It looks like Nintendo Power — one of the longest-running video game publications — is shutting down.
For more than 23 years the publication has offered monthly coverage of the Nintendo gaming ecosystem. In 2007, Nintendo stopped publishing the magazine and shifted responsibilities to Future Publishing.
As first reported by Ars Technica, the venerable brand is preparing to shut down after Nintendo and Future decided not to renew a publishing contract.
According to Ars Technica's source, Nintendo seemed uninterested in taking over publication of the magazine themselves or in creating more digital initiatives to prolong the health of the brand.
Nintendo Power editors initially tweeted what looked to be confirmation of the magazine's demise but those tweets have now been removed. Writers at Nintendo Power are reportedly being transitioned to other Future publications.
Nintendo Power is just the latest video game magazine to go out of print. In late 2011, GamePro ceased publication after 23 years. In 2009, Ziff Davis stopped publishing Electronic Gaming Monthly — although the magazine was revived by a different publisher in 2010.
If you were anything like me, large portions of your childhood were spent buried in the pages of the original Nintendo Power. I would spend hours pouring over each issue, reading about upcoming games and existing favorites. The first hundred issues or so are tucked away in my parent's basement, living on as mementos of childhood I'm still unready to discard.
In honor of Nintendo Power's 24 years in print, we've tracked down ten of our favorite covers. From Super Mario Bros. to Metroid to Zelda, we've rounded up some of our favorites from the past.
The first issue of Nintendo Power was released in the summer of 1988, and featured Super Mario Bros. 2 on the cover.
The next issue featured a graphic cover of a beheaded Dracula to promote Castlevania II.
Mega Man 2 was featured on the cover of the July/August 1989 cover.
In 1990, Nintendo Power released a gigantic guide to Super Mario Bros. 3, which was Nintendo's first blockbuster hit in America.
Released later in 1990, Nintendo Power devoted a cover to the LucasArts classic Maniac Mansion.
Nintendo's heroic female Samus Aran was the cover inspiration for the December 1991 Nintendo Power promoting Metroid II for Game Boy.
In April 1993, Nintendo Power featured a cover with Star Fox, the intergalactic fighter pilot. The weirdest part? His metal legs.
In 1994, Nintendo Power were treated to a cover with Nintendo's most famous apes to promote the SNES classic Donkey Kong Country.
The disaster that was the Virtual Boy was promoted on a 1995 issue of Nintendo Power.
The first Legend of Zelda to jump into the third dimension got its own Nintendo Power cover in 1998.
Share your Nintendo Power memories with us in the comments!
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