So it comes to this: After a 24 year run, Nintendo has decided to pull the plug on one of it’s most beloved publications. After handing off publishing duties to British publisher Future US in 2007, Nintendo today has decided not to renew the licensing agreement, thus stopping the power. In a deleted twitter post, Senior Editor Chris Hoffman dropped that his staff will “try to make the last issues memorable.”
There’s no word on when the final issue will be published, but if Hoffman’s twit post is any indication, you’ll know it when you see it.
And now history time:
This was my first issue of Nintendo Power I received in 1990. Like many others, I got a free copy of Dragon Warrior when I subscribed. I was an avid reader of the magazine up until around somewhere past volume 70. By that time I had latched full on to GamePro (Which Nintendo Power has now outlived publication wise). Before the internet Nintendo Power was an indispensable source of information on everything Nintendo related.
Using technology considered quaint by today’s standards to map out each level with meticulous detail and in full color blew every kids mind in the early 90s. I was there for the introduction of the Super NES. I was there for the Mega Man Robot Master design contest (My design was essentially the same idea as Knight Man). And yes, I was there for the reveal of the Virtual Boy.
I think James “The Angry Video Game Nerd” Rolfe summed it up best:
Goodnight Sweet Prince.
Source: Arts Technica
Ever since Nintendo transferred the magazine to Future US, back in August 2007, its future got limited scope. Then there’s that Zelda tier list I never agreed with (the one they published in the Dec 2009 issue), since then I stopped caring about them altogether.
Still, though, I wish good luck to their editors on whatever endeavors they have in the future. =)
I couldn’t help but read that as “They suck but good luck to them”.
This news really got to me. I’ve always loved Nintendo Power. They have some serious talent in their editorial staff and I really hope all of them can continue doing nintendo or videogame related work.
“I couldn’t help but read that as “They suck but good luck to them”.”
If it’s about the “stopped caring” because of that Zelda tier list they published, I’m just expressing my opinions, man, since I never agreed with that list. But it’s a fact that their resources got limited when Nintendo transferred the magazing to Future US. An effect of this, for example, is that a Mexican magazine used to publish articles from NP in Spanish for Latin American readers, but the transfer rendered them unable to keep that deal. The situation hardened since.
It’s sad but understandable! Internet is the place to go now for news!
I, as a European, still remember when I first saw screenshots and artwork from this strange game called Mario rpg (yes, one of my local shops did sell this American magazine)! Little did I know that I had to wait many, many years before I could finally play it (thanks to the Virtual Console)!