Nintendo Power Tapes

[@wstine79]

The "Hey You, Pikachu" video feels like a bootleg Malcolm in the Middle episode.

[@scottylewis8124]

Pikachu: You're not the boss of me, kid! And you're not Malcolm.

[@TeamBelmont91]

_Life is unfair~_

[@smb-c3po]

Now we just gotta wait for Pikachu to be replaced with the Pokémon equivalent of Jason Marzton as the voice of Chester McBadbat on The Fairly Odd Parents, also Phelous missed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 40th anniversary Meet & Greet yesterday which I was able to attend after I got home from work.

[@16driver16]

He does talk like little dewey

[@smb-c3po]

@@16driver16 Only not popular.

[@charlottecorday8494]

Ah yes, when i commit corporate espionage i always make sure to wear a shirt loudly displaying the company i work for.

[@TheKpa11]

_Hiding in plain sight_ And while everyone’s distracted, my subordinates go undetected

[@TheSomewareMan]

No one would ever expect such a level of stupidity. It's the perfect crime!

[@MichaelStark-j8e]

The German citizen thought the same with the armband

[@UJEvans]

I would affirm that Pikachu is a decent substitute for your family. But I need witnesses

[@cameronstone4495]

As lame as the Sony and Sega henchmen were, even they were too cool to team up with the Atari Jaguar goon.

[@DarkOverlord96]

There's just something funny about threatening Mario with another live-action movie while holding up the recent expensive limited edition release box set of the 1993 movie. It doesn't quite have the same threatening aura as, say, threatening Morrigan with another western Darkstalkers cartoon while holding up the cheap official bootleg-looking DVD.

[@doctorhirst9302]

Cut to Old Man breaking into someone's home and seeing a Pokemon game set up, but nobody playing it. "Looks like I was expected!"

[@TommyDeonauthsArchives]

And then he reads a Pokémon creepy pasta.

[@bjthedjdutchdude1992]

I thought the same thing 😂

[@animewolfOtakuwolf]

17:46 The most amusing part of this promo is how it will be referenced beat-per-beat decades later in the fanmade "A Fox in Space - Episode Two", which made me know about it before even watching it.

[@tacoman422]

"It's just gonna be one of those lackluster Olympics games!" Too soon, Phelous. Too soon.

[@TommyDeonauthsArchives]

Yeah, that's a big yikes from me.

[@jsc315]

Nintendo Powers advertising from the mid 90s to the early 2000s was a very strange and surreal time. It's a lot of fun watching these.

[@smb-c3po]

I miss Nintendo Power magazine and I never even had the chance to subscribe to it.

[@RettMikhal]

Stupid for sure, but I definitely wouldn't call it generic so it's got that going for it.

[@smb-c3po]

@@RettMikhal I miss old Nintendo.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

They really lost something when they stopped just letting Japanese magazine companies do their stuff.

[@WillDaBeard]

“You talk to Pikachu!” He didn’t do it “Sometimes he doesn’t listen” gotta love a product that blatantly tells you it doesn’t work half the time, fun.

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

"it's all about patience"

[@Grey_Warden_Invasion]

At least it's honest.

[@necogreendragon]

I miss 90's exaggerated enthusiasm. Everyone was so excited about video games, cereal, fruit snacks and cartoons. It was all. Whaoooo. Awesome! Radical! Good times.

[@slenders1ckn3ss]

Extreeeeeeme Rice!

[@gracekim1998]

it sure looks like tons of fun :D

[@yoursonisold8743]

I don't know. Just another form of insincere advertisement.

[@Ten80pete]

I think it's probably nostalgia that does the heavy lifting in this case. Yes, it's amusing as hell, and you wonder how it ever worked as intended on us, but as a curio of marketing, it really feels like the mid-late 90's was peak Idiocracy advertising. It's not just ads, either. I was thinking about how much I LOVED Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers as a kid, so I decided to watch a few episodes to see if it held up at all. I had just done the same thing with Rocko's Modern Life, and it was surprisingly funny to me. Power Rangers on the other hand... I had to cut my marathon short because Rita Repulsa only served to "Make my headache GROWWWWW!" in addition to the ad nauseam "swish" sound effects. Every... single... movement during fight scenes is a test of patience for even the saints among us.

[@fmsyntheses]

I used to watch the Rumble Pack tape over and over again, mostly because I found it vaguely reminiscent of Monty Python, but I didn't have Monty Python on tape.

[@RettMikhal]

Remember how hyped up they made the three modes of travel only to realize you use the tank and sub on three levels.

[@Dark_Jaguar]

Donkey Kong Country had it's own promo tape... and I still have the thing! Much like early promos for The Lion King back then, they really focused in on how the graphics designers studied ACTUAL monkeys to get the motions of Donkey and Diddy right. You know, that thing you kind of expect artists to do? They did it!

[@LBDNytetrayn]

That was the one I was waiting for. Maybe it'll get its own episode?

[@Curttehmurt]

I don't think I've seen that one, I hope Phelous covers that and the Yoshi's Island tape. Also DK64 and Banjo Kazooie had tapes that I'm pretty sure were Nintendo Power related

[@rebela.i.9256]

Anyone else notice the "Diddy Diddler from the 60's" is actress Bitty Schram, a.k.a. Sharona from Monk

[@wstine79]

NOW YOU'RE PLAYING WITH POWER! PHELOUS POWER!!!

[@smb-c3po]

I know we'd all love to do that, if you know what I mean.

[@richardgadberry8398]

"360!"

[@andrewbrown4362]

Every moment I spend playing Banjo-Kazooie is narrated by Jon Lovitz.

[@PetProjects2011]

I bet Phelan is relieved he didn't stick a P. Diddy joke while talking about the Diddy Kong Racing tape.

[@SolitaryCore-mj2mr]

i wonder if that "hey you pikachu" boy was growing up to be a vet ... "its all about the patients" :P

[@aquelescaraaaaaaaaaa]

Phelous has such ill feelings towards the Mario Bros. Movie that he bought the deluxe edition of the brand new Umbrella release featuring a new 4K scan, tons of special features, new and from the old bluray, as well as stickers, an artbook and a paperback containing ALL the iterations of the screenplay! Truly some dangerous stuff.

[@MandVersusNature]

I adore Hey You, Pikachu! I have it and play it sometimes. One of top 5 games. It feels more immersive than other Pokémon games. I think I want to replace my mic with a better one, though, cause I hear someone test the Nintendo mic and it was so hard to understand. That little tape was wild. The tone doesn’t really match that patience the kid keeps talking about.

[@RidleyPrime]

The “Nintendo employee” in the Star Fox 64 promo was Fox’s VA apparently. The Diddy Kong Racing promo I had as a kid which I used to rewatch plenty, before and after having the game. Seeing it again here, the human girlfriend of Diddy I have to see as a Dixie stand-in now to maintain my sanity. lol

[@AtariYeo]

Wait, that's Steve Malpass?!

[@Irene-qk6qm]

Mom: What did I say? No more watching adults that have willingly decided to train and safely perform choreographed fights to earn their living! Children: But we're just watching children hunting wild creatures, keeping them caged and forcing them to fight each other until severely injured just to show off! Mom: Oh, that's OK.

[@InnocentDarkside]

Well, this WAS released at the peak of the Monday Night Wars, so I can only assume that kid's mom was clearly backing Team WCW.

[@darkron288]

You know it is aactually shocking how far we have come in terms of gaming hardware in 30 years... remember pilot wings 64 was considered to be unreal and ahead of its time when it came out, now it looks old fasion and is a relic of its time

[@whitefox411-gamer7]

"Sorry, we had to cancel the 2024 Mario and Sonic Olympics game as Nintendo does not want to be associated with NFTs. And choosing between Mario promotion or NFTs, we all know what is more valuable." No, really.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Thank goodness, not even the super infamous Nintendo likes NFT overuse.

[@Shemonstercomics]

Just remember the N64 had only 2 games available on launch day in 1996. Mario 64 and Pilot Wings. Thats it. Two games. 😂😂😂

[@pseudonymous9153]

Sega and Sony should've hired Bowser to waterboard Mario again

[@michaelchallis4129]

Pikachu: “That doesn’t work for me, brother.”

[@MissAshley42]

I don't envy anyone whose job is to make people excited about Pilotwings.

[@mathieuleader8601]

you learn something new everyday I did not know Nintendo had its HQ in Angel Grove's warehouse district!

[@omegavalwin]

I do miss this kind of Humor when it was ok for gaming companies to call each other out by name

[@smb-c3po]

Nintendo used to be so much better back then and now their biggest enemy is their past.

[@16driver16]

2021? They were flaming each other by name on twitter...

[@smb-c3po]

@@16driver16 But now it's out of spite.

[@16driver16]

@@smb-c3po it always was

[@smb-c3po]

@@16driver16 It used to be all in good fun.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

TIL The Simpsons's "Love Shack" parody actually was done by the B-52s!

[@VioletLunaChan]

"Did you tell them about the Rumble?" *RUMBLING, RUMBLING, IT'S COMING* *RUMBLING, RUMBLING*

[@markiangooley]

Darius Emmanuel Grouch the Third?

[@NebLleb]

[cue CG laden J-Metal music video]

[@ForeverLaxx]

Wait. Frank Fontaine? Was *this* what he got up to before finding his way into Rapture?

[@ninjaman1986]

At minute sixteen second eight, looks like Frank got a hold of some bad ADAM.

[@JSantie]

Why in the hell did every scene of "someone playing a video game" from 1989-2015 always involve the people pressing every button on the controller all at once as fast as they can?!

[@PetProjects2011]

They're playing Winter Games!

[@EpicJasonX9000]

I’ve never had any of these tapes as a kid. However, I do fondly remember renting at the Blockbuster that used to be under the CVS on 17th street in Washington DC the VHS tape of the Behind The Scenes of Mortal Kombat Mythologies Sub-Zero when I visited my Uncle. We later went to go see in theaters on opening weekend back in 1997 Mortal Kombat Annihilation at a theater in a 3 floored mall.

[@smb-c3po]

Phelous, you missed the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 40th anniversary Meet & Greet that was at the South Park Mall in Strongsville yesterday and I was actually able to attend after I got home from work.

[@GarthTheDestroyer]

You went down to South Park? Did you have yourself a time?

[@smb-c3po]

@@GarthTheDestroyer No, there's a mall by that name in Strongsville.

[@zythr9999]

It wasn't hard hit by the severe weather on Tues?

[@smb-c3po]

@@zythr9999 Only Cleveland was, everywhere else in Ohio only had rain.

[@KaiatoMoon]

Love these vidros on old VHS promo tapes and stuff, interesting seeing that stuff and the weirdness of them.

[@dreamlandnightmare]

I think I got that Nintendo 64 promo tape with my Nintendo Power subscription, but never watched. I had just recently got a Playstation and wasn't interested enough to beg my mom to get me yet another new console. That's also around the time I ended my NP subscription, because the coverage was turning into mostly N64. I did later get an N64, using money I made from selling old toys and games in a garage sale. Never did resubscribe to NP, though.

[@titangirl161]

Gamer, as Mario jumps into the picture: whoa, how'd you do that? Me: pfft, amateur hour over here has never even seen Blues Clues, or he'd know how easy it is

[@vgtrp]

As goofy as these tapes are, there's a charm to them, which I enjoy. Promo videos like this are truly a lost art, and I wish video game companies today have some fun with promos, Also, while the WWF owned WCW was a mess, the last couple of years of WCW was a bigger mess.

[@peppermintspacecapsule9898]

7:47, Hydrodynamic! 🧔

[@kumquatqueen5975]

The Nintendo Power Donkey Kong Country promo tape is worth a look too. It's not completely hatstand like these, but seeing Dollarstore Bill and Ted toddle around the Rare offices and thinking it's all absolutely brilliant, is good for a few chuckles.

[@felipechalreo]

Pikachu ⚡ hates the pandas 🐼 from WWF

[@cjmoore9966]

14:56 So uh... did they just forget that Diddy already has a girlfriend? Y'know, Dixie? She had her own game and everything?

[@MikeyInsanity]

Does Dixie Kong know about Diddy's relationship with Sheila? When did this romance happen in the timeline? The people demand answers, Trent!

[@TheKpa11]

Trent is a tree, and despite having a mouth, he can’t scream

[@Dr.Gold-Dry-Bowser]

Bring me more sweet corn! 15:57 By the way there’s a figure & plush of the great mighty poo now. With sound effects & voice clips. I also have some shirts from hot topic as well.

[@MentalLiberation]

Aw man, no Hot Newz 64 with Steve Sobel? Oh well. No need to piss off Phelous with that much 90s energy..... Great video! EDIT: No Donkey Kong Country either. And boy, was that 90s AF...

[@spraragen88]

Young me was more blown away by the paint spilling green screen effect into Pilotwings than anything shown in that video. I bet I even still have that VHS in my dads attic somewhere, along with the Banjo Kazooie (maybe it was Tooie) promotional tape.

[@fluffyman85]

That's what people who love Nintendo love to see... Mario's head in a vice like he's in Casino.

[@angelsartandgaming]

17:45 I first found out about this one from A Fox In Space funny enough as the second episode has a whole reference to this promo! In it Vinny (as in Vinesauce Vinny) voices the Sony stand in really accurately actually!!

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

What gets me about these tapes is that Nintendo unintentionally presents themselves as manchildren compared to their contemporaries. "NO! NOT THE MARIO FIGURINE! IF YOU KILL HIM, HE DIES FOR REAL!"

[@nobodyinparticular9640]

Mean... Kinda accurate to most of the Nintendrones that make their cult tbh

[@BagOfMagicFood]

"And this Sonic plushie is the real Sonic.exe!"

[@atlanime]

21:35 MY NAME IS RAIDEN, GOD OF USELESS! WHY AM I EVEN ALIVE?

[@EpicJasonX9000]

12:36 oh hello Ken Lobb, creator of Killer Instinct and Head of Game Development at Nintendo Of America during the 90’s! (On far left)

[@wesltall1]

Not to mention the namesake of the crappiest gun in Goldeneye...

[@EpicJasonX9000]

@@wesltall1 this is true. Although for some odd reason I always seem to have fun with this gun despite being crappy. 😆

[@wesltall1]

@@EpicJasonX9000 Well, it *IS* good for drawing in paintball mode.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

It's Klobberin' Time

[@atlanime]

15:20 JEEZUS! Somebody remembers Joel Hodges' old Saturday Night Live appearances!

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

lol that last joke about the Olympics games... *now* that they lost the license people wish for it

[@daniellepaszkiewicz1714]

I had the Diddy Kong Racing and the Banjo-Kazooie promo videos as a kid. I watched those over and over again. I probably nearly broke those tapes.

[@StarWolf5298]

Apparently Dash Rendar was a descendant of my KOTOR character that I had named "Dat Gui" (true story)

[@kingdomkey2397]

Man, I would constantly watch the Star Fox video as a kid. I thought it was so cool how they showed off Star Fox 64. The cheesiness of that video has just gotten better with age. I love it. LOL

[@dragondaveltd1992]

15:57 🎵 I Am The Great Mighty Poo And I'm going to throw my S**t, At You! 🎵 *Classic*

[@TheKpa11]

😨😖

[@Shades14]

Anyone who's seen PeanutButterGamer's review of Hey You, Pikachu will know that Pikachu, in fact, does not listen to you.

[@bigjohnsbreakfastlog5819]

SomeCallMeJohnny equally had a similar fit. "Otherwise we're eating Bulbasaur's mystery soup again, and I know it gives you the screaming shits!"

[@gracekim1998]

don't worry I figured that out from the commercial XD

[@marplatense31]

I can only imagine whoever made these was on drugs. Lots of them.

[@blutryforce762]

13:34 This guy looks like a cross between David Byrne and Christian Bale. I also appreciate the Charles Rocket clip being used.

[@RettMikhal]

As stupid as the N64 promo tape was, it hyped the shit out of 4th grade me. I could not wait to control a speeder bike. Even though that level sucks it looked amazing.

[@katielinzie7444]

11:28 I didn’t know Repo Men added lightsabers to their arsenals!🤣

[@phinedin]

promoting games as "cinematic" sure has a deep legacy, huh. you'd think it would be kind of antiquated at this point

[@renamon5658]

Always a great week when phelan uploads

[@famijher]

Yes, Phelan. Now game companies promote the games that they rush out in unfinished states that are chasing trends from 5 to ten years ago because some Corpo saw a game at the time that was making money. And then they close the studio that was forced to make said game that didn't do well, to show a positive cash flow to their investors.

[@mathieuleader8601]

Honestly Finglonger would be a better nickname than Extended Finger

[@newguy371]

A man can dream. A man can dream.

[@yingyangyoshi]

I miss these old tapes. Also, Stone Cold Steveachu will haunt my nightmares.

[@phelous]

If you want Stone Cold Steveachu to zap some ass give me a "OH PIKA YEAH!"

[@MaverickKayPrime]

I actually had that Star Fox VHS waaaaay back when. I used to watch it all the time as a child. Thank you for reminding me of this, Phelous.

[@Morgil27]

I had a few of these as a kid, including some not mentioned here, and I absolutely loved them.

[@therealhardrock]

20:23 Star Fox 64 was released in Japan on April 4, 1997. The only release date Wikipedia gives for the Dualshock is November 20, 1997.

[@BagOfMagicFood]

12:52 Oh hey, remember when Kirby Air Ride hadn't been held back an entire console generation, and Kirby's post-64 platformer hadn't been held back another two console generations?

[@heyitsarkie]

Man, I’m glad my mom wasn’t NEARLY as strict as that mom in the “Hey You, Pikachu!” promo tape that didn’t even allow her son to watch WWF. And sure enough, my mom’s a Karen as well, but she ain’t THAT big of a Karen. 😭

[@Tardisntimbits]

My mum let me watch it too, despite her getting sick of her little girl letting out "WOO!"s all the time. Lol

[@PixieDust18]

Patience... It's all about Patience 🫵🏻👁️👄👁️🫵🏻

[@Grey_Warden_Invasion]

Those over the top ads make me feel really nostalgic.

[@nathanielvaughn6728]

4:27 -- Seriously, where is this moon from!?!

[@ArendAlphaEagle]

Some NES Sesame Street game if I recall correctly.

[@nathanielvaughn6728]

THANK YOU! With that lead, I was able to find that it was Sesame Street 123 on the NES. It was developed by Rare!

[@spaghethenoodle]

Phelan i said no 360 wwf

[@jakubmakalowski6428]

The closing bit now makes me wish there was a Mario and sonic rpg title.

[@shannonlewis2022]

Ah yes, if there’s one thing that kids love, it’s patience!

[@funandyvideos]

This is ideal, because all the best Nintendo Power reviews have references to SNL S6.

[@Polycomical]

This video is all about patience and fun.

[@RealZadNostrom]

Even as a kid watching the Star Fox 64 video I was like 'This is way better than it has any right to be'.

[@therealhardrock]

A lot of this comes from a perspective of laughing at game features we're so used to being talked about like they're brand new such as analog movement and real-time in-game dialog. Try looking at videos like Century 21 Calling where people ooh and aah over now-mundane things like touch-tone dialing, speed-dialing, calls being transferred, call waiting, and conference calling. Then look at "A kid's guide to the internet" to see kids in 1997 oohing and aahing over mundane internet things like URLs and old-fashioned web pages.

[@lotus-prince]

14:33 Woah, woah, Frank Fontaine? Man, the N64 really was ahead of its time! Would you kindly cut to footage of Frank Fontaine?

[@Hijiri_MIRACHION]

24:07 Too bad the IOC cancelled those in favour of NFTs instead!

[@TheFrogKnight]

Ohhh yeah. I remember pokemon. Cool to see people still talking about it.

[@reap_25]

The boy in this video with the spikey hair is what your typical early 2000s kid looked like. Myself included. 😅

[@BATCHARRO]

8:53 "It's hard to skin-crawl?"

[@jennallen5159]

Those VHS Tapes Should Get An Epilepsy Warning

[@mightyfilm]

As someone that had the Mario doll with the hard plastic head, as shown, I'm surprised the thing didn't break the vice when they tried crushing it. I used to use his nose to drive thumbtacks into the wall. Bet I could have used it as a hammer.

[@mastermarkus5307]

It's hilarious that you ever started doing that. I would be too worried about breaking it in the first place, but your experimentation led you to discover that he was INVINCIBLE.

[@mightyfilm]

@@mastermarkus5307 Not really something you could cuddle up with. Also his hat was hot glued to his head or something and it fell off and I lost it at some point.

[@brianlewolfhunt]

6:41 Apparently this dude has a gun named after him in the Goldeneye game, the KLOBB.

[@mastermarkus5307]

It feels weird that they're making such a big deal over Mario being able to go in all directions considering that the Playstation and Sega Saturn already existed, so it's not like Super Mario 64 was the first 3D game EVER.

[@bloodrunsclear]

As long as Phelous doesn’t look wonderingly at his hands and wander away to the Jurassic Park theme we should be okay…

[@TheMarshmelloKing]

Remember when count Dooku said, "I've been looking forward to this"

[@earlthepearl6414]

I miss some of these old marketing skits/vids. They make me nostalgic.

[@garganrose]

I remember when I was a kid and I got one of these in the mail randomly even though I didn’t have any Nintendo power subscription. My VCR to the thing apart.

[@darkdoctor1915]

Promo tapes always fascinate me

[@gtsgreatteacherscathach5550]

The 90s sure were a wild time for games and ridiculous ads like these.