Talk:EarthBound

Correct Capitalization

"Earthbound" or "EarthBound"? Someone check the correct capitalisation please! -- Oliver P. 17:57 20 May 2003 (UTC)

It's disputed, even Nintendo is inconsistent sometimes with "Earthbound", "Earth Bound", and "EarthBound", but "EarthBound" is the most popular spacing/capitalization by far and used the most often in Nintendo's promotional materials. It's pretty safe to say it's the "official" spelling. - furrykef (Talk at me) 13:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Restoring to the more popular English-language title according to Google:

• '"EarthBound" SNES' [1] 14,100

• '"Mother II" SNES' [2] 20

- M123 05:51, 19 Aug 2003 (UTC)

It should also be said that within the game, when the game is spoken of, it is written as EarthBound. -Vague Rant 09:02, Oct 17, 2004 (UTC)

The title is Mother 2, not Mother II.

Correct Information:

14,100 > 5,270, not winning for Mother 2, but it certainly is a lot closer than you'd make it out. -A Link to the Past 01:51, Mar 4, 2005 (UTC)

The name on the box, title screen, etc. etc. always reads "Mother 2", so that is the official "spelling" of the title and therefore what should appear. - furrykef (Talk at me) 13:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Developer

Who developed EarthBound, and who published it?

Thanks, --85.72.26.254 14:04, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Developed by APE, published by Nintendo, if I understand correctly - furrykef (Talk at me) 13:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Not only by APE, also by HAL Laboratories, which that's why I understand Ness came to the SSB series. Just in case HAL hasn't been added. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 200.92.208.146 (talk • contribs) 23 Dec 2006.

Giygas picture

Should we really have the Giygas picture so close to the top of the article? Especially because Pokey is in it. Don't you think that's a bit spoilerish? - furrykef (Talk at me) 13:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yeah, that picture is totally too close to the top. Does it even really need to be in the article? Any other battle scene would be a fine substitute. Aerion//talk 20:18, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Since nobody else suggested what else to do with it, or did anything else with it, I simply removed it from the article. This makes the image an orphan, but I don't know what else to do with it. - furrykef (Talk at me) 17:10, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I am the one who added the image, and i agree with both of you that it should be remove. KeithV 18:17, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Characters picture

The second image in the article, showing some characters, currently doesn't flow well. Before, it was screwing up the table size. Now, we've fixed that by making the image precede the table, but there's a bunch of blank space, which looks ugly. Anybody got any ideas? Should we fill some of that space with text? - furrykef (Talk at me) 17:10, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I suggest something related to Characters, seeing as how it's right before the Characters section. --A Link to the Past 17:30, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

PSI and characters list

Also, do we really need to list all the PSI powers everybody has? Does anybody who hasn't played the game really care that Paula has PSI Magnet Ω? Probably not. We could condense it to just a few examples per character. - furrykef (Talk at me) 17:14, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

The list of PSI abilities makes the table look horrible. I've done everything I could to make it wider, with absolutely no success. If you notice, there is no difference whatsoever between the 7em and the 13em widths. The only good fix I could think of was to remove the column entirely. And really, it's not even needed. E946 19:43, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

If I recall, I had trimmed it to a few examples and somebody went back and decided to do the entire PSI list. *sigh* In any case, I think it does need to be indicated that Ness and Paula use PSI and Jeff does not. I think maybe it'd be worth noting the type of PSI used in the table. For instance, Ness has mostly assist and status-affecting PSI, Paula has mostly elemental PSI, Jeff has no PSI, and Poo has mostly elemental and assist PSI. Something like that. - furrykef (Talk at me) 23:17, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

I agree that the type should be noted. Perhaps it could be included in the character's description? "Jeff cannot use PSI, but he makes up for it with his ability to turn uselss junk into very useful tiems" or something like that. This would keep the functionality of the PSI column and get rid of the ugliness.

Release Date

One thing I noticed is the page is missing release date information. Japanese Release date was August 27th 1994, however there is little information about US release date. Everybody knows that it is June 1995, but no exact date. The accepted date is June 15th, 1995. Official Nintendo Reference to June 1995. External source citing June 15th as release date. That's the only source with an exact date.

It is also worth noting that Mother 1+2 was released in Japan on June 20th, 2003.

ROFISH - Web Developer, Starmen.net 24.163.146.18 05:43, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Ness's weapons

Haven't played EB in ages (I know, I should), but can't Ness also use yo-yos in addition to baseball bats? I know for sure that he uses a yo-yo in both of the Smash Bros. games, but I seem to remember purchasing a yo-yo in Twoson (if that memory is accurate, it'll be a miracle). - Vague | Rant July 6, 2005 06:07 (UTC)

Yo-yos and slingshots can both be used by every character, but they miss much more frequently so most people never bother with them. It's like a 4/16 chance of missing as opposed to 1/16 with Ness & Paula's regular weaopns and 0 with Jeff's. - STAREYe July 6, 2005 19:04 (UTC)

Jeff's chance of missing is 0? Lies. I've missed with Jeff plenty of times, and he didn't have any status effects either. FxChiP 23:58, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Jeff's chance of missing actually refers to CHANCE OF HITTING as I understand, and by the way, it is abour 1/16 too. Correct me if wrong. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 200.92.208.146 (talk • contribs) 23 Dec 2006.

Giygas and pornography

Giygas, according to Itoi himself, is representative of pornography that he saw at an early age.

Can this be substantiated? Anybody have a source for this quote? What exactly does it mean? - furrykef (Talk at me) 00:26, 14 July 2005 (UTC)

Sounds like trolling/nonsense. Andre (talk) 00:45, July 14, 2005 (UTC)

Nope, it's total fact. I read it in an interview, and he mentioned that the Giygas battle was inspired by a rape movie he accidentally wandered in on at a theater. -- A Link to the Past 05:25, August 8, 2005 (UTC)

In that case I want a source for the interview (whether it's in English or Japanese; I can't read Japanese but I know people who can). - furrykef (Talk at me) 12:15, 8 August 2005 (UTC)

http://www.1101.com/MOTHER/07.html. -- A Link to the Past 13:34, August 8, 2005 (UTC)

I'll attempt to verify it tonight when I'm at home and have the Japanese language pack installed. Thanks for the link. hansamurai 飯侍 (burp) 13:09, August 9, 2005 (UTC)

Wow, I must hear more! --Buzda

No, it was just a porno, but he thought that the woman was being hurt because of her moaning.

Did anyone every translate or source the appropriate interview? This is really interesting trivia, but I can't help but wonder if it's just an urban legend, since I've never seen it anywhere. If the link above can be translated or verified, we could use it as a citation. --SevereTireDamage 23:34, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

It wasn't pornography, it was just a film kids shouldn't watch, called The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty. Some people even doubt it was a rape scene. 62.31.242.55 (talk) 09:52, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Quirks of the game

while I was looking through this article, I saw that the specific infromation that I was searching for has been removed. The Quirks of the game section (as seen in the 7 August 2005 edit) contained more elaborate infromation about The Beatles and Blues Brothers references, and has been replaced by somethig a little less interesting. I can see why it was removed, but I don't think it needed to be removed completely. Yes I know this is almost two months late. I'm placing the Beatles, Blues Brothers and Mr. T infromation from the old article into the current one. The "four numbered cities" and "Bowie" references might be interesting too, but I'm going to leave them out for now. — Kjammer ⌂ 04:17, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

Super Mario References

This part should be deleted and combined with Hidden references. The one reference doesnt even belong on this page being that it is a reference from Mother (EarthBound 0).Buzda 23:50, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

Japanese names / locations section

Do we really need the Japanese names of each location in the game? I don't think too many people will care that "Winters" was spelled "ウィンターズ" and is romanized as "Uintaazu". That Dalaam was called Ranma may be of interest to some, but that's already mentioned elsewhere. Of course, some people do want to know this sort of thing, but I think anybody who does can easily look it up elsewhere. I propose that we delete the "locations" section entirely since it serves little purpose other than to give the Japanese names of every place. (A list of locations without the Japanese names will also not be very meaningful to somebody who hasn't played the game already, and somebody who has will already know what they are.) - furrykef (Talk at me) 00:01, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I don't see the need to remove the information. It does need to be better formated though. I'm gonna put it in a table. Dread Lord CyberSkull ✎☠ 00:03, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, I don't see a need for the presence of the information. What does it add to the article? I don't think it adds anything. - furrykef (Talk at me) 21:57, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

Since there were no further comments, I deleted the section. - furrykef (Talk at me) 20:21, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

removed "Name Jokes" section

I removed the section EarthBound Name Jokes (seen in this revision). I don't think it's well-written, and it's a long and somewhat pointless list. A few examples would suffice. - furrykef (Talk at me) 02:08, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

I think that came straight out of a walkthrough. I've seen that walkthrough somewhere at starmen.net. Anyway, maybe this should be placed into one of the sections saying that EarthBound constantly uses puns or objects in names, and list a few examples. --Crazysunshine 03:51, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Runaway Five Reference

From the article:

The second song played by the Runaway Five in the Chaos Theater strongly resembles the song The Changeling by The Doors.

The Runaway Five only play one song in the Chaos Theater. Later on, they play two more in the Topolla theater. So is this referring to the second song they play period, which would be the first song in the Topolla, or is it referring to the second song in the Topolla? --Chrismith 22:07, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Gruff Goat enemy

I think that the Gruff Goat is the toughest enemy in the game. I have a hard time beating it.

That's rough. Is that the goat that you face as Jeff in Winters? Atreys 00:43, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

I believe so. - furrykef (Talk at me) 01:34, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

It will constantly attack you. Its "Ram and trample you" attack causes a lot of damage, and its "Tore into you" move can kill you in a single hit. How do you defeat this monster? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.202.26.44 (talk • contribs) .

This is not the right place for this kind of discussion. Please talk in user pages, instead. Thanks. -- ReyBrujo 03:07, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

Picture of the Gruff Goat → [3]

Carefree Bomb

What's a "Carefree Bomb?" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.202.26.44 (talk • contribs) .

An enemy found in Magicant. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 12.202.26.44 (talk • contribs) .

Picture of the Carefree Bomb → [4]

Sales figures?

Does someone know the actual sales figures for this game both here and Japan. Also, the Japanese release section has more info on Mother 3 than EarthBound. If someone can find some refrences, I can clean it up. Manmonk 02:33, 4 May 2006 (UTC)

Squatter Demon

Is there really enemy called Squatter Demon in the game? What does it look like? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.130.171.59 (talk • contribs) .

This isn't a game forum, it's for discussion of the article itself. --Chrismith 03:15, 11 May 2006 (UTC)

Squatter Demon → [5]

Trivia misinformation

"The game used the Super Nintendo's special "Mode 7" graphics, but only sparingly; battle backgrounds are where Mode 7 was put to the most use."

This is not true; while the backgrounds are visually quite complex, it's all a bunch of palette rotations and pumping interesting looking sequences of values (sine waves, etc.) into the horizontal scroll, vertical scroll, and transparency control registers on each scanline. Like most consoles the SNES can deform backgrounds through creative use of scrolling without using "mode 7". The use of multiple background layers to composite effects together (notably involving transparency) strongly indicate that mode 7 isn't being used, as only one background layer is available in that mode.

"Many of the animated backgrounds of the fight sequences in EarthBound are actually mathematical graphs that employ dynamic variables."

Any proof of this? Has the game been disassembled so the routines that generate the backgrounds can be examined? If so, any off-site links to sources of this information? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.110.37.136 (talk • contribs) .

Hmm, seeing if it uses Mode 7 or not shouldn't require disassembly. Anyway, my hunch is that the game doesn't use Mode 7 at all, though I'm too lazy to test it right now. - furrykef (Talk at me) 00:39, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Electro Specter

What color is the Electro Specter's background battle thing? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 74.130.166.179 (talk • contribs) .

As far as I remember, it was green. I'm quite sure. :D - 203.112.196.85 05:03, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Runaway Five / conformity

The Runaway Five had clothes that were all of the same color and style in the Japanese version. This was changed in the American version due to cultural differences -- conformity is looked up to in Japanese culture whereas individuality is popular in American culture. The Japanese group was known as the "Tonzura Brothers".

The more usual (and more plausible) explanation for this is to avoid legal trouble with the Blues Brothers (an idea supported from the changing of "Runaway Bros.", as it was in an early translation, to "Runaway Five"). I think the cultural thing is more of a coincidence. - furrykef (Talk at me) 12:25, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Well the Blues Brothers are said by Shigesato Itoi to be one of his sources of inspiration. It may not be that much of an original research stretch to say that the idea for the band is primarly from the blues brothers, considering how similar they are. Kevin_b_er 23:30, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

I removed the statement, it sounds a lot like original research as it is. I left the facts about changes in. --SevereTireDamage 04:33, 14 June 2006 (UTC)

music trivia

there are a lot of claims that such and such song is sampled from whatever, or this song sounds similar to some other unrelated song. are those all necessary? The ones that point out a specific sample are really hard to verify, I've tried listening to the game songs and the songs which have been claimed to be sampled and I can find nothing at all similar about most of them. can we get any verification that they really are sampled? As for the songs that are similar, that might be true in some cases but is it good information? I think there are a lot more things to be said about the music of this game than remarking that some game songs bear resemblence to popular songs —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Agonotheta (talk • contribs) .

I know the soundtrack used vocal samples, and that was unique for a 16-bit title. You can plainly hear them the song that plays when you enter the characters' names, for example. It wouldn't surprise me that the game soundtrack contains samples, either, though I've found it hard finding verification of this online. Nonetheless, the game's text and graphic also contain several references to the Beatles speficially -- the "YESterday" joke and the yellow submarine inside Dungeon Man, for example -- so I would say that alone should count for not deleting the section yet. I'm fairly certian given some time that I can prove the connection. Kidicarus222 01:52, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Just because a melody sounds similar or even the same does not make it a sample. For instance, during the battle with Slimy Little Pile, the song that plays does not sample Super Mario Bros. It contains a short melody line that slightly resembles the first few notes of the Mario theme, and could very likely be unintentional. However, the one about Xevious in the arcade... that is definitely the melody from that game (though I believe it is also being synthesized, not sampled from the original). Basically, let's just get one thing straight. A sample is when you actually take the original recording of the song and put it in something else. If it's being played with a diffferent instrument, it is not a sample.

The freeware tool 'OpenSPC' allows you to convert Super Nintendo audio rips to Impulse Tracker files. Using this method, I've confirmed that the Liberty Bell March, the Our Gang theme, and the Sgt. Pepper drum pattern are very clearly samples and not re-creations-- i.e., each clip comprises a single Impulse Tracker instrument. I'm pretty sure the same is true for the Ric Ocasek song in Moonside as well; though I'm unfamiliar with the original song, the entire Moonside theme is essentially a two-second, multi-instrument sample repeated over and over at different pitches. --Codeman38 00:46, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

• The song played while inside the Dungeon Man contains a sample from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise).
• A drum sample from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band can be heard while inside the Dungeon Man.

Are these two supposed to be the same item? Or could it be that there's a sample in the Dungeon Man theme from the Reprise, and a different sample when Dungeon Man joins your party (as somebody keeps changing one of the items to) from the main Sgt. Pepper song? It seems unlikely, but not impossible. - furrykef (Talk at me) 21:50, 22 September 2006 (UTC) So where does the Liberty Bell March appear in the game? Audio file please? Curvebill 21:39, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

I'm positive that the BGM using sampling of the opening drum beat from "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is when you walk around Scaraba with Dungeon Man. What is actually sampled when wondering around inside of him is unknown to me. Also, Codeman38, the Cave of the Past music definately has to have a sample from the beginning of "All You Need Is Love" by the Beatles. And Ric Ocasek's "Keep On Laughin'" is definately sampled for Moonside's BGM. Buzda 19:39, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

fuzzy pickles

what is the deal with fuzzy pickles? is there a point to that guy? was he in the first game? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.175.48.97 (talk • contribs) .

The point of the character is to snap the pictures which are shown during the game's ending credits as "memories" of your journey. He wasn't in the first game. - furrykef (Talk at me) 03:27, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Ramma / Ranma 1/2?!

I spotted this in the article: "It is unknown whether or not this was to prevent confusion with anime property Ranma ½."

Not only is this ridiculous to assume, just becuase one word may slightly look like another, Ranma 1/2 is not widely known by everyone in America. Only by a percentage of anime fans. This sounds like an completly ludicrous and unsubstantiated opinion added to the article by a fan of Ranma 1/2, just to drop the name for no reason into this article. Can this sentance be removed?

I agree. Such a concern would have been far more relevant in Japan than the U.S., I'd imagine. It's possible that there could have been a trademark concern (seems unlikely to me), but until that claim is substantiated, I'd like to leave the whole thing out, since speculation doesn't really belong in an encyclopedia. - furrykef (Talk at me) 08:52, 20 July 2006 (UTC)

Red Cross

Was it really removed due because it was religious imagery? Or is it because of this? --Everdred 18:10, 3 August 2006 (UTC)

I think it's more likely due to respect for the Geneva thing. Since we can only speculate, I simply removed the reason altogether, stating simply that the crosses were removed but without stating a reason why. - furrykef (Talk at me) 03:39, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Beatles Trivia: Dungeon Man

According to the wiki, "The song played while inside the Dungeon Man contains a sample from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)." I assume this refers to the quick drum pattern heard at the beginning of the Beatles' track. However, this is not heard when you are inside Dungeon Man. It's actually played when you are walking around Scaraba with Dungeon Man, who has briefly joined your party. The music played inside Dungeon Man has a quick drum pattern too, but it is not the one from the Beatles' song. I know it's a little thing, but can we get this changed? Back me up, Earthbound fans.

EDIT: Here are the songs: [walking with Dungeon Man] [inside Dungeon Man] (may require reloading)—The preceding unsigned comment was added by 70.34.106.169 (talk • contribs) .

Time to fix up this sucker.

This could get GA EASILY. But right now this thing needs lots of lists. They all need to be prosified. As promised, this will be my next big thing to tackle. Sir Crazyswordsman 17:43, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

No, it needs less lists. That's one of the biggest problems with the article, the number of lists. - A Link to the Past (talk) 17:52, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

I tend to agree with A Link to the Past. There is very little of an actual article, but instead a collection of disjoined and unordered lists. I would guess the best approach would be to create some narrative about the game and move most of those lists and notes into footnotes/references. wrp103 (Bill Pringle) 18:17, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

Wii Virtual Console

Any word on this gem being released on the Virtual Console? 71.234.35.37 01:06, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

No, not yet as far as I know. Sadly. This is easily one of my most anticipated VC releases. AnujSuper9 05:49, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Man, I don't think there's any game that NOA could possibly release for the VC that would be better than Earthbound... Link's Awakening 22:08, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Mother 2 is coming to the VC soon in Japan. Look at todays smashbros.com update (1/25/07 Japanese page) -unsigned —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.85.138.246 (talk) 20:48, 25 January 2008 (UTC)

Weapon and Armor List

Ohhh man, don't you know how much some people would appreciate a list of equipment status for each character? I mean, if it is not "spoilerish", I'd suggest a list for the characters' equipment. That is because there are so many strange equipment that has different effects (for example Ness's Casey's Bat) or are quite rare (like Poo's Sword of Kings). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 200.92.208.146 (talk • contribs) 23 Dec 2006.

I'm not so sure that kind of specific information belongs in an encyclopedia. People would normally not look at this article for something like that, but rather at a walkthrough or fansite. A note mentioning the unique nature of some items might be worth adding though. 24.242.232.180 02:56, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Gameplay section

I think the gameplay section focuses currently too much on the actual game mechanics, and doesn't list anything about the game and it's ability to warp and manipulate the human psyche with it's fourth-wall-breaking gameplay and its entirely original pseudo-realistic euphoria world. The appeal the game has is it's ability to appeal to your sense of delusion that the game sort of puts you in, affecting the cores of all your emotions without you really being aware of it. I think something along these lines for the game should be mentioned. AnujSuper9 08:22, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

An interesting comment. If you can find a reference to back your comments, then add it. wrp103 (Bill Pringle) 14:03, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Hmmm finding references for this sort of thing will be incredibly difficult, but I'll see what I can dig up. AnujSuper9 02:36, 22 February 2007 (UTC)

Got a critique of the game that references it. Added to External Links. 201.2.238.219 17:13, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

Regarding the removal of much material

Fairly recently, in this edit, a lot of material was removed as unencyclopedic. Today, a user tried to reinstate this material as-is (but, for some reason, without formatting), not knowing why it was removed. I don't think the lists should stay as they were, myself, but I don't think we should throw out the material entirely; we should work some of it into the article. What do you guys think? - furrykef (Talk at me) 08:16, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

Yeah, work some of the material into a paragraph as examples. Doppelganger 15:50, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

One of the problems I have with a lot of the video game articles is what I call "content creep", where people keep wanting to add one more piece of trivia, or make note of every obscure exception to a general statement. I have yet to figure out how to add information without encouraging more stuff being added. Hopefully you will have better luck than I have had. ;^) wrp103 (Bill Pringle) 16:02, 4 April 2007 (UTC)

That's unfortunate. I have yet to find a more expansive compendium of Earthbound information, even on Starmen.net, the largest Mother/Earthbound fansite around. Perhaps I can submit some of it over there. I'm all for integrating the material back into the article while avoiding the trivia list pitfall.Pauyasfyla 04:19, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

For anyone who wants to bring this to FA,

Here's a great source. --Sir Crazyswordsman 18:44, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Revamp

I have revamped this article, rewriting around 90% and significantly expanded all sections. I really want this article to become an FA, so if additions are to be made, make sure you write in prose and cite your statements. I am also initiating a peer review as of now. Thank you. -- Noj r (talk) 18:55, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Heeeey! Lookin' good! I don't know how others would react to FA status, but it would get GA in a heartbeat. --Sir Crazyswordsman 18:48, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. There is still a lot of work before FA status is attempted, but I'm confident it will pass when ready. Also, thank you for posting that Gamasutra ref, it proved very valuable in the article as you might have noticed. -- Noj r (talk) 22:20, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank the good people at Starmen.net for digging it up. --Sir Crazyswordsman 17:47, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Not sure if you've looked through this already, but there should be plenty of information you can use here: [6] -- Tenks (talk) 21:16, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Congrats, you discovered my secret source of information. That page was the backbone of the dev section. I only wish I could speak Japanese so I could get everything out of the articles. -- Noj r (talk) 21:38, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Help with Reception

We need information on the Japanese release of the game. If anybody that speaks Japanese could translate these Weekly Famitsu articles (September 23, 1994 and October 7, 1994) located here, I would be very grateful as they speak about game's commercial success and the magazine's score for the game. We also need information on the commercial sales of the game in either country. American reviews of EarthBound at the time of its release are also requested. If anybody has any information on these, please post it here so it can be integrated into the article. It also needs publishing info so it can be properly cited. We could use:

• Japanese reviews (anything)
• Japanese sales

Sold 810,000 in Japan, source here. -- Noj r (talk) 05:10, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

• American reviews (circa 1995)
• American sales

Thanks for the help, and good luck. -- Noj r (talk) 22:01, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

I don't think vgchartz is considered a reliable source. I know starmen.net says EarthBound sold about 140k in America, but you'd have to ask them how they came up with that number. -- Tenks (talk) 05:24, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, I don't see how vgchartz is not a reliable source, by that I mean, it has copyright info, tons of information, its entirely dedicated to video game chart sales. Ive seen other articles get away with much worst, I think this will be adequate. As for Starmen, i just might have to send them an email regarding these sales. -- Noj r (talk) 05:51, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

FYI: On the List of best-selling video games article (the most comprehensive collection of video game sales figures on the Wikipedia), VGChartz has been deemed an unreliable source for sales numbers. -Zomic13 (talk) 07:30, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

WP:VG does not consider VG Chartz a reliable source, see Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games/Archive 38#Old Game Boy game sales, and VG Chartz and Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games/Archive 38#VGChartz re-visited. --Silver Edge (talk) 07:54, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Ah crap, well thats it. Its impossible to find sales figures for this game. Ive looked everywhere. I still need help finding information about the Japanese release (anytime) and the American release (circa 1995). Thanks for clearing that up. -- Noj r (talk) 17:53, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Go ask Tomato for something. --Sir Crazyswordsman 07:14, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Both this Japanese fansite and the Japanese Wikipedia page for Mother 2 list the amount of copies sold as approximately 300,000. That's all I could find on sales. It's all unconfirmed stuff, though. -- Tenks (talk) 19:35, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Wow, can you speak Japanese? Wish I was disciplined enough to teach myself. Yeah, if any sales figures are going to be found, they are going to be Japanese. -- Noj r (talk) 00:21, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

Nope, I don't know Japanese. -- Tenks (talk) 20:28, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

From this ShackNews article, "Sadly, the game tanked in North America, selling roughly 140,000 copies compared to about twice that figure in Japan." Is ShackNews considered a reliable source? -- Tenks (talk) 00:56, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I think it depends on whether Shacknews passes WP:SPS. --Silver Edge (talk) 23:09, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

GA on hold

This is an excellent article and a pleasure to read, it's particularly pleasing to see an important but now quite old RPG being given the works. There's a few things to fix up or consider:

• Where are the images from? Though they have fair use rationales there's no indication of the screenshot origins bar the first (the battle scene).

Done. Fair-use rationales have been expanded with reasons for their origins. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• Could you go into a bit more detail in the rationales, justifying their use in the article? "Depicts the subject of the article" doesn't demonstrate why these images are actually of importance.

Done. Fair-use rationales have been expanded with reasons for their inclusions.

• The concept art is tagged as a copyrighted screenshot, is this a screenshot though? Where did it come from?

Done. Added more appropriate tag. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "RPG" is used a fair bit, but I don't see the acronym in brackets after the full usage in the lead - it's a very common term for gamers but the reader might not be a gamer. Either put it in brackets so the reader's informed or (much preferably) eliminate "RPG" from the article by spelling it out in full or using different wording.

Done. Bracketed acronym in lead. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "If enough experience points are acquired, a character's level can increment, increasing attributes, like strength, defense, and health." - Comma overdose, try something like "When enough experience points are acquired, a character's level can increase. This increases the character's attributes such as strength, health and defense." or something else which eliminates them.

Done. Cut sentence into two separate ones. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "Once all actions are inputted," could you clarify this a little? Make it clear that each character must be assigned a command before the round begins.

Done. Clarified. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "An interesting feature of battle is the "rolling counter" HP box." Let the reader decide if something's interesting or not. That sentence could be removed altogether or merged with the following sentence.

Done. Removed "interesting" sentence and merged with paragraph above. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• The third and fourth paragraphs in gameplay are quite short, could you merge them with the others.

Done. I did not merge the last paragraph as it does not pertain to combat. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• ''"Buzz Buzz instructs Ness that he must embark" 'To' works just as well.

Done. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "that a massive pile of vomit has been kidnapping the populace" Is there anything you can cite that with? I can't remember if that's right myself, it's been years since I played through this. A lot of readers would be forgiven for thinking it's vandalism. You must admit, it's not every day you read about a videogame featuring an evil pile of up-chuck.

Haha, Done. Changed it to "monster". -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• In development, the first two paragraphs are small and could be merged.

Done. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "Because the two studios were based at two separate locations" There's two studios so it's safe to assume they're at two locations as opposed to any other number.

Done. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• "Of all EarthBound's elements, however, the most lauded was its humor, being universally praised by all critics for its comedic, albiet confusing, depictions of American culture and parody of the RPG genre.[2][39][40][42][10][45]" OK, so you've identified a key aspect of the game for reviewers, rather than having it right at the end of the section as a single sentence (with no less than six references), why not expand that into a paragraph using those sources?

Pending. I will expand this later when I have time, or if someone else would like to do it, go ahead. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I was wondering if it was acceptable to mention specific humorous lines that are in the game? Would it be preferable to say what apspects the reviewers found amusing?Memeligutsa (talk) 11:31, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

• Have any of the usual suspects in video game soundtracks reviewed EarthBound's?

Pending. I will investigate this later when I have time, or if someone else would like to do it, go ahead. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• It's not something which'll stop me from passing this as a GA, but attributing the IGN pieces to "IGN Staff" is as redundant as labelling English language sources as (in English), no individual credit has been asked for so none needs to be given.

Clarification. For consistency's sake, I have tried to add authors for all references. IGN initially signed all their articles with "IGN Staff" and in later articles use specific authors. So that is why they appear the way they do. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

• This "gravy train" doesn't appear to be on the staff list, reader-submitted review? In this case it appears that the site's own editorial standards are what's rendering it a usable source, I wouldn't bother giving writing credit to someone who doesn't even wish to be named, it looks odd besides the pro. reviewers' credits.

Pending. I will investigate this later when I have time, or if someone else would like to do it, go ahead. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

I sent a pm to one of the moderators on their forums about it. I hope to get a response soon. Memeligutsa (talk) 12:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

So I got a reply back. Gravy Train used to be a member of the staff. You can contact a moderator of their forums to confirm this. Memeligutsa (talk) 05:14, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

DoneI'll guess I'll consider this done then unless somebody wants to question it >_>; You can just send a pm to one of their mods on the forum.Memeligutsa (talk) 20:00, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

And that's it. Please drop me a note if you've any questions or when the work has been completed. Thank you for putting so much hard work into this excellent article. Someoneanother 00:23, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much for reviewing this article. I will get on the remaining issues when I have the time. For now, I must complete my homework I have been putting off. If anybody else would like to help finish the remaining issues, please feel free to. -- Noj r (talk) 22:04, 13 April 2008 (UTC)

No, thank you for your work, I am delighted to see the game being given such attention by yourself and other contributors, doubtless the thousands of readers who visit this article are too. Someoneanother 02:13, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

GA Failed

Though the article is very close, there's been no further movement for a couple of weeks. I think it's important that the reception is expanded in order to demonstrate the article is wide in scope, as well as reception on the soundtrack. Please have a quick scan of the article and look at the remaining issues above, then renominate. Someoneanother 18:23, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Another Modern RPG

Any modern RPGs outside of the Mother series? 62.31.242.55 (talk) 09:55, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Could you make that a little clearer please? Not sure what's being asked. Someoneanother 14:35, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Probably means if there are RPGs placed in modern times like the new The World Ends with You. --Mika1h (talk) 09:06, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

Nintendo Power

Apparently, a recent poll on Nintendo Power shows that EarthBound is the most requested title to be added to Virtual Console. Is this worth adding? 71.191.163.42 (talk) 21:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

I'd say definitely, it bluntly demonstrates the game's continued popularity, just needs the most suitable source digging up (ideally the issue of Nintendo Power where the results were announced). Thanks for bringing it up! Someoneanother 14:34, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Porky or Pokey

"Porky" being more widly known than "Pokey" because of the release of Super Smash Brothers Brawl and "Porky" officially being his name rather than "Pokey" (if you take what the creator of the character says his name is as official.), "Porky" is used more frequently on Mother series related pages on wikipedia. In order to keep things consistant, his name should be the same on ALL pages. "Porky" being official (according to Shigesato Itoi, Nintendo, Nintendo of America, and probably Nintendo of Europe when SSBB is released there.), his name should be consistantly spelt as such. I chose to say this on this page because it is the page for the game where "Pokey" originates and it is where I see "Pokey" the most. I would like to give people a chance to discuss this before I go and "consistify" the pages.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 17:14, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I say we leave it as Pokey as it may have been mistranslated (not sure if this is the right word here) in brawl. I am aware that the Japanese name is Porky, but as there is no English version of the game that uses Porky it should remain as Pokey. When EarthBound is released on the Virtual Console I think we should use the name that is in that version of the game. Memeligutsa (talk) 12:14, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

I have a feeling "Pokey" was the mistranslation. --(trogga) 01:44, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the intention was to name him Porky because he resembles a pig. This is corroborated by tons of evidence in Mother 3, as it includes lots of stuff about pigs, a city called "New Pork City", etc., and the character in question plays a big role in all that. "Porky" and "Pokey" both happen to be spelled and pronounced the same in Japanese (ポーキー Pookii). So Itoi's intention is certainly not in doubt; the question is, I suppose, whether or not this is grounds for changing it in the article. - furrykef (Talk at me) 02:11, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I think we should call him Pokey in the article, but mention that his name was mistranslanted somewhere. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Memeligutsa (talk • contribs) 05:32, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, someone at Nintendo of America must have known it was "Pokey" in EarthBound, but decided to change it to "Porky" because they realized that's how it was supposed to be. I don't know if NoA would change his name in a Virtual Console release of EarthBound since they kept "Princess Toadstool" in the remake of Super Mario 64, Super Mario 64 DS. Since NoA used "Porky" in one of their newer released game, it can be considered "official". Personally, I don't consider something official just because it was used in the English version of a game. To me, something the creator says is what I consider official. Since Shigesato Itoi says his name is "Porky", that makes it official, but even if you only take what NoA says as official, then you still should consider "Porky" official because of it's use in NoA's Super Smash Bros. Brawl.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 03:36, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

It's been a week and no one has said anything more, so I'm changing "Pokey" to "Porky".Linkdude20002001 (talk) 20:47, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with this change. He's known as Pokey in EarthBound. Brawl doesn't really matter. If Pokey is renamed Porky when (if) the game comes out on the VC then we can change it. -- Tenks (talk) 21:04, 1 June 2008 (UTC)

Gyiyg Strikes Back vs. Gyiyg's Counterattack

The opening sentence of the article keeps getting changed back and forth between translating "Mother 2: Gyiyg no Gyakushū" as "Gyiyg Strikes Back" and "Gyiyg's Counterattack". The latter is a more literal translation of the title, but the former is given as the subtitle in the Japanese version of the game. I think we should either pick one and stick to it, or give both titles. I was about to simply provide both titles in the opening sentence, but I think it makes it too unwieldy. Hmm. - furrykef (Talk at me) 06:04, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

The official title subtitle is "Gyiyg Strikes Back" so why would someone change it? It's not like there's something wrong with it as a translation. It should just be left as "strikes back". Saying it should be "counterattack" is like saying "Gyiyg" should be "Geeg".Linkdude20002001 (talk) 00:00, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Linkdude. The official translation should be used instead of a fan translation. Memeligutsa (talk) 11:45, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Agreed, one translation is enough. It's not necessary to list every variation and synonym possible. Kariteh (talk) 15:50, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

In a similar vein, somebody added the English subtitle, "The War Against Giygas!". However, I removed it because nobody ever calls the game that, not even Nintendo themselves. This phrase does appear in the intro sequence, in the same place that "Gyiyg Strikes Back!" appeared, but it appears nowhere else, not even the box or the main title screen (whereas Mother 2 had "Gyiyg no Gyakushū" on both of them). So I think adding the "War Against Giygas!" bit is just going to clutter the intro paragraph and possibly create confusion, so I removed it. - furrykef (Talk at me) 18:20, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

Ness' Nightmare called the Mani Mani Statue

In the story section, Ness' Nightmare is called the Mani Mani statue. Even though it uses the same sprites as the Mani Mani statue and a similar battle background, it is not called the same thing in game. There are many ongoing debates at Starmen.net taking place about what Ness' Nightmare actually is.Memeligutsa (talk) 12:34, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Earthbound NOT rated?

There is some room for doubt as to whether Earthbound or Earth Bound has been rated for the Wii. Here is a source article: http://wiinintendo.net/2008/06/02/could-earth-bound-mother-have-been-rated/ SirVenom (talk) 22:25, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

This game (Mother 2 in Japan) was actually registered as Earth Bound at the ESRB. The Virtual Console version is registered as EarthBound, however.ESRB rating list. Kariteh (talk) 22:29, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Distinguishing between "Earthbound", "EarthBound", and "Earth Bound" is hopelessly confusing and probably rather silly, since Nintendo has never been entirely consistent in the spacing and capitalization anyway. In any case, I think we can be pretty sure that Nintendo would not refer to the NES version as "EarthBound" (or "Earthbound", or "Earth Bound"), because they are aware that this would be too confusing. - furrykef (Talk at me) 22:39, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

But, Furrykef, they DO refer to the NES version as Earthbound, and they call the Super Nintendo version Earthbound 2. Customer service consistantly calls "Earthbound" Earthbound 2, and one of their financial reports for last year (I think it was last year) referred to Mother 3 as Earthbound 3. It is in the source forum post. 24.249.134.246 (talk) 00:00, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

What "source forum post"? - furrykef (Talk at me) 04:20, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

The one linked to in the article... here it is: http://starmen.net/forum/?t=msg&th=47477 . Also, here is a report from Nintendo referencing Mother 3 as Earthbound 3: http://www.nintendo.com/corp/report/3QEnglishFinancial.pdf 24.249.134.246 (talk) 05:19, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

I guess it's possible, maybe we should mention the confusion in both articles?Memeligutsa (talk) 09:55, 3 June 2008 (UTC)

Sounds good to me, but I am not to good at writing encyclopedia style content. I will wait to see if someone else will put it in for awhile, and if they don't, I will go ahead and try 24.249.134.246 (talk) 15:25, 3 June 2008 (UTC) <-This is SirVenom, but my thing won't stay logged in.