Nintendo Power was a magazine that provided news and strategies about video games. It was created by Nintendo of America and first published in July or August 1988 as the official printed magazine for North America. At first, the magazine was published monthly by Nintendo of America, later by other companies, and in December 2007, it was contracted to Future US, the American branch of the British publisher Future plc. The magazine was published for 24 years, making it one of the longest-running video game magazines in the United States and Canada.
On August 21, 2012, Nintendo announced it would not renew its contract with Future Publishing. As a result, Nintendo Power stopped being published in December. The last issue, number 285, was released on December 11, 2012.
On December 20, 2017, a podcast version of Nintendo Power was launched. It continued until 2023 and was hosted by Chris Slate, who was the former editor-in-chief of the magazine. The podcast is currently not active 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. The new magazine was started by Gail Tilden, a marketing manager at Nintendo of America, in 1988. The first issue, dated July/August 1988, focused on the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2. This issue had 3.6 million copies printed, and every member of the Nintendo Fun Club received a free copy.
From the start, Nintendo Power emphasized game strategies, reviews, and previews of upcoming games. In mid-1998, the magazine first allowed outside advertising, which had previously only included Nintendo-related products. Early ads only appeared on the first and last few pages, leaving the rest of the magazine free of advertisements.
In July 2005, Nintendo Power introduced a new design to attract a limited gaming audience. This included a new logo and article format. Along with these changes, the magazine focused more on Nintendo fans, staff reviews, and fan service, such as an expanded reader mail section called "Pulse" and a revised "Community" section. Nintendo also offered a promotion where registering three Nintendo (or affiliated) products through Nintendo.com would give readers a free three-issue trial subscription. Later, the magazine shifted its focus from game strategies and cheat codes to 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 official issue under this partnership was released in October as issue #222 (December 2007). It was also announced that the magazine would be published 13 times a year, with an extra holiday season bonus issue. The bonus issue was no longer produced after 2011.
On August 21, 2012, Nintendo decided not to renew its licensing agreement with Future Publishing, and Nintendo Power ceased publication after 24 years. The final issue was released in December 2012. Senior Editor Chris Hoffman said his team would "try to make the last issues memorable." Nintendo reportedly did not take an active role in discussions about continuing the magazine online.
Nintendo Power officially 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 person who really enjoyed playing games. While the Fun Club News only covered games made by Nintendo, Nintendo Power was created to review games made by companies allowed to produce games for 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 the magazine's comic strip "Howard and Nester." After Howard Phillips left the company, Nester became the magazine's only mascot. Early editions of the magazine included a two-page comic called "Howard and Nester," which was later replaced by "Nester's Adventures." This comic was eventually reduced to one page and then removed completely. Later, Mario took over as the magazine's mascot. In the early 2000s, the magazine introduced another mascot: Alan Averill, a Senior Writer. Averill avoided being photographed and was instead represented by a plush toy of a Blue Slime from the game Dragon Quest. Fans often asked to see Averill's real face, but the magazine continued to use photos of the toy and claimed that Alan was actually a Blue Slime. Eventually, Averill left Nintendo Power to work in Nintendo of America's localization department. To this day, most fans have never seen a real picture of Averill. A recurring joke in the magazine's "Player's Pulse" section during the first half of 2005 involved including a photo of Mr. T. Later, jokes about Chuck Norris and writer Chris Shepperd became common features.
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 be successful and help promote the RPG genre. However, the game did not sell as well as expected, leaving Nintendo with many unsold cartridges. The promotion helped the company sell these games and added thousands of new subscribers to the magazine. At the same time, Nintendo sent VHS tapes to subscribers with videos about upcoming games.
After the release of the Super NES, the magazine included long, ongoing 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 comics based on Star Fox, Super Metroid, and later games for the Nintendo 64, such as Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Blast Corps. The magazine also featured comics based on the animated series Pokémon and Kirby: Right Back at Ya! Toward the end, it included short excerpts from Custom Robo and Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. It also had a very short Metroid Prime comic and a story based on the Japanese version of the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games.
Official Guides from Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power created a series of strategy magazines called Official Guides from Nintendo Power, starting with The Official Nintendo Player's Guide. In May 1990, Nintendo Power changed from publishing a magazine every two months to a magazine every month. Some of these monthly issues were used as strategy guides for single games instead of the previous guides. However, only four of these issues were made before Nintendo hired another company, Prima Games, to produce the official guides.
Nintendo Power Line
The Nintendo Power Line was a help line with people working there who gave tips about playing games on Nintendo consoles, such as the Nintendo Entertainment System. It operated from when the first issue of Nintendo Power was published in 1988 until June 2010, when it closed because the internet became more widely used. The hotline 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 published a 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 already subscribed to Nintendo Power, and it was also sold at newsstands. Four issues of Nintendo Power Advance were printed, with the final issue serving as a guide with tips and tricks for Super Mario World: Super Mario Advance 2.
In 1998, when Pokémon was released for the Game Boy, Nintendo Power published six small magazines called Pokémon Power, which focused on giving tips and strategies for the game.
In 1989, a smaller edition of the magazine named Pocket Power was given out at movie theaters showing the film 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 the main character in Phillips' comic strip, Howard & Nester. The comic strips usually promoted new video games, often using fantasy scenes where Nester appeared as a character from a specific game. From 1989 to 1993, the Nintendo Power Awards gave out trophies shaped like Nester, which were called "Nesters" in the magazine, similar to the Oscars.
In the June 1991 issue (Volume 25), Phillips left the comic strip after he left Nintendo to work for LucasArts. The comic was renamed Nester's Adventures in the next issue and continued until Volume 55 (December 1993). In the June 1991 issue, Nester was shown as a college student. He later appeared in issue #100 as a young adult and in issue #231, the magazine's 20th anniversary, 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 is shown reading and sad about the magazine ending.
Nester appeared in several video games 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 inspired by Nester. Some NES games had "NESTER" as a default name on high-score lists or as a character name, such as in To the Earth. The original NES version of Dragon Warrior included lines mentioning both Howard and Nester, but this was removed in the later Game Boy Color version. Nester was also mentioned in one line of dialogue in the game StarTropics. A DLC microgame in WarioWare D.I.Y., created by Nintendo Power and called Funky Boxing (a reference to Nester's Funky Bowling), does not show Nester, but 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 Nintendo Power, a podcast, would return. The podcast is hosted by Chris Slate, who was the former head editor of the original Nintendo Power magazine. In the first episode, Chris Slate said the podcast was a "passion project" for Nintendo, meaning it came from the company's enthusiasm. He also mentioned that the first episode was trying out a new way to present the content and that the number of future episodes had not yet been decided. Later in the episode, Chris 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 last regular episode of the podcast. However, he also said that there might be additional special episodes in the future.