JC Penney Gives Retrogaming Its Due.

[Pantechnicon]

Got my JC Penney Christmas catalog yesterday (In September? Wow...it came late this year ). Trudging through the thing with my children I found the following page:



I apologize for the resolution of the scan. Somebody has to think of the 56k'ers. Anyway...if you look below the PS2 Spongebob controller what you're looking at is an ad for a video game/TV stand. On the middle shelf of the thing is a VCR. Below that is a PS2. Cool, nice modern shelf, right? And to show off this state-of-the-art 21st century gaming center...the screenshot of choice is...Intellivision Football??!!

On the next page over which I did not scan JCP has the Intellivision 25-in-1 for sale. So it's not a total stretch, but it's not the like the 25-in-1 was part of this picture, so I found the screenshot a little odd.

Actually this screenshot, for me anyway, was a total mindf--k. The JC Penney Christmas catalog was a staple of my childhood holidays. In lieu of writing a Christmas list my brother and I would simply go through the catalog and put our names next to the things we wanted. I vividly remember back in the day scrawling my name next to the Atari 2600, juxtaposed with an Intellivision screenshot for comparison purposes. So it was really weird, 20-some years after getting my first game console, to open this catalog and see, in effect, the same game systems being touted as back in 1981.

What else can I say except...game on!

[Kid Ice]

That is weird. Occasionally when I'm watching TV I'll see a show where someone is playing a game...usually they just show the character holding the controller...and the sound effects are clearly from 2600 Pac Man, Donkey Kong, or Yars Revenge.

What is that thing in the top middle picture?

[Sylentwulf]

We always got the Sears catalog to circle with our names. Of course, no doubt in my mind the toys didn't come from sears, but at least it gave her an idea of what we wanted

[davidbrit2]

Yes, I would also like to know about that thing in the top center. I'm thinking some kind of casino game. Video poker maybe?

And what in blazes is that red all-in-one controller along the left?

[Pantechnicon]

Yes, I would also like to know about that thing in the top center. I'm thinking some kind of casino game. Video poker maybe?

And what in blazes is that red all-in-one controller along the left?

Page 456 of the catalog. Really don't feel like rescanning the page, so the top center item, above the Spongebob controller, is a 7-in-1 LCD casino game: Poker, blackjack, slots etc. Meh.

Left of Spongebob is something called the Crayola My First Video Game System. "Plays 10 different Crayola-based learning games. Ages 5 to 8." according to the catalog. It's a battery based plug-and-play system a la Jakks TV Games. Probably a fine device, but I wonder if marketing it as a "Video Game system" is the right way to go. Most kids I know in that age bracket would rather have a PS2, and would probably go ballistic opening this thing come Ramahanakwanzamas

[pixelsnpolygons]

Hahaha - both weird and, kinda cute. It would have been better if they'ved used a wood panel TV and that kid had slightly longer hair. It'd be a total mindtrip.