Sure, some might stare a bit cockeyed at the EarthBound fan community, but you can’t say they’re not resourceful, dedicated, and above all, tenacious. Proof positive: over 250 pages of devotion bound in one book, the EarthBound Anthology.
When the news dropped of the Mother3.org/Starmen.net collaboration, I mentioned something of the Starmen EB Siege project, an endeavor for which the EarthBound fan community was raising a pretty substantial sum of money (now over $7,500). FedEx dropped the fruits of their labor into my lap this morning: a metric ton compilation of artwork, music, and media by members of the EarthBound fan community.
The EarthBound Anthology chronicles the saga of Shigesato Itoi’s Mother series and its commercial flop in North America, background information on the franchise, sales data and the myriad campaigns waged by Starmen.net and the fan community to bring EarthBound back to North America. The weighty text portion of the anthology ends with a proposal: the time is ripe for a revival, and there’s a mighty audience waiting for Nintendo to capitalize on the opportunity. Driving the point home are 200+ pages of fan art and four DVDs loaded with fan games, music, videos, performances — it’s an absolute avalanche of content.
The goal of EB Siege is to extend the reach of the community out towards would-be allies to the cause, media, developers, and Nintendo itself and communicate their message: that this is a series, beyond all others in Nintendo’s catalog, that should not be swept aside. Even if EarthBound ain’t really your thing, you have to recognize Starmen.net’s gesture as one that goes beyond the standard-issue objections by most of the internet (“biological web shooters!? Quick, to petitiononline.org!”). More than a simple fan DVD or ‘zine or somesuch, the EarthBound Anthology is an extremely well-designed, terribly comprehensive love-letter to the fan community and a clear message to Nintendo that they won’t soon forget.
Check out the pictures in the gallery. Big thanks to Starmen’s Reid for the hook-up.
