Back in 1981 when you opened a Atari 2600 catalog you could read:
QUALITY YOU CAN COUNT ON. ATARI products are engineered to deliver top performance with lots of action, crisp colors, and realistic sound effects.
realistic sound effects? Lets see how these quality video game (adverts) we can count on look twenty odd years later shall we?
The commercial archive has some Atari and other classic video games collected in the archive - only super adgrunts may apply.
Early on, mothers seemed to have noticed how addictive video games can be - as in Dear atari from 1981.
Atari bragged about how easy it was to install - even Alan Alda could do it in 30 seconds flat. Notice how quick the screen comes on. hmmm.
ET didn't sell as many Atari games as he did movie tickets, the games bargainbinned all the way down to a landfillhole. Adorable blond girl not included.
My personal classic video game commercial favorite:
Activision proves it's hipness with special effects like the "Video killed the radio star" promo.
In 1886 Atari boasts more games than any other platform - gotta love the rainbow logo at the end.
Better Quality film this "grown man becomes little boy" jingle takes top cheesy award.
If this is your cup of tea pay a visit to the atari commercial archive and the Video game (print) ad site.
*** the sound quality of the 80's ads isn't that good due to old VHS tapes.