Jamie Bunker

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James Bunker
Place of birth: United States
Date of birth: 1974-03 (age 50)
Company(ies): Renovation Products
Role(s): Spokesperson, Tester
Education: Fremont High School (1992), San Jose State University (Bachelor of Business Administration and Management Science; 1998)

James "Jamie" Bunker is an American businessman and former tester and spokesperson for video game publisher Renovation Products, notable for being the face of the company's United States advertising campaign for their 1990 Sega Mega Drive horizontal shoot-'em-up Gaiares.

History

A San Francisco Bay Area native, Bunker joined Renovation Products in 1989, and was one of the company's earliest employees. Employed as a video game tester, he was still attending nearby Fremont High School while working for the company, and was only sixteen years old at the time. Although one advertisement claims Bunker was employed as a game tester when he was only twelve, the minimum legal working age in California is generally fourteen, and Renovation Products was not opened until 1989. While he was possibly serving as an unpaid intern at another company when he was only twelve, the ad is likely instead referring to when Bunker developed a passion for video games in general.

While working for Renovation Products, he was regularly sent by the company to attend various Consumer Electronics Show events, and while working as a game tester, he formed a relationship with another Renovation employee who still remains "the love of his life."

Bunker remains in the Bay Area working in management and customer care positions, and is currently employed at Seagate Technology as Staff Program Manager.

Gaiares advertising campaign

The famous Gaiares advertisement that has become associated with the game's American release.

In 1990, Jamie Bunker was selected by Renovation Products to be the spokesperson for the upcoming Sega Mega Drive game Gaiares' advertising campaign, with the photoshoots happening that same year. Bunker posed with the game's United States release in a series of three advertisements, with each labeling the seventeen-year old spokesman a "professional gamer". Contrasting with the often juvenile and exaggerative statements of other game advertisements of the day, Renovation Products' advertisements simply featured Bunker presenting the game with a recommendation of its quality; one even extolled Bunker's credibility as a game tester.

Legacy

While generally considered quite humorous for its bold show of excitement, it has also been considered exceedingly genuine and charming by a number of modern critics. Having developed a modern reputation as one of the Mega Drive era's most fondly-remembered advertising campaigns, Gaiares has become strongly associated with Bunker in the Western world, and continues to be discussed and adapted to this day.

In May 2005, Bunker emailed Derrick Sobodash of T2D – The Second Dimension in response to a previous article written on the Gaiares campaign, revealing that he still owns the original prints of the three advertisements.

Production history

Mega Drive

• Gaiares (US; 1991) — Endorsed by

Promotional material

Print advert in Electronic Gaming Monthly (US) #20: "March 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
also published in:

• GamePro (US) #20: "March 1991" (1991-xx-xx)
• Game Players (US) #0304: "Vol. 3 No. 4 April 1991" (1991-0x-xx)
• Game Players (US) #0305: "Vol. 3 No. 5 May 1991" (1991-0x-xx)
• Sega Visions (US) #4: "April/May 1991" (1991-xx-xx)

Print advert in Mega Play (US) #4: "May/June 1991" (1991-0x-xx)
also published in:

• Game Players (US) #0307: "Vol. 3 No. 7 July 1991" (1991-0x-xx)

Print advert in Game Players Sega Guide! (US) #0205: "Vol. 2, No. 5" (199x-xx-xx)

Internet advert at Retro-Bit (US) "Bring down Gulfer and save the Earth in Gaiares!" (2021-11-16)

Photographs

Main article: Photos of Jamie Bunker

External links

• Jamie Bunker at LinkedIn
• The Forgotten Professional Gamer article by Todd Ciolek at Kid Fenris (Wayback Machine)
• Unpublished: the real Jamie Bunker article by Derrick Sobodash at CinnamonPirate.com (Wayback Machine)
• Where Are They Now? article by Ray Barnholt at 1UP.com (Wayback Machine)
• Gaiares Is Getting A Physical Re-Release With The Help Of The Kid Who Promoted It 31 Years Ago article by Damien McFerran at Nintendo Life
• Gaiares Is Back! Pre-Order the Best 16-Bit Shooter Ever Made! video essay by Defunct Games at YouTube