Chapter 191: EarthBound
Before the launch of 'EarthBound,' KiShin decided to introduce their own magazine, titled KiShin's Power. The magazine featured compelling and helpful insights into KiShin video games, making it particularly interesting for players like Matt.
When Matt spotted the latest issue of KiShin's Power, highlighting the new video game 'EarthBound,' he eagerly grabbed a copy. Upon obtaining 'EarthBound,' Matt promptly headed home and inserted it into his SKES cartridge slot.
Having enjoyed 'Earthbound Beginnings,' Matt found the video game captivating. He appreciated the game's uniqueness, both in terms of storyline and gameplay.
In 'Earthbound Beginnings,' the initial segment featured the in-game character battling a lamp, an eccentric choice that contributed to its limited popularity in the United States. While 'Celeste' gained some traction, it couldn't compete with the dominance of Super Mario and 'The Legend of Zelda' in the market.
Transitioning to 'EarthBound,' Matt loaded the game into his SKES. The KiShin logo appeared, and he eagerly observed as the introduction to the 'EarthBound' video game unfolded.
The experience commenced with statistics screens tinged in red, revealing an image of a UFO assaulting a city. At the top, the text read 'EARTH BOUND,' while bold red letters below declared 'THE WAR AGAINST GIYGAS!' The accompanying sounds heightened the anticipation, and Matt was already feeling the excitement.
The image of UFOs wreaking havoc on a city transitioned seamlessly into the video game title 'EarthBound,' accompanied by a lively sound theme.
Soon after, a cheerful music theme played as the video game title transformed into a small circle set against a black background. Inside the circle, three kids strolled through a vibrant street.
Subsequent scenes unfolded within the circle, showcasing the kids interacting with an elderly person, a bus traversing a road, the kids threading along a lakeside, a descent down seemingly ancient stairs, and a kid with a hat riding a bike. The upbeat music continued, and Matt began to sense that the video game promised a joyous adventure for the kids.
Within the small circle, set against the black background, the scene shifted. The kids now traversed a desert, with the kid in the hat leading, followed by a person with yellow hair and glasses. They arrived at a gathering of people surrounding someone on the ground. The kid with the hat and the person with yellow hair and glasses encountered a woman with matching yellow hair. The scenes then transitioned to the kid with the hat wandering in a dark forest, accompanied by the text inside the circle that read, 'KiShin presents.'
The transition seamlessly led into the 'EarthBound' video game title.
New game options emerged, and Matt selected the first option for a new game. He then adjusted the text speed, opting for the fast setting. The game also presented a choice for sound settings – stereo or mono. Matt decided on stereo.
Following that, he encountered an option for window style. As Matt scrolled through the styles, the window border color changed accordingly. Opting for simplicity, Matt selected the plain flavor window style. Moving on to character naming, he chose the 'I Don't Care' option, resulting in the default name 'Ness' for the boy with the hat.
This process was repeated for the other character names.
And so, 'EarthBound' unfolded as the city appeared in the night, accompanied by text on a black background stating, 'Onett, a small town in Eagleland.' The scenes then transitioned to a house, with white text against a black background identifying it as 'Ness's house.'
In a room, a boy peacefully slept on a bed until the house suddenly shook, jolting him awake. Rising from the bed, the boy stood up, signaling the commencement of the 'EarthBound' video game.
Taking control of his in-game character named 'Ness,' Matt observed that the 'EarthBound' introduction bore a resemblance to certain TV series, leaving him impressed. As he delved into playing the game, Matt guided 'Ness' to investigate the source of the earthquake.
Engrossed in 'EarthBound' for a few minutes, Matt found himself completely invested. The storyline proved to be both interesting and entertaining, with the mystery unfolding as he progressed through the game.
However, after playing for hours, Matt became somewhat annoyed when his in-game character, followed by others, would abruptly halt whenever the photographer appeared to take a picture.
The flow of Matt's gameplay was further interrupted when 'Ness's father called to inquire about how his in-game character was faring.
Fortunately, Matt had opted for the fast text speed option. As he continued playing, he began to discern that 'EarthBound' had a darker tone compared to the preceding 'Earthbound Beginnings.'
After a while, Matt felt tired playing and started to save the game by calling 'Ness's father. However, Matt still experienced the extended storytelling from 'Ness's father, further delaying the process of saving the video game.
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Meanwhile, with the release of 'EarthBound,' Shin was also planning the production for an animated series of 'EarthBound'—a dream from Shin's previous life.
He consistently believed that 'EarthBound' warranted an animated series. The video game's storyline was genuinely captivating, deserving a visual adaptation.
Multiple KiShin animation studios collaborated to bring the animated series of 'EarthBound' to life.
Whether it becomes popular or not, Shin doesn't care; he simply yearns to witness the creation of an animated series for the exceptional video game 'EarthBound.' Following this, Shin contemplated initiating a video game project inspired by 'EarthBound'—the future 'Undertale.'
However, Shin pondered its potential popularity among video game players at this time, taking into account the limitations of the 16-bit era. Even if Shin managed to adapt 'Celeste' for the 16-bit, it would entail compromising graphics and compressing memory-intensive levels.
This would inevitably diminish the gameplay experience for video game players. Therefore, Shin has already set his company, KiShin, on the path of developing the next generation of 16-bit, even before the SKES and Gameboy hit the market.
While Shin is uncertain whether he has surpassed Tora and Suzuki in terms of video game console research, he remains confident in his ability to release the next generation. This confidence persists, even if Tora and Suzuki do not introduce their own video game consoles for KiShin to reverse engineer.
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