The Origins of Gaming Hype

Ever think of Pong as realistic? Atari did. How about Asteroids? According to Atari's PR machine, it has "realistic explosions [and] laser blasts." These great old school ads just go to show how little English advertising language has changed in the past 20 years. Compare that with the leaps we've made in gaming, and you can detail how things eventually slow down as they get older, even innovative forms of media. There was once a time when advertising was new, but now it's reached a formulaic "sex = money" and "new = money" point where conventional salesmanship doesn't need to adapt. It's the alligator, the great white shark.

In other news, Madden 2006 is out today.