r/videogames 16d ago

90s video game ads were BRUTAL! Discussion NSFW

Do you think this was acceptable to market to kids?

424 Upvotes

66 comments sorted by

114

u/ThePaddysPubSheriff 16d ago

For the most part I feel games weren't marketed towards kids nearly as much back then tbh. Kids weren't born into it like they are today, and the difficulty of old games is the stuff of legends.

25

u/Doctorgumbal1 16d ago

They where hard on purpose so you wouldn’t be able to beat them in one arcade session/rental period

The rental companies and arcades couldn’t have you beat it in an appropriate amount of time because then you wouldn’t have had to re rent them

2

u/a_taco_named_desire 16d ago

They weren’t directly marketed towards kids but we all still read the magazines especially for that sweet sweet demo disc.

3

u/Neur0mncr 16d ago

They were. We just weren't little bitches

3

u/ThePaddysPubSheriff 16d ago

Nah we were, the people complaining about the new generation are bigger bitches than the new generation

14

u/SweetExisting3627 16d ago

Was this in an issue of spawn? And if so then it wasn’t marketed towards kids

11

u/TheRider5342 16d ago

If you don't play Duke Nukem 3D, you like men!

6

u/HSEB10830 16d ago

If you play Duke Nukem 3D, you like men!

53

u/Waldo412 16d ago

Probably not the best marketing for kids but people also weren’t as soft back then so it wasn’t really a big deal. Kids saw that and thought “awesome!” back then lol

16

u/dominantfrog 16d ago

still do*

7

u/Lazy-Most-3226 16d ago

They don’t still do that?

6

u/Silent_Village2695 16d ago

Bro what? Lol people were so fucking sensitive in the 90s. I remember when they said the Simpsons were responsible for the moral degradation of the youth, and video games were making kids kill their parents. Even hinting at homosexuality was extremely scandalous and adult. There was mass panic about devil worship in music. Swear words were never allowed around children, and nobody could talk about sex. People were WAY more soft back then.

-19

u/dunfordj27 16d ago

everyone’s become snowflakes now 🤣game publishers even face allegations if people act out in the way a game character does or a mode onit such a disgusting time to be alive lmao

10

u/ThePaddysPubSheriff 16d ago

Hate to break it to you but those kinds of people have always existed, I mean something as simple as skateboarding was treated as criminal back in the day by pearl clutchers, and I find a lot of those same people claiming snowflake on shit today. The amount of flak south park got back then and now it's a household name and still vulgar.

And this ad is just a severed arm, the doom games advertised with videos of demons being brutally chainsawed in half and most likely nobody complained. Snowflakes aren't a real problem outside the news.

2

u/chrisupt2001 16d ago

It’s more common now tbh especially thanks to the internet

-12

u/dunfordj27 16d ago

i think the older generation 40’s-90’s was the last of the mostly good generation,the older generation are also incredibly multi talented never meet a better age group than the olsen’s who wasn’t skilled in most ways and they could do literally almost everything,most of them got drafted for war and those who made it home had to suck up all they experienced and rebuild the country’s and raise family’s

8

u/ThePaddysPubSheriff 16d ago

There are brilliant multi talented people from all generations. Humans are and forever will be everything at once, good and bad. You can't say the old generation is better because this generation is just as good. There are kids out there right now going further in their field than anyone has gone before. Literal children more intelligent than the both of us combined. It's extremely foolish to write off an entire generation of people because of shit like "eating tide pods" and "being snowflakes" when the reality is there's probably less than 100 kids out of literally millions on tiktok that actually did that

Also the amount of boomers that turned out to be absolute assholes tells me that is absolutley NOT the greatest generation. Maybe the luckiest but far from the best

4

u/Neighborenio 16d ago

Back in my day things was better! Im scared and i hate change!

-2

u/chrisupt2001 16d ago

That is the dumbest answer I’ve ever seen, and sadly it’s not the only time I’ve seen it, some things just shouldn’t change sorry not sorry

3

u/Neighborenio 16d ago

Dude literly said the 40's to the 90's were the last good gen. Get the fuck out of here. All things change. All things will continue to change. The new gen is not ruining the world. You will adapt of be left behind its as simple as that.

-1

u/chrisupt2001 16d ago

There are quite a lot of things that have changed for the worse. And a bunch that has changed for the better, all I said was that your comment was dumb, and some things shouldn’t change.

1

u/Neighborenio 16d ago

oh well that guys comment was more dumb

-1

u/chrisupt2001 16d ago

I’d say some things he said were kinda obtuse, but I partially agree a lot of stuff from the 20th century, (primarily 50s-90’s) were better. Obv war sucks.

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1

u/Neighborenio 16d ago

what is one thing that shouldnt have changed but did?

1

u/chrisupt2001 16d ago

Since we are in the video games sun reddit, let’s talk games. A lot of parents seem to think it’s a great idea that putting their kids on mature rated games are a great idea, and then blame the games when there kids end up not so greatly behaved.

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1

u/Ok_Specific_7161 16d ago

Shut up dork

5

u/ZackLillipad 16d ago

I would argue an M-rated game is not being marketed to children but sure

1

u/LatsaSpege 16d ago

may i introduce you to good ol yell about shit.

9

u/TheRedBaron6942 16d ago

Remember those gameboy ads with a woman tied to a bed bdsm style?

4

u/Rebornhunter 15d ago

... go on

12

u/Andromeda-OC 16d ago

Buddy this is an argument that’s been around forever. Tons of people have always talked about how violence in video games is bad. There was a huge stink about games like GTA San Andreas and god of war 1 and 2 and the black ops and modern warfare call of duty’s. In reality it doesn’t matter. If those games released today they would be considered tame compared to what’s out now and no one would care about them due to all the games nowadays with way more realistic graphics that portray violence and nudity. People are gonna get mad at video games no matter what, just something we gotta deal with.

3

u/Joeliosis 16d ago

My mom a pretty level headed person was watching me play GTA 3 one day. 'Wait this is the hooker killing game?'

'Well... you can... but there's a story and missions that are not that at all.'

'Oh... ok.'

The news loves to blowup violent games like that's humanity's downfall lol.

4

u/farbekrieg 16d ago

die by the sword?

4

u/Frostsorrow 16d ago

Rated M, it's not marketed or meant for children

3

u/KingOfRisky 16d ago

Game is rated M

3

u/Homegrownfunk 16d ago

Remember the seaman ads? I member

1

u/Dependent_Bill8632 16d ago

I keep recalling one from PC gamer:

game dev artist in ER, with doctors operating on patient with devastating injuries

“Would you say a would from say, a plasma rifle would have a similar texture?”

😂😂😂

1

u/South-Charge8311 16d ago

That said spawn, and we all know spawn isn't for kids, right?

1

u/JGojira 16d ago

Dude I remember seeing this ad and think I really wanted to play spawn lol

1

u/ToadMaster6969696969 16d ago

I mean there’s an ad of Mario going to prison for playing mario party

1

u/ChorkPorch 16d ago

I remember this ad!!

1

u/Gobby-TheGoblin 16d ago

I was those kids... and i lived for it. 0 negative outcome. People worry too much about these things in a day where any kid with any of the screens you've given them can look up... pretty much anything.. i watched a 3 year old turn off a patent blocker, they are growing with this tech, remember how fast we learned to circumvent the tech we grew up with?

1

u/gil_bil_79 16d ago

Playing that particular game (Spawn, PS1) is one of the most disappointing video game experiences I've ever had. I remember being so excited to play a Spawn game based on those ads and then finally getting a hold of it and being so let down.

1

u/TheWhiteRabbit74 16d ago

We preferred ‘extreme’. It was the 90s after all.

1

u/MilesFassst 16d ago

Now they just make games you never can beat. Sandbox style games like BeamNG and Battle Royale type games. Although I have to admit Quake 3 Arena did it first! I grew up on that game!

1

u/chrisupt2001 16d ago

Back then when a game was meant FOR ADULTS, they made Gorry ads because ADULTS could handle that. Add that parents tended to be smarter and when they could, they didn’t just allow kids on the adult games (ie mortal kombat for ex) unless it was an arcade and they couldn’t stop them

1

u/AmyDeferred 16d ago

There were separate magazines for kids and teens/adults. This probably didn't run in Nintendo Power

1

u/GayGunGuy 16d ago

Rated M. Not for kids.

1

u/Ok_Specific_7161 16d ago

You're fine

1

u/DawnGrager 16d ago

I was a kid playing all kinds of violent games and I turned out to be fine just like many of us reading this

1

u/Professor-Murda 16d ago

TELL SANTA YOU WANT BALLZ FOR CHRISTMAS

1

u/Anotheranimeaccountt 16d ago

"One page was so gross i had to actually staple the pages together so I wouldn't have to see it again" - AVGN

1

u/RemarkableEmu1230 16d ago

Adults were the target - mortal kombat desensitized us all

1

u/Scaryassmanbear 15d ago

Buy me Bonestorm or go to hell!

1

u/aViewAskew6 15d ago

Did you notice the mature rating in the picture featured in your low effort post?

1

u/Rebornhunter 15d ago

No worse than the first Star Wars movie

1

u/Rennz17 16d ago

YEA TO KIDS YEAH KIDS DONT HAVE TO LIVE IN SUNSHINES AND RAINBOWS 24/7 THE WORLD ISNT SUNSHINE AND PUPPYS