Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Earthbound Petition Making A Difference?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the one-less-signature-would-have-made-it-31337 dept.

Thanks to Nintendojo for their story regarding Shigeru Miyamoto's positive reaction to an online petition about the Earthbound games. Miyamoto, discussing the series (soon re-released for GBA in Japan) in an interview with Official UK Nintendo Magazine, says "We had high hopes for Earthbound, the Super NES version, in the US, but it didn't do well... You might not know this, but there was a petition in the US, a 'Please make Mother 3 [an Earthbound sequel]' petition and it got about 30,000 signatures! After that, we thought 'Wow... Earthbound fans are really solid'." The petition in question was put together by the fansite Starmen.net, and Video-Fenky previously got hold of a copy, commenting on the "testament to the Mother fanbase's... deep-seated devotion to the game they love."

9 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. Earthbound for SNES Rocks by Gr33nNight · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I still own this game, and while the graphics are not up the par with the likes of Final Fantasy, it just didnt matter. The game was just fun, plain and simple.

    It was one of the few RPGs that actually made me laugh, and I am definately looking forward to the prequel to appear on the GBA.

  2. Earthbound's Popularity... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...probably increased after he appeared in a Super Smash Brothers game. People had to wonder who the heck this character was, did a search on him, and either found a copy of the original game or downloaded a ROM.

  3. Nintendo Power article by neostorm · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can't remember the exact issue, but in a Nintendo Power magazine I recall seeing scratch-n-sniff stickers for Earthbound. It was Nintendo's original marketing strategy for the game. "The first game to interact with different human senses" or somesuch.
    You were directed to keep the stickers handy while playing, and at key moments in the game smell them to have a more interactive experience.
    Very strange.

    1. Re:Nintendo Power article by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      acctually the slogan for the game (which came with the scratch and sniff cards in the players guide that was also included in the giant box EB came in) was "This game stinks"

  4. One of the best games ever made.... by WapoStyle · · Score: 3, Interesting
    ....was Earthbound on the SNES. It's a very solid RPG that really throws a curve with it's content. You can tell the developers had a lot of fun and a lot of laughs when making this game...the "New Age Retro Hippy" anyone? How about the Runaway Five? That cool little Blue's Brothers style band. Everything about Earthbound was so different than any other RPG of it's time. It's no wonder it didn't do so well...people don't like different. As I recall it came in a monsterous box with the Official Nintendo Players Guide bundled with the game.

    I hope Nintendo decides to release their upcoming Mother1+2 on the GBA in the US, I've long since lost my SNES cart and would love to be able to play the first game in the series.

    1. Re:One of the best games ever made.... by MMaestro · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Ah yes, I remember the monsterous box. That was no doubt a serious turn off for some buyers considering what went through my head when I saw it. Being an uninformed gamers when I was young (I wasn't subscribed for Nintendo Power and the internet wasn't a good source back then) I thought the game was some kind of light gun game or an add-on for the Super Scope. The box was bigger than my chest and almost as big as my younger sister. A serious turn off for my parents, who of course held the ultimate decision on what game(s) to buy.

      Looking back on the game (ie. played an emulated version) I can see that it was a great game, but it was insanely radical compared to the extremely, by today's standards, traditional RPGs of the time.

    2. Re:One of the best games ever made.... by Gr33nNight · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I still have that box, with the strategy guide. Yes, it is huge, but so was the game (in terms of length, not a huge cart).

  5. Re: This game sucks... by IIRCAFAIKIANAL · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Every reason you cite why it sucks is what made it so good. The game was a satire of the generic RPG. Hence all the cliches, the naming of the towns alluding to the linearity of the game, etc. It was also a throwback to NES rpgs, hence the simplistic graphics.

    Also, the main characters were children. I'm Canadian too and I see little Canadian girls (and boys) burst into tears sometimes.

    This game has always polarized people, but it bothers me that you would warn them against it when you admit you don't even like Japanese RPGs in general. I despise sports games, but I don't tell people "skip Madden, it sucks" because it isn't to my tastes. If anything, you should say, "I don't like Japanese RPGs - go ask someone that does." I know people that don't like Japanese RPGs and loved this game *because* it was a good parody of the Japanese RPG style.

    That said, both Ultima 4 and Dungeon Master have been remade. Ultima 4 was redone with VGA graphics and a MIDI soundtrack. Someone else has reprogrammed Dungeon Master in Java, but the graphics aren't enhanced.

    I'm sure I'll be modded back to the stone age for not liking this game, such is the fanaticism of moderators around here. Oh well, my karma can take the hit.

    The Law of Inverse Slashdot Moderation strikes again! :)

    --
    Robots are everywhere, and they eat old people's medicine for fuel.
  6. FYI... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 2, Informative

    The character that appeared in the Super Smash Brothers games is known as Ness. Earthbound is just the game's title.

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.