The back of the 1983 Red Box contains INFINITELY more ALL-CAP WORDS used for EMPHASIS! Most of them are the word “FUN”! A dragon “swoops TOWARDS you with a ROAR!” It’s “more FUN than any other game!” “Start having “FUN”! “Programmed adventures for easy learning and HOURS of FUN”! “expand your FUN”! “More treasures, more monsters – and MORE FUN!” There’s also one example of Capitalizing the First Letter for Emphasis: “This New Popular Edition has been completely revised!”
The new set, by comparison, seems as dignified and sober as an actuary, or pallbearer, or pallbearer who is pregnant with twins who are both actuaries. Compared to 13 all-cap phrases and 10 exclamation points in Mentzer, the Essentials set has 0 all-cap phrases and a parsimonious 2 exclamation points. Sure, it lets us know that “in this game, anything is possible – the only limit is your imagination!” and “you can play an adventurous hero”. But riddle me this: will those activities be FUN?
Tags: redbox
