Nintendo Promotional Videotapes

by Rory

N64 Change the System

In the late 90s I received several videotapes in the mail from Nintendo for upcoming games on the N64. At the time I wasn’t a Nintendo Power subscriber but they still had my address. The videos are really goofy but do a good job of showing off the games.

(link to part 2 of the video)

From what I remember, this video was delivered to my house just a few months before the N64 was released in North America. It has a good rundown of the first games on the system and stars Ken “Klobb” Lobb.

(link to part 2 of the video)

“Nintendo Hot News” features previews of Donkey Kong 64, the Donkey Kong TV show, Pokemon Snap, and dozens of other games.

(link to part 2 of the video)

Jon Lovitz gives you the lowdown on Banjo-Kazooie in this one. It’s at least more entertaining than High School High.

The generic Jim Carrey guy babbling about the different vehicle options in Diddy Kong Racing didn’t do the game any favors. This is the strangest of videos I received from Nintendo. Compare it with Sega’s commercials of that era, which seemed much more desperate. Sega relied on making you feel ill-prepared for their products. “You’ve come a long way… ARE YOU READY FOR THE FUTURE??” They might as well have had the silver Kratos guy say, “Hey asshole, buy our system… please?” This is not to say that the Saturn was horrible, but I guess this type of marketing was a product of its time.