Ad Spotting: Retro game and tech scans from 1978 Playboy magazine

Playboy magazine used to be fat. No, I’m not talking about the women (and, yes, this post is entirely suitable for work).

The magazines were hundreds of pages thick containing a lot more advertisements and longer articles than you’ll find in today’s comparatively anemic issues.

The magazine was at its peak in the 1970s and, back in 1978, Atari was making way into homes across America. Lucky for us, Atari had to advertise and Playboy liked video games.

Gamertell writer Jon Simon has graciously scanned a few choice pages from an especially thick issue of Playboy published in 1978 that features video game systems, then modern tech and a sassy OJ Simpson.

In the photo gallery you’ll see:

• An advertisement for the Atari Video Computer System (aka Atari 2600).
• An ad for the Apple ][ (aka Apple II) and Computerland (remember Computerland?).
• An article about high-tech phones called "Call Tech" under the simple header "Gear". ("The Travel Phone is linked to a computer for billing purposes..." and sold for a whopping $2,695)
• A two-page spread about game systems that includes an arcade cabinet (Fireball by Bally), the Bally Professional Arcade console ($300), the Atari Video Computer System ($200), Fairchild's F System II ($150) and the Odyssey 2 Video Game system (price, if there, is blurred). Notice the big-screen TV and $1000 video cassette recorder in the middle section
• An Dingo advertisement featuring OJ Simpson ("Nobody puts leather together like Dingo").
• An ad for the World Traveler watch that includes alarms for two time zones ($80).

Photo Gallery [Playboy 1978 Magazine Scans @ Gamertell]