Look Who it Was Random video

Commercial Break #1: Nintendo Game Boy (1992)

806 views · Published 11 February 2013 · 2:12 · Indexed 4 October 2026

Channel: Defunct Games · 2013 · Gaming

Watch on YouTube

http://www.defunctgames.com

Found in the pages of Entertainment Weekly, this is how Nintendo marketed their first portable system to a largely non-gaming audience. "A pie in the face of flight delays, long commutes and endless campaign speeches." Why stop there? If they
Nintendo Game Boy (1992)  are just going to name inane crap that adults have to go through, then don't stop there. Might I suggest this even catchier ad: "A pie in the face of constant rejection from the opposite sex, the wrist-cutting sound of your boss's voice, the overwhelming fear of testicular cancer and parents that think you died in a car accident!"

If this commercial is to be believed, the target audience for a Game Boy is a guy who gets up really early, works in an office and loves playing terrible sports games. Of the five games mentioned, Tetris is the only game that doesn't involve balls and knee pads. But don't worry, they butched Tetris up. Now it's the "jigsaw puzzle that fights back." I can sympathize. I'm fighting back my desire to stab everybody involved with this terrible commercial.

It's worse than pandering copy and pie jokes, this commercial is the first step in the downfall of our entire civilization. It all starts with Nintendo suggesting that it's okay to play Game Boy at work. You know that 10 o'clock meeting you were supposed to attend? Screw it, because you're on the way to a new Tetris high score. From there employees start bringing in their pagers to work, playing on the internet, buying cell phones, signing up for MySpace, emailing porn sites, setting up Facebook, tweeting, canceling MySpace and tweeting about canceling MySpace. Productivity goes down, the Russians invade and suddenly that Tetris song is the new national anthem. And it's all because you brought a Game Boy to work.

More from this channel