Well it depends on what the main call to action you want for your site to be. Is your main goal to build a newsletter list? If so, give it a dedicated spot above the footer. If it would be a “nice to have” feature for your visitors (eg. They are there to learn about a new game, not necessarily jump on a newsletter about it) then put it in the footer and make it discreet.
Most of the time I find just putting it in the footer is fine enough because most people visit a site for some other reason than to just get on a newsletter. However, some may see the newsletter after the fact and think “why not”.