RIP Nintendo Power
 

Yeah, so, Nintendo Power will be the next video game publication to bite the dust.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/0...e-publication/

Someone thought they might do that soon. They did have a good long run though, and I'm sorry to see that Nintendo's relationship with Future wasn't a great one either. I remember the good old days when I'd come home from school and find a new issue in the mailbox pretty much every month. Now I get them after I come home from work. Now that's all going to end soon.

I remember the Super Power Supplies catalogs they had for some time. They had a lot of cool things in there. I got a lot of video game CDs from them that way too.

I've been a subscriber since January 1990, and my first issue was volume 10 with Batman on the cover. The Jan/Feb 1990 issue. (The latest issue is #281, August 2012.) I've been subscribing ever since, and at some point in 1996 I decided to order some back-issues to complete my collection. They had all the ones I needed except for volume 9, but I tried my hand at my very first eBay auction in 2003 to get it, and I even won. Now that the publication is ceasing though, at least I don't have to worry about running out of space on my shelf.

Could this be a sign of the beginning of the end of gaming.Some things that were persistent and constant like Saturday Morning cartoons and soap opera have collapsed in the last half decade.Hope the upcoming systems will save the market!

Well people are thinking that the internet is what's making video game publications go the way of the dodo. You can get most of your gaming news from web sites and all that. GamePro ended its run last year. For the record, I once had a subscription to Game Informer, but I wasn't all that impressed by it.

Damn. An era comes to a close.

Sad to hear of GamePro's terminal status, too. I grew up reading that magazine.

I started off with Nintendo Fun Club news, then got upgraded to Nintendo Power when it started. I subscribed for years, probably into the mid-90s. I can definitely see why they're ending it. Magazines are dated as soon as they hit the newsstand. I honestly haven't picked up an NP in 10 years or more. It's still sad to see it go, though.

Yes. The end of a magazine that NOBODY has read for 10 years means the end of gaming as we know it.

Are you f*cking kidding?

I actually have read Nintendo Power in the last 10 years. I would sometimes read them in the stores. Though I haven't subscribed in a long time. Probability due to the fact that I don't own any modern Nintendo systems.

I read it. But I had to stop subscribing two years ago do to wanting to spend my money elsewhere. It was a good magazine and was fun while it lasted.:)

Well I'll get the last issue for sure

I found the Nintendo Fun Club News newsletters on eBay, and I've got all seven of them. I also scored a copy of Pocket Power, which was given to the first few people who saw The Wizard in theaters back in 1989. I saw the movie, but missed my chance.

That's bullsh*t. If nobody was reading it, let alone subscribing to it for ten years, it would have already been out of circulation by now.

My subscription would have ended with a March 2013 issue if it ever went that far, so I'll definitely be getting the December 2012 and final issue. People who, like myself, have a subscription going past that will be refunded on the remaining months of 2013 that would have gotten issues.

Never subscribed to it, but I did read it at the library a lot, or check out stacks of issues. I always liked EGM and Game Informer better because there was always more hard news and less fluff than a corporate mag like NP, but I appreciated it and was always glad it was there. It hasn't been truly relevant in a long time, but it's sad to me to see it go.

I'm one of those people that prefers magazines and books to the alternative of the internet. In 10 years people won't have any reason at all to ever look up from the little glowing screen in the palm of their hand coming from the magic device that does everything, and I find that disturbing as hell. It's like nobody ever watched Terminator or read 1984 or anything.

I've followed this magazine on & off for as long as I can remember. My mom had a subscription to it even when I was an infant, as she was a die-hard Nintendo fan. The last two years or so have been my latest "on" period. Still reading to the end. It saddens me a lot. I'm admittedly that kind of Nintendo fanboy lots of people hate, who really only likes the kiddie stuff and flagship characters, so this paired with the Wii-U going third party crazy has me feeling like my little world is coming to a close, haha. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

Oh boy. Of course its not literally nobody on earth but it's obviously a small enough number that it might as well be nobody.

Not to mention that it hasn't been relevant in any capacity in those ten years. There were no exclusive stories and the whole game tips and secrets hook that made the magazine popular in the first place doesn't exist since every easter egg is out on youtube on the day of release.

I was honestly surprised it was still around.

A longtime gaming magazine ending, equals the end of games?:-?

Speaking of the Wii U, I realized how weird it might feel when NP is no longer around two months after its release.

Even though I was not a fan of it, I started buying them in stores for a year (When Pokémon Red/Blue was mentioned).

After that I subscribed 5 years in a row. My main reason was to get the free subcribers stuff (Zelda Majora Mask 2 cd soundtrack, Mario Kart GBA tee, strategy guides, etc. plus the catalogs/cards) plus 12 issues for $20 was great.

I wish u could subscribe to directly to comic books pubs like you do with magazines (that's why my only Comic subs is Sonic the Hedgehog). It's something nice and cheap to recieve in your mailbox once a month (to people who are not digital copy fans as myself)

Good bye NP, lets see which other gaming mags will join you and Game Pro and so many more.

I know this is old news, but I didn't realize this topic was around.

I subscribed to NP way the hell back in the early days and kept it til I sold my NES (~97). Then I got it for a couple years ~03-04 or so when they had the Four Swords Adventures and LoZ: Collector's Disc.

Even then, I could tell the magazine was drastically different from the one I remembered. There wasn't any charm or soul in the publication, or fun things reminiscent of Howard & Nester, comics just a bunch of mediocre articles.

Nintendo Power R.I.P.

I only started this topic yesterday. The news is kind of old since articles have been talking about it since last month, but I'm only starting a discussion about it now.

Anyway, they did do two Nester comics for two special issues. This is one from volume 100 in September 1997, where Nester goes off to college. Interestingly enough, I also started college at the time this issue came out.
http://img390.imageshack.us/img390/1048/nesternz8.jpg

The August 2008 issue (volume 231) celebrated the magazine's 20th anniversary, and there's a comic in it with Nester all grown up and he has a son.
http://imageshack.us/a/img29/4387/nester1.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img844/3075/nester2.jpg

They'll probably even have something related to Nester in their final issue. It'll most likely feel strange, the day I open up my mailbox in my building's lobby and find the final issue there.

The first issue I ever bought had DuckTales on the cover... good memories of that mag. :D

I wonder if now is a good time to sell my old stacks of Nintendo Power on ebay that I've had lying around.

Anyone know if they'll sell?

How many do you have? I'm thinking that Nintendo Power is one of those magazines that has a good chance of selling on eBay, especially if you've got a lot of them. I tried to sell two US PlayStation magazines together, and recently tried to sell the most recent eleven Game Informer magazines I have, but no takers.

I've got all 282 issues of NP that have been out so far, as well as all seven Nintendo Fun Club News newsletters, and even all four Nintendo Power Advance issues. I know I could make a truckload of cash if I were to sell all of them, but I can't bring myself to give them up for anything.

You've got it exactly right. Late '80s, early '90s NP was great. It's still fun to browse through those issues -- the Battletoads issue had full level guides and a quirky ten-page comic based on the game.

I'd buy a stack of those old mags off eBay in a heartbeat, if I had the expendable cash.

I got my October 2012 issue (volume 283) in the mail today like I thought I might, and I got it exactly as I imagined. In plastic wrapping with this note inside with it.

http://imageshack.us/a/img7/8812/nintendopowernote.jpg

The only reason that magazines are still cool for the tech set are for arts & crafts purposes, such as fashion mags. Retromags will be a good place to see these classics who don't want to spend on eBay; who would even think about dialing a premium 900 number back in the late '80s/early '90s just to get a hint today? One more piece of good news for all of the eyecare executives meaning that more people will need to look at a screen and won't have the offline mystique of paper. That said, I myself and my brother had a few issues of NP throughout the '90s, and thought it was really neat before discovering the Internet changed everything. Farewell and good luck Nintendo with the future of delivering information to gamers!

well i guess i'll get the December issue

Well, I got my November 2012 issue in the mail today, and it goes on sale in stores on the 13th. After that, just one more to go.

I still haven't gotten my final issue yet, but a picture of the regular version of the final issue's cover has been sighted.

http://img831.imageshack.us/img831/8830/originalop.jpg

They end it all by bookending. I'm guessing the subscriber edition's cover will have the exact same art. That would be great. Plus it wouldn't have any text over it either, except for the NP logo. I'm totally looking forward to getting mine in the mail. I might even buy the one with the regular cover from a store since it's so close to the first issue's cover with all the text over the picture. Maybe it'll even be wrapped in plastic.

It says "25 Years of NP History", but the magazine has only been around since 1988, and that would make it 24 years. Perhaps they're also including the Nintendo Fun Club News newsletters in the history, which started in 1987. Ah, good times.

Saw it coming & I couldn't be happier.

I had no plans on buying the final issue until I saw that cover. Nostalgia just won me over and I'm going to try and pick it up today.

i'll be getting that final issue

It doesn't go on sale in stores until December 11th.

The final cover is SO perfect. I'm really sad to see it go. I've been a subscriber for the past 10+ years.

Thanks for the heads up. I got to busy to look for it today anyway so now I know not to rush out quite yet.

There's a thought I had. Since I subscribe, I'd be getting a copy with the subscriber cover, and it might even be wrapped in plastic. I might get it in the mail before it goes on sale in stores on December 11th. If I get it in the mail first, I might just hold off on reading it if it's even wrapped in plastic. If it is wrapped in plastic, I'll just wait for them to start getting sold in stores, and buy two copies, which would have the regular cover. I'd open one and read it, and leave the other wrapped in its plastic. That way I'll have both the subscriber edition and regular edition in plastic.

Hey Storm Eagle! That sounds like a great idea to have the last two versions of the last issue in plastic. I was wondering if you could tell me what two characters appear in the October and November issues in the "Star Power" section. That would help me out a lot! I am also going to buy the final issue of Nintendo Power.

Diddy Kong and Samus Aran appear in the Star Power section of those issues, respectively.

I found someone who got a hold of the final issue, and says he got it from a store. He tells me that there actually won't be a subscriber edition cover for it. I'd ask how he knows, but I've probably bothered him enough already. He may not want to answer. I guess I'll know for sure once my own copy arrives in my mailbox. It's still taking its sweet ass time to get to me, but if I don't get it by this Saturday (the 8th of the month), it's late, and I'm going to report it as such, and they'll send me a new one. He does say that it was also in plastic though. So when I get mine in the mail, I'll still just get another one from the store if there won't be a subscriber edition cover. That way, I'll have one loose and one in mint condition wrapped in plastic. If I report it late though, and the first attempt to mail it to me actually does arrive, I'll already have two copies and won't have to go to a store to get a second one. I can see how even subscribers would get that same cover though. They intended to go out with a bit of a tribute to the past.

I saw someone say elsewhere that the way Nintendo designed the final cover wasn't so much of an homage, but rather a testament to how Nintendo doesn't know how to be original. Someone just has to be a downer and piss all over everything. So I say screw her, and not in the good way.

Okay thank you very much for that info. Since both of the last two issues were in plastic I couldn't see the issues ans didn't know about the "Star Power" section. If one of them happened to be Knuckles I was going to get my hands on that issue for sure! I'll let you know when I get the last issue in my area.

I mean. It's kinda true.

Nintendo has been living off of nostalgia for a long time without actually trying anything new.

Most of the new game's ad campaigns are pretty much "Hey man....remember that old game? That was great. Here's a game with that character." That's all the New Super Mario Bros series is.

Stryker is right. What the hell was even their last IP? Pikmin? Remember that time they made that music game for DS that no one cared about? They even had to go third-party for Smash Bros. Brawl.

They may have been original years ago, but even their attempt at original hardware is just a damn chore for anyone who is an actual video game player. I haven't finished Skyward Sword because swinging the controller around is too much work for me to care.