A fitting sendoff for a vital, pre-Internet source of gaming info and community.
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Final <i>Nintendo Power</i> cover brings the magazine full circle
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I'm really sad to see it go. I grew up with Nintendo power (and still have many of my back issues). Is there anywhere I can go to pick up one of the final issues? I think I'm gonna frame it and hang it up (along with some of my old issues I think).
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Kcilorak":1oq2h8sj said:
I'm not even going to bother trying to pass it off as that... This is the end of an era, and another remnant of my childhood going the way of the cassette and VHS...
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fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Now I must own this issue to go with my first issue...
Now I must own this issue to go with my first issue...
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I'll pour one out for Nintendo Power this weekend.
I had a subscription for the better part of the '90s. You nailed it on the head, imo. While it's actual quality is sketchy, it served a purpose for this nerd growing up in a small town.
I had a subscription for the better part of the '90s. You nailed it on the head, imo. While it's actual quality is sketchy, it served a purpose for this nerd growing up in a small town.
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DrigJ":3kp6mn1l said:
I'm guessing local bookstores, or even supermarkets/big box stores with a magazine rack will have a good chance of carrying it. Call around.
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It's kinda bizarre how the magazine went. Sometimes it did have very critical and well done reviews, and then others it was like it was reviewed by the development team.btmlltt":3pp6uiek said:
RIP Nintendo Power. Fitting cover to end your run.
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This was the most appropriate cover they could have ever considered using for the last issue. I'm going to miss the magazine, even if I'd stopped reading it when the SNES coverage disappeared and I'd moved on to a PSX instead of a N64.
Gone, but certainly not forgotten.
Gone, but certainly not forgotten.
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Okay one complaint. They should have resurrected the old logo for the final issue.
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I'll never forget coming home from school and seeing the first issue ever of Nintendo Power waiting for me on the kitchen table.
Also, the Zelda comics that preceded the release of A Link to the Past
Good times.
Also, the Zelda comics that preceded the release of A Link to the Past
Good times.
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Man, right in the feels...
I remember getting that first issue and reading it cover-to-cover over and over again. I remember the bundled copy of Dragon Warrior that just showed up one day and opened my eyes to the world of RPGs. I remember the invaluable Metroid maps, the moves for Street Fighter II, and hundreds of other tidbits of information that I soaked up as a young gamer.
I remember getting that first issue and reading it cover-to-cover over and over again. I remember the bundled copy of Dragon Warrior that just showed up one day and opened my eyes to the world of RPGs. I remember the invaluable Metroid maps, the moves for Street Fighter II, and hundreds of other tidbits of information that I soaked up as a young gamer.
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Heh...I remember subscribing to Nintendo Power as a kid. In fact, I don't think I would have been able to beat the original Zelda without help from the magazine. I never owned a Super Nintendo, so as the coverage of NES games went away, I stopped my subscription.
I ended up re-subscribing several years later. I owned a N64, and was really looking forward to purchasing the new Zelda Game (Ocarina of time?). The original run of that game included "Gold" cartridges (much like the original NES version). However, the stores around me had run out of pre-orders for the gold cartridge version, and I happened across a Nintendo Power special where if you bought the game & subscribed to NP for a year, you'd get the gold cartridge version.
I enjoyed my subscription for that year, however, at that time I tended to get most of my news from the internet, so everything in NP was quite old by comparison. (Plus, the content seemed to be aimed for younger kids). That being said, I read every issue...
Needless to say, NP brings back many positive gaming memories!
I ended up re-subscribing several years later. I owned a N64, and was really looking forward to purchasing the new Zelda Game (Ocarina of time?). The original run of that game included "Gold" cartridges (much like the original NES version). However, the stores around me had run out of pre-orders for the gold cartridge version, and I happened across a Nintendo Power special where if you bought the game & subscribed to NP for a year, you'd get the gold cartridge version.
I enjoyed my subscription for that year, however, at that time I tended to get most of my news from the internet, so everything in NP was quite old by comparison. (Plus, the content seemed to be aimed for younger kids). That being said, I read every issue...
Needless to say, NP brings back many positive gaming memories!
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Even if it's predictable, it's a very classy way to bow out. I wonder if Howard and Nester will make an appearance within?
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Maybe I was too old when it started (I was about 14), but "Nintendo Power" always seemed unbelievably cheesy. I don't get the love for it.
I liked "Die Hard Game Fan" back in the day. Though the greatest gaming magazine ever was "Amiga Power". Followed by the first couple of years of "Next Generation".
I liked "Die Hard Game Fan" back in the day. Though the greatest gaming magazine ever was "Amiga Power". Followed by the first couple of years of "Next Generation".
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I was geting the occasional issues of the Nintendo Fun Club and then one day Nintendo Power showed up instead. I still have my old Final Fantasy and SMB 3 strategy guides. I have to track this issue down. Love the homage.
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I was born in 1981 and even I recognized that it was cheesy back in the early days. My friends and I recognized GamePro as the "serious" gaming magazine, but that didn't stop us from devouring every issue of Nintendo Power.
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Here's a link to an old GESC post that contains links to download the very first issue of NP as a PDF:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1180717
**edit: Thanks en grey for verifying the links!
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1180717
**edit: Thanks en grey for verifying the links!
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The best Christmas my young life ever had was a Nintendo and a year long subscription to Nintendo Power. It was so awesome. This is a very sad day, but what a way to go out classy.
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I distinctly recall completely freaking out over a multi-part Link to the Past comic. I got into this crazy polling loop with the mailbox.
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Papaspider":1t50td7a said:Here's a link to an old GESC post that contains links to download the very first issue of NP as a PDF:
viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1180717
Tragically, I'm at work and cannot verify if the links are still good
Just tested, I can confirm the link is still alive and well.
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Wait wait wait. With NP gone, wouldn't that kind of be a blow to Nintendo's marketing? Despite its bias, I would still often pick it up as a reliable source for getting caught up on what the latest excitements are on Nintendo's side of things.
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Truly sad. I also remember the NES glory days and I had a Nintendo Power subscription for a time. I remember owning the original issue at one point as well.
I wonder if somebody would consider starting a Nintendo Power website to carry the torch. Print itself seems to be dying overall but it's possible Nintendo Power could still manage to survive in some sort of online subscription-based website.
I wonder if somebody would consider starting a Nintendo Power website to carry the torch. Print itself seems to be dying overall but it's possible Nintendo Power could still manage to survive in some sort of online subscription-based website.
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dbmarketing":srlnkerw said:
That reminds me of the Christmas me and my older sister got our NES 'from Santa'. I got up early in the morning and my parents had placed it dead center between each of our own piles of gift (thus denoting 'this gift is for both of you') and I - think this gift from Santa and not my parents - slide it over to my pile. VERY CLEVER, INDEED.
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molo":28wto85z said:
I always knew Nintendo Power was a marketing tool for Nintendo (I was 18 when it was first published) but that didn't take away from the enjoyment I got out of it.
Have to say that Game Fan was the best magazine for reviews, they were true reflections of the actual game without any manufactured love for a game just because it had a full page add in the issue.
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What I remember most poignantly was a four issue special on Secret of Mana with huge amounts of information and beautiful art. It had a before and since unmatched quality compared to all of the other gaming mags. I remember silly things like the Donkey Kong Country VHS I got gratis in the mail, where they were so excited about it and spent half an hour looking like absolute dweebs talking about it. And then they threw in a spot at the end with some guys in a dark room playing on a Nintendo Ultra 64 and then quickly shutting off the camera. gg NP
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My parents ordered the first issue of Nintendo Power for me in 1990 as a back issue so I could utilize the guide for the 2nd Quest in The Legend of Zelda. I couldn't finish it back then because it was too difficult for me. I finished the first quest and, for the first time, the 2nd quest this year. I remember still looking through the pages of the first issue for advice, notably the description of the red and blue bubbles.
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And now we come full circle. We bagan with Mario 2 and end with New Super Mario 2. It is a sad thing to see Nintendo power go away. Will miss all the good things about it (Howard and Nester! The Zelda and Mario comics! Free copy of Dragon Warrior!).
OPM going bye bye is not going to hit me as hard. It was not as good as Future's OXM and PC Gamer or the later years of NP.
OPM going bye bye is not going to hit me as hard. It was not as good as Future's OXM and PC Gamer or the later years of NP.
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Ahh... brings back memories. Back in the 90s, the one and only video game shop in our little town carried a few English-language gaming magazines, imported straight from the US. Nintendo Power was one of them. I can still remember "reading" some, even though I could barely understand English back then.
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My buddies and I will definitely be mourning this one at our LAN party this weekend.
End of an era...
End of an era...
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Amazingly fitting cover.
That flagpole signifying "the end" just makes it that much better.
Dang.
That flagpole signifying "the end" just makes it that much better.
Dang.
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Big.
Salty.
Tears.
Can you buy this issue online anywhere? I have about 10 years worth of Nintendo Powers at home, starting in 88, that it would go well with...
Salty.
Tears.
Can you buy this issue online anywhere? I have about 10 years worth of Nintendo Powers at home, starting in 88, that it would go well with...
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I remember subscribing to Nintendo Power because of the offer of a free copy of Dragon Warrior (DQ1). Wow, such a long time ago, sad to see it go.
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It's sad to see all these gaming publications close. I used to have a backpack full of Nintendo Powers back in the day that would go with me on every trip. I would enter all the contests in each issue, plastering the free posters all over the wall, and even once or twice writing in to the mag and drawing on the envelope like they always encouraged the readers to do.
Somewhere at my parents the original FF1 strategy guide, the mega man X issue and one other still live in a filing cabinet. Might have to go find them.
RIP Nintendo Power
Somewhere at my parents the original FF1 strategy guide, the mega man X issue and one other still live in a filing cabinet. Might have to go find them.
RIP Nintendo Power
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MrBounce":1ltx1hek said:
Oh man totally forgot about that! I remember getting that in the mail unexpectedly on the day before a vacation and marveling at the packaging and instruction manual that entire week and then being so excited to finally get home to play it
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I bought that first issue so long ago. Hard to believe that it was 1988. I remember that in later issues I was burning a hole in the pages trying to find out more about the 2nd Zelda game.
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