A recent Escapist magazine looks into the long history of Nintendo Power and analyses its effectiveness. From the article: “Instead of trying to wow gamers with stunning visuals, Nintendo has set a course to engage the hearts and minds of game fans. That is not to say they have pushed visuals aside; quite to the contrary.”
What say ye, Infendo readers? How good is Nintendo Power? And maybe Joystiq put it best by asking: “Has Nintendo succeeded in creating a living world- an evolving story? that transcends games, consoles, and joysticks?”
Yes.The early Nintendo Powers would have game walkthroughs that had almost more game backstory and lore and art and "fun" than the games themselves. Oftentimes I, as a young child, would play games that I didn't via imagination own merely by reading the Nintendo Power walkthroughs in sequence.The newer Nintendo Power, while losing that much-loved whimsical aspect, hasn't fallen into the trap of merely plastering reviews and hype over its pages like other mags. Instead, it gives real, personal, in-depth reactions t o innovative game experiences, much like how they ran several pages where the magazines staff described their animal crossing activities and how they interacted with each other. Much more than any review or walk-through, this very humanistic and personal approach illustrated exactly what made these Nintendo games so very special: the possibilities opened up by their new gameplay, and how videogames were more than just some graphics, sounds, and cheatcodes.~Carmine M. RedKairon@aol.com
I stopped reading Nintendo Power after I realized that there were other game magazines that werent made by Nintendo, werent biased toward them and their first party games and covered other platforms.It seemed to me like it can be more of a fan club or one long advertisment for Nintendo. I don't need to be sold on Nintendo games, I like them because they are good, not because I have been paying to read a 100+ page advertisment for them. Another thing is that even thought I like a lot of Nintendo's games, I don't really care about Animal Crossing, Nintendogs or Pokemon' which is almost all Nintendo Power seems to talk about.Now a independent website or magazine that just covers Nintendo is a different story as they can remain unbiased.wolfpod at g mail
I tried to read the old Nintendo Power a few times but didn't find really good articles to actully buy the magazine. Since the redisgn I signed up for magazine deal to get a few free copies and a year subscription, $15 shipped to Canada. I'm 29, I understand that some of the content is a ad for Nintendo products but the magazine does have really good articles. The series on the Zelda deveolpment team was more then worth the subscrition. I was blown away by the level of talent that Nintendo has been acquiring over the years. I had no idea at the amount of talented artists you need to make a game like Twilight Princess. The detail at which they talk about the simplist thing in the game that I might not notice surprises me. I enjoyed how much of the game has been influenced by these artists real lives and what they sacrifice to make these enjoyable games for us.
they should add a demo disk once in a while. They are Nintendo's magazine! they can afford it!
I had nintendo power from the first issues until like the mid 90's and it was just a propaganda magazine, but I was a kid so it was great.I recently got 3 free issues and was really impressed by the kind of magazine they changed it into. It is really well done and not just a monthly nintendo commerical anymore. Its especially good cus it embraces the whole cheesy nintendo culture fans like me grew up on.
I got the three free promotional issues not too long ago. Unlike other "official" brand magazines, Nintendo Power does seem to be more of an advertisement magazine for their products than an actual serious article magazine (like the Official Xbox mag, for example).Maybe I should take a second look, but I prefer sites like Infendo or Kotaku for news on Nintendo upcoming products than the official magazines.
Print is dead.where is the nintendo power blog?
For Ben Rinehart uh no print is not dead and will not be for a while bud.For me Nintendo power is awesome. One thing they should never loose is how silly they are, the jokes they crack, just the good ole wholesome silliness and jokes.The only negative part is they focus WAY too much on games like Final Fantasy, Super Monkey Ball, Animal Crossing, Harvest moon, and Pokemon. Granted Pokemon is a huge franchise making lots of money, but Pokemon is so big they need their own magazine, stop putting it in Nintendo Power. They need a broader perspective. Most of the Game Cube games and almost all of the Game Boy section are all Animal Crossing, Harvest moon, Animal Crossing and Harvest Moon…..did I mention Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing? The games may be innovative but I'm not going to play some childish game about farming or some game with animals that look like stuffed animals. I play games Super Mario, Metroid, Smash brothers, star wars games, shooters, etc. I hate to use that term cuz I have defended Nintendo with my last breath at the fact that's its not kiddy, I hate that that's how its labeled. But Nintendo Power does focus too much on (lack of a better word) kiddy games. Nintendo power needs to be more all ages. Their recent coverage on the new Super Mario Bros. Side scroller and Brain Age game are awesome. ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING ANIMAL CROSSING and HARVEST MOON
One other thing, is that when the editors and writers of Nintendo power post pictures of themselves in the magazine make sure your dressed and groomed when you go to work that day. Sometimes they look like their cloths have not been washed or even bought in a second hand shop. If you have it take a look at volume 202 at the Brain Age editorial, one of the editors (I think the youngest guy there cant remember his name) looked just dirty, like he hasn't had a shower in weeks, looked like there was dandruff all over him, bad taste in clothing (never wear all black bud its just ugly.) The guy was also pale as a ghost, when did you last go out in the sun? That comb over hairstyle was also pretty nasty, looked very greasy. As professionals you should present yourselves professionally, and dress to impress. Obviously it's not a suit and tie job, but throw on a Nintendo or Mario shirt and comb your hair. It does not matter what you wear just don't look like dirt bags who just crawled out of mommy basement! Lol
I'd have to say that Nintendo Power isn't exactly a good magazine. Most of the walkthroughs had very basic tips, such as telling you things easily found in the instruction manual or only covering the first hour or so of a game. They also were not very explanatory–a boss' section may have a picture and a blurb of text describing his weak point with no tips on how to avoid his attacks. The reviews didn't seem all that great, either, as they seemed to be more concerned with keeping the advertisers happy than explaining how good the games were, and the assignment of reviewers to games seemed a bit nonsensical (A guy who has RPGs listed as near-last on his "favorite genres" list should not be reviewing PSO, for example). Also, as other people have mentioned, they usually talk about Pokemon and Animal Crossing–both of which aren't exactly games that need MORE coverage at this point.I'd also like to mention that I haven't read NP in about six months, nor did I read the Escapist article all the way through.
"The series on the Zelda deveolpment team was more then worth the subscrition""ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING ANIMAL CROSSING and HARVEST MOON"I agree with these two quotes. I loved the articals on New Mario Brothers this current issue but soemtimes they have really lame stuff on the cover and within the pages. Alos what pissed me off this last issue is that they had mario bros on the cove but the poster was to some stupid GNC pinball game I am not even interested in.5 issues straight of animal crosing and harvest moon crap is getting old.Overall I really link NP, even if they are overdue or a shower.
"Ben Rinehart said… Print is dead. where is the nintendo power blog? "You're lookin at it.
As a clarification, I don't really think print is dead. just that line from Ghostbusters popped into my head.
I enjoy Nintendo Power and find there to be quite a bit of adult-oriented humor. Just this last issue, there was a Saturday Night Live reference accompanying a Chronic-WHAT?-cles of Narnia screen shot.Even the NOA staffers are getting ripped on for looking older.
It's been a month since I let my subscription expire… it's either laziness or I don't care for NP anymore. Eh.
6 Chuck Norris refrences in this months issue.