[Smiles and Cries]

Well I was hoping some NDAs get lifted that day and IGN runs a story

Nintendo should at least show some Zelda TP to rain on the PS3 party a little

[Borys]

me: So, uh, where is the info?

GAF: Thursdayton Mark II

me: Oh wait... :(

[Twilight Rockstar]

Right… *takes deeeeeeeeeep breath*
This has all got a bit out of hand because of some silly press written by a marketing department, and with meer days until it goes on sale I don't see the problem with telling you about the mag in a bit more detail.

Firstly, here's what we have:
1. The presentation: the mag itself has a really nice matte laminated cover with spot varnish effects. It comes in an open-topped card wallet with the Revolution on the front. I know what a lot of you are thinking - why the f*** is he telling us this? I've read games mags for years, since Super Play actually, and we really wanted to give people something special. . . something that's a bit like a collector's edition every issue. I think it's really important to have that basic quality to the mag, otherwise why even bother with it over and above the internet?

2. The gift: I'm sure you can see from the images that there's a sheet of DS decals included with the mag. It looks like a sheet of stickers, I know, but trust me - they're really good. High quality vinyl decals. The one you can't see on the image is the one I have on my DS right now and it looks great. They're pretty expensive to make, which is why previous mags could never covermount them, but, you know, first issue an' all.

3. The subs offer: well obviously you save money but the big thing for us is that you get a free game when you take out a £9.99 subscription. All subscribers get to choose from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Donkey Konga + bongos or Pikmin 2. I've never seen a subs deal that good.

Now honestly, I might be a little bit biased here, but I think the decals are worth paying out £3.99 for on their own. But obviously there's the littlle mag as well lol

4. The approach: it's tough being on an official mag, it really is. You get told so much by Nintendo themselves but moreso from other publishers, but of course you can't print most of it right there and then. It does mean that over the next six months there will be some MASSIVE exclusives and that's no exageration. Let's just say that Nintendo fans are in for a treat.
The games industry has gone down this road where the big websites get everything first but from where I'm sitting it doesn't need to be like that. I promise you we'll have stuff worth your attention before other people. That said, sometimes NCL will surprise everyone and the timing just won't be in place for us to get there first. They like to do that ;)

5. This issue:
12-page feature about Nintendo and New Ways To Play (Nintendo new tagline). There's the whole hands-on with the Revolution bit (and no, there aren't a ton of people who have gone hands on, there were only a few from selected publications around the world) as well as some brand new pics of the Revolution and the Freehand from all angles.

DS Lite: pictures of the new handheld with various comparisons. There's so much stuff we wish we could tell you… but we can't. Again, this is the case with a lot of features in the mag: it's mid-Feb… it's just too early to be letting some info out into the public domain. In my best Japanese developer response: "please look forward to our coverage when it arrives."

Capcom Dev Feature: let's get one thing straight here. You're not going to see any in-game pics of Revolution stuff before E3. It just ain't gonna happen. Obviously there's a load of stuff in development but why would Nintendo let people see examples of what makes Revolution so different at this stage? There are BIG things still to be announced and you're DEFINITELY not going to see screens until those aspects are announced. Again, in my best Japanese developer response: "please look forward to more informations at GDC and E3".
Still, we have some great interviews with four Capcom producers, who talk about what they'd like to on Revolution, Smash Bros Revolution and other things. We also have a load of great sketches from the relevant games that Capcom have let us use. It's a really interesting read for any Capcom/Nintendo fans. Plus you get to see a pic of Mikami-san boxing and Nakai-san trying to look hard, which always make me laugh.

Other stuff: 32 pages of previews, a sh*tload of reviews, challenges, tips, loads of compos, retro etc etc… I think it's extremely good value for money.

Online: I know a lot of people want a definitive UK website but we're not quite ready to give tyou that yeat. We will be building it up over the next few months and it'll be fully in place in time for E3. It's a lot of work though, hence the reason why it's going to take so long to get it all sorted.

Overall: I think it's a really good first issue and a great indication of what's to come. We've got a whole load of very talented writers working with us, some awesome designers, access to literally every important person at Nintendo events (one-on-one, not roundtable like everyone else) and one of the very lucky publications who gets hands-on time with Nintendo pre-preview code. Only official mags get that.

That Grasshopper thing: man, SUDA51 is really something! We couldn't fit it in so it has to go in issue 2, which could work out better as we may be able to print everything he said (again, it's down to timing). Among other things he talks about what Mikami-san is like to work with, his Revolution stuff, how it came about that he started on killer7, his obsession with 80's electro… oh, and his predictions for the World Cup!

Honestly, we're working really hard to try and bring you something really good, so it's a shame that the press release is a little misleading. Anyway, I hope you like it. As always if there's stuff you don't like PLEASE give contructive criticism. Slagging off stuff is useful to no-one. Laters.

[DefectiveReject]

nice!!!
where can i get the subscription with Pikmin2? its not on that website.

[Twilight Rockstar]

I think on the 16th Feb, if you go to www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk there'll be a link on there. It won't be up until then though and goes somewhere else right now. Otherwise there's a form/phone number in the mag.

[Thomper]

I think on the 16th Feb, if you go to www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk there'll be a link on there. It won't be up until then though and goes somewhere else right now. Otherwise there's a form/phone number in the mag.

Any international subscriptions? I'm starting to get curious. ;)

[DefectiveReject]

I think on the 16th Feb, if you go to www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk there'll be a link on there. It won't be up until then though and goes somewhere else right now. Otherwise there's a form/phone number in the mag.

Cheers
Subscription +1

So just a simple yes or no.
The rev has something cool still to be announced that youare aware of and we will like?

[Smiles and Cries]

thanks Twilight Rockstar sounds cool if I was in the UK I would get a copy

:)

[DefectiveReject]

thanks Twilight Rockstar sounds cool if I was in the UK I would get a copy :)

i am and ..... i am.
Pikmin2 is so hard to find in store in the UK.
and when you do its £30 ($50)

[Twilight Rockstar]

Cheers Subscription +1 So just a simple yes or no. The rev has something cool still to be announced that youare aware of and we will like?

Absolutely. So does the DS Lite actually.

[Twilight Rockstar]

Any international subscriptions? I'm starting to get curious. ;)

You can but you have to do it via this site:

www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk

… and you don't get the free game as it would cost too much to end it abroad. Sorry :(

[ziran]

whoa!! thanks for the info Twilight Rockstar!

the mag sounds great, looking forward to it :)

excellent subscriptions offer!

[catfish]

Absolutely. So does the DS Lite actually.

BONUS

[Smiles and Cries]

I wish someone in the know would put to rest the graphics issues with the Revolution

I really don't trust Nintendo with graphics anymore they play it down too much but I glad to hear there is some good stuff that we will find out about it :)

[VOOK]

I wish someone in the know would put to rest the graphics issues with the Revolution I really don't trust Nintendo with graphics anymore they play it down too much but I glad to hear there is some good stuff that we will find out about it :)

One good looking screenshot would put all the BS to rest.

[Smiles and Cries]

One good looking screenshot would put all the BS to rest.

and looks like we are not going to get it...

I would say Mario 128 would help me shut up

[TurtleSnatcher]

Absolutely. So does the DS Lite actually.

??

So theres a special thing about the rev and the DS lite that we dont know about? Shocked about the DS? Errr who are you again? D:

[fortified_concept]

Kinda offtopic but when's GDC?

[E-phonk]

Nice info there. Might buy some seperate import issues if they are available here (.be)

[Smiles and Cries]

Kinda offtopic but when's GDC?

March 20-24

Satoru Iwata's keynote, "Disrupting Development," is scheduled for Thursday, March 23, from 10:30 to 11:30am.

[Great King Bowser]

Look at the list of staff writers that's not a bad group of writers. At least I can remember some of the names from back in the day when I used to read magazines. Still, looking forward to the first issue. :)

[ziran]

Absolutely. So does the DS Lite actually.

Excellent!


I'm really looking forward to Twilight Princess info. I'm expecting a launch close to Revolution now, especially since the NGC comment and Reggie in EGM:
http://www.n-sider.com/newsview.php?...y&storyid=1726

EGM: Speaking of Zelda, best-case scenario, it's a few months away from the Revolution launch, worst case scenario is it's coming out at the same time. Is there ever a point where you believe that it would be better to switch it over to Revolution? Or does it not matter, since the Revolution will be backward compatible with Cube games? Reggie: Exactly. I think that our senior management has made it very clear that bringing Zelda: Twilight Princess out on GameCube is important, that we want to satisfy the GameCube fan base and have it be on that system. You've said the obvious, which is that [because] Revolution's backward compatible, it will almost effectively be a launch title for Revolution. The trick will be what makes it special to play on Revolution, and to the extent that we could create something like that, boy, wouldn't that be fantastic? Certainly one of the things that I would love to see is something that makes Zelda, when it's played on Revolution, do something magical. And I think that any Nintendo fan would love to see that.

[fortified_concept]

March 20-24 Satoru Iwata's keynote, "Disrupting Development," is scheduled for Thursday, March 23, from 10:30 to 11:30am.

Thanks man.

I was expecting it kinda earlier. :(

[Sunski]

Obviously there's a load of stuff in development but why would Nintendo let people see examples of what makes Revolution so different at this stage?

SEE what malke revolution so different??? HOLOGRAMOTON!

[JonathanEx]

3. The subs offer: well obviously you save money but the big thing for us is that you get a free game when you take out a £9.99 subscription. All subscribers get to choose from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Donkey Konga + bongos or Pikmin 2. I've never seen a subs deal that good.

I am no longer annoyed in the least about resubscribing.

[Waimea]

subscription +1

[Temujin]

Nice info there. Might buy some seperate import issues if they are available here (.be)

If they're distributed like the old official nintendo mag, you should be able to find it in the shops relatively easy. There's a specialised international bookshop that picks up almost every game mag out (forgot the name though, IMB or something, and they have shops in Bruges and Antwerp). And I'm sure I've seen the official mag in Press shop as well.


Anyway, sounds interesting, thanks for the info Twilight Rockstar. I'll definitely pick up the mag when it's out.

[kaizoku]

Twilight Rockstar:

This is why I love GAF!! Hope to see you and maybe other writers from the mag on here in future!

and free pikmin 2? I haven't so much as paid for a magazine in years, but subscription GET!

btw with the online presence, I don't even expect one magazine to do it or anything as that would miss the point and it'd end up like CVG's website or even edge (nice, but not quite the same scale). It should be done by Future or whoever and be the UK equivalent of 1up or Gamespot, only with UK flavour obviously. If you're hiring for this - show me where!

UK equivalent to the 1up show is something i want to see!

[thegodsend]

Absolutely. So does the DS Lite actually.

Please confirm this sentence:

- There is still is a new, unknown, cool Nintendo DS Lite feature.

And if you want to:

- Nintendo is going to reveal it next week on their Japanese DS lite event.

[fresquito]

You can but you have to do it via this site: www.myfavouritemagazines.co.uk … and you don't get the free game as it would cost too much to end it abroad. Sorry :(

So, to make this clear, subscriptors from outside UK don´t get the game, isn´t it? :_/ even if they live in Europe? You see, play.com sends games for free >_< I´d really like to have the mag and decals and stuff >_<

[kaizoku]

Foreigners are always excluded from US promotions....don't be surprised about no-game here.

btw how long does a £9.99 subscription last for? If the mag itself is £3.99 every month...thats what a 6 month sub?

[w00tman]

Well, I'm going to subscribe I think, would have been nice to have a choice of a nintendo DS game, but I can also ebay the GC game.

Sounds brill

subscription + 1

[Merlin]

Thanks for the info! It definitely looks more classy than the old one.

[Twilight Rockstar]

So, to make this clear, subscriptors from outside UK don´t get the game, isn´t it? :_/ even if they live in Europe? You see, play.com sends games for free >_< I´d really like to have the mag and decals and stuff >_<

Sorry boss, them's the rules. That kind of thing is out of my control. You can get the mag and the decals, just not the game. If that option changes I'll let you know.

And btw, anyone who had subscriptions to EMAP's NOM should have been written a letter giving you the option to get a refund or swap to another EMAP mag.

[Archie]

3. The subs offer: well obviously you save money but the big thing for us is that you get a free game when you take out a £9.99 subscription. All subscribers get to choose from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Donkey Konga + bongos or Pikmin 2. I've never seen a subs deal that good.

Why doesn't Nintendo Power do something like that? Oh wait NoA is ran by idiots :(

[ziran]

Foreigners are always excluded from US promotions....don't be surprised about no-game here. btw how long does a £9.99 subscription last for? If the mag itself is £3.99 every month...thats what a 6 month sub?

http://www.myfavouritemagazines.co.u...7742@584755823

Quarterly Direct Debit to UK £9.72 1 Year (13 issues) to UK £38.90 1 Year (13 issues) to Europe £49.99 1 Year (13 issues) to Rest of World £56.00

but Twilight Rockstar (a few posts up) said to wait for www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk or the order form in the magazine for the game offer.

[Thomper]

Sorry boss, them's the rules. That kind of thing is out of my control. You can get the mag and the decals, just not the game. If that option changes I'll let you know. And btw, anyone who had subscriptions to EMAP's NOM should have been written a letter giving you the option to get a refund or swap to another EMAP mag.

Getting the decals is a start. I bought Emap's NOM's in the past, but they never included the wowzors gift the UK-folks had.

[Twilight Rockstar]

Foreigners are always excluded from US promotions....don't be surprised about no-game here. btw how long does a £9.99 subscription last for? If the mag itself is £3.99 every month...thats what a 6 month sub?

3 months. . . so that's essentially a £2 (17%) saving on the mag… plus one of the best GameCube games available :)

[fresquito]

Sorry boss, them's the rules. That kind of thing is out of my control. You can get the mag and the decals, just not the game. If that option changes I'll let you know. And btw, anyone who had subscriptions to EMAP's NOM should have been written a letter giving you the option to get a refund or swap to another EMAP mag.

Thank you for the reply and the info as well :)

[the androgyne]

I'm really looking forward to Twilight Princess info. I'm expecting a launch close to Revolution now, especially since the NGC comment and Reggie in EGM: http://www.n-sider.com/newsview.php?...y&storyid=1726

I wonder if, when all is said and done we'll look back at this quote with hindsight ...

Even if you look at Zelda on GameCube, I don't think that looks inferior to what the competition is touting as 'next generation' visuals.

(from Iwata)

As out of the extra-ordinary it seems now, after reading Reggie in EGM, maybe 10% of me is thinking there may even be a graphical updgrade for TP on Rev. Pity the other 90% is still thinking it's just Remote control stuff... but who knows? :(

[kaizoku]

thanks ziran.

and twilight.

[JonathanEx]

And btw, anyone who had subscriptions to EMAP's NOM should have been written a letter giving you the option to get a refund or swap to another EMAP mag.

I don't think I have got that letter yet, but thanks for pointing it out.

[Xrenity]

So, to make this clear, subscriptors from outside UK don´t get the game, isn´t it? :_/ even if they live in Europe? You see, play.com sends games for free >_< I´d really like to have the mag and decals and stuff >_<

You'll get the decals, only not the game.

The mag sounds worthy enough on its own to subscribe to though. I'd almost do it :+

[radioheadrule83]

I'll buy the mag day one and fill the Sub form out. I was gonna buy one of those games anyway!

Content sounds great... obviously you can't say, and it may not even be in issue 1, but I'm excited that there's something new to be announced regarding both Revolution and DS lite.

If nothing else, your publishing overlords would be proud.

[DECK'ARD]

Sounds promising actually.

I'll be picking one up as well.

[Shiggy]

I wonder if, when all is said and done we'll look back at this quote with hindsight ... (from Iwata) As out of the extra-ordinary it seems now, after reading Reggie in EGM, maybe 10% of me is thinking there may even be a graphical updgrade for TP on Rev. Pity the other 90% is still thinking it's just Remote control stuff... but who knows? :(

I don't think the visuals will be upgraded like EA does with Burnout, but perhaps there'll be some other sort of "upgrade" beside the Revolution controls. The graphics of the Revolution are still a secret, you know.

[jkeeling]

It's great to see a credible editorial team making an effort to put out a classy Nintendo mag again. Haven't seen that since way back when we worked on the old Super Play/N64 mags. Good stuff.

[Mama Smurf]

Haven't bought a mag in 5 years, but I might just have to pick this up.

Might even go for the subscription. Annoyingly I've played all those games already, but I'm sure I could sell Pikmin 2 for a tenner.

[Waimea]

Right… *takes deeeeeeeeeep breath* This has all got a bit out of hand because of some silly press written by a marketing department, and with meer days until it goes on sale I don't see the problem with telling you about the mag in a bit more detail. Firstly, here's what we have: 1. The presentation: the mag itself has a really nice matte laminated cover with spot varnish effects. It comes in an open-topped card wallet with the Revolution on the front. I know what a lot of you are thinking - why the f*** is he telling us this? I've read games mags for years, since Super Play actually, and we really wanted to give people something special. . . something that's a bit like a collector's edition every issue. I think it's really important to have that basic quality to the mag, otherwise why even bother with it over and above the internet? 2. The gift: I'm sure you can see from the images that there's a sheet of DS decals included with the mag. It looks like a sheet of stickers, I know, but trust me - they're really good. High quality vinyl decals. The one you can't see on the image is the one I have on my DS right now and it looks great. They're pretty expensive to make, which is why previous mags could never covermount them, but, you know, first issue an' all. 3. The subs offer: well obviously you save money but the big thing for us is that you get a free game when you take out a £9.99 subscription. All subscribers get to choose from Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Donkey Konga + bongos or Pikmin 2. I've never seen a subs deal that good. Now honestly, I might be a little bit biased here, but I think the decals are worth paying out £3.99 for on their own. But obviously there's the littlle mag as well lol 4. The approach: it's tough being on an official mag, it really is. You get told so much by Nintendo themselves but moreso from other publishers, but of course you can't print most of it right there and then. It does mean that over the next six months there will be some MASSIVE exclusives and that's no exageration. Let's just say that Nintendo fans are in for a treat. The games industry has gone down this road where the big websites get everything first but from where I'm sitting it doesn't need to be like that. I promise you we'll have stuff worth your attention before other people. That said, sometimes NCL will surprise everyone and the timing just won't be in place for us to get there first. They like to do that ;) 5. This issue: 12-page feature about Nintendo and New Ways To Play (Nintendo new tagline). There's the whole hands-on with the Revolution bit (and no, there aren't a ton of people who have gone hands on, there were only a few from selected publications around the world) as well as some brand new pics of the Revolution and the Freehand from all angles. DS Lite: pictures of the new handheld with various comparisons. There's so much stuff we wish we could tell you… but we can't. Again, this is the case with a lot of features in the mag: it's mid-Feb… it's just too early to be letting some info out into the public domain. In my best Japanese developer response: "please look forward to our coverage when it arrives." Capcom Dev Feature: let's get one thing straight here. You're not going to see any in-game pics of Revolution stuff before E3. It just ain't gonna happen. Obviously there's a load of stuff in development but why would Nintendo let people see examples of what makes Revolution so different at this stage? There are BIG things still to be announced and you're DEFINITELY not going to see screens until those aspects are announced. Again, in my best Japanese developer response: "please look forward to more informations at GDC and E3". Still, we have some great interviews with four Capcom producers, who talk about what they'd like to on Revolution, Smash Bros Revolution and other things. We also have a load of great sketches from the relevant games that Capcom have let us use. It's a really interesting read for any Capcom/Nintendo fans. Plus you get to see a pic of Mikami-san boxing and Nakai-san trying to look hard, which always make me laugh. Other stuff: 32 pages of previews, a sh*tload of reviews, challenges, tips, loads of compos, retro etc etc… I think it's extremely good value for money. Online: I know a lot of people want a definitive UK website but we're not quite ready to give tyou that yeat. We will be building it up over the next few months and it'll be fully in place in time for E3. It's a lot of work though, hence the reason why it's going to take so long to get it all sorted. Overall: I think it's a really good first issue and a great indication of what's to come. We've got a whole load of very talented writers working with us, some awesome designers, access to literally every important person at Nintendo events (one-on-one, not roundtable like everyone else) and one of the very lucky publications who gets hands-on time with Nintendo pre-preview code. Only official mags get that. That Grasshopper thing: man, SUDA51 is really something! We couldn't fit it in so it has to go in issue 2, which could work out better as we may be able to print everything he said (again, it's down to timing). Among other things he talks about what Mikami-san is like to work with, his Revolution stuff, how it came about that he started on killer7, his obsession with 80's electro… oh, and his predictions for the World Cup! Honestly, we're working really hard to try and bring you something really good, so it's a shame that the press release is a little misleading. Anyway, I hope you like it. As always if there's stuff you don't like PLEASE give contructive criticism. Slagging off stuff is useful to no-one. Laters.

Dude... I couldn't help but look into your post history... interesting comment:

Yeah, Revolution will launch 'soon after' E3, but that doesn't mean May. It means worldwide during the 10-week period from mid-July - early Sept.

[fly high ~ayunite~]

subscription +1

QFT.