![Is This Nintendo's First American TV Commercial? 1](https://cdn.statically.io/img/images.timeextension.com/143a611b22f64/is-this-nintendos-first-american-tv-commercial-1.900x.jpg)
It's hard to imagine the video game industry without Nintendo in it, but back in 1980, the company was so unknown in the West that some of its products didn't even feature its name – as this newly-preserved commercial for a Game & Watch LCD handheld proves.
The commercial – which was has been recovered by Chris Kohler and The Video Game History Foundation – is for the Mego "Time-Out" Toss-Up handheld, which you might know better as the Game & Watch release 'Ball' (thanks, KitsuneNight).
According to Kohler, Nintendo licenced the game – along with Exterminator (Vermin), Fireman Fireman (Fire), and Flag Man (Flagman) – to Mego, which put its own logo on the front of the casing. However, Nintendo's logo remains embossed on the rear panel of each device.
"Mego ran television advertising for these games, which were probably the first TV ads for Nintendo products ever aired outside Japan," adds Kohler.
"One day while browsing eBay, I happened upon a film reel containing a TV commercial for Time-Out, the first game in the series," he continues. "I reached a deal with the seller and handed the film over to the VGHF right after I got it. The box notes that the film is credited to “Lion Rock Ltd.,” which was a division of Mego. It is dated to June 25, 1980, just a couple of months after Nintendo of America was incorporated."
The Video Game History Foundation believes this to be "the first American commercial for a Nintendo product," and explains that "the film had significantly degraded, but our film vendor, Movette Film Transfer, was able to digitally restore most of the color."
You can read about the entire process of restoring the footage here.
[source gamehistory.org]
Comments 21
Just for context : Mego was a toy manufacturer who had their hey day in the 70's with Marvel DC and Star Trek toys.
As well as Micronauts.
2 years after this ad Mego filed for bankruptcy and by 1983 they were gone.
The close-up on the girl's ass is the least Nintendo thing I ever saw in a Nintendo ad!
@TheFlyingKick
It looks less suspicious in the actual commercial, than the head photo of the article.
1 sec of a 30 sec humorous commercial. It fits in a pocket!
@Lofoten
It's actually still impressive how small the damn things are.
"Make sure the commercial has a shot of a girl wearing hot pants."
Some 70s ad exec, probably
This is the kind of commercial I would have remembered as a kid (had I been born yet). It's so... cheeky. Oh, is that the door? I'll show myself out.
Is this also the first use of the term "electronic sports"?
@cdog555 And sakes. Roller skating was big back then.
That commercial was awesome. My first experience with Nintendo was the NES when it was released nation wide in the US. I never knew Mego was connected to Nintendo at all.
@TheFlyingKick
You should see the awesomely perverted DS and Wii vs PS advertising...
The Embed doesn't work for me, does anyone have a direct link to the video?
@Spider-Kev
Sure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xVT5i1muxE
@KitsuneNight thank you!
@KitsuneNight
Ooof, was not expecting that face when she turned around...
LoL
Why don’t they release the raw film of the restored version instead of putting the border crap around it? Over the years I’ve been quite perplexed at some of the things the “Video Game History Foundation” does.
They say:
“The Video Game History Foundation is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, celebrating, and teaching the history of video games.”
And yet they hold onto anything they get their hands on with a white-knuckled grip as though they are the I.P. holders. When instead, they buy the things with donated money from gamers.
@RunninBlue I'm not sure about the other stuff you said, but I'm pretty sure this IS the raw scan, if it didn't have the "border" it would technically be less complete.
@Mew If that is the case, then why are there older, pre-remastered borderless versions on Youtube? The border in this video is just an effect they added.
My point is, this organisation boasts complete sets of scanned old video game magazines, manuals, flyers, advertisements etc. Where are they online? Are they fully available to the public or at the very least, the people who donated money?
There have also been cases where they have used the donated money to win auctions for rare prototype games etc. They dump the rom into their “archives” for “preservation”, but they don’t make the rom publicly accessible. I find it all very strange. Maybe some things may have some legalities attached (and I’m being generous), but not everything.
@TheFlyingKick Someone posted what I've to ask... if it was a REAL Nintendo commercial (because I don't remember seeing it on TV): there's this guy, his wife is going into labor and he's sitting there playing an N64 golf game!
What a sick and twisted direction for a Nintendo commercial to go, even for the '90s!
(there was another one where a dad's son catches him crossdressing, and the dad asks to buy off his son's secrecy with a Player's Choice N64 game. Kind of shocking for Nintendo to even touch that subject, especially in a commercial from... was it like 2000?)
@RunninBlue "If that is the case, then why are there older, pre-remastered borderless versions on Youtube?"
I'm just guessing, but maybe cuz those were recorded off TV rather than an original film print.
Behold a full hour of Mego commercials from the 70's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC9WPIzuP7k
Seen the VGHF ad. Seems fine. Pocketable Ball/Toss Up Game and Watch.
Yeah the GB Micro mouse maze ad, the Yoshi gluttony one, some others. Spongecake with swearing for some rhythm game ad (was or wasn't Guitar Hero).
Many interesting ads of the past by gaming or even tech advertisers those are hmm very strange.
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