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Mel Turnquist:
My first memories of Nintendo Power were courtesy of my next door neighbors. I used to go over there with my brother and sister to play video games with them. They had a Super Nintendo and we would take turns on Street Fighter 2, Final Fantasy IV, or any other game they happened to have. While waiting for a turn on Street Fighter 2 (I always played as Dhalsim), I found their copy of Nintendo Power and began reading. It was the first time I ever saw anything like it before. And I found myself hooked.
When I’d go over there every month, I’d always read their Nintendo Power. This was how I was able to learn a lot about game strategies and began to appreciate more and more my role of being the outsider. I’d always be the one watching and observing while my brother and sister (or my next door neighbors in some cases) play and waiting for them to tire of playing…they hardly ever did. I do particularly remember how I was able to help my sister beat the final boss in a game because of Nintendo Power.
Nintendo Power was an institution for video game fans for many years. They were the childhoods of not only us Nintendo nuts, but of video game fans everywhere. Before the internet, it was the place to go for any kind of tips or opinions regarding their beloved games. Of course, this is also talking before the rise of other consoles and handhelds, but the point still stands. It’s a sad day to see a part of many people’s childhoods go walking into the sunset but, their legacy will live on. It lives on in all the video game websites out there however small it may be.
Thanks, Nintendo Power. You helped this Player 3 in a two player world appreciate the nuances of games that went beyond playing.
Bradly Hale:
Hearing the news of Nintendo Power ceasing production hit me hard. It was like a bullet to a Kevlar-covered chest: not enough to kill me, but just the right amount of impact to knock the wind out of me. Nintendo Power was an integral part of my childhood, just like it was for many others. It was my first gaming magazine, thanks to my brother, and I’d like to believe it had the special role in turning a hobby into a passion. Back in a day, when message boards, websites and blogs did not exist, it was my lifeline to the gaming world. It’s also what sparked my insatiable desire to know everything I could about games – even the ones I had no interest in purchasing.
My brother and I had a subscription from the late 80s through the early 90s (I’d end up getting a subscription again during the N64 era), and during that time I was fairly young. In truth, I was still learning to read. I never really cared for books at that age, so I often turned to magazines to get my fix. I’d like to think Nintendo Power transcended its primary purpose of providing gaming news and analysis by giving me something I really cared about, which ultimately helped me practice my reading skills. I’m not sure I would have honed those skills in the way I did, had it not been around.
At some point, though, we stopped subscribing to the magazine, and it was all but forgotten to my child mind. It wasn’t until the release of Goldeneye that I would pick back up the magazine for another go at it. While my early days were certainly influenced by Nintendo Power’s presence in our household, I can’t deny that the end of the 20th century is the most memorable time I have with the magazine. It gave me the lowdown on all the games I held dear: Ocarina of Time, Diddy Kong Racing, Mischief Makers and Ogre Battle 64 to name a few. Without that magazine, I would not have been able to hold myself over between each of their subsequent releases.
I eventually stopped my subscription around 2000, but then re-subbed just last year. I found that receiving a magazine in the mailbox, something tangible, provided me a feeling far greater than any one I get from visiting my favorite gaming website or blog. While the Internet has the unique experience of getting out breaking news quickly, it sometimes lacks character, and most of all, heart because of it. That’s what Nintendo Power will always be remembered by in my mind: its tremendous amount of heart and dedication to a single company and culture.
Nintendo Power will forever be missed, and should be remembered by all gamers regardless of their love, like or dislike for the Big N. With that being said, I also want to offer my personal, “thank you” to Nintendo Power for making my childhood more than it would’ve been without it. I’ll always hold those memories close, in a special part of my heart.
Nintendo Power may be gone now, but it’s influence will still live on for years to come. It lives on in the form of countless video game fan websites (like us here!), one of the first examples that writing about video games is actually possible to do. It lives on in the countless video game walkthroughs and cheats that we see posted online. It even lives on in the video games themselves. While Nintendo Power was mostly about Nintendo, it doesn’t mean that it didn’t have an influence. It did, and it will live on for years to come.
So long, Nintendo Power and thanks for all the cheats!
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Having not subscribed to Nintendo Power for awhile now (since 2006 I think?) you would think that the news of its passing would not phase me one bit. Yet, looking back at the magazine it provided something that no one else was doing at the time: it gave us the real inside scoop on Nintendo. True, now most game journalism is done online, but for the notoriously tight-lipped Big N, Nintendo Power stood as a beacon where the best of Nintendo-related news would be shown to the world.
I still remember how they suckered me into my first issue. I got the player’s guide to Pokemon TCG for Game Boy, not because I had any problem with it, but because I wanted that awesome promo card, and the only place I could still find the player’s guide was through a deal with Nintendo Power. From the first issue I was hooked. Every month provided new excitements. Within the pages of Nintendo Power, nothing could ever go wrong for Nintendo. Truly, Nintendo Power will be missed.
Andrew, the Pokemon Yellow issue was the second issue of my Nintendo Power subscription. This summer, I got it signed by Veronica Taylor. She’s insanely nice.
I was exposed early to Nintendo Power. Actually, I remember reading a couple issues of the Nintendo Fun Club (before Nintendo Power) that my cousin had. I think they had a guide for Kid Icarus and choosing the correct jars in the mini-game. I was so excited. I soon subscribed thereafter. My first issue was issue #4. They also sent a free copy of issue #1 with the subscription.
I kept my subscription going for many years. Probably around 2002-2003 I finally let my subscription expire and did not renew. There were two reasons. One, with the internet the news in the magazine was no longer exclusive. Why pay for a once a month magazine when you could look at free websites that were updated every day? And two, this was when Nintendo Power featured a lot of comics, which I hated. It appears I was in the minority, but I felt Nintendo Power should offer game information, not a comic book. I remember thinking 20 pages devoted to comics just meant 20 pages not devoted to game news.
A couple years later I decided to renew for some reason. It was the issue before they totally redesigned the mag (for the better in my opinion.) After seeing the redesign (I think it had Zelda: TP on the cover), I was hooked again. No, it wasn’t timely news but it was nice to read about Nintendo and not have to look at a screen. From then on I kept my subscription to the end.
I thought the last issue was great. From the cover, the memories, the poster, the Nester comic…I don’t think they could have done a better job. I’ll be honest, I felt my throat getting tight a couple times while reading through it, knowing this was the last. I’m 40 years old now. And I’m going to miss that once a month feeling of seeing a new copy of Nintendo Power sitting in my mailbox. Luckily, I still have all of my old issues do I can always re-read them again when I feel the need.