The Rise & Fall of Nintendo Power Magazine

[@justorion1098]

As a kid in the 90's, there was nothing more exciting than getting the new Nintendo Power every month. I would read them cover to cover and get so pumped about the new games coming out. It really embodies the pure joy of childhood for me.

[@SirChocula]

Same. I literally read every word. Same with EGM, GamePro, etc. It was like multiple surprises each month that never let you down :D

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

So much same! Especially the comics. When they ran their adaptations I always grabbed the mail as soon as it arrived and immediately read the issues comics first. Those comics were amazing. The guides were a godsend too. I remember being lost in Metroid 2 and then finally being able to progress when I got the issue. My dad was not a fan for some reason but he didn't get in the way, which I appreciated. I bought several games after seeing the magazine features and enjoyed them. It exposed me to new material that helped shape my love of games. NP was amazing. I greatly value those memories

[@jeredalmeida1880]

If it came on the same day as the Victoria's Secret catalog, the whole weekend was already over🤣

[@felipepicolo]

In Brazil It was the same, but the magazines were Nintendo World and EGM Brazil

[@darrenmacqueen9884]

I kept my subscription until sometime after the Wii came out. Maybe sometime in 2007, I can't remember. Started in the late 90's. I remember I went and bought the last issue when it came out.

[@fr1tz007]

Great video, Dan. From 1989 to 1991 I was an account executive at Nintendo's PR firm, Hill & Knowlton, in Los Angeles where I conducted and wrote all the celebrity interviews for Nintendo Power. Chasing down interviews for every issue was a bit crazy but we somehow always managed to land one. I also worked closely with Howard Phillips. In 1995 I became director of public relations at LucasArts but until seeing your video I had no idea Howard had been there a few years before me. The more you know.

[@Iamjohniwanna]

Being a game play counselor 1989-94 was a great beginning to what I now understand to be a pretty awesome career. My best friends are still friends I made back at NOA.

[@mraaronhd]

What was that like being a counselor? Did you have to know how to play every game, or did the game developers give you tips and tricks to their games beforehand?

[@shaider1982]

Wow, hope you make a video on your expericnes there.👍

[@audiooddities9982]

That's awesome. One of my favorite memories I had as a kid was when me and a friend of mine called the number on the back of my Game Boy and my friend said they wanted to send us each press packets on the company! It was really exciting getting that in the mail at 13! ( I know it was a trouble shooting number and not a game play one, but it still fits, lol)

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

Thank you for contributing to some of my happiest memories

[@mr.nintendotapes2908]

nice dude i may have called u...had to call for tape help many times...part of my training >:)

[@jinpei05]

Nintendo Power was such a seminal part of my childhood. I still remember the Castlevania cover with Simon Belmont holding Dracula's severed head in his hand. 😅

[@chancepaladin]

bingo, formative years right there.

[@geteavnroc2250]

Ditto. Those 2-page-sprawling pics of levels and etc were golden. Lots of amazing memories of the first 2-3 years of Nintendo Power.

[@fakeshemp9599]

Oh yeah, that was my shit right there! I remember pouring over the MegaMan bad guy concept art for the contest they held for MegaMan 6

[@user-si9fx4xb6v]

I still fondly remember reading issue #99 of Nintendo Power with the cover story about Goldeneye 007 for the Nintendo 64. After that, I made sure to read as many issues as could. While I never got a subscription to Nintendo Power, I did enjoy reading all of the articles, previews and reviews contained inside each issue. I also made extensive usage of the cheats and walkthroughs for the various games as time marched on and the consoles/ systems changed. Really liked all of the pull-out posters for the latest games that were coming out as well.

[@dublev78]

That and the Adventures of Link cover. Choice.

[@JuicyPlayer]

The final Nester comic actually made me feel a little emotional when I first read it. It was cool to see Nester grown up with a kid just like some of us.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

Truly the saddest thing about that final comic is it's reference to them playing a Wii U game. I mean ironically it's a game that's been moved to the switch but it's kind of hilarious to have choice to be a hopeful ending kind of undercut by the fact it was referencing the least successful thing they've pretty much ever done.

[@emperortrevornorton3119]

I cried like losing a long time weird best friend that you don't let your cool friends make fun of I might not be a straight forward Nintendo fan but this was the most lovable awkward faced character I found after Sega died

[@MrBoyYankee]

Nester, Pak Watch, Counselors Corner, Classified Information, Top 30, Fun Club Now playing, terms I remember to this day. 1988-2012 *GET THA POWWWR!!!* *NINTENDO POWER!!!!*

[@gertywhatagash_]

Bet you only just now seen it in this video. Probably didnt even knowing existed. Bet me. Anything for likes.

[@JuicyPlayer]

@@gertywhatagash_ Nope I own the issue. I actually bought 2 , one to read and another to keep sealed forever.

[@beermuger8650]

We subscribed once Nintendo offered a free copy of Dragon Warrior on NES... best promo ever, especially, when u typically only got 1 or 2 games a year. One of my favorite NES games to this day. I remember reading all the maps, guides, and spell cards that came with it. Also, one of the first games i ever grinded in to level up... fighting slimes outside the main castle for hours on end.

[@hwogrillo]

Lucky. I was already subbed before that offer came out, and they wouldn't give you the free game on a sub renewal. I begged everyone I knew to buy a subscription, but alas I never had any luck with that either. My mom said it wouldn't be fair..... good thing she never found out about my 15 different subscriptions to Columbia House CD club years later.

[@catsaregovernmentspies]

My family also subscribed to get the free copy of Dragon Warrior. It is a great game, I just played it recently. 🐉

[@jimmybeavis9185]

Man, that was me too. That's how I got Dragon Warrior. Spent an entire childhood summer leveling up and beating that game. Awesome times.

[@Scallywag96]

$50 game free with a $20 subscription. Best bang for your buck

[@BonusEggs4Sale]

Omg yes Dragon Warrior (what is this Dragon Quest nonsense :p)! My first jrpg, video game rpg (unless you count og Legend of Zelda), and rpg in general. Thank to my cousin's Nintendo Power sub, he effectively gifted me the game and I was obsessed for like a year until Final Fantasy came out. Then it was DW II and Final Fantasy II (er I mean IV).

[@jdenoe69]

"Get the power! Nintendo Power!" Loved it as a kid.

[@MCastleberry1980]

"Higher and higher, FIGHTING YOUR WAY THROUGH ENEMY FIRE!"

[@JSC178]

@@MCastleberry1980 "Get the clues that you can use. Nintendo Power!"

[@RetroCrisis]

I miss the days of going to the local corner-store and seeing a long row of videogame magazines. Internet killed it all

[@kokotheclown2588]

I mean by 2012 it was bound to happen kids today don’t want to wait months for a magazine they rather get fast and easy from a KZbin video or a walkthrough while I do love collecting those old magazines especially the GameCube ones since I never experienced that generation I get why they end up dropping it by 2012

[@mccallosone4903]

yeah, it was cool. to be fair tho, the internet is waaaaaay better. i can just type "how do i kill the stupid pig in AC Odyssey" and 20 answers come right up. no more waiting for it to be addressed in print, or calling the game store and hoping one of the guys there could give a suggestion

[@kokotheclown2588]

@@mccallosone4903yeah and not to be that guy but the fact u had to read a whole page to hopefully mention the part u stuck in idk but to me it sounds boring might as well I’ll figure it alone cause I rather do it than reading a whole page for one part that I’m stuck on especially if the info they provide it’s wrong

[@alanguages]

Times change. I also miss going to the local Blockbuster to browse deciding what movies to watch. Meeting strangers and socializing about things to watch. Those days are long over though.

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

​@@alanguages Yep, Blockbuster is one that cuts deep for me. It's kind of interesting seeing Netflix falling into the same issues and having very similar troubles. Almost any giant collapse is about ego. It happened for Blockbuster and Netflix is doing the exact same thing.

[@codybaier]

These magazines were my childhood. The month's arrival of Nintendo Power was the moment the whole month revolved around for me, it was great. Yeah, times changed, the magazine faded away, but it was fantastic back then and I'll always fondly remember it.

[@DementedDistraction]

I never had a subscription to Nintendo Power, but I did manage to acquire their complete Super Mario 3 guide as a kid. I read it and re-read it constantly, and by the time my family actually got a copy of the game I can remember playing it and accessing secret areas and items, much to the amazement and/or confusion of my siblings. Now we just need an EGM episode where we finally figure out the identity of Sushi-X.

[@ragnakak]

Sushi-X wasn’t one person, rather it was several of the reviewers for the magazine at the time

[@JohnDoe-wq5eu]

​@@ragnakak A composite basically, a conglomeration of multiple personalities.

[@MindTrickedX24]

Those guides were EVERYTHING. Starting with Dragon Warrior, if I recall correctly, and then Final Fantasy, etc.

[@spoonimefan]

​@@ragnakak : That would help explain why, once the reviewer profiles switched to irl names and photos as opposed to pseudonyms, they never explicitly revealed it! (That I can remember.) I mean, I'm pretty sure Ed Semrad *was not* a Battletoad.

[@Filthnails]

I used to get these and I even started with the Nintendo Fun Club. But I had no idea this stuff went on well into the 2000s. That's amazing.

[@migangelmart]

I used to get the Fun Club News, but that wasn't the only one. Some of the publishers had their own free zines at the time. Sunsoft had a particularly cool one. Hudson too.

[@Avocadomolotov]

i started reading with issue number one. I even called the hotline, and got the dragon warrior game that came in free. i remember i had to call to make them send it to me. we didnt had a phone at my house, so i had to walk like half a mile to the public phone. this was puerto rico and i was pretty much the only person who spoke english in my neighborhood. i loved this thing.

[@Markimark151]

I had Nintendo Power back in middle school during the late SNES and N64 era, I remember read through the magazines just to unlock playable characters and certain game modes! This was so popular in the pre-internet video game era! Even when I stopped subscribing to Nintendo Power when the GameCube was launched, I occasionally bought a magazine when they have certain GBA games like Zelda and Metroid Fusion!

[@willmistretta]

Getting my issue one autographed by Howard Phillips was the hightlight of Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2019 for me. It lives in a frame permanently now.

[@JSC178]

That's awesome!

[@ScottWaa]

It was so exciting getting the new Nintendo Power magazine back in the day. As I grew up I wasnt able to keep my subscription (never using my power points in the shop either). It broke my heart seeing advertising in the magazine years later. Finding this video & reading Nester's final comic gives me closure. I still have my magazines till whatever year I stopped. Thank you for this video.

[@EverydayMick]

I actually teared up when you were talking about the last Nester comic. I never owned an NES or a SNES, but I read my friends’ copies of Nintendo Power religiously.

[@SaskRider2]

I was a late bloomer to Nintendo Power. I've played Nintendo games since '86, and I didn't get my first issue of Power, until June 1997 (#97, Clay Fighter 63 1/3). And from there, I was there until the end. It was sad to see it go. I wish there was some way to revisit some of those old issues and player guides.

[@JSC178]

Who else remembers the sheer joy of seeing the new issue of Nintendo Power in their mailbox or coming home from school and seeing the new issue on the kitchen table with the rest of the mail? It was like an instant high!

[@deku812]

Nintendo Power does live on in official Nintendo marketing channels as a podcast these days. It's a pretty good one. But really the true inheritor of Nintendo power is the Nintendo Direct. I;'ve heard someone describe getting monthly Nintendo Power magazines in the mailbox as 'directs' before there was such a thing, and i think they are right. It's a package of news, information and previews in the pre youtube days of the 90s and 2000s.

[@yesfredfredburger8008]

That same personality and atmosphere is there. The only difference is that Nintendo has their own perspective from Japan, and Nintendo Power were responding from their point of view in US

[@RetroFrito]

10:58 Yeah I remember when Capcom had a free help line you could call, and I called them a LOT! There was always the same grumpy lady answering the line and then transferring to the counselors. I'll never forget how satisfied she sounded when she told me they now used a 900 number.

[@dariusq8894]

I have a lot of good memories of Nintendo Power. Actual game news was cool, but it was their in-dept strategy coverage which attracted me. They pioneered a system of photographing a game screen-by-screen and then collaging them together to form a map which was both artistic and useful. It was so popular that several other magazines ripped off the idea.

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

Those Metroid maps were a godsend

[@robertaustin6302]

For years my father would renew my subscription to Nintendo Power for me as a birthday present. I looked forward to it arriving every month. ❤

[@radwolf76]

11:26 Fun fact about the Howard and Nester comic: Nester used the phrase "Well excuse me" in the context of Legend of Zelda about six months BEFORE the DiC Legend of Zelda cartoon EVER aired on the Super Mario Brothers Super Show. It was Issue 7 I think, right around the time Zelda II was coming out. The context is that Nester's in a library and loudly dropped a book titled "The Adventure of Link". Since it was only other library patrons giving him dirty looks, he doesn't end the line with "Princess" but still, Nester said it first. (He then proceeds to start daydreaming about being in Hyrule. Out loud. While acting out his fantasy on top of library tables. Gets dragged out by his ear.)

[@wstine79]

. I remember my grandmother getting me the year subscription to Nintendo Power at 10 years. The claymation comics, news articles, and cheat codes for my favorite parts of the magazine

[@dolari]

Back when I worked at NOA, one of our long term reps had collected every Nintendo Power from her days as a Game Counselor up to 2010 when she was laid off. They took that collection and put it in the middle of the call center for anyone to read, right from issue #1. A few years later, one of our chat reps got a call from someone asking if we had a specific Legend of Zelda map from an issue of NP. He managed to find it, take pics with his phone, then have someone on our EMail team email it to him. Made my day when I heard that.

[@cogline9]

That's an awesome story! Thanks for sharing!

[@martingelinas1721]

I did have a subscription to Nintendo Power up until the early 90s. Had plenty of maps and guides of games I played. I have many fond memories of going over every little details in those issues as soon as I got them. I miss the Howard and Nester comics. Those pre-internet days are oddly nostalgic.

[@thisisstupid956]

Absolutely wild. I was just telling my daughter about Nintendo Power not 5 hours ago when this video was being posted. She was racing her ghost in Mario Kart and I was telling her the time I tried to win the Mario Kart 64 challenge contest the magazine was running. Told her about the Mario and Link comics and the previews of new games. She wanted to know why they don't make it anymore. I told her that people just stopped buying magazines. "Well I'd buy it!" she said.

[@octopathtraveler7006]

You should get her Nintendo Force Magazine that was mentioned in the video! I've been getting it for the past two years now. It's a lot of fun, and it even has comics and posters. It's only a little over $5/ issue on Patreon and comes out every other month. Sounds like she'd get a kick out of it!

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

Your daughter sounds like she has good taste. I'm glad our generation has those memories to pass on. It's nice to see that

[@shivasthong4924]

The era of the comics in the magazine was truly a golden era.

[@turtlered]

I remember I was gifted a subscription when there was a holiday promo that gave a free copy of Dragon Warrior. Not only were the Howard and Nester comics great but they also did a Mario & Link comic which was equally great.

[@chrishahn3834]

Issue 8 - Duck Tales was my first issue. I remember calling the Nintendo Power Hotline (the free one) when I was about 7 and I needed help hooking up the AV cable because I had only used the RF connector before that point. The game counselor answered my question really quickly then talked with me about Mario for probably 10 - 15 minutes. Asking what my favorite level was, what enemies I thought were fun, etc. It was a very memorable experience. :)

[@dougmartin2007]

The full map for Metroid was something that revitalized my love for that game. That was something tucked into a corner of one page in issue one, but it was the most valuable part of that magazine for me.

[@jwilliams7554]

I remember coming home from school and anxiously waiting for the next issue each month in the mailbox

[@bengraven]

This hit me in the feels at the end. My best friend got that first issue and I just remember the obsessive happiness of flipping through it that first weekend we held it. I didn’t get an actual subscription until near the end when I got a year for free and was getting my news online but I still smiled warmly when it arrived in the mailbox. Also; the comics were the BEST. Seeing manga about Mario, Link, and Metroid was so cool.

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

I love those comics so much. I had a friend who was a big Zelda fan and I remember showing her the LttP comic they ran. We just flipped thru the pages in awe of how great it was. As you know, comics based on games were relatively rare at the time and getting such good ones in a magazine I already got was almost like getting them for free as a bonus. My friend, Desi, liked the Super Mario comics the most and my favorite was Zelda. I hung out at her house a lot and we read those over and over again. We both loved Nintendo in general too and we bought most of our games because we saw them in NP. We both had an NES and a Game Boy (then SNES and GBC later on) and our parents were willing to buy us a few games a year so we strategized. She would get one and I would get another one and we traded back and forth. Such great memories. That was a fun time

[@pdshaw]

Not sure when I got my first subscription to NP, but it was safe to say I was HOOKED! After that, my aunt would always get me a year renewal for christmas! I had a huge run of magazines until a friend borrowed the whole box of them and I never got them back!... Along with all my MAD magazines too.

[@rmk3020]

Man, another great video. What a great reminder. I loved Nintendo Power, for many of the reasons people have already said in the comments and I really miss it. Heck, I miss print publications in general because they feel so much like a treasure trove of stuff to find and pour over rather than present articles for short attention spans online. Nintendo Power excelled in this, even for games I wasn't initially into and I would absolutely get a subscription if it ever came back. It really makes me think about all the publishers back then and how well they responded to who-knows how many customers and kids calling or writing in about countless topics. I just want to say, if you were a Game Counselor or did any sort of reply to letters in the mail, a massive THANK YOU for going above and beyond. It was a huge joy to me as a young (possibly insufferable) kid to get the incredibly kind and professional feedback and tailored responses from people like you. For Nintendo's Game counselors, I was so frustrated with the NES Legend of Zelda that I called a game counselor for help with Level-9. This was around 1992. The counselor was incredibly friendly and charitable. They mailed me maps for Zelda (which if I recall seemed to be photocopies of hand-drawn maps!), but they also threw in game secrets I had never heard of and never would have found on my own. Specifically, they had instructions for Super Mario Bros: how to get to the Minus World, and how to become Little Fire Mario. I was blown away and nobody I knew had ever heard of the latter. That and all the many letters I wrote in to Capcom (about Megaman) and Konami (about Castlevania), and Konami wrote me back with very detailed (multi-page) and heartwarming responses. Such good memories.

[@cedarvalleygaming]

I'm glad Gail's nickname was brought up, she's what made NP so great and clearly you guys did your homework. NP was my first magazine subscription starting with issue eight and ending at issue 67 so I could sub to EGM, my parents wouldn't pay for both.

[@SaintJoker42]

Howard Phillips seemed like a genius, and a decent guy. I miss the old days of gaming, such nostalgia

[@michaelturner2806]

Minor correction: The Nintendo Family Computer at its launch was only known unofficially as the Famicom, as the trademark for the word "Famicom" was owned by Sharp, and used in 1979 on a range of home cooking electronics called the "Family Convection Oven". During its early days, the marketing team at Nintendo had to be extremely careful not to use the slang term its customers used for its product. By the time the 16-bit console came about, though, Sharp and Nintendo had worked out a deal so that the new system could officially be called the Super Famicom.

[@AaronEiche]

I don't remember what my first issue was, but I remember that I got my mom to renew my subscription when they offered the Dragon Warrior Promo. I really enjoyed Nintendo Power. I even remember writing a letter to Howard Phillips when I had a question about The Super Mario Bros. 3 Cartoon that they had mentioned. I got a letter back from him, with an answer. It was an amazing thing to a kid.

[@Gildedtongue]

1:55 So, in high school gym, I managed to break my foot. It was first period, and the nurse couldn't get ahold of either of my folks, so I spent pretty much the whole day in the nurse's office. This very issue of Nintendo Power was in my backpack and I must've read it cover to cover at least eight times.

[@ChrisJ092]

No matter how many years pass, I still miss this magazine.

[@WaldoBagelTopper]

Getting a Nintendo Power magazine was an experience. All the colors and screenshots and the hope of one day playing the games. I used to love the Nestor comics. Nestor was cool and Nintendo could have made a bigger effort to make him more of an included character or mascot in the fandom. Used to love anytime anything Mario dropped in NP.

[@jasonblalock4429]

3:40 Slight correction: the Famicom did *not* have a lockout chip, which caused Nintendo a lot of quality and bootlegging problems in Japan. This led to the NES getting a lockout chip and more restrictive cart production in America. Also, those changes - plus the "seal of quality" - did double-duty by helping reassure US buyers that Nintendo was a safe investment.

[@Ray-c1r]

Thanks for ordering these for me Dad, Rest In Peace Pops, passed away 9 months ago

[@SAPProd]

Halloween 1989. The date I received my first issue of Nintendo Power. DuckTales was on the cover and I wanted the game solely based on the coverage. I got it that Christmas. I kept a subscription until I went to college and got a PlayStation (subsequently switching to PSM as my new subscription of choice, also featuring EIC Chris Slate). I lived Nintendo in the 90s, with every month having me eagerly anticipating the next issue. The Final Fantasy Strategy Guide had me planning out my playthrough long before I ever got it. It is a strong part of my childhood and lives on via Nintendo Force.

[@tipulsar85]

While I never owned a subscription to Nintendo Power, I did dabble in the local Library's collection from time to time. But had I read it in 2002, I would have probably picked up a copy of Shantae in 2002/3 instead of nearly twenty years later when Limited Run did the reprint. I'm still happy with the time I had reading it.

[@Savantrovert]

I still remember having to explain to my grandmother why I was making so many long distance phone calls to Redmond, WA.

[@OldManTheseDays]

Getting this magazine in the mail in the 80s felt like Christmas. It was the only place I knew about to see upcoming games. When that issue arrived in the mail, you could be sure that the next day on the bus to school that EVERYONE was combing through it. When it first came out, that magazine was a BIG deal.

[@jmartindale24]

Thanks for the great video! Nintendo Power was like an oracle for me and my friends when we were kids. I remember my cousin gave me the Zelda 3 Link to the Past issue (which I still have) to help me get all the heart containers…great memories from a great magazine. Thanks again.

[@dontfeedthelunatic]

I had every issues until a basement flood ruined them all. I only had to call they help 900 number once, they helped me in like 3 minutes, IIRC I was stuck on progress in Shadowrun on the SNES for like 2 months before my mom allowed me to call.

[@BullseyeRey]

The final issue cover referencing the first was a great touch.

[@davidmatoushek9111]

I have an affinity for this magazine. So much so that I actually have the final issue, as well as hanging up a poster on my wall with all the covers of each issue. It is a shame to see this go, but it will forever live on in the hearts of every Nintendo fan.

[@borrellipatrick]

When the magazine ended, it still had around 400k subscribers. Just Nintendo wanted it to end and well, Nintendo Directs and shows like Nintendo Minute on their KZbin channel became a thing

[@Mallen151]

I never had a Nintendo Power subscription. However, my middle school library always got new issues. They usually put the newest one out on Friday. If I saw it before someone else got it, I’d check it out immediately then spend the whole weekend going through it cover to cover!

[@robertgorham2985]

i was a long long member when I was young. I loved the ability to call nintendo directly through the numbers in the back. I would just ask, "What are you working on?" Hearing about the "Dolphin" before the n64 came out was awesome. I might have been a lil lonely. 😀 Also, the game comics! And also, the Star Fox Ship model!

[@RS-mu3ci]

I was a NP Subscriber from Jan 1990 to 2001. Every time I got an issue in the mail it made me really happy. Loved the layout and maps. The Posters were really cool, and lined my walls up with them as a kid.

[@Randomark3087]

Growing up in the 90s, I LOVED Nintendo Power. It's prettg surprising that it lasted so long. That's cool that they brought back Nester as an adult, for the final issue.

[@ayufever1978]

i still have my first issue of nintendo power!!!! i was in third grade and we got the NES in 1987. my dad and i always played the zelda games together, (from the very first game and lasted until twilight princess) and the magazine was something i would read and get excited over games and then we would go to the store and buy more games. the 80s was the best time to be alive 😊 i still try to get him back into gaming but he keeps resisting 🙃

[@Belgand]

As a subscriber to the Fun Club News it was so utterly amazing when the first issue came in the mail. Just the very idea of an entire magazine devoted to Nintendo seemed so incredible at the time. Something that the content more than backed up. I was an instant subscriber.

[@JSC178]

Right??? I remember getting it in the Summer of '88. I was going to the YMCA summer sessions and these kids were all crowded around this one kid who was showing his copy to everyone. He was looking at the Counselor's Corner page with Mike Tyson on it and on the other page was Howard & Nester. We were in awe!!! Such a great time to be alive as a kid.

[@MrJamess1982]

Just like many of the cartoons covered on this channel, Nintendo Power was a staple of my Childhood and had me looking forward to every new issue for gaming insights.

[@xandercruz900]

I've been lucky to find tons of them at garage sales. My Super Mario 3 issue sits in a frame on my wall.

[@hezekiahramirez6965]

Thank you for doing this video! I loved Nintendo Power! I used to make sure I got all the issues with comics. They were all surprisingly good. I read Disney Adventures for the same reason. I thought of the comics as a cool bonus feature. I understood they were included in the price of the magazine but it felt like I was getting fun entertaining comics almost for free. It helped solidify my love for comics and graphic novels. They were very formative experiences for me. It's so nice to see creators like you talking about things I love

[@Thraeryn]

The _Nintendo Power_ guides to specific games were like having a Chilton maintenance manual for a car: If you had ANY question, wanted ANY info, the answer was in there. My dad and I were able to basically memorize the first _Final Fantasy_ with the _Nintendo Power Guide_ . (Damn, did he love those first top-down JRPGs! 😃)

[@registereduser]

Man, I never owned or played that game, but I must have reread that issue a million times.

[@markferreri5814]

Wow . . . I also collected Chiltons for all my old cars. Do they still print those? I haven’t seen one in decades

[@shepisawesome]

Nintendo Power was always something to look forward to every month!

[@wilnewman5372]

I still have my issue 1 and a lot of other issues from the late 80's. I had a Subscription to Nintendo Power for 2 or 3 years in High School. My friends and I all shared games with each other. It was great times back then. When we were not outside riding bikes, playing sports, walking etc.. we were playing video games or watching movies. Great times back then.

[@IrocZIV]

Only got hand-me-down issues from friends, but they were so cool back then. Hard to describe how exciting it was to read up on what was coming out. It actually made the games more exciting than they otherwise would have been.

[@AirWolf2600]

My fondest memory of Nintendo Power is, in elementary school, I had to go to on-site after school care, anyway there was a kid who had a subscription and every time he’d get a new issue he’d bring it and a bunch of us would swarm and go over each issue. Good times! I still have a couple of issues that I had gotten of the newsstand.

[@logantrimble006]

I'm watching this while reading my old Nintendo Power issues.

[@VOAN]

In the 90s, Nintendo Power, Game Pro, and Electronic Gaming Monthly were the 3 giants of videogame magazines that I trust the most. I trust those more than Game Informers, Sega Visions, and PC World magazines.

[@Dj.D25]

Agree, I felt those 3 magazines covered games the best.

[@ProBreakers]

I remember getting that first issue in 6th grade and going through it over and over with my friend while we waited for Super Mario Bros 2 to come out.

[@SpiderHam]

I was a Nintendo Power kid! My older brother brought home a copy of the first issue and I was instantly hooked! I bought every issue I could and when they had they’re players guide special I saved up to subscribe! I wanted that Mario Bros. 3 players guide so bad!!

[@Cerealkillerw76]

We were called game counselors. It was a fun job. I will always love that scene in the Wizard.

[@btetschner]

A+ video! What a cool piece of history. That was such a fun magazine, would be great to experience that again!

[@covcova]

I was a Genesis owner as a kid, so I didn’t have a huge use for Nintendo Power. I did look at it on occasion, and was very jealous that Sega didn’t have a similar magazine

[@Dj.D25]

Sega has Sega Visions magazine. Which I thought was okay. Though I do recall not really seeing it in stores like Nintendo Power. Sega Visions mostly had some tips and tricks and reviews. They didn't really have walkthroughs and maps like Nintendo Power did.

[@theaustinfound8380]

Was already a subscriber who nastalgically watches all your videos I was so stoked when I searched Nintendo power magazines & your video popped up, I just got a huge vintage Nintendo estate sale haul with every magazine strat guide 4 consoles posters & other rare stuff so copl

[@gnohman8580]

My first Nintendo Power issue was the Tetris one and I kept my subscription up into sometime in the N64 coverage. I ordered all the back issues I was missing and still have all the magazines. I'll still sometimes break them out when watching retro gaming streams. Somewhere, I still have my Nintendo Power POGs, too

[@walterlucero5757]

I was more of a GamePro / EGM - EGM 2 reader, but I do remember writing to Nintendo Power for help because I had no idea how to use my Power Glove.

[@FearlessSon]

I confess, as a kid I dialed the Nintendo councilor hotline just to talk to someone about video games. I also had a subscription to Nintendo Power for a year. And I didn't even own a Nintendo system!

[@registereduser]

Oh my god did I love that magazine. One memory that sticks out is while I never owned or played that first Final Fantasy, and can’t tell you how many times I read the FF strategy guide issue. It made that game seem like the coolest thing ever to young me.

[@briangarvey6895]

My subscription started with Issue Number 3, and it kept going until about 1996 or so, when I unfortunately through my entire collection in the trash for some reason. Nintendo power and its secrets were invaluable in the days before you could look up any game code online.

[@anthonycerulli1423]

I remember getting Nintendo power just for the walkthroughs! Especially for the super Metroid one!

[@JustSomeCanadianGuy]

I remember finding out about the N64 and Virtual Boy with this magazine! I loved it so much!

[@gundambassexe31]

I remember Nintendo power magazine! Nostalgia! 🤩🤩❤️❤️❤️🎮🎮🎮

[@WewbaccaTheChookie]

My High school friend Isaac called into the tip line so much that he became friends with the operators. That somehow turned into his name being a secret code in a NES game called “Low G Man”, him being hired at Nintendo, and at some point providing the voice for Toad in Mario Kart 64, and having his vocals blended with someone else to create the voice for Eyedol in Killer Instinct on SNES. He was even spotted on Mtv when they did a feature on Nintendo…

[@jimgillespie6109]

I've never been much of a gamer, but I love the Killer Instinct arcade game. When it was being adapted to the home system, I bought Nintendo Power at Walmart and eventually got a subscription. That was about the time that NP magazine released an issue with KI mini-comic. Once the excitement over KI and its sequel was over, I was done with the mag.

[@cataquackwarlord5389]

Thanks for letting me know about the Nintendo Power successors - Podcast and Force! I loved Nintendo Power, so I'm really excited that there's still something like that out there.

[@Trekapedia]

Love the videos and ty again. This brings back great memories of Nintendo Power and Gamepro! I was watching the Savage Dragon video you did and saw you talk about USA Cartoon Express. Would you ever do a full video about the lineup and its rise and fall? Ty again guys and keep kicking butt!

[@chrisluyk]

Just want to say you’re exceptional at this, Dan. I’m always impressed while watching. You go above and beyond with your info.

[@Ragesauce]

The smartest thing Nintendo Power could do right now, is make a reprint. a literal 1:1 of their originals, just like it was all those years ago. Do you know how many people would love to see a new fresh reprint in their mailbox every month?

[@joeblankenship377]

I had a Sega Genesis too. The marketing definitely worked on me and I remember feeling jealous when I'd go to my friends' houses and play SNES. And I remember buying more GamePro magazines than I did Nintendo Power. Luckily, my little brother got a SNES for Christmas after we'd played on the Genesis for a few years.

[@grantmiller4646]

Great video! I love your channel. When I was 13, I did receive a couple of the Nintendo Fun Club newsletters which I loved as I didn't know that I was getting them, let alone for free. I didn't get the first issue of Nintendo Power. Until this video I didn't even know I would have had one if my family and I weren't posted halfway across the country. I did eventually get a subscription to Nintendo Power and enjoyed it for what it was. I liked the news on games the most. It didn't matter in the end because I sold my Nintendo and all remnants of it for a Sega Genesis and later, my favourite, Sega CD. After that it was on to PC gaming for me and I never looked back.

[@Joes_Z-Music]

I have a compete collection of Nintendo Fun Club News, Nintendo Power, and Nintendo Force magazine (to date). The old Nintendo Powers are something magical. I stopped subscribing after it shifted away from having game guides and tips in each issue and started doing more news coverage. I felt the guides, particularly the quality of the maps, were the one thing that set Nintendo Power apart from other publications.

[@striderreborn1467]

Most of my Nintendo Power memories stem from how my middle and high school used to have issues during the mid-late 90s at their libraries during the transition of Super Nintendo to N64. I often copied codes into a notebook or hand-made strategy guides I remember making from the ground up on certain games. It was also around this time when I slowly discovered the joys of the internet, but I still revisited the books and at one point my Aunt even had a subscription for her Kids. Eventually, they gave those issues to me and due to space and having to move, I ended up giving them to a game store I'm a regular at knowing they'd have better use to someone else...

[@happiaxxident]

Nice! I still have majority of my issues, most with poster inserts! Also, AIR RAIDERS for life!

[@MightyMurloc]

I'll admit that as a early 90's kid, by the time I was old enough to Game, the 8 and 16 Bit eras had, for the most part, passed. But looking at reviews of 8-bit, or even earlier, games designed to be as convoluted and obtuse as possibly to increase longevity and sales of guides...I'm just glad gaming outgrew that by the time we got to Crash Bandicoot.

[@alexgeorge501]

i used to have a subscription to Nintendo power magazine back in grade school in the 90's and into the early 2000's all the way up to it's discontinuation, thanks for sharing this awesome video!

[@darktetsuya]

13:00 okay I thought for sure I was seeing things, LOL!! I read Nintendo Power but don't think I was ever subscribed (though in the early 90s I did have subs to both EGM and GamePro, but those are probably stories for another time!) NP definitely helped teach me all the latest codes, though to be sure. From the Konami Code to all the Megaman passwords even the various codes for the SNES Street Fighter games! I did make sure to grab the final issue it was a huge sentimental thing and I knew I had to grab one before they were all gone.

[@TheRogueWolf]

This one hits different. Not only was I a long-time subscriber to the magazine, but I called their counselor hotline once, over a specific part of the SNES _Dungeon Master_ game. I spent a bit of time chatting with the counselor about the game. My parents were not terribly happy about the phone bill that month.

[@rig85]

I had subscriptions to practically every U.S. game magazines. Nintendo Power, EGM, EGM2, Gamepro, Tips ‘N Tricks, PSM, OPM, Gamefan…. Truly shaped my childhood. I still have basically 99% of the magazines in storage these days.

[@actionvestadventure]

Ah memories... i worked at Nintendo back in 2000 helping people get their consoles connected (damn VCRs!) and renewing Nintendo Power subscriptions. While i wasn't a play counselor, we still had access to all the databases they used so it was fun perusing games while working.

[@thecunninlynguist]

I was a subscriber from 96 to around 2000. I loved getting it in the mail. But towards the end of my sub the format changed and they had more advertising...like "regular" gaming mags. By then I just switched to EGM.