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'Nintendo Power' is back as a podcast
Nintendo Power published tips, strategies, news and everything Nintendo for 24 years until it shut its doors in 2012. The magazine met its demise due to the rise of new media, but now it's back -- in the form of a podcast. Nintendo of America has announced the podcast's debut episode on Twitter, where it has also revealed that the show is hosted by Chris Slate, the magazine's former Editor-in-Chief. Slate talked about Breath of the Wild in the debut episode with the game's producer, Eiji Aonuma, and director, Hidemaro Fujibayashi. A fitting start considering the success of Switch and the Zelda title itself.
The After Math: Sentimental Sunday
It was a top notch week in terms of longing for the simpler times of yesteryear. The action was capped off with a ringing endorsement from none other than Clint Eastwood himself. But while that angry old man busied himself with yelling at clouds, Sony put the Kibosh on its helpless superhero series. The US announced it will let a private company land on the moon. Archive.org posted a gaggle of old Nintendo Power issues. And Apple stayed insanely rich. Numbers, because how else are you going to know how long it's been since you could get away with being openly racist?
Read the first 13 years of 'Nintendo Power' on Archive.org (updated)
Before the yawning information-spouting chasm of the Internet, there were two ways you could get information on video games: your dubiously-trustful buddies and trade magazines. Despite being a company rag that only covered things coming out on its own consoles, Nintendo Power was one of the best of these publications for its wonderful artwork and community culture. But don't take my word for it: Now you can parse through the first 13 years of the magazine at Archive.org.
Nintendo Power's final issue pays homage to its humble beginnings
This is the end, Big N fans. Nintendo Power's final issue is upon us and in a surprise tip of the hat, the magazine's staff has decided to pay tribute to the famed cover that started it all. Framed in a similar manner to the inaugural issue from 1988, this last dance with all things officially Nintendo apes the Super Mario Bros. 2 clay-styled setup for a cover story on New Super Mario Bros. U. Look for it to hit newsstands one last time on December 11th, bringing the beloved decades-old publication full circle.
Promotional Consideration: Advertising with Power
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.As of October of this year, Nintendo of America relinquished its hold of Nintendo Power and handed over publishing duties to Future US, the same media corporation behind the official Xbox and PlayStation magazines. Two issues into the transition, Nintendo Power's writing staff and format haven't changed much, but the number of ads certainly has!
Future publishing taking over Nintendo Power
While searching for a way to get out of journalism and make some real cash, Gamasutra discovered a listing on the Nintendo corporate job board for someone to be the Licensing Manager for Nintendo Power. The job would entail being in close contact with new publisher Future Publishing.Future publishing already handles the official Nintendo, PlayStation and Xbox magazines in the UK, and handles the Official Xbox Magazine in North America. This is obviously all part of Nintendo's corporate restructuring which saw the retirement of George Harrison. Future has no comment to make at this time, but expect an announcement real soon. This stays in line with reports from May that Nintendo Power employees were told to look for new work by September.
Nintendo Power gets a new publisher
Nintendo Power is getting a new publisher, it would seem, based on a job listing posted by Nintendo. The job listing is for a Licensing Manager, which describes that Future US will be taking over publishing duties for the mag. The entirety of the job description reads: Manages monthly Nintendo Power Magazine licensed to the new publisher, Future US Maintains close communication with Future US regarding editorial plan, production plan, and marketing plan Provides necessary material and/or information Manages approval process of magazine content Oversees the approval process with Future US, will be the point person between Future US and Nintendo of America Inc (NOA) Point of contact for requests for access to software, assets, or interview possibilities Coordination of annual marketing plan support program for Nintendo Power Often necessary to change duties, projects or direction on short notice Heavy work volume, fast-paced environment with fluctuating production requirements Periodic adjustments to work schedule and/or usual hours may be required Up to 15% travel [Via NeoGAF]
Let's read an old Nintendo Power together
It's late in the summer, but not too late for us to hand out a summer reading assignment. Racketboy and Retromags.com have teamed up to offer a scanned PDF of Nintendo Power's May/June 1989 issue, which features Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the cover.Looking through the issue reminds us, of course, of how adorable Nintendo Power used to be, with its hyperenthusiastic text that bordered on ad copy, and its cutely off-model original art throughout. But it also reminds us of just how awesome it was to have an NES in 1989, with things like Mega Man 2, Ninja Gaiden, and even the first Dragon Warrior right around the corner. Do you think that, in 18 years, someone will get nostalgic about old Wii Fanboy posts? Don't answer that.
Nintendo survey hints at Wii demo plans
It's inconceivable to us why Nintendo doesn't offer demos for its Wii games. Besides being a cool freebie to entice people to buy a system, easy access to demos leads to better sales of full games. Sony and Microsoft figured this out years ago, offering PlayStation, PS2 and Xbox demo discs with their official magazines and, later, downloadable demos for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Nintendo still hasn't caught up on this important front.So it's heartening to see the Big N mulling over demo availability in the new issue of Nintendo Power. According to a scan provided by a GoNintendo reader , the latest Player's Pulse contest poll asks readers how interested they are in Wii game demos, how they would like to receive such demos, and whether they would be willing to pay extra for them.While downloadable demos for full Wii games might be tough to cram onto the Wii's puny 512MB of built-in memory, a demo disc in Nintendo Power seems like an idea whose time has come ... ten years ago! And while we're at it, how about some try-before-you-buy demos for the Virtual Console too, eh Nintendo? We're growing increasingly impatient here.[Via WiiFanboy]
Nintendo polling public on Wii game demo demand
Over at Go Nintendo, a reader sent in the above image, which is a hurdle that those wishing to enter the latest Nintendo Power sweepstakes need to tackle. It throws up flags in all areas, as it causes us to believe Nintendo is honestly considering providing us with some sort of demo download service. We don't like the idea of having to pay for the ability to do this, but we'll smile for the time being just at the thought that Nintendo is doing something in regards to the online situation.
Reflecting on Prism: Light the Way
We were surprised to read that Prism: Light the Way collected an 8.5/10 score in the latest issue of Nintendo Power, mostly because prior to the review, we had never heard of the puzzle game. Prism tasks you with saving the Glowbos, a black-hole-inhabiting race of blobs. A space monster has absorbed the light that the Glowbos need to survive, and the Bulboids, creatures that shoot beams out of their mouths, are their only hope!Directing these rays to the Glowbos can be a challenge, especially since some of them require a specific color of light. You'll have to use filter blocks, splitters, and mirrors to deliver the right beams to all of them. Prism features 120 unlimited-time puzzles, Timed and "Hyper" modes, and the option to play an infinite stream of randomly-generated stages. You'll also be able to compete against another player without needing a second copy of the game. Prism: Light the Way hits the DS this September 4th in North America. There haven't been many screenshots or trailers put out for the handheld title yet, but we've embedded a gameplay video for the PC version past the post break.
Nintendo Power ending three-for-free offer
Nintendo Power has been pushing this deal for what seems like forever -- register three games or consoles with your My Nintendo account to receive three free issues of the magazine and a discounted year-length subscription afterwards. Besides extending your console's warranty and the less-than-occasional giveaway, it's pretty much the only incentive for North American gamers to register their Nintendo products at all.Enjoy the offer while it lasts, as it expires at the end of this month, and trial subscription registrations will no longer be accepted come August 1st. Could this be the harbinger of Nintendo Power's move to a third-party publisher? Or perhaps it was just finally time to end the trial? Either way, we hope that something will take its place as a reward for product registration. We're tired of seeing the awesome stuff Japan's Club Nintendo receives, while all we get are downloadable wallpapers.
Promotional Consideration: Come As You Are
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.If you missed our spotlight on Leo Burnett's "Communion Day" ad last Sunday, make sure to give it a glance. Even if you've already skimmed through our words on the award-winning piece, we've updated our summation with some insight from art director Rosemary Collini Bosso.This weekend's installment of Promotional Consideration takes a critical eye to an unconvincing ad that might actually drive away consumers. Read on for more details.
Rumor redux: Nintendo Power heading to 3rd party publisher
There are further rumors about Nintendo Power, Nintendo's official gaming magazine, but the rumblings have changed slightly. The latest word is that the publication will continue, just with a new publisher working things behind the scenes, which is how the European Nintendo magazine is handled. It's a good time to to relive some nostalgic moments with the magazine, and Infendo recently clued us in on a shiny new set of covers courtesy of Flickr user kocojim. Go forth and bask, and let's hope this version of the rumor is true.
Brawl countdown reveals nothing, Nintendo Power picks up slack
That countdown at www.smashbros.com just concluded, revealing ... absolutely nothing, and we don't mean absolutely nothing in a GTAIV-trailer-crashed-our-servers way. The page simply reads "starting today (Japan time)."What's starting today? Since they're not saying anything, we'll turn to our friends at Nintendo Power, who happen to be really close friends with Nintendo. The "Don't Miss Calendar" in the latest issue -- #217 (pictures prove it's real) -- trumpets "Sakurai delivers the blow by blow." They continue, "Beginning May 22nd, Super Smash Bros. Brawl director Masahiro Sakurai will post a daily blog on smashbros.com regarding the title's progress and any other topics that tickle his fancy. Rumor has it that he'll be revealing Fabio as the next playable character."IronSword cracks aside (and that is a good one), is Sakurai's blog what all this hubbub was about? Sounds like it to us. Hopefully his first post, which should show up in the next 23 hours, will shed some light on why a title that Kojima described as "very complete" wasn't on this morning's release calendar.[Thanks, hvnlysoldr]
Paper Mario to be folded into Virtual Console
It's a great time for people who can't get enough of beloved mascots that also happen to be two-dimensional. First we get Super Paper Mario last month, now a new issue of Nintendo Power -- which is really close friends with Nintendo -- is listing the N64's Paper Mario among its 'top picks' of upcoming Virtual Console games. We would have done that too if we had known it was coming! Cheaters.Beyond our frustration at not knowing all the secrets of Shigeru Wonka's factory, we're just happy to see some fresh N64 releases coming to the VC. This would be just the fifth title from 64 since the Wii was launched last November.
Rumor: No more Nintendo Power?
Word is that we're looking at the end of an era. IGN's Matt Casamassina reports that Nintendo Power is in its last days, at least, as we know it today. While it may just be that a restructure is in the cards for the magazine, rumor has it that the employees are being told that they need to find new jobs by September.Nintendo Power's been churning out the fanboy news for nineteen years now, but these last few have been a rough time for all sorts of print media, with the rise of the blogosphere and instant information. We wouldn't be surprised to see Nintendo Power shut its doors ... but we would be a little sad.
Nintendo Power rumored to be closing its doors
Nintendo Power magazine may soon be no more. According to IGN, sources close to the publication have highlighted "massive layoffs" and that employees are being told to look for new work by September.Gaming-centric print magazines have been on a steady decline, thanks in large part to the prominence of video game websites. Nintendo Power has been in publication since 1988 -- it's nearing its 19th anniversary in July -- making it one of the longest-running game magazine ever.If Nintendo Power is closing down or restructuring, how will that affect Reggie's idea for turning its archives into a Wii Channel? Regardless of whether or not this rumor turns out to be true, we'll still take this time to direct you to the first-ever issue of the magazine in PDF format.
Buzz-building booklet
From hosting parties with Wii ambassadors to tagging along with touring bands, Nintendo has been pushing its new system in lots of creative ways. It's helped a lot to spread the word about the Wii to not just traditional gamers, but lapsed and non-gamers as well.Our latest issue of Nintendo Power came in the mail packed with a 12-page booklet promoting the console's features. Considering that most of the magazine's subscribers likely already have a Wii, this doesn't seem noteworthy at first, but turning to the last page, Nintendo has a message encouraging people to pass around the advertising piece. We doubt that there are many situations where you'd want to evangelize Nintendo with the booklet, but it sounds like an effective way to give information about the console to someone who's interested in the Wii, but doesn't know much about it. Jump past the post break for the scanned message.
Latest Nintendo Power confirms Brothers in Arms coming to DS
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Latest_Nintendo_Power_confirms_Brothers_in_Arms_coming_to_DS'; Jeux-France got ahold of the latest issue of Nintendo Power, which confirms that Brothers in Arms is headed to the DS. We couldn't be happier, as the Brothers in Arms franchise is one of the very few WWII-based series of games left that are worth playing. The images of the game (which have been embedded past the post break) are of very low quality, so we cannot discern whether the graphics are something to be excited about or not.We can confirm, however, that the game is to feature 3 different campaigns, spanning 16 missions and several of the countries involved in the war. The touch-screen will be used for switching weapons, tossing grenades (player must draw a line for trajectory) and aiming at enemies. The top screen is obviously going to be used to present the action.No word on whether this title is to be Wi-Fi Connect compatible or not.[Thanks, Ken!]
