From Game Set Watch: At its peak, NP was the premier outlet through which gamers got their info and strategies. For a time from its inception to around 1995, having a game make the cover of NP was a major advertising coup for whatever third-party publisher managed the feat, because full coverage in the mag had a direct effect on sales of the sort that good reviews in Famitsu are purported to have over in Japan.
Its total circulation was in the millions until the N64 era proved harsh for Nintendo (and the Internet made traditional tips-n-strategy mags obsolete), and few game mags ever did more to define the tastes of a generation of console owners. Even now, the mag remains pretty unique in the marketplace, with a very singular approach to coverage, interviews and game-preview coverage you don’t see anywhere else, and a general feeling of “fullness” (sorry to be vague here) even though it’s the same number of pages as any other game mag these days.
Not bad, really, for what’s supposed to be a glorified company newsletter. I hope that Future is able to keep the tradition of excellence going.
Kevin Gifford, who wrote the above, was also a guest on Infendo Radio #60 to talk about the relevance of game mags today. Listen to it now.
1995?
I’m digging the fact these Spam blogs are pinging Infendo like crazy these days. Not.
Anyway, I miss the days of Nintendo Power. The real Nintendo Power. Of the late 80′s and early 90′s. The day it showed up in the ol’ mailbox — remember those things? — was like my own little monthly holiday.
Plus, they’d have legitimate quarterly strategy guides that you “just got” as part of your subscription (Play Action Football, Final Fantasy, etc). Then they had the Player’s Guides, also quarterly, that had everything from Tips and Cheats to a Game Boy anthology. They were all high quality “books” that came bundled with the mag.
As the magazine fades as a medium, things like that are rare these days indeed.
Guess I’m just an older gamer who waxes nostalgic from time to time, is all.
what is the deal with these article-stealing websites?
that’s kind of messed up.
I loved Nintendo Power for awhile too, but now-a-days the only thing print mags are good for is reading over lunch and when on the “throne.”
I read about video games all day long from here, Joystiq, et al, and listen to 4-5 video game podcasts a week. I don’t really need more in the form of print.
That said, I currently receive EGM and Game Informer.
Can the spam blogs be blocked from leaving comments here?
i do miss alot of the perks of the old nintendo powers, and it went downhill when ads poured into the magazine. but this topic has been brought up before on neogaf, and i agree with alot of people there that in the last few years its picked up again. I was reading the latest issue of NP, and the humor and quality of the players pulse, reviews, interviews, game coverage, its all good. i will miss that. i have not liked reading any other magazine as much as i have nintendo power. not even when i was growing up disliking gameplayers and thinking gamepro was OK.
They are unique at least for sure, and they used to try hard to keep the magazien fresh and offer unique perks like jack said above, but also stuff like having points for helping to buy nintendo merchandise, january bonus issues sometimes had good things in it. spine pictures were neat. i wish they hadnt changed looks sometimes since i havent liked the look of some sections as much as it was so long ago with the manilla folder. some looks were better then others but the fact that they worked hard to please and keep fresh is a testament to how much they cared about the magazine.
i dont trust future US to not try turning the mag into there version of whats cool/hip, and they will change the way they talk.