Why EarthBound 64 should have came out originally for N64

    As some of you might have known, MOTHER 3 (a Japanese only GBA game) was originally intended to be released as an Nintendo 64 game known over here as EarthBound 64.

    Another game that was originally going to be an Nintendo 64 game was the classic Final Fantasy VII. 

    After getting to start around playing Final Fantasy VII here in the last day on my Playstation Vita, I've gotten to think about that EarthBound 64 should have continued as plan as an Nintendo 64 game instead of the GameBoy Advance game we know of it today. Now don't get me wrong, The guys at Brownie Brown did great in the graphics department, but I don't think it should've taken the "Duke Nukem Forever" or the "Final Fantasy Versus XII" approach.

    What I'm saying is this....

     Now knowing how much Final Fantasy VII was for the PS One, I think that EarthBound 64 would have brought about the same feel for the Nintendo 64. That plus the fact that it would've filled the void that was left for a 3D RPG on Nintendo's 5th gen homeconsole system after the Final Fantasy VII project was moved over to the PS One due to hardware restraints (a total of little over 1 GB was it's file size).

     Yes, I know that there were other RPGs out on the N64 (namely Paper Mario for example) but EarthBound 64 could have filled the void after the Final Fantasy series moved to Sony (Please also note that both the MOTHER series and Final Fantasy series started out on the NES/Famicon system). I also know that EarthBound was a total blunder on the North American audience at first, but blame it on Nintendo's slogan department at the time. But look at it this way, Both the Final Fantasy series and the MOTHER series have the same feel of an RPG with your turn by turn battling and all that RPG stuff. They both also have the unique feeling in both of their very own in them.

   With this in mind, the MOTHER series had the moment of replacing the Final Fantasy series starting with the N64 but because of the poor sales in North America put the choke hold on it and it never happened. The Fire Emblem series (also began in the NES era) , however , took the hold with this but didn't come out here stateside until the first game for the GBA in the series came around.

   So in all, There was a lot of potential in the MOTHER series and their still is. I for one hope that we get both EarthBound Zero and MOTHER 3 out in the states officially and that Itoi would continue with a new entry in the series (MOTHER 4) since it has the fan base both here in the states, in Japan, and worldwide also.

Thank you for your time in reading this,

DaAuraWolf

     

Region-Unlocking - The Great Debate on Region-Locking

       With this new generation of gaming just getting started, The debate on region locking is being brought up. Sony and Microsoft have both confirmed that they are going to let their 8th generation home consoles be region free, but both of Nintendo's consoles in this generation are both region locked.

        Looking back, Nintendo had both the original DS and it's remodel (the DS Lite) as region free. Though the began to put the region lock back on their handlehelds with the DSi.

        If you don't know what region locking is, region locking is a virtual lock on items like DVD players, video game consoles, and other electronic devices that will only allow products for them from the region they are sold in.

        Personally, I'm not that much of a HUGE fan of region locking even though I always play games that were designed for my region on a device from my region. I'm not that much of one since I think that it puts barriers on really good products that will more than likely NEVER reach other markets. Take for example MOTHER 3, It is apart of one of those game series that has a huge fan bases around but was never released in America (at least up to the point which I'm writing this). But thanks to Mato and his team that worked on the English fan translation team, We got a chance to play the game..

        Now look at the mater in full, Region Locking has it's up and it's downs. An up to it is that it will cause companies like Nintendo to take an advantage in making sales in every market, but it has it's downs for companies like Nintendo since simply because of the for mention fan bases of game series like EarthBound. What I mean is that the region locking will help with companies like Nintendo so that they wouldn't loose sale s for games that other's have already played in a different region and other things in that matter. But, Region Locking hinders from experiences of games that will ALMOST NEVER release elsewhere in markets.

        I understand why some local branches of big companies prefer not to release every single game that is released because they are afraid of loosing their profits if they take a gamble on releasing something and they are a big loss in the end of all things. But if they are afraid about it, They can always make region free products so that consumers can play the games that they really want to play. It will also save on not making huge gambles on games that don't as much fan bases when it comes to localization. By this, I mean that those fans of these fan bases can still play the games that they would want to really play even though it wasn't release in their region.

       In all, I hope that they get rid of region locking in full and let the people play what they truly want to play even though it's from another region. It doesn't matter how right it seems in a sense, but it is the same amount as wrong as it is right.

       With this all being said, I hope you all learn and understand why their shouldn't be region locking. I'd also would like to thank all of you that have read this for your time in reading this.

         If you want to learn more about the region locking matter or about the thing about MOTHER 3, You can read about it at these links below...

About the MOTHER 3 Fan Translation project done by Mato and his team
About Region Locking in general

Thank You for your time,
DaAuraWolf