The DD's Demise: What if...?
The 64DD: Any Nintendo fan cringes at the very thought of what could have been, and what was (Or wasn't.) EarthBound fans are particularly saddened at this, because of all that the DD version was said to include. But let us take another train of thought here; what if the 64DD had been released, along with EB64? One of the many promised features of EB64 was real-time, sort of like the recently-released Majora's Mask and Shenmue. If it was night-time, you'd need to go to an inn to sleep, and some stores would close down. That would have added an element untouched in most RPG's, and it all would have been possible, if the DD had survived.
Another rumored feature which would take advantage of the DD's rewritability is environmental change. The most popular example people use for this sort of feature is this: Say one of your characters plants a tree on a hill somewhere in the country. A few days later, game-time, you would come back to notice the tree had started to grow.
Eventually, the tree'd be fully grown, and you could climb it to reach a new area. Here's yet another reason I still wish the DD hadn't been delayed to death. Over the course of the game, the world could begin to show signs that Pokey has begun to take over. More enemies could roam the streets, fewer citizens would dare to walk around at night, and eventually, all the stores would close down. Besides being cool, that would add something normally left out of RPGs--a way to lose, which can be both good and bad, depending on the kind of gamer you are.
So what are the chances of something like this ever happening? Well, due to a few recent things happening, better than you'd think. First off, it's been rumored that Mother 3 will indeed reach the GameCube. One of the Cube's lesser-touted features is the fact that a 64DD-like add-on will be made that attaches to the Memory card. It allows for instant rewritability. There's hope for this stuff yet!
To conclude, I would like you all to send nasty letters to Nintendo about your plans to kidnap every employee's first-born until the EB Community's demands are met...Or you could just nicely suggest they do that, but really, wouldn't the first-born idea be much more fun? :D
The 64DD: Any Nintendo fan cringes at the very thought of what could have been, and what was (Or wasn't.) EarthBound fans are particularly saddened at this, because of all that the DD version was said to include. But let us take another train of thought here; what if the 64DD had been released, along with EB64? One of the many promised features of EB64 was real-time, sort of like the recently-released Majora's Mask and Shenmue. If it was night-time, you'd need to go to an inn to sleep, and some stores would close down. That would have added an element untouched in most RPG's, and it all would have been possible, if the DD had survived.
Another rumored feature which would take advantage of the DD's rewritability is environmental change. The most popular example people use for this sort of feature is this: Say one of your characters plants a tree on a hill somewhere in the country. A few days later, game-time, you would come back to notice the tree had started to grow.
Eventually, the tree'd be fully grown, and you could climb it to reach a new area. Here's yet another reason I still wish the DD hadn't been delayed to death. Over the course of the game, the world could begin to show signs that Pokey has begun to take over. More enemies could roam the streets, fewer citizens would dare to walk around at night, and eventually, all the stores would close down. Besides being cool, that would add something normally left out of RPGs--a way to lose, which can be both good and bad, depending on the kind of gamer you are.
So what are the chances of something like this ever happening? Well, due to a few recent things happening, better than you'd think. First off, it's been rumored that Mother 3 will indeed reach the GameCube. One of the Cube's lesser-touted features is the fact that a 64DD-like add-on will be made that attaches to the Memory card. It allows for instant rewritability. There's hope for this stuff yet!
To conclude, I would like you all to send nasty letters to Nintendo about your plans to kidnap every employee's first-born until the EB Community's demands are met...Or you could just nicely suggest they do that, but really, wouldn't the first-born idea be much more fun? :D
