Nintendo Power

[Darth Sensei]

How many people here have a complete Nintendo Power collection?

I have about 50 which I picked up on Ebay. I'd like to get all the old NES related mags. I skipped the SNES and went Sega during that period so I'm not sure collecting those mags would be worthwhile or interesting for me to read. What do you folks think?

Is it worth spending the money to amass a complete collection for someone like me?

D

[Sotenga]

I do... unfortunately, Issue 19 is AWOL, but I'm really sure I have it somewhere in my basement or garage. It's pretty much the only magazine I subscribe to nowadays. I've pretty much given up on EGM.

[Bratwurst]

Complete, I would say no, not worth it. Focusing on the early run (first few years), yeah, they are quite fun to read through. Though simplistic in terms of journalism the layout was neat and had all kinds of in-house illustrations of the various games they were covering. For me in particular it is a time capsule of childhood. And the covers they did! Someone made a custom model for the robot in Metal Storm! That is dedication, to what exactly, I'm still not sure on.

The latter half of the SNES' lifespan Nintendo Power decided to go for a more edgy look and the layout suffers for it. I haven't read it since then.

[norkusa]

I've got a complete collection up to issue 120 or so in excellent shape. Picked them up on ebay about 4 years ago for $50 shipped. It also came with the index issue and all the NP strategy guides. Still need to get issue 1 & 5 of the Nintendo Fun Club Magazine though....

Aside from the whole format being incredibly biased, it's not a bad magazine. The strategy sections are very helpful and the maps are nicely done (especially the one for Solar Jetman). I do agree with Babymeat about the first couple of years being the best. Very colorful & fun layout. It's fun to pick up an old NES-era issue to read about all the old games and reminisce about the glory days of Nintendo.

[Ed Oscuro]

Edgy look, eh...I like the new NP mags just as much as the old ones, but the first one I ever saw was from 1997 (back when they were trying to put Mario's face on the spine, except they messed up so he ended up with three eyes LOL ...haven't seen this but they mention it in this article).

The old ones are pretty interesting but I don't mind the better maps they do nowadays at all, seems to me one of Nintendo's hallmarks.

[Jorpho]

Why the heck did they start putting in advertisements? That was the final insult.

I do have a reasonably large collection of early NP magazines, and while I am a little reluctant to get rid of them, space is limited. (I'm never going to dispose of the later magazines I got when I had a subscription.) The hard part is finding someone willing to pay for shipping.

I'm probably going to get a chance to cart them off to a buyer sometime soon, but if you see something like, please do speak up:
My Magazine Collection (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6977)
(and my fine Orphans collection (http://www.digitpress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9333))

[hamburgler]

I used to have every issue of nintendo power but unfortonutly, one day, they all got drenched in hot water due to a washermachine pipe burst and the water leaking down in to my storage space in my basement and totally ruining almost every old video game magazine I had.

[Dr. Morbis]

Nintendo Power dropped their NES coverage in January 1995 with volume 68. I have a complete collection of volumes 1 through 67, which is the nes era in its entirety. I think that the issues people have or want depends, in large part, on what systems they are interested in. I have absolutely no interest in the n64, so I have no reason to own the later years of Nintendo Power. But having the first 70 issues is a nice compliment to a NES collection.

Not counting previews of the system itself, coverage of SNES started with #28 (I think). Does anybody know what the last issue with SNES coverage was?

[Achika]

I've got 1-Current Issue (whatever the late November one with Fire Emblem is supposed to be :angry: ) I've got two issues of Fun Club News, but I don't remember which #'s they are. One has Link and the other is a illustration of a guy sitting, playing games I think.

I liked them back in the day, there was more strategies, more games covered it seems like, no ads, and none of the pokemon and hawking a website crap.

[The Manimal]

Haven't read all the replies yet, but I have 95% of the issues. About 65 of them where through subscriptions (91-95), but the rest off eBay or at stores. I have so many duplicates it's disgusting...but that's because if I get an issue with a water wrinkle (no matter how small), it's "EEEWWW" and I have to replace it. Same with tears, wrinkles, bends, etc. I have to replace. However, if I do any of that myself, it doesnt' bother me (well, spilling stuff on it would).


I am missing about 8 issues, 130's and 140's is the approximate area. There's a few additional issues I need to replace (even though they are mint) because they are missing the Pokemon inserts (which I won't read anyways).


Exceptions go to the NINTENDO FUN CLUB NEWS. I have a few with filled out crossword puzzles (not by me) and cut-out coupons, but I'll be lenient on those because they aren't too easy to find. I need the first 3 FCN's.

[The Manimal]

BTW, they started hit rock bottom when they redesigned the mag around issue 78 (?) (BATMAN game).

They need to bring the old TOP 30/20 system back.

[§ Gideon §]

I used to have every issue of nintendo power but unfortonutly, one day, they all got drenched in hot water due to a washermachine pipe burst and the water leaking down in to my storage space in my basement and totally ruining almost every old video game magazine I had.

I feel your pain: my basement once flooded. It was a brand-new house, too. I lost a lot of stuff...

About Nintendo Power, one of the coolest parts of the magazine is the nice goodies they pack in from time to time--like the Super Smash Bros. Melee CD.

I always thought it would be nice if there was a news site that listed the current Nintendo Power goodies. The magazine itself seems to like being sneaky about it, and it would be nice to know when to go out and grab an issue. Or are the goodies for subscribers only? Any thoughts?

Nice count: 3

[Kid Fenris]

My Nintendo Power collection runs from the first one to a little past issue 100. After that, I bought them off and on, but I was never able to regain the interest that the magazine had once held for me. Perhaps it was because I wasn't really into the Nintendo 64. Or maybe it was the advertisements that started running. Or maybe I just outgrew it.

Anyway, it was never more than the cleverest part of Nintendo's marketing machine, but Nintendo Power was always a fun read when I was a kid. The writing, though skewed to the youngsters, was decent and well-edited, and they usually promoted the high-quality games and relegated the mediocre ones to half a page or less.

But they need to bring back Nester.

[Achika]

BTW, they started hit rock bottom when they redesigned the mag around issue 78 (?) (BATMAN game).

They need to bring the old TOP 30/20 system back.

IIRC, I think that's about the time where they went to staple bindings instead of glue bindings. They are shorter and don't look right with the rest of the mags on the shelf, especially when you can't see the issue number.

[Rev. Link]

I used to have quite a collection of NPs. From about issue 20 or so up to... oh, maybe 120. I'd say around 100 issues, maybe more. Don't remember exactly.

I sold them on eBay last summer, got about $150 for it all. I was happy.

[lendelin]

I have a complete NP collection, as seen here:

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/lendelin2001/vwp?.dir=/Unfiled+Photos&.dnm=Nintendo+Power.jpg&.view=t

I always had two subsriptions, one issue I used to make maps of games, the other issue was never touched and went straight into the closet, carefully stacked, and organized....and this way I do it still today. They all look like new, or in collectors language, absolutely mint like my toothbrush.

NP was great until the mid 90s for one reason: no other mag mapped out games like NP did. They are little strategy guides for the best 8bit and 16bit games. That's the reason why the early NP mags are much more in demand than other mags.

NP wasn't just a marketing tool. In their reviews they could afford to be very critical of games as the market leader until 1996, but this changed during the N64 times and this is unfortunately still a tendency today.

Don't expect great journalism or contemplative essays about videogames, but expect great maps of games which never saw a published strategy guide.

It represents a certain era of videogames which was primarily a market for kids, the evolvement of review grades, and captures perfectly the mood of 8bit games which had in hindsight great appeal becasue of their simplicity.

[Anonymous]

I have a complete collection at my desk, with the first twelve issues next to my computer monitor, the last twelve issues in my quick reference bin, and the rest in the safe spot under my desk in case an earthquake threatens them. I still enjoy the old issues, but have no interest in anything post SNES. The magazine was originally outsourced, so a lot of the older material (like the great maps and artwork) is unfortunately not available at the company. Then some of the staff was brought in house, and Nintendo Power became Nintendo produced. I can't recall exactly when that happened though...

My personal favorite was the 2 part captain nintendo short story.