Woah! That sucks actually.

NOOOO!! WHERE WILL WE GET OUR OVER-INFLATED REVIEW SCORES NOW?!?!? Quick, everyone! To IGN's Xbox reviews! HUZZAHH!!!!






In all seriousness, this is kind of a shame. I suppose that the internet is pretty much killing off all game-related print publications.

Sad, but not surprising.  Print publications are becoming more and more irrelevant in this day and age.  It's a hard sell to get people to pay money to get a magazine when they can just get the same information and much more for free online.

Well, I can't honestly say I'm going to miss the magazine, despite some rose-tinted nostalgia for it.  I was a reader up through around the middle of the N64 days, and back then it was at best an average piece of Nintendo's propaganda machine.  Every once in a while you'd get an interesting-looking comic; some detailed maps; or a nice exclusive item in the Nintendo Power store like a Soundtrack CD (hey, remember when Nintendo actually released those in America?), but their coverage and reviews were always kind of lame.  I've heard it improved a great deal when Nintendo finally cut it loose years ago, but by that point I had pretty much moved on to EGM.  I wouldn't be surprised if EGM announced the same thing soon, actually, considering I never see new issues on store shelves anymore.

Sounds like Nintendo would rather give out all its news through Nintendo Direct than through a magazine.

It's weird but NP hasn't mattered to me in a LONG time.  During the NES days it was essential, not for reviews or anything, but for tips and tricks and walkthroughs and such.  With no internet that information was very valuable.  Of course I could say this about Gamepro or EGM or any of the numerous game mags.  By the time the Dreamcast came out it was like "okay, why do we still have these things?"  I can't imagine ever looking at back issues for anything in the 3D era where reviews and FAQs are plentiful.  Nintendo Power is a NES/SNES era thing and that was a long time ago.

I was a reader up to when they stopped putting comics in regularly.  I'm in the market to get 1-30 or so.  I really need to get on that.  I want all the comics.

EGM already stopped publication one time. Its funny hearing Nintendo was hard to work with. I wonder how difficult it is to work with Japanese corporations at this point. Nintendo despite always being Japanese seems even more difficult to work with than it used to be. I was reading an article on Wreck-it Ralph and they seemed like they must have been a pain to work with.

Final Issue Surprise:  Nester confirmed for Smash Bros!

I'm certainly going to get on that final issue, framing it and potentially getting it signed.

I suppose it should have been assumed it was a contracted deal. Five years with Future. Ah, well. Everything nice has to die someday.

Gui was just talking about how he recently subscribed to NP...ha

I.AM.SO.SAD

NWR and the internet killed Nintendo Power. Thanks Neal. Thanks a lot.

If we killed Nintendo Power, then this site has become way too powerful for me to control.

Basically, no, we didn't. Not at all. Blame GoNintendo, maybe? Idk.

We know secretly its like Highlanders there can only be 1.

A part of me just died... :'(  Well, I knew it couldn't last forever. I think I'll just frame the final issue. And I only subscribed last year on February..... I've run out of things to say....

The only thing I blame them for is sucking.

Between friends and my own sub, I have nearly 12 years of Nintendo Power still. Even got a full page in the Pikmin issue and felt like the king of the world for a month straight. I even know a couple of people who write there now who are out of work (Phil and Casey).

RIP Nintendo Power.

I'm a bit surprised this didn't happen sooner. I can't really say I'm sad about it since I stopped subscribing years ago, but the magazine was definitely fun to have in the 90's and early 2000's.

Tis it be a sad day indeed. Let us give a moment of silence. :(

Had a subscription in the mid-late 90's.  I don't have any nostalgia for it so i don't really care now, but back in the day (as we used to say) it was pretty alright.

This sucks! I recently recently renewed my subscription. Prior to doing so, I hadn't received any renewal reminders... I wonder if this is why.


I've actually kept my subscription going since issue #48. It was the May 1993 issue, and it featured Batman Returns.


Ever since their overhaul in July 2005, I have read each issue from front to back days after it arrived. I always enjoyed doing that. Whereas now you can get all of your information from the internet, it was a very comforting thing to kick back with the magazine and read about all of the upcoming games.


Plus, in recent years they have put a lot of focus on retro games, which I found even more endearing.

I've had a subscription for nearly 10 years now, and have collected nearly all of the backlog. It'll be fun to say I own every issue from start to finish, but I'm really sad I won't get it in the mail anymore. It's just one of those fun little suprises every month when I come home to a fresh copy in the mail box, and just a little reminder of how FUN games can be, as the internet sites (NWR excluded) can have a tendency to take all the fun out gaming with the BS snark and trolling, etc.

http://i.imgur.com/yBNSb.jpg

;_;

That's beautiful, man.

Nintendo staunchy refusing to work with modern technology.

In other news, water is wet.

Man I just renewed my subscription. Anyway R.I.P. Nintendo Power, you provided tips and info to gamers in a time where gaming info was scarce and near unobtainable. Thanks for the memories.

It was going to happen eventually but still sad. I am still subscribed. Stopped around the PS1/N64 era. Then bought issues here and there that seemed intersting. I resubscribed  and started reading again a few years ago because I wanted more fair Nintendo Wii coverage. Wasn't getting it from sites like GameSpot or IGN. That it was independent of Nintendo, well somewhat,  and had good coverage and writing helped convince me to give them a shot and was really enjoying it.


Shame but not surprising Nintendo was hard to work with. If Future had it's way I wouldn't have been surprised to have seem them to rework the magazine as an app on iOS and Android the way some magazines have gone. Would have loved to have read NP on my Kindle Fire. Nintendo Power even reworked as a pure internet site could have been Nintendo's version of the PlayStation Blog while still having reviews had Nintendo re-embraced it.  That's your community interaction along with the Nintendo Directs.  :(

If anybody wants to contribute to a Nintendo Power feature we're putting together, PM me with your thoughts. Keep them in the range of a few paragraphs, though it can be as short as one paragraph.

I can guarantee you that no one is more upset by this than me. I was a HUGE NP fan as a kid. I had a subscription from 89 until about 94 or 95, then decided out of the blue to start subscribing back around 2008. Sure at 33 years of age now, I always felt a little funny about subscribing but what can I say, the nostalgia simply overwhelmed me. Nintendo Power was the only physical magazine that I still had delivered to me house via snail mail (I've long gone digital with everything else for years now). But this is such a huge disappointment. Sure I figured Nintendo Power would eventually go digital, but I never thought they would just up and call it quits. Then again I can understand Future US's position as having a "difficult time" coming to terms with Nintendo. My hats off to Chris Hoffman, Phil Theobald, Steve Thomason, Cody Martin, Justin Cheng and especially NP's EIC, Christ Slate for all their hard works over these last few years. I hope they all land on their feet (sounds like some of them will immediately) soon. I actually have a rather sizeable collection of Nintendo Power's from over the years. Glad I held onto them all now.

Without fail, picking up an issue of Nintendo Power made me immediately feel as if I was at home, in my beanbag chair with my GameBoy in my lap.


I had to take a walk at work when I heard the news.

Awww, dammit. I have a kid that's just about ripe for a Nintendo Power subscription. Now how am I supposed read them when he's not looking? :(

I am beyond heartbroken.  I've been depressed all day.  Nothing has excited me in the afternoon so much as finding a new Nintendo Power in the mailbox.  And that's been happening since I was 4 years old in 1988.  And I have waited for it every month with the same joy and glee I had back then.  I won't even read previews of the articles or screenshots online, as I want to experience them for the first time in the magazine.  I hope it can be saved, or Nintendo is taking it back over as publisher.  I really, really do.  Isn't there something we can do?  join with Operation Rainfall?  Have a subscription drive? Write letters? Send art and stories?  I just...want to do..something. It's like a parent told me they're moving away, and never coming back. = (  For now, I'm going to do a memorial painting, and send it in to them with a letter, and pray that I finally get one of my letters/art printed in the magazine I've loved so much.

... huh. Funny how I never decided to get a single issue. There's alot of things I've missed out on in life.. and that'l probly never change....

Print magazines are obsolete and it's just a matter of time before all those other gaming publications mentioned end as well (and it can't happen soon enough IMO).  It's non-sense for them to blame Nintendo for being difficult and not adapting to future technologies. Nintendo HAS adapted. We have The Nintendo Channel which has replaced Nintendo Power for game news and tips and Club Nintendo which sends out the posters and other merchandise Nintendo Power subscribers used to get. There are hundreds of sites that offer game reviews of course. It's the magazine publishers who are stuck in the past, not Nintendo.


Still, I grew up with Nintendo Power and it's sad to hear a little piece of my childhood is dying. But honestly this should have happened AT LEAST five years ago. Who knows, maybe as a tribute they could start calling it "The Nintendo Power Channel".

What makes this a big deal is that every other video game magazine has a blatant anti-Nintendo bias. Nintendo Power was the only magazine which was fair and balanced. Now its gone, and all that's left is magazines for anti-Nintendo fanboys.

In another thread I said NWR should pick up the reigns and start a new Nintendo magazine, and I was serious about that. Start a kickstarter if you have to, but make it happen.

Yeah, but so does reality

Dodongo dislike :-(

I probably haven't subscribed since the mid 90s, but I'm sad to hear that the magazine is going.  I always loved the SNES-era Mario, Zelda, Metroid and Starfox manga that were included at the time.  Howard and Nester were fun, too, at least when I was a kid. 

Silver lining here is, no more collecting. I can save money again.

Considering that apparently Nintendo refuses to work with anyone in the press, if there was a "blatant anti-Nintendo bias" (& I don't think there is one, certainly not to the extent you do) I could completely understand it.  Nintendo these days thinks the only way it can control the message is by ignoring the press and releasing Iwata Asks & Nintendo Directs.

How do they not work with the press? Basically all they don't do is pay for game "journalists" to go on trips. Not getting previews of games coming out in a year or more is not justification to hate on them like so many do. At the bare minimum, they are cynical towards Nintendo and do stuff like assume their games will not be as good. It's one reason I stopped listening to the GameScoop podcast.

Or maybe people assume their games "won't be as good" because they haven't been as good this generation. Just sayin'.  ::)

And if you want an example of how they don't work with the press, just look at this very story.  The article explicitly says that Nintendo was difficult to work with.  Dr. Metts on RFN has even said that Nintendo has slammed the door shut on dialogue between themselves and the press in favor of these Iwata Asks.  With the way this industry is set-up, how is the press supposed to cover Nintendo when they can't get interviews; they can't get previews; they usually can't get digital releases for review at all without paying out-of-pocket; and Nintendo is notoriously strict on embargo dates for reviews?

All of these things are issues that have been raised on this very site by RFN or other notable sites like Giant Bomb and IGN.

As the person who deals with Nintendo PR on a constant basis (and have been the NWR contact with them for about 3 years), I can say that while things can be difficult and frustrating (Iwata Asks have supplanted most developer interview possibilities), they're not impossible to work with.

I think you can easily extrapolate where troubles would lie by looking at things like their slow movement towards online gaming and struggle with digital releases.

It was inevitable, but it's still sad. Back in the day, Nintendo Power and EGM was my only real link to the greater world of video games. Those magazines sold me on a ton of games, I would read them cover to cover. Features full of gorgeous artwork, full game maps, cheat codes! And who can forget the Player's Guides?

http://i.imgur.com/phsRM.jpg

So good. They don't make 'em like this anymore.

End of an era. RIP Nintendo Power.

Anth0ny, did you get the LTTP Players guide? Or the Earthbound Players guide? Those were SO.UNIMAGINABLY.AWESOME.

Really old people might remember how godlike the Final Fantasy 1 guide was.

I realize this is somewhat subjective, but only to an extent... I've read in Game Informer magazine where they say things like "the Wii is irrelevant" despite how many millions of units its sold, and when they frequently don't even mention when a multiplatform game is available on the Wii even if it is. They also give low scores for Wii games, and they openly criticize graphics which isn't fair because the Wii can't do HD graphics. That's like criticizing a poodle for not being a Rottweiler, or something. If they were reviewing an old 16 or 8 bit game they wouldn't slam it for lacking modern HD graphics. They would just judge it for what it is, but they do do that with the Wii. And I've read many of their articles about the upcoming Wii U and they don't really seem very enthusiastic about it, and they've cited Pachter and other analysts who are saying it will be a failure. So they don't seem to be giving it a fair shake. I don't see them doing the same thing with the PS420.

You do realize that Nintendo has been this way for decades, right? They have always been an incredibly secretive company, and they rarely talk about their games outside of development.

Oh geez....where to begin  ::) ...might as well break this whining, desperate nonsense down.  I'm going to preface this by saying that since you didn't set a date on any of this stuff you've "seen", I have to assume you've "seen" it fairly recently, within the last year.

The Wii is irrelevant in the grand scheme of the industry at this point, and it has been since Nintendo and 3rd parties alike decided to abandon it last year.  I like Xenoblade and I'm trying to like The Last Story at the moment, but overall there's very little new worth talking about with the Wii and in terms of core gamers (who are the ones reading the magazine) statistically-speaking no one's still playing the Wii.  Before I hooked the thing up again for The Last Story, the only use mine was seeing was when I loaned it out to my best friend to play Virtual Console games on.  The Wii is dead, and Nintendo has clearly moved on.  It is irrelevant.

Often times, the Wii version of a multiplatform game is substantially different and often it's reviewed separately.  Judging by the sheer amount of editorial incompetence I regularly see online from major publications, I'm sure the Wii version is simply not listed by mistake. That's something that's easy to do when certain games are released on a large number of platforms.  Hardly a conspiracy.

The Wii's library has largely been **** from any reasonable point of view, especially from 3rd parties.  There have been bright spots every once in a while, but the Wii earned its reputation as the shovelware console for good reason.  Considering you're one of the most vocal people here when it comes to how badly 3rd parties have developed for Wii, I'd think you would know this already.  I still see reviewers line up left and right to kiss Nintendo's ass on just about every game for the sake of nostalgia, so your "low scores" can only be for 3rd party games.  You know, the ones you regularly complain about?

Being on a technologically inferior platform doesn't give Nintendo or 3rd party developers an excuse to be lazy and deliver substandard product.  Believe it or not, the Wii is considered to be in the same console generation as the PS3 or 360.  Or is that only something you want to remember when you're bragging that the Wii outsold every other console this generation?  The PS3 and 360 are its competition, and the Wii is judged accordingly, not just when it's convenient for you.  Besides, being on a less-capable console does not mean games have to look ugly and lazy, and yet so many on the Wii do.  There is much to be said for making do with what you have.  Artistic design matters, and on that count the vast majority of Wii developers (including in many cases Nintendo) FAILED by not designing their games with art styles that the Wii could make look good.

Wii games weren't usually criticized for not "looking like HD games."  They were criticized for looking ugly.  When developers put the time into creating games with unique art styles, such as Zack & Wiki; Madworld; Skyward Sword; Kirby's Epic Yarn (which, I remind you, won GameTrailer's "best graphics" award the year it released); Donkey Kong Country Returns; Muramasa: The Demon Blade; Super Mario Galaxies 1 & 2; etc. the games were all widely praised for how great they looked on Wii.  But the Wii's limitations meant developers had to put effort into making their games work within the limitations of the Wii's hardware, and most chose not to.

I especially find your complaint that the Wii "isn't judged for what it is" amusing considering just how many people here have complained about the "good for a Wii game" phrase.

Actually, I've seen journalists/reviewers from Gametrailers and Giant Bomb explicitly praise Wii U exclusive games like Zombi U; Rayman Legends; and Project P-100.  Those 3 have received a fairly warm reception in general, actually.  But the Wii U is frankly not an exciting console to most people, and what little of a tech advantage it has over the existing HD consoles is not evident just yet.  Nintendo has also refused to announce anything newsworthy about the console such as price or technical details.  Stop the presses, folks!  It plays multiplatform games I and probably most game journalists can already play on the HD consoles we already own (with some games already having been out a year).  Nintendo's own Wii U launch software isn't particularly interesting: a Pikmin game that even the NWR folks here have said is good but isn't that new of an experience; yet another New Super Mario Bros. game; and a mini-game collection.  Oh boy!  After 6 years of the Wii being plagued by a wave of mini-game collections, CAN I play another one?!  :-\

The Wii U has the potential to be an interesting, excitement-driving console just like any other. But it doesn't have the software yet to deserve that level of hype.  If it actually gets games worth salivating over, the salivating will come.

Actually, Pachter has said that he thinks the Wii U will be successful, but nowhere near to the degree Wii was because the casuals have moved on to other devices like IOS devices.  Now, something he has said is that the diehard Nintendo fans are zealous/gullible enough that they'd buy a cardboard box for the price of the Wii U if it had the Nintendo logo on it.  And considering some of your posts, I'm not sure he's wrong in your case.

As for this "fair shake" business, have you been in a coma for the last couple of years? Every new piece of traditional gaming hardware has met a great deal of skepticism lately.  When the 3DS released, analysts were skeptical that the market hadn't moved on to IOS devices.  When the Vita released, it got the same treatment, made even worse by the PSP's poor showing in NA and the 3DS' failure to succeed early on.  It's natural that the Wii U would receive similar treatment, as will all future devices as long as console sales continue to decline and IOS/online free-to-play continues to gobble up the market.

That's because we don't know ANYTHING about the hypothetical PS4 or Xbox 720.  There is no release date.  There are no announced games in production.  There are no screenshots.  There is NOTHING but speculation.  Rest assured, if the market does not pick up considerably by the time those consoles are announced; dated; and priced, skepticism will be dealt to them as well (especially if the Wii U under-performs since the big hope right now is that "new hardware" will revitalize the console market).

And with that, I am done with this conversation.  My patience for this matter was already low to begin with, and now it's at an end.  I doubt anything I've written will make a damn bit of difference to the persecution complex of the typical fanboy.

How did you get Assassin's Creed III a year ago? Or for that matter, how did you get Mass Effect 3 a year ago? Guess what bro? I (and many others) have yet to play as these games that supposed everyone has played.

I never read it as I'm European, but some how this AVGN video made even me feel nostalgic for the glory days of Nintendo Power, Check it out if you haven't already seen it dozens of times:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eegQI9WM6mk

Rest in peace, old friend. You made grocery store trips and days sick from school just a little more pleasant. You gave me hope during long dry spells (you all know what I mean! ). Nintendo Power isn't really dead; the power resides within all of us.

Actually, I bought Assassin's Creed III 2 years ago when Ubisoft was insisting upon calling it "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood."  :P:  As for Mass Effect 3, congratulations: you truly are one of the 1%, the 1% of people who actually cared about the Mass Effect series, but refused to play the previous games on any of the three other devices you could have experienced it on previously.  I'll be surprised if that version sells more than 100,000 - 150,000 copies in NA (compared to the IIRC millions on the other consoles).  But hey, you enjoy experiencing the end of a 3 game trilogy without any of the context or character relationships from the two previous 20-30 hours RPGs. Enjoy experiencing the indisputable worst version of that game 8-9 months after the rest of us.  You've earned it.

Back in grade four we had some sort of daily reading time.  One kid brought his NP collection and lent issues out to other kids to read during this time (until the teacher realized that kids were reading something, you know, fun and put a stop to it).  I distinctly remember reading the Final Fantasy guide and was blown away by all the enemies and how big the map was.  I figured it had to be the most epic game ever made (thinking about it, it actually might have been at the time).  I had never seen an RPG before so I don't really understand how the game played.  I figured it was probably like Zelda or something.  I thought the various stats were for the purpose the guide.  I didn't think they were part of the game.

Here have this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ2S2Vkidbo

Oh, that was quite excellent, Ty. Thanks.

Nice and sad final cover:
http://s51.radikal.ru/i132/1211/5e/3faca8ea43fft.jpg

Definitely buying this issue once I see it on store shelves. Can't miss out on this one. That cover is quite spectacular... and very special to my childhood memories.

Just got this issue in the mail yesterday. The dream is over.

So, does that mean it's out in stores yet? I've been looking for it but have yet to find it.

Bought a copy at a Walmart today. It came in a polybag and I'm not sure I want to open it.  :'(

I know. I spent 5 minutes staring at the package and debating if I should open it. I did and it was worth it.

I might buy the last issue if I come across it on a magazine rack.

Been trying to find it in stores but haven't had much luck yet.

I did bust it open.

I laughed, I raged, and at the end... it got a little dusty at Casa du Shaymin.