what if the 1990s had VHS tapes instead of game magazines?

[kitsunebi]

20 minutes ago, E-Day said:

They mostly got away from competitive advertising after the 16-bit era, and if I remember correctly the tape took some shots at Sega. Maybe they found sending this sort of thing out wasn't that effective.

They definitely continued throughout the N64 period.

2 minutes ago, DPsx7 said:

Maybe it was store related as I don't recall filling out any cards.

I'm still guessing it was related to Nintendo Power having people's addresses on file.  I definitely never gave my home address to any stores.  These videos just showed up out of the blue - they weren't something I requested. 

[kitsunebi]

Might as well post his here.  Sooooo 90s.

 

Watch the video to the end.  Pretty much confirms it came from Nintendo Power.

[DPsx7]

Dunno then. I'm certain I didn't have a sub in the N64 days because technically my brother owned it. Had a sub for PSM though. Some stores might let you sign up for coupons or offers but being so long ago I can't recall.

[kitsunebi]

Obviously the Donkey Kong vid predates the existence of the N64 by a couple of years, so I'm pretty sure that when I received it in the mail, I wasn't subscribed to Nintendo Power.  I HAD been subscribed from the early NES days up through maybe 1992 or so, but I lost interest in console games for a few years before getting back into it around 1997, so in 1994 when DKC came out, I'm fairly certain that I wasn't still getting Nintendo Power since I wasn't following console gaming whatsoever at the time.  I seem to recall that when the Donkey Kong Country vid showed up in the mail, I was pretty surprised.  I guess they just kept my address on file from my old subscription or something.

Actually, despite being 100% positive I have the video, I'm not sure that I ever even bothered watching it, since the youtube video above didn't seem familiar at all.  Not really surprising, since as I said, I was totally uninterested in console games at the time.   I guess that means their marketing plan was a failure in my case.

[Areala]

We got the Donkey Kong Country video as part of our regular Nintendo Power subscription, but as far as I can remember, that was the only one we received. Our subscription had lapsed by the time I left for college in 1995, and I don't think my brother renewed it. We never got any of the later video tapes themed around the N64.

*huggles*
Areala

[DPsx7]

I grew up with the NES and doubt my parents would have paid for a 'video game' mag if I'd asked. Ha. So like I said they wouldn't have had my info until at least the GBA/GC era if not later with the Wii. You're making me want to find it and check the label to see how I would have gotten one sent to me. Or on the other hand I guess it's not worth stressing over. One of those things I'll stumble across again someday.

[kitsunebi]

Just because it was created by Nintendo for the purpose of sending to its Nintendo Power subscribers doesn't mean you couldn't have gotten it by other means.  Are you positive you received it in the mail?  If so, are you positive you never registered a game with Nintendo during the NES era?  Most games came with a postcard (postage paid) for you to register the game with the publisher.  Ostensibly this was in case you ever tried to claim a warranty, but in reality it was mostly for information gathering purposes, including obtaining your address for advertising purposes.  I received many free newsletters from various publishers who obtained my address from game registration cards.  Assuming you ever registered a game published by Nintendo, they probably just kept your address on file and that's why you received the video, even if it was years later.

[kitsunebi]

By the way, I just noticed that the IMDB entry for the Donkey Kong Country Exposed video also says that it was sent to Nintendo Power subscribers and lists Nintendo Power as the production company.

[kitsunebi]

Here's a list of (all?)of Nintendo Power's promo vids.  It seems most of them were for the N64.

https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Nintendo_promotional_videos

 

According to this, some vids were made available at Toys R Us as well.  Maybe that's where you got it.

[DPsx7]

Ah, I'll bet that solves it. Remember when I said I may have a second VHS that I feel came from TrU? Fairly certain it was mailed, it's not like I would have bought it with a game or anything. That's where checking for a label would provide answers. No to any warranty or registrations.

[kitsunebi]

Maybe, although I'm not sure why TRU would mail it when the wiki just says some of them were given away at the stores.  Unless the version you have was different in some way and has TRU branding on it.  It would be weird if TRU fronted the shipping costs for an advertisement that only promoted Nintendo and Nintendo Power.  I would have to assume it would have AT LEAST included a TRU coupon for the game or something.

Also, how would TRU have your address?

[Foxhack]

The Banjo Kazooie tape has a Toys-R-Us cover variant, but I'm not sure if the actual tape contents are the same. I own a Zelda Majora's Mask TRU tape with some Banjo Kazooie footage on the back, and it has a "postage paid" mark on that side too. The page link includes photos of the promos included with the tape, one of which was a free plushie when buying the game at TRU. It's possible some of them were mailed, but I bet most were given away at TRU. I did some seasonal work at my US hometown's store in the mid 2000s, and I remember we had to fill out forms with addresses for the scam product warranties we sold (which I refused to offer), so it's possible that they got some addresses from there.

I also own a Pokemon Toys'R'Us tape that was given out before the show originally premiered. It has the tape, a coupon for a Nintendo Power subscription, and a small leaflet with a list of cities, stations, and times when the first episode would air. The back has an ESRB "Rating Pending". The video itself is a promo for the show and the then upcoming game.

 Edit:

On 3/22/2020 at 4:41 PM, E-Day said:

Does anyone here even have the equipment necessary to transfer those VHS to digital video? Plus we don't do video here. Ideally this would be something to send to My Life in Gaming as they have a sub-channel just for VHS transfers of these types of things.

I do, actually. I've got a gigantic stack of tapes that I plan to transfer for the next few months since I'm stuck at home, selling off the bulk of my collection, while I sell the house and hopefully move to the US later this year. A buddy is helping me by giving all my decks a good cleanup, and I ordered some cables I needed with some extra cash I got in.

I'm not sure if there are any important gaming or magazine-related tapes that need backing up, but I'm working on stuff. I have a couple of Japanese tapes I want to digitize, one is a pokemon thing and the other is a Ryuuko no Ken VHS guide.

And that's not counting all the CDs and gaming magazine stuff I want to transfer and eventually post for download.

(Which also makes me wonder about those gaming DVDs that came with PS2 mags...)

Edited May 21, 2020 by Foxhack
To not double post

[DPsx7]

20 hours ago, kitsunebi said:

Maybe, although I'm not sure why TRU would mail it when the wiki just says some of them were given away at the stores.  Unless the version you have was different in some way and has TRU branding on it.  It would be weird if TRU fronted the shipping costs for an advertisement that only promoted Nintendo and Nintendo Power.  I would have to assume it would have AT LEAST included a TRU coupon for the game or something.

Also, how would TRU have your address?

The only way we're gonna have any certainty is if I find the dang thing. While I know I never subbed to the mag early nor filled out any cards, maybe I was signed up at a store for coupons and offers and they traded my addy. I honestly don't know. The wiki can only go by whatever info people have, it's not an all encompassing resource.

I can check the old video cabinet. If it's not there I have one other idea where to look but it's kinda buried.

[kitsunebi]

25 minutes ago, DPsx7 said:

The only way we're gonna have any certainty is if I find the dang thing. While I know I never subbed to the mag early nor filled out any cards, maybe I was signed up at a store for coupons and offers and they traded my addy. I honestly don't know. The wiki can only go by whatever info people have, it's not an all encompassing resource.

Right, I would never consider a wiki definitive, either.  But I have to say that while it wouldn't surprise me if you had picked up a copy of the vid given away for free at a store, it still seems to me like a very odd proposition to suppose that TRU was mailing copies of these things to people.  It makes sense that Nintendo Power sent them out to subscribers, since those people obviously had an interest in Nintendo games, and they already have those people's addresses on file.  But Toys R Us wouldn't have anyone's address on file, nor would they know who out of their many customers was specifically interested in Nintendo games.  As you say, you may have filled out an order form for the video in the store, but in that case, it would be more logical for them to just give the videos away in person, rather than spend the money to mail it to you later.  So of course this is all conjecture, but it just seems like the most logical explanation.

[kitsunebi]

Also, btw, I'm not sure that finding the video will solve the mystery.  These things (at least, all the ones I ever received) were shipped wrapped in clear shrink-wrap.  The address label was stuck to the shrink-wrap, which most people would have removed and thrown away when they opened the video.

[DPsx7]

Didn't find yet. Work has been busy.

Good point, a tape wouldn't stay in its case if it wasn't wrapped. Trying to think back, doubt I'd have taken a free VHS since the player was in a different room (and I'd only use it once). Could it have been a different store. A third party. Did I forget that I signed up for something else besides a subscription. Oh well.

[NorrinRadd]

On 4/20/2019 at 2:23 PM, kitsunebi said:

Game Player's sold VHS tapes for a while.  I remember the ads in their magazines, although I can't say I ever saw the videos for sale anywhere.  They may have been direct order only.

I had every one of these. :) If I am not mistaken, I think some mom and pop video stores rented these kind of tapes in the kid's section, no?

[JHD]

On 3/28/2019 at 6:34 PM, kitsunebi said:

That would be interesting.  Charging people to watch a commercial!   If anyone had the cajones to pull off something like that, it would have been Nintendo.

 

Slightly O/T, but back in the mid-1980s, there was a music producer that would release monthly cassettes with excerpts of their latest releases -- not full or complete songs, like a sampler, but just short snippets of music together with some commentary about the album, artist, etc. These cassettes were not expensive,  but they were essentially just advertising.    

  

I have a copy of the Nintendo 64 promotional videotape that I found at a thrift shop many years ago. I did not realise that it was connected to Nintendo Power magazine.