Nintendo Power: Howard & Nester Comics Archive

[Achika]

I found this looking for the Tetris People...anyhow, um...here it is:


http://hn.iodized.net/main.htm

[Rev. Link]

Hey, that's really cool! I sold my NP collection on eBay a while back, so it's good to know I can find those old comics on the 'Net somewhere.

[Dr. Morbis]

When Howard left the comic (and the magazine itself) the whole production seemed to go downhill. Either that, or I use a really thick set of rose-coloured glasses when I look back on that era.

[Rev. Link]

No, I agree with you. After Howard left it just wasn't the same.

[Anonymous]

According to most of the staff that is still around, Howard was an egocentric bastard who took lots of credit for other people's ideas. But you didn't hear that from me.

[gamegirl79]

Wow, I remember reading those comics as a kid. That was one of the few comics I did read.

[Kid Fenris]

According to most of the staff that is still around, Howard was an egocentric bastard who took lots of credit for other people's ideas. But you didn't hear that from me.

So Howard had more in common with the self-aggrandizing Nester that he did with his own comic alter-ego? Heh.

But could it be that Howard didn't even create Howard and Nester? The world may never know.

And I agree that Howard and Nester declined sharply after the original artist/writer, whoever that was, was replaced. It just wasn't as fun anymore. And then Nester went solo, several different artists were brought in to draw the strip, the comic was cut back to one page, and it eventually died with a whimper. I heard that Nester now works in the accounting department of a San Diego insurance agency.

[ManekiNeko]

According to most of the staff that is still around, Howard was an egocentric bastard who took lots of credit for other people's ideas. But you didn't hear that from me.

I think Howard's stint as the director of software development at T*HQ is proof enough of that. Once he moved to that company it became painfully clear that the emperor had no clothes.

Check out the bottom of this page for (a little) more information about that.

http://grblitz.overclocked.org/post0903.htm

JR

[ManekiNeko]

I heard that Nester now works in the accounting department of a San Diego insurance agency.

Sometimes you'll find him in drag at the local bowling alley, too.

JR

[lionforce]

nice find Achika, I sometimes wondered if I would ever see Howard and Nester comics again LOL

[MarioAllStar2600]

Thanks. I really enjoyed reading them. I feel like sometimes i get like him in video games, with friends.

[kainemaxwell]

I heard that Nester now works in the accounting department of a San Diego insurance agency.

Sometimes you'll find him in drag at the local bowling alley, too.

JR
You mean as his "sister" Lester?

[digitalpress]

Just stumbled into this again and throught it would be nice to bump since so few people noticed it the first time 'round.

[Graham Mitchell]

Thanks, Joe! I appreciated it.

[lendelin]

When Howard left the comic (and the magazine itself) the whole production seemed to go downhill. Either that, or I use a really thick set of rose-coloured glasses when I look back on that era.

PUHLEEESE!

I can't believe after all them years Howard Phillips is regarded as a savior or a lil' devil. :)

He was hyped as the 'Nintendo Gamemaster', the ultimate gameplayer, he was Nintendos' weapon against protests of parental groups against game violence and game addiction. He became the symbol of the family friendly NES.

It had no influnce on the quality of the mag when he left in May 1991.

He had one important function, though: he gave the mag a human face, he became the personal connection between the reader and NP; there wasn't someone who could fill out this role after his departure.

About the rose-colored glasses: NP was certainly biased in a sense that the harsh business reality was ignored. No reports about Ns strict license policy for developers, nothing about lawsuits about copyright and patent infringements, nothing about the harsh business reality of the game industry. That's probably the reason for your rose-clored glasses. :)

On the other hand, NP was all about gaming hints and maps of games. In that, they had no competition, that is why the mag was so successful. Even the comic Howard and Nester provided game hints.

NP represents also a more 'innocent' time: the game industry was not more innocent than it is today, but it could be presented as more innocent than it actually was.

[NeoZeedeater]

About the rose-colored glasses: NP was certainly biased in a sense that the harsh business reality was ignored. No reports about Ns strict license policy for developers, nothing about lawsuits about copyright and patent infringements, nothing about the harsh business reality of the game industry. That's probably the reason for your rose-clored glasses. :)

On the other hand, NP was all about gaming hints and maps of games. In that, they had no competition, that is why the mag was so successful. Even the comic Howard and Nester provided game hints.

NP represents also a more 'innocent' time: the game industry was not more innocent than it is today, but it could be presented as more innocent than it actually was.
That pretty much sums it up.

I know a lot of people have fond memories of NP but in reality it was the worst of the American video game magazines back then. Company-specific publications never provide a good overall view of the industry. Mags like EGM and VG&CE did a great job of that.

It's neat seeing some of those comics again though. :)

[boatofcar]

I know a lot of people have fond memories of NP but in reality it was the worst of the American video game magazines back then. Company-specific publications never provide a good overall view of the industry. Mags like EGM and VG&CE did a great job of that.


EGM and VG&CE couldn't touch NP in terms of actual game strategy and maps. It was all about what you were looking for in a game magazine.

[NeoZeedeater]

True, I agreed with that in lendelin's post. For me, information and reviews on upcoming games on various formats were a lot more important.

[lendelin]

About the rose-colored glasses: NP was certainly biased in a sense that the harsh business reality was ignored. No reports about Ns strict license policy for developers, nothing about lawsuits about copyright and patent infringements, nothing about the harsh business reality of the game industry. That's probably the reason for your rose-clored glasses. :)

On the other hand, NP was all about gaming hints and maps of games. In that, they had no competition, that is why the mag was so successful. Even the comic Howard and Nester provided game hints.

NP represents also a more 'innocent' time: the game industry was not more innocent than it is today, but it could be presented as more innocent than it actually was.
That pretty much sums it up.

I know a lot of people have fond memories of NP but in reality it was the worst of the American video game magazines back then. Company-specific publications never provide a good overall view of the industry. Mags like EGM and VG&CE did a great job of that.

It's neat seeing some of those comics again though. :)

Glad you corrected your strong opinion about the 'worst of the American game mags' in a later post; :) because I think that NP was actually one of the best.

It is a jump-to-conclusion that a first-party-company-owned mag is necessarily bad.

NP was biased in a sense that outside of the Nintendo universe nothing existed. It was simply ignored. It was also biased in a sense that the harsh business reality of the industry was ignored, and everything disadvantegous for N was taboo.

What made the mag great?

1) maps and startegies were delivered at a time when the guide business was in its infancy. No other mag covered detailed maps and strategies like NP, NP had no competition.

2) In stark contrast to common belief the review grades were very strict, stricter than in GamePro and EGM. They were fair, and NP didn't hype N published games in their review grades.

The best example is Final Fantasy. FF was hyped in NP in three issues as the ultimate RPG, extensively covered, three special FF contests were held, and the game got a high-quality guide (NP issue 17). However, the game got a 4.0 out of five, certainly not overrated by the standards back then and in hindsight.

Extensive merchandising in NP from cereals to towels didn't spill over in the review grades.

Together with the extensive coverage of games with maps, the review scores gave the reader reliable buying decisions. I relied more on NP than I did on GamePro and EGM.

If someone was interested in information about the entire industry and the economics which drives it, NP had little to offer and was biased. If someone was interested in the best coverage of the games, strategy guides and tight review scores, NP was paradise. I never relied on NP alone; but since I'm a map fanatic with archiving mania, I valued NP the most among the game mags during the NES and SNES times.

NP was about the pure enthusiasm for games ignoring the harsh economic realities of the industry. These shortcomings are NPs biggest strenghts.

[suppafly]

Great URL

Thanks a lot achika!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

[Aussie2B]

No, I can't take all this Howard-bashing! >_< *covers ears* He's gotta be a good, decent man, godammit. :( He's so lovable and cute...

[Cirrus]

Landelin, nice points! I always looked back and judged the magazine harshly since I've been reading around here. It does seem a little wrong to read a magazine that has reviews for a companies own products, but it really was a good magazine, and I loved reading it as a little kid.

Heck, they gave me my first RPG, Dragon Warrior.

Anyway, I never realized that Howard was a real person... I always thought he was the counter balance to the goofy Nester.

[NintendoMan]

Ah that's pretty damn cool!
I have all those fortunatlely still in my old NP's.

[lendelin]

Landelin, nice points! I always looked back and judged the magazine harshly since I've been reading around here. It does seem a little wrong to read a magazine that has reviews for a companies own products, but it really was a good magazine, and I loved reading it as a little kid.

Heck, they gave me my first RPG, Dragon Warrior.

Anyway, I never realized that Howard was a real person... I always thought he was the counter balance to the goofy Nester.

Yep, I tried to counteract the common NP bashing. :) When I subscribed to NP in 1990, I was already an adult, and read the mag carefully. I always expected bias when it came to review scores and was very surprised that it never happened.

We are not alone liking NP. Chris Bienek from VG&CE back in the days values it also. NP gave the best information about the actual gameplay and gamecontent of NES games. That was its appeal in the days, and that is its appeal today. Background information of the industry was ignored, and critical essays about game design were missing.

Phillips was real, very real. In '87 he was already the president of the Nintendo Fun Club. NP built him up as the "gamemaster," and he became the symbol of the family friendly NES. The guy looked like a young version of Mr. Rogers, the ideal son-in law with a dorky touch. The latest I heard was that he worked for the sports division of Microsoft games, and he appears in the credits for some sports games for the Xbox.

[SoulBlazer]

We've allready talked about this in other threads, but I agree with the others. As a kid, I loved NP because of the help and tips and hints it gave for many popular games, the upcoming games and previews, the comics and the humor, and the (would you be surprised!) FAIR scores they gave on games.

I had a subscription from before it became NP all the way up until I finished college in May of 1998. I let it lapse cause over the last couple of years, ever since the N64 came out, the magazine changed in so many ways, and became really quite poor. Some of it was not it's fault (the Internet made getting hints and help with games and upcoming game info SO much easier and faster) and some of it was (as Nintendo was no longer number one their whole atitude changed and the magazine reflected that, plus they also skewed it for young kids). Plus I was older anyway and did'nt play games as much as I used to.

But yeah, rose colored glasses indeed helped. :)

[lendelin]

We've allready talked about this in other threads, but I agree with the others. As a kid, I loved NP because of the help and tips and hints it gave for many popular games, the upcoming games and previews, the comics and the humor, and the (would you be surprised!) FAIR scores they gave on games.

I had a subscription from before it became NP all the way up until I finished college in May of 1998. I let it lapse cause over the last couple of years, ever since the N64 came out, the magazine changed in so many ways, and became really quite poor. Some of it was not it's fault (the Internet made getting hints and help with games and upcoming game info SO much easier and faster) and some of it was (as Nintendo was no longer number one their whole atitude changed and the magazine reflected that, plus they also skewed it for young kids). Plus I was older anyway and did'nt play games as much as I used to.

But yeah, rose colored glasses indeed helped. :)

I agree. The two biggest assets of NP vanished from the N64 times on: game hints and very tight review grades.

As you said, the Internet made it very easy to get game hints and entire walkthroughs. Additionally, the guide business shifted into high gear. NP had suddenly competition when it comes to guides. Their mini-guide-approach for each issue didn't work anymore.

Also, 3D games became so large, it wasn't cost effective anymore to print 50% or even complete maps of a game. The last game completely mapped out was the first Turok for the N64 in three issues which was still better than any other published guide.

With the economic troubles of the N64 the review grades got undoubtedly more lenient. It didn't help either that for the N64 not a lot of games came out from 1998 on. Ironically, the mag which reduced in its heyday the preview section to a couple of pages suddenly consisted mainly of previews and looking-back-articles of games already released because of the lack of third-party support.

NP ws great during the NES and SNES times. From the N64 times onward NP got in trouble as did N. The decline of N is best represented in NP in many ways.

NP needs a modern overhaul, and so does N. NP cannot compete anymore with GameInformer, EGM, Play and GamePro, and has to mature. And so does N.