Why is Earthbound so Greeeat?

[Opa Opa]

Earthbound was released with the official strategy guide in a special big box to accommodate the guide. The guide itself had special scratch 'n sniff cards in the back as well. A complete mint copy of the game is actually a collector's item, and has typically been a high-value game for many years. Especially since it's typically Earthbound nuts that tend to be questing after the complete copies, keeping the value high.

Then why do I see just a bare cart priced around $100? You'd think it would be at most $70. I guess the price is what it is...

Edit: I saw a cartridge sell for $120 at my local retro game store. Insane. I guess I'll keep an eye out for the game at yard sells, flea markets, and whatnot.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

I'd estimate there were about 200,000-300,000 carts produced total considering all the heavy advertising and insanity behind it when it first came out. Hell I even remember seeing new copies at my local wal-mart in like '98!

In my opinion it's a lot of hype and crazy buying from desperate fans who want nothing but more and more copies of it driving the price up. Every single Earthbound fan I know in my area (and there are a surprisingly large number) own at least 4-5 freaking copies of the game and most of them have at least one boxed or complete one too.

So yeah, personally the rarity is total BS to me. Lots of fanboys trying to throw around big mountains of cash in an impossible attempt to convince Nintendo to bring the sequels westward. Which of course we know isn't very likely to EVER happen thanks to all the blatant copyright infringement in the series and Nintendo's usual lack of care for any sort of compromise.

[irixith]

I guess the price is what it is...

That's pretty much the long and short of it.

Back in the days when emulators couldn't emulate Super Mario RPG, Kirby's Super Star and the like, the prices of those carts were also artificially high. You never know what crazy fans will do to get their hands on something -- it's just that the Earthbound folks are bordering on ridiculous after all this time. :p

Edit: Digital Press only places its scarcity at a 4. So you KNOW it's the crazy fans.

[Hobie-wan]

Every single Earthbound fan I know in my area (and there are a surprisingly large number) own at least 4-5 freaking copies of the game and most of them have at least one boxed or complete one too.

FWIW I'm not sure I've ever seen a copy with my own eyes since back when it was new in a store. I'm sure it isn't as rare as everyone says but someone has a fort built out of them somewhere hoarding them.

[Opa Opa]

Lots of fanboys trying to throw around big mountains of cash in an impossible attempt to convince Nintendo to bring the sequels westward. Which of course we know isn't very likely to EVER happen thanks to all the blatant copyright infringement in the series and Nintendo's usual lack of care for any sort of compromise.

Why don't they throw money at Nintendo? That's the only way you see games released (well, most of the time).

Also, what were the copyright infringements? I know there are several games in the Mother series but why didn't they all get released to other regions?

[irixith]

Also, what were the copyright infringements? I know there are several games in the Mother series but why didn't they all get released to other regions?

You should read this, and set aside a few minutes to do so because it's a bit of a long read.

[YoshiEgg25]

Also, what were the copyright infringements? I know there are several games in the Mother series but why didn't they all get released to other regions?

You should read this, and set aside a few minutes to do so because it's a bit of a long read.

If I ever get an SNES, I'm getting the Japanese version of Earthbound. It just seems cooler.

[crux]

It helps to look at this title with dated eyes, because then it's easier to ignore the insubstantial battle system. Even having said that, I played this game during the era of Final Fantasy III (VI), Chrono Trigger, and Super Mario RPG, and Earthbound stood up every bit as well each of them. What it lacked in a battle system it made up for in spades with atmosphere and charm. Pizza is the most efficient healing item and had to be delivered. Enemies range from skateboarders to zombies to Dali paintings to taxi cabs. Central gameplay elements include phones for saving (and ordering the aforementioned pizza), hospitals, and convenience stores (even a mall). Mr. Saturn script was written in childish scribble instead of a normal font. Drinking coffee in the game turns into a psychedelic interlude. There's too much originality and charm to even mention. It's really an incredible title, only matched by its outstanding sequel.

[AmishSamurai]

In my opinion it's a lot of hype and crazy buying from desperate fans who want nothing but more and more copies of it driving the price up. Every single Earthbound fan I know in my area (and there are a surprisingly large number) own at least 4-5 freaking copies of the game and most of them have at least one boxed or complete one too.

It's similar to how FF7 fans will own 4-5 copies, which means I can't get a copy of my own for under fifty dollars. Ugh.

[Reprise]

It's similar to how FF7 fans will own 4-5 copies, which means I can't get a copy of my own for under fifty dollars. Ugh.

Yes, I now since regret selling my copies of FF7
I owned it first for the PC. Sold that for £2 (and then found out it goes for about £60 on Ebay). Then managed to pick up a copy for the playstation cheapish after regretting selling my PC version earlier. Did I learn from my mistake? No I didn't

On topic though, I had never played Earthbound before until very recently. I started playing it some point this year when I was checking out some SNES roms on my Dreamcast. Fortunately Earthbound is one of the few titles that plays almost flawlessly on the DC, and I actually really loved it. At first I was little disappointed that the battle system felt really 'ordinary' and that it didn't see to be that different from other RPGs.

It eventually grew on me though and what I felt was so great about it was the modern setting, the charm and the quirkiness to it. I think crux explained it really well actually. Bits about the game just feels so cool. It's hard to pinpoint though, because when you get down to the nitty gritty, it is a fairly basic RPG, but it's the added charm and cool features and setting that really makes it for me.