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Seeking an early-1980s Electronic Arts anti-piracy ad...


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Can you give me more information about the ad? Is it a full page or partial page? Colour or black and white. Can it be a other magazine, since most early e.a. titles where developed for homemicros. It wasn't until 1990 that they shifted more towards console game development.

Been through the i think every mag of the two you noted, and i didn't see it. Could be that i went over it because i was looking for full page ads.

 

Seob,

 

Thank you very much for checking. I haven't been able to find it in my recent searching on digitalpress either.

 

I am almost positive that the ad was done in black-and-white, and it was definitely geared towards computer gamers rather than console gamers. If I remember correctly, it was done in the same style as their classic "We See Farther" poster, shown here:

 

http://www.digitpress.com/library/posters/ea_poster.pdf

 

So, if they used any colour in the advertisement at all... there wasn't much. It definitely wouldn't have been a "flashy" ad. It was very direct and straightforward.

 

Also, I remember the advertisement being at least a full page. I could be wrong there, and I'm not ruling out that it could be easily be another computer-oriented magazine.

 

Ah, false memories... We all get old.

 

I'm definitely getting old... and I will readily admit that I don't remember all of the details. However, I do remember the advertisement existing, and that "pizzas we'll never eat" became embedded in my memory. The whole thing was such a straightforward and simple plea to their customer base, and I found it very impressive.

 

I feel extremely grateful to everyone who has helped look for this so far. I certainly haven't intended to lead anyone on a wild goose chase or a snipe hunt.

 

Thank you again!

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Can you give me more information about the ad? Is it a full page or partial page? Colour or black and white. Can it be a other magazine, since most early e.a. titles where developed for homemicros. It wasn't until 1990 that they shifted more towards console game development. Been through the i think every mag of the two you noted, and i didn't see it. Could be that i went over it because i was looking for full page ads.
Seob, Thank you very much for checking. I haven't been able to find it in my recent searching on digitalpress either. I am almost positive that the ad was done in black-and-white, and it was definitely geared towards computer gamers rather than console gamers. If I remember correctly, it was done in the same style as their classic "We See Farther" poster, shown here: http://www.digitpress.com/library/posters/ea_poster.pdf So, if they used any colour in the advertisement at all... there wasn't much. It definitely wouldn't have been a "flashy" ad. It was very direct and straightforward. Also, I remember the advertisement being at least a full page. I could be wrong there, and I'm not ruling out that it could be easily be another computer-oriented magazine.
Ah, false memories... We all get old.
I'm definitely getting old... and I will readily admit that I don't remember all of the details. However, I do remember the advertisement existing, and that "pizzas we'll never eat" became embedded in my memory. The whole thing was such a straightforward and simple plea to their customer base, and I found it very impressive. I feel extremely grateful to everyone who has helped look for this so far. I certainly haven't intended to lead anyone on a wild goose chase or a snipe hunt. Thank you again!

 

It's been no problem at all. It's personally been a lot of fun looking for that ad - I love 80s computer magazines. I'm still looking in my compute! magazines but now I have a little more to go off of. I'll try 1985 through 1988 next.

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It's been no problem at all. It's personally been a lot of fun looking for that ad - I love 80s computer magazines. I'm still looking in my compute! magazines but now I have a little more to go off of. I'll try 1985 through 1988 next.

 

Well, it certainly means a lot to me. I've been having fun going over a lot of those early advertisements and articles as well. If you find the ad, I'll be overjoyed.

 

I did have a fleeting thought cross through my mind when I started thinking about whether or not I could be more grossly mistaken about details than I'd thought: Could this ad have been from Infocom instead of Electronic Arts? That feeling nagged at me for a while in the back of my brain... but after a good deal of thought, I am almost positive that the advertisement was posted by Electronic Arts.

 

I do want to clarify something: I don't think that this ad showed pictures of any of the games, although I could be wrong. It was like a public service announcement that EA posted to tell people "When you pirate the games we produce instead of paying for them, that has an effect on us." It didn't really focus on any particular games, as far as I can remember; it was just a direct statement to say, "Hey... please stop copying our stuff."

 

:badger:

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Sounds like the majority of anti-paracy ads in the 80s magazines. I rememeber one from 1982 or 1983 that had a picture of a pirate (grossly drawn) who was laughing or something like that while stealing 5.25 inch disks - and a message about how pirating affects you and me - I think there was even a number to call to report someone! If I find that one again I'll post it here - it's good for nostalgia. Anyway, we'll keep looking and you just "keep those records playing" (Hey, Mr. DJ!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I remember that Electronic Arts had full page advertisments of Archon and Adept, putting the developer trio in focus but not per se anything about anti-piracy and "these people also need money to buy dinner". Actually I think Electronic Arts in the early years were unusually open and proud of their inhouse as well as third party developers, promoting them like music stars unlike many other software houses that would keep names of programmers and other people involved in the game making an internal secret. Perhaps it was in order to avoid getting some other software house signing them?

Edited by carlsson
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houses that would keep names of programmers and other people involved in the game making an internal secret. Perhaps it was in order to avoid getting some other software house signing them?

 

That was Activision's doing. They were the first company to put the creator's names on the package. EA one upped them with their packaging and put the creators photo on the box. It was a great technique to attract talent and didn't cost them much more than a photo shoot and some text on the box and in the game. Seemed a lot of companies did that in the mid-80s but that seemed to go away by the the early 90s unless you were one of a handful of powerful creators like Sid Meier.

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I really loved those ads.

Now, there are more games coming out in a day than there were in a month back then. And nearly all the advertizing in online and just sort of blends together. Do I sound old?

 

No, sounds like you appreciate great gaming ads. :grin:

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Seob, thank you very much for posting those ads. Indeed, Electronic Arts had some of my favourite gaming ads back in the day, because they so very blatantly showed off the people responsible for providing us with such entertainment. Because there are so many people involved in each game's production these days, it would be impossible to do something like this for any mainstream entertainment software product... so these ads end up being (in my opinion) beautiful reminders of a much simpler and wonderful time.

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