Hippies? Check. Weapons and psychic powers with which to beat them? Double check.

In the heyday of the Super Nintendo, there were many games that surfaced with the status of a “triple A” title. While there was still a lot of shovel-ware on Nintendo’s second try at a true system it was not to the extent that we have now with the Wii and had with the Gamecube. This also meant, with so many great games coming out so quickly, that if a game was not marketed correctly it would immediately get looked over and tossed into the junk category.

Earthbound truly was one of those poorly marketed games that came and went as a thief in the night. Those who were lucky enough to snag a copy of this gem (and the still foul-smelling Earthbound “Scratch-n-Sniff” strategy guide) were rewarded with a quirky adventure, memorable characters, and oddball humor that just wouldn’t stop. Earthbound was a role playing game for those who wanted something different than the traditional fantasy setting and it delivered in wave after goofy wave.

Released the same year as Chrono Trigger (Squaresoft’s crowned king of RPG goodness that is still to this day usually at the top of almost everyone’s favorite RPG lists), Super Mario World 2, Donkey Kong Country 2, and Killer Instinct. Earthbound ,which in Japan was already a top-selling game series with its first iteration that came out years before on the NES being one of the most popular games on the system, had a lot to compete with. Within the states the game was released by a company that was more known for its adventure games than for RPGs within North America (HAL Laboratory, which is famously known for the creation of the Kirby and Adventures of Lolo) and also with very little marketing behind it. The game was released with little gusto and fell towards the wayside, selling less than half a million copies worldwide (in comparison, Chrono Trigger sold over three million copies).

The story revolves around Ness who, after being warned by a powerful fly from the future named Buzz Buzz that the world is in danger, begins a journey that will take him all across the world in an attempt to stop a hostile alien, Giygas, from taking over and dominating the future. Throughout the game you’ll encounter blues brother lookalikes, geeky inventors named after fruit, and a cult completely obsessed with the color blue, all while forging friendships and developing your psychic powers in order to save the day.

The battle system is a traditional Dragon Quest first-person experience while the rest of the game is played as a birds-eye view. The graphics, while slightly dated now, worked wonderfully for their day and gave the game a quirky, modern feel to it that is wonderfully strange yet appealing to the eyes. A well-written storyline and constant humor keep the pace of the game lively and will keep you wondering what will come next throughout an adventure full of NPCs and enemies that will keep you entertained and coming back for more.

That Earthbound has built up a cult following that, to this day, is still fervently loyal to it is a testament to how good the game actually is. At its release it received high scores from multiple gaming publications within North America but the multiple re-releases and the sequel have still not reached the states. Many people have devoted years of their time to translating the sequel for English-speaking audiences and even constantly petitioning Nintendo of America for an official release here to no avail. Also in the June and July 2008 issues of Nintendo Power, it was voted as the #1 most requested game for the Wii’s Virtual Console (with the original game that was never released here close behind in the #4 and #2 spots consecutively).

This game is definitely one that should be on anyone’s list who is looking for a good RPG and is definitely worth the effort to find a copy. The game could have had such a better success in the past if not released the same year as one of the most highly anticipated titles on the system as it was one of the diamonds in the rough of the mid-nineties. Poor marketing and bad release time both went hand in hand to doom this game and its sequel from never seeing a stateside release again and frankly, the American gaming world is a slightly more blue place without it.

So, we’ll start with the little white box that is really the only option if you want to spike someone’s head with a yield sign and then go groom a dog with “real petting motions!”™. I’ve been a bit confused by Nintendo’s Wii Motion-Plus accessory and the reasoning behind it. If I remember correctly when the company was first touting this system around as the ultimate in entertainment they were showing off the responsiveness of the motion sensor and how accurately movement was tracked. The accessory, which supposedly allows for a true 1:1 tracking experience, is really only meant to appease to sports games and third-party titles since Nintendo has proven with titles like Metroid Prime and Mario Galaxy that proper use of the hardware is possible. The product just seems pointless this late in the game and honestly seems like something that should have been built into the system all along with how strongly their ad-campaign was for it in the first place. I also don’t see this being an accessory people will buy for all four of their controllers and I’m almost afraid that this technology will go the way of some of Nintendo’s other current ideas on improving your Wii experience where there will be very few games that use it correctly or even at all. On that note is there another game other than Animal Crossing utilizing the Wii Speak yet? No? Fantastic. It also makes a full controller (Wii remote, nunchuk, and now motion+ add-on) $80 so for a full set plus the system you’re looking at a more expensive console than the PS3 with an extra controller and an HDMI cable. Of course, all of the accessories that don’t come as a default are completely optional for both systems so that makes it a bit of a moot point.

Moving on down the line we come to Microsoft and its motion sensing little creation that is rumored to be due out next year – Project Natal. While this project seems like an interesting take on motion controls I feel like it could have such better promise outside of the entertainment world. The videos showing them moving through menu screens and the 360’s dashboard seem like the best use of the technology so far. Could you imagine class rooms, board rooms, and presentations with this technology available to use? That seems like a better way to use it then giving me a Burnout game where all I can do is move my foot up and down for forward and reverse and steer with an imaginary wheel. In comparison with the other motion projects it also looks a bit pricier: multiple webcams, independent processors, this thing seems like a console in itself (which may be fueling the fires on certain rumors that Microsoft is releasing an improved console). If I have to spend as much money as I do on the system in order to have motion controls, I’m really just not going to be interested and probably neither will casual gamers who aren’t looking to drop a couple hundred extra dollars on something for their system. Also, unlike the Wii and the Playstation 3’s ideas on game play Microsoft has chosen to completely remove the controller and instead allows you to be the controller yourself. This idea seems like it could cause problems if not for the hardware or software then for the players themselves. It’s going to be interesting to see the evolution of this piece and see just how well it will actually track you when a lot more is involved than just driving motions or swipes.

The last in line is Sony’s with the inventive name of “Sony Motion Controller” which, by the way, just screams innovation in the name alone. When I see this offering, which is comprised of two wands that work with the Playstation Eye, I can’t help but feel a little sad and anxious at the same time at the comic possibilities. I mean when I see the two wands I immediately picture the video of the kid with the light saber flailing about. The idea that it can re-pixel the wands to look like whatever it needs to on screen is an interesting idea but just doesn’t seem as horribly innovative since the Wii came out. I wish I could talk more about it and what it does but there really wasn’t much more to say. It seems like it will work as a kind of combination of both Nintendo and Microsoft’s ideas in a sense except that you’ll be on screen as the main character and instead of a wand in your hand it will be a gun or something else along those lines that further ruins a child’s chance to build their imagination. Also, I can’t wait to see the Japanese game offerings for their new “dating” simulations that they seem to enjoy so very much.

Actually, yeah, I can wait for that one because frankly it’s scary.