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Nostalgia Thread - 1996 Toys R Us Holiday Ad

oneils

oneils

Member
Yuripaw said:
You know what I notice about this ad, compared to almost anything you see now. With the exception of Super Mario 64, and the N64 (it was the year of it's release, so it's no surprise they would want to highlight it...) but everything seems to have equal space in the ad. They're showing all kinds of games, different genres, different systems. This is such a great ad, and it reminds me of a time when gaming was so much more fun and diverse.

Now...you look in an ad with video games, and a handful of select games are pushed up front and center. "Get the latest Call of Duty!" or "Madden!" and everything else is just bunched together, and put into a small picture in the corner.
Click to expand...

Great catch. But I think Toys R Us has kept that style of ad. The only thing that typically gets more space is the hardware. What you are describing is more typical of gamestop/Futureshop/bestbuy.

edit: just checked my local toys r us flyer. the games all have equal space. hardware gets more space. The exception is...Skylander Giants. I guess that is to be expected.
 
I

i-Lo

Member
Femmeworth said:
Prices were all over the place back then.
Click to expand...

Yea, I am guessing there was no one price convention back then. I guess this is what old timers refer to as "tier" system pricing. Thing is, we still have uneven pricing but not (almost always) at retail, just digital.
 
B

BoilersFan23

Member
Yup, that is why I get tired of some complaining about game prices now. I remember back in the early 90's, many games were $60 and sometimes more. I paid $60 for Super Mario Bros. 3 on NES in 1992.
 
T

Teknoman

Member
Game Gear for 129 at the time of N64 and Saturn? I dont remember this...then again I dont think I ever looked at the prices back then lol.

dreamfall said:
Such beautiful controllers in so many colors! I wish controllers were the same price!
Click to expand...

I wish they were available in that many colors.
 
T

tiggerkiddo

Member
Oh yea, I remember those prices...my dad didn't agree with them, which is why we only got games he found at pawn shops (Still not a bad way to find games mind you)...but wow, this brings back memories, I remember how these ads used to look...I think this was the only year I experienced Black Friday as a kid and it was pretty...calm compared to now.
 
F

Flame Lord

Member
Huh, so games used to cost $60? I guess that's more now too.

Also, Sega Saturn was around longer than I thought. I barely ever hear anyone talk about it and I rarely find any old games from it lying around. I assumed it came out, bombed and the Dreamcast came out shortly (1 year) after.
 
G

Grayman

Member
demosthenes said:
I don't buy many games anymore @ $60, b/c I game less. But to say that costs to make games hasn't gone up is wrong. Yea we can argue if games were cheaper they would sell more and so on, but the industry doesn't think so.
Click to expand...
The current market has allowed such good price discrimination that initial game prices will go up and periodic deals will get the sales the game would have gotten if it launched cheaper. So in a way to game industry thinks so, it just also thinks that it can exploit that some customers are willing to buy limited editions or 20 dollars of launch DLC.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
They used to throw around the term 'realistic graphics' like candy.


Ok, we still do.
 
O

Omega

Banned
i like how some people are surprised by the prices. sometimes i feel like half of GAF didn't start playing games until last gen
 
A

Azure J

Member
I remember this catalog. I circled the Super Nintendo in black ink Sharpie and was disappointed for like a day when the only thing I got was "some 64 Mario thing" without the system (it was in transit and would arrive the day after Christmas from my aunt). I was there just wondering to myself "but where's Donkey Kong" until of course my Uncle hooked up the Nintendo 64 and I saw there for like 5 hours straight silent and in awe at "that 64 Mario thing".
 
W

Weenerz

Banned
I remember getting a Sega Saturn with those 3 free games for Christmas and 10 days later, getting UMK3 from Sears for my birthday.
 
Y

Yuripaw

Banned
I haven't forgotten that games used to be more expensive back then. Look at the flyer though...the games that are $60+ on that ad are all cartridge games. I don't think all of us have forgotten, but cartridge games were more expensive to produce, which is why we saw so many of those late gen SNES and Genesis games cost more money. They had to keep expanding the memory in games.

Look at the CD games though, especially the Playstation ones. All under $50. CDs were cheaper, and faster to produce, just like DVDs games are on today are cheap to produce.
 
I

Iacobellis

Junior Member
I was a wee 10 months old in December '96. This might have been the year my dad got a Saturn, because I distinctly remember (and still have) Daytona USA, Virtua Fighter, and Virtua Cop in these paper sleeves. NiGHTS was in one, too, but I learned later on that was just a demo disc.

Damn, $60 for a game must have been expensive as hell 16 years ago, but I sure wish controllers were still $30 today.
 
C

CartridgeBlower

Member
BoilersFan23 said:
Yup, that is why I get tired of some complaining about game prices now. I remember back in the early 90's, many games were $60 and sometimes more. I paid $60 for Super Mario Bros. 3 on NES in 1992.
Click to expand...

Weren't cartridges vastly more expensive to produce then CDs? That was part of the reason PS1 could get away with charging 40 bucks for brand new games, as opposed to 70 for SNES and Genesis. So the whole 'omg 85 dollars for a game!' doesn't really hold any water. Costs have come way down, so they would never need to charge that to make the same profit.
 
W

Weenerz

Banned
Had most of the saturn titles listed, UMK3, Virtua Cop 2, Nights, Daytona USA Champsionship, Virtual On, Sonic 3D Blast. So many classics. We need a next gen Fighters Megamix. I remember having to buy the add-on for Perfect Dark so I could play the entire game. $80 for the cart and whatever for the add-on.
 
M

Macho Madness

Member
Reminds me of this Best Buy ad from 1996:

CZzAn.jpg
 
P

Proxy

Member
CartridgeBlower said:
Weren't cartridges vastly more expensive to produce then CDs? That was part of the reason PS1 could get away with charging 40 bucks for brand new games, as opposed to 70 for SNES and Genesis. So the whole 'omg 85 dollars for a game!' doesn't really hold any water. Costs have come way down, so they would never need to charge that to make the same profit.
Click to expand...

You're right. The only cost that goes into making a game is manufacturing the medium it's stored on...
 
B

biggersmaller

Banned
LOL - that takes me back. It was around this time I was seriously regretting buying that Saturn. Also, a little confused - the N64 is showing as both $199 or $150 with a gold controller.
 
C

CartridgeBlower

Member
Proxy said:
You're right. The only cost that goes into making a game is manufacturing the medium it's stored on...
Click to expand...

Well, it does have an affect. While many games cost millions of dollars to produce these days, the majority still don't. So, yes, manufacturing costs definitely do factor in (strongly) into the price of a game. Why are iPhone games 99 cents to 5 dollars? Many of those, especially games like the Real Racing series, have graphics that are starting to rival consoles. Yet the prices are dirt cheap because there's zero manufacturing cost. So it's kind of foolish to just say 'well games are more expensive to make so you're wrong!'
 
E

Entropia

No One Remembers
i-Lo said:
Look at the bullshots nintendo used for their Mario on the first page :p

And let's have some name drops here for the informed (and I am uninformed). Can anyone name the athletes featured on the cover of:

  • NHL 97
  • NHL Faceoff 97
Click to expand...


NHL 97 - John Vanbiesbrouck
NHL Faceoff 97 - Can't tell the jersey number, looks like 77 which would be Paul Coffey




jrDev said:
64 games were $60?!!
Click to expand...

Please, in Canada they were $99. :(
 
S

soundahfekz

Member
Fuckkk


i remember shitting my pants the first time I seen mario 64 on a demo kiosk at blockbuster. Remeber how happy I was getting WCW vs NWO world tour and a Nintendo 64 that year.

Damn
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
The Toys r Us book of savings was a kids dream wishlist catalog. These times hold lots of nostalgia as I was a younger man and full on into gaming as I am today.
 
D

disappeared

Banned
I remember getting my 64 at TRU that year. I originally wanted a Saturn, but the clerk sold my dad and sister on the N64. After getting into Mario 64 I had no regrets.
 
P

Persona86

Banned
Everything just seemed more "magical" (if that's the right word) at that time, I think mostly due to ignorance I had about the gaming world, so many possibilities, everything felt fresh and exciting haha.

I hope to one day to find that feeling again in the future.
 
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