Nintendo Power Magazine launched July/August 1988 – 32 years ago. There is a Netflix series called High Score and in episode 2 they have some good historical info on the magazine, how it started, and more. I learned that Kirby was named after the lawyer that defended Nintendo against Universal City Studios (they objected to the use of Kong in Donkey Kong at the time) –

The new magazine was founded by Nintendo of America marketing manager Gail Tilden in 1988. The first issue, dated July/August 1988, spotlights the NES game Super Mario Bros. 2. Of this issue, 3.6 million copies were published, with every member of the Nintendo Fun Club receiving a free copy.

From the beginning, Nintendo Power focuses heavily on providing game strategy, reviews, and previews of upcoming games. In mid-1998, Nintendo Power first allowed outside advertising in the magazine, formerly reserved for Nintendo-based products only. In its early years, ads only appeared in the first and last few pages of the magazine, leaving no ads to break up the magazine’s editorial content.

Read more.

archive.org has some of the issues scanned and available to check out as well.