Why the Sears versions existed

[+Atari_Warlord]

When Atari was developing the 2600 Sears helped them get it ready for market and get through the FCC process. If you think about current companies, Sears was essentially a cross between Amazon and a brick and mortar store for 100 years. You could order anything they sold and have it delivered or pick it up in a store. Walmart and other discount chains eventually brought the giant down. The story of retail for the last 40 years has been that price is more important than service.

[scotty]

I personally chose the Sears version over the Atari at the time that I purchased it new, because at that point in time, Atari had JUST switched from the 6 switch to the 4 switch, and I wanted all the switches up front. The six switch Atari versions totally vanished from retail shelves. Sears still sold the sixers.

 

I had to admit, I love the looks of the Intellivision that Sears put out. The white one with the detachable controllers. That is the best looking Intellivision console released. I also liked the Tandyvision with the woodgrain finish. Still looking to add each to my collection. Anyone have either they want to donate?

[Casey]

Sears did this with a lot of stuff. I don't know if it was everything, but it was a lot. Some of the "other brands" they sold were actually just brands they invented, like Kenmore or Craftsman.

 

It wasn't totally unique to them - JC Penney even sold shotguns branded as JC Penney!

 

Back when I had a TI 99/4A as my computer, the cassette drive I used as a mass storage device was a JC Penney branded recorder. In fact, before TI sold their own branded recorder, they supplied a list of recorders they had tested, and the JC Penney machine was on the list. It worked great, actually.

[Harrison]

I always thought that it was because Atari was a smaller company, and didn't have the distribution, resources, and well respected brand name that Sears had. Having a Sears version was a way for Atari to use the greater marketing and distribution power of Sears to their advantage. Sears was massive at the time. In return, Sears would be able to say they have this fantastic new video game system, and it also built up their own video game brand that they had at the time from the pong consoles they released previously. That's the impression I have about it, though I wasn't alive at the time.

 

Here's a question: Did Atari manufacture the Sears branded models, or did Sears manufacture them in their own facilities?

[spacecadet]

Here's a question: Did Atari manufacture the Sears branded models, or did Sears manufacture them in their own facilities?

 

Atari manufactured them. It actually says that right on them.

[+sramirez2008]

Here's a question: Did Atari manufacture the Sears branded models, or did Sears manufacture them in their own facilities?

 

[Andromeda Stardust]

One thing that bugged me about the Atari/Sears branding was not the consoles but the fact the games had different branding. For instance, PONG Sports = Video Olympics. Tanks Plus = Combat. Race = Indy 500. For some reason the Sears brnded games always had generic sounding names. Anyway when I started collecting Atari in 2012, I ended up with a lot of dupes thanks to the branding/naming snafu. And if a seasoned retro gamer like me got confused by the naming convention, I imagine it would have caused much consumer confusion back in the day.

 

Nintendo almost never rebranded their games, except across totally different regions. And rarely for licensing, as Mike Tyson's Punchout became Punchout featuring Mr Dream, or Stadium Events became World Class Track Meet.

[Harrison]

I can imagine it would be pretty disappointing to buy a game just to find you already have it with a different name.

[BassGuitari]

For some reason the Sears brnded games always had generic sounding names.

Most games for most systems from most publishers at the time had generic names.

 

"Space War"

"Football"

"Adventure"

"Speedway!"

"Armor Battle"

"NBA Basketball"

"Slot Machine"

"Miniature Golf"

etc...

 

Unless by "generic" you meant they sounded like store-brand knockoffs of Atari games?

 

(Sidebar: As silly as the exclamation marks were in the titles of Odyssey 2 games, at least those stood out. "Showdown in 2100 A.D.!," "Invaders From Hyperspace!," and "Take The Money And Run!" had a lot more pop than "Outlaw," "Space War," and "Tag." )

 

[/derail]

[Flojomojo]

I was just thinking that about Odyssey 2 games, too! Obviously they were trying to blaze a new path.

 

The Quest for the Rings! > Adventure.

[zzip]

Most games for most systems from most publishers at the time had generic names.

 

"Space War"

"Football"

"Adventure"

"Speedway!"

"Armor Battle"

"NBA Basketball"

"Slot Machine"

"Miniature Golf"

etc...

 

Unless by "generic" you meant they sounded like store-brand knockoffs of Atari games?

 

(Sidebar: As silly as the exclamation marks were in the titles of Odyssey 2 games, at least those stood out. "Showdown in 2100 A.D.!," "Invaders From Hyperspace!," and "Take The Money And Run!" had a lot more pop than "Outlaw," "Space War," and "Tag." )

 

[/derail]

 

and to think we went from "Space War" and "Stampede" to "Communist Mutants from Outer Space" and "Revenge of the Beefstake Tomatoes" in just a couple years time!