It's final issue, published in December of 2012, included detailed retrospectives and the return of onetime comic strip mascot Nestor - originally depicted as a snarky game-obsessed grade school kid - now shown as a father raising his own gamer son. While created as an in-house product of the Nintendo corporation for the majority of its run, for its final five years the magazine was published independent of Nintendo-proper by Future US. Originally developed in 1988 as a more robust replacement for the earlier Nintendo Fun Club Newsletter by Nintendo of America, Nintendo Power would ultimately run an impressive 285 issues over 24 years before ending its run in 2012.
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Now, a key part of that history is more easy to experience than ever: Internet Archive has made a massive 13 years worth of classic Nintendo Power Magazine issues available to read and download online. And while much of the '80s and '90s gaming mag scene can feel quaint or even cheesy to modern sensibilities, looking back on it can provide both fascinating insight into the foundations of gaming history for younger fans and a welcome shot of nostalgia to those who were there when it was new. There, players not only shared tips, learned news and studied strategies but developed a fan language that endures to this day. But once upon a time what we now call "gamer culture" was born and nurtured in the world of video game print magazines. Today, video game fandom has (more so than perhaps any other fandom subculture) largely moved into the digital realm via message boards, social media and the multiplayer modes of games themselves.