Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power is a North American magazine covering gaming systems created by Nintendo and officially licensed games for those systems. The magazine began in 1988 and was published by Nintendo of America for almost 20 years until the company outsourced the magazine to Future US. The magazine has included many sections and features over the years. Typically one can expect to see previews of upcoming games, reviews, basic walkthroughs, maps, and tips in each issue. A fold out poster is included in each issue.
Due to the magazine covering only Nintendo systems, Phantasy Star was ignored by the magazine until the GameCube release of Phantasy Star Online. All prior Phantasy Star releases had been for Sega or Windows platforms.
Featuring Phantasy Star
- Nintendo Power 152
- Phantasy Star Online ver. 2 listed as a "most wanted" game for Nintendo systems.
- Nintendo Power 162
- On page 20, Phantasy Star Online is listed as game #10 on the Player's Choice chart. Included data states the game was #7 the previous month and had been on the chart for four months. Page 31 is a full page advertisement for Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II, with a small inclusion of Phantasy Star Collection (Game Boy Advance) at the bottom. Page 74 marks a three page fold out spread featuring Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II. On one side of the spread, basic game play concepts for the title are introduced. The other side is a poster featuring characters from the game.
- Nintendo Power 163
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II
- Nintendo Power 184
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II Plus
- Nintendo Power 200
- Phantasy Star Online Episode I & II included in Nintendo Power's Top 200 games.
- Nintendo Power 230
- Phantasy Star III for Virtual Console announced.
- Nintendo Power 234
- Early Phantasy Star Ø Japan version preview.
- Nintendo Power 236
- Phantasy Star Ø Japan version preview from the Tokyo Game Show.
- Nintendo Power 238
- Phantasy Star Ø cover feature and Japan version preview. The retail and subscription versions of the magazine featured different character art covers.
- Nintendo Power 239
- Phantasy Star IV for Virtual Console announced.
- Nintendo Power 245
- Phantasy Star Ø preview with exclusive screenshots from the English translation.
- Nintendo Power 251
- Rieko Kodama was asked about the fate of Phantasy Star V in an interview. Her answer indicated that several concepts for the game were considered. Read about it here.
Nintendo Power Posters 2009
In 2009, Future US published Nintendo Power Posters 2009, a supplement to the regular Nintendo Power series. This magazine features posters for various games covered throughout the history of Nintendo Power, such as Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and New Super Mario Bros.. The two Phantasy Star Ø covers used for Nintendo Power 238 are included as posters (without any of the cover text from that issue).
Image Gallery
Release History
| Release Title | Date | Region |
|---|---|---|
| Nintendo Power 152 | January 2002 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 162 | November 2002 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 163 | December 2002 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 184 | October 2004 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 200 | February 2006 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 230 | July 2008 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 234 | November 2008 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 236 | December 2008 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 238 | February 2009 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 239 | March 2009 | North America |
| Nintendo Power Posters 2009 | August 2009 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 245 | September 2009 | North America |
| Nintendo Power 251 | February 1, 2010 | North America |