earthbound
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Earthbound auction ends at a sky-high price
A recent auction for a new-in-box copy of Earthbound revealed a level of Earthbound fandom rivaling Starmen.net (of which the high bidder was probably a frequent visitor!) The boxed SNES game, originally acquired by eBay seller dave2236 for $25, ended up selling for $1,025.01, or 128.17 times what a Virtual Console download would cost.The big cardboard box that Earthbound came in was never "factory sealed" in the traditional sense, so unlike most "sealed" games, it would be possible to (carefully) open and play this game and look through the player's guide without causing any physical damage. But we can guarantee that will not happen.[Via GoNintendo]
Level-5's ROID service opens June 1 with suspiciously Earthbound-esque game
Level-5 has announced that its ROID digital distribution service will launch in Japan on June 1, two months later than originally announced at TGS. The service's mobile game distribution service will be available first, with the PC-based service following soon after.A Famitsu article about the service reveals one shockingly familiar-looking game. There's no information about what it actually is, but, as the caption asks, "could it be that RPG?" There's very little actual chance of it being Earthbound, but it is possible that Level-5 lured creator Shigesato Itoi into creating an unofficial sequel. Level-5 is full of surprises!%Gallery-34049%
Starmen: Earthbound will never come out on Virtual Console
The insane-for-Earthbound fansite Starmen.net claims to have some insider information about the problems behind Earthbound's no-show on the Virtual Console. The site is very serious about getting the game out somewhere, going to extreme steps for publicity. So we don't think it would lie about something of as much grave importance as the game's ESRB rating.According to a new writeup on the site about the state of VC Earthbound, it's not coming. Like, ever. Legal issues, mostly with music licensing due to the preponderance of references to other works in the soundtrack, keep the game from being approved by Nintendo of America's legal department. And according to Starmen's source, the ESRB rating -- about which we rejoiced back in May -- was a mistake. A clerical error that nobody cared enough to correct. The ESRB went and rated the game, thinking that Nintendo wanted them to.We're not entirely satisfied with this story. It handily explains why we haven't seen Earthbound in North America, but what about Japan? There didn't seem to be legal issues around the Mother 1&2 GBA release, and Earthbound is actually popular enough there to sell on the Virtual Console.
Brownie Brown interested in DS version of Mother 3
The lack of a localized Mother 3 on the Game Boy Advance must rank as one of Nintendo's more heinous crimes, but that's not to say they can't get out of our bad books. All it would take is, oooh, let's say a DS version of the classic RPG and A MILLION DOLLARS. Or, y'know, just the game.And look, Nintendo, Mother 3 co-developer Brownie Brown is happy to indulge us! Speaking to Siliconera, company President Shinichi Kameoka said Nintendo just needs to give the go-ahead. "If we were asked to make [a DS version of Mother 3]," he said, "then we would definitely like for fans abroad to play the game."The ball is very much in Nintendo's court, then. Until they take a swipe at it, there's only one way to sample (and fully comprehend) Mother 3's myriad delights.%Gallery-34946%
Wii Warm Up: Give us Earthbound already
Seriously, how long have we been waiting for this? The ESRB rated the game for the Virtual Console back in May and we haven't heard anything since. Why is that? Who wants to download the game via Virtual Console as bad as we do?
Wii Warm Up: VC 2008
There's been a lot of Virtual Console releases this year (been keeping up?), and we were wondering which were among your favorites? We've received Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, and River City Ransom, to name a few. So, which sit at the top of your list for this year? Sure, we were hoping we'd have another to consider, but let's not dwell on that.
Show and Tell: One dedicated community
We've been talking a lot about Mother 3 recently, and for good reason: the fan community is one of the strongest around, and they function without even a scrap of official love. Still, they soldier on, translating games, and, even better for us in this space, they make things. Of course, a fan translation is about the biggest DIY project we could feature here, but we've already done that. Instead, let's talk other things Mother, and by that, we mean crafts and similarly fun and frivolity. Take the tour of our picks, or just jump right into the gallery below.%Gallery-34946% Show and Tell is all about fan stuff, so long as it's Nintendo-related. We love to see your collections, your crafts, your frosted creations, your t-shirts and swag of all sorts.Just snap a few pictures, tell us what's up, and send it all to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest. Not a handy type, but found something neat? Send us a link instead.
Mother 3 fan translation complete, ready for download
After two years of development (and an endless string of tipsters keeping us up-to-date on every update on the project), the Mother 3 Fan Translation version 1.0 is now available for download, so English-speaking gamers without fluency in Japanese can enjoy the title. You'll need a copy of the Mother 3 ROM (also known as Earthbound 2) to use the patch, as well as your own copy of the imported game for legal purposes, moral clarity and a sense of contentment for supporting the franchise despite Nintendo's insistence to not bring it stateside. In other news, Earthbound for Wii (possibly Virtual Console) is still rated by the ESRB, and since May 2nd that's all we know about it.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Mother 3 fan translation available this week
After almost two years of hard slog, Starmen.net's Mother 3 fan translation patch has finally been completed, and will be released at the end of this week ... a whole month ahead of schedule! That's according to the latest blog entry on the project's site, in which team member Mato records that, "Testing's pretty much over now. Some bugs did turn up over the last few days, but they were all minor and quickly remedied. Some really hard-to-spot typos were also found and fixed."Joyous news indeed, though the patch will require a few other things before it's of any use: namely a slot-2 flashcart, a GBA emulator, and -- cough -- an entirely unauthorized ROM copy of the Japanese game. While we don't condone piracy, a western localization of Mother 3 doesn't exactly look likely at this stage, and we do condone passionate fan projects such as this one. Hit up this FAQ to learn more, and don't forget to check out some beautiful, Anglicized Mother 3 screens.%Gallery-34505%[Thanks, Joel!]
Earthbound cubeecraft is out of this world
Even with its ESRB rating, we can't help but be skeptical about Earthbound descending onto the Virtual Console. While we'd like nothing more, it seems too good to be true that Starmen.net's hard-fought battle to get the game on the VC would finally end in victory. As we've also mentioned, an ESRB rating does not necessarily equate to a Virtual Console release.Since all we can do now is wait and see, we have to find Earthbound related ways to keep ourselves busy. Aside from playing games like Smash Bros., we thought we'd try our hand at some Earthbound cubeecraft (aka papercraft). Is it just us, or does Mr. Saturn look rather swank when shaped like a cube? Gallery: Awesome Nintendo papercraft [Via GoNintendo]
The dirt on Cave Story DS, Cave Story-engraved DS
Praised by almost everyone who's played the freeware PC title, Cave Story is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the "Metroidvania" genre, a polished action platformer embellished with endearing characters and a catchy soundtrack. No matter how many times we're reminded of the fact, it always astounds us that the game was designed and developed by a single programmer, Daisuke Amaya, or Pixel, as he's more commonly known. As you might should know, homebrew developer Ravenworks has been working on a DS port for Cave Story. As it turns out, however, Pixel doesn't own a Nintendo DS, so it would be unlikely that he'd be able to play the port once it's completed. In fact, he hasn't owned a handheld or home console since the Nintendo 64! Isn't it a crime nowadays for gamers in Japan to not own a Nintendo DS?To keep Pixel out of jail, Ravenworks and the rest of the "All Things Studio Pixel (ATSP)" LiveJournal community raised $410 and put together a care package of handheld treats as a "thank you" for the DS-less developer's work. Here's everything the group purchased and sent: Onyx Nintendo DS Lite system (laser engraved with Cave Story characters and a message that reads, "Thank you") R4 cart with 2 GB microSD (for playing Cave Story DS! and perhaps DS development one day?) DS carrying case Mother 3 Game Center CX So, how did Pixel take to the package? You can read his reaction, as well as the community's reasons for picking those two particular games for their offering, past the post break! We also used this effort as an excuse to catch up with Ravenworks on Cave Story DS's progress. %Gallery-22693%
The Joystiq Mother's Day Weekend 2008
Happy Mother's day! We were so happy to play ... by gaming hours on Earthbound on our dusty ol' Super Nintendo console. Wait ... wrong mother? Oh well. (Image credit: protozoider) Check out the highlights for today:JoystiqueryJapanese hardware sales, April 28 - May 4: Mothers in gaming editionThis Week in Review visits LittleBigPlanetWeekly Webcomic Wrapup looks up at the starsNewsGears of War 2 gameplay footage debutBioWare drops 10-day validation from Mass Effect PCEA wants you to "Skate It" on Wii and DSEA takes out $1 billion loan for Take-Two acquisitionFacebreaker trailers: Meet the pugilistsMiyamoto: Ocarina of Time could have been in first-person perspectiveGamecock's Wilson announces candidacy for ESA presidentAmazon and Gamestop offering God of War III pre-orders, claim March 2 releaseRumors & SpeculationRumor: Kid Icarus Wii details, concept art revealedCulture & CommunityGamePolitics speaks with federal game bill sponsor, ESA deems bill unconstitutionalIkea'nt believe it: A fully functional giant NES controller/coffee tableSpend Mother's Day playing games with mom
Wii Warm Up: Are you down with EarthBound?
Inspired by the profile of the insane EarthBound fan community Starmen.net, we thought we would ask our audience directly: Are you an EarthBound fan? If so, how did you come by your fandom? Did you get the SNES game at launch? Maybe you discovered the game later? Or did the constant Mother series evangelism on the Internet (including the work of Starmen) turn your eye toward the series? Of course, there's also the (very likely) possibility that Ness's appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series ignited your fandom. That works too, as does love for Dragon Quest's gameplay.
A history of zealous Earthbound fandom
Members of the Mother series fan site Starmen.net may be celebrating now, with Earthbound recently rated on the ESRB's web site, but just getting to that tenuous victory (as Ys I & II can affirm, ESRB rating is not the same as a Virtual Console release) has been the culmination of years of agonizing effort and constant campaigning that may not have actually had anything to do with the news. Shacknews has posted a great retrospective of Starmen's 11-year campaign to get something related to Earthbound to happen outside of Japan, from a Game Boy Color release of Mother to localized versions of Mother I & II on the DS to (of course) a U.S. version of Mother 3. They've carried out insane plots like creating a beautiful book of fan works to show Nintendo how much they care about the series. Nintendo's response has ranged from politely dismissive to nonexistent, though the feature reveals that somewhere within Nintendo, Starmen's efforts were at least attracting attention.
EarthBound rated by ESRB for the Wii
Mother fans, rejoice! EarthBound, also known as Mother 2 and the only game of the series to be released in the US, has been rated by the ESRB for the Wii. While that seems to be a good indication the game is bound for the Virtual Console, we're not going to make that leap without an official confirmation from Nintendo. Besides, given the rabid fan base of the game here, we're half-serious when we say we suspect Nintendo might consider selling the game unchanged for $50 on a disc. We guarantee it would sell like gangbusters.An ESRB rating is the only outside hurdle the Nintendo-owned property to putting it on the Virtual Console (if that's the route they take). Now wouldn't that make for a clever Mother's Day gift, hm?[Via VC-Reviews; thanks, Jango311]
Earthbound gets rated by the ESRB
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Earthbound_coming_to_Nintendo_Wii'; We hope you have a fresh pair of underwear on, because you're about to suffer a heart attack: Earthbound has been rated by the ESRB for Wii. That pain in your chest? That's your heart exploding. Welcome the sensation. It's a sign of victory!Now that the game has been rated by the ESRB, it's likely to show up on the Virtual Console sometime in the immediate future. We'll settle for no less than this Monday, but in all probability, we won't be that lucky. Stay tuned to Wii Fanboy in the coming weeks for an announcement on when you can spend your money on this Virtual Console game.[Thanks, Brandon!]
For awesome NES mods, just add legends
Thanks to its largely flat surface, the NES doubles up as an ideal canvas for those wishing to spruce up their consoles with a custom paint job. Of course, you also need artistic ability, which is where we fail hideously, and eBay user hellokitty11111111111 (yes) excels.Well, "excels" most of the time, anyway. The quality of these mods does vary a little -- we're not big fans of the Kid Icarus design -- but we do absolutely love the Earthbound, Super Mario Bros. 3, and (highly topical) River City Ransom examples. Are they worth (up to) $149.99, though? At a stretch, we'd be tempted. There's more past the break, complete with auction links.
Mother 3 translation seven months away [update]
Celebrating Mother 3's release in Japan two years ago today, Starmen.net co-founder and fan-translation project lead Tomato posted an update on the unofficial localization's outlook. With ten months of work already behind them, the team predicts that the completed English patch (GBA ROM required) still needs about seven months of hacking, script editing, and testing.While that may sound like a long time, keep in mind that some fan-driven translations can take years before they're finished, and that's if they even make it past the first months of work before dissolving. Besides, it's not like Nintendo of America is rushing to translate the RPG.To help you deal with the wait, Tomato has posted ten minutes worth of video showing the team's progress, all of which you can watch above! So close, and yet so far away![Update 1: Corrected Mother 3's age -- two years old. Thanks, ShadowX!][Update 2: Straight from the horse's mouth.]
2008's April Fools' DS pranks
Oh man, is that Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime over there, bringing you a giant bag of popcorn? It must be your lucky day!Too bad it's April Fools' Day! You're not getting any popcorn at all! Nope, it's just another bag of the usual stuff -- disappointment, regret, and the simple pain of living.Rather than spend your day weeping over missed opportunities and movie snacks, why not peruse our collection of April Fools' Day DS pranks? We've gathered up all of this year's handheld shenanigans we could find around the internet, providing you a concentrated punch of lulz to counteract Reggie's kick to your head. Click Reggie for popcorn! ->
Square Enix thanks pirates for playing FFCC
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Square_Enix_thanks_pirates_for_playing_FFCC_pulls_plug'; Mere hours after Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates hit store shelves today, pirated copies of the game appeared in the shady corners of the internet, posted for all the picaroons out there to download and transfer to their flashcarts.Twenty minutes or so into the ARPG, however, many of those pirates found themselves greeted with this "Thank you for playing!!" screen and unable to progress. Players have the option of restarting the game from the last save point and playing on, but the screen reappears at random intervals. Clever!Why not lock pirates out before even loading up the game, you ask? Well, this way, they can try out Ring of Fates, eventually reforming their criminal ways and buying it if they find the experience enjoyable. Also, anyone dumping the game for distribution wouldn't notice this bit of programming unless they played a significant portion of it first.Though this method isn't 100% effective, as some brands of carts are unaffected and hackers will likely find a workaround by day's end, it's certainly cute! Pirates should feel thankful that this isn't even half as malicious as Earthbound's anti-piracy measures.
