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[–]Mewdeee 510 points511 points  (49 children)

The child in me circling the N64 and pokemon

[–]HyerOneNA 149 points150 points  (22 children)

Pokémon silver is for sure one of my fondest gaming memories. I had yellow version as my first, but silver was the best.

[–]TheloniousPhunk 56 points57 points  (3 children)

Good and Silver were arguably the best games to come out in terms of releases. There are other Pokémon games these days that can definitely be considered better games - but in terms of a new Pokémon release I think these remain at the top

The games had massively improved graphics, some of the most memorable overworld tracks, a whole slew of new Pokémon to catch; and then the big surprise after beating the elite four of having the entire Kanto region to explore absolutely blew my mind as a child. The game was just so big, there was so much to do, especially if you were a kid.

I got both games for Christmas the year they came out in NA - Christmas was a Monday that year and I had just gotten off from school for the two week break the previous Friday.

All I did that entire break was okay Pokémon. I played silver twice and gold once in that span, and it was glorious.

[–]chronoboy1985 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Agreed. GS made the biggest strides compared to its predecessors. So many cool new mechanics. And nothing in the series has topped the moment when you realize you can go back to Kanto and travel the entire region and see the events post RBY. The cherry on top was the final battle with Red on Mt. Silver. I spent a week at my cousin’s house and we did nothing but watch Cartoon Network and play Pokémon with some Smash Bros 64 sprinkled in.

[–]HyerOneNA 9 points10 points  (1 child)

My mom also played Pokémon back then and got crystal when it came out. My brother and o had golf and silver like wtf mom.. why did you get the better version? 😭

[–]ogorangeduck 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Mom's house, mom's rules

[–]Mewdeee 45 points46 points  (7 children)

Yellow was definitely different enough from red/blue but gold/silver was really a whole new animal. Creative new pokemon, day night cycles, quality of life improvements across the board, returning to kanto.

[–]GorchestopherH 47 points48 points  (0 children)

Returning to Kanto was pretty mind blowing, it's too bad that didn't become more of a thing in future games.

[–]TheRhelmer 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The johto games just hit different than every other pokemon game

[–]Midgetmunky13 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Same here. I'm doing a nuzlocke randomized of soul silver and it's the first time since ruby that I've been able to stay with a Pokémon game.

[–][deleted] 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Had pokemon red. Took the small goldfish and evolved him and grinded that dragon to lvl 99. Some fucker at my school then stole my pokemon :(:(. Feel bad about it to this day, over 20 yrs later rofl

[–]Dob_Rozner 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That game blew my mind the first time I played. Day and night cycles that affect npcs and Pokemon? Planting trees and they'll grow berries over days? Trainers calling you back to battle? Holy shit life is changed now.

[–]Rocklobst3r1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I dug out my silver the other day to plug in to see if it still worked after all these years. Game loaded, but save files are gone.

Looking at this ad, if you were to buy most of these games or consoles today on the used market, you'd be paying same, or more.

[–]Worldly_Shoe840 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Dude same! Yellow was my first one too. Then Gold, my brother got Silver. Who was your starter? Mine waw always Totodile. Just loved that little dude

[–]Wilfred710 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I got blue First and loved it then got gold for my birthday around when it came out and loved that game even more. I was so blown away by it at the time thinking it was so advanced compared to blue lol.

[–]Rightinthepiehole 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That jump to color was amazing. The surprise of all the new pokemon was cool. I remember all the speculation about which new ones were coming out.

[–][deleted] 58 points59 points  (11 children)

The good ole days I swear. Fucking 90’s we’re just perfect

[–]TADthePaperMaker 19 points20 points  (8 children)

I thought this was the 90s too but it’s from 2001, crazy.

[–]StillAtMyMoms 20 points21 points  (2 children)

The 90s technically ended on that fateful day the same year.

[–]Traiklin 7 points8 points  (3 children)

I can't get over the Gameboy & N64 were still around in 2000 with new and amazing games

Even Ps1 had FFIX in 2000.

The biggest thing about this time that I remember was the Demo of Metal Gear Solid 2 came with a game called Zone of Enders. (this is a sorta joke as it sold like gangbusters because of the demo)

[–]DkTwVXtt7j1 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That is actually directly in this image.

[–]Chubby_American 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I have to upvote any comment that mention FFIX in a positive manner. Absolutely adore that game. Man the nostalgia for pokemon and ff games are hitting me just right.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Jesus dude. I’m getting old. Fuck maybe I’m old already.

[–][deleted] 12 points13 points  (10 children)

DK64 for $40! What a steal!

[–]Zorro1rr 24 points25 points  (8 children)

The N64 itself seems so cheap in retrospect. $99 then is about $160 in 2022 dollars. My parents still wouldn't buy me one... Jokes on them, turned me into a PC gamer.

[–]PM_UR_TITS_SILLYGIRL 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yo, I could buy Lego Island 2. I never knew there was a second game.

PC gang checking in.

[–]mvdonkey 4 points5 points  (1 child)

But Majora's Mask is $97 in 2022 dollars. Imagine paying nearly $100 for a game. . .

[–]ShutterBun 1 point2 points  (1 child)

The N64 was end-of-life at this point. The Game Cube release was a few months away.

[–]KowalOX 1 point2 points  (0 children)

N64 was already 5 years old when this was printed and the next generation of systems like PS2 already launched. I believe N64 was $200 back when it launched.

[–]TheBigDuo1 1 point2 points  (0 children)

DK…..Donkey Kong!…….DK……DONKEY KONG IS HERE!!!

[–]DiscordFish 177 points178 points  (4 children)

Mmmmm, I can smell the paper.

[–][deleted] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Haha same!

[–]mstrblueskys 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Dude, I used to pull this out of the Sunday paper and think about how I could get enough money for anything in there. I loved these ads.

[–]UnsolvedParadox 3 points4 points  (0 children)

“Get this newspaper junk out of the way, where’s the colour ads???”

[–]ccg5058 66 points67 points  (9 children)

I forgot about the worm light

[–]Care4aSandwichPC 20 points21 points  (6 children)

The worst was when you wanted to use the link cable but it was too dark to see otherwise since they used the same port.

I don't think it was until Advanced came out that there was a worm light that had a second port to also plug in the link cable.

[–]CloudeurPC 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Can confirm! Had the worm light and there was a port to connect a link cable!

[–]ccg5058 1 point2 points  (4 children)

Didnt advanced have a backlight?

[–]BlackWaltz47 27 points28 points  (2 children)

Advance SP had the backlight. The original Advance didn't.

[–]ccg5058 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Ah thats right damn im getting old. I remember living the music to fire emblem and would fall asleep playing it in bed on the sp.backlight op

[–]Care4aSandwichPC 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I used to put my Gameboy under a book so I could use the worm light to read haha

[–]TaiDavis 121 points122 points  (26 children)

Zelda was $60...

[–]greg0714 72 points73 points  (6 children)

With inflation (assuming the circular is for US, not Canada), that's almost $100 now.

[–]ImportantSeesawos 12 points13 points  (1 child)

Spider-Man 64. Ah, the memories. Killer early 2000's techno soundtrack. That final chase through the tunnels was freakin' stressful.

[–]idelarosa1 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Damn inflation has really gone up huh?

[–]greg0714 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Relative to the past century, US inflation over the past 20 years was not very high (not including inflation happening right now). In the 70s, inflation went up by over 100% in just a decade. Inflation on its own also doesn't mean a ton anyway, but it's neat to compare.

[–]shawnisboring 25 points26 points  (4 children)

What's eye opening is the console to play it on is only $40 more.

Imagine that in the current cycle, you buy a PS5 for $500 and a copy of Uncharted 5 for $450.

[–]-bei- 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Id more imagine it as you buy Uncharted 5 for $59.99 and the PS5 is only $99.99!

[–]Ash_Killem 5 points6 points  (2 children)

The N64 was at least 4 years old at this point.

[–]PalebloodSky 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Majora's Mask is legendary now too

[–]Jimbobmij 23 points24 points  (0 children)

worth it

[–]Ava210 9 points10 points  (5 children)

IIR you bought the game and an expansion pak

[–]TheButcherOfBaklava 10 points11 points  (4 children)

Dah, that’s DK

[–]sworedmagic[S] 5 points6 points  (2 children)

It actually came with 3 games… Majoras Mask, Perfect Dark and DK64

Edit: it seems this is only true of some regions/stores based on quickly looking more into this. The US specifically may only have officially been bundled with DK64

[–]TheButcherOfBaklava 6 points7 points  (1 child)

I am nearly certain you are wrong unless this was different in other countries. I have the holo case majoras and the other two games. DK and perfect dark came out Christmas same year. DK had the pack, PD did not. If you got PD Christmas morning without you or your parents having the foresight to buy the separate pack, you could not play it Christmas morning

Edit to add: you can see the advertisement for the pack on DK and absent from Zelda.

[–]sworedmagic[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Could be, anecdotally i got mine with DK64 in the US. It’s possible the reports of it being bundled in with the other games were regional/in-store bundles.

[–]Ava210 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Really? My parents never bought me N64 Games so i never had expensive shit

[–]MischeviousCat 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A whole console for less than 2 copies of Zelda

[–]BADMANvegeta_ 1 point2 points  (1 child)

i wonder why the price points are all different. these days new games just get the $60 dollar price tag no matter what.

[–]ModernTenshi04 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Assuming this is the first half of 2001 since there's no listing for the GameBoy Advance (unless it was on other pages not shown for this advert), the game had only been out about 6 months when this ad was published. As such $60 for the game isn't unreasonable. It also required the expansion pack for the N64 if I recall correctly, so likely higher development costs as well.

[–]Schmidtsy_ 58 points59 points  (6 children)

Serious Sam, Starcraft, Half-Life, The Sims, and freaking Oni.. wild to see this

[–]sithanas 11 points12 points  (1 child)

Oni was amazing

[–]DOOManiac 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Don’t forget NOLF!

[–]Prep_ 3 points4 points  (1 child)

freaking Oni.. wild to see this

Hell yeah. I remember playing the hell out of that game in like 8th or 9th grade. Other than the friend who gifted it to me, I've never met anyone else who's ever heard of it.

[–]Magical_Hippy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Loved that game in high-school.

[–]steveb106 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Crazy to think that Oni was developed by Bungie and ported to PS2 by Rockstar.

Absolute banger of a game though, a definite underrated gem.

[–]Crazyace352 77 points78 points  (4 children)

Every Sunday I'd wait for my dad to get the paper just so I could look through this.

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (2 children)

Yeah seeing those listings, everything grouped together. It was totally symbolic and intense.

It was like waiting for the messenger to return from a foreign kingdom, because as a kid in those days for me the game stores were assfucking far away. All I could really do was check out newspaper ads and take the occasional magazine from a friend

[–]TopMacaroon 8 points9 points  (1 child)

I really miss my mom leaving me in the magazine section when we'd go grocery shopping. If a new gamepro was out and I'd read them front to back. I had 'special' notepads and pens so I could copy down cheat codes from them.

I can't explain to post 2000 kids what learning a new cheat code was like. It was like reading from Necronomicon which granted me super natural powers to commit black magic like immortality, teleportation, and conjuring items of power.

[–][deleted] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's next level thinking with the pen and notepad. Insanely versatile

[–]jewfishh 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Same, I used to always grab the Best Buy and Circuit City ads on Sundays.

[–]NIDORAX 59 points60 points  (10 children)

People were hyped for Metal Gear Solid 2. Zone of the Ender was also a great game. This was a time when Konami was still making new games. Im guessing this ad was before the debut of the XBOX.

This was also the time when shops still sells physical boxed copies of PC games as well

[–]GondorsPants 16 points17 points  (6 children)

I was soo hyped for ZOE just to get that MGS2 demo which I played wayy too much.

[–]chronoboy1985 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Honestly, the tanker was my favorite part of the game lol.

[–]thechilipepper0 0 points1 point  (4 children)

My depends was excited for ZOE and then ended up returning it out reselling it immediately because it was so short

[–]henryguy 2 points3 points  (2 children)

Your adult diaper was excited about it?

[–]thechilipepper0 2 points3 points  (1 child)

Hahah I had an oopsie

[–]OptimisticOctopus10 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I played that demo so many god damn times. I remember no one knew they were going to switch snake out for raiden when the game was released.

[–]DrVagaxD20 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of Crackdown, I was so insanely hyped for Halo 3 that I got Crackdown just for the Halo 3 beta but in the end I really enjoyed Crackdown

[–]Baron_Butt_Chug 27 points28 points  (5 children)

It's a shame that No One Lives Forever didn't got the love that Red Alert 2 or Half-Life, hell even Fallout: Tactics got. It only got its one Sequel and then just disappeared.

[–]DOOManiac 9 points10 points  (1 child)

Last I checked the IP was in legal limbo, where so many people have bought and sold it no one is sure who actually owns it or not, so they won’t other with it.

[–]UnsolvedParadox 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I remember hearing this, which makes a potential remaster or sequel hard to figure out.

[–]EloquentGoose 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The sequel, A Spy In H.A.R.M.'s Way, was super ahead of its time and beyond amazing.

[–]ih4t3reddit 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wish more games did that honestly lol

[–]ShutterBun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There were 1 1/2 sequels if you count Contract: J.A.C.K.

NOLF2 is definitely one of the best story driven FPS games ever.

[–]jewfishh 14 points15 points  (0 children)

That's a pretty good deal on Starcraft, free Brood War expansion

[–]Calm-Lychee2613 36 points37 points  (1 child)

Inflation calculator from 2001... The Gameboy price is equivalent to about $115 today!

[–]slickyslickslick 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it was an older system. the GBA was right around the corner, which also explains the dirt-cheap price on the N64 which would place it at around $165 in today's dollars.

Imagine getting a Switch with an extra controller for $165 today. You can't even get a WiiU + extra controller for that price.

[–]forestdude 8 points9 points  (2 children)

No one lives forever is screaming for a sequel

[–]MarkMy_Word 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Takes me back to the Circuit City and Sears ads I would see in the mail too

[–]brett1081 8 points9 points  (13 children)

Look at that $60 Zelda game price whiners.

[–]naturalscience -4 points-3 points  (12 children)

I think it came with an expansion pak too

[–]slitlip 7 points8 points  (2 children)

Nope it didn't. Donkey kong however came with the expansion pack.

[–]CaptainJackKevorkian 3 points4 points  (6 children)

Ocarina of Time was also $60 at release, no expansion pak. N64 games were expensive on release

[–]ih4t3reddit -3 points-2 points  (5 children)

People actually had a decent wage back then

[–]lean_bluntz 8 points9 points  (1 child)

This is a gem ngl and I also remember this

[–]Drs83 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I miss serious sam

[–]electrikoptik 3 points4 points  (1 child)

NGL I only bought Z.O.E. because it included playable demo of MGS2.

[–]DOOManiac 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You and everyone else.

[–]rowdysheeps 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This gives me a nostalgic boner

[–]UFCFan918PC 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Bruh Zelda costs almost as much as the N64 lol

[–]Garlador 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I miss GameShark.

[–][deleted] 2 points3 points  (2 children)

I definitely enjoyed zone of the Enders

[–]Alchaeologist 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I still have the Ho-Oh case. This is very heartwarming.

[–]bigriveruk 2 points3 points  (3 children)

Clive Barker’s Undying ! I miss that game!

[–]steve0suprem0 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Had to scroll way too far for this. Wonder if I can get it to run on win10...

[–]bigriveruk 1 point2 points  (1 child)

4500+ comments and we found each other! Welcome home steve0suprem0! Now let’s get that damned Covenant family out of that house! Again!

[–]Carlos-In-Charge 6 points7 points  (3 children)

I’m playing N64 Zelda majoras mask right now on GameCube and it absolutely holds up. And I think botw was around $60 too… 20 years later

[–]Slade_Williams 5 points6 points  (5 children)

Ah, back when games were complete at release. I miss those days.

[–]TheloniousPhunk 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I mean, while I agree that games are much more frequently released in an unfinished state these days; there were still games released buggy as hell back then.

[–]Xeadriel 2 points3 points  (0 children)

pretty good prices, except for the games.

[–]soline 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those prices were good even back then. I remember Super Nintendo cost around $200 when it first came out.

[–]LSMediator 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Solid yellow GBC vs CRT tv. GBC wins.

Found this out on my first Rage Quit. Friggin Miltank…

[–]K-o-s-l-s 1 point2 points  (1 child)

In the second picture, what the heck is the lady holding? Is it some sorta weird joystick? I’ve gotta know!

[–]sworedmagic[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks like a flight stick to me

[–]Strider0905 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I bought Zone of Enders, Just so I could play that MGS 2 demo over and over. But I enjoyed ZOE also.

[–]Hycran 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That Spider-Man game boy game was fucking the hottest fucking steaming pile of garbage.

[–]getyourcheftogether 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not going to lie, I only bought z.o.e. for that metal gear solid 2 demo

[–]newFUNKYmode 1 point2 points  (1 child)

So uhhh...about that whole inflation thing I see people keep mentioning...

10,696 games were released on Steam last year in 2021 (PC only, not including console titles). Almost 11,000 games in 365 days.

Now, if you combine the TOTAL number of games released for Gameboy, NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Sega Genesis, PS1, AND PS2 over the course of over almost 20 years, you still wouldn't have as many games as we got last year JUST on PC 🤣

The gaming market is over-saturated with games & it would make no sense for the price to go up when we have more games released in 1 year than we did for 2 decades combined.

Take that for data!

[–]ryathal 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not just number of games, but total copies sold. It's been a while since I looked things up and companies really hide sales numbers now. For a remembered example, the original super smash bros sold less copies than the opening weekend of CoD MW2.

You also now have digital distribution which costs less and gives higher margins to publishers.

[–]No_Rich5432 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nintendo games still aren’t on sale ever 😂

[–]GT395 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I forgot Mickey's speedway existed wow

[–]schwol 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Pretty sure I saw this ad back when.

[–]TwintailTactician 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of when I just circled everything. I was excitable back then!

[–]KingofHearts13 1 point2 points  (0 children)

ZoE ❤️

[–]lulzPIECrappy YTer 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Metal Gear 2? Bruh why would someone want a demo for a MSX game from 1990? /s

[–]penance3 1 point2 points  (2 children)

Mario tennis is still the GOAT tennis game

[–]everythingswift -1 points0 points  (36 children)

If only games and consoles were still this cheap 😭

[–]jjdreggie80PC 47 points48 points  (11 children)

Games are STILL the same price 🤣

[–]_Didds_ 14 points15 points  (2 children)

Yeah but considering inflation they were also more expensive back then. At least my memory of back then reminds me that I needed to save 4 or 5 months of allowance to buy a single N64 game, and I was getting some nice money each month.

[–]jewfishh 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Games were even more expensive in the previous generation. If I recall correctly, Mortal Kombat II on Genesis was $70.

[–]everythingswift 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most are $70-90 lol but it also depends where you live

[–]-chukui- -3 points-2 points  (6 children)

not really when you factor in DLC. add another 30 bucks if you do the season pass or 45 if you buy each when they release.

i miss expansion packs. they actually justified spending 15-30 bucks for a new campaign.

[–]The_F_B_I 2 points3 points  (0 children)

"not really unless you're a sucker"

[–]jjdreggie80PC 5 points6 points  (2 children)

That's all optional. And they do it because people continue to buy it.. I am 100% content with buying the base game and playing that for what it is... Knowing, that in a yr or so I'll be able to get a "GOTY" edition for half the price.

[–]Vrabstin 1 point2 points  (1 child)

I hate that some companies will release those "goty" or "complete editions", and stell additional dlc separate from it. Like there is no way to buy it all in one purchase and not get nickel and dimed.

[–]ecky--ptang-zooboing 4 points5 points  (1 child)

These prices are actually insanely high for that time period. I remember paying 1600 Belgian Francs for Gameboy games in the mid-90s - that's about 40 euros!

[–]everythingswift -1 points0 points  (0 children)

But they’re cheap for this time period, which is what I meant and 40 euros is cheap ahah considering Canada had the gameboy advance for $100

[–]ModernTenshi04 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm guessing this advert is from the first half of 2001 because the GameBoy Advance came out in June that year, so unless other pages from this advert were advertising it the GameBoy Color would have been the top Nintendo handheld at the time.

As such, the Nintendo 64 debuted in the US in September 1996 for $199, so this was about 4 to 4.5 years into its lifecycle. The GameCube debuted in the US in November 2001, also for $199.

The system didn't sell as well against the PlayStation, and by this point they were also competing (at least a tiny bit) with the Dreamcast (9/9/99 baby!), so $99 was priced to compete and to likely help push sales of the system before the debut of the GameCube.

Adjusting for inflation the GameBoy Color and N64 prices would cost ~$115 and ~$160 respectively.

Concerning the games, Majora's Mask and Pokemon Gold/Silver both hit in October 2000, so these were still very new games by the time this ad hit. Hell of a month for gaming if you ask me.

[–]Calm-Lychee2613 0 points1 point  (15 children)

Inflation!!

[–]everythingswift -1 points0 points  (1 child)

I know aha

[–]Calm-Lychee2613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ok. Seemed like you didn't for a minute with your comment.

[–]Sad_Bee395 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bro I miss back when game consoles didn't cost an arm, a leg, and an attempt on your life. N64 for a hundred and a free hand held?? That'd be like 400-500 bucks at the least now!

[–]schewb 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm unreasonably annoyed they called it "Metal Gear 2" instead of "Metal Gear Solid 2," but I guess most people who would have seen that circular had no idea "Metal Gear 2" already referred to at least two other games in the west by then 😂

[–]hamsterman20 -2 points-1 points  (1 child)

Its crazy that games are as cheap as they are. Damn the fool who finds out they can charge more