Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 2
From Sega Retro
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| Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 2 | ||||||||||
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| Format: VHS | ||||||||||
| Publisher: Howard Johnson's | ||||||||||
| Running time: 13:21 | ||||||||||
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Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 2 is a promotional VHS produced by St. Michel Productions and published by Howard Johnson's for the Sega of America-sponsored American hotel promotion Kids Go HoJo with Sega. Containing both general gameplay tips for the campaign's available Sega Game Gear games, and an infamously-high energy and shockingly-adult advertisement where a hotel spokesperson repeatedly harasses a guests until he tries Sega's portable game system.
Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 2 was preceded by Sega Game Gear Tips Volume 1, containing the same main advertisement but with a different selection of game tips.
Contents
Content
Released in early 1995 as the second wave of the Kids Go HoJo with Sega advertising campaign, the videos mark a noted departure from the chain's previous advertising. Earlier commercials featured standard videography and editing, and were produced in a fairly normal style for the time. However, as Sega of America began to move towards more edge and attention-getting attitudes, many of its collaborations were influenced in a similar manner, and soon Howard Johnson's began to promote Kids Go HoJo with Sega in the same style of fast and flashy marketing.
While the tips sections of each tape are also fairly standard, they have been noted as being exceedingly obvious, to the point of becoming more instruction than hint. For example, one tip for Ecco: The Tides of Time reminds players that Ecco breathes air, and another for Taz in Escape From Mars instructs players how to open doors.
More infamous is the video's main advertisement. Becoming a minor viral sensation for its over-the-top 1990s-era production and its extended scenes of shakycam editing and extreme close-ups, flashing strobe lights in nearly every shot, and a tone so obnoxious that is easily becomes demeaning to the intended audience. The video was produced in a period of time where the American marketing industry was growing far edgier than ever before, especially in regards to youth advertising (then so misunderstood that marketers perceived the best way of advertising to young people and their perceived short attention spans was to fill their promotions with as many blinking lights and hyper-delivered information as possible.)
List of featured games
History
Available as a free rental to Howard Johnson's guests and their children, the tape was also available to purchase separately at a price of $3.99[1] (despite the front of the tape indicating a suggested $9.99 retail price.[2])
Legacy
As Howard Johnson's faded in popularity, so did its name. With the maturing of the internet and the establishment of websites like YouTube, the promotional advertisement soon became associated with the now lesser-known company, and frequently to such a degree that some are only familiar with the hotel chain through this single unflattering video.
Video
Physical scans
| VHS, US |
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    Cover
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 Cassette |
External links
- Howard Johnson’s Sega Game Tips article by Lydia Bugg at 1900HOTDOG
