For decades marketers have been trying to figure out how to sell video games to kids. Some ideas worked and others were just unoriginal, annoying, a bit insulting, and even creepy. We figured for a throwback, we’d roll through some video game commercials from the 1980s and 1990s and pick out a handful that made us cringe.

1. Game Genie

This 1991 commercial for Game Genie (which allowed you to cheat on any Nintendo or Sega system game) featured a couple “dude bros” who were doing their best Bill and Ted impersonation (from a somewhat popular movie at the time).

This is who marketers thought gamers were – a couple of doofuses.

2. Atari 2600, “The Fun Is Back”

In 1986, rap music and hip-hop culture as a whole was crossed over to the mainstream and marketers were all trying to cash in. In this commercial for the Atari 2600, we have a couple of little kids playing the Atari, but it’s backed by one of the worst sounding rap jingles of all time.

3. Nintendo’s Legend Of Zelda Rap Song

Sticking with the rap music theme here, Nintendo tried it out when they introduced Legend of Zelda to the U.S. Yeah, it was pretty terrible. And again, the imagery of the kids playing the game is a bit insulting to gamers of the day. That nerdy, pocket protector, wearing braces, and nerd glasses look was still a thing thanks to the popularity of the Revenge of the Nerds film franchise in the 1980s.

4. Centipede On Atari, “Club Centipede”

Centipede was a hit in the arcades back in the 1980s, so when the game came to home consoles, it was a big deal. So, when it came time to market the game, Atari went way left with it. The following commercial is probably one of the weirdest video game commercials you’ll see. Like, what’s up with the pushing a cart of legs? Oh, because centipedes have a bunch of legs, I get it. Is it pretty ordinary for a centipede to eat you and then start playing the saxophone? Plus, there’s only 10 seconds of gameplay footage in the 60 second commercial.

Bonus: This one is just as weird and with even less gameplay footage

5. Sega And Sonic The Hedgehog’s “Church Lady”

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, actor and comedian Dana Carvey’s “Church Lady” character was a hit on Saturday Night Live. Of course, when something crosses over into pop culture, like the Church Lady, marketers try to cash in on the popularity. When Sega was trying to sell its Sega Genesis, they focused on the free Sonic the Hedgehog game you get with the console and used a cheap Church Lady imitation to do the job. We get it. Young people don’t like old people so when old people don’t like something, like Sonic, young people all of the sudden like those things, right?

6. Nintendo’s Legend Of Zelda With Pee Wee/Michael Winslow Wanna-Be

Around the time of the original Legend of Zelda’s launch, Pee Wee Herman and the Police Academy films were the hot things of the moment. And by the looks of this commercial, Nintendo wanted to combine the two. The guy in the commercial has the Pee Wee Herman voice and is trying to do silly sound effects like Michael Winslow’s character in Police Academy. Plus, you hardly get to see any of the gameplay or even what the game is about.

7. Mario Bros. On Atari

Before Nintendo made Mario their mascot, he was running and jumping on Atari. This commercial is of the Saturday morning cartoon variety and it’s just … well, you get it.

Do you remember any video game commercials you could stand?

This article
originally appeared on Gamerterra.com and was
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