Club Nintendo

In North America there was Nintendo Power. This magazine was not available in Europe.
In 1989 Club Nintendo was released in Europe, it was available in all European countries where the NES was released and, of course, in different languages. This means there was an English, German, Spanish, Dutch, Italian, French and Swedish version released. Probably a Danish and Finish version too, but I'm not sure. Because I live in Holland, I have the Dutch version of the magazine. Unfortunately I don't have foreign Club Nintendo magazines, so I can't compare them. In every country Club Nintendo was the same, except in Germany and the Scandinavian countries. Both got their own unique Club Nintendo magazines.

When we bought our Action Set in 1990 or 1991, there was a subscription card for Club Nintendo. These cards also came with the games and accessories. We subscribed, and unless Nintendo Power, Club Nintendo was a FREE magazine! The first issue we received was the bonus issue 'Club Nintendo Classic' and a cool Club Nintendo card. Unfortunately I don't have this cart anymore, it was a cool cart (there's a small chance that I find it, long story I don't tell). This magazine is 52 pages thick. It features Game Boy and NES games. Featured games for NES were Super Mario Bros. 1 & 2, Zelda 1 & 2, Metroid and TMHT. There were some secrets and maps in the magazines (for example: the warp zones in SMB). There were also some tips & tricks for other NES games such as Rad Racer and Mega Man. Two comics about Mario and Luigi were featured in the mag too. The first comic was basically an ad for the Game Boy and its accessories. The second comic was basically an ad for the NES and its accessoires (Zapper, NES Advantage and NES Max). Funny thing in the second comic is that Mario is playing Metroid together (!) with an alien (similar to Tatanga from Super Mario Land).

The first regular issue we received was volume 3 from 1991 (years later I got volume 2 from 1991). 32 pages thick. The magazines all have the same format:
Cover, available games, letter from Super Mario, NES reviews, Game Boy reviews, Tips & Tricks from the profs and from readers, high scores and top 10 NES games (later also top 5 GB games), player profiles (players from all countries it was released, except Germany and the Scandinavian countries), previews, letters from readers and some puzzle. Later there were also interviews with game counselors in the mag, cool!

In the second half of 1992 SNES games were also covered. At the end of 1992 we received our last issue of Club Nintendo. Two new magazines were introduced 'Club Nintendo News' and 'Club Nintendo Extra'. Club Nintendo News was just a watered down version of Club Nintendo Extra. Club Nintendo News was free, but you had to pay for Club Nintendo Extra (CNE), except the first issue. When you subscribed to CNE you also got a club card, however this cart sucked! I still have this one, I rather have the other one though. CNE was thicker than Club Nintendo, but the paper quality was worse. It contained more information, although I'm sure this magazine was only released in Holland, because the Player Profiles and High Scores were gone (sections which included (scores from) kids from different countries). That was a disappointment, I really liked the Player Profiles.

CNE was discontinued in 1997, and for quite some time there wasn't any Dutch Nintendo magazine on the market. Finally in 2002 the magazine N3 saw the day of light, unfortunately the guys who made the magazine got ripped off by the publisher and issue #8 was never released. In August 2003, a new magazine was introduced, N-Gamer.

Club Nintendo itself is still going strong today in Germany.