EarthBound fandom
The fandom also spun-out other enterprises. When Nintendo did not release a
Fan base
EarthBound is known for having a
EarthBound was hard to find before the rerelease.[17] In 2013, prices for the game's cartridge alone were more than twice its retail cost at its 1995 release.[9] IGN wrote that the game became a "cult classic" for its unique RPG and psychedelic elements alongside its reflection on American culture,[4] and Eurogamer credited EarthBound's "cute and funny modern-world styling of the Japanese RPG".[18] Kotaku hypothesized that fan favorite aspects of the game would include its "feeling of innocence, ... sense of whimsical adventure", "humor", "charm", "wonder", and "beautiful 2D maps".[6] Marcus Lindblom, the game's English localizer, cited its "cuteness, colors, and hallucinatory bits" as fan favorites.[9] Reid Young of Starmen.net and Fangamer credits EarthBound's popularity to its "labor of love" nature, with a "double-coat of thoughtfulness and care" across all aspects of the game by a development team that appeared to love their work.[11]
Digital Trends's Anthony John Agnello wrote that no video game fans have suffered as much as EarthBound fans, and cited Nintendo's reluctance to release Mother series games in North America.[3] IGN described the series as neglected by Nintendo in North America for similar reasons.[2] Aaron Linde of Shacknews felt that Nintendo's "historic passive-aggression towards EarthBound fans [seemed] somehow anachronistic" in response to the outcries from the game's fan community.[1] He added that while the company is known for providing "the most personal experiences in gaming's history", Nintendo lacks the "bedside manner" required of contemporary game companies, and that he could not think of a "more deserving fan base" than EarthBound's.[1]
A film group known as 54&O Productions developed a fan-made documentary entitled Mother to Earth. The documentary focuses on the road to Mother's localization in North America, and includes interviews with key people behind the process.[19] It was released on August 31, 2020.[20]
The fan website Mother Forever hosts an annual "Mother Direct" live presentation of Mother-related fan projects.[21]
Starmen.net
Reid Young started an EarthBound
The EarthBound fan community at Starmen.net coalesced with the intent to have Nintendo of America acknowledge the Mother series. 1UP.com described their intent as reasonable given the company's "frequent dismissal" of the series alongside the community's "monumental efforts to increase American EarthBound awareness".[11] Young felt that their "underdog status" kept Starmen.net vigilant.[11] He also said that he views the community as "a big group of friends having fun together" and sometimes thinks that it is just happenstance that EarthBound was what brought them together, as opposed to another franchise like Pokémon.[11] As the site started in 1999, the community started a petition to have Nintendo release Mother for the Game Boy Color, and collected 1850 physical signatures to this end and bound it in a book for Nintendo. The final word from Nintendo was that the package was received. Other petitions include the 2000 10,000-person petition for a North American Mother 3 release on the Nintendo 64, the 2003 31,000-person petition for a North American Mother 1+2 Game Boy Advance release, and letter and phone campaigns. A source internal to Nintendo later told them that the 2003 campaign was almost successful, but fell out of consideration as the phone campaign ended after a week. The community resolved to never let up again.[1]
The community's massive pile of art, videos, music, and writing is a testament to the creativity of its fans.
Reid Young of Starmen.net, March 2010[11]
In time, the fan community's requests shifted from specific demands to no demand at all, wanting only their interest to be recognized by Nintendo.
Other oblique strategies included an attempt to license Mother 3 for North America from Nintendo through a small video game development studio, but Nintendo replied that the property was theirs and would never be developed externally.
Mother 3 fan translation
After a decade of development hell, the Japanese video game Mother 3 was released in April 2006. When fan interest in an English localization went unanswered by Nintendo, Starmen.net announced their own fan translation in November.[22] The project was led by the fansite's Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin, a professional game translator whose previous work includes games such as Kingdom Hearts II and anime such as Dragon Ball.[26]
The dozen fans who worked on the project had been vetted by Mandelin and had prior localization experience. Thousands of hours were put into the project between hacking the game data and translating the 1,000 pages of scripted dialogue. They built their own tools for the work.[22] The final version was released in October 2008 and issued as a patch to be used with an emulator, a process of murky legality.[27] The patch was downloaded over 100,000 times in its first week.[26] A fan-made, full-color, 200-page, professional-quality player's guide was released alongside the fan translation.[28] 1UP.com wrote that "no other game in the history of time garnered such a rabid demand for translation",[29] and The Verge cited the effort as proof of the fan base's dedication.[8]
Fangamer
Fangamer is a video game merchandising business spun out from Starmen.net. The online store sells items including hats, pins, and T-shirts branded with video game-related designs from games such as EarthBound, Chrono Trigger, and Metal Gear Solid. 1UP.com described their fare as "much less tacky than your typical mall-bought video game apparel".
EarthBound USA
Just finished an interview with some American MOTHER 2 fans who came to see me. Some of them were in elementary school when they played it but are now married with children, and still have a love for the game to this day. I've had all sorts of projects in my time, but this game is definitely in a league of its own.
Tweet from Shigesato Itoi, preempting the documentary's announcement, March 2014[32]
In April 2014, siblings Jazzy and Robbie Benson announced the production of their documentary "about how EarthBound fans have fought to popularize the Mother series in North America since the 1990s", EarthBound USA.
Fangames
After Mother 3, Shigesato Itoi declared that he was done with the series.
The game takes place in a parody of contemporary America, as a boy named Travis leaves his town of Belring to join three others in a fight against the "mysterious" Modern Men.[41] The game is expected to associate with the stories of the previous series games, and be similar in length. Its music and visuals are similar in style to the rest of the series. Oddity features a new soundtrack. Its creators are currently working on a voluntary basis without compensation.[41]
Another fangame, also entitled Mother 4, is in development as of late 2021, and includes elements like rolling hit point counters, rhythm-based attacks, and an art style derivative of the series.[43]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Linde, Aaron (May 6, 2008). "EarthBotched: A History of Nintendo vs. Starmen". Shacknews. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Thomas, Lucas M. (August 17, 2006). "Retro Remix: Round 25". IGN. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ a b Agnello, Anthony John (December 21, 2012). "EarthBound Creator Shigesato Itoi Teases a Rerelease for His Cult RPG". Digital Trends. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ a b George, Richard. "EarthBound – #13 Top 100 SNES Games". IGN. Archived from the original on January 1, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- ^ "EarthBound – #26 Top Video Game Worlds". IGN. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved January 24, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Schreier, Jason (August 23, 2013). "The Man Who Wrote Earthbound". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- 1UP.com. p. 2. Archivedfrom the original on April 26, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ a b c Webster, Andrew (July 18, 2013). "Cult classic 'Earthbound' launches today on Wii U". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ a b c d Meyer, John Mix (July 23, 2013). "Octopi! Spinal Tap! How Cult RPG EarthBound Came to America". Wired. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2014.
- ^ a b Campbell, Colin (January 18, 2014). "Why did Nintendo quash a book about EarthBound's development?". Polygon. Archived from the original on January 22, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2014.
- ^ 1UP.com. p. 1. Archived from the originalon May 13, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ McElroy, Griffin (April 17, 2013). "EarthBound coming to Wii U Virtual Console in North America and Europe this year". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ Diaz, Ana (October 17, 2020). "Make Love, Not War: Five Years Of 'Undertale'". NPR. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ Schilling, Chris (May 5, 2018). "The making of Undertale". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on May 6, 2018. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ Kirshenblatt, Matthew (December 10, 2018). "EarthBound Dress Rehearsals and The Beginnings of Interaction: Toby Fox and Gaster's Deltarune Part I". Sequart Organization. Archived from the original on June 3, 2019. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ Rigney, Ryan (July 24, 2013). "For Chuggaaconroy, Playing Old Nintendo Games Is a Full-Time Job". Wired. Archived from the original on June 29, 2016. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
- ^ a b Schreier, Jason (April 20, 2012). "Earthbound, The Trippiest Game In RPG History". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 8, 2014. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ Parkin, Simon (October 29, 2008). "Mother 3 Review". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
- Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
- ^ Deitering, Christian A. (2020-08-30), Watch Mother To Earth: The Untold Story Of Earth Bound Online | Vimeo On Demand, archived from the original on 2020-11-01, retrieved 2020-11-18
- Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ a b c Caron, Frank (October 28, 2008). "Mama's boys: the epic story of the Mother 3 fan translation". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ 1UP.com. p. 2. Archivedfrom the original on July 17, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Kohler, Chris (September 7, 2007). "To EarthBound's Long-Suffering, Dedicated Fans". Wired. Archived from the original on April 12, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Sarkar, Samit (July 18, 2013). "EarthBound now available on Wii U Virtual Console for $9.99". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 29, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2014.
- ^ Gamasutra. p. 1. Archivedfrom the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Fahey, Mike (October 17, 2008). "Mother 3 Fan Translation Completed". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ a b Plante, Chris (October 17, 2008). "Mother 3 in English! an Interview with Reid Young, co-founder of Starmen.Net!". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on September 15, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- 1UP.com. p. 1. Archived from the originalon October 10, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Cavalli, Earnest (October 20, 2008). "Fans Release Gorgeous Mother 3 Companion Book". Wired. Archived from the original on September 8, 2014. Retrieved June 29, 2014.
- ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (November 19, 2014). "Fangamer's EarthBound media box set raises over $230K on Kickstarter". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 16, 2017.
- ^ a b c d Macy, Seth G. (April 25, 2014). "EarthBound Documentary Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Ashcroft, Brian (September 5, 2006). "A Mother Film Years In The Making". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012.
- ^ "A
MotherEarthbound Film Years In the Making… Part Two!". Kotaku. September 29, 2006. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. - ^ "Earthbound, USA Trailer (Reupload)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ "Earthbound USA, a documentary 10 years in the making, debuts Nov. 27th, 2023". GoNintendo. 28 July 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-07-29. Retrieved 2023-07-29.
- ^ a b c Schreier, Jason (August 19, 2013). "Oh Jeez, The Fan-Made Mother 4 Looks Amazing, And It's Out Next Year". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (October 19, 2010). "Mother 4 In Development (By Fans, Not Nintendo)". Kotaku. Archived from the original on July 19, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ "Blog | MOTHER 4 – For Windows, Mac and Linux – Answers for Questions". Blog | MOTHER 4. Archived from the original on 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
- ^ "Mother 4 fangame delayed again". TechnologyTell. Archived from the original on 2015-06-16. Retrieved 2015-12-25.
- ^ a b c Haas, Pete (August 19, 2013). "Mother 4 Trailer Teases Fan-Made Sequel". Cinema Blend. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
- ^ Jackson, Gita (2017-03-02). "Fan-Made Mother 4 Is No Longer 'Mother 4'". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2017-03-02. Retrieved 2017-03-02.
- ^ a b Walker, Ian (November 30, 2021). "Someone Is Trying To Make Mother 4 Again And It Looks Great". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 18, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
Further reading
- Mattise, Nathan (March 14, 2021). "Mother to Earth: When an NES prototype lands on eBay and inspires a documentary". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- McFerran, Damien (June 29, 2022). "Undertale Creator Toby Fox Explains How EarthBound's Fans Kept The Game Alive". Nintendo Life. Archivedfrom the original on July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- Plante, Chris (October 4, 2012). "The professional fan: How EarthBound led to a marriage and a career". Polygon. Archived from the original on August 17, 2017. Retrieved August 17, 2017.