Super Secret Hidden Trick/FEKA's master plan

[Black Tiger]

I was wondering if this happened to anyone else, because I'm only 90% sure that this recently uncovered repressed Turbo memory is 100% accurate.

After getting a Turbo Duo when they were brand spanking new, I first bought a TG to Duo convertor cable(official of course) before any Duo Taps or Pads. Because, of course, I already had at least one Turbo Tap and 5+ Turbo Pads with my Turbo CD combo.

However, after buying up every Turbo game I could get ahold of, I started to spend my cash on actual Duo products, the first of course being a Duo Tap to plug my Duo Pad into...

Anyways, I'm positive that the way I first learned of the hidden Bomberman 4-in-1 trick is that inside my Duo Tap box there was a small piece of paper with plain photocopied text briefly instructing me to perform said trick.

I had this flashback tonight while scanning in Turbo media from an old issue of EGM from a recently resurfaced (foot high)stack of gaming mags from back in the day that were supposed to have been thrown out(along with a few dozen Hucard cases and manuals, Turbo boxes including the Turbo CD, etc...) by my father the day after I moved to the big city.

And as disgusted as I am by the travesty that is Johnny Turbo, I couldn't help but glimpse the unveiling of the Bomberman trick in the JT comic that I was scanning in.

Which means that it really was a super secret trick, if the only way to find it other than noticing the small piece of paper inside your Duo Tap box before it gets tossed in the trash as you run with your new Duo Tap straight to your Turbo Duo to fire up Dungeon Explorer, -is for someone to actual make it through 3 pages of that garbage "comic" before vommiting and throwing your Turbo Duo in the trash instead.

I mean, seriously now, if their really was an evil FEKA, then the Johnny Turbo campaign would have had to be their master plan to get Turbo fans to switch to Sega CD because it did more damage than good.

In this particular issue of EGM, there are 3 or 4 pages of Johnny Turbo and no other Turbo ads whatsoever. This at a point when there were like 2 Turbo games a month actually covered by the magazine and real advertising was more important than ever.

And I know Keranu's going to come in praising JT for all it's cheeseball glory. If the Turbo hadn't been dying at the time it would've been funnier. I even sent in a Letter Art to EGM of Johnny Turbo frying Sonic and Mario with his lightning powers.

I wonder why they never published it?

[Keranu]

Oh ye who believe, priase Johnny Turbo for his miraculous cheesy glory!

[Black Tiger]

Here's episode #45 of Johnny Turbo-

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/jta1.jpg

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/jta2.jpg

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/jta3.jpg

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/jta4.jpg

Enjoy.  


And here's something extra for Keranu-

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/10weirdest.jpg

[Ninja Spirit]

Perhaps I can vouch. Episode 43
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO4.jpg

Ahhh nothing like the early 90's when the console wars were more cutthroat than today's.

[Keranu]

And here's something extra for Keranu-

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/10weirdest.jpg

Hehe, thanks ! That was a pretty cool little article. Is that Robocod fish the same fish in the James Pond games? I love that James Pond.

[bt]

Johnny Turbo was actually based on a TTi coder (who is still
around, and in the video game industry).  The bitter irony
is that after TTi folded, Johnny Turbo went to go and work for...
Sega.  I am not kidding.

I do have to wonder how much he hid his "Johnny Turbo" alter
ego when he was interviewing...or after he was hired.

Johnny Turbo is still around.. somewhere.  But I would not hold
my breath waiting for his return.  And considering his attitude
toward most in the gaming industry, I doubt that most of us would
want to actually meet him.  Too bad.

-bt

[Black Tiger]

Johnny Turbo was actually based on a TTi coder (who is still
around, and in the video game industry).  The bitter irony
is that after TTi folded, Johnny Turbo went to go and work for...
Sega.  I am not kidding.

I do have to wonder how much he hid his "Johnny Turbo" alter
ego when he was interviewing...or after he was hired.

Johnny Turbo is still around.. somewhere.  But I would not hold
my breath waiting for his return.  And considering his attitude
toward most in the gaming industry, I doubt that most of us would
want to actually meet him.  Too bad.

-bt

I was actually going to make a comment on how I figured that was the case, because why else would they model a super hero so unattractive.

I don't think that there would've ever been a Blunt Man if Kevin Smith hadn't happened to cast himself in a bit part in his first film.

The cool thing is that a few pages after that Johnny Turbo spread, Sega managed to come up with an ad possibly lamer, although not as tacky(how could it be?).

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/segalamead.jpg

I remember how even as a teen, in an era before the internet when people were more easily fooled by techno-jargen, this ad seemed almost as lame back then as it does today.

I like how this is what the suits at Sega thought hipster cool was. Although the Johnny Turbo ads don't do much to combat the "nerds work for our competition" remark.

[Black Tiger]

And here's something extra for Keranu-

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/10weirdest.jpg

Hehe, thanks ! That was a pretty cool little article. Is that Robocod fish the same fish in the James Pond games? I love that James Pond.

Yeah, they thought that if one parody based on a play on words had worked, why not try another parody of a film title that they could barely tie in to the original character.

So, I guess at this point they established that he's a Cod wholive in a pond?

But what if Robocop had never been made. Would they have designed an entire game around another film's title? Like Ramboat, Spermwhaleinator, Cod Gun or Die Carp?

Perhaps I can vouch. Episode 43
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO1.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO3.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v125/Youkai525/JOHNNYTURBO4.jpg

Ahhh nothing like the early 90's when the console wars were more cutthroat than today's.

"Oh my god! They're not even human!"

I always liked how they tried to make the fact that the Turbo CD was almost as old as the Sega Master System a selling point.

Or the evil guy's desperate attempt to trick kids into buying their system by giving them some free games(they'd have to pack-in like 5 to compensate for such a lame system).  

Of course Johnny Turbo never tried to point out any of the Turbo's true strengths, nor trash fmv games(or the the Genesis' color display bottleneck). Instead he simply continued to chant, "our games are more intense!".

It reminds me of the Hasbro/Mars Super Hour on the Simpsons.

[motdelbuort]

It reminds me of the Hasbro/Mars Super Hour on the Simpsons.

[Keranu]

Johnny Turbo was actually based on a TTi coder (who is still
around, and in the video game industry).  The bitter irony
is that after TTi folded, Johnny Turbo went to go and work for...
Sega.  I am not kidding.

I do have to wonder how much he hid his "Johnny Turbo" alter
ego when he was interviewing...or after he was hired.

Johnny Turbo is still around.. somewhere.  But I would not hold
my breath waiting for his return.  And considering his attitude
toward most in the gaming industry, I doubt that most of us would
want to actually meet him.  Too bad.

-bt

You've probably been to Sardius' Johnny Turbo Story website, but anyways it has a lot of neat personal info on John Brandstetter. Back when he was actually updating the site, it was exciting to see the new information that was uncovered, especially when they have a episode of Computer Chronicles up which featured John Brandstetter! There has been some other neat info out there too that wasn't featured on Sardius' site, including a person on a message board who was able to email John himself and actually got a couple of responses. I did a lot of research myself at one point and manage to find some other info out there, though small stuff.

[esteban]

hmmm, I remember reading about the hidden Bomberman game... in a few places. Granted, I was a TurboNerd, but I thought it was "relatively well-known" knowledge, even back then. However, I don't know if the average person would have known about Bomberman if they hadn't read something in a magazine...

When the launch of the Duo was being promoted, a few magazines mentioned that there was a bonus game on the pack-in CD -- it was probably mentioned in the TTi press release / promotional material (which magazines simply regurgitate, even today ).

-----------------
... Remember we had a thread here (a year or more ago?) and I said that   "Welcome to the Next Level" was not one of Sega's memorable marketing campaigns? Well, actually, it was memorable because I  thought "Welcome to the next level" was catchy, kool, and the proper image for Sega to promote. Concept = A. Unfortuantely, the execution of many of these ads was pretty lame and boring (especially compared to their prior marketing successes). Execution = C. I linked to some of my favorite Turbo ads in that old thread... I think they still hold up surprisingly well today.

-------------------
... Johnny Turbo rules! Seriously, it was goofy as hell when it was released (definitely not kool),  but it really is something to treasure now. I'm not kidding, it really has a LOT OF PERSONALITY and a surprising amount of DEPTH for being 3 mini-comics! Most ads / promotions can't compare to the JT campaign. There are so many wonderful things packed into the JT comics... I find the whole JT universe pretty neat.

That said, JT certainly didn't help the image of TurboDuo... (TTi would have been better off creating a "kool" mini-comic for Dungeon Explorer, or Lords of Thunder... even if said comic was generic, average Joe Gamer would have thought that it was "pretty cool").

At the end of the day, I'm happier that TTi went with JT -- becuase it really is a wonderful, unique moment in marketing / gaming history.

Oh yeah, Black_Tiger -- Great scans !!!!

[Black Tiger]

That said, JT certainly didn't help the image of TurboDuo... (TTi would have been better off creating a "kool" mini-comic for Dungeon Explorer, or Lords of Thunder... even if said comic was generic, average Joe Gamer would have thought that it was "pretty cool").

At the end of the day, I'm happier that TTi went with JT -- becuase it really is a wonderful, unique moment in marketing / gaming history.

Oh yeah, Black_Tiger -- Great scans !!!!

Thanks, I'm scanning like crazy and hope to have the hundreds of Turbo articles/ads/etc I've got online soon.

You've probably been to Sardius' Johnny Turbo Story website, but anyways it has a lot of neat personal info on John Brandstetter. Back when he was actually updating the site, it was exciting to see the new information that was uncovered, especially when they have a episode of Computer Chronicles up which featured John Brandstetter! There has been some other neat info out there too that wasn't featured on Sardius' site, including a person on a message board who was able to email John himself and actually got a couple of responses. I did a lot of research myself at one point and manage to find some other info out there, though small stuff.

Here he is, the real Johnny Turbo in all his glory!

http://www.superpcenginegrafx.com/johnny.avi

...along with video of the Turbo Duo - Mac adapter and unreleased edutainment software.

[Keranu]

Yep, that's the video! It's great stuff, I must've seen it at least 200 times.

[Black Tiger]

Yep, that's the video! It's great stuff, I must've seen it at least 200 times.

He really stands out compared to the other guests and not in a good way.

Even the geekiest of the other interviewees had some semblance of confidence and charisma. This chump just looks down into his chest and mumbles half incoherent nonsense in a nerdy 6 year-old boy's voice and has zero comebacks as the host cuts down each of the products he's supposed to be promoting.

Its awesome.  

[TR0N]

That johnny sure has a low voice mumbles to much  

Hmm that's probably one of the.. reason why he's made into a joke on the comic strip  

Or TTI was realy just desperte for ideas and how to market the, Duo.