My First (PlayStation 1 Edition): Destruction Derby 2!

In this series, I plan on examining the first game that I owned on a specific platform. The first console that I want to look at is the PlayStation 1.

Instead of getting our presents on Christmas morning like many children do, my siblings and I often got our visit from Santa late on Christmas Eve. We would "go to bed," meaning that we laid there uncontrollably giddy while "Santa Claus" got on the roof above our house and walked by our bedroom window ho-ho-hoing. After he left my parents would rush into our bedroom and announce that Santa himself had just left and he had dropped off our gifts!

Things were not different on the Christmas of 1996, which to this day remains one of my most vivid Christmas memories. When we walked through the hallway into the living room, my brother and I saw it the thing we had been begging for; a Sony PlayStation! The PS1 had been around for only a year or so in the US, but it was continuously growing in popularity and any self-respecting 10 year old at the time had to have one.

I remember we got three games on that Christmas; Madden 97, Mortal Kombat Trilogy and, the game I am discussing today, Destruction Derby 2!

Click through to read more.

Awesome Retro Game Magazine Ads, Vol. 1!

Anyone who read video game magazines in the 1980s and 1990s probably have specific memories of a few game ads that they saw. Before promotional resources were dumped into online advertising, one of the most effective ways to reach your audience was through print. In the first chapter of this series, I want to take a look at some great ads.

Let's look! Click through to see what we have.

Starfox 64 Promotional VHS from Nintendo Power!

One thing I loved doing as a kid was collecting video game promotional VHS tapes that were sent out to magazine subscribers & at request to advertise for upcoming video game releases. Unlike today, where a game can reach a lot of eyes through social media, gaming websites, YouTube, etc. video game advertising was limited to print and television commercials. These VHS tapes allowed publishers to target their audience more specifically and provide more detail than could be shown in a 30 second TV spot.

One of my favorites to this day is the tape sent out by Nintendo Power promoting the upcoming release of Starfox 64, a hugely significant game on the platform. This ad has it all; espionage, gameplay footage, kidnapping, console wars, torture and more!

Read on for more!