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August 10, 2005
Save Us, Johnny Turbo!
The video games of the 1990s have been consistently remembered for a number of reasons, some of which are memorable advertisements. Sega had the Sega Scream ("SEGA!"), Nintendo had "Play It Loud!", and NEC/Hudson's Turbografx-16 had Johnny Turbo. Don't remember Johnny Turbo? That's him up there on the right, the rotund bearded man in the green and yellow costume. And yellow goggles; can't forget those.
Johnny Turbo's mission in life is simple. He must warn the children of the world that the FEKA corporation's new CD gaming system is inferior to the TurboCD. He does this by kicking the asses of FEKA employees, invading the dreams of others to promote Lords of Thunder, and praising games such as Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective. Johnny Turbo appeared in all TurboCD advertisements, on the TurboCD box, at trade shows, and anywhere else that truth, justice, and Turbografx tread.
And now, a rare look into gaming's past. When the Sega CD launched, Johnny Turbo went on the offensive, appearing in a series of four page comic advertisements in major gaming magazines everywhere. Let's join Johnny Turbo for Episode 43, "The Master Plan", originally from Electronic Gaming Monthly circa 1993.
Posted by MattG on August 10, 2005 at 11:35 AM in Retro/Classic | Permalink
Comments
Didn't they realize all these systems were doomed? Why not fight Sega or Nintendo, but FEKA corp??? Was that CD-I or something?
Posted by: benjamin Garrett | Aug 10, 2005 2:17:17 PM
No, it's TTI's attempt at not actually mentioning Sega in the ads. I believe that FEKA is supposed to be pronounced as "Fake-uh" just as SEGA is pronounced "Say-guh". It's aimed at Sega and the Sega CD.
Posted by: MattG | Aug 10, 2005 2:43:01 PM
Ohh.... A friend a mine had Sega CD. It was pretty bad. Aside from Sonic CD of course.
It is weird how there's an entire generation of people that read EGM religiously and therefore, deep in their subconcious, remembers Johnny Turbo.
Posted by: benjamin Garrett | Aug 10, 2005 3:07:09 PM
What is this, lifted from The Sardius Experience?
Posted by: Tetsuo | Aug 11, 2005 6:46:02 AM
What's The Sardius Experience?
Posted by: MattG | Aug 11, 2005 7:51:21 AM
Just because Nintendo has an overweight, middle-aged, mustachioed man as their mascot doesn't mean that any other company should. In fact, I'd expect that most companies would try to shy away from it. This guy looks far more like your friend's father in a badly made cosplay outfit.
Posted by: Belgand | Aug 11, 2005 1:01:07 PM
Actually, Johnny Turbo only appeared in those comic-style ads. Bonk (and later Air Zonk) was Turbographx's mascott. Although Bonk stared in actual, decent, games, he's nowhere as near interesting as the fataster that was Mr. Turbo (and maybe even the real life Brandstetter at that).
Posted by: Alex | Aug 12, 2005 11:43:23 PM
>> What's The Sardius Experience?
LOL, you are beautiful my friend.
http://sardius.fefea.org/ (site not up no more)
http://web.archive.org/web/20041011180212/sardius.fefea.org/reviews/jturbo/index.htm
P.S. Try two months of Kefir for the intestinal problems. Word up.
Posted by: Brad Pitt | Aug 14, 2005 2:21:05 AM
Wow, The Sardius Experience has/had the other episodes of the sad, pathetic story. I wish I'd come across it when it still existed.
Posted by: MattG | Aug 14, 2005 9:44:50 AM
The sega cd had a pretty set of great games, i dont know why people only know the horrid FMV adventures that were released on the system.. look at games like Dune, Silpheed,Thunderhawk,Snatcher,Jurassic Park.. etc
Posted by: AM[x] | Sep 27, 2005 12:25:14 PM
Sardius is back YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
(Johnny Turbo story can be found here)
Posted by: Brad Pitt | Oct 21, 2005 9:50:46 PM
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