Subj: Fwd: <---Ëß Gang News Issue: #100 Part 7 of 10
Date: 08/19/1999 10:40:46 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: CrazedMogX
To: CrazedMogX
Double-click picture(s) to display in picture editor
-----------------
Forwarded Message:
Subj: <---Ëß Gang News Issue: #100 Part 7 of 10
Date: 08/09/1999 11:12:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: EBG Ness
BCC: CrazedMogX
EB Gang News 8-9-99Issue 1008-9-99 ------------------------------------------------------- Written by: EBG Ness@aol.com Editted, Decorated and Spellchecked by: OnettNess@aol.com
A special message from David R. Wright, Apple of Enlightenment for the EarthBound Gang:
Well, it appears that the 100th issue of this club has come around. In fact, this also marks just four weeks and six days until our two-year anniversary (that's September 12). A leader has come and gone, as have various other prominent figures in the formative history of this nearly two-year-old club, which I have been a member of for twenty months now.
Amazing, isn't it? This club was started nearly three years after the game was released (in fact last Saturday, August 28, marks the five-year anniversary of Mother 2's release in Japan), and it's still kicking, nearly five years after the release. I doubt we'll even be talking about Final Fantasy VII for that long, and everybody remembers what a big game THAT was.
In the twenty months I've been here, I was, for a time, the official trivia host, have quit the EarthBound Gang then re-joined, annoyed OnettNess halfway to the moon and back, worked my way up to Apple Kid and stayed there for a long time, wrote a regular article on government issues for three months or more, very nearly got Member of the Year, earned Member of the Week for an unprecedented fifth (and now sixth) time, and helped advise Deafcon2 (now EBG Ness) on running the EarthBound Gang. Since then, I've earned Apple of Enlightenment, am a regular article submittor again, have started hosting trivia more often, started a new meeting game, and so on and so forth.
My point? On my pencil.
Seriously, folks, I have one to make. Note that in the middle of this club's history, to quote Number 5 from "Short Circuit," I was the "Jerk of the world! Scumbag! Idiot! Pain in the ass!" Or another (doctored) quote:
Ben: "We must get Scrotum!"
Newton Crosby: "That's OAFrankFly"
Ben: "Same thing."
(Ask me if you don't get it.)
Times have changed, obviously, otherwise I would be out of the club, not Apple of Enlightenment. A lot of people have accused me of not wanting anybody else to be Apple of Enlightenment. Well, l must tell you something: it IS lonely at the top. Basically, what it boils down to is this:
There are two conditions required to be AoE. The first is to be a hard worker for the EarthBound Gang. I see a ton of people doing that, such as Jon ls God, BearBear13, and so on. But the second one is one that very few people have, I may be the only one. That is a track record. I have a history of working pretty hard for the EarthBound Gang, and that's one thing that I demand in an AoE. So don't go on a recruiting spree for three days and get 40 members, write a couple of articles for the newsletter, and write a great Java applet for the EarthBound Gang's webpage, then quit working. That won't get you to be Apple of Enlightenment. Member of the Week, sure. AoE, no.
Keep that in mind. I didn't work for two weeks and get Apple of Enlightenment. I had to work steadily for a couple of months, and continue doing that to get and stay Apple of Enlightenment.
Quite frankly, I'd love to see more people that are AoE material. Think of it this way! It's people like me that got the EarthBound Gang where they are now. Not just me, either. There are, of course, such greats as Mouse8984 and BearBear13 to consider. It's not just the leader that does the work, everybody! A lot of people attribute the revival of the EarthBound Gang to EBG Ness, but that's not the case! He certainly did a lot of work, but people like me and all the other hard workers in the EarthBound Gang probably combine to do more than ten times the amount of work EBG Ness does! He doesn't act alone! You too can take part in this if you simply apply yourself! Who knows, maybe by the third year of this club's existence, we'll have 10,000 members! We just have to wait and see before we know!
Oh yes, and for no apparent reason, I enclosed a picture of myself. Who says I need to have a reason anyways?
Pokey's Return
An EarthBound fanfic by David R. Wright. Set twelve years after EarthBound: Giygas Strikes Back.
Ness slumber had been anything but restful.
In his dreams, he had seen Buzz-Buzz.
When the chosen boy reaches the point, the passing of time will shatter the Nightmare Rock and reveal the path of light. Remember that, Ness? the apparition had started.
It continued, The Nightmare Rock has not been shattered, as we had previously anticipated. The Apple of Enlightenment is usually true in its judgement... but not always. This was one of the things it was wrong in... and we will pay dearly for that mistake if the present condition is not remedied.
To make a long story short, we need your help again. The Nightmare Rock has indeed been shattered... but one shard of the rock remained to stick in the side of the communal body of the world. It is up to you to remove that shard. And with that, Ness awoke in a cold sweat.
He turned to his wife and shook her awake. Paula. Paula!
Her body remained limp.
Paula, wake up!
No response.
Paula!
Still no response.
Flicking the light on, Ness looked at her and his worst fears were confirmed. His heart threatened to tear itself free and expel itself out his mouth.
A bloody spear was stuck in her back. It still quivered from whomever had put it in there. A window was open, and the drapes were blowing with the breeze. Running over to the window, he saw a black car drive away, with a familiar driver at the wheels. He yelled back at Ness, Youre all alone now, Spanky! and then patched out.
As Ness looked out from his hilltop house over Onett, his stomach turned over on itself.
Onett. A once pleasant hamlet with a bustling nightlife and busy video game arcade, a brand-new pizza parlor, and a bustling economy, proud police force, and beautiful oak trees lining the streets.
A few guttering flames still burning in the middle of the city confirmed his worst fear. Burned. All of it. Everybody but me.
Wanting to scream, he ran down the hall to the room of his three-year-old daughter.
She, too, had a spear in her back. Everybodys dead, and I couldnt do a thing about it. Giygas bones!
Hammering a fist against the wall again and again, Ness screamed. He ran back to his bedroom, hoping it was all a nightmare, but it wasnt. Theres nothing. Nothing for me, anymore. He leaned out the window and wished he would fall out and die, but no such luck. He screamed out at the car that now was disappearing onto the road that leads to Twoson, By the life of all that is right and good, youll pay for all this, Pokey Minch! One of these days youll catch yourself in your own web, and then Ill get you!
A dream of EarthBound
One of the best things about EarthBound is that it's so much like life in America in the '90s.
Don't worry, that's not the entire thesis of this article, I have a much grander theme in mind.
There's a reason that I like that in the game though. It revives in me the spirit of belief in the unbelievablein this case that I'll acquire super powers and save the world.
Hey, I can dream, can't I?
But think about it. I know I'm not alone. I'm sure that when the rest of you first played EarthBound, you guys thought maybe someday YOU would be called on to save the world from an evil megalomaniac, be it Giygas, Saddam Hussein, or maybe even Dan Quayle. EarthBound is like that. It hooks you with the modern-day plotting and average-Joe characters and makes you think that maybe it'll happen to YOU someday.
Who here besides me has daydreamed while playing the game about running through the desert and summoning wind at your command to envelop a wolf that wants to eat you? I certainly have, but I'm sure I'm not alone on that one.
Of course, EarthBound also brings alive the possibility that it might be a friend of yours. I certainly have thought of that. Maybe when the Pentagon aims its nukes at everybody else in the world, I'll be the next Tony to help Jeff out. At least that way, if I get honored, it won't be posthumously. But it'd still be cool to be just an average fifteen-year-old and then get swept up in having to destroy an evil alien bent on the Earth's destruction.
Hey, I can dream, can't I?
A reflection on EarthBound and real life
As many of you all know, I went to Falls Creek recently for a youth group retreat. I went swimming in a great swimming hole, splashed around and nearly drowned, played my harmonica to various worship songs, hiked around, and so on. How fun. How exciting! How... EarthBound-ish?
Think about it. A lot of what I just wrote sounds like a bit of an adventure. And, of course, I'll have friends who have a strange power (I'd say what it is, but people would get offended) with me along for the ride. And most of my friends fit right into the stereotypes presented for Ness, Paula, Jeff, and Poo of EarthBound. I'm sure that on more than one occasion, too, they all decided to take a little break and sing or hike or camp out for the night.
Life in general, too, is more like EarthBound than you'd think, but not on such a grand scale. As a Christian myself, I believe it is part of my duty to join forces with other Christians and defeat the spirit of evil. Many other religions have beliefs along the same lines, and even quite a few atheists or agnostics believe that they can help save the world, and work their best to do so. Sure, we don't fight taxis gone mad, or fight with hippies, but we do work in a small way to make the world a better place. Think about it. Have you made the world better today?
Mother 1
About ten years ago, Mother 1 was released by Nintendo of Japan. It was a new kind of RPG, one that mixed in a bit of life in the 80's in rural America with the mix of the usual RPG elements such as a tactical battle menu, odd enemies, and an alien megalomaniac bent on destroying the world.
The man working on this project was Shigesato Itoi. A man with a vision. A vision of a new kind of RPG, one that would set a golden standard for how future RPGs would be.
So he created Mother 1. It had a modern setting in America, rather than a fantasy place and time, and featured characters that you might find in real life. Yet at the same time, it didn't lose the sense of fantasy, destiny, or science-fiction that many other RPGs have.
It was almost whimsical. Where else, after all, can you fight Mad Cars and Bag Ladies? Especially with characters bearing huge character flaws? After all, who expects a nobody from Podunk, a loser with glasses, a girl from a backwater city, and a punk from a big gang to save the world?
Nobody. And that's why this game is so great. It has the element of suprise behind it. Sadly, this game was never released for play in North America. It almost did, but Nintendo of America pulled it at the last minute.
But six years later, somebody with a ROM dump card managed to get his paws on a copy of the game. Within a week, he had a hacked-up version all ready for everybody to be able to use with a NES emulator. EarthBound Zero finally had a chance to make its mark in America.
Next week: Mother 2: Gyiyg Strike Back!
Review of Avara
Copyright 1996 by Ambrosia Software for the Macintosh Finder Operating System
This is a game that took quite a while to get to my hands. However, I'm glad that it finally did.
Anybody besides me remember the tank combat game "Spectre" for PC, Macintosh, and Super Nintendo? Well Avara is a lot like that, except you aren't in a tank but a H.E.C.T.O.R., the areas are much more varied, sound is better, control is better, basically, it's a better game all around.
Avara takes you through a number of missions, all of them with varied objectives. For example, in one mission, "Spy Hunt", you must defeat three fast, maneuverable, hard-armored spy ships before their transport takes them away in about five minutes and 15 seconds. Their armor is very strong, and they're fast enough to defeat the guidance systems on guided missiles. Sounds challenging. It is. That's the thing with Avara. You can spend a lot of time on one mission. Days, even weeks. Whereas with some video games, hardcore players will brag beating it in two hours or less, Avara takes a much longer time to beat. The challenge and intensity is very high, and it is very suspenseful, too.
Naturally, with that high level of challenge, there is a comprehensive training program. Training consists of three different areas. In the first one, nine "A's" are scattered around. No enemies, just a couple of warps and such. The idea is to get a feel for how to move around and how warps work. The second level teaches you how moving platforms and switches work. The third training mission takes you into hostile territory, where you learn to target enemies and work with various armaments to defeat them.
Of course, you have weapons! The way the weaponry works is very realistic. You have three gauges. The blue gauge is your shields, the other two gauges are your laser recycling and laser power. You have two lasers, and you drain power from your laser battery (green) as you use them. The brown gauge indicates when your weapons are finished recycling and can fire again.
As for your high-payload armaments, you have grenades and missiles. The good thing about this is that you can select how many you want before the mission starts. Suppose you want to get a quick start and you know there's a weapons cache where you need to go? Start out with no missiles or grenades and then pick up the cache. Another thing about them is that you can carry different amounts of each depending on the size of your hull (light, medium, or heavy). That makes this computer game very realistic. Your jumping strength and speed even change as you use up your high-payload weapons!
Control is very simple, but takes a long time to master. You run with the buttons on the keyboard, amongst other things such as arming your missiles and grenades, and you aim with your mouse, and can fire with the mouse button. One thing that is helpful to master is weaving while firing, but it's difficult at best. Another good tactic to learn is to jump up, orient your aiming reticle where it is at the top of your leap, jump again, and fire at the top. There are a lot of tactics useful to master if you want to play the game.
Of course, this game has a multiplayer mode over the Internet! You and up to five other people can combine to defeat a level, or duke it out on the battlefield! This mode is VERY fun, as you can team up or blow each other to bits on a whim! And there's a chat feature so you can talk crap to your opponents and say "Eat that, bitch!" as you fire a missile up their butt (or the H.E.C.T.O.R. equivalent).
I cannot say enough about this game, it's such a blast to play! If you have a Macintosh or Mac Emulator, this one's even better than Harry the Handsome Executive or Escape Velocity: Override! Get it now or suffer the wrath of my guided missiles!
_________________________________________
The EarthBound Gang Newsletter
Issue 100
Monday, August 09, 1999
EBGNess
The EarthBound Gang
Subj: Fwd: <---Ëß Gang News Issue: #100 Part 7 of 10