Earthbound 64

>>4142646
>if the story was as mature as what I've read to believe
If the story is so mature, why is it written in a script for pre-schoolers?

>aged
>>4142653
>based on Agota Kirstof's novels
>pre-schoolers
>>4142668
>meme meme

Holy shit, this thread.

>>4142775
Hiragana are based on Chinese letters and predate Agota Kirstof' by several centuries.

>>4142646
It woulda made the n64 library a hell of a lot more legitimate that's for sure. But best game on the console? Possibly, especially if the game was longer than the GBA version, which it was rumored to have been. Plus it'd be a dream to experience the mother universe in 3D

>>4142646
>aged better
The graphics look like vomit. Early 3D, especially low poly shit, looks atrocious today.

>>4142653
Because kanji is difficult to read on retro systems, genius

>>4143910
I think they look stylish and cute/dark in a way only low poly can do.

I really wish they made this. Just one of those what ifs.

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Would have been hard to play without one of these

>>4142780
Oh you actually meant the characters, actually there's interviews with Itoi where he explains why he decides to use hiragana, it wasn't related to pre-schoolers.
Also, even without Itoi's explanation, hiragana writing is a common thing in japanese vidya, especially in handheld games where kanji might be hard to read, especially for older people with bad sight.

>>4143910
Lowpoly looks fine. It's the low rez textures and vertex shading looks shitty

>>4143941
Eh.... cute is well-drawn, colourful 2D. This just looks...bleh

>>4143947
why didnt nintendo just make this the standard format? or maybe even COMPACT DISCS?

Someone found a 64DD version of Super Mario 64. Metal Jesus got an American developer's kit 64DD, the only known one in existence, along with a blue disk with no label with a debug menu on it that no one knew existed. Do you think it's possible an unfinished version of Earthbound 64 could be on a blue disk? Other rare items were found so I think it could be possible. But who knows, maybe stuff like that was buried with Iwata. I mean do you think that's an actual possibility?

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>>4143973
>why didnt nintendo just make this the standard format? or maybe even COMPACT DISCS?

For the CD I think the problem comes from the fact that some manufacturer had an exclusive contract with other brands like Sega, Snk or Nec. Then what decided Nintendo to do the Snes Play-Station was that the player of Sony was more powerful than the competition whereas the drive of Philips was still very slow. For the 64DD it is clear that Nintendo made a mistake, their floppy Zip was developed at the same time as the N64 in addition !!

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>>4142646
>would have been the best n64 game?
No. Either back then or now, I don't see any game dethroning pic related.

>>4143994
If the 64DD was never meant to accept CDs then they should have at least made it have the drive be less proprietary and accept Zips disks from 100 to 200 Megabytes as well as maybe allow for blank Zip Disks.

>>4143973
>or maybe even COMPACT DISCS?

They got fucked over by Sony, then they noticed how hard the Mega CD was bombing and how awful the "CD games" are. Suddenly they neither wanted to nor had to use them.

>>4143973
Nintendo hated CDs because Sony and all the gimmick systems that used them before the PS1. The DD was planned for the N64 from the beginning before the PS1 legitimized CD. Even then I imagine it was a samurai honor thing, to this day Nintendo never used CDs.
Also, the DD was delayed even more times than the N64 itself, it came out in what, 1999 or 2000 right? Nintendo needed something in 1996, they were already two years behind their competitors and couldn't have held on for much longer against the PS1.

>>4143916
Maybe for the Famicom but definitely not for the N64.

>>4143959
>自分の命の方が大事になっちまって
Would be really hard to read compared to >>4142646.

>>4144004
i tried playing this recently, and it was really fucking boring

>>4142646
>le 'games age' meemee

The best games on the 64 are Mario, Paper Mario, Majora and Ogre Battle. I don't see how it could be better than any of those.

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Might have been good

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Dump

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That atmosphere

Some info, part 1

One idea Itoi had for Mother 3 was that involving a crooked detective. He explains you would play the role of a detective who gets by solving petty cases. Your character would be shady, he described him as a womanizer. He said one important part of the game would be involving a flower shop that changes every day. Ultimately this idea was dropped.

According to who was asked, different answers would be told if asked how much of the game was completed. Iwata thought it was only at about 30% completion but Miyamoto said it was as much as 60%.

Development began quite soon after the release of Mother 2. It was even thought to may be developed for the sfc/snes. However this was decided against as due to the development hell of Mother 2 the team thought the game wouldn't release until after the sfc/snes became irrelevant.

When being developed for the 64DD there were plans to utilize the abilities of the 64DD for the game. One idea was to have the game use real time, similar to animal crossing. One example of this they gave was the idea of a player planting a seed and it growing in real time. Another concept they wanted to do was to have players take pictures of their face and be able to put them on the character models. When development moved from the 64DD to the 64 these features were removed.

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>>4145001
Originally the game had a subtitle. The first was "Forest of the Chimera" but was later changed to "Fall/Death of the Pig King".

According to Itoi the scenario for the N64 was much "dirtier" as he described it. There is little information on what he means he has said he had planned to "betray the player".

Some information regarding the N64 version of the game: it was said to be 60 hours in length and contain 12 chapters, the GBA game is about 30 hours in length and contains 8 chapters. Flint is believed to have had a much larger role as if compared scenes are compared from the N64 to the GBA versions he appears outside of chapter 1. This could mean players would be able to swap out characters on their team. Wess was also shown to be a fully playable character instead of a npc who participates in battle. Also when players would sneak up on an enemy the screen would rotate like this picture. This picture was suppose to show how it looks when the battle begins with a enemy you snuck up on.

Brendan Sechter, the only non Japanese person involved in the development of Mother 3, has said a copy of the prototype exists and he has played it. Where this prototype is now is unknown.

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What could have been

>>4144984
Who is the short fat ho? Do you think her feet are stinky?

>>4145025
right looks way better

>>4145434
I disagree. N64 3d beats GBA 2d for me.

>>4142646
Yeah no.

>>4145450
You're a faggot.

>>4142646
If only it had looked anything like MegaMan Legends, Dr. Slump and Pop'n Tank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc4Uw0b81dg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkznhen0vNo

>>4144825
You can see on OP's screenshot, even some of the hiragana characters are blurred.

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>>4142646
Who the fuck cares? It's so much better on GBA than it ever would've been on N64. Do you want timeless graphics or the shitstain that were the 3D models in EB64?
>m-muh N64 would've had a more complete library tho
How many games a console has doesn't mean shit, what matters is what console compliments the game the best. Fucking retard.

>>4146118
Your sir are an idort, kys

>>4146118
you can't say for certain that the gba version would have been better than the n64 version. in fact based on the footage available i'd really disagree with you. and i was never going on about the n64 library in general, i was just making an observation on what is available of the game already that it genuinely looks like it could have been the best n64 game ever released.

>>4146118
There's 3D graphics that are timeless like Megaman Legends

>>4145458
Fight me you nigger

>>4146118
The N64 version was a much bigger, longer game. The story was also supposed to be a bit darker. And I thought the gba version was a letdown. And I like the N64's blocky graphics. EB64 would have been a fine complement for the N64. So there, bitch.

it woulda been the best earthbound game, thats for damn sure

>>4146180
There are a couple problems I had with the gba game. So many points of no return. Story is alright, if a bit preachy at times. Gameplay is pretty spot on if you like DQ, but a lot of times the battles are far too easy.

>>4146130
>>4146159
>>4146180
>>4146183
We don't need the story to be darker, Mother 3 is already pushing it. The story's great the way it is.
And yes, 3D graphics can be timeless, I'm not arguing that, but the EB64 team so obviously did NOT know what they were doing. The footage looked absolutely horrendous. Am I really the only one who saw those eldritch horror-looking models? Fuck.
The 2D sprites work so many times better. They gave the world and characters the more cartoony look of the previous two games, which allowed for more dynamic locations.
Look at >>4145025 , for example. Left is muddy and grey (partly from the capture quality, I'd assume at least), and Right actually has color and character. In fact, I recall reading an interview with Itoi where he said that he was glad they made the jump to GBA, as sprites were more "Mother's identity, or look." Sadly I don't remember where I read it, so if someone knows, please share.
Characters, that's something else; they were actually able to exhibit a wide range of expressions and actions in 2D. The 3D models were static and lifeless, and some, again, were absolutely terrifying.

Don't believe me? Think the characters are fine? Lucas and Claus look like they belong in a Final Fantasy game. Boney looks like he's starving. The NPC's are lifeless. Flint looks the best out of them all, but he doesn't look like an EarthBound character at all. This could be argued in Mother 3 as well, but he's been so stylized that it really doesn't matter.
Point is, having an EarthBound game in 3D is a neat concept, but the way it was being handled, I'm so glad it was reworked for GBA.

>>4146278
I'm curious about that interview, too. It needs to be shared. And I still disagree, I like the 3d models, and the awkward weirdness would have better suited the darker story. You also need to concede that they were still working on the game and the footage shown probably wasn't final. They still could have had a chance to polish the graphics a bit more.

anyone remember that guy who said his rich ass friend had a copy of an unreleased beta cart and was gonna try and steal it from his vault by giving him ecstasy and hookers and leak it?

>>4146634
I read somewhere (I think it was on Earthboundcentral) that the game was 30-60% completed and there was a cartidge or cartidges that people have played.

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>>4146278
I don't have a problem with the gba version, but I agree with >>4146390 in thinking the creepy 3d models much better suited the dark atmosphere of the game. I believe some of the late game boss battles could have been other-worldly on the n64, since the footage that was released of the normal battle sequences looked amazing

>>4146390
>>4146931
Perhaps it would've been ok if a more experienced team was working on it.
I just don't think it would really *be* an EarthBound game at that point though. Sequel only in name.

>>4142646
What hype? No one gave a shit about anything EB until underage infested the scene.

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>>4147310
But people already call the GBA mother 3 an "in name only" sequel anyways, especially Japanese audiences apparently. I mean, there really is a stark difference between Mother 3 and the rest of the series, as you said they were really "pushing it" into a new dark territory that was not evident in the prior two games. So I think it would've been more appropriate if they went all-in on their new vision, and show it visually it making the jump from 2d to 3d. I think the colorful sprite visuals were more appropriate for the story of Mother 2. Also, you don't think the 3d models were as capable of expression as the 2d sprites? Flint shows more expression here than he does in the entirety of the GBA mother 3, and of course these are all beta screenshots, the finished product would've surely been far more polished

>>4147353
This.

I never had earthbound when I was a kid on SNES. It feels weird to me still that it's so popular. My brothers friend had a copy and I was jealous, I used to love looking at screenshots of it in nintendo power, eventually I emulated when I found out about ZSNES. I remember looking at copys of it mint for $5 on ebay when I was a kid wishing I could order one. Feels weird mang

>>4143916
Except every game aimed at adults since around 1990 uses kanji because they got that bit figured out (and adults know how to read)

>>4142646
>best n64 game
>best game from that era
How is it possible for mother fans to be this brainwashed?

>>4147606
The main obstacle was storage space.
Kanji font take up 256 kB so it was simply too much for Famicom, (non CD) PCE or early MD ROM chips.

>>4143910

I think it's charming.

>>4147614
So much for the nipponese mustard race

>>4147623
The good system had a Kanji ROM in the box so companies didn't have to waste space on their media and consumers didn't have to pay for it every time.

Even if it did come out on N64 it probably would've stayed in Japan. Not just because EarthBound wasn't a huge success in the US, but also because it would've been a pretty late release. NoA wouldn't have had enough time to localize it before the GameCube hit the shelves.

>>4147579
Tripdyke, go away.
>>4147631
Well, at least it would have still come out and eventually there'd be a fan translation. EB is underrated, but not obscure. It seems to get more and more popular.

>>4147614
We're talking about the n64. And a good portion of PCE games used kanji.

>>4142646
Given the fact nothing concrete was ever published, you can fantasize about how great it would have been all day long and never get anywhere. The game doesn't exist, so speculation about it's greatness is meaningless.

Take a look in a mirror. You're jacking off to a few snapshots of an incomplete game published in a 20 year old Nintendo Power.

>>4147713
We'll see who laughs for last when they release EB64 on the Mini64

I'm ready, the question is, are you?

>>4147694
>And a good portion of PCE games used kanji.
On Hu-Card?

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>>4147353
There's a big difference between "pushing it" and "too far". I almost never hear that about Mother 3, just that it's very different. Also, I have to argue that the Flint scene would've been worse in 3D by comparison. Why? Sure, you can more clearly depict expressions and have different, more dynamic camera angles, but look at the scene in Mother 3. It's simple, you can't see Flint change expressions, and that's what makes it GOOD. This is why it's so impactful; you don't see the emotions in his face, but the emotions in his actions. You don't see the turmoil he's going through, you *feel* it.

>>4147761
This post just makes me feel sad... not because it'll never happen, but because I feel sorry for this anon.

>>4148226
Just because you dont see a face when someguy flips out doesnt make it any more impactful.

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>>4148260
I don't know about that. People remember the cgi scenes before and after this, but forget this section for obvious reasons.