Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Atari Jaguar Infomercial = Train Wreck

Here's a little nugget I think everyone should experience.

History tells us that at one point, Atari was the undisputed 800-pound gorilla of the video game world. Between 1977 and 1983, the company dominated the North American market with its 2600 Video Computer System (VCS).

By the time the 90's rolled around however, Atari was reduced to nothing more than a frightened, quivering little Gelfling. Nintendo had stolen the keys to the castle, and Sony was ramping-up its assault (if I recall, it had something to do with a little gaming do-hicky called PlayStation.)

In a last-ditch attempt at avoiding bankruptcy with its sinking Jaguar game system, Atari sunk a butt-load of money into advertising on late night television. Infomercials were becoming huge at the time, so Atari cobbled together the Jaguar infomercial you see below. The clip is a montage of that 30-minute piece, and it has all sorts of wrong in it -- from cheesy dialog to terrible acoustics to annoying actors, it is a train wreck the likes of which have never been seen before. And if I hear the name Bob one more time, I shall likely commit mass murder.

Please enjoy.







1 comment:

  1. I'd love to see the full version of the infomercial, got a link?

    ReplyDelete