Grave Gamer News & Views — nintendo power

This Day in Nintendo: Wii U Press Event Next Month and the End of Nintendo Power

Your memory of a Wii U information blowout may still be firm because Nintendo devoted an entire pre-E3 conference merely a couple of months ago focusing solely on the machine.  You’ll find your recollections a little less firm when it comes to a set price point and a solid release date for the console, however, because Nintendo – despite having repeatedly stated Wii U will see an international launch in 2012 – has yet to trust us with those details.

The educated guess of the day has it that Nintendo, one-third of the Big Three, will finally bare all during a Wii U preview event being held for gaming outlets in New York on September 13th, 10:00 A.M. EST.  Reggie Fils-Aime is set to host the event, potentially threatening the internet with another meme your parents will catch on to and subsequently make profoundly uncool.

While we usher in another era of Nintendo’s home entertainment dominance, we’re also forced to see the end of a published dynasty that has lasted since 1988.  Yes, Nintendo Power is soon to shut its doors after 24 long years in publication.  Once owned and printed by the games company itself, Future Publishing took over the magazine’s reins in 1989, distributing it monthly until…well, now.

Readers’ ever-growing reliance on digital media has severely impacted physical publications for years now, causing publishers to either restructure their distribution into online-friendly formats or simply shutter and close (one of the most famous examples being the closure of GamePro magazine last year).  Rumblings have it that Nintendo was disinterested in evolving Nintendo Power’s format when Future Publishing addressed them with their concerns about the magazine’s relevancy in the market.  Their noncommittal attitude may not have been so unprecedented, however, with one source admitting to Ars Technica that the company has always been “difficult to work with."  It hasn’t been announced which issue of the magazine will be the last.

The Red Herb sends its condolences to the writers and staff behind Nintendo Power and wishes you luck in all your future endeavors.  Be diligent, assertive, and when in doubt, jump on your enemies’ heads.