Video Games in July 1989

I came across a copy of Electronic Gaming Monthly from July 1989. I discovered that this Friday the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive) turns 20 years old. I simply cannot believe it has been that long since that system came out. Oooh! It can generate 512 colors on the screen and a 320 x 224 resolution. Here are some other things I found interesting.

• Tons of 1-900 ads for video game tips. I remember actually calling some of them and getting stuck with tips you could read in any gaming magazine at the time.
• There was a section about the Tele-Genesis. A system that was supposed to allow you to play video games with a friend over the phone line. This product never saw the light of day. It just plain didn’t work.
• The top 5 home video games were:

Ninja Gaiden

Operation Wolf

Friday the 13th (seriously?)

Tecmo Bowl

Super Mario Bros. 2

Now in a world of high resolution, action, story-based gaming, I’m wondering how many of these games ever held my attention. I suppose 20 years from now we’ll be looking at games from 2009 and saying “That sucks! You have to use your hands?”