Last issue of Nintendo Power available now, founders look back

The last issue of Nintendo Power is on newsstands today, giving you one final trip into the magazine that kickstarted many a Mario and Zelda obsession. To commemorate the occasion, Gamasutra has a nice feature up with the magazine's founders looking back on its history.

According to one of the founders, Howard Philips, the original draw of Nintendo Power wasn't the game news or the features; back then, it was the maps and the gameplay tips that really drew readers in. "I'm just gaga over it now," he remembers, "thinking of how fun it was to pull out a map of Zelda and see the entire world, and be able to go through it with your fingertip and then say, 'Okay, there's where you can burn that tree,' or push that rock, or whatever. It was so cool. Getting that in the hands of kids was â€" from my perspective â€" the real big win that we were after." Considering the industry's own thoughts on Nintendo Power and its legacy, there are probably a lot of readers out there who agree.