Peter Bacon Hales

Outside the Gates of Eden:  The Dream of America from Hiroshima to Now

Chapter Sixteen--Pong vs. Computer Space​: Color Images, Added Illustrations, and Outtakes

In these early days, ads for arcade-based video games were astonishingly lame; directed at wholesalers and retailers-- bars, arcade owners, pinball game distributors and the like-- they were either trade-show "sexy,"  aiming for the Leisure Suit Larry type, or bare-bones functional.  Compare these to the current ads for Grand Theft Auto V and The Sims 4​

​OK: so GTA V hasn't evolved in limiting leering content-- but check out the promo to see how sophisticated it is! (technologically speaking, that is...) 

OK: so The Sims 4 isn't much better-- but check out the promo to see how sophisticated... you get the picture.

It's never a good sign when you have to verify your age to get on a commercial promo site...

​But it's still arguably the most jadedly cynical and dystopian of all video games.