Robot
05-09-2010, 05:20 PM
I'll be the first to admit that there are very few people more intolerable than the "I liked X before it was popular" elitist. Which is why I live in a constant state of self-loathing over being this type of monster when it comes to the cult Super Nintendo RPG, Earthbound (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3132724). Thanks to the hype-building effects of Nintendo Power, I was psyched for Earthbound the second it hit the magazine's preview pages; and, a few months later, I picked up the game on its release date, and replayed it all summer long.
I assure you, this information is important for more than just the purposes of bragging alone. You see, during Earthbound's pre-credits ending sequence, you're free to roam about the world and read new dialogue from every NPC in the game -- it's one of the many little touches that makes Earthbound so special. If you enter the drug store in the game's starting town, Onett, the tutorial-spewing dog "Ruffini" encourages you, the player, to write a letter to Nintendo if you enjoyed the game. Not being one to question the commands of a talking dog, I wrote up a page (or possibly more) of unrelenting praise, and mailed it off to Nintendo.
A few months later, I received a response -- which I just re-discovered in an attempt to consolidate the amount of nerd relics I have in storage. In retrospect, Nintendo's letter seems to have come straight from a consumer service template, though they do address at least one of my Earthbound-specific questions:
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3809515&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3809516&type=lg
Strangely enough, this might have been the only time in recorded history where someone recommended Chrono Trigger (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3132668) and Tecmo's Secret of the Stars (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3133131) in the same paragraph. Prove me wrong, Internet.
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9029604
I assure you, this information is important for more than just the purposes of bragging alone. You see, during Earthbound's pre-credits ending sequence, you're free to roam about the world and read new dialogue from every NPC in the game -- it's one of the many little touches that makes Earthbound so special. If you enter the drug store in the game's starting town, Onett, the tutorial-spewing dog "Ruffini" encourages you, the player, to write a letter to Nintendo if you enjoyed the game. Not being one to question the commands of a talking dog, I wrote up a page (or possibly more) of unrelenting praise, and mailed it off to Nintendo.
A few months later, I received a response -- which I just re-discovered in an attempt to consolidate the amount of nerd relics I have in storage. In retrospect, Nintendo's letter seems to have come straight from a consumer service template, though they do address at least one of my Earthbound-specific questions:
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3809515&type=lg
http://www.1up.com/media?id=3809516&type=lg
Strangely enough, this might have been the only time in recorded history where someone recommended Chrono Trigger (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3132668) and Tecmo's Secret of the Stars (http://www.1up.com/do/gameOverview?cId=3133131) in the same paragraph. Prove me wrong, Internet.
http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=9029604