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Nintendo Power ceasing publication

Wow, that MK 2 cover is kind of horrifying. If I got that issue as a kid it would have probably given me nightmares.

I remember thinking it was awesome. I still have so many of these in a box somewhere. What shitty news, I will probably go and pick up the last few issues just to have them.
 

djtiesto

is beloved, despite what anyone might say
Even though I turned 30 a few weeks ago, this truly feels like the end of my childhood. :p

Even in the newer issues, there were some things about it that I loved - namely the VC/Wiiware roundup, and coverage to all those great DS games that got the shaft from most other game sites.
 

Jackben

bitch I'm taking calls.
Truly the end of an era. First magazine and exposure to gaming culture I ever experienced. This is what I grew up with.

It's been years since I subscribed but I remember actually being excited to check the mail hoping to find the new issue.

Can't really say the same about mail at all anymore. And I don't think I ever will.

RIP Nintendo Power. Excuse me, I have something caught in my eye.

:,(

SB9xL.jpg


greatest cd ever?

Yes.

Fuck yeah I still have the audio for this saved in my collection!

Greatest subscription gift I ever. I still can't believe they did that, it was so cool.
 

Sushigod7

Member
Wow that blows. I've bought a few magazine and was just thinking the other day with the Wii U coming maybe they would have some good articles and I should subscribe again.
 
Dang it, aren't they close to the 300th volume?

I hope they dish out one more Nester comic.

YES! Nester needs to show up again, one last time. Explaining that he was busy "testing" out the Wii U, and has been in a secret Nintendo lab, checking out the latest games. (which is why we haven't seen him in years.)

Sheesh, I thought things were getting better after the reboot by Future, but I guess not good enough.

And yeah, they were awesome about giving out strategy guides. I still have the SNES Chrono Trigger one myself. Such an awesome guide. I'm sorry they stopped doing them.
 
That's depressing, the end of an era. :( I still bring back stacks of classic issues from my old stash to read through whenever I return home from visiting my parents.
 

Tookay

Member
It's 2012, we have more lines of communication open than ever, but it feels like we're hearing less from Nintendo than ever. Not that a magazine is the most efficient means of communication anymore (especially when a third-party contractor is running it) and maybe this isn't the best time to make this statement considering Nintendo just announced a Wii U event, but feels like Nintendo isn't expanding its marketing or its basic availability in the way that Sony and Microsoft have.
 
I just remembered about their store booklets they used to have with the magazine years ago. Couldn't you save up certain coupons or something from other issues and use them to get free products? I do remember getting the Nintendo Power issue 100 Gold N64 controller.

I remember the whole incident with that controller. They only had 500 made and by the time I received the offer in the magazine they were already sold out (I believe they said they had sold out 2 days before I even got the mag in the mail). I was heartbroken, as revenge I only played my Genesis for awhile. But little did I know, my mom was constantly talking to them about the situation and had gotten one for me when they had more. I was flabbergasted when I got it for Christmas. I love my mom so much
 
It's 2012, we have more lines of communication open than ever, but it feels like we're hearing less from Nintendo than ever. Not that a magazine is the most efficient means of communication anymore (especially when a third-party contractor is running it) and maybe this isn't the best time to make this statement considering Nintendo just announced a Wii U event, but feels like Nintendo isn't expanding its marketing or its basic availability in the way that Sony and Microsoft have.

Nintendo has Nintendo direct every 2 months which generate quiet a bit of buzz on short notice. The last one unveiled the 3DS XL only a few weeks after E3!
 
They were my favorite back in the day. Anyone remember the Epic Center? The section that covered only RPGs. The articles and presentation were very well done. Epic Center sold me on Harvest moon for SNES.
 
The rest of the Player's Guides, like the Game Boy one, were good, but this particular guide was godly to me as a kid:

np_mariomania.jpg


I went through it so much I wore out the spine. It had all sorts of extra little tidbits in it, like when they went through and measured the jump distances of the different games in blocks, and I think it was the first time I saw an image of the Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2.

If there was one bad thing about it, I think it didn't quite cover one of the games featured all the way through, but I can't recall which one it was.

I still own that! Freakin love it
 
I had a subscription for this back in the N64 era. Coincidentally, it started with the 100th issue.

At the time I also had a sub for EGM, so I always found it weird the way NP would spin things. Their steadfast refusal to acknowledge the PlayStation's existence (other than as a punching bag*) was striking. Like, when talking about the N64 port of Resident Evil 2, they referred to it as originally coming out for the PC. As though it was the PC version of RE2 that set the world on fire. If they couldn't get away with that, they would just begrudgingly call it the "PSX." As though not to call attention to it.

Another time, someone in their Reader Mail Player's Pulse section was lamenting, "Why don't they make RPGs anymore? I remember on the SNES we had Chrono Trigger and FF II and III and Earthbound. What happened?" Of course, this was in that post-FF VII heyday when the market was flooded with jRPGs. But not for their system. So Nintendo Power's response?

"We don't know what happened either. We'd love for developers to make more. In the meantime, you should check out the upcoming Aidyn Chronicles for the Nintendo 64!"

Even for a middle-schooler, their intent to willfully keep their readers in a bubble was too blatant. I let my subscription lapse around the end of the generation.

That said, once you waded past the PR and cheerleading, they had some really in-depth previews and mini-strategy guides (remember the 6-part Pokemon Power booklets? Still have those). Our family didn't get the internet until really late, so print magazines like Nintendo Power were invaluable for getting gaming news. I haven't read them in over a decade, but it's still sad to see them go.

*See their Christmas 1997 "Hot or Not" section where "Zelda 64" (a year away from release) was "HOT" and Final Fantasy VII (already out) was "NOT"
 

illadelph

Member
man, back in the days before internet was so huge and accessable, it was like Christmas everytime a Nintendo Power came in the mail. RIP to my favorite magazine
 

KingJ2002

Member
Wow... i'd never thought i'd see the day. Hopefully this is temporary and it's relaunched as a digital magazine or feature on the nintendo network.
 

hammster

Archbishop of Canterburny
A load of Nintendo Gamer (UK mag) writers were tweeting that they'd heard some really bad news a couple of weeks. I assumed it was about Nintendo Gamer but I guess it was this. Kinda relieved (because, y'know, I'm from the UK) but definitely very sad news. I hope everyone involved lands on their feet.
 
Ill buy the last issue for sure. I would sporadically buy Nintendo Power issues over the year depending on the cover and whether it was one of there "Special Edition" issues. I think the last one i bought was the 20th SNES Anniversary. I really hope they do something special with the last one.
 
The 80's and early 90's NPs really felt like a lot of love was put into them. The layouts were fun and exciting to look at, and littered with nice artwork. On a critical review level they were lacking. Those ratings things towards the end hardly ever called out games for being terrible. But the information and maps NP provided in a time before the internet was a godsend.
 

Vibed

Member
I remember the first time I saw a Nintendo Power in a K Mart. I convinced my mom to give me a subscription and it was my main source of gaming news when I was young before I discovered the internet. Still have a subscription to this day, at the very least I hope mine lasts till the end...

I thought Nintendo was keeping this afloat?

Nah, Future Publishing took over in 2007.
 

Cade

Member
My subscription lapsed eight months or so ago. I didn't renew, thinking I'd do it eventually.

Now I never will.

What a terrible day for gaming news.
 

SkyOdin

Member
Wow...

No way...


I have had a Nintendo Power subscription (with a few breaks) almost non-stop since volume 30-something, around the time the SNES was released. NES games were still commonly covered back in those days. To me, Nintendo Power was the greatest of the gaming magazines because it covered its games in such incredible depth, with maps and secrets and everything. For years and years it had no adds or anything. When it finally did get adds, it was for games like Super Robot Taisen: Original Generation, which I can hardly complain about. I still have most of magazines saved in boxes, though most of them are in terrible condition from reckless abuse I caused as a kid.

Nintendo Power had a lot of highs and lows over the years. I guess my favorite period was when the Epic Center was going strong. I still remember the article that first introduced me to Chrono Trigger. The Epic Center had a huge, inexplicable love for Ogre Battle, if I recall. Tips for that game appeared in practically every issue. There was even that detailed walkthrough on how to get the game's worst ending. It was a shame that the Epic Center came only at the end of the SNES era, and the complete lack of N64 RPGs killed it for good.

The comics were also a part that really stood out during the golden age of Nintendo Power. The Star Fox comic still shapes how I think about that series.

Sadly, it had been very obvious that Nintendo Power is long past its heyday. I will miss it, though.
 
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