It's 20 years old, with a prequel and sequel never officially released in the West, yet EarthBound continues to possess a significant presence in the gaming world. You can largely thank the game's dedicated fanbase for that; some so dedicated that they're planning to produce a cultural explosion of unique material celebrating EarthBound and the people who'll always love it.
The boxed set of offerings in the You Are Now EarthBound Kickstarter is impressive in scope. First is The EarthBound Handbook, a companion guide to the game that's promising to get into the nitty-gritty of the game's tricks and ideas. The handbook looks to take a page from the original player's guide that came with the game, adopting a tourism-y feel with plenty of '"90s 'TUDE," as they say. Added to the printed material side of the set is an 80-page EarthBound Zine containing fan-made art and stories.
On the audio/visual end of the spectrum, the You Are Now EarthBound set will also include the documentary EarthBound, USA. Centering around the community that sprung up around the game in '90s North America, the film will include interviews with fans, gaming figures, and EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi himself.
Rounding out the boxed set is The Psychokinetic Album, a collection of Mother series arrangements produced by the game remixing team BAD DUDES.
The project is commanded by Fangamer, a gaming merchandise company founded by members of the Starmen.Net fansite. If their main Kickstarter video is any indication, they are a collective of quite insane yet strangely capable minds.
You Are Now EarthBound looks well on its way to meeting its goal out of the gate. It had reached nearly $50,000 at the time of this post, less than 1 day into its campaign. There have even been 2 backers of its hefty $8,192 tier, which includes a trip to Japan with the Fangamer crew.
Will you be supporting this mega EarthBound fan project? Let us know what you think.
[source kickstarter.com]
Comments 40
Oh, Fangamer is doing this. That...actually changes my opinion on this (for the better).
This may end up being the first Kickstarter I've ever backed.
The only thing that sounds interesting about this is the documentary. This is kind of crazy. Well hey if it's successful and pushes Nintendo to realizing there might be a market for Mother 3 then whatever. I've wanted to play that after beating Earthbound this spring.
Nintendo showed pretend to cease and desist this just to be funny, then actually back it up with a Nintendo Direct in a crazy amount of insanity.
Didn't a fanbook of a Nintendo game on Kickstarter just like this, get a cease and desist order?
the earthbound handbook is going to be just like the mother 3 handbook
once again i was just about to put this on the board
ill send yall my resume...
Does Mother/Earthbound have the best fans ever or what?
Hopefully the success this is undoubtedly going to achieve will be yet more evidence of the series' potential to Nintendo (and, who knows, might even strike a chord with Itoi... although that's not likely).
Q: Is there a legal risk in making this stuff?
A: We're confident that everything we're creating is legally sound.
This is fantastic. Mother has to have one of the most dedicated fanbases in the history of gaming.
...Don't see this happening.
This is awesome. Though I'm a little scared that Nintendo will pull the plug on this.
Too bad we will never get MOTHER3 nor a proper MOTHER4.
will this come to the 3ds too
@Xiao_Pai Why's that? It will be certainly be funded, and there aren't any legal issues with it....
@andrew20 It's not a game.
Mother fans are the awesomest.
It's already past $60,000.
My god, there are now three people who went for the highest tier.
I just think Nintendo won't like it, so...yeah.
@killer7 That's what people said about Earthbound, and now the game is on virtual console. Never say never
@Xiao_Pai So? It doesn't matter if Nintendo doesn't like it; this falls under Fair Use.
There's nothing Nintendo can do about it.
@brewsky Assuming they have Nintendo's permission, which they will need before funding this
And your use of "Fair use" is false if they are making money on this. Fair use only permits non-funding/profit uses, i.e. they cannot make ANY money for this
I need to play this game again. I forgot how weird and unique the enemies were. The bosses too. Ness is one of my mains in Smash Bros 3DS
@WaLzgi Fair Use does not block commercial use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
It's quite common for academic works to cite passages from copyrighted material. Another example is the Tropes v. Women segments, Anita uses multiple screenshots and clips to illustrate her points, she doesn't need permission from the copyright holder to do so.
This is really interesting. I've never been much of a fan because half my childhood was spent living under a rock apparently but, the fan base is so with size and passionate, I'll have to see what happens with this project either way it goes. Its almost inspiring enough to take another crack at EarthBound even though its not my favorite type of RPG. I wanna see what all the hubbub is about, bub.
I have become a huge fan 20 years too late...but late is better than never.
That highest tier sounds fun... A trip to Japan.... Man, I'd love that.. Especially if they go to Tokyo, I love that place!!!
It's past $80k so this kickstarter will easily be funded by the end of today, the big question though is whether Nintendo shuts the project down or not.
@S-Miyahon I know it's not exactly the same, but there is a decent fan translation out there somewhere. I'd love to be able to pay for a legit version one day, but until then it will have to do!
I would think that since the creator of the Mother series is appearing in the documentary, it would therefore mean that this Kickstarter campaign won't get a cease and desist. But you never know with Nintendo
Anyone who hasn't purchased Earthbound off the VC store needs to do it NOW. The game is amazing. Use a guide if you have to, but just play it. The beginning of the game is the only time I've found myself grinding, and after that it gets really good. I can guarantee you it will be better than any other game you play this year.
Just to let you know, the game's creator's name is misspelled:
Shigestao Itoi should be Shigesato Itoi.
Should replace the word "Crazy" with "Sweet" because it looks like you are bashing it! -_-
@Adam Thank you for catching my typo. It's been fixed. : )
These fans have jumped the shark.
Hey, Tim Latshaw. Just so you know, calling these fans crazy and insane is super offensive. EarthBound/MOTHER is known to be quirky in it's own right, and has went off to become the very definition of a cult classic. It's worked it's way into the mannerisms of many a fan, simply because of how charming and truly one-of-a-kind this gem is.
These fans are passionate, and continue to do more for the franchise and it's beloved following than Nintendo ever has. To write them off as "crazy" or "insane" really comes off as a downer to something that is actually quite touching.
I for one am looking forward to this release; it may become the first kickstarter I ever back.
That said, I'm sure you meant well but for other, less-impressionable minds (or even for the sake of those who created this project!) you might want to re-think the name-calling.
@bahooney Did you watch the Kickstarter video? I mean "crazy" in a very tongue-in-cheek manner here. The people behind this definitely wanted to come across as kooky, and I love them for it.
I'm also very much counting myself among the "crazy" as well. Have you noticed the byline next to many of the EarthBound articles on this site? ; )
Well I just backed it.
That's 27 projects I've backed so far: https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/inceptional
I'm kinda proud of that
I'm not sure why they referenced Twin Peaks... but I'm so very glad that they did. Yeah.... I guess I'll go ahead and back this.
There are so many dang earthbound fans, including myself, so when will Nintendo make a stinking remake or 4!?
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