Welcome to another edition of Genesis Does. The review article that looks at all things Sega Genesis. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times. I personally feel there was no better time to be a gamer than in the early to mid 90’s, within the wonder and glory of the 16-bit era. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that this wasn’t just a simple battle of whose system was superior, but an all out brawl for king of the hill. And the best example of that were the commercials. Sega was especially brutal when squaring off with Nintendo, and stopped at almost nothing to put their name in the forefront in terms of console control.
So, let’s take a look back at Sega’s ad campaign, and its evolution. This ad break will look at four classic commercials. We’ll look mainly on commercials that focused on selling Sega as a superior company to Ninendo. We’ll also see if the ads do a good job in selling the product. So without further ado, it’s time to be welcomed to the next level.
AD #1: Genesis Does What Nintendon’t
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8
Ah, the ad campaign that inspired this article series. By 1990, Sega was firmly in the 16 bit war for about a year at the time, and were slowly gaining momentum. At this point in time, they were competing more against the arcade in terms of selling the quality of their console. But when people didn’t fully buy that the port of Golden Axe on Genesis looked to the level of the arcade version, they went after the big dog of the console market at the time, the great grey box itself, the Nintendo Entertainment System.
This was still prior to the Super Nintendo, so Sega had a legitimate claim. Their console could do graphics, sound, and even gameplay far better than the limited 8 bit NES. Sega launched their Genesis Does ad campaign, that featured game footage of many of their games at the time, like Strider, Castle of Illusion, and Michael Jackson’s Moonwalker, while prominently featuring the Genesis logo as it was slapped over everything from a blimp, to even being spelled on a wall in a hail of bullets.
The ads also featured the many celebrities and sports names that had lent their likenesses to Sega, such as Michael Jackson, Joe Montana, Pat Riley, and James “Buster” Douglas, who was still semi hot after his victory over Mike Tyson. All while a very catchy little tune plays. “Genesis Does! You can’t do this on Nintendo!”
I love these ads. It was Sega’s loud declaration to the world that they were coming to take Nintendo’s throne, and weren’t going to take any prisoners. They were out to be the Pepsi to Nintendo’s Coke. And there is never anything wrong with some good competition.
AD #2: Sonic Versus Mario
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mK0OFsWWzu4
While Sega was making their names known by 1991, they still never had an official IP as their mascot. The days of Alex Kidd were far over, and they needed a new, hip face of the 90’s to be their flagship character. Enter Sonic the Hedgehog. This spiky blue hero with a major attitude became the name that launched Sega to the moon and beyond. The game was a major hit, earning massive praise by critics, and even earned best game of 1991 by Gamepro.
Shortly following Sonic’s debut was the North American debut of the old grey and purple box, the Super Nintendo, the 2nd generation of Nintendo’s console evolution, and arguably the best Nintendo console of all time. so, with Nintendo stepping into the 16 bit ring against Sega, the fur really began to fly.
One of the first ads to show how Sega handled their competition was this one from 1991. A video game salesman shows a kid two televisions. One has Super Mario World, and the other has Sonic the Hedgehog. The kid is far more entranced by Sonic’s antics then what Mario is up to. Despite the salesman’s attempts to coax the kid into buying a SNES, he goes for the Sega instead with its cheaper $149 price tag compared to Nintendo’s starting price of $199.
It’s a simple ad, but it does a good job of selling Sega as a faster, and more advanced console over Nintendo’s slower style. And while this is no knock on Mario World, it was definitely the game to pick out of the launch titles to compete with Sonic. Had they showed F Zero, the outcome would have certainly been different.
AD #3: Blast Processing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bun8tA_ksZw&feature=related
Nothing sells people better than catch phrases and slogans. We’ve already seen Sega’s attempt at slogans with Genesis Does, now their most infamous of all, Blast Processing.
The ad in question starts off by saying that the Genesis has Blast Processing, while Super Nintendo doesn’t. So, what does Blast Processing do? Well, we see a comparison as a formula one car speeds super fast, with a TV behind it playing Genesis games. You see the games moving blazing fast, and lots of action. Move over to the SNES, which has an old TV behind a clunky old truck, with Super Mario Kart playing. A weird comparison, but one that does work. While Mario Kart does have decent speed, it isn’t what anyone would ever consider the fastest looking game on the console. Again, I’d say put F Zero there, and it would be a tougher comparison.
Another solid commercial for Sega. And one that does feel justified. Sega’s games often did feel faster and more fluid to a lot of the more slower SNES games at the time. While Blast Processing was merely just a buzz word, it still felt true. Another point for Sega on this one.
AD #4: Game Gear: In Color
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eP04XzC-GkA
Not to be outdone in the console market, Sega also tried to compete with Nintendo on the handheld market. Their first and only major outing (not counting the Nomad since it was just a portable Genesis) was the Game Gear. A rather bulky device that played the equivalent of Master System titles in Full Color! And of course, this was the selling point that Sega would stick in Nintendo’s faces, as they were still competing with their pea soup green screened portable, the Game Boy. Case in point our next ad.
A kid is sitting in the park playing Super Mario Land 2 on the game boy (and yes, that is Ethan Suplee, best known as Randy Hickey on My Name is Earl). Bored at the game’s drab, colorless screen, he seeks out anything that can remedy this woe. And that is, of course, grabbing a dead squirrel and smacking himself in the skull with it. This causes a trippy sensation that makes him see the screen in full color. Then the commercial narrator tells us there’s an easier way to get color, get a Game Gear, with games like Sonic Triple Trouble, and Mortal 2 (because I guess Kombat would be too long to say).
This was around the time that Sega was really going head first into weirdsville with their commercials. This was the Welcome To The Next Level era, where ads were almost blazing fast, and filled with insanity. God I miss these ads. And the absurdity of this commercial still somehow sells the Game Gear well. I mean, yeah. It is in full color, so have fun… for the 10 minutes of play you’ll get until your batteries get eaten. Oh well.
So, that was the main crux of Sega’s marketing ad campaign. Of course, Nintendo remained a boy scout and barely ever fought back. I mean, they never would stoop to Sega’s low, right? Well..
AD #5: Super Mario All Stars Ad
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHuLbAL0deA
In this infamous ad for Super Mario All Stars, we’re in a class, as the teacher tries to drill it into the heads of his students that Super Nintendo comes with Super Mario All Stars with mail in rebate, while Sega gives you no free games. All while one individual, an obvious burnout with a Sonic T-Shirt has no clue how to respond, because he’s obviously too high to get it.
Okay, first off, Sega did give you free games. The console always came with a free game, like for example Sonic 2, which my first Genesis came with. This whole ad felt very forced in trying to sell Sega’s customers as far inferior to Nintendo’s customers. Sega barely ever really went after the customers, and more the inferiority of the machines themselves. And most importantly, this whole ad feels so out of Nintendo’s style. Nintendo’s ads at the time did a better job at selling their own stuff, while not really having to shoot on the competition. It’s just a bad ad all around.
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In the grand scheme of things, Nintendo and Sega had a great rivalry, and it really was a great time to be a gamer. Whether you be on the side of Sega or Nintendo, you got quality on both consoles, and a hell of a lot of fun. I miss these days and these ads. You just don’t get that feel of a true battle for supremacy commercial-wise in this era, only more out of the fanboys I guess.