Nintendo Power was a video game news and strategy magazine created by Nintendo of America. It first came out in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. At first, the magazine was published monthly by Nintendo of America, then later by other companies. In December 2007, the magazine was handed over to Future US, which is the American branch of the British publisher Future plc. Over 24 years, Nintendo Power was one of the longest-running video game magazines in the United States and Canada.
On August 21, 2012, Nintendo said it would not renew its contract with Future Publishing. As a result, Nintendo Power stopped being published in December 2012. The last issue, number 285, was released on December 11, 2012.
On December 20, 2017, a podcast version of Nintendo Power was started. The podcast was hosted by Chris Slate, who was the magazine's former editor-in-chief. It continued until 2023 and is currently on a break as of 2026.
History
Nintendo Fun Club News came before Nintendo Power as a free newsletter sent to club members. In mid-1988, it was stopped after seven issues and replaced by Nintendo Power. Nintendo Power was created in 1988 by Gail Tilden, a marketing manager at Nintendo of America. The first issue, dated July/August 1988, featured the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2. This issue had 3.6 million copies printed, and every Nintendo Fun Club member received a free copy.
From the start, Nintendo Power focused on giving game strategies, reviews, and previews of new games. In mid-1998, the magazine first allowed ads from outside companies, which had not been allowed before. At first, ads only appeared on the first and last pages of the magazine, so the main content was not interrupted by advertisements.
In July 2005, Nintendo Power changed its design to attract a smaller group of gamers. The new design included a new logo and different article formats. Along with the changes, the magazine placed more attention on Nintendo fans, added staff reviews, and included sections for discussing rumors and fan mail (called "Pulse"). A new section called "Community" was also improved. Nintendo offered a promotion where people could register three Nintendo products online to get a free three-issue trial subscription. Later, the magazine shifted its focus from strategies and cheat codes to mainly news, previews, and articles about upcoming games.
On September 19, 2007, Nintendo announced that Future US, a large magazine publisher, would begin publishing Nintendo Power. The first issue under this partnership was released in October as issue #222 (December 2007). The magazine’s circulation was increased to 13 issues a year, with an extra holiday issue added. The bonus issue was no longer published after 2011.
On August 21, 2012, Nintendo said it would not renew its agreement with Future Publishing, and Nintendo Power would stop being published after 24 years. The final issue was released in December 2012. Senior Editor Chris Hoffman said the team would "try to make the last issues memorable." Nintendo did not take an active role in discussions about continuing the magazine online.
Nintendo Power returned on December 20, 2017, as a podcast. The podcast uses the original logo design.
Format
The magazine was started by Gail Tilden with help from Howard Phillips, who was Nintendo's first Fun Club president and a big fan of video games. The Fun Club News only covered games made by Nintendo, but Nintendo Power was created to review games made by companies allowed by Nintendo, such as Konami and Capcom. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the magazine's mascot was Nester, a character designed by staff at Work House, Japan. Nester first appeared in a comic strip called "Howard and Nester." After Howard Phillips left the company, Nester became the magazine's only mascot. Early issues included a two-page comic called "Howard and Nester," which was later replaced by "Nester's Adventures." This comic was reduced to one page and eventually removed. Later, Mario became the magazine's mascot. In the early 2000s, the magazine's Senior Writer, Alan Averill, became a mascot. Averill avoided being photographed and was instead represented by a plush toy of a Blue Slime from the game Dragon Quest. Fans wanted to see Averill's real face, but the magazine only showed the toy and claimed Averill was actually a Blue Slime. Eventually, Averill left the magazine and joined Nintendo of America's localization team. To this day, most fans have never seen a real photo of Averill. A recurring joke in the magazine during the first half of 2005 was including a photo of Mr. T in the "Player's Pulse" section. Later, jokes about Chuck Norris and writer Chris Shepperd became common.
In the early 1990s, the magazine ran a special promotion: it gave away free copies of the NES game Dragon Warrior (called Dragon Quest in Japan) to every new subscriber. The Dragon Quest series was very popular in Japan, and Nintendo hoped the North American version would also succeed and help grow interest in role-playing games. However, the game did not sell as well as expected, leaving many unsold cartridges. The promotion helped Nintendo get rid of these extra games and added thousands of new subscribers. At the same time, Nintendo sent VHS tapes to subscribers with videos about upcoming games.
After the Super NES was released, the magazine included long comic strips based on Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. When these stories ended, they were replaced by similar multi-issue stories about Star Fox, Super Metroid, and later games like Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Blast Corps. The magazine also had comics based on the animated series Pokémon and Kirby: Right Back at Ya!. Near the end, it included short excerpts from Custom Robo and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, a brief Metroid Prime comic, and a story translated from the Japanese version of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
Official Guides from Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power created a series of strategy magazines called Official Guides from Nintendo Power, beginning with The Official Nintendo Player's Guide. In May 1990, Nintendo Power changed from a bi-monthly magazine to a monthly magazine. Some issues were used as strategy guides for single games instead of the guides. However, only four such issues were made before Nintendo hired Prima Games to produce the official guides.
Nintendo Power Line
The Nintendo Power Line was a telephone service that offered tips for playing games on Nintendo consoles, like the Nintendo Entertainment System. It operated from the release of the first issue of Nintendo Power in 1988 until June 2010, when it stopped operating because people used the Internet more. The service was briefly restarted with recorded messages from November 11 to November 13, 2016, to celebrate the release of the NES Classic Edition.
Spin-off magazines
In 2001, Nintendo Power created a new type of magazine called Nintendo Power Advance, which focused on the Game Boy Advance and its games. The first issue was free for people who had subscribed to the magazine, and it was also sold at newsstands. A total of four issues were printed, with the last one serving as a strategy guide for Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2.
In 1998, after the release of Pokémon for the Game Boy, Nintendo Power included six smaller magazines called Pokémon Power, which provided tips and strategies for playing the game.
In 1989, a smaller version of the magazine named Pocket Power was given out at movie theaters showing The Wizard.
Nester
Nester is the mascot of Nintendo Power. He was created by Howard Phillips, who was called the "President" of the Nintendo Fun Club and a former editor of Nintendo Power. Nester was designed to be a supporting character in Phillips' comic strip, Howard & Nester. The comic strips often promoted new video games, sometimes using dream sequences where Nester appeared as a character from a specific game. From 1989 to 1993, the Nintendo Power Awards gave out trophies shaped like Nester. These awards were called "Nesters" in the magazine, as a reference to the Oscars.
In the June 1991 issue (Volume 25), Phillips was no longer included in the comic strip after his real-life counterpart left Nintendo to work for LucasArts. The strip was renamed Nester's Adventures in the next issue and continued until Volume 55 (December 1993). In Nintendo Power issue #100, Nester appeared as a college student. He returned in issue #231, which marked the magazine's twentieth anniversary, where he was shown as a grown man with a son who was new to Nintendo. Nester's last appearance in Nintendo Power was in the final issue, Volume 285, in a comic titled Nester & Max, where he was seen reading and expressing sadness about the magazine ending.
Nester appeared in several video games released during his time in the magazine. He first appeared as a commentator in NES Play Action Football. He also appeared in the ending of To the Earth. Nester was the main character in Nester's Funky Bowling for the Virtual Boy, where his sister, Hester, was introduced. The character Lark in Pilotwings 64 for the Nintendo 64 was based on Nester. Many NES games included the name "NESTER" as a preset name on high-score lists or as a default character name, such as in To the Earth. The original NES version of Dragon Warrior included references to both Howard and Nester in character dialogue, but these were removed in the later Game Boy Color version. Nester was mentioned in one line of dialogue in the game StarTropics. A DLC microgame in WarioWare D.I.Y., created by Nintendo Power and titled Funky Boxing (a loose reference to Nester's Funky Bowling), does not explicitly mention Nester. However, if the game is opened in the editor, the player's boxer is named "NESTER."
Podcast
On December 20, 2017, Nintendo of America announced that the Nintendo Power podcast would return. The podcast is hosted by Chris Slate, who was the former editor-in-chief of the original Nintendo Power magazine. In the first episode, Slate explained that the podcast was a "passion project" for Nintendo and that he wanted to bring back Nintendo Power. He also mentioned that the first episode's format was experimental and that the schedule for future episodes had not yet been decided. Later in the episode, Slate interviewed the creators of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and talked about the Nintendo Switch.
On May 12, 2023, an episode about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was released. In this episode, Chris Slate announced that it would be the final planned episode of the podcast. He then said that there might still be additional special episodes released in the future.