Seriously, can you think of anything more fun that looking through old video game magazines for crazy ads? Despite the fact that I hope you answered yes to that question, there are some great ads that shed light on the formative years of the console generation.

It's amusing to see how the target audience for most of these games has changed. On the NES, at least in most of the magazines, most developers were obviously targetting young kids - perhaps the 8-13 year olds. Thus, you see a lot of ads featuring flatulence, snot, fingers in noses, and other high-brow humor. Today most of the advertising for the systems seems to be geared toward an older (or perhaps a more jaded) audience. The exception to this rule, of course, is the game boy advance; the dumping ground for every god-awful nickolodean and cartoon show game spin-off.

Most of these advertisements don't need much explanation; on some I've made comments.

Take a spin through this section and enjoy some of gaming's finer moments in advertising.