RIP Nintendo Power

[Storm Eagle]

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.

[MikeandRaph87]

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!

[Storm Eagle]

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.

[Ecto Jedi]

Damn. An era comes to a close.

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

[MrPliggins]

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.

[The Stryker]

Originally Posted by MikeandRaph87

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!

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?

[Xav]

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.

[Zany Orange Dude]

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.

[TheCanadiandrome]

Well I'll get the last issue for sure

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by MrPliggins

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.

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.

Originally Posted by The Stryker

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?

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.

Originally Posted by TMNT_Canadian

Well I'll get the last issue for sure

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.

[Leo656]

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.

[Powder]

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.

[The Stryker]

Originally Posted by Storm Eagle

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.

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.

[Justin]

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

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by Powder

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.

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

[Victorsaurus]

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.

[Venom]

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.

[Samurai]

Nintendo Power R.I.P.

[Storm Eagle]

Originally Posted by Venom

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.

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.

[UsagiYojimbo]

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