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.

Off the Newsstand: Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 255

One issue removed from EGM's huge red-design, it is time to see if the magazine still feels fresh or fun to read like the first issue of the re-design was.  Mostly, it feels very fresh and very easy to read.  For a while when EGM first came back, it took me a while to read through the 82 pages that made up the new EGM.  It was not an easy magazine to read back then.  Over the past year, it got a little better until now I can breeze through it in a week like I do with Nintendo Power and Game Informer.

Sometimes you can read a good cover story about a game and it does nothing to change your opinion on said game.  The cover story for Medal of Honor: Warfighter was well-done and very informative, but I still do not care for the game itself.  While it is based entirely around the personal stories of these Tier 1 soldiers instead of a globe-trotting Michael Bay style campaign found in most military shooter, Danger Close has to do a little more to get this gamer's attention.  In line with the cover story, the rest of the issue had a few articles about military shooters.  The EGM Interview picked the brain of Tommy Jacob, a lead designer on the Ghost Recon games.  It was a very interesting interview that gives you an inside look at how Red Storm approaches the Ghost Recon series and their style of shooter.  Easily one of the best articles in this issue alongside the EGM Roundtable discussion on Violence in Video Games, another great read.  Issue 255 of EGM serves up the same quality Top 10s, Previews, Reviews and Commentary pieces that you have come to know and love.  All around a solid issue of EGM.

It did not blow me away like the issue before it, but Issue 255 of EGM was a solid read.  Unless you are a huge fan of military shooters, you can easily skip this issue and not miss much.  I do say that gamers should go out of their way to at least read the EGM Interview with Tommy Jacob and the EGM Roundtable on Video Game Violence.  Two excellent articles that deserved to be read by all.

Off the Newsstand: Electronic Gaming Monthly Issue 254

The last little while I have been quite upset with Electronic Gaming Monthly.  Being a follower of this magazine for many years now, I followed EGM before Ziff Davis shut it down all the way through the magazine's glorious resurrection back in 2010.  After just starting a new subscription with EGM, I went a good few months without issues.  I tried contacting EGM's customer service and looking at forums online to find an answer, but nothing.  I along with hundreds of other loyal subscribers were left in the dark for a good few months as the EGM staff worked on their website EGMNow.  This incredibly dumb move along with the switch to EGM releasing on a bi-monthly schedule really ticked off this loyal fan, who had stuck with this magazine through the thick and thin, to the point that I considered cancelling my subscription and moving onto another magazine.  Cooler heads prevailed as this fan gave EGM to the end of this subscription one more chance to turn things around and win back my trust.

Waiting for Issue 254 to come in the mail felt like forever.  I was starting to worry that EGM decided to not to tell subscribers about a possible delay like they did last year, but those thoughts dispersed when I got the magazine in my hands.  The EGM team spent the last two months really revamping the magazine and it really shows.  This issue is a much better magazine than the last few issues I have read.  The returns of the classic EGM three-man reviews and awards system along with a new focused previews that opt to ask the harder questions about the games covered rather than rehashing the same old-info you see in every gaming magazine out there.  Being an apocalypse-themed issue, EGM Issue 254 features great apocalypse-themed stories such as a look at Wasteland 2 Kickstarter, THQ's troubles, a roundtable on the next wave of consoles and a list of the Top 20 Apocalyptic Games.  The Borderlands 2 cover story is pretty good as well featuring new information on this highly anticipated post-apocalyptic shooter and a great interview with the co-founders of Vigil Games, the developer behind the Darksiders series, David Adams and Joe Madureira.  It all amounts to possibly the best issue of EGM I have read since it's rebirth back in 2010.

I was pleasantly surprised by Issue 254 of EGM.  It really turned around my whole attitude towards EGM and made me forget about the mishap from last year.  This is the EGM I remember and I hope to see more great things from this magazine in the future.  If you have 7 dollars to spare, EGM Issue 254 is an excellent read that should make any self-respecting smile from cheek-to-cheek.

Off the Newsstand: Nintendo Power Issue 277

With all that came out this past March, there has been no room for yours truly to look at the latest issues of the various gaming magazines I read.  Also for a good few weeks in March, I was without a magazine to read.  That was until this past week when I received the newest issues for all my subscriptions (Nintendo Power, Game Informer and Electronic Gaming Monthly).  Now I at least have some reading material for the coming weeks.

With Epic Mickey: Power of Two announced earlier in the week, it came as no surprise that the exclusive Nintendo Power teased in Issue 276 was no doubt Mickey's return to the Wii.  Well Epic Mickey: Power of Two was not the only Epic Mickey to be covered in this huge cover story.  Nintendo Power got the first details on Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion for the 3DS, which is the spiritual successor to Castle of Illusions for the Genesis and will release alongside Power of Two this fall.  While nothing too in-depth, this cover story was very enjoyable.  It gave readers a nice look of what these Epic Mickey games will be about when they release later this year.  This cover story had two really good interviews with the creative directors on these games, Warren Spector and Peter Ong, which are both interesting reads.  Like most issues of Nintendo Power, Issue 277 is 96 pages packed with great content.  Apart from the cover story, you got a retrospective look at The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past to celebrate 20 years since its North American release, an extended hand-ons look at Mario Tennis Open with accompanying interview with the game's producer and lead designer, a look back at the Nintendo 3DS's first year and an in-depth profile of Hironobu Takeshita, producer at Capcom and creator of a little Wii gem known as Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure.  Issue 277 also has reviews on two big Nintendo games, Kid Icarus: Uprising for 3DS and Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii.

Another all around solid issue from Nintendo Power.  Nintendo Power has been on a roll as of late and personally I hope it keeps going.  While Nintendo Power does cater more to the big Nintendo fans such as myself, it does provide a great read for anybody who owns a Nintendo system or handheld.