Remember print gaming magazines? Although there are a handful that are still active and enjoyed by enthusiasts to this day, it's safe to say that the medium is a shadow of its former self, with the rise of the internet making countless print outlets all but obselete.
Still, what's great about the internet is you can find a ruddy boatload of print magazines that have been uploaded and archived over the years, just waiting for your eager eyes to scroll over their glorious pages. One such example is Nintendo Power, a dedicated gaming magazine from Nintendo of America (and later Future US) that ran from 1988 to 2012. Thanks to a group of talented archivists working on a project known as 'Retromags', all 285 issues are now available to download on Archive.org.
In a short message posted on the site, uploader 'Gumball' stated the following:
"Every Issue of Nintendo Power from number 1 to 285 in cbr format. From what I could tell there wasn't a collection of every single issue in one place but a scattered selection of different sets none of which were complete. So I put this together with the help of some awesome people for all to enjoy."
Coming in at just over 40GB for the lot, the files are unofficially available in .cbr format, showcasing everything from Nintendo's pioneering NES era to the dawn of the shortlived Wii U. You can download each issue individually, if you wish, but fair warning, it seems the site is getting a bit hammered at the moment, so you might be in for some long waits.
Of course, the question on everybody's lips, including our own, is how long this will be available before Nintendo itself inevitably takes it down? It's not exactly known for welcoming such projects with open arms, but hopefully even Nintendo will realise how important the preservation of gaming magazines is. Fingers crossed.