First, Nintendo Power is a magazine and NintendoLife is a website. One obviously comes once a month and offers more content, while the other sends out tidbits randomly. It's pretty hard to compare the two.
I prefer Nintendo Life because it is up to date with Nintendo news (after all, it is a website), but I also like reading Nintendo Power. I find the reviews on here to be more fair and complete than the ones in Nintendo Power, too. With Nintendo Life, I can get a feel on exactly how good a downloadable game is, while in Nintendo Power they just give a brief remark (either "Recommended," Hmmmmmmm," or "Grumble Grumble"). I enjoy both, but Nintendo Life is the victor this time.
With NP I feel like the 'breaking news' whatever is month-old news, because, you know, it's a magazine. Also, I don't really even read the reviews in NP anymore, and most of it is kinda boring. NL ftw! :3
If I was to pretend you said NOM -Nintendo Official Magazine (Nintendo Power being an American magazine, which I cannot buy) vs Nintendolife , I'd say Nintendolife.
In fact, this website is better than any official magazine, due to the fact that they are official, and Nintendo has their nards in a vice grip. It's annoying when, for instance a certain official Nintendo magazine pushes back the release of a popular independent so that they can get the UK exclusive review of Super Mario Sunshine. Also, Official Magazines are supported by Nintendo, and so you don't know whether their reviews are truthful, or just to maintain their relationship with Nintendo. Case in point:
(Key - OFF - Official, IND - (a particular)Independent, NL - Nintendolife - Donkey Kong Barrel Blast - OFF (70%) IND (40%) NL (3/10) (Official gave it (along with N-Power) the highest critic score on Metacritic) PokéPark Wii... - OFF (64%) IND (N/A) NL (4/10) Wii Play - OFF (91%), IND (70%), NL (6/10) (Official had the highest score again by 13%) - (I must point out that all reviews are subjective, but there's obviously a pattern here) Those are just the some of the Wii retail reviews. Personally, I'd rather rely on Independent sources.
Plus, when I used to buy it, 11 years ago (I was about 14), even I thought the magazine was juvenile and (dare I say) kiddy. Saying that, I think it's grown up a bit, and doesn't seem to repel anyone over 18.
Compare it to the magazine I am currently subscribed to (I happened to find this site through either a lucky series of webclicks or a direct link to this site - I really can't remember, but the Deputy Editor does have a profile here), and it's harder to choose. Both have humour (even 10 years ago, when I made my transition to this particular magazine - it's gone through several rebrandings since, this magazine stood out for its humour) and both are indepedent and so I can trust their reviews.
However, both are Independent, which means if they don't find it out themselves, they are likely to get the news of an upcoming new console after the official magazine. That doesn't happen much with Nintendolife, because they have the Internet at their fingertips and can update hourly. But if you rely on Nintendo Power, or any magazine, you'll have to wait until release day to read about it. I'm sure they have a website, but they probably hold back the juicy bits for the publication (correct me if I'm wrong).
I really enjoyed Chris Slate's work at PSM but Nintendo Power was at it's best back in the 80's. They had comics and strategy guides and interviews with pro wrestlers. Now all they have are previews and reviews. I'm surprised they still have a letter section. It doesn't come with demo discs like OXM does either.
Every thing NP will give you today you can find online faster and cheaper.
What Waveboy said. Save your money and just look it up on the net.
NL vs. NP? They're both helpful when it comes to information and previews, but they fail at covering more obscure games and both are very questionable when it comes to the quality of their reviews. No better, no worse. One just costs more than the other and only provides a limited amount of information per month, without providing any benefit to warrant it.
I gotta say, the only time I check IGN nowadays is for Reviews, since I've basically lost interest in the site all together ever since Matt and Bozon jumped ship along with the crazy dose of negative Nintendo bashing articles that went on for a few months which revealed that 90% of the editors working at IGN are Wii haters.
You can't really blame them. IGN's base is hardcore. If it wasn't for them they'd be out of business.
Oh, for f*cks sake. Stop crying about IGN here. I guess I should just be glad nobody used IGNorant, which seems to pass for wit among some on this site.
Nintendo Life-Independent Nintendo Power-Owned by Nintendo
The better choice is obvious.
This might change your choice or not but.... Nintendo Power for the last two years has been independent. Unlike Nintendo Offical Magazine in the Uk. So there both independent, but i have stoped paying for Nintendo Power, when even Nintendo Week had better news and info.
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Topic: nintendo power magazine yes or no
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