Why EarthBound Failed
Now let me begin by saying that this article is an explanation of why Earthbound failed FINANCIALLY. In no other way did it fail. So don't send me letters saying things like: "Dear Boomerang: You suck, EB rules." I know EB rules. If you want to disagree, by all means go ahead, but make sure you understand what I am saying.
I believe that everyone knows that Earthbound was a financial failure, the game made almost no cash. Note that I am talking strictly about the US market. Generally, the failure is blamed on Nintendo's apparent ineptitude when it comes to marketing. The game was less hyped than my cat, and consequently relatively few people ever heard of it. The consequence of this was that the game didn't payoff for Nintendo. What is my point? Keep reading.
Earthbound is not for everyone. In fact, a giant segment of the video game community is reviled by it. The combination of funky graphics, weird music, and irreverant humor puts it on the market for only a select group of people. With that in mind, maybe Nintendo didn't hype the game because they knew that only very determined gamers who were willing to find out about Earthbound would actually enjoy it.
But then, this is a simple theory. After all, it doesn't fit in with the cut-throat, anything for profit attitude which corporations seem to adopt these days. Then again, there is that slight chance that Nintendo was actually looking out for a small minority of gamers.
Now let me begin by saying that this article is an explanation of why Earthbound failed FINANCIALLY. In no other way did it fail. So don't send me letters saying things like: "Dear Boomerang: You suck, EB rules." I know EB rules. If you want to disagree, by all means go ahead, but make sure you understand what I am saying.
I believe that everyone knows that Earthbound was a financial failure, the game made almost no cash. Note that I am talking strictly about the US market. Generally, the failure is blamed on Nintendo's apparent ineptitude when it comes to marketing. The game was less hyped than my cat, and consequently relatively few people ever heard of it. The consequence of this was that the game didn't payoff for Nintendo. What is my point? Keep reading.
Earthbound is not for everyone. In fact, a giant segment of the video game community is reviled by it. The combination of funky graphics, weird music, and irreverant humor puts it on the market for only a select group of people. With that in mind, maybe Nintendo didn't hype the game because they knew that only very determined gamers who were willing to find out about Earthbound would actually enjoy it.
But then, this is a simple theory. After all, it doesn't fit in with the cut-throat, anything for profit attitude which corporations seem to adopt these days. Then again, there is that slight chance that Nintendo was actually looking out for a small minority of gamers.
