The Power is Over: The End of Nintendo Power

This past Tuesday rumours surfaced around the net that Nintendo would not be renewing their deal with Future US to continue Nintendo Power.  While at first it was just a lot of speculation, the rumour was confirmed on Wednesday by Nintendo of America, Nintendo Power web site and many Nintendo Power editors.  The publication will end production with the December 2012 issue, which will release on newsstands December 4, 2012.

Easily the longest running video game magazine in existence, it is very sad to see Nintendo Power go.  Personally this year marked the first time I ever picked up an issue of Nintendo Power.  After buying each and every issue for a good year, I decided to get a subscription with Nintendo Power for Christmas from my parents back in 2002.  A subscription that will have lasted exactly a decade from this December.  For me, Nintendo Power was my introduction to incredible world of print magazines.  Reading a monthly anthology of information on my favourite hobby and my favourite video game company in the world just blew my mind.  I was hooked into looking through each and every issue cover to cover and reading the articles that I wanted to.  Eventually when I grew older, I started reading every magazine I bought cover to cover.  If it was not for Nintendo Power, I would never be the gamer that I am today, I would have never pursued a career making video game, I would have never started reading and eventually subscribe to EGM and Game Informer and I would have never gotten through a lot of difficult things in my life.  Getting a new issue of Nintendo Power in the mail was always a great moment that will be severely missed this coming January.  I really owe a lot to this magazine and its' editors for providing me with the quintessential information about anything Nintendo-related.

All I can say is thank you, Nintendo Power and all your editors throughout the years for providing me and many others with an incredible amount of memories.  I would love to find a way to keep you going for as long as possible, but that is not reality.  Reality is that Nintendo Power like a lot of printed media is coming to an end and there is nothing we can do about it.  With the dawn of the internet, tablets and suped-up mobile devices, it is hard for tactile-printed media to compete with the flexibility of digital media.  Sad thing is I expect to see more magazines either close shop or go digital-only in the coming years.  All we can do now is show our support and make the last few issues the best issues in the publications existence.  Again thank you and farewell Nintendo Power.

My favourite issue of Nintendo Power.