Who didn’t have Battleship growing up as a kid? One Christmas my mom and dad brought my brother and I every board game of the era. Battleship was one of my personal favorites to cheat on. My secret? I would mark, with the white pegs, every place my brother said on the water. Then when he wasn’t looking I would move my ships away from where he thought I might be. It took him years to catch on. I personally never had Electronic Battleship as a kid. I played it once and never thought it lived up to the hype of those commercials. Ah, those commercials. So thrilling and completely captivating. Thanks to the glory of Youtube I have collected an assortment for you here in the Toy Maniac column. Complete with my snarky comments as well to follow each commercial.
Electronic Talking Battleship - Commercial 1993
The year was 1993 and the first Gulf War was over. All I could think of was the stock footage used here and the impact those shells had on some poor unsuspecting Iraqi tank groups.
Electronic Talking Battleship - Commercial 1997
There is a reason they call them “board” games. In 1997 the Playstation One was huge and I guess they really had to add some excitement to this “board” game. Sadly, Nelson, the Commander, and the rest of props didn’t come with it.
80’s Battleship and Electronic Battleship
This one is probably my favorite. I think I saw it all the time while watching GI Joe and Transformers.
1967/ 1968 Battleship Commercial
Ah the days before travel Battleship when you took the whole game out to a pier. Why would you play on a pier again? Oh because of the hilarious ending.
Star Wars Battleship Commercial
I had this one from the Star Wars Special Edition boom. The problem I learned from playing Electronic Battleship is that you sit too close together, thus making it easier to see your opponents ships. Not to mention it was harder to cheat.
Battleship at the Opera - 1975
This one has had the embedding disabled by request. Exactly why, I am not so sure but it is a perfect illustration that Battleship was a gentlemen’s game; a game that so many of us cheated on while we played. Check out the commercial here.
Robert Trate writes three weekly columns for Mania: the DVD Shopping Bag, the Toy Maniac, and The Geek Life. Follow Robert on Twitter for his for Geek ramblings, Cosplay photos and film criticisms.
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
I actually remember all but one of those commercials. That one 1975 aired for a long time.. I can recall seeing it well into the 80s.