[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Nintendo vs. Sega: Christmas 1987 Shootout

December 20th, 2010 by Benj Edwards

Toys'R'Us Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Master System Ad - December 1987Who will win the battle of the Zappers?

Merry Christmas from Vintage Computing and Gaming

[ From Popular Mechanics, December 1987, insert ]

Discussion Topic of the Week: Name any item you received as a present for Christmas in 1987. Don’t remember? Guess!



20 Responses to “[ Retro Scan of the Week ] Nintendo vs. Sega: Christmas 1987 Shootout”

  1. Jurgi Says:

    May be it was nice toy gun, shooting with foamed polystyrene balls. It has quite a long range and big cartridge clip.

  2. Justin Says:

    I believe we got the Sega Master System that Christmas, LEGOs, and some HO gauge trains 🙂

  3. Geoff V. Says:

    A He-Man disc shooter with “Man-At-Arms” on the side. The discs started fairly soft, but got hard after sitting in the sun. Good times.

  4. rms Says:

    Oh man…1987.

    I got a 1980 Chevrolet Citation.

    Looked something like this:

    http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/chevrolet-citation-3.jpg

    One of the ugliest cars ever made, but man, did I ever love that car.

  5. Donn Says:

    1987? Dammit, one year before Ultima V, which was a lock. So, I’ll have to (certainly accurately) guess a few Star Wars action figures and vehicles, a Target Doctor Who novel or two, perhaps an Atari 2600 game. Maybe Raiders of the Lost Ark, or this racing game, Street Racers it might have been called.

  6. jarson Says:

    I got an Amiga 500, that I had begged my mom for. It is this reason why I didnt get into console games!

  7. Stan Says:

    I believe we got a Laser 128 that year (an Apple //c clone), which was a little odd considering we already had an Apple //e. I had told my dad we needed an Apple IIGS, but I guess he got confused and instead bought essentially the same computer we already owned.

  8. Jeremy Bosco Says:

    1987? I remember getting action figures of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, G.I. Joe, and He-Man. I think we also got a few NES games, which might be when we got Metroid and The Legend Of Zelda, but that memory’s a bit fuzzy.

  9. Xyzzy Says:

    Let’s see — I would have been 10, at that point we hadn’t gotten the Nintendo and I wasn’t yet all that into computer games… I’m fairly sure that’s when I was given my first bike (purple with U-shaped handlebars & banana seat), and faintly recall getting my beginner’s art kit and microscope.

  10. Orsty Says:

    We didn’t get a Toys R Us in our area until around late 88 early 89. They put it right next to Phar-Mor in a strip mall.

    I purchased many a video game from there and Legos too.

    I also got a huffy bike that had a plastic shield on the handle bars that said something about it being a huffy.

  11. Ant Says:

    I had an Apple //c to replace my Atari 2600 and Texas Instrument 99/4A. Atari 2600 was my only video game console in my life.

  12. Zoyous Says:

    I got the Sega Master System with two games: The Ninja and Ghostbusters.

    Wow, I just noticed the ad you scanned is from Tennessee and I used to go to the Toys R Us stores in Hickory Hollow and Rivergate just to stare at the wall of games they had there. It was a bit of a long drive from our place so I only got to go every few months when my folks would take me.

  13. Ryan Says:

    Sega Master System > NES

  14. EastBayAnt Says:

    Hmmm… In 1987 I was 8 years old. My brother and I didn’t get our NES until Christmas the following year. In 1987 we probably got some Hot Wheels, and most likely a couple of board games.

    And socks. Always socks. :/ (Now, as an adult, I actually really appreciate quality socks. Go figure.)

  15. SirPaul Says:

    Let’s see… I would have been 3 at the time. I know I didn’t get my NES until around 1989-ish… I think that might have been the year I got a really nice set of tops, with a space-themed launcher for them. I remember I loved that set quite a bit.. That might have been Christmas 1988, though. I DO know I did get a hand-crocheted sweater from my grandmother, since I got one EVERY year until 1991, when my brother threw a huge stink about them.

  16. Poncho de Zeta Says:

    I wasn’t born yet…
    (1990)

  17. Rigs Says:

    Oh wow, flashback time…let’s see, 1987? I was…9. Uneventful year as I recall, bookended by 1986, which was a very busy year (New Jersey, where I lived, got knocked by a very rare hurricane, my first) and 1988, which was somewhat more interesting than the previous year. Anyway, I already had a Sega Master System with 3D glasses and light-gun. It absolutely rocked, hard. Though the hard plastic they used for the glasses would make your poor ears ache after 15 mins or so, plus they had a tendacy to break easily. I still have the system and the glasses, but they’re taped up pretty well after multiple breaks. The 3D effect was mesmerizing on some games, like the shooting games. Truly ahead of it’s time, with 3D just NOW coming into it’s own, all of 20 years later. I must’ve had like 100 games for it when I finally got a Genesis in 1990-91-ish…
    Curious, I somehow remember the Genesis being released and then pulled back and having a second release a few months later. Anyone know about that? I just know I got it on the ‘second’ release and still have it today with about 50 games…oh the stories those systems could tell…

  18. Paul Says:

    I was twelve going on 13. I remember that Christmas because for the first (and last) time, I did something very awful: I found where my Christmas presents were hidden, opened some of them, and played them ahead of time. My parents found out and it was the first time I realized how much I could hurt their feelings.

    For video games, I received Activision’s “Predator”, EA’s “Mail Order Monsters”, and (I think) Infocom’s “Enchanter” trilogy.

  19. Cody Says:

    I couldn’t guess, but check out that awesome red colouring on the SMS, before the revised smaller and black-only versions came out. I had completely forgotten about that!

    I never remember the 128k memory being important though so it’s odd that they mention it in the advertisement.

    But the most awesome thing, the grid pattern on the SMS games. I mentioned that in a comment in a previous post, but there’s more in that advertisement for everyone to see!

    It later spread to NES, didn’t it?

  20. technotreegrass Says:

    I was three and I received an Atari 2600 with a lot of controllers and about 40 games as a hand-me-down from my aunt and uncle who moved onto the NES. It’s what made me a gamer to this very day. I too upgraded to the NES a year later but I held onto my Atari for years.

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