

The Final Issue of Nintendo Power and the First - rpm4321
http://www.dorkly.com/picture/46769/the-final-issue-of-nintendo-power-and-the-first

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tibbon
I had the first ~100 issues of Nintendo Power, starting when I was 6 or so. At
the time I found it really interesting. As I grew older, I couldn't tell if
the magazines were simply getting worse or I was just getting older and
realizing they were worse. Then I realized they were always bad in a special
way, because it was essentially a huge advertisement for Nintendo.

One thing I do remember rather enjoying (and being of high quality) were their
special edition game-specific guides. The one for Link To the Past was great
if I remember right.

Anyway, I think its fun that they used essentially the same covers for their
first and last issues. Fitting and well done.

~~~
pyre

      > Anyway, I think its fun that they used
      > essentially the same covers for their first
      > and last issues.
    

Just like Seinfeld[1]? (first joke of first episode as the last joke of the
series finale)

[1]: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finale_(Seinfeld)#Part_two>

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nhashem
I had a Nintendo Power subscription for most of elementary school. To me, that
era of video games seems nostalgically arcane -- when games weren't just
intended to be finished as a function of time, and there wasn't an abundance
of information available on the internet. I remember being "stuck" on
countless games, until an issue of Nintendo Power finally told me that the way
to beat Asura was to use the 'Wall' spell on herself in Final Fantasy 2 (or
IV, or whatever the cool kids call it).

Nintendo Power's maps and tips weren't always that helpful, but they almost
always covered good games. Most video games didn't have huge mainstream media
marketing budgets back then, and without Nintendo Power I would have never
discovered lesser known games like Shadowgate, Faxanadu, and Duck Tales. As
other commenters have indicated, the magazine _was_ basically essentially a
vehicle for Nintendo direct mail advertising -- but one that actually worked
pretty well for the era.

Hmm, might be time to find some emulators and ROMs...

~~~
rpm4321
Faxanadu was really great, but nobody has heard of it. My first RPG, depending
on how you want to classify Zelda.

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rpm4321
I find it slightly disturbing that I was able to picture in my mind the exact
cover image before clicking the link.

I certainly hope that if I had been alive back then I would have had the front
page of the paper the day after the moon landing similarly etched into my
brain.

Here's to wasted youth!

