Difference between revisions of "EarthBound (series)"

Despite this, the game began to receive recognition because of Ness, the protagonist of ''EarthBound'', receiving representation in the 1999 [[Nintendo 64]] title ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' and its successors. Because of this, the game began to receive a large following on internet fan sites such as Starmen.Net (originally EarthBound.Net) and EarthBound Central. In addition, a copy of the English version of ''Mother'' was found on {{wp|eBay}} and was eventually dumped online by the hacker group Neo Demiforce in 1998 under the name "EarthBound Zero" (17 years before the game would be officially released by Nintendo as ''EarthBound Beginnings''), bolstering the ''EarthBound'' fan community even further and simultaneously popularizing the concept of preserving unreleased video games with one of the first unreleased first-party "prototype" titles. Retrospectively, ''EarthBound'' became a massive success, with critics calling it not only one of the best RPGs of all time, but also the most original. The game received praise for its quirky humor and its many parodies of American culture. After Nintendo received massive outcries from the ''EarthBound'' fanbase to get the game released for the Wii U's Virtual Console service on sites like Nintendo's own {{wp|Miiverse}}, the game was released on the service in Japan on March 20th, 2013, with an international release releasing on July 18th, 2013. The Wii U Virtual Console release of the game was the first time the game was released in PAL regions, and it was one of Nintendo's most popular downloadable games of all time.