[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Benj’s 1989 Christmas List

Monday, December 16th, 2013

Benj Edwards 1989 Christmas List Xmas List scan - 1989An early example of the rustic illustrated Christmas list

While sorting through my childhood papers and effects recently, I came across this amusing Christmas list from 1989. I was eight years old then, and I apparently ripped out pictures of the toys I wanted from weekly newspaper advertisements and pasted them on a sheet of 8.5″x 11″ wide-ruled notebook paper. The result was a rare illustrated Christmas list that I don’t remember making before or since.

(I’m not sure why there is a big chunk of the page missing in the upper-right corner, by the way. Perhaps I changed my mind on some item and physically removed it from my list.)

What’s notable for our purposes is the healthy contingent of video game related items on the list. There’s a wireless remote for the NES, a Game Boy (which had just been released that year), and even a Sega Master System.

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[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Nintendo Triple Play

Monday, July 8th, 2013

Nintendo Triple Play Game Boy NES SNES Nintendo Power Ad - 1992Oh my god, it’s full of stars

[ From Nintendo Power, February 1992, rear cover ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Which system has the best game library: NES or SNES?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Side Pocket for Game Boy

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Data East Side Pocket for Nintendo Game Boy ad - 1991The balls are moving and the cue ball hasn’t even hit them yet. Spooky.

[ From Video Games and Computer Entertainment, January 1991, back cover ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: In your opinion, what’s the best pool/billiards video game of all time?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Six Game Boy Tongues

Monday, April 15th, 2013

Nintendo Game Boy Pocket Six Colors Tongues Ad - 1997So that’s what a translucent tongue looks like.

Nintendo’s second round of colored Game Boy units, this time pocket-sized. And over a year before the iMac, mind you.

[ From GamePro, April 1997, p.4-5 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: What is your favorite Game Boy game?

GAME BOY CAMERAS SPAM TRY-POD MOUNTER DEVICES

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

GAMEBOY CAMERA SPAM TRY-POD MOUNTER DEVICES (Game Boy Camera Tripod)

UPON ONE OF THOSE TIMES, ULAF CREATE TRY-POD MOUNT FOR THE GAME BOY COLORFUL UNIT, THE CAMERAS, WHICH THE MINDS OF NINTENDOGS CREATES SOMETIMES NEAR 1998 (WHAT A MINDS). WITH GREATEST OF THE SKILL, ULAF CARVE FOAM BETWEEN CANS OF THE SPAM (THE FAVORITE AMERICAN FOODS) HOLLOW, INTO HOLE FOR THE HOLDING OF THE GAME BOY CONSUL OF MY MIND.

WORKED WONDER FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHAGRAPHERS OF MY MIND:

GAMEBOY CAMERAS PHOTOGRAPHAGRAPHERS

ULAF PRINT ALL THOSE PHOTOGRAPHAGRAPHERS AND HUNG THEM UPON THE REFRIDGERATE OF ULAF.

BY THE WAYS, DID NOT THE GAME BOY GROWS INTO THE GAME MEN? WHERE DID THAT LITTLE BOY OF GAMING TIME GO? MATURATION AND PUBESCENCE, THAT IS WHERE. AND ABOVE ALL OF THE NOISES IT BECOME DEATH, DESTROYER OF WORLDS AND ATE MY MIND. AHHHHHH.

PERHAP ULAF EATS THE WRONG MUSHROOM.

JUST A QUICK NOTE FROM MY MIND. GO BACK TO LIFE NOW. UNTIL NEXT TIME THIS IS ULAF SAYING BE THE MASTER.

Ulaf Silchov is an expert in video games and computers. He also writes for “Svadlost Weekly” and “The Overachieving Underling Circular.”

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Tiny Pocket Ultima

Monday, January 7th, 2013

Origin FCI Ultima Runes of Virtue for Game Boy ad - 1991Ultima: Runes of Virtue for the Game Boy

I’m not a huge fan of Ultima: Runes of Virtue for the Game Boy. However, its sequel, Runes of Virtue II on the SNES (which was also released on the Game Boy) is quite an interesting action RPG to me — despite its general clunkiness. It feels sort of like a Zelda title set in the Ultima universe with Ultima VII-style graphics.

Just a small administrative note: I’m moving the Retro GIF of the Week column to Fridays. So expect the next entry in that column this Friday.

[ From Video Games and Computer Entertainment, August 1991, p.27 ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: If EA made a new core Ultima game today (think Ultima X — and no, not the failed MMO), would you buy it?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] A High-Powered Christmas

Monday, December 17th, 2012

High-Powered Greetings Nintendo Power Christmas Ad - 1992Nintendo presents deliver themselves. No Santa required.

[ From Nintendo Power, November 1992, rear cover]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Have you ever received a Nintendo console for Christmas? Tell us about it.

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] King Kong’s Super Game Boy

Monday, August 6th, 2012

Nintendo Super Game Boy King Kong Gorilla Hand Ad - 1994Gaming fun in the palm of your gigantic hand.

For me personally, the Super Game Boy (1994) was one of the most exciting video game peripherals ever released. It liberated Game Boy games from that unit’s blurry, dark screen, opening up a whole new world of gaming to those who preferred gaming on a TV set.

The fact that it also included a remake / extension of Donkey Kong, one of my favorite games of olde, made it a must-buy. I still remember the day I got it — my family drove to a local shopping mall, and I decided to stay in the car playing Donkey Kong on the Game Boy (even though not in color) instead of going inside. I haven’t been that excited about a new game in a long time.

(By the way, I first talked about the Super Game Boy in an early Retro Scan way back in March 2006.)

[ From Nintendo Power, August 1994, back cover ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: When did you first get a Super Game Boy? Did you have any Super Game Boy enhanced games for it?

[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Game Boy is Twenty

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Game Boy Newspaper Ad - 1989“Just pop it in your pocket and pull it out any time.”

[ From The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 23rd, 1989 ]

Twenty years ago tomorrow, the Game Boy went on sale for the first time in Japan. It retailed for Â¥12,500 (about $94 US at 1989 rates), and Nintendo offered four games at Game Boy’s initial launch: Super Mario Land, Baseball, Alleyway, and Yakuman (a Mahjong game). Four months later, Game Boy reached American shores with a retail price of $89.99 and a powerful pack-in game — Tetris.

Nintendo’s inclusion of Tetris as the US pack-in was a stroke of absolute genius. The handheld version of Alexey Pajitnov’s addictive puzzler made such waves in US that its release will long be remembered not just as a defining moment in video game history, but as a major cultural event for an entire generation.

As we now know, Game Boy’s long and successful run created an immense legacy, far beyond just Tetris. Overall, publishers released 1246 licensed games for the Game Boy in Japan and 952 in the US. To date, Nintendo has sold 118.69 million units of the original Game Boy line (including Game Boy Color) worldwide.

Above, we see an original Toys ‘R’ Us newspaper advertisement announcing the arrival of the Game Boy and its launch games in the United States. (Gotta love that line art.) It really brings back memories of my excitement regarding Nintendo’s first handheld system.

Discussion Topic of the Week:

In your opinion, what factors made the Game Boy so successful?

On the other hand, what mistakes, if any, did Nintendo make with the Game Boy over its twenty year run?

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More Game Boy Scans & Coverage:

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Game Boy Oddities

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

Game Boy Oddities on Technologizer

Just up is a new slide show I put together for Technologzier that showcases Game Boy oddities. It’s like a freak show for Nintendo’s venerable handheld, which turns twenty next week. Ever seen a Game Boy peripheral that dispenses laughing gas? How about one that demands tributes of child blood? If not, then mosey on over to Technologizer and take a look.