Nintendo Power Awards
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First issue of Nintendo Power, 1988
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| Editor-in-Chief | Steve Thomason |
|---|---|
| Former editors | Chris Slate |
| Staff writers | Phil Theobald |
| Categories | Video games and Accessories |
| Frequency | 6x annually, January 1991 monthly |
| Format | Journal, magazine |
| Circulation | 475,000 (2012) |
| First issue | July/August 1988 |
| Final issue — Number |
December 11, 2012 285 |
| Company |
Nintendo of America (1988–2007) Future US (2007–2012) |
| Country | United States, Canada |
| Based in | South San Francisco, CA |
| Language | English |
| Website |
Official Website Archived index at the Wayback Machine. |
| ISSN | 1041-9551 |
| OCLC number | 760783416 |
Nintendo Power is a discontinued news and strategy magazine which was initially published in-house monthly by Nintendo of America, and later independently. In December 2007, Nintendo contracted publishing to Future US, the American subsidiary of British publisher Future. It was one of the longest running video game magazines in the United States and Canada, and was Nintendo's official magazine in North America.
On August 21, 2012, Nintendo announced that it would not be renewing its licensing agreement with Future Publishing, and that Nintendo Power would cease publication in December. The final issue, volume 285, was released on December 11, 2012.
Predating Nintendo Power is the several-page long Nintendo Fun Club News, which was sent to club members for free. However, in mid-1988 Nintendo Fun Club News was discontinued after seven issues in favor of Nintendo Power. The first issue, dated July/August 1988, spotlighted the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2. 3.6 million copies were published, with every member of the Nintendo Fun Club receiving a free one.
From the beginning, Nintendo Power focused heavily on providing game strategy, tips and tricks, reviews, and previews of upcoming games. In mid-1998, Nintendo Power first allowed outside advertising in the magazine, formerly reserved for Nintendo-based products only. In its early years, ads only appeared in the first and last few pages of the magazine, leaving no ads to break up the magazine's editorial content.
In July 2005, Nintendo Power created a new design to appeal to a limited gaming audience, including a new logo and article format. Along with the cosmetic overhaul came a greater focus on Nintendo fans, staff reviews, rumor-milling, and fan service including an expanded and enhanced reader mail segment (known as "Pulse") and a revamped "Community" section. Nintendo introduced a new incentive promotional offer that involved the registration of three Nintendo (or Nintendo affiliated) products through Nintendo.com to receive a free three issue trial subscription to Nintendo Power. Later, the magazine changed its focus from game strategies and cheat codes to mainly news, previews, and articles on upcoming games.
The magazine was edited at first by Fun Club "President" Howard Phillips, himself an avid gamer. While the Fun Club News focused solely on games made in-house by Nintendo, Nintendo Power was created to allow for reviews of games produced by those licensed by Nintendo, such as Konami, Capcom, and the like. Nintendo Power's mascot in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Nester, a comic character created by Philips. After Philips left the company, Nester became the magazine's sole mascot. Early issues of the magazine featured a two-page Howard and Nester comic, which was later replaced with the two-page Nester's Adventures, later reduced to one page, and eventually dropped altogether. Subsequently, Mario replaced Nester as the mascot of the magazine. Later, during the early 2000s, the magazine made another mascot out of its Senior Writer, Alan Averill. Apparently very camera-shy, Averill himself never appeared in any photos; rather, he was represented by a plush toy of a Blue Slime from Dragon Quest. Fans often clamored to see what Averill actually looked like, but the magazine continued to substitute with photos of the toy, and even claimed that Alan was, in fact, a Blue Slime. Eventually, Averill retired from Nintendo Power, joining Nintendo of America's localization department. To this day, most fans have never seen a real image of Averill. The inclusion of a photo of Mr. T in the Player's Pulse section became a running gag in the early half of 2005. Late in the magazine's life, running gags centered on Chuck Norris references and jokes at the expense of writer Chris Shepperd.
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