You heard the rumors last week, and now we bring you the official confirmation that Nintendo Power will no longer be the in-house job that we’ve come to expect since 1988 — by none other than Nintendo itself. Instead, Future US will be taking over the duties of keeping the popular magazine and Website on track, and will start with the December 2007 issue (volume 222). As the senior vice president of marketing at Nintendo,George Harrison says, making the switch seems like the obvious choice:
“By teaming with Future US, Nintendo is ensuring the continued growth of the magazine’s circulation and bringing even greater value to Nintendo enthusiasts. The team at Future will carry on the quality and traditions of Nintendo Power, and the magazine will now be available at more newsstand locations than ever before.”
As a subscriber of some of Future’s magazines myself, I’m looking forward to the change. I just hope that they take a page from their other offerings such Official Xbox Magazine and offer those delectable demo disks that Nintendo Power has been sorely missing. With the jarring closure of the official forums, fans could use a little good news from Mario’s empire. This may just be a continuation of Nintendo’s rebirth, which started with the DS, and has since been chugging along smoothly with the Wii. Something tells me that this won’t be the last of the forums. Nintendo has something up their sleeve — we just hope it’s good.
See all the juicy details in their naked glory for yourself, after the jump.
Nintendo and Future US Team to Publish Nintendo Power Magazine
Nintendo partners with country’s premiere young men’s media company to produce
one of gaming industry’s most well-regarded magazines
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 19 /PRNewswire/ — Nintendo and Future
US, Inc., the leading publisher of cutting-edge special interest magazines and
Web sites, announced today that they are teaming up to publish Nintendo
Power(R) magazine, which has offered millions of Nintendo fans a comprehensive
mix of tips, tricks, reviews, maps and strategies each month for nearly 20
years.
Future US will produce the title, which was formerly produced in-house by
Nintendo of America Inc. Future US will also produce the magazine’s Web site,
http://www.nintendopower.com.
“By teaming with Future US, Nintendo is ensuring the continued growth of
the magazine’s circulation and bringing even greater value to Nintendo
enthusiasts,” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice
president of marketing and corporate communications. “The team at Future will
carry on the quality and traditions of Nintendo Power, and the magazine will
now be available at more newsstand locations than ever before.”
The first full Future US-published issue of Nintendo Power will be the
December 2007 edition (volume 222), on sale in October. Initial circulation
will be 300,000 copies, with the magazine continuing to ship to subscribers
monthly, with an additional holiday bonus issue each year.
Nintendo Power is a pioneering title within the video gaming category and
was first published in 1988. Nintendo Power covers all Nintendo gaming systems
(Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM) and Game Boy(R) Advance) and their associated
first-, second- and third-party software. Featuring in-depth previews, reviews
of all the latest games, tons of codes, and plenty of late-breaking news,
Nintendo Power is perfect for both the novice gamer and the veteran player.
Future US’s parent, international special-interest media company Future plc,
also publishes the official Nintendo magazine in the United Kingdom.
“We are honored to be selected as the new publisher for an industry
touchstone like Nintendo Power,” says Future US’s President, Jonathan
Simpson-Bint. “This is an opportunity for Future to use its core competencies
— great editorial, deep knowledge of young men’s lifestyles and technical
expertise — in service of one of the world’s great entertainment brands. We
couldn’t be more excited to get started.”
About Future US
Future US is a leading publisher of cutting-edge special interest
magazines (Official Xbox Magazine, Official Sony PlayStation(R) Magazine, PC
Gamer, Maximum PC, Mac|Life, Pregnancy, Future Snowboarding Magazine, Guitar
World, and Revolver) and websites (GamesRadar, gloob.tv, and Next Generation)
which sell in excess of 2.1 million and reach more than 3.5 million unique
visitors per month. Future’s publications reach a young, active, affluent
audience and rank 12th among audited newsstand publishers in gross newsstand
revenue.
Future US is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in New
York, Los Angeles and San Diego.
About Nintendo of America
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and
software for its Wii(TM), Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo
GameCube(TM) systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.4 billion video
games and more than 420 million hardware units globally, and has created
industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R), Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and
Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in
Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the
Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s
Web site at http://www.nintendo.com.
