Another bespoke videogames magazine? Yes, this time focusing on all things Nintendo. Should this be a surprise? Not really. The UK mainstream magazine market for videogames has declined massively over the last few years, as format specific titles gave way to multi-format publications which themselves then went the way of the Dodo, with just Edge and Wireframe holding on. There is still Retrogamer keeping the nostalgia buffs happy and Play magazine that survives its rebranding from Official PlayStation Magazine, but that's about it. However, the homebrew (for want of a better term) market is thriving, as witnessed by the number of magazine reviews I have posted on this blog in 2021 alone. Today, another small scale publication steps up: Ninty Fresh.
Ninty Fresh began life as a Kickstarter campaign last summer where over 1,400 people pledged a total of £15,657 off a requested amount of £2,000 to fund issue one. That was followed up in November with a second issue (£15,352 against a requested amount of £2,500 from over 1,100 people) and a third issue in March 2021 (£17,217 against £2,500 from over 1,100 people). Issue four took a slightly different path, with crowd funding via Indiegogo due to a Kickstarter rule that states you have to deliver one project before you can request funding for another. Fair enough, and the Indiegogo campaign raised £15,538 against a total of £3,000 from 920 people. I missed these funding drives (nope, no idea how either) and, having seen Ninty Fresh commented upon on Twitter, I took the plunge and ordered the most recent issue.
For £5.99 (not an excessive amount for a magazine these days, even in the mainstream world) plus £3.00 delivery, I received a 100 page (including covers) bound A4 publication with zero adverts. Yep, it's 100% advert free and from an independent publishing company. That's impressive. The quality of the stock and print are beyond criticism. I know, it's a familiar line when it comes to my reviews of boutique magazines such as Ninty Fresh but it has to be said, time and time again, that these publications easily match, and sometimes surpass, the quality of mainstream titles. This is important as in most cases, your per-issue price is often equal to or slightly higher than those found on the shelves of your local WH Smiths.
The main theme for this issue of Ninty Fresh is Zelda, seeing as it is 35 years since the release of the first title in the evergreen series. This takes up some 30 pages, with retrospectives, interviews and opinion pieces combined with some brilliant artwork. Whether you are familiar with the Zelda series or not, you'll find plenty to interest you here and I like how they have arranged the features.
Preceding Zelda is a two page editorial, a news section and a feedback page. The layout for these is clean and simple, with little white space left but not appearing overly congested either. Reviews take up a further 23 pages. These are well written and score out of ten, with half points being available. There are plenty of screenshots of each title and a wide variety of releases are covered. Indie titles get a couple of pages all on their own. As with all reviews, you may agree or disagree with the reviewer. In Ninty Fresh, the reviewers do their job with aplomb and fairness. That's always a good sign.
The Fresh Takes section is well-named and covers the topics of justification of full price vs game length, the exclusivity of Amibo functionality in games and whether there is more innovation to be found in Indie titles compared to major studio releases. Noteworthy points are made in each subject and are thought provoking.
The (relative) disaster that was the Nintendo Virtual Boy gets a four page piece, with every North American release getting a screenshot and a brief overview, whilst the little known Famicom Disk System title Nazo No Murasame Jo (The Mysterious Murasame Castle) gets four enlightening pages that really did catch my interest. Four pages a piece are also given over to Super Probotector: Alien Rebels on the SNES, Professor Layton (my good lady has every DS/3DS title) and Wii-U horror title ZombiU. Never played it on that platform but did give it a few weeks when it came to the Xbox One and found it to be a fun take on the genre.
Closing off the magazine are four pages of fun quizzes and challenges, and a list of two specific Indiegogo backer tiers, thanking supporters for their help in getting the magazine out. The back cover finishes off the issue with cheeky, Zelda-themed prompt for the next Kickstarter.
I have to admit, I really enjoyed Ninty Fresh. The writing is great, the artwork is excellent and the overall quality is very high, more than enough to equal a mainstream publication. How much did I like it? Well, I'm not as rich as Victor Kiam (remember him?) so didn't buy the company but I did buy the first three issues which I am looking forward to receiving.
Whilst it seems there is no longer a "viable market" for a Nintendo-specific commercial magazine, Ninty Fresh has demonstrated that there is still a market nonetheless for fans of Nintendo's consoles. Ninty Media also publish a smaller Nintendo Switch focused magazine (Switch Player, now up to issue 54) that costs £3.49, so I may give that a go at a future date. In the mean time, when they announce their next Kickstarter for Ninty Fresh (in August, hoping to fund the next four issues, so a subscription service in effect), I will definitely be supporting them. Ninty Fresh joins the growing ranks of small scale, high quality niche magazines that I will continue to support and that demonstrate that you don't have to have a newsstand presence to create a professional and worthy publication. It looks and feels like a mag you'd pick up at Smiths and I can think of no higher praise for the team behind it. It really is that good.
You can check out their website here where you'll find the current and back issues to Ninty Fresh and Switch Player available to purchase.
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