Job Security Not Included

Back in the heady days of the Atari 2600, everyone was jumping on the video game bandwagon.  Even the venerable toy company Fisher-Price was ready to get in on the action, running this small black-and-white Help Wanted ad in Electronic Games magazine:

I had always thought that Fisher-Price never published any videogames under its own name during the 2600 era, though they did publish a number of titles for the Nintendo Entertainment System several years later.  But I had a vague recollection that they were somehow involved with a title or two published by U.S. Games (Gopher, perhaps), its sister company at the time under the same corporate parent, Quaker Oats.  And a bit of Google searching establishes that two other titles, Fisher Price Fishing Derby and Memory Manor, may have seen the light of day before the industry crashed and took most companies' brand-new videogame divisions with it.

So I'd like to think that whoever answered this ad enjoyed the sensational salary and profit sharing mentioned.

But it would be even nicer to think that the new hire was not subject to a career that promises to be the industry future.  Because that future was looking bleak indeed, almost nonexistent, about 18 months after this ad ran.