Today, August 21st , 2012, is a sad day for gamers. Senior Editor Chris Hoffman for Nintendo Power confirmed that they will soon stop its publication of the magazine. Chris did promise through his Twitter however that his team will “try to make the last issue memorable”. It hasn’t yet been announced when the last issue will be, but it will most likely be this year.
The first Nintendo Power issue was published in July/August 1988 and featured coverage over Super Mario 2 for the NES. Nintendo Power was a redesign over a pervious Nintendo magazine series called the “Nintendo Fun Club”. During the late 1980’s and early 1990’s Nester was the sole mascot for the magazine, but was eventually replaced by Mario. Also during the first two years Nintendo Power was published once every two months, later turning into a monthly magazine.
It has been an incredible 24 year run for Nintendo Power, and to date 281 volumes have been published. The series introduced me, personally, to the Nintendo Game Boy, Super Nintendo, and N64 among other Nintendo firsts. I looked forward to every issue growing up, and not only to reading the reviews, but reading the mini comic stories that Nintendo Power would feature. These comics started with the Howard and Nester comic, and later featured a Super Mario comic, Zelda comic, Metroid, Star Fox and more. Nintendo Power started off as a strategy gaming magazine. In the earlier years of Nintendo Power, I remember the magazine focusing on tips and cheats. It would often show detailed maps with screen shots pasted together, which were very helpful for those more difficult games. In later issues Nintendo Power turned into a more review and grading style magazine, similar to what most video game magazines are today.
The discontinuation of Nintendo Power shows how media has changed over the years. In today’s digital world, it is difficult for print media to thrive as it once had.
In memory of Nintendo Power, here is my list of personal top 10 favorite Nintendo Power volumes that were published:
#10 Volume 50:
This issue wasn’t just the 50th issue, but it also marked the 5th anniversary of the magazine. The featured game in this issue was The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening for the Game Boy, and had a very cool gold cover.
#9 Volume 42:
This volume published in 1992 featured Super Star Wars for the SNES, and was the first time I was introduced to the game. When I first read this volume, I counted down the days until Christmas when I would receive the game.
#8 Volume 80:
Volume 80 was published in 1996 and was considered a “bonus issue”. If featured a very cool tri-fold cover that read “Happy NU Year”. It was the first time I remember reading about Jack Bros. for the Virtual Boy.
#7 Volume 38:
This particular magazine was published in 1992, and introduced me to Super Street Fighter II for the SNES, and had a very cool cover featuring Guile.
#6 Volume 210:
This volume published in December of 2006 featured the launch of the Wii for the first time.
#5 Volume 17:
This volume was published in 1990 and was a strategy guide for the original Final Fantasy.
#4 Volume 66:
This volume was published in 1994 and introduced me to Donkey Kong Country.
#3 Volume 100:
Volume 100 was published in 1997 and featured the 100 best games of all time, the 100 coolest codes of all time, and 100 “killer ambushes”.
#2 Volume 75:
This is by far one of the coolest and most unique Nintendo Power volumes published. Volume 75 featured the Virtual Boy, and came with a pair of 3D glasses. There were 20 pages that could be viewed in 3D by wearing the glasses.
#1 Volume 1:
The volume that started it all has to be number one on my list!
What are some of your fond memories about Nintendo Power, and what are your top 10 personal favorite volumes?
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