Nintendo Power

[no.1gamer]

I just received my last issue of Nintendo Power in the mail and I’m wondering if I should renew my subscription. I’ve been a subscriber for about 4 years now, but I don’t think I’m going to renew my subscription this time.

I will start by saying that the “reviews” in this magazine are so biased that I find no credibility in them anymore. All Nintendo games score consistently higher than games from any other developer.

Well biased reviews aside, I have basically just used this magazine as a source of information for my Gamecube. It provides lots of information on upcoming games and much of it is exclusive.

But ironically my latest copy (the one that says “This is your last issue!”) has perhaps let me down for the last time. NBA Live 2004 received a poor “review” from Nintendo Power magazine. I use the term “review” loosely because the review literally consists of 2 sentences. In fact that’s the only coverage of this game I’ve seen in this magazine at all. There is no real information about NBA Live 2004 in the entire magazine (or any previous issue) anywhere. And I have yet to see a review from any other source that gives NBA Live 2004 such a bad score that Nintendo Power gave it.

In Nintendo’s ignorance they’ve lost Sega’s ESPN (formerly the 2K series) simulation sports lineup. So I would think that Nintendo Power would promote EA’s sport simulation lineup respectively. This is not the case. I wouldn’t have even known about this game if I hadn’t seen it at Best Buy then did research on the internet. These sport simulation games are big sellers on the Sony Playstation 2 and Microsoft Xbox. Yet for some reason Nintendo seems to ignore them completely. So why isn’t this game being advertised by Nintendo’s main promotional tool (which is what Nintendo Power really is). Are they still bitter about the NBA Courtside failure?

Now I’m not completely opposed to Nintendo Power because they do provide good coverage of Nintendo games. When a big game like Metroid or Zelda is on the horizon every NP subscriber will know about it. And I’ll know everything there is to know about it, which is a good thing.

I’m also getting annoyed with the Gameboy Advance coverage because I don’t have one. Therefore half of the magazine is useless to me. And I don’t care much for the marketing towards younger children. All the mail they print in the player’s pulse is obviously written by little kids. While some of the, “I love Kirby!!!” mail is kind of cute, I’m sure that they get a truckload of mail from adult gamers with more important questions than, “How does Mario fly with a Raccoon tail?”

So here are my questions to you guys:

Are there any other Nintendo Gamecube exclusive magazines out there that are less biased than NP? I would like a magazine that provides information on all games for the Gamecube not just the 1st party games.

[Allisen1987]

I don't know of any Gamecube exclusive magazines. I personally gave up on Nintendo power. They are very biased like you said and they are kiddy too. I really like Electronic Gaming Montlhy, they seem to cover everything and are not biased.

[GameLegend]

Let me get this straight...
You are complaining that a magazine owned by Nintendo is being biased, in favouring Nintendo games?
no1gamer, dont make me point out the obvious.

[no.1gamer]

<div class=\"smallfont\">Let me get this straight...
You are complaining that a magazine owned by Nintendo is being biased, in favouring Nintendo games?
no1gamer, dont make me point out the obvious.</div>

It's not just that I'm upset about the biased attitude. But rather NBA Live 2004 was ignored all together. Obviously the Nintendo games will recieve more attention than 3rd party games. But no game should be completely ignored. There are also other reasons why I don't like this publication, as stated in my original post.

[shogun]

Most multi-plat magazines cover GC better than Nintendo Power does. There are a hell of a lot less biased, and their content doesn't look like it was written by a pack of trained monkeys. EGM is easily a better bet.

[no.1gamer]

Well, I never renewed my NP subscription. Sure I'll miss it but I now have a Computer Games subscription. Of course it doesn't have any Gamecube coverage, but it's pretty sweet. I guess I'll have to use the web as my source of info. on the GCN for time being...

[Elysian]

I've bought Nintendo Power of the rack and it is an absolutely terrible magazine. I have a subscription right now but I don't read it. The only reason I even bothered to get it was to get the Zelda Compilation Disc I got along with it. The reviews in NP are horrid. They seem so happy to have something to play they'll usually give good review scores to anything. It's so bad that part of me things that if someone shat on a copy of State of Emergency and gave it to them to review they'd happily clean it off and call it a good game. EGM is much better. At least it isn't written by a gang of trained monkeys.


"It was the best of times. It was the blurst of times. You stupid monkey!!!!"
Mr. Burns
- The Simpsons

[Allisen1987]

Yes, like Elisyian said, I bought my subscription too so I could get the Zelda compilation disc which is probably worth the 2o bucks, especially for someone that was not old enough to play it when it came out. I can't believe how fun those games on the disc are. The Legend of Zelda is 2 years older than me! It came out in 1985 i was born in 87 - but as for the magazine. It's pretty darn bad and is for the kiddies.

[no.1gamer]

Yes, like Elisyian said, I bought my subscription too so I could get the Zelda compilation disc which is probably worth the 2o bucks, especially for someone that was not old enough to play it when it came out. I can't believe how fun those games on the disc are. The Legend of Zelda is 2 years older than me! It came out in 1985 i was born in 87 - but as for the magazine. It's pretty darn bad and is for the kiddies.

The Legend of Zelda for the NES was quite the phenomenon. I believe it was the first video game ever that you could save your game (without using a password). So you can imagine how revolutionary it was. Up to that point every time you started a video game, you started at the beginning of the game.

Although I remember playing the 2 NES Zeldas (at friends houses) I didn't jump on board until I had my SNES. And A Link to the Past is truly one of the greatest Zelda games. Of course I've played through every game since.

Anyways back to the Nintendo Power subject. I'm starting to miss my NP every month! I think I might re-subscribe soon! As much as I dislike the magazine it is pretty much the best magazine if the only console you have is the Gamecube.

[Gadfly2317]

The Legend of Zelda for the NES was quite the phenomenon. I believe it was the first video game ever that you could save your game (without using a password). So you can imagine how revolutionary it was. Up to that point every time you started a video game, you started at the beginning of the game.

Although I remember playing the 2 NES Zeldas (at friends houses) I didn't jump on board until I had my SNES. And A Link to the Past is truly one of the greatest Zelda games. Of course I've played through every game since.

Anyways back to the Nintendo Power subject. I'm starting to miss my NP every month! I think I might re-subscribe soon! As much as I dislike the magazine it is pretty much the best magazine if the only console you have is the Gamecube.

There is another GC exclusive magazine called "CUBE" and it's pretty good; its unofficial, and a little less biased than Nintendo Power. I get NP because of the free Zelda collectors disk, and I don't actually read it most of the time, I just like it as a good source of screenshots. The reviews are worthless. I do like that it will cover the tiny exclusive games that no one else is looking at, like Giftpia. Also, when Animal Crossing was all the rage, it was cool that every month they had the Animal Crossing "newspaper" that had some upcoming events, and also codes for special items.

EGM is a good magazine, but Game Informer is better. Also, I've noticed Play is a good magazine which appears to have a slight pro-Gamecube bias, which I think is frankly OK since everyone else seems to like to dump on it. Play is just an all around great magazine, it also covers stuff like movies and anime, so its a more well rounded and enjoyable read than the other magazines.

[Spastic Colon Powell]

There is another GC exclusive magazine called "CUBE" and it's pretty good; its unofficial, and a little less biased than Nintendo Power. I get NP because of the free Zelda collectors disk, and I don't actually read it most of the time, I just like it as a good source of screenshots. The reviews are worthless. I do like that it will cover the tiny exclusive games that no one else is looking at, like Giftpia. Also, when Animal Crossing was all the rage, it was cool that every month they had the Animal Crossing "newspaper" that had some upcoming events, and also codes for special items.

EGM is a good magazine, but Game Informer is better. Also, I've noticed Play is a good magazine which appears to have a slight pro-Gamecube bias, which I think is frankly OK since everyone else seems to like to dump on it. Play is just an all around great magazine, it also covers stuff like movies and anime, so its a more well rounded and enjoyable read than the other magazines.

I think if Nintendo would actually release demo disks with NP...that might be worth something. But since the demo thing seems like it's never going to become a regular event...it's really not worth it.

Personally, I've cancelled all subscriptions right now, I usually just had them for the demos anyway, OPM and OXM, and I've pretty much quit playing those too. Having all three consoles can be confusing at times....oh what to play...what to play...

[Glockstar]

Having all three consoles can be confusing at times....oh what to play...what to play...

Yeah, how's that going for you? Like, it's been awhile, man. What games did you end up getting for your 'Cube?

[no.1gamer]

There is another GC exclusive magazine called "CUBE" and it's pretty good; its unofficial, and a little less biased than Nintendo Power. I get NP because of the free Zelda collectors disk, and I don't actually read it most of the time, I just like it as a good source of screenshots. The reviews are worthless. I do like that it will cover the tiny exclusive games that no one else is looking at, like Giftpia. Also, when Animal Crossing was all the rage, it was cool that every month they had the Animal Crossing "newspaper" that had some upcoming events, and also codes for special items.

EGM is a good magazine, but Game Informer is better. Also, I've noticed Play is a good magazine which appears to have a slight pro-Gamecube bias, which I think is frankly OK since everyone else seems to like to dump on it. Play is just an all around great magazine, it also covers stuff like movies and anime, so its a more well rounded and enjoyable read than the other magazines.

I found some info about Cube. It looks pretty sweet. But it looked like it was a European magazine. That wouldn't really matter for like 95% of Gamecube games though right? Does anyone else know about this magazine. It appeared to be giving away 2 free "discs" with the subscription but I don't what they are.

[Gadfly2317]

I found some info about Cube. It looks pretty sweet. But it looked like it was a European magazine. That wouldn't really matter for like 95% of Gamecube games though right? Does anyone else know about this magazine. It appeared to be giving away 2 free "discs" with the subscription but I don't what they are.

I think GC's are regionalized, because you're right, 'Cube is a brit import, so for one, it is sometimes covering games that have already been out here, and the demo disks it comes with don't work on my GC. I just thought I'd mention it, because I've never seen any other GC specific mag.

[no.1gamer]

I think GC's are regionalized, because you're right, 'Cube is a brit import, so for one, it is sometimes covering games that have already been out here, and the demo disks it comes with don't work on my GC. I just thought I'd mention it, because I've never seen any other GC specific mag.

Why do the British get a Gamecube exclusive magazine and we don't? I thought North America was a WAY bigger video gaming market than Europe?

I've never seen any other GCN specific magazine either...