The Death of the EarthBound Clubs
by RedArwing
8-13-01

I came into the Club scene midway through the game, around early 1998. I found out about it like most of you probably did, on a message board or website. I was amazed to discover that this massive online community had been operating right in front of my eyes without me knowing about it. I first found out on an AOL message board message titled "EARTHBOUND CLUB". Without hesitating I joined the club, even though I didn't own the game yet. After searching every department and electronic store in the city, I had ordered it online and was waiting for it to arrive. I counted the days and passed my time reading club newsletters.

But let's skip all the way to the end. Some might say the clubs died because the game and the SNES were out of date. The game had been released in 1995 and clubs didn't start appearing until around 1997. This fact might be attributed to the fact that more people were getting AOL, or that more people were discovering the game and becoming fans. In either case, newer systems and games were arriving, and people's attention began to focus elsewhere. The Nintendo 64 and Saturn had become available, and the PlayStation was becoming a common sight in almost everybody's living room.

The last of the clubs truly died out in early 1999 despite a few revivals and the exception of the EarthBound Gang, which had grown beyond any other club. My theory is that the original club members and leaders grew out of their obsession of this one game and moved on to other projects. Many EarthBound clubs began to mainly focus on video games in general, or wrestling. After this happened, there were no new fans to take over, and start clubs of their own. Given the status of the now "old-school" Super NES, it is unlikely that EarthBound will find any new fans.

When the news of EarthBound 64's cancellation came, it was also the end of many club leader's ambitions. I talked to many a leader who told me they would revive their club "next summer when EB64 comes out", but that was 1999, and now there is no EB64, and their are no more clubs. Perhaps one day EB64 will see the light of day, and if it does, I'll be welcoming it with open arms, and when I'm playing it, I'll think back to these days during the clubs.

We were a unique bunch, and we always will be. The Online EB community consists of thousands of fans brought together to discuss something they loved, and still love today.