Nester (in Pilotwings 64, "Lark") was the long-time teenage mascot and comic strip star of Nintendo Power magazine, as well as sometime video game character. His name is a play on the acronym NES, Nintendo's flagship system during the time period.

Nester was created by Howard Philips, "President" of the Nintendo Fun Club and an editor of Nintendo Power, to be the supporting character in his comic strip (though not actually drawn by Philips), Howard & Nester. (The Howard of the title is a cartoon representation of Philips.) The comic strips generally advertised new games, often by dream sequences where Nester was actually a given video game character. In various strips, Nester has been Mega Man, Simon Belmont, Link, the Lone Ranger, the main character of Dragon Warrior, and many other characters. He has also met the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Scrooge McDuck, The Tasmanian Devil, and the main characters of the Contra series. Nester was an aspiring "Power Player" often trumped by the "know-it-all" Howard. The strip generally portrayed knowledge of game tips as a sort of payment for services rendered and a sign of status, and Nester normally fell short of Howard's expertise.

From 1989 to 1993, The Nintendo Power Awards, Nintendo's yearly reader-selected list of the best video games, featured Nester-shaped trophies and were referred to in the magazine as the "Nesters," as a reference to the Oscars.

In the early 1990s, the real-life Philips left the company for JVC. Though Nester stayed for a while in a renamed strip (Nester's Adventures) absent of Howard, he was gradually phased out as mascot in favor of Mario, already a more general Nintendo mascot. Mario also replaced the comic strip, appearing in a serialized strip about Super Mario World (as did Link to promote the release of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.) "Nester's Adventures" ended in Volume 55 (December 1993).

A short tribute to Nester (as a college student) appeared in Nintendo Power issue #100.

Other appearances

Aside from Nintendo Power, Nester appeared in various other Nintendo products.

• In 1990, Nester appeared as a townsperson in the NES game Dragon Warrior. This townsperson looked identical to most other townspeople in the game, but identified himself as Nester. When spoken to, he commented that he was lost, but then immediately claimed that he wasn't - a reference to Nester's own ineptitude as a game player, as well as his self-assured nature. On a side note, Nester did not appear in the later re-release of Dragon Warrior on the Gameboy Color.
• In 1996, Nester appeared in Nester's Funky Bowling for the ill-fated Virtual Boy. The game also introduced his evil brother Lester and his good sister Hester.
• Also in 1996, he appeared as a playable character in Pilotwings 64 for the Nintendo 64, though he was called "Lark."

External links

• The Howard & Nester Comics Archive