Is Earthbound really worth it? [Archive]

TxFxL

10-26-2009, 05:26 PM

I love the snes rpg's, pretty much right across the board. i don't do any of the emulator stuff so if i wanted it its looking like $70 minimum for the cartridge

so what i'm getting at here is, is it really worth the price tag? it looks sort of silly but that's never stopped me from enjoying a game. anyhow i'm sure there are fans of the game on this site and i'd like to hear from someone who likes the game what makes it so great

also as a side note if anyone has an extra cartridge they'd like to let go of a little cheaper feel free to let me know, gotta try

Ze_ro

10-26-2009, 05:35 PM

No.

Unless you're completely out of other RPG's to play, I'd say wait for a Virtual Console release instead (From what I heard, it's being held back by some licensing issues, though I'm not sure of the specifics).

If that's not good enough, try it out in an emulator. I know you said you "don't do emulator stuff", but when there's $70 on the line, I think it's worth figuring it out to at least try the game before you break out the wallet.

--Zero

Archangel

10-26-2009, 05:40 PM

I am a fan of the game, everything about it is great. From the references to the quirkiness it really is something that is wonderful and worth while about playing.

I have played it on an emulator, and after completing the game I began to hunt down a cart for myself. As for the price, if you are lucky to find it for cheap at a yard sale then get it. If you have the disposable income to buy it for $80 or so on eBay then do it if you truly do not wish in partaking use of an emulator.

As for myself, I am both a fan and a collector. Which means if I ever get the chance to get one for myself it would fulfill my needs as a collector and a fan of the game.

TxFxL

10-26-2009, 05:49 PM

i also like to collect games so if it's a great play through i'd like to add it to my humble collection

MissingNo_1231

10-26-2009, 06:06 PM

I paid like $80 for my copy, which is pretty insane, that's like the second most I've ever payed for a game... I usually don't go higher than $20, haha

But I love it, and I feel it's a great game. I dunno.

vivaeljason

10-26-2009, 06:09 PM

Earthbound is fun, but if you're really anti-emulator, then don't worry about it. It's a great game, but the price tag is just waaaaaaaaay too high.

TheRedEye

10-26-2009, 06:27 PM

it looks sort of silly but that's never stopped me from enjoying a game.

If "silly" is something you merely tolerate instead of embrace, then you probably will not enjoy EarthBound.

Mobius

10-26-2009, 06:51 PM

If "silly" is something you merely tolerate instead of embrace, then you probably will not enjoy EarthBound.

Exactly. The silliness is what makes it so great. I don't like most RPGs, but I really like Earthbound because it's just so off-beat.

todesengel

10-26-2009, 06:58 PM

I really don't care for RPG's but I love Earthbound. The story and characters are charming and cute. I'd definitely try to find the game for cheaper if you can, the game is great but just too damn expensive. I got lucky with my copy, $20 for a SNES with Earthbound, Chrono Trigger & Mario RPG about 10 years ago from a friend of a friend.

TxFxL

10-26-2009, 06:58 PM

i do embrace silly, making a good case here

Scawt

10-26-2009, 09:07 PM

Earthbound is one of my top 5 favorite games ever. I paid $60 for mine a while back and never regretted it. And honestly, it's worth the extra to have the guide too. It's not a hard game, but the guide is amazing.

kupomogli

10-26-2009, 09:22 PM

Earthbound is a good game, but it's not $70 for a cartridge good if you're not into the sortof Dragon Quest style gameplay, because that's really what it is. Earthbound is nothing more than a Dragon Quest title with a different coat of paint and you get into battles by running into enemies rather than random battles. Earthbound is also more akin to Dragon Quest 2, rather than Dragon Quest 3 and onward where the series really advanced(even though the third title is tied with DQ7 as the best in my opinion.)

The style of graphics is really what makes the game though. Restaurants to buy health items, hospitals as your sort of cleric/priest that you go to to revive or lift curses, item shops to buy items, ATM machines as places to hold your money as to not be reduced by half if you die, etc.

The game starts off amazing at the very beginning, still good until a bit after your third character. About three fourths into the game it starts to drag quite a bit, and at the end you just want to finish it so you can stop playing. Everytime I play it's always the same. It's always enjoyable up until near the end when it just starts to become pretty boring.

Snapple

10-26-2009, 09:25 PM

*doesn't read the topic*

The answer is yes.

guitargary75

10-26-2009, 09:32 PM

Over $50.00 NO! Under $50.00 yes!! :D

darkslime

10-26-2009, 09:47 PM

Definitely not for $80. That's just too high for any game IMO no matter how good it is.

Sonicwolf

10-26-2009, 09:49 PM

What is with these prices? It reminds me of the PlayStation Final Fantasy games. Way too pricey.

aclbandit

10-26-2009, 10:00 PM

Archangel

10-26-2009, 10:20 PM

What is with these prices? It reminds me of the PlayStation Final Fantasy games. Way too pricey.
I think its because of the limited amount exist due to having a poor rep at the time of its release but once RPG's went mainstream, the gem was found to be great by all.

Plus you also have to take in consideration the fact that NOA simply ignores its existence, as well as the rest of the series. They had many chances to re-release the games when Mother 1+2 came out for the GBA and soon after Mother 3 in japan. The fanbase here is noticeable, and if nintendo would just pay attention to this they might make a good profit out of this. But sadly again NOA does not like japanese games. Instead they rather make pointless cheaply made games than put this out on either VC or even the entire series on the DS.

I am sure that if nintendo did re-release the game and/or series in the US it would dramatically bring down the prices for the original SNES game.

Believe it or not, but it is a hot collectors item, many people know about it, hell even people at places like game trading stores say that if they had it in stock they would have bought it in a heartbeat. Its just a increasingly rare title.

Mobius

10-26-2009, 10:26 PM

One of these days, I'll buy a CIB copy. When I decide to do so, I'll find the cheapest price available.

Having played Mother/Earthbound Zero, if the second is anything like the first, the price is worth it to me. More than I want to pay for it, but not beyond what I would pay for it... yet.

Earthbound is way better than Mother. I played Earthbound first, and when I played Mother, all I could think was "This is like a prototype Earthbound... It's all there, just not as refined."

j1e

10-26-2009, 10:28 PM

*doesn't read the topic*

The answer is yes.

This ^

Zing

10-26-2009, 11:28 PM

It's funny how this game could barely be given away back when it was first released. Wasn't this the one that came with a free shirt?

mobiusclimber

10-26-2009, 11:58 PM

Illusion of Gaia came w/ a free t-shirt, I don't think this one did. Could be wrong tho.

I say NO! I think Earthbound is actually pretty lousy. I've tried playing it three times. One of those times I got pretty far in it, but it got super boring and just felt like a lot of fetch quest running around nonsense. And while the game is weird, I didn't find it to be too funny. It feels more like Whitest Kids U Know than Monty Python (or like WKUK ripping off Monty Python and failing miserably at it). The game has surreal moments, and parts of it I loved (like the cult), but a lot of it is just like... they took things that every RPG (just about) does, and instead of doing something different, they just made fun of it. So you can cross a road b/c the cops are blocking it. And the cops crack jokes about it. *sigh* Now that I think about it, a lot of the game feels like those "--- Movie" movies, like Date Movie or Epic Movie, where they don't actually do a parody with any actual jokes, they just rip off a scene from another movie and think that's enough of a joke on its own.

In short, I hate Earthbound. Oddly enough, I really like Mother. I'm not sure if I'd still like it if I played it on actual hardware as opposed to an emulator (b/c the save state feature has saved my ass many times), but I thought it was less "wacky" for the sake of being wacky, and thus a bit better. Also I could forgive it for being so rudimentary, gameplay-wise, since it was a NES game, and not a late-period SNES title.

ScourDX

10-27-2009, 02:52 AM

I would get the GBA Japanese because it has Mother 1 & 2 in one cartridge. Mother 1 was never released here.

LaughingMAN.S9

10-27-2009, 02:59 AM

been playing earthbound for about a week now on an emulator, i cant in good conscience say its worth the money unless you're a collector but i will say this...

in the begining of the game when you get to name your friends and favorite meal....the 1st time i saw ness's mother say i looked hungry/tired and i should have some "crack" to make me feel better, lol i almost died in my own shit which i just shat....from laughing so hard.....:shameful:

lol anyway game feels reallyyyyy japanese, so if you're a fan of wierd offbeat japanese humor, i say its worth playing, but thats about the only redeeming quality i see so far :(

ScourDX

10-27-2009, 03:09 AM

Oh yea. Earthbound had censorship.

http://earthboundcentral.com/m2eb/

Haoie

10-27-2009, 03:39 AM

Surprised this game got localised at all?

exit

10-27-2009, 10:04 AM

I've had my copy since it's original giant box release and I still go back to play it every once in a while. The game has a great sense of humor and is very charming, it really makes me feel like a kid again whenever I play it.

If you can get the game for a decent price, I would say it's worth picking up.

Jorpho

10-27-2009, 10:08 AM

I would get the GBA Japanese because it has Mother 1 & 2 in one cartridge. Mother 1 was never released here.Too bad it's, you know, in Japanese.

Do any non-Japanese speakers really try to play Japanese RPGs without any kind of translation on hand? It seems thoroughly pointless to me.

I hope that fan translation finally gets finished soon.
http://earthboundcentral.com/mother12/

GrandAmChandler

10-27-2009, 10:13 AM

In one word... Yes.

In many words... If you like RPGs, you owe it to yourself to play this, Earthbound Zero Repro for NES, and Mother 3 translation for GBA.

They will never be released on Virtual Console. NEVER, EVER NEVER. You will never see this game reprinted, re-released or anything of the sorts. This is it people. There are too many licensing issues to re-release it, and Nintendo has made that quite clear. It's not in their best interest to spend extra money to snag extra licensing when they can keep releasing hundreds of other titles that will make money and don't have the same complications. Why do you think the loose cartridge price keeps skyrocketing? Because that's it. That's all the cartridges there are (which isn't many.) If you like RPGs, get it. If you are unsure, try it in an emulator first. It's in my top 5 RPGs for SNES, maybe my top 3.

-GAC-

Jisho23

10-27-2009, 10:40 AM

I'm kind of surprised to have read that some non-rpg fans liked Earthbound. I had always thought of it as "the game that gets better depending on how many rpgs you've played."

I'd emulate it first, if you like it then buy it. 80$ is very steep, but if you really really like the game you will pay it.

Ricochet

10-27-2009, 10:44 AM

No one can tell you whether you're going to like it or not. But what's the worst that can happen if you don't? There's not gonna be a shortage of fanatics willing to buy it for the same price or more if you just sell it again immediately.

TxFxL

10-27-2009, 12:05 PM

AB Positive

10-27-2009, 12:10 PM

Read the above post by GAC first. Then read mine. It's ok, I'll wait.

...

...

OK, extremely valid points made all around. Here's the thing though. I'm a hardcore RPG player - went through the Phantasy Stars, Final Fantasys, Chrono Trigger...

NIS releases on the PS2, Atlus games from the Saturn/Playstation era to now...

I love both japanese and british humor. I enjoy 'wacky and strange' things.

I hate Earthbound. HATE it. It's a shallow, near plot-less RPG that does a couple interesting things then hangs on to them like a bad gimmick hoping to float through the gaming seas. It's awful. I've tried multiple times to play it, nearly beat it once before realizing I just didn't care whether or not I saw the ending.

Play it on an emulator a little bit. Work out if you'd actually enjoy it first. If so - sure! Go grab it for $70 loose.

But like me you may find yourself hating it. Then, at least, you saved some cash.

Jorpho

10-27-2009, 12:15 PM

There are too many licensing issues to re-release it, and Nintendo has made that quite clear.WHen has Nintendo ever made anything "quite clear" ?

I've read the speculation about licensing issues, and to me it all sounds like desperate handwaving.

GrandAmChandler

10-27-2009, 01:01 PM

WHen has Nintendo ever made anything "quite clear" ?

I've read the speculation about licensing issues, and to me it all sounds like desperate handwaving.

It's never coming, unless they redo the licensing issues, which I doubt Nintendo Corp. is willing to put in the time, and money required to do this.

http://starmen.net/ebvc/

-GAC-

skaar

10-27-2009, 01:31 PM

I have no complaints about paying what used to be retail price for a game years later - especially when I now have a job and can afford it.

Paying $80 for a game used to be normal back in the day, especially an RPG. Yes it's years later, but the price is not totally unreasonable. I'd argue it's a better use of the $80 than some FPS game that'll devalue and be in the bargain bin 6 months later.

I paid a little over $200 for my CIB Earthbound off Kitsune awhile back. That was more than retail price, and it's probably the only time I've done something like that. I'm still happy with the purchase.

FantasiaWHT

10-27-2009, 01:35 PM

This is how I approach classic and expensive games. If I want to play it, I buy it, regardless of what it costs me up front. When I'm done, I sell it, probably at roughly the same price I bought it, and I've spent virtually nothing to play this game.

ubersaurus

10-27-2009, 01:41 PM

Awesome game, and one of my fav RPGs solely because of the atmosphere of weirdness. Though I have to admit, once you get to Deep Darkness it starts to fizzle for me just because it stops being AS bizarre as the first chunk of the game is.

Considering I've had it since it came out, and it was what, 80 bucks then? It's worth it.

alexander4488

10-27-2009, 01:57 PM

I'm not a big fan of RPG games. Find them too slow. But even I acknowledge Earthbound to be a high quality RPG game and should not be missed... Even for $70...

Jorpho

10-27-2009, 02:02 PM

It's never coming, unless they redo the licensing issues, which I doubt Nintendo Corp. is willing to put in the time, and money required to do this.

http://starmen.net/ebvc/Like I said, I've read that, and I still think it's desperate handwaving.

Replacing the sound samples in the ROM really is completely trivial anyway.

GrandAmChandler

10-27-2009, 02:16 PM

Like I said, I've read that, and I still think it's desperate handwaving.

Replacing the sound samples in the ROM really is completely trivial anyway.

I totally agree that replacing the ROM samples is trivial, but why would Nintendo Corp tell NOA basically "forget it."?

mobiusclimber

10-27-2009, 02:25 PM

Too bad it's, you know, in Japanese.

Do any non-Japanese speakers really try to play Japanese RPGs without any kind of translation on hand? It seems thoroughly pointless to me.

I hope that fan translation finally gets finished soon.
http://earthboundcentral.com/mother12/

I play RPGs in Japanese (when there isn't a translation guide or walkthru, I play them blind, basically). You can still get something out of a game without knowing the language. I'm not sure I'd want to bother w/ any of the Mother games in Japanese tho since the "wackiness" seems to be their only real selling point.

But most RPGs are perfectly playable without knowing the language so long as you're willing to experiment, talk to people over and over again, and make notes on what everything does.

Rob2600

10-27-2009, 02:55 PM

I've never been into RPGs, but EarthBound is great. It's a charming, silly, creative, and sometimes eerie game with fantastic music and cute art direction (except for the eerie parts).

Nesmaster

10-27-2009, 08:15 PM

I've been through this game 2 1/2 times so far, one account to level 96. I enjoyed the game enough where playing it to "grind" did not really feel like grinding at all. I believe this was also the first RPG I've ever completed, being 7 at the time of release.

I ended up getting mine from Walmart clearance brand new for $29 in 2000 or so which was a great deal at the time, little did I know then what the going rate would be now. As has been mentioned, more people just caught on to this hidden gem which, really isn't hidden anymore huh? :p

bombman

10-27-2009, 08:41 PM

Leo_A

10-27-2009, 08:52 PM

They will never be released on Virtual Console. NEVER, EVER NEVER. You will never see this game reprinted, re-released or anything of the sorts. This is it people. There are too many licensing issues to re-release it, and Nintendo has made that quite clear.

How'd they make it quite clear? Having the ESRB rate it and rereleasing it on the GBA in recent years says otherwise I would think.

The fanboy speculation of alleged copyright issues is just speculation. Many of the potential problems are lukewarm at best and pulling for straws trying to tie in pieces of the game to popular culture. As I said in another thread here recently, these problems and unnamed official sources confirming these alleged problems are largely due to 1 site having popularized them among fans.

nhojy1

10-27-2009, 11:30 PM

Agreed Earthbound is way overpriced and so are all the FF games for the playstaion. I find FFVII on a regular basis. Earthbound on the other hand I have found in the wild at least a dozen times cart only though, and never paid more than $20.

TxFxL

10-28-2009, 12:09 PM

got the cartridge on the way right now. once i get it, and if i love it i'll start the hunt for an slightly less overpriced complete copy

TxFxL

10-29-2009, 06:19 PM

just got an earthbound cart, opened it up to check the battery and was really surprised at how small the board was. in a youtube video where a guy replaces an snes battery he does it on an earthbound cart and the board looks much bigger. i tried out the game and it's working so far, i am on the second part of the first night and tamed a few dogs. does this seem right to you folks?

fahlim003

10-29-2009, 06:30 PM

It's the only RPG I've ever cleared twice and I don't care for RPG's needless to say.
Regarding the comparisons to Dragon Warrior/Quest, I'd say EarthBound improves the formula as I found it far more interesting and enjoyable than any DW/Q game and I've tried pretty much all of them pardon 7 incidently. Levelling up in EB vs DW/Q is hands down in EB's favour, as it doesn't feel like such a grind or hard for the sake of making the game longer.

Price really isn't an issue since if you're unhappy or plan to sell afterwards you're very likely to get your money back without hassle. The game has excellent resale value and the market still good since it's not being re-released any time soon.

I hope one day to find it in a thrift store on the cheap or perhaps I find something akin to EB's value and trade X item in for a copy one day. Otherwise I'm happy with the time I spent in it and despite the issues surrounding VC and anything else I look forward to a future where EB may be cheap, much like how it used to be.

Cobra Commander

10-29-2009, 06:49 PM

I think it sucks/is sad to look at games through 2009 eyes. Guess we don't have a choice, but I try to put myself into the era in which whatever game was released.
That really helps to me.

TxFxL

10-29-2009, 07:22 PM

anybody on the size of the board (see bottom of page 2 for original post)

i was comparing it to the board in this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEXltSby-UU

NayusDante

10-29-2009, 09:35 PM

I remember back in about 1995-1996, trying to track down a copy of Earthbound. I had to special order it from Babbages, even back then! I loved it, though. When I think of that era, I remember better pop music and Earthbound.

Replaying it now, it seems harder. I'm going to sit down and work through it again one of these days, but I think I enjoyed it the most when I was 8. I have a feeling that if I start playing it again, I'm going to get sucked in and have a week or two where I feel all emo about Nintendo's lack of respect for the series before I plunk down some cash for Mother 3 and a DS flash cart to dump it with (just curious, what exactly do I need to do that anyway?).

While I absolutely loved it, everyone I know hated it. I met one guy who enjoyed it the way I did, but he had bought and sold it several times. All my other friends just didn't get its style and story. Earthbound is one of those games that you need to be in the right mindset to really connect with. I picked up Earthbound at the right time. I was 10 when I preordered Final Fantasy VIII, but it wasn't until about six months ago that it really clicked with me.

Jorpho

10-30-2009, 12:57 AM

before I plunk down some cash for Mother 3 and a DS flash cart to dump it with (just curious, what exactly do I need to do that anyway?).If you want to play Mother 3 on your DS, then regardless of whether you download the ROM or dump it from a cart, you're going to need a GBA flash cart like an EZ-Flash IV (or possibly an EZ-Flash V, but there's not much point to it).

If you just want to buy the cart and then dump it for some very strange reason, I'm pretty sure any DS flash cart (and the appropriate free software from wherever) will do.

NayusDante

10-30-2009, 07:38 AM

Yeah, if I can just dump it I can patch it and play it on my PSP or something. I'd like to play it in true GBA mode, but it's not absolutely necessary.

TxFxL

10-30-2009, 11:12 AM

has anyone opened up their earthbound cart?

Rob2600

10-30-2009, 11:17 AM

has anyone opened up their earthbound cart?

Why does it matter? Stop obsessing about the size of the board and just have fun playing the game. :)

TxFxL

10-30-2009, 11:33 AM

point taken

Jorpho

10-30-2009, 12:56 PM

Yeah, if I can just dump it I can patch it and play it on my PSP or something.If even the thought of buying the cart and then downloading someone else's dump troubles you that much, I strongly suggest you need to reexamine your priorities. :hmm:

NayusDante

10-31-2009, 12:54 AM

If even the thought of buying the cart and then downloading someone else's dump troubles you that much, I strongly suggest you need to reexamine your priorities. :hmm:

Not sure if you understand what I mean here.

1. Buy Mother 3 for GBA
2. Dump the cart
3. Patch the rom from the cart I own
4. Play the patched game

I want to legitimately own the game before I play it.

Jorpho

10-31-2009, 02:04 AM

NayusDante

10-31-2009, 06:34 AM

Sure, that's vaguely understandable. But why not just:

1. Buy Mother 3 for GBA
2. Stare at the box and think good thoughts while you download precisely the same data it contains from elsewhere
3. Patch the rom
4. Play the patched game

Do you buy a CD and then download it from somewhere? No, you rip the copy that you own, for fair use.

Jorpho

10-31-2009, 01:19 PM

Do you buy a CD and then download it from somewhere?CDs contain vastly more data than a GBA ROM dump. And the data from any particular CD is not nearly so easy to find, especially in a 100% reliable format. And CD ripping, unlike ROM dumping, is an entirely trivial exercise anyway.

NayusDante

10-31-2009, 02:03 PM

CDs contain vastly more data than a GBA ROM dump. And the data from any particular CD is not nearly so easy to find, especially in a 100% reliable format. And CD ripping, unlike ROM dumping, is an entirely trivial exercise anyway.

Do you have something against buying and owning games or something? If that's the point that you're trying to make, this is the wrong forum to say it on. At any rate, this argument is going absolutely nowhere.

Richter Belmount

10-31-2009, 02:12 PM

Jorpho

10-31-2009, 06:19 PM

Do you have something against buying and owning games or something?Of course not! Where did I say that? There's nothing wrong with wanting to purchase a physical copy and doing one's part to ensure that the artists are properly compensated for a quality product.

My issue is with going out of your way to bend over backwards at tremendous inconvenience to personally dump the cart yourself when you can arrive at precisely the same end point by alternative methods.

NayusDante

10-31-2009, 06:32 PM

Of course not! Where did I say that? There's nothing wrong with wanting to purchase a physical copy and doing one's part to ensure that the artists are properly compensated for a quality product.

I almost certainly won't be buying it from a Japanese retailer, so the creator's won't get compensation. If the game were still in print and retailers still stocking new copies, then they would get compensated, but I'm probably going to be getting it either secondhand or from an import shop.

My issue is with going out of your way to bend over backwards at tremendous inconvenience to personally dump the cart yourself when you can arrive at precisely the same end point by alternative methods.

See my CD argument. My main concern is fair use.

Leo_A

10-31-2009, 07:24 PM

From what I've seen (Editing this because I wrote it so it appeared as a fact more than just my view of what I've seen), it quite likely a myth that you're allowed to backup your games, it's no more okay than downloading it from somewhere else. Fair use doesn't appear to necessarily entail dumping the contents of your game, or at least that's what manufacturers like Nintendo want us to think.

And as has been established here in the past, it's not okay to modify the contents of the game through 3rd party patches and such, and legal action can be taken for doing so if desired.

So if you're jumping through those loops thinking it's somehow more legal/moral than just buying the cartridge and downloading a prepatched rom off the internet, you're mistaken.

Jorpho

10-31-2009, 09:07 PM

See my CD argument. My main concern is fair use.I refuted your CD argument, as CDs unarguably differ significantly in many ways.

You seem to be making a meaningless gesture to appease a corporate entity to which your actions are entirely without consequence. As I said, it suggests you need to re-examine your priorities.

Hell with it, let's open the can of worms: Do you even know what "fair use" means? Because "fair use", as far as the term is generally used in copyright, has nothing to do with what you're referring to.

NayusDante

10-31-2009, 09:31 PM

I never mentioned "appeasing a corporate entity." I'm referring to copyright. I don't have the right to copy a game I don't own, and it's pointless to illegally download a game that I do.

I refute your refutation. They're both digital storage mediums that the consumer can read from with consumer-level hardware.

Backing up games is TECHNICALLY no different from ripping CDs, we just haven't has as much legislation. It's a gray area. Downloading roms illegally is not a gray area. I'm not saying it's fully legal, but it IS "less" illegal. If I'm going to play the game, I'm going to take the "more" legal path. If you want to refute that, then you are also saying that there is no way whatsoever that I can play the game in English.

Modification is even more complicated. Is it illegal to go through a book that you own and write your own notes? A rom patch does the same thing to the data in the rom, does it not? If you're selling your annotated version, then you have legal issues to deal with.

If you have specific legal references contrary to what I've stated, go ahead and post them. I'm not an expert on this, I'm just giving my opinion. If I'm wrong, please, prove it to me.

Jorpho

10-31-2009, 10:28 PM

They're both digital storage mediums that the consumer can read from with consumer-level hardware.Yes, except that in the case of a GBA cartridge, the consumer-level hardware is vastly, vastly more difficult to come by than what is required to rip a CD, just as an accurate digital rip of any given audio CD can be vastly more difficult to come by than a given GBA ROM! That's not the same at all!

I'm not an expert on this, I'm just giving my opinion. If I'm wrong, please, prove it to me.And all I'm saying is that you seem to be going to an awful lot of trouble for something on which you only have an uninformed opinion.

Black_Tiger

11-01-2009, 03:40 PM

Unless you can find it for $10 or less don't bother. It's pretty much an NES game with minor enhancements and gameplay that would place it in the lower end of NES RPGs. At the very least play it through emulation first.

WanganRunner

11-01-2009, 08:46 PM

Honestly, if you buy it for $80 and hate it, you can always re-sell it for $80.

You never really *spend* money on classic games unless you're opening sealed titles (i.e. lunacy).

You're just tying money up, you can always liquidate later. If you're anti-emulation and you really want to play it, pony up the $70 for a copy, play through it, if you love it you can keep it, and if you don't love it you can sell it and get your $70 back.

Nothing to lose.

vrikkgwj

11-01-2009, 09:34 PM

Yes, yes, yes. It's not a perfect game, but it wasn't made to be. The game centered around the journey of the people, and the characters that were involved. It's an amazing game that is so much better than what people give the time to see. I've beat it literally seven times in my life, and never get tired of it.

TxFxL

11-14-2009, 01:22 PM

just a quick update, compared my earthbound cartridge to a friends, the one i got is definitely a reproduction. the board in mine is about 1/4 of the size of his. all the solder points are homemade and if you look at the label on the cart compared to the real one its very obvious its fake.

the seller has an ebay and amazon account and is selling reproductions as originals, i also got a secret of mana cart from him and that's fake too. his account is sly76239

as a note, both games do work fine, but if i'm paying a premium price for what i think is an original cart i don't want to have a copy