Official Nintendo Magazine June 2009 Red Steel 2 Pokemon Platinum Punch-Out Wii SKU 1467

Original The Official Nintendo Magazine – Issue 43, June 2009, published by Future.

This is a packed Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS issue from 2009, led by a major Red Steel 2 feature and also containing substantial coverage of Pokémon Platinum, Punch-Out!!, Pikmin 2, The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, Guitar Hero: Metallica, Need for Speed: Nitro and other Wii/DS releases.

The photographs also show the issue retaining its distinctive oversized promotional outer cover/wrap section, although this has quite noticeable wear and creasing and should be considered an important part of the condition.

Main Cover – Red Steel 2

The front cover gives Red Steel 2 the dominant treatment with the headline:

“World Exclusive First Look! RED STEEL 2”

and promotes the game's Wii MotionPlus sword-fighting gameplay.

The illustrated Red Steel 2 character dominates the upper half of the design, armed with both a sword and revolver.

Other prominent front-cover features include:

• Pokémon Platinum – advertised as the definitive review of the new DS adventure
• Wii MotionPlus Hands-On
• Punch-Out!! – first UK review
• Pikmin 2
• Guitar Hero: Metallica
• Gardening Mama
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask on Virtual Console
• Need for Speed: Nitro

This is a strong period issue for collectors of late-2000s Nintendo magazines because it captures the period when Wii MotionPlus was becoming a major part of Nintendo's hardware line-up.

Issue Details

Publication: The Official Nintendo Magazine
Issue: 43
Full Date: June 2009
Publisher: Future
Main Feature: Red Steel 2
Platforms: Nintendo Wii / Nintendo DS
Language: English

Contents & Features

The photographed contents pages confirm extensive Wii and DS coverage.

Notable editorial features include:

World in Motion
Coverage of Nintendo's new motion-control developments and Wii MotionPlus.

Red Steel 2
A substantial preview of the MotionPlus-based action game, including new information and screenshots.

31 Reasons To Start Stockpiling Nintendo Points... Now!
A feature concentrating on downloadable Wii and DS content.

Thy Destiny Is At Hand!
A Nintendo retrospective/theme feature covering notable adventures and Nintendo history.

The Making Of... Little King’s Story
Behind-the-scenes coverage of the Wii title.

Wii Coverage

Games visible or listed in the photographed contents include:

• Red Steel 2
• Spore Hero
• Punch-Out!!
• Need for Speed: Nitro
• Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
• Ghostbusters
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
• Guitar Hero: Metallica
• New Play Control! Pikmin 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
• Little King’s Story

There is also considerable discussion of Wii MotionPlus, one of the major Nintendo hardware developments of the period.

Nintendo DS Coverage

The issue also includes Nintendo DS material, most notably:

• Pokémon Platinum
• LEGO Battles
• Gardening Mama
• additional DS previews and reviews

Pokémon Platinum is particularly prominent, with the magazine advertising its full review directly on the cover.

Punch-Out!!

Punch-Out!! receives substantial coverage and is another major attraction of this issue.

The cover features Little Mac in his green boxing gloves and promotes the magazine's first UK review of Nintendo's Wii revival of the classic boxing series.

The rear of the main magazine also carries colourful Punch-Out!! artwork, giving this issue extra appeal to Nintendo boxing-game collectors.

Loose Nintendo / Wii Insert

A separate printed Nintendo/Wii promotional insert or card is clearly shown alongside the magazine.

One side features colourful fantasy creature/character artwork presented across several vertical panels with Wii branding, while the reverse is plain white.

This loose item is visibly separate from the magazine in the photographs and is included with the copy shown.

I have not described this as a poster, as the photographs show it as a comparatively small loose printed insert/card rather than a clearly identifiable full-size poster.

Condition – PLEASE READ

This is a well-used collector's copy with substantial outer-cover wear. The condition should be made very clear to buyers.

Visible points include:

• Significant creasing and crumpling to the outer promotional cover/wrap.
• Heavy wear particularly along the bottom edge.
• Several noticeable folds and compression lines across the lower white cover strip.
• Bottom corners show considerable bending and crushing.
• Top corners and edges also show folding and storage wear.
• There are visible small tears/splits and roughness around parts of the outer edges.
• The extended outer cover appears significantly more worn than the magazine contained within it.
• Some edge rubbing and surface marking is visible.
• The spine/left edge shows handling wear.
• The main Red Steel 2 cover itself remains colourful and readable despite the wear.
• The inner magazine appears considerably better than the outer wrap in the photographs.
• Contents pages remain bright, clean and clearly readable.
• Internal pages shown appear attached and usable.
• Normal age-related page waviness and handling are present.
• The loose Wii promotional insert/card is present and appears generally clean, with some light handling/creasing.
• No obvious handwritten notes or heavy staining are visible in the photographed interior pages.

Because the outer wrap has significant creasing, folds and edge damage, this would be best described as a used reading/collector copy rather than a high-grade example.

The positives are that the issue retains its unusual outer presentation, the loose promotional insert shown in the photographs, and a strong selection of major Nintendo games from the Wii/DS period.

SKU 1467