I have recently rediscovered the original Halo game, yeah, the old Halo:Combat Evolved  but on the xbox, I have the game but I dont have xbox live so I cannot play it online so after a while it can become quite boring repeating the same missions over and over again. Besides you can never compare the precision of the mouse with the one of the xbox controls even the original ones… not the crappy mad cat stuff. So I download Halo 1 demo to see how it worked on the mac. And let me tell you it works pretty good. Im running on Leopard 10.5.1 on a 2gb macbook and it runs up to 40 fps and that is running in emulated mode because the game is made for powerPC processor, imagine what will happen if they wrote a native intel app. It would fly, I have a fairly powerless graphic card, a intel GMA950 which has only 64MB of shared video memory. But it surprised me how good it worked.

Definitively what amazed more was that after trying out the demo you can play online indefinitively, completely for free. Yes, you can create, join, see games, use all available maps for free. This game got me, the platform got me, I dont know why there are not a lot of people out there enjoying this good stuff completely free.

Another important thing to remember is that Bungie is Microsoft free now and completely outside of the dark side so we dont know what mighty Bungie might be preparing for us, the mac users, besides, wasnt Bungie a mac software developer in the first place?

Have you ever played EarthBound? No?… maybe… you know Ness from Super Smash Bros…? Yeah that’s his game.

Don’t worry if you haven’t played it before, just a few people have done, and its a very interesting impact what people face when playing it, even there is a case that someone got over emotional problems by almost only listening the music.

But, how is a game so possibly awesome and even miraclous? First lets take a look at it.

Mother, 1988

EarthBound was originally going to be realeased in America on the NES system with the game of its prequel, normally known as “Mother”, unfortunately due to various delays and the approchment of the SNES system, the proyect was ancelled to focus on the sequel Mother 2 that became what is normally known as EarthBound for us now.

“In 1995, RPGs were stuck in a rut that Dragon Quest had dug. Most were still set in medieval times, with knights and mages battling mythical monsters with swords and magic. Few games dared to defy this mold until EarthBound (MOTHER 2 as it is known in Japan). No other game was like it, except maybe its prequel, MOTHER, which had not been released outside of Japan. EarthBound introduced, and even today continues to introduce, RPG fans to an entirely different experience.The story is set in the 1990s in Eagleland, a kitschy and romanticized parody of America (perfect lawns and quiet suburbs). No dragons, mystical knights, or staff-wielding wizards appear in this game. You are just an average 13 year old kid from the suburbs…until the night a meteor lands in your backyard. The local wildlife start attacking you, a gang of local hoodlums begins causing trouble downtown, you realize that you have psychic powers, and a mysterious messenger from the future tells you that you are destined to save the world.But, before you face any of this, your mom reminds you to change out of your pajamas.Armed with a cracked baseball bat, a lucky charm for protection, and whatever food you can find (including whatever gets thrown into the trashcan outside the burger joint), you begin your quest to stop the evil alien Giygas from destroying the world.”

Starmen.Net

EarthBound, 1994

Said that previously is the whole plot, thanks to Starmen.Net. Now, when you play along, the first chapter happens in your neighborhood facing the wild life, local punks and troublemakers that give the mayor a total headache. Then you move to the next town where a girl with psychic powers is kidnapped by a strange cult named Happy-Happyism which is strangely obsessed with the color blue, later you save a town from ghrosts and zombies, a strange alien race is being controlled by evil piles of vomit, you save the mayor of the biggest city in the country of a mysterious golden statue… as you progress, it becomes more stranger, funnier and dangerous, so you feel hooked after a little while, just maybe you have to clear the first chapter because its a bit dull by then..

Another charming detail is the extras, and even the signs you can talk/check in the towns and other places never say boring stuff, and if they are not funny, they are fundamental for your game progress. Ever tried trout yogurt or got drunk by coffee?

The battle scenes are an eye candy, at least for me. Aside the obvious enemy sprite and menu, the background is psychodelic, trippy and colorful, always different depending on the enemies you face. A total show of the SNES visual powers. Even the enemies have weird names and attacks, is a total pleasure. There are many other fine details in the game as the weapons you use and also the rolling meters in your status panels that look like gas tanks.

Another funny detail is how many it parodies RPGs and even has a lot of pop culture references like the Beatles, Blues Brothers or even Mr.T! It almost looks like a SITCOM.

I want to add before the conclusion that beside the fact its a really amusing game, many people have an emotional connection with it. its a whole emotional rollercoaster

And all this set on a game that ironically enough was a marketing failure in this continent! What the hell is wrong with us!? Although its a huge impact in Japan, actually the most succesful RPG just after Dragon Quest. There are other titles that haven’t released outside yet, as Mother, Mother 1+2 which is a compilatiopn of Mother and Earthbound in one game for GBA, and finally Mother3.

Mother3 is the climax and most epic point in the saga, I already cleared it with help of translation and strategy guides, it was quite a challenge but worth of doing it. Its a bigger emotional rollercoaster, and better graphic and musical score. We have the hope since Lucas is in the Super Smash Bros Brawl, that it will be released in America as they did with Fire Emblem in Melee.

Mother 3, 2006

So please, I tell you, play EarthBound. Now. Really, now. Like… why aren’t you playing it when you are reading this! Once you play it you will love it. Most of the people I know who have cleared it have become instant fans.

 About a week ago they told me about this conference about the Free Software. In the newspaper said Richard Stallman (aka. rms) was coming to town so I checked up FSF website and effectively, he was coming and giving a conference in Universidad Kino. In the newspaper it said that the conference was free but we have to confirme our presence. So I did, I called several times to the organizers but I could never contact them. So I sent them an email and they replied me telling me that it was full, maybe next year. I knew I could not lose this one so I just ignored the email and went. Fourtunately I managed to fit in the room which was really crowded and hot. I stood up for about two hours and a half but it was worth it. RMS explained many of the concepts about the Free Software Philosophy I did not understood. 

After the conference which lasted one hour more than planned (which was great, im not complaining) RMS sold some stuff from FSF, I got  cool tiny pin. And also I wanted to get his book but he brought no copies with him. He also gived some free stickers, I got a cool BAD VISTA sticker and another one that said GNU and Linux “the dyanamic duo”. I wanted a picture with him but he looked too tired, some people did but I did not feel like he wanted so I just sat and waited outside so they could pick me up.   

Links:FSFBad Vista

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