

Good memories here. I remember just staring at pictures in the Sears Wishbook every year. I remember having a coniption when they first had Geneisis screens in there and the only thing I had seen before were Nintendo games.

 

[PanopticBlue]

Funny. I was reading this thread yesterday, and today I was in a Gameswap store and found this for $5.

Oh man, I wish I had one of these back when I actually owned a NES. Playing Megaman 3 and Contra with this bad boy, oh...

Gonna clean it up, cuz it's a bit dirty. Open'er up, throw some Seimitsu parts in'ere and add the pimp stripes. Hellz yeah.

But can anybody tell me what the hell was ther point of having two controller ports? Why would you ever want to toggle between player 1 and 2?

I had that stick and it was indeed awesome. I had my tv setup on a shelf in the corner of my room and I put the advantage on a tall stool, in a lame attempt to "recreate the arcade experience" I thought I was awesome at the time. And yes, Contra and Megaman was great with that stick.

The 2 controller ports I think were because some 2-player games wouldnt let you just pass the 1st controller back and forth. The switch was just a convenience kind of a thing really, so you wouldn't have to unplug and plug if you wanted to play one of those games.

 

[Jeff-DSA]

Seeing Gargoyle's Quest makes me insanely happy.

 

[Dracos]

The magic of games ended with the rise of the internet. These ads, plus ones like kaybee toys Christmas books were the biggest source of game info. The thrill of walking into a store and seeing a game that you had no idea was coming out was sooooo great. Believe it or not, my NES players guide is still one of my preferred toilet readings Ah man, the good old days of carrying big NES cartridges in your backpack and trading them at school for a week with friends. I'll let you borrow my Contra for Zelda II over X-Mas vacation.

* Tears *

 

[suikodan]

Did these scans make anyone else feel warm inside?

Those were the times...

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

I loved seeing the Lynx games again, but the Lynx bashing was unnecessary. Faaaaar more the "4" good games for the Lynx.

 

[Spectral Glider]

Sears book was god back in the Atari days. Hell, I believe my dad still has a few down in his basement. There was basically no other way to see what new games were on the horizon. Not unless you were lucky enough to have an Atar Age subscription. And of course, they often showed games that wound up never coming out.

As for the NES Advantage, I still have mine! Somewhere. I remember it was awesome with Pro Wrestling, just pop on the turbo button and more or less become invincible.