Nintendo Power to cease publication

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/08/source-nintendo-power-magazine-to-cease-publication/

Gamers of a certain age likely remember the days when their main fix of information about new and upcoming video games came in the form of the monthlyNintendo Powermagazine that was delivered directly to their mailbox. That experience is set to become yet another relic of a past era, as Ars Technica has learned that Future Publishing is planning to stop publishing the magazine.

Nintendo Poweris one of the longest-running game magazines in the country, having been published continuously since the summer of 1988, when it started as a bi-monthly outgrowth of the previous Nintendo Fun Club newsletter. Nintendo produced and distributed the magazine (with articles that were often just thinly veiled marketing copy) from 1989 through late 2007, when it started contracting the brand out for a more independent angle from tech-and-game-focused Future Publishing.

But our source says that Nintendo, which was always "difficult to work with," was uninterested in renewing that contract or in taking part in a number of digital initiatives that Future saw as necessary for the long-term health of the brand. He added that Nintendo doesn't seem interested in taking over direct control of the magazine again (Nintendo and Future representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story).

Nintendo Powereditors and staffers were told of the magazine's impending shuttering last week, the source said, and are currently being transitioned to work on other Future properties, including GamesRadar andMacLifemagazine. The move should not affect Future's other gaming magazines, which include official periodicals for the PlayStation and Xbox brands, as well as Best Buy's@Gamer.

It's unclear exactly how many more issues ofNintendo Powerare planned after the recently published August issue (its 281st), or how current subscribers will be compensated.Nintendo Powerenjoys a total monthly readership of 475,000, according to Future press materials.

Nintendo Power's shuttering comes during a time of continuing struggles for the US magazine industry, which saw overall circulation numbersdecline 10 percentin the first half of 2012. Gamers have increasingly come to rely on online sources for more timely and less space-limited gaming coverage, leading the venerableGamePromagazine to stop publishinglate last yearafter 23 years in print.

There is at least one bright spot in the world of printed game magazines.Game Informerrose to becomethe third most popular magazine in the countrythis year, with nearly 6 million subscribers that were mostly gained through its point-of-sale relationship with mega-retailer GameStop.

Arstechnica

Had to happen someday but it's still pretty sad, after how long it's been around.

Lasted amazingly long to be fair.

Man.. I used to be subscribed to them when I was a nintendo-only gamer in 2002-2006... I still have all of them. :(

Glad Gameinformer is still doing well.

Thank GOD for GI's biased ad space reviews. I don't know what I'd do without them. 80 pages of ad space and 5 pages of reviews? Yes please!

On topic, it's sad to see Nintendo Power go, but they weren't exactly unbiased either. It was cool to have a magazine devoted to Nintendo products and games, but magazines are a dying medium and it's understandable if they weren't interested in continuing it.

Seems appropriate, considering the state of NintendoBlack_Knight_00

This.

At the very least, the name wasn't very appropriate any longer.

I remember trying to read a couple of issues back in the nineties, and the whole thing read like propaganda. Only in this industry could such a magazine exist for nearly three decades. I have to say that at least Nintendo Power was somewhat honest in what it was -- there are many other sites and publications that are equally shltty that try to feign some false sense of dignity or objectivity, and that is truly disgusting.

Seems appropriate, considering the state of NintendoBlack_Knight_00

Sad, it had a long run though.

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"]Seems appropriate, considering the state of Nintendothom_maytees

It's a damn shame too since I just started getting back into Nintendo Power all these years where the last time I bought an issue of Nintendo Power was back in 1994.

Never even bought any of the newer issues these years so I dunno whats new in the magazine these days anyway.

[QUOTE="Black_Knight_00"]Seems appropriate, considering the state of Nintendothom_maytees