Earthbound Sells For $1,025.01 On Ebay

[triverse]

Yep, an unopened copy of Earthbound recently sold on ebay for over $1000.00! Check out GoNintendo for more info on this, apparently recession proof, game.

Thanks to kotaku.com for the pic.

[kbf_private_joker]

Was the game any good? For some reason when it came out, I wasn't interested.

[triverse]

Was the game any good? For some reason when it came out, I wasn't interested.

I, personally, have never played it, it simply doesn't look like something I would be into. As you can tell though, there are obviously some fans of the game.

[Mister Zero]

I LOVE EarthBound! It's one of the first RPGs I had ever played fully through and beat. It's a defining game in my collection.

I used to give up on RPGs at some point because I was a 10 year old and had other things to do, but EB really caught me and dragged me in. I guess because of the kid characters and settings I could relate to. It's a classic, to me. Playing the game as an adult who's never played it before wouldn't have the same effect, I don't think. If you haven't played it by now, I don't know how you'd feel about it. But for a 10 year old in 1994 it was a gem!

I've had this game since it first came out and I'm glad I don't have to pay 1000 for it. That's nuts, for ANY game.

[Gnash]

The mother games are very unique and worth trying out sometime in your life.

[Thor]

I too love this game and wish that I still had my copy. But no it's not worth that much even unopened. To tell you the truth I don't understand why anyone would want an unopened game anyway because for me I'm going to want to open it. Especially this game.

Did I mention I'm a fan of the game

Who else would buy a strategy guide of a game that was never even released in the US.

(Picture courtesy of my DSi by the way. I had to test it out to see how the image actually looks when it's not on the DS screen)

[triverse]

Very nice there Thor. The pic quality is higher than I thought (although meppi already proved that to me with pics taken with his DSi).

You beat me to posting about that strategy guide too. Is it as nice inside as it looks on the outside?

[Gnash]

The people who made the translation of mother 3 were making a strategy guide too. I saw some of the images from it and it was looking very nice.

[Mister Zero]

Yeah, the translators Mother 3 guide looked great.

What did everyone think of Mother 3(EarthBound 2)?

[Thor]

Yeah, the translators Mother 3 guide looked great.

What did everyone think of Mother 3(EarthBound 2)?

More than great it looks amazing!!!

Well worth the money.

For the people who reserved it they got a dust jacket for the book, a badge of courage key chain, and a little card that has a thank you note on it and a hand drawn picture. I know not all the pictures were the same but I don't know how many different characters they drew. Mine has bubble monkey on it.

[Gnash]

I played the NES translation of the first mother game. It was awesome if you think back then RPGs were not really that unique.

[Thor]

I played the NES translation of the first mother game. It was awesome if you think back then RPGs were not really that unique.

Yeah I saw it on ebay a few times too and I was so tempted to buy it. Even though it was an obvious bootleg I just thought it would be cool to own and actually play on the NES. I'm mad I never got it because I still from time to time look for it still.

[Gnash]

I think they sell some sort of card for the Nes to load games. It's not piracy if the game was not released or licensed here. But I guess the law on this is a bit confusing.

[triverse]

I think they sell some sort of card for the Nes to load games. It's not piracy if the game was not released or licensed here. But I guess the law on this is a bit confusing.

Actually, it is still against the law even if not licensed for your territory. Most games have a disclaimer about them only being legal to play in certain regions (at least newer games do).

Besides, stealing is stealing. I mean, just because a car is not street legal in the US, that doesn't give me the right to goto another country and take it and use it in the US without paying for it.

[Mister Zero]

I wouldn't really fret too much about a law on a game over twenty years old. Nintendo wouldn't hunt you down or anything, I'm sure. If Nintendo gets that hard up, I'd really be worried for them.

I'd buy a bootleg EarthBound Zero if I saw it on eBay, heck yeah! Share a link if you find one, please.

[Thor]

Technically since at this site we try to stay away from ROMs and flash carts other such illegal activity I couldn't do that.

But just to let you know what the auction was basically an NES sack cart with burned EPROMs

[gothioso]

it was a good game, funny humour, but over $1000 thats incredible

[Gnash]

What's the time limit for software before it becomes public domain?

[Thor]

What's the time limit for software before it becomes public domain?

There is no time limit. Unless the owner releases it to public domain. Hardware on the other hand I belive is 20 years. Wich is why the NES is now popping up all over the united states from different companies legally now.

[triverse]

There is no time limit. Unless the owner releases it to public domain. Hardware on the other hand I belive is 20 years. Wich is why the NES is now popping up all over the united states from different companies legally now.

It is all covered under copyrights and such (which can be renewed). In the case of the NES, people are able to program around the different chips in the NES and find alternatives and such to the point that they can build a compatible NES without infringing on Nintendo copyrights and trademarks. Check the compatibility of those newer unlicensed NES machines, for the most part, some games like Castlevania 3 and Super Mario Bros 3 will not work on them (mainly ones that used newer MMC chips among others).

[Gnash]

There is no time limit. Unless the owner releases it to public domain. Hardware on the other hand I belive is 20 years. Wich is why the NES is now popping up all over the united states from different companies legally now.

Found this, if software counts as copyright like books this would apply. If the site is trustworthy....

Most copyrights and patents have a finite term; when it expires, the work or invention falls into the public domain. In most of the world, patents expire 20 years after they are filed. Trademarks expire soon after the mark becomes a generic term. Copyrights are more complex; generally, they expire in all countries except Guatemala, Mexico, Samoa and Colombia when all of the following conditions are satisfied:

The work was created and first published before January 1, 1923, or at least 95 years before January 1 of the current year, whichever is later.

The last surviving author died at least 70 years before January 1 of the current year.

No Berne Convention signatory has passed a perpetual copyright on the work.

Neither the United States nor the European Union has passed a copyright term extension since these conditions were last updated. (This must be a condition because the exact numbers in the other conditions depend on the state of the law at any given moment.)

Source: http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Public_domain/

IMO it's way too much time, even more so for software. Why? Because the software business moves too fast. Let's say Pac Man. Anyone should be able to play pacman for free. But no be able to develop a new pacman game. Same with Mario and Windows. Everyone should be able to install win95 for free but no modify or rerelease a new version. That's just my idea though. I'm against someone living their lives from a cartoon they made on a napkin while smoking weed.

[Thor]

Oh really. I read when Generation NEX came out it was done because Nintendo's NES copyright ran out after 20 years and that is what allowed them to do this. Maybe it's a mix of both. Maybe Nintendo didn't bother re-registering the NES hardware copyright. And they did a work around on the hardware... I don't remember I'll have to look it up again.

[E-Day]

I'm against someone living their lives from a cartoon they made on a napkin while smoking weed.

Why? Let people live their lives how they want, as long as they are not breaking the law or hurting anyone. If someone created something, they have every right to benefit from that thing for as long as they are alive.