Extra Earthbound Stuff
Those of you who bought Earthbound when it first came out should no doubt remember the extra stuff that came with it. That must've been really cool, opening a game and not just finding the instruction manual and the cartridge. I'm talking about the player's guide and scratch'n'sniff stickers. Now, I can honestly say that I never had this experience, even though I've been a huge Earthbound fan for a long time now. I would've loved to experience this, but I never did. I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool if Nintendo included some stuff with the GBA version, for the legions of obviously new fans that will be introduced to the series? I've put together a compilation of some user ideas from Starmen.net, along with one of my own. Here we go.
First of all, the obvious one. The Mr. Saturn keychain that was officially announced at the official Mother 1+2 website and first reported on the Starmen.net Message Forums by Jonk. It appears to be a long red stick type thing with the words "Mother 1+2" printed on it, with a black cap and strap at the top. There's a metal string running through the black top with a Mr. Saturn figure on it. It was reported by Famitsu that you get this by pre-ordering the game. (Thanks to ShadowX for the translation post in Jonk's thread) Now, I don't know what you guys and gals think (well, actually, I probably do), but I think this rocks. But, if this game is announced for the U.S., will it be included? We won't know until the announcement, and right now, free stuff doesn't really matter to this writer, as long as it's released over here. But it's still cool to speculate.
Second of all, I received a cool idea from DarthBelch on the forums. Pre-production sketches. While I doubt this would happen, wouldn't it be pretty sweet? To see some sketches of the game before the game, and get a little insight on the developers' point of view? I'd personally love it. Starmen.net has a few production sketches posted, and they're all very cool, especially the one of Ness's house with Ness standing in front of it with King. It's just cool to see them in 3D, since we may never again see our favorite characters in the third dimension. DarthBelch also gave me the idea to include a Halloween mask of our favorite video-game villain, the great Giygas. This would be simply awesome, and quite funny too. Thanks to DarthBelch for these ideas. Thirdly, one of my favorite ideas, brought to my attention by Starmen.net user Carl. A translation notes section of the manual. They could elaborate on how some of the changed elements of the game were interpreted for the U.S. localization. Examples given by Carl are the "Heidi" pun that became a Beatles joke, and the very strange Octopus & Doll Erasers. I'd personally love to know about these changed aspects. An obvious thing to include in the section would be notes on the differences between the newly translated version and the old, just for the sake of knowing. And one more thing. Carl said that they should restore the parts that were changed for "censorship" reasons. I totally agree. Nintendo, if there's any chance that you wandered your way to this article, I think America can handle a crow with a cigarette. Thanks to Carl for these ideas.
Starmen.net user clay0k gave me a plethora of ideas in my thread. First of all, he talked of some sort of a "Pokð[x" for Earthbound. For instance, we fight a Final Starman, defeat him, and unlock a portrait, HP, EXP, and a witty paragraph on the subject. Allies could have the same done for them. I believe this was done in the Final Fantasy remakes. clay0k also talked about a percentage complete for the game, sort of like Metroid Prime. We'd have to collect one of every single item, including EVERY present in the game. clay mentioned mini-games as well, like Boss Attack or Time Attack. He also said that they should mess with our memories and place some weapons like the Sword of Kings or Gutsy Bat in a different location. And finally, my favorite idea of clay0k's, package an Earthbound decal with the game, to use on our cars or something. (this was done with Metroid Prime, I placed my sticker on the box of the game) Now, here's my opinion on these ideas. NONE of them, except for the decal, should be used for the remakes of Mother 1+2. I don't want to see a changed game. But, they are very good ideas for a game in general, and Mother 3 could totally include them, since it is an all new game. Think about it. A HUGE game, like Mother 2, only with new characters and locations and powers, etc. packaged in with clay0k's ideas, and I think we could have a very good game. I don't think they should change too much from the originals, but some mini-games or a percentage meter would be quite cool. But, as I said, I hope Nintendo leaves Mother 1+2 the same as they were when everybody else played them. Thanks to clay0k for the ideas.
el jacko mentioned a very cool idea, involving toys. Earthbound figures by Todd Mcfarlane. Now, if we're gonna have Earthbound figures, this is who we need them from. This guy knows how to make an action figure. Don't believe me? Go check out their new Matrix figures. Detailed, true to the movie, and just plain Rockin'. This would be very cool, having Nintendo going so far as to hiring a huge action figure company to make their game popular. Bring it on. Thanks to el jacko for the idea.
The next idea was given by H.A. Hamster. The idea was to include a tiny figurine of Ness or Mr. Saturn or a Starman or something along those lines. Of course, I like this idea. Many will say it's too simplistic, but hey, it's more than we got for other popular games, like Super Mario Sunshine, when we got nothing. Thanks H.A. Hamster!
Next, the idea that has been talked about by pretty much everybody. Including the guide and stickers with the GBA version. This doesn't need much analysis. Simply do what they did for the Super Nintendo release, and include all the stuff. This would definitely be cool for collectors and Earthbound fans alike, especially those of us who didn't get all the cool stuff the first time around. And finally, I'd like to throw in my own idea. The Mach Pizza Air Freshener. I don't know why I want this so much, but I love pizza. Bring on the stuff!
In conclusion, I'd like to say that I don't know why we are so obsessed with collectibles. Maybe it's the thought that in 20 years we may own something that nobody else owns, or the thought that everybody else owns something good and we don't. Well, Earthbound collectibles have drawn me in. I can't use EBay, not old enough, and I'm not about to spend 50 bucks on an old air fresher, even if it does smell like pizza for a day, but I can say this: some new collectibles with the new Mother compilation would be very cool. While I'd personally rather see them include this kind of stuff with Mother 3 upon it's release, just to hype the new game and draw people's interest, any collectible stuff at any time would be very cool. So Nintendo, like I said before, bring on the stuff.
-EB 4 GBA
P.S. I'd love some feedback on my articles. I would really like to know if you guys and gals like to read my stuff. I sincerely hope so. And, ideas! About Extra Earthbound Stuff! Send me more, send me more! Just e-mail them to the address in the link, with something about Earthbound in the subject. Later y'all.
Those of you who bought Earthbound when it first came out should no doubt remember the extra stuff that came with it. That must've been really cool, opening a game and not just finding the instruction manual and the cartridge. I'm talking about the player's guide and scratch'n'sniff stickers. Now, I can honestly say that I never had this experience, even though I've been a huge Earthbound fan for a long time now. I would've loved to experience this, but I never did. I was thinking, wouldn't it be cool if Nintendo included some stuff with the GBA version, for the legions of obviously new fans that will be introduced to the series? I've put together a compilation of some user ideas from Starmen.net, along with one of my own. Here we go.
First of all, the obvious one. The Mr. Saturn keychain that was officially announced at the official Mother 1+2 website and first reported on the Starmen.net Message Forums by Jonk. It appears to be a long red stick type thing with the words "Mother 1+2" printed on it, with a black cap and strap at the top. There's a metal string running through the black top with a Mr. Saturn figure on it. It was reported by Famitsu that you get this by pre-ordering the game. (Thanks to ShadowX for the translation post in Jonk's thread) Now, I don't know what you guys and gals think (well, actually, I probably do), but I think this rocks. But, if this game is announced for the U.S., will it be included? We won't know until the announcement, and right now, free stuff doesn't really matter to this writer, as long as it's released over here. But it's still cool to speculate.
Second of all, I received a cool idea from DarthBelch on the forums. Pre-production sketches. While I doubt this would happen, wouldn't it be pretty sweet? To see some sketches of the game before the game, and get a little insight on the developers' point of view? I'd personally love it. Starmen.net has a few production sketches posted, and they're all very cool, especially the one of Ness's house with Ness standing in front of it with King. It's just cool to see them in 3D, since we may never again see our favorite characters in the third dimension. DarthBelch also gave me the idea to include a Halloween mask of our favorite video-game villain, the great Giygas. This would be simply awesome, and quite funny too. Thanks to DarthBelch for these ideas. Thirdly, one of my favorite ideas, brought to my attention by Starmen.net user Carl. A translation notes section of the manual. They could elaborate on how some of the changed elements of the game were interpreted for the U.S. localization. Examples given by Carl are the "Heidi" pun that became a Beatles joke, and the very strange Octopus & Doll Erasers. I'd personally love to know about these changed aspects. An obvious thing to include in the section would be notes on the differences between the newly translated version and the old, just for the sake of knowing. And one more thing. Carl said that they should restore the parts that were changed for "censorship" reasons. I totally agree. Nintendo, if there's any chance that you wandered your way to this article, I think America can handle a crow with a cigarette. Thanks to Carl for these ideas.
Starmen.net user clay0k gave me a plethora of ideas in my thread. First of all, he talked of some sort of a "Pokð[x" for Earthbound. For instance, we fight a Final Starman, defeat him, and unlock a portrait, HP, EXP, and a witty paragraph on the subject. Allies could have the same done for them. I believe this was done in the Final Fantasy remakes. clay0k also talked about a percentage complete for the game, sort of like Metroid Prime. We'd have to collect one of every single item, including EVERY present in the game. clay mentioned mini-games as well, like Boss Attack or Time Attack. He also said that they should mess with our memories and place some weapons like the Sword of Kings or Gutsy Bat in a different location. And finally, my favorite idea of clay0k's, package an Earthbound decal with the game, to use on our cars or something. (this was done with Metroid Prime, I placed my sticker on the box of the game) Now, here's my opinion on these ideas. NONE of them, except for the decal, should be used for the remakes of Mother 1+2. I don't want to see a changed game. But, they are very good ideas for a game in general, and Mother 3 could totally include them, since it is an all new game. Think about it. A HUGE game, like Mother 2, only with new characters and locations and powers, etc. packaged in with clay0k's ideas, and I think we could have a very good game. I don't think they should change too much from the originals, but some mini-games or a percentage meter would be quite cool. But, as I said, I hope Nintendo leaves Mother 1+2 the same as they were when everybody else played them. Thanks to clay0k for the ideas.
el jacko mentioned a very cool idea, involving toys. Earthbound figures by Todd Mcfarlane. Now, if we're gonna have Earthbound figures, this is who we need them from. This guy knows how to make an action figure. Don't believe me? Go check out their new Matrix figures. Detailed, true to the movie, and just plain Rockin'. This would be very cool, having Nintendo going so far as to hiring a huge action figure company to make their game popular. Bring it on. Thanks to el jacko for the idea.
The next idea was given by H.A. Hamster. The idea was to include a tiny figurine of Ness or Mr. Saturn or a Starman or something along those lines. Of course, I like this idea. Many will say it's too simplistic, but hey, it's more than we got for other popular games, like Super Mario Sunshine, when we got nothing. Thanks H.A. Hamster!
Next, the idea that has been talked about by pretty much everybody. Including the guide and stickers with the GBA version. This doesn't need much analysis. Simply do what they did for the Super Nintendo release, and include all the stuff. This would definitely be cool for collectors and Earthbound fans alike, especially those of us who didn't get all the cool stuff the first time around. And finally, I'd like to throw in my own idea. The Mach Pizza Air Freshener. I don't know why I want this so much, but I love pizza. Bring on the stuff!
In conclusion, I'd like to say that I don't know why we are so obsessed with collectibles. Maybe it's the thought that in 20 years we may own something that nobody else owns, or the thought that everybody else owns something good and we don't. Well, Earthbound collectibles have drawn me in. I can't use EBay, not old enough, and I'm not about to spend 50 bucks on an old air fresher, even if it does smell like pizza for a day, but I can say this: some new collectibles with the new Mother compilation would be very cool. While I'd personally rather see them include this kind of stuff with Mother 3 upon it's release, just to hype the new game and draw people's interest, any collectible stuff at any time would be very cool. So Nintendo, like I said before, bring on the stuff.
-EB 4 GBA
P.S. I'd love some feedback on my articles. I would really like to know if you guys and gals like to read my stuff. I sincerely hope so. And, ideas! About Extra Earthbound Stuff! Send me more, send me more! Just e-mail them to the address in the link, with something about Earthbound in the subject. Later y'all.
