Why is the blog called PK Gaming?

Well, I was going to wait a little later to make this article, but I feel the timing is right. PK Gaming is actually an option for a special attack you can have in EarthBound. In the beginning of the game, you are asked what your favorite thing is, and if you choose 'Don't Care', one of the options that pops up is 'Gaming.' That will become your most powerful PSI (or PK) ability.

Though the blog is named after an attack that you can have in the game, I haven't played it... until now. It was my friend and co-editor Ink who thought of the name, because he is a fan of the series. I wanted to have the name of a power-up or attack like 'ScrewAttack', so I asked Ink about it, and figured that the underrated Mother series would probably have something we could use.

I felt really obligated to play the game all the way through since the blog is named after something from it. I started playing it sometime last week and just finished it yesterday. I have to say... I'm really satisfied with it, and I think I've been converted into a fan. I'm a bit ashamed that I never got to experience EarthBound as a kid. I feel like it would have really impacted my childhood.

Before I started playing though, I watched this video, which reinforced my decision to play it:



The video is pretty lengthy, but I encourage you to watch the video before commenting if you don't know anything about the series. It goes really in depth with the history of the series and the issues with bringing the series over to the U.S.

I'm going to start playing Mother 3 sometime this weekend. I'm really excited to see what kind of story I'm diving into... especially with a #3 spot on Destructoid's Top 50 Games of the last decade and what they say about it:

"Despite its completely retro (but gorgeous!) presentation, Mother 3 may have the most complex, mature, and heart-wrenching story of any videogame of the last decade. The tragically beautiful tale of Lucas, his family, and the complicated characters that surround them is both powerful and unbelievably emotional. If you haven’t played the game, you are missing out on an experience that you will never forget for the rest of your life."


"Mother 3 is a game that looks like it could have come out in the early ’90s, yet it sits high at the top of a list of the best games that came out in the new millennium. Despite all the advanced technology, it just goes to show you that, as long as a videogame has a strong story and great gameplay, it doesn’t matter how many polygons can be displayed on the screen at one time.


Mother 3 may be the last game of its kind to ever be released. It truly is something special."


Anyway... what do you readers think about the Mother series? It has one of the most dedicated fanbases of any Nintendo franchise... yet... they're usually snubbed aside. For Christ's sake, they're even working on a fan-game dubbed Mother 4. How many other fanbases have that much dedication? (Well, maybe Metroid because there is a project to make a fan-game which is basically Metroid Prime, but in the classic 2-D style... but I haven't heard anything from it in a long time.)