I think I know the deal you're referring to. Basically when Nintendo decided to try and publish Dragon Warrior, they feared people wouldn't want to give it a try, which would lead to poor sales, which means poor returns on investment. In order to try and generate some interest, they had a deal where you could get Dragon Warrior with a subscription to Nintendo Power. Nintendo at the time knew that people wanted to subscribe to Nintendo Power (and if you weren't there, trust me. The magazine was HUGE. Kids brought their new issues to school just to check out the new games), so it was as safe a bet to get interest in the franchise as they could manage. It worked. Dragon Warrior I-IV sold very well. If Final Fantasy VII had never happened, FF and DW would probably be on equal levels of popularity.