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| Issue #285 - Final |
To hear a childhood favorite was coming to an end kinda saddened me. The last issue ever of Nintendo Power (the official Nintendo gaming magazine) was released this month. I couldn't help but think back to the many issues I've read. Literally hundreds of hours have been poured into reading this magazine. I would have been 11 years old when Nintendo Power released its first issue. I remember being at a friend's house and her little brother brought it in. That cover, man! That cover had me hooked from day one.
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| Issue #1 |
I would buy an issue every time I saw a new one at the grocery store near my house. Shortly after that, my mom let me get my own subscription. It was the first magazine subscription that I ever got. And it was in *my* name. How cool was that to be a kid and getting mail each month?! I remember one subscription bonus they offered was Dragon Warrior (NES) included as a free game. I begged my mom to renew so I could get a new game for free. "See, mom, it's a great deal!" However, it would be many, many years before I learned to appreciate RPGs so Dragon Warrior went unplayed.
I loved that magazine so much. The multi-page strategy guides, the previews, that stupid Nester comic, it was all great. Long before the Internet, Nintendo Power influenced many gaming purchases. Most of them were all positive. It was rare that I ever got a game I truly despised.
When it was first announced that the magazine would be closing shop I, like many others I'm sure, scoured the Interwebs for old covers. It was a nice nostalgic trip down gamer memory lane. Unfortunately, in a world of Xbox and Sony, Nintendo Power just couldn't hang. Not to mention that gaming magazines in general had already started dying off rapidly. It's just so much quicker to get game news online. By the time a printed issue arrived at my door, I had already read all there was to read. That's a shame too. There's still something special about holding an issue in my hands. I somehow feel closer to the subject, like it makes it more real. I still have a couple of horror magazine subscriptions, but I also read several in digital format on my iPad. It's a shame that Nintendo Power didn't have the, uh staying power to go digital. Dear paper friend with the awesome covers, you'll be missed.
