"Change the system" N64 Promo Tape
Page contents last updated on December 30, 2024
| Platform: | Nintendo 64 |
| Item Description: | Promotional VHS tape |
| Year of origin: | 1996 |
"Change The System" is a promotional VHS tape that was mailed out to Nintendo Power subscribers. Give it a watch here! The tape contains gameplay previews for the then-upcoming Nintendo 64 system. The games featured on this tape are Super Mario 64, Pilotwings 64, and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire.
The video is presented in the cheesiest, most 90s way imaginable. As the "plot" goes, three of the best gamers in the country are invited to Nintendo of America (NOA) headquarters to check out the Nintendo 64. They even get cool nicknames like "Game Face" and "Quick Finger". Various Nintendo employees then proceed to show the kids how awesome the Nintendo 64 is by playing games for them. I find it funny that these epic gamers NEVER get a controller in their hands at any point during the video.
There are many instances of strange editing and dub-overs from the kids. You don't ever see the gamers actually speak, but I assume that the dub-overs are theirs. Typically they throw out cheesy one-liners here and there. When Ken Lobb is showing them the 360 degree analog movement in Mario 64, they all say, "Three-sixty!". In a scene where Mario is climbing a pole in Lethal Lava Land, there's black and white footage of one of the kids pointing at the camera and saying, "Oh look at that did you see him climb?". This footage is also recycled (in color) during the Pilotwings 64 segment.
A skit that I got a kick out of is this part where Mario jumps into a painting in the game. One of the kids asks, "Woah how'd you do that?", to which ken replies that it was difficult to pull off, and that they had a bunch of R&D guys with busted heads. As he says this, surveillance footage shows a guy dressed up as Mario jumping into a wall.
There's plenty of beta footage shown on the tape, including some brief early footage of Star Fox 64 and Mario Kart 64. There's even some footage for the cancelled N64 version of Kirby Air Ride, which is pretty neat to see. After the music credits roll, a voice says, "You still want more?", then rolls a gameplay trailer for Killer Instinct Gold.
I obtained this tape back in 2014 or 2015 from Retro City Games, a video game store in Las Vegas. After expressing interest in the tape and asking what it was, the owners gave me the tape for free! They told me that the only price was to tell them what was on it the next time I came in.