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.

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)

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)

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)

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)