a

[mycarsucks]

aaaaa

[Aussie2B]

That article of favorite memories of Nintendo Power by the Nintendo Power staff is kind of interesting, but almost all of the editors there were working on the magazine after it had turned to pure crap, haha. I only recognize a couple of the people. It sure would be cool if someone could gather a bunch of people like Howard Phillips, Gail Tilden, Dan Owsen, George Sinfield, Rob Noel, Leslie Swan, etc. etc. to talk about their memories.

[mycarsucks]

aaaaaaaaaa

[thegamezmaster]

actually, i think howard phillips is on this forum. maybe howard can share his memories.

here's my collection that i decided to frame:

http://imageshack.us/a/img717/717/img0001al.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/717/img0001al.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

http://imageshack.us/a/img443/7885/img0004bx.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/443/img0004bx.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Cool Nintendo Fun Club items! Still have all of mine. Howard Phillips taught me how to play the first Legend of Zelda before it was released. Great memories!

[wiggyx]

Oh man, I'd almost forgotten about the club newsletter! I still remember getting that first issue and being overjoyed about the 2nd quest Zelda map. That thing was a lifesaver.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, it's really cool to see Howard Phillips around and talking about his Nintendo days, although I was more talking about a group reunion of the staff.

[SpaceHarrier]

I still have the first issue from childhood, and am looking forward to book-ending my collection with the last issue, if I can find it. The B&N near me still has September on the stand.. :|

[grolt]

A sad day for sure. I hardly ever bought any issues but it was usually the first one I'd leaf through whenever I'd be at the grocery store with my father as a kid. These days I buy the odd issue...too many memories. Sad it's finally gone but I'll be picking up the final issue for sure. It was probably the right time. I've been supporting EGM since their rise from the dead a couple years ago, but it just isn't the same. Life support should probably be cut there too. Ah well, as long as us collectors still preserve all those old Nintendo Powers, Sega Visions, Game Players and EGMs we'll always have something to read!

[retroguy]

Yeah, EGM's really gone downhill. They used to give every console equal respect, but since they returned I noticed a lot more Nintendo bashing. Way to alienate millions of gamers, guys, good job (sarcastic clapping). It's why I quit reading the mag.

I am sorry to see Nintendo Power go, though. Even if they were just cheerleaders, they were very good at it. They will be missed.

[T2KFreeker]

Yeah, EGM's really gone downhill. They used to give every console equal respect, but since they returned I noticed a lot more Nintendo bashing. Way to alienate millions of gamers, guys, good job (sarcastic clapping). It's why I quit reading the mag.

I am sorry to see Nintendo Power go, though. Even if they were just cheerleaders, they were very good at it. They will be missed.

Not trying to be rude, but since when did EGM give every console equal respect? They never did even when I was a kid. Nintendo was king back then and they always got the best reviews. Turbografx 16 and Genesis, for the most part, got crap reviews. Then there's the Jaguar which they started bashing before it even released, and still do to this day. Hell, they gave the 32X DOOM a better review than the Jaguar version which blows it out of the water. Don't get me started on 3DO either. Then we get into the Playstation era, as they would call it, and at first they were fair with Saturn and later, N64 when they released. Later on though, Playstation was the console that could do no wrong and Saturn/Nintendo 64 were slammed over and over again, even if the other consoles version was better. You should see the reviews for Power Slave, which everyone KNOWS is better on the Saturn, but EGM seems to disagree. It's like they got the reviews mixed. Or then there's the comment at the end of the Saturn Quake review, which I will never forget, "Instead of buying the Saturn version, you could always wait for what we are sure will be a far superior Playstation version any day now." Never released. Yeah, sounds unbiased to me. EGM has always been biased along with Game Pro.

[Breetai]

Not trying to be rude, but since when did EGM give every console equal respect? They never did even when I was a kid. Nintendo was king back then and they always got the best reviews. Turbografx 16 and Genesis, for the most part, got crap reviews. Then there's the jaguar which they started bashing before it even released, and still do to this day. Hell, they gave the 32X DOOM a better review than the Jaguar version which blows it out of the water. Then we get into the Playstation era, as they would call it, and at first they were fair with Saturn and later, N64 when they released. Later on though, Playstation was the console that could do no wrong and Saturn/Nintendo 64 were slammed over and over again, even if the other consoles version was better. You should see the reviews for Power Slave, which everyone KNOWS is better on the Saturn, but EGM seems to disagree. It's like they got the reviews mixed. Or then there's the comment at the end of the Saturn Quake review, which I will never forget, "Instead of buying the Saturn version, you could always wait for what we are sure will be a far superior Playstation version any day now." Never released. Yeah, sounds unbiased to me. EGM has always been biased along with Game Pro.

I'm agreeing with T2K. If Retroguy or anyone else is claiming that EGM was unbiased back in time, you are wearing VERY rose-coloured glasses. They were VERY much pro Nintendo and Sony.

And why do some people want multiple copies of the last issue still in plastic? Re-selling? If so, go piss in the wind. :roll:


Personally, I have great memories of NP as a kid when the NES was king and the SNES was on the horizon. After the N64 game out, I really couldn't read NP anymore. I guess it was my age, I don't know. I guess that's about the same time I got on the internet as well, which made magazines obsolete for me.

[retroguy]

What I meant about EGM is that, even if they bashed some games for a certain system, they would still point out the really good ones and in their editors' roundtable at the end of each issue, each system recieved praise at one time or another. Nowadays, not so much. I don't know if they're just pissed that the Xbox got stomped by a "lame kiddie system" or what, but I was seriously detecting a very anti-Nintendo attitude in the last couple of issues I read. Again, that's why I quit reading.

[FrankSerpico]

I have an April '94 issue of EGM that features glowing reviews of Space Ace for the CD-i, Dracula Unleashed on the Sega CD and the Neo Geo version of Art of Fighting 2. They were far from Nintendo-centric in their praise, even when that praise probably wasn't all that warranted as in the case of Space Ace, and Tempest 2000 was even their game of the month that issue.

[Kiddo]

Nintendo Power ended up being one my defining influences, as their teasers for products which ended up never coming out in the USA ended up spawning Satellablog. (http://superfamicom.org/blog) To this date, I still wonder if their "Game Pak" version of BS Zelda exists.

I may do a long eulogy for it on the site later.

Nintendo Power, you will be missed.

[mycarsucks]

aaaaaaaaaaaa

[DragonMaster Sam]

I remember getting a few issues on and off when I was a kid, then becoming a dedicated reader from '92-'99, but stopped reading for a few years because I didn't have a Nintendo 64. Eventually, I started reading NP from '04 through now. It's gonna be a different feeling knowing that after December, the magazine won't be coming in the mail anymore.

[FieryReign]

I'm agreeing with T2K. If Retroguy or anyone else is claiming that EGM was unbiased back in time, you are wearing VERY rose-coloured glasses. They were VERY much pro Nintendo and Sony.

And why do some people want multiple copies of the last issue still in plastic? Re-selling? If so, go piss in the wind. :roll:


Personally, I have great memories of NP as a kid when the NES was king and the SNES was on the horizon. After the N64 game out, I really couldn't read NP anymore. I guess it was my age, I don't know. I guess that's about the same time I got on the internet as well, which made magazines obsolete for me.

You obviously never read egm and were stuck reading Nintendo Propaganda. EGM was the most unbiased mag out there. What was the first game to ever get a perfect 10 from them(even though it didn't deserve it)? It wasn't a Nintendo game. What system received a better score in their annual buyers guide in '92? They bashed the SNES when it first came out for all of its flicker/slowdown because of the slow processor. As well as being a year late.

That's just a silly statement coming from a person who obviously never read the magazine.

[JSoup]

I seem to recall a vast majority of EGM being either jerking off to Sony or giving really bad advice on Nintendo games.

In any case, Nintendo Power. I can't say it was a major part of my childhood or even my gaming habits, but it was nice to have around (pre-shit, that is). Generally interesting articles, decent guides (back in the day), amazing covers.

[FieryReign]

I seem to recall a vast majority of EGM being either jerking off to Sony or giving really bad advice on Nintendo games.

In any case, Nintendo Power. I can't say it was a major part of my childhood or even my gaming habits, but it was nice to have around (pre-shit, that is). Generally interesting articles, decent guides (back in the day), amazing covers.

Sony's system didn't come into the picture until '95, EGM started in '89 so that makes no sense. And they really didn't do the advice thing too much besides Trickman's section. Maybe you are thinking of Gamepro?

I see people say they were Nintendo or Sony biased, which one is it? Not their fault Sega(and previously NEC) messed up with their poor decisions, or that most Jaguar games sucked. Their Game of the Year award went to Genesis games in their first 3 years of publication. And from '96 to '98 the award went to N64 games. So that still doesn't explain them "jerking off to Sony".

[JSoup]

Sony's system didn't come into the picture until '95, EGM started in '89 so that makes no sense. And they really didn't do the advice thing too much besides Trickman's section. Maybe you are thinking of Gamepro?

No, I'm thinking of EGM and EGM2. I didn't start reading them until Castlevania: Symphony of the Night was released. I can't speak for the book before I started reading. I'm not saying they had a bias simple because I don't remember if they did or not. All I remember is reading a lot of interesting Playstation articles and guides, with Nintendo sections mixed in that didn't shine quite as bright as the Sony stuffs.

[retroguy]

If that was the case it was because the N64 didn't have as much going on as the Playstation did. There simply wasn't as much to talk about in between the big releases. That doesn't mean they were biased towards Sony, it just means that Sony gave them more to work with. That's how journalism is sometimes. I still have the issue comparing the Gamecube and Xbox when they were first released. The editors ultimately preferred the Xbox, but the article gave the 'cube a fair shake and actually made me want to get one. That's why it's so frustrating that they're not that unbiased anymore. The last couple of issues I read, if they gave the Wii any praise, they implied by the tone of the writing that they were embarassed to admit they actually liked it.

[mycarsucks]

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Jorpho]

I speculated in the Covers thread that it looked like they blew whatever budget they had for the November cover in order to make the December cover – because the November cover is just embarrassing. But then, it suddenly occurs to me that they might have actually made it with computer rendering (and selective use of textures) rather than actually going all the way back to clay/plasticine.

I never had an easy time finding NP in newsstands. I would pick this up, but I doubt I'm going to see it anywhere.

[Rickstilwell1]

The people at Retromags need to wake up and realize that the early 2000s started 13 years ago. They need to add a few more years to their safe year cap.

[sparf]

I was a dedicated reader of Nintendo Power before I ever owned an NES myself! I started with the Mega Man 3 issue (actually technically I started with the 4 Player Extra strategy guide which came free with the sub) and was a continuous subscriber with only a couple months lapse up through the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 issue.

For me, the magazine started going downhill very near this time. This was when they started with the staple-binding and when they changed the background on the Classified Information section from the cool manila envelope to that bullshit circuit pattern. I remember, too, everyone complaining about that. So many letters in their write-in section had at least a sentence or two asking them to bring back the old background. Plus, I really was not interested in the N64. I did not like (and still don't) it's horrible looking 3D rendering. Same with the Ps1. I felt then that 2d Sprites were still far more aesthetically pleasing.


The other downhill slide I think the magazine took, oddly, was when they tried adding reviews to it and making them a serious part of the magazine. The first attempt was universally loathed by everyone I knew. "Two Guys Opinions on the newest NES games" or something. It felt somehow disingenuous for NP to be giving huge map and strategy space to a game, only to have their reviewers skewer it later in the mag. And then came the dedicated review staff sometime after I stopped reading, and their constant little snipes at things from Nintendo's past, like the Mario Brothers Movie (that the magazine had once convinced me to see and which to this day, though I admit is a bad movie, I still love). And the advertising, which felt doubly wrong. Wasn't the magazine already advertising for the games it was covering?

I'm not ignorant of the needs of the business. I know that many of the changes they made in that regard were necessary for survival. I'm just talking about how I reacted back then.


My collection, or at least the chunk of it I have planned to gather, is largely complete. I'll have to spend a few dollars to acquire the first 3 issues (I never knew about the fun club so those aren't really priority for me as a collector), and some more money to get copies of the rest of the first 2 years because some of mine are missing posters. But I'll do it. I'm very near to having a complete set of 1-100. Plus a stack of duplicates to sell on ebay to help fund the purchase of the specific issues I still need. (I would have more, but I had to reacquire most of mine because, in an effort to reduce clutter, I cut mine up and stuffed them into individual folders by game.) I threw away Soooo much. I regret it, deeply, now. Nostalgia is a powerful emotion.

[wiggyx]

Final cover is full of win!

[Peonpiate]

I was never much of a fan for the magazine since it was obviously a biased source, but its sad to see it go. Im really surprised that it lasted this long to be honest and didn't go down when the Gamecube was out. Its not like they had much to talk about when the Cube was getting ports several months later from other consoles almost all the time.

[Aussie2B]

Yeah, that final cover is awesome. :) Nice way to go out.

[Az]

Ironic all the arguing over how different magazines were biased for/against in a thread about the possibly the most biased magazine ever written.

As a kid NP was great for strategy info being that it was pretty much the only access point a lot of kids had. When magazines started popping up that actually called games mediocre or (gasp) crap, even as a young 'un I could recognize NP as one big glowing advertisement.

[JSoup]

Really don't get all this bias talk. I've never seen Nintendo Power openly bad mouth other companies or consoles like, say, every other video game magazine since the dawn of such things. To really put that into perspective, Nintendo Power had pretty much been saying on a monthly basis "Yes, we cover Nintendo stuff" and left it at that. Sega Visions, on the other hand, would frequently say "Hey, remember kids, Sega does what Nintendon't, so fuck them right?"

I see it as less of a bias to willingly cover only one thing and straight up say 'we only do this one thing' than to claim to cover the entire industry and take pot shots at whoever isn't paying the most in ad money.

[Az]

I see it as less of a bias to willingly cover only one thing and straight up say 'we only do this one thing' than to claim to cover the entire industry and take pot shots at whoever isn't paying the most in ad money.

Let me rephrase instead of using the term bias then then; after all obviously a magazine published by Nintendo is going to slant that way.

I find it hard to think of Nintendo Power as a "proper" magazine category like VG&CE, EGM, Gamefan, etc due to having the editorial content of a multi-page paid advertisement insert. In my years of NP subscribing (issue 2 up to SNES launch) even the shittiest game had nothing but nice things said about it. Even if I disagree with it, Gamefan's LSD fueled Trevor McFur review had more opinion in it than a stack of NP's.

Sure, Sega Visions was a rag, but it was a *free* rag.

[Aussie2B]

I don't really get why every discussion of Nintendo Power has to go into about how they were biased, either. It's like people are afraid to praise them for what they did or something. Every compliment comes with a "but, yeah, they were totally biased". Nintendo Power certainly wasn't the only official magazine devoted to a certain system or publisher, plus there were plenty of unofficial magazines devoted to a certain system/developer that also acted like the competition wasn't as good.

Nintendo Power never presented itself as a critique magazine. It was for info. Strategies, cheats, news, previews, interviews, etc. If you wanted deep analysis into if a game was good or not, Nintendo Power wasn't the place to get it. Reviews were never a big focus, and whether they were positive or negative, they were always pretty barebones. When it comes to just the facts, there's no reason not to treat everything as equal. Even if a game is pretty crappy, there's nothing wrong with offering maps and strategies and such for those who happened to buy it. But when it comes specifically to the small amount of opinion-based content, Nintendo Power wasn't afraid to be critical. I think they tried to have a "glass is half full" approach, but still, they made criticisms known (sometimes ones that I think the games actually didn't deserve) and they even were quite harsh on the worst of the worst. And when it came to their own games, yeah, they were usually positive, but, honestly, most of those games ARE good. They were positive to varying degrees too, so it's not like they gave a perfect score to every Nintendo release. The lesser Nintendo titles got deservedly lower scores.

[tom]

Almost the longest lasting gaming mag in history?
Famitsu still going?

[Collector_Gaming]

I wonder how many complete collections will now hit ebay now that its over.
I mean probably right now is the time to sell while the topic is hot

[JSoup]

Famitsu still going?

Yes. And strong at that.

[Kiddo]

I have written my psuedo-eulogy for Nintendo Power and posted it on Satellablog. I hope it's a good read. (http://superfamicom.org/blog/2012/12/farewell-nintendo-power/)

[Superman]

I stopped getting a subscription sometime during the N64 era, so if I wanted a complete collection, I would need quite a few issues. But I'm like the others who will at least look around to see if I can even find the last issue.

I think it would be kind of neat to at least have the first and last issue of NP. Also, since I've only glanced at an issue or two since I stopped subscribing, I would like to see just how much it has changed since, 1. I stopped subscribing and 2. The first issue.

[Nz17]

I received my Nintendo Power subscription as a late Christmas present in 1988 and my first issue in 1989. I believe it was issue #5. I stopped subscribing after it was clear that all the coverage was being given to the Game Boy and the Super Nintendo when I thought the original NES was a perfectly viable gaming platform that all the developers (or at least NP pages) were abandoning. So my last issue was shortly after #50 as I let the subscription expire. #51 or #52 would have been about the final one.

I still sporadically bought additional issues, but there were great heaps of time which passed between purchases. One issue I read was the first with large coverage and information about the all-powerful "Ultra 64" which would change gaming history forever! One of the articles in that issue was quite technical and talked about 3D shaders and vectors and such and the difference between all that and sprite-based games.

During my college years at a grocer I bought a Nintendo Power issue which had an exclusive story which I wanted to read. Though there were scans available online I wanted to read it from the source and make sure my money was getting to the company which wrote the article instead of being a cheapskate reading it online for free.

And most recently, I bought the November 2012 issue at Wal*Mart because I wanted to read the exclusive info about Shantae 3... the Kid Icarus: Uprising cards were a nice bonus though! I haven't actually broke the shrink-wrap on the magazine yet, but I will soon. I might even read it today. After all, there's Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and Mario articles in those pages!

I was a big fan of NP's game-based comics of the late NES and early SNES years. Not so much Howard and Nester (which I expected to be more like "real" comics instead of game playing tips in visual form), but what I liked were Star Fox, Mario Bros., Zelda... good reads, fun times, and continuing adventures from issue to issue. Some of them were published by Valiant Comics later as hardback books which I recommend collectors purchase for their collections.

And yeah, I'll be buying the final issue. I might not have gotten the first issue of Nintendo Fun Club or Nintendo Power, but I was there at the beginning - it is only fitting that I should also be there at the end.

[bigbacon]

think I had from issue 1 all the way through most of the N64 era think like 2001 or 2002 I stopped getting it. I think parents maybe have just thrown them out not too long ago.

[Lady Jaye]

Well, it's now in newsstands (at least here in Quebec, even though the official release date is Dec. 11). Eric bought a copy and made a unwrapping video with a quick skim through the pages. It's a good read but is definitely missing an interview/article about Howard Phillips.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFvhwLDa2BM

[Casati]

My local book/media store doesn't have it in stock, maybe because they're keeping them for selling online at a higher price, so I went to the grocery store to see if they had any. I took the last two sealed copies off of the magazine rack. Then I asked the cashier to "place them in a separate bag to avoid bending them" as I handed them to her. She held them funny so they were looking like they were being bent as she was requesting the boxboy to bag them separately from my groceries. The boxboy she handed them to is apparently not a retro gamer because he mentioned that he remembered Nintendo games from long ago when he was a youth.

[YoshiM]

Local Wal-Mart had a bunch in stock. It was a decent read down Nintendo Power's past, with a time line, words from NP staffers past and present, a top 236 Nintendo games list, reviews and a neat Nester and Max comic at the end. The poster contains covers from every issue of Nintendo Power.

The era has officially ended.

[JSoup]

The era has officially ended.

On to bigger and better things.

[Leo_A]

Where did they come up with 236 games? Thought that would equate to a game for every issue but that's less than 20 years when you do the math.

Wasn't this a monthly magazine for close to 25 years?

[Lady Jaye]

It was bimonthly in its early days. Not sure when they switched to a monthly publishing calendar.

[JSoup]

It was bimonthly in its early days. Not sure when they switched to a monthly publishing calendar.

And at some point after going monthly, they started putting out 13 issues a year. One for each month and then a holiday issue. There are also a handful of years (like this year for example) where they put out one bi-monthly issue at the start of the new year, which would put it exactly 12 issues for those years, assuming each year had a holiday issue when they started making those.

The games could have also been pulled from the short lived Game Boy Advance Power Magazine, or whatever the hell they called it. Didn't they also make a Game for Girls magazine for a month or two, or am I thinking of a different publication?

[Leo_A]

So what's the significance of 236 games? It isn't the number of issues and it's an extremely odd total to just randomly go with. It must be a nod to something with Nintendo Power or Nintendo as a whole.

[Jorpho]

Yikes, $8.04 CDN after taxes for a magazine, and it isn't even very thick! No wonder print media is dying. At least the poster is pretty nifty, though.

This could well be the last magazine of any kind I will ever buy.

[Kitsune Sniper]

The last Nintendo Power comic (http://i.imgur.com/1W3h7.jpg).

Yeah, that's a good way to end this.

[Aussie2B]

The art in that comic is dopey looking, but it's still a pretty touching send-off. I love all the little details in the background. The posters that I remember hanging on my own bedroom walls, the Virtual Boy, the SuperScope, etc. etc.


And at some point after going monthly, they started putting out 13 issues a year. One for each month and then a holiday issue. There are also a handful of years (like this year for example) where they put out one bi-monthly issue at the start of the new year, which would put it exactly 12 issues for those years, assuming each year had a holiday issue when they started making those.

The games could have also been pulled from the short lived Game Boy Advance Power Magazine, or whatever the hell they called it. Didn't they also make a Game for Girls magazine for a month or two, or am I thinking of a different publication?

I don't know what they did past around 2000 when my subscription expired, but before that, when the magazine was monthly, it was always 12 a year. The holiday bonus issue was the January issue. They did make two versions of it, though - one for the newsstands and one with extra stuff for subscribers.

[Loganm187]

No stores in my area have the new issue. including the walmarts. They all just have last months.

[YoshiM]

So what's the significance of 236 games? It isn't the number of issues and it's an extremely odd total to just randomly go with. It must be a nod to something with Nintendo Power or Nintendo as a whole.

My number could be off but it's the number of issues including guides that Nintendo Power released.

[Lady Jaye]

No stores in my area have the new issue. including the walmarts. They all just have last months.

On NP's website, they indicate that it's in newsstands this Tuesday, so if you're in the US, it's possible that they just didn't receive it yet. Here in Montreal, it's a different story, probably because magazines come out on Fridays, not Tuesdays.

[retroman]

I am lucky that I got mine, but if you really have to have one, go check out Ebay. I have already seen it posted up that site.

[Loganm187]

I don't your "lucky" as most places haven't even received them yet. I'll be checking the stores everyday.

[Leo_A]

My number could be off but it's the number of issues including guides that Nintendo Power released.

Like I already said with the post you quoted, it's not the number of issues.

This is issue #285.

[Collector_Gaming]

Tried to find a copy at barnes and nobles wednesday with no luck :(. I'll be trying again next saturday!

In other news though I did spot some interesting magazines dedicated to retro video gaming while i was searching.

[Aussie2B]

This is a really dumb question, but did anyone check the issue itself to see if they explained the total? It seems like a pretty big oversight to choose such a strange number and then not explain in the list's opening what inspired the figure. That is, unless they purposely want to keep it a secret, as some kind of inside joke or reference among the staff.

[Jorpho]

The last Nintendo Power comic (http://i.imgur.com/1W3h7.jpg).

Yeah, that's a good way to end this.Aww. In the end, even Nester found love.

[Tupin]

Aww. In the end, even Nester found love.
He was married with a kid in the 20th anniversary comic, that was the first time he was shown since like 1998 when he was in college and acting exasperated at trying to play Star Fox 64.

[InsaneDavid]

In other news though I did spot some interesting magazines dedicated to retro video gaming while i was searching.

Yup, the last couple issues of Retro Gamer have been really good.

[YoshiM]

Like I already said with the post you quoted, it's not the number of issues.

This is issue #285.

Yep, I was way off. Posted without the mag at hand.

The number in the list is from the number of magazines NP published.

[Casati]

Does anyone have a list of the "official guides" that were issued by Nintendo Power in magazine format (as opposed to "official guide" guide books) or any other NP limited editions that aren't listed as part of their standard volumes?

[Collector_Gaming]

Well finally found a copy. Read through the editorial and letters and wow some of the peoples comments almost brings a tear to an eye. They make it sound like they just lost a family member. :puppydogeyes:

But also before the server shit the bed I was trying to post this picture I found related to this topic and thought you guys would find it funny and touching at the same time

https://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/12/12/6/JIFgboneZ06e1Z26nXar8A2.jpg
Sad but true :(

[VG_Maniac]

I received the last issue in the mail today. My 21 year subscription to Nintendo Power has now come to a close.

[sparf]

Does anyone have a list of the "official guides" that were issued by Nintendo Power in magazine format (as opposed to "official guide" guide books) or any other NP limited editions that aren't listed as part of their standard volumes?

Not complete, but the original 4 strategy guides (Final Fantasy, Ninja Gaiden II, Mario 3, 4 Player Extra) counted as volumes. The next batch were:

NES Game Atlas
Mario Mania
Super NES
Game Boy

And then:
Top Secret Passwords
Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Street Fighter 2 Turbo
Super Metroid
Killer Instinct
Earthbound
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario RPG
Pokemon
Super Game Boy
Mario Paint

(Those are all the ones I can think of with that particular format. There may be others, but those were all the Nintendo Power Players Guide format)

[Leo_A]

Yep, I was way off. Posted without the mag at hand.

The number in the list is from the number of magazines NP published.

Again, no it isn't or this wouldn't be issue 285 or whatever the number it is.

There are far more than 235 issues of just normal Nintendo Power not to mention things like strategy guides.

[YoshiM]

Again, no it isn't or this wouldn't be issue 285 or whatever the number it is.

There are far more than 235 issues of just normal Nintendo Power not to mention things like strategy guides.

Sigh- the number from the list IN NINTENDO POWER...,

I thought by stating I was way off should have then nullified my original number of 235. Especially since I didn't have "a list". Sorry I didn't clarify and put it in a blinking marquee.

[Rob2600]

Other than a few possible special issues from 2011 which I've requested from JSoup, the List of Games on the Cover of Nintendo Power (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?112004-A-list-of-games-on-the-cover-of-Nintendo-Power-(COMPLETE)) is complete! :)

[slapdash]

The games could have also been pulled from the short lived Game Boy Advance Power Magazine, or whatever the hell they called it.

Does anyone know how many issues there were of that one? I have three of the first four, but never saw any others.


Didn't they also make a Game for Girls magazine for a month or two, or am I thinking of a different publication?

Wow, really not sure of what you mean, but I'd love to hear more about it. The closest thing I can think of is Game Candy, but that was a freebie deal from Toys R Us (published by Ubisoft), and there was only one issue before it became Imagine Town Magazine, which I THINK was a little less girl-centric (there were at least two issues of it).

[Rob2600]

Does anyone know how many issues there were of that one? I have three of the first four, but never saw any others.

There were only four of those issues. See my link above for the complete list of every Nintendo Fun Club News and Nintendo Power.

[Steven]

On a side note, I hate how so many people slam the legacy of NP Magazine. IMHO, they really hit their stride in the SNES' prime years ('93-'94). Each issue would highlight a handful of SNES games with 4-10 pages EACH. I loved those mega showcases... they were arguably better than GameFan's or EGM's. NP's review system sucked though, but their showcases really dug into the games.

Underrated publication IMO, esp. during the mid '90s when they hit their high point.

[slapdash]

There were only four of those issues. See my link above for the complete list of every Nintendo Fun Club News and Nintendo Power.

Ah, thought it was only Nintendo Power issues and didn't think to look. But thanks for confirming that there were only four of them!

[BlastProcessing402]

Picked up a copy at Walmart yesterday. Very nice look back at the entire history of the mag. Stupid cartoon at the end even made me tear up a little. Love the way the cover homages the first issue, and the every cover ever poster was a great bonus.

[JSoup]

Does anyone know how many issues there were of that one? I have three of the first four, but never saw any others.

To the best of my memory, there were only four issues put out.


Wow, really not sure of what you mean, but I'd love to hear more about it. The closest thing I can think of is Game Candy, but that was a freebie deal from Toys R Us (published by Ubisoft), and there was only one issue before it became Imagine Town Magazine, which I THINK was a little less girl-centric (there were at least two issues of it).

It...might be that. I only ever saw it once. It was a pink colored issue, advertising games girls might like, such as Cooking Mama, Super Princes Peach and the various Nintendogs games.