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Watcha Reading: 20 Years of Nintendo Power

Even though my reading habits have made a significant transition to the online world during this decade, I've been a little more aware of gaming magazines since the death of EGM. After all, print publications are what helped me become obsessed with the medium during the first 15-or-so years of my relationship with video games; during those grade school days of yore, I couldn't be seen without a current copy of Nintendo Power open at any possible free moment--just ask all of those horrible, child-hating teachers who confiscated them from me. We can only hope that they're dead now.

So, on my latest trip to Barnes and Noble, I was surprised and delighted to find a special issue of Nintendo Power along with the newest Retro Gamer--the latter of which is actually quite good if you can get around an overdose of Eurocentricity. In an age where no one really seems to care much about video game magazines, it's odd to see a special publication about the history of a video game magazine; but, given the fact that I picked up one of only two copies remaining on the magazine rack, 20 Years of Nintendo Power seems to have hit upon a nostalgic nerve of old-school Nintendo nerds.

Why Game Magazines Will Hang Around

Gamespite's Jeremy Parish wrote a thought-provoking article about the decline of printed game media in America. By now, even your one-eyed cousin Billy Bob who skins fish for two bits an hour has realised that the role of printed magazines is shifting. Our kids won't know the joys of a magazine rack brimming with all things Nintendo, Sega and Sony. What's more, I don't think kids in the UK know it either, though (as the article points out) the market for British game magazines is still relatively healthy.

Specialty magazines—publications based around trades, specific crafts and whatnot—are still thriving. Game magazines won't die, but they, too, are becoming more specialised with their content. Now that game sites are capable of delivering news about Miyamoto blowing his nose a second before it happens, it's no longer necessary to wait a month for printed coverage. But a game magazine can still print an exclusive must-read interview or column or feature that would be of interest to an audience that matured with video games.

This, unfortunately, is where the fate of an American game magazine reaches a crossroads.

Print Isn't Dead, It's Just Resting

I've always been a regular reader of video game publications, especially in my younger days; when you're living in the late 1980s and stuck in school for 8 hours a day, there's no sweeter escape than cracking open a fresh issue of Nintendo Power and poring over the pages. But the state of print is much different than it was during my analog-based childhood. Magazines are folding, newspaper sales are plummeting, and, frankly, the Internet is to blame--although it hasn't really done much aside from making our lives easier. Print is now competing with the impossible task of remaining relevant in an age where waiting weeks for information is a laughable prospect. And since the Internet has essentially stolen print's fire, it's going to have to do something drastic to stay afloat.

GameSpite: Year One may be the perfect example of where video game publications should be headed. For those of you not familiar with GameSpite, it's a web site--run by 1UP scribe Jeremy Parish--that features digital "issues" of content written by a staff of hungry writers. What appeals most to me is that GameSpite's content is stuff you're not going to find in print, or even on major web sites; most articles are in-depth discussions of games well outside of their 2-week release window. And GameSpite: Year One is a compilation of this content in book form--split into two volumes, what with how many danged words there are.

about the blogger

John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Nerve, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.